Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Muranga Seal waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sofapaka is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 The request is on a desk at Sofapaka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Sebastian Ikekhai scored, was marked 7.55, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Sofapaka have gone to Kenya Police with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Sofapaka have gone to Gor Mahia with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Sofapaka asked and Shabana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 goal that put Ulinzi Stars ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Sofapaka equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sofapaka can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clifton Miheso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Sofapaka is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Nobody at Sofapaka 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Sofapaka will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Titus Achesa 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clifton Miheso 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.” Martin Chemelil after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Position 16 and 9 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.
“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 Sofapaka, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Victor Augo knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sofapaka is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Titus Achesa 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 Apr 2028
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clifton Miheso 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Omar Boraafya commits to Sofapaka for another 1 years.
The dugout10 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 Martin Chemelil to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Sebastian Ikekhai scored, was marked 7.21, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Titus Achesa 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 Clifton Miheso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 92, against APS Bomet, 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 the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrew Waswa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sofapaka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Titus Achesa 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 Clifton Miheso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bryson Jerome. 2‑1 against Posta Rangers, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sofapaka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Bidco United moved on, Nelson Likhanga reports back to Sofapaka, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Titus Achesa 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.
$54.0K was the most the club would pay and Kenya Police were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clifton Miheso 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.
Sofapaka ran out of time with AFC Leopards. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sofapaka will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Sofapaka offered $54.0K; Kenya Police 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.
Mathare United paid $27.0K and Sofapaka took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kenya Police have kept their man, and Sofapaka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 phone has started ringing about Nelson Likhanga again, and this time the name on the line is Muranga Seal. Sofapaka are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sammy Kiplangat 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.
Nobody at Sofapaka 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sofapaka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sofapaka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clifton Miheso 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 Victor Augo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sofapaka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Elijah Mulinya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sofapaka can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Victor Augo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sofapaka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sofapaka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Bidco United spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka 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 Clifton Miheso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Wasi Ngala. 1‑0 against Bidco United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Martin Chemelil kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sofapaka will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Felix Mulyungi decided nobody was going anywhere. Posta Rangers had no time left to answer.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sofapaka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sofapaka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sofapaka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bidco United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sofapaka is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
The offer from APS Bomet for Nelson Likhanga 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.
$390.0K on the table at Bandari. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sofapaka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka 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 Clifton Miheso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sofapaka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Titus Achesa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Shabana go through and Sofapaka go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 May 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Martin Chemelil to a room that had heard them before.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felix Mulyungi 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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sofapaka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 May 2027
Titus Achesa 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.
David Nshimirimana 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.
“I watch every Sofapaka game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kariobangi Sharks runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Martin Chemelil was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sofapaka dressing room was either.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against KCB? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Mara Sugar next, and one man in the Sofapaka dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Eugene Wethuli 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 Titus Achesa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 combined actions and 6.63. 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sofapaka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Sofapaka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sofapaka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Meshack Omukhulu 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.
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 Victor Augo is on it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sofapaka have done the hard part with Bidco United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brian Marani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sofapaka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
David King'atua 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 Clifton Miheso 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. Sofapaka have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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 Japheth Lihanda is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eugene Wethuli signs something — a contract at Sofapaka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Levian Ochieng trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sofapaka have lost him in all but the paperwork.
He is going to Kakamega Homeboyz, the club has $110.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
David Nshimirimana 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.
Kakamega Homeboyz pay $110.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clifton Miheso 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.
Add another name to the list: Kakamega Homeboyz have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Victor Augo. The answer from Sofapaka has not changed — yet.
Sofapaka have made the call to Bidco United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sofapaka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
David Nshimirimana 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The phone has started ringing about Douglas Ochoko again, and this time the name on the line is Kakamega Homeboyz. Sofapaka are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felix Mulyungi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Felix Mulyungi has his answer from Sofapaka; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
In brief
The dugoutStephen Bonney asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sofapaka can pretend not to have heard.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Sofapaka will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The offer from Bidco United for Victor Augo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Wasi Ngala has come up in conversations Sofapaka were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Sofapaka have made the call to Nairobi United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David King'atua signs something — a contract at Sofapaka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sofapaka 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sofapaka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
David Nshimirimana 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David King'atua signs something — a contract at Sofapaka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Something was said to David King'atua and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Jacob Addis 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David King'atua signs something — a contract at Sofapaka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutVictor Augo has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sofapaka 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 Felix Mulyungi is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Reuben Otieno’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sofapaka needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Victor Augo has his answer from Sofapaka; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sofapaka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
David Nshimirimana 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 Felix Mulyungi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.” Martin Chemelil, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David King'atua signs something — a contract at Sofapaka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Victor Augo: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The offer from Bandari for Douglas Ochoko 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.
David Nshimirimana 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Sofapaka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clifton Miheso 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.
A penalty is the one moment in football with nowhere to hide, and he did not score it. The walk back was long and the week will be longer.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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 Martin Chemelil left the room before anybody could ask which.