The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Shabana moved on, Elly Saenyi reports back to Muranga Seal, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erick Ongiri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Muranga Seal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erick Ongiri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Muranga Seal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with APS Bomet is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Muranga Seal asked and Sofapaka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sifiso Mazibuko 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.
Half the programme played, position 13, 21 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Muranga Seal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Tusker go through and Muranga Seal go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Muranga Seal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Muranga Seal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sifiso Mazibuko. 1‑0 against Kenya Police, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwanele Msomi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Meshack Karani and Muranga Seal agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jackson Imbiakha 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 Muranga Seal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Duncan Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
Something was said to Victor Haki and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jackson Imbiakha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Kenya Police.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Kwanele Msomi obliged against APS Bomet. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Muranga Seal.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.24 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Christopher Ochieng and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jackson Imbiakha 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 15-year-old it feels ownership of. Victor Njeru has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Muranga Seal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Sofapaka this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jackson Imbiakha 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.
Muranga Seal have made the call to Gor Mahia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Muranga Seal 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francis Gethoi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Muranga Seal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Muranga Seal can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Christopher Ochieng 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sifiso Mazibuko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sifiso Mazibuko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Olebogeng Ntlhaile is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Telvin Irungu signs something — a contract at Muranga Seal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erick Ongiri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Muranga Seal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Muranga Seal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Muranga Seal 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Telvin Irungu signs something — a contract at Muranga Seal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Position 14 on 41 points, with the season drifting toward the summer. It is the safest place in football and the hardest one to sell a season ticket from.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erick Ongiri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Muranga Seal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Michael Kibwage 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Meshack Karani, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilson Mwangi 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sifiso Mazibuko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.97 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sifiso Mazibuko 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Muranga Seal pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Duncan Mwendwa 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Allesandro Du Plessis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A brace, and Elly Saenyi takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Elly Saenyi provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sofapaka waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Muranga Seal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer went to Posta Rangers this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Christopher Ochieng 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.
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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Elly Saenyi had Muranga Seal level again within 3 minutes, and AFC Leopards never got to play with a lead at all.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Muranga Seal, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.88 for the rest of it.
The offer from Sofapaka for Erick Ongiri was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Munyovi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Elly Saenyi will call it something else in private.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Felix Oluoch is in the works
Supporters organise against the Muranga Seal board
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Muranga Seal can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Posta Rangers keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Muranga Seal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Muranga Seal offered $23.0K; Posta Rangers said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The phone has started ringing about Erick Ongiri again, and this time the name on the line is Sofapaka. Muranga Seal are listening politely and promising nothing.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Muranga Seal can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Muranga Seal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$23.0K on the table at Posta Rangers. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Allesandro Du Plessis 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jackson Imbiakha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Muranga Seal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Muranga Seal people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with APS Bomet; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Muranga Seal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nairobi United have kept their man, and Muranga Seal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Munyovi 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Christopher Ochieng 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 Wilson Mwangi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The goal that put Gor Mahia ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Muranga Seal equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Muranga Seal will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lerato Ntamane, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Duncan Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.