Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Morgan Billiat to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Golden Arrows will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Golden Arrows told Ntando Ngwenya something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Free State Stars in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Chippa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Kegan Johannes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
14 seasons and 192 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Minute 87, against Jomo Cosmos, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Golden Arrows told Teboho Tlolane something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Kegan Johannes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Morgan Billiat left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dumisani Msibi is on it.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Maritzburg United were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Kegan Johannes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Teboho Tlolane commits to Golden Arrows for another 2 years.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Nobody at Golden Arrows will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 14 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Kegan Johannes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 6.89 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Philani Khumalo, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Morgan Billiat left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dumisani Msibi is on it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Legia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Golden Arrows asked and Astra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Teboho Tlolane and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Golden Arrows asked and Legia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Teboho Tlolane and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nduduzo Sibiya is on it.
Position 15 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Nduduzo Sibiya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad21 Apr 2031
A muscle injury sidelines Edward Maova for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Golden Arrows will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nduduzo Sibiya is on it.
The mood at Golden Arrows has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Golden Arrows
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Golden Arrows can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 15 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Nduduzo Sibiya and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Black Aces left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Golden Arrows will try again when the window opens; Bloemfontein Celtic may not be selling by then.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jerome Karelse’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Golden Arrows.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwandakwesizwe Madonsela is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Golden Arrows know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Nduduzo Sibiya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Golden Arrows ran out of time with Mamelodi Sundowns. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The name of Philani Khumalo has come up in conversations Golden Arrows were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwandakwesizwe Madonsela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Philani Khumalo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
$220.0K settles it between the clubs for Thabiso Msane
Bloemfontein Celtic have accepted the money. What Golden Arrows do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nduduzo Sibiya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Ajax Cape Town left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Morgan Billiat after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Position 14 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Kegan Johannes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nduduzo Sibiya is on it.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Kegan Johannes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Themba Mantshiyane and Golden Arrows agree another 2 years.
0‑1 to Orlando Pirates, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Themba Mantshiyane and Golden Arrows agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Free State Stars left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Mantshiyane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Morgan Billiat after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kegan Johannes’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Golden Arrows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Keenan Phillips signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nduduzo Sibiya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kegan Johannes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Golden Arrows have made the call to Aris. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Velemseni Ndwandwe is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nduduzo Sibiya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Velemseni Ndwandwe is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sabelo Sithole and Golden Arrows agree another 4 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dumisani Msibi is on it.
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Keenan Phillips signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nduduzo Sibiya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jerome Karelse provided it, and the 9.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.45 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Nduduzo Sibiya and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kegan Johannes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.