Marked for Steve Biko Omollo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
George Odhiambo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: George Odhiambo. 1‑0 against Sofapaka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.60 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Kariobangi Sharks had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout21 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.” Caleb Odhiambo, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
APS Bomet next, and one man in the Kariobangi Sharks dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Steve Biko Omollo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Michael Wanjala has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
George Odhiambo 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Kariobangi Sharks training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Habib Sarwari 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Joseph Mwangi 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Michael Wanjala’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Kariobangi Sharks needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
“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 targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kariobangi Sharks have done the hard part with Posta Rangers, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Faiz Opande 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 targets17 Aug 2026
Kariobangi Sharks asked and Kenya Police said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑2 to AFC Leopards, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammed Habib Sarwari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market17 Aug 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Caleb Odhiambo after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything was agreed with Gor Mahia and then the doctor spoke. Kariobangi Sharks have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Joseph Mwangi 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 Aug 2026
Words at Kariobangi Sharks training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Wanjala 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. George Olunga has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. John Mulee has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Elvis Odhiambo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. George Kibwage has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“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 dugout10 Aug 2026
Keegan Ndemi 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.