“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ulinzi Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ulinzi Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayanda Bophela, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 May 2029
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 Timothy Wanyama to a room that had heard them before.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. David Ochieng is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Shariff Amubwombe 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Muchiri 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.
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ulinzi Stars.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Timothy Wanyama, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ulinzi Stars told Veron Ombina something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Vincent Ogolla
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ulinzi Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Curtis Wekesa scored in the 89th minute, Bidco United had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Ulinzi Stars took the lot.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mercury Dlamini 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.
Match7 Apr 2029
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Ulinzi Stars. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Curtis Wekesa. 1‑0 against Bidco United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Ulinzi Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ayanda Bophela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Muchiri 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.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
94% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Victor Haki has his answer from Ulinzi Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Bidco United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ulinzi Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boniface Muchiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
KCB held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Ulinzi Stars answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Bayanda Zulu knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutBayanda Zulu is still being punished for one mistake
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibrahim Shambi and Ulinzi Stars agree another 3 years.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ulinzi Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Ulinzi Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shannel Makwata and Ulinzi Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Shannel Makwata 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.
Day 11 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
“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 Ulinzi Stars, 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 Ulinzi Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Muranga Seal have kept their man, and Ulinzi Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Joseph Mwangi 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.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ulinzi Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The bid was some way short and Ulinzi Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Muchiri 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.
Everybody at Ulinzi Stars saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Muranga Seal have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Ulinzi Stars have made the call to Tusker. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ulinzi Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sofapaka waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Mercury Dlamini 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.
The name of John Otieno has come up in conversations Ulinzi Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Mercury Dlamini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kgwadi Molepo 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mercury Dlamini signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ulinzi Stars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ulinzi Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Ulinzi Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Bikokwa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mercury Dlamini 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Shambi 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 this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Edwin Simiyu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mercury Dlamini 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.
13 combined actions and 6.92. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Shambi 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.
Everybody at Ulinzi Stars saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Paul Odhiambo
Boardroom87% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
9 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.
“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 Ulinzi Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ulinzi Stars know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
In brief
SquadUlinzi Stars are still strangers to each other
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
MarketA stepping stone, not a home, for John Otieno
The offer from CotonTchad for John Kelwishi 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidco United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Kenya Police, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Njabulo Nzimande and Bidco United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidco United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidco United 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tusker have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.