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.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ian Karani 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.
Something was said to Steve Biko Omollo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Meshack Omukhulu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kariobangi Sharks will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
George Odhiambo 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kenya Police have kept their man, and Kariobangi Sharks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
9 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kariobangi Sharks, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kariobangi Sharks have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lindokuhle Mthimkulu and Kariobangi Sharks agree another 3 years.
11 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Steve Biko Omollo is still in the building
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.