Marked for Telvin Irungu
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the Muranga Seal boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Price Omenda has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
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.
Match29 Jul 2028
Mathare United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
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 Duncan Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Muranga Seal told Dennis Munyovi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Kwanele Msomi gets picked when it counts
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 Kwanele Msomi is on it.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match24 Jun 2028
4 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Michael Wairimu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stephen Ajayi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Marked 7.81 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Muranga Seal had the best player on the pitch.
Match24 Jun 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Dennis Munyovi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
Jackson Imbiakha 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.
Squad15 May 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.
The dugout15 May 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Muranga Seal told Telvin Irungu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Match13 May 2028
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout15 May 2028
Jackson Imbiakha has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edwin Jumba, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 May 2028
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.
The terraces8 May 2028
A cup hiding at Tusker leaves Muranga Seal explaining themselves
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.
Market8 May 2028
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.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sifiso Mazibuko commits to Muranga Seal for another 3 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Christopher Ochieng and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Sifiso Mazibuko 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.
Match6 May 2028
1‑2 to Nairobi United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Market8 May 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 May 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad1 May 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad1 May 2028
Jackson Imbiakha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwanele Msomi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Apr 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Elly Saenyi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Muranga Seal.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robert Mudenyu, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stephen Ajayi commits to Muranga Seal for another 3 years.
The dugout1 May 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Duncan Mwendwa on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout1 May 2028
Kwanele Msomi gets picked when it counts
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 Kwanele Msomi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout17 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Dennis Munyovi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Sifiso Mazibuko 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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Joseph Waithira
“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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
The afternoon belonged to Elly Saenyi
A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad17 Apr 2028
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Muranga Seal will feel it on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Match1 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“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.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“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.
Looking ahead3 Apr 2028
A test against the best for Muranga Seal
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout20 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Dennis Munyovi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Muranga Seal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Wairimu 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Bidco United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Market20 Mar 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Match18 Mar 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“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 dugout20 Mar 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 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.
Match4 Mar 2028
0‑1 to Mara Sugar, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“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.
Market6 Mar 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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 Duncan Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Sifiso Mazibuko has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Dennis Munyovi knocks on the manager's door
“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.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Robert Mudenyu. Muranga Seal will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The offer from Kariobangi Sharks for Elly Saenyi 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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Dennis Munyovi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
The deal with Gor Mahia 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Muranga Seal have gone to Posta Rangers 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Kwanele Msomi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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.
Market17 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
A loan move for Samuel Kapen is in the works
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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Francis Gethoi knocks on the manager’s door
“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.
Market17 Jan 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
Clinton Mainge damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Elly Saenyi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
Market3 Jan 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Gor Mahia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 2027
“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.
Market20 Dec 2027
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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.
Market20 Dec 2027
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.
Market20 Dec 2027
Muranga Seal have let the market know Dennis Munyovi can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The training reports on Sifiso Mazibuko are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Muranga Seal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 Nov 2027
“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 dugout29 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Dennis Munyovi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages swallow 112% of the Muranga Seal income
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.
Market29 Nov 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Edwin Jumba gets picked when it counts
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 Edwin Jumba is on it.
Market29 Nov 2027
The Elly Saenyi story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Elly Saenyi signs something — a contract at Muranga Seal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market29 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Telvin Irungu may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
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.
Market22 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Erick Ongiri
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Sifiso Mazibuko 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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.
Market22 Nov 2027
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.
Market22 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Dennis Munyovi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Edwin Jumba is not doing himself any favours
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.
Match22 Nov 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Dennis Munyovi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Muranga Seal is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 96% of everything Muranga Seal earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Joseph Waithira. Muranga Seal will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 31 with 7 appearances behind him, and Muranga Seal have to plan for both answers.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Victor Haki gets picked when it counts
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 Haki is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Muranga Seal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Posta Rangers, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elly Saenyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Aug 2027
Tusker left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“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 dugout23 Aug 2027
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 0‑2 Duncan Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Jackson Imbiakha has become a man the manager trusts
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Apr 2027
Chastening afternoon for Muranga Seal
A 0‑3 beating by Mathare United was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Muranga Seal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
Match3 Apr 2027
After 4 games, Muranga Seal finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Mathare United; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Muranga Seal until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Market1 Feb 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Muranga Seal will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Telvin Irungu
“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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sammy Odero commits to Muranga Seal for another 1 years.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to APS Bomet: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Muranga Seal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The deal with Gor Mahia 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Muranga Seal are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Telvin Irungu is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 100% of the Muranga Seal income
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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Telvin Irungu's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Muranga Seal are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Victor Haki gets it from the manager
“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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Sammy Odero has become a man the manager trusts
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Muranga Seal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Dennis Munyovi
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Jackson Imbiakha has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Telvin Irungu knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Telvin Irungu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Robert Mudenyu
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Muranga Seal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Muranga Seal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francis Gethoi commits to Muranga Seal for another 3 years.
Market14 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Telvin Irungu asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Muranga Seal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at Muranga Seal 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 103% of the Muranga Seal income
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Telvin Irungu's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Muranga Seal are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The formation has left Lebo Mohlala behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Muranga Seal will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Jackson Imbiakha asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Sammy Odero gets picked when it counts
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 Sammy Odero is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Muranga Seal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Muranga Seal spills outside the ground
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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
103% of the income goes out in wages at Muranga Seal
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Edwin Jumba named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Edwin Jumba is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Telvin Irungu knocks on the manager's door
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Jackson Imbiakha has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Sammy Odero gets it from the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Muranga Seal's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Muranga Seal has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.55, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑1 to APS Bomet, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Dennis Munyovi
“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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Duncan Mwendwa after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured for Elly Saenyi
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Muranga Seal told Elly Saenyi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.