Marked for Chris Erambo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Mar 2030
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tusker will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match16 Mar 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yakeen Muthelil. 2‑0 against KCB, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Ninety minutes of Cliff Oruko at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tusker.
Squad18 Mar 2030
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad18 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
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.” Elvis Karisa, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
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.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Nov 2029
A falling-out at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch5 Nov 2029
“I did not go to Muranga Seal to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tusker and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Tusker training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cliff Oruko 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.
Market5 Nov 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
Victor Mbaoma has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tusker 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 dugout5 Nov 2029
“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.
Market5 Nov 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Victor Mbaoma’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
Abud Omar 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.
Market5 Nov 2029
Tusker have made Michael Juma available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Sep 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match22 Sep 2029
No mercy from Tusker
AFC Leopards will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tusker were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match22 Sep 2029
10 unbeaten for Tusker
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Tusker did not have in the autumn.
Market24 Sep 2029
Jacob Onyango hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tusker can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.11, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. 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 Sep 2029
10 goals and a season average of 7.37. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad24 Sep 2029
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.47 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Sep 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match15 Sep 2029
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Mathare United had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Tusker did not stop to explain themselves.
Match15 Sep 2029
Whatever happens, Tusker do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market17 Sep 2029
Brandon Obiero has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tusker they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Falaye Sacko and Tusker agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words exchanged at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Rico Kennedy arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Rico Kennedy has, at Tusker, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom17 Sep 2029
Tusker counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tusker now.
Match15 Sep 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cliff Oruko. 1‑0 against Mathare United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
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Player ratings
Cliff Oruko in the eights
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Boardroom
107% of the income goes out in wages at Tusker
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The dugout
Elvis Karisa: “That is the standard”
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Sep 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Brian Olang'o: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tusker have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Kefa Nakhumicha has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Tusker have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Chris Erambo 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Tusker training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abud Omar 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 dugout10 Sep 2029
Victor Mbaoma 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 Mbaoma is on it.
Market10 Sep 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Victor Mbaoma’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market10 Sep 2029
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Tusker have gone and got theirs early.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Sep 2029
Chris Erambo breaks a bone — 36 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Sep 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tusker people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Tusker close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 12 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Match1 Sep 2029
Still nobody has beaten Tusker
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match1 Sep 2029
Nobody wins at Tusker
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Tusker
Yakeen Muthelil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Cliff Oruko is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.32 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Ninety minutes of Cliff Oruko at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tusker.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Aug 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tusker may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market27 Aug 2029
Douglas Ochoko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tusker they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match25 Aug 2029
Whatever happens, Tusker do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
This is not rotation. Telena Ochieng has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tusker is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2029
Tusker 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 dugout27 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Cliff Oruko 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Aug 2029
52 days out for Chris Erambo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tusker will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market20 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sofapaka waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tusker is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market20 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tusker is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
Tusker counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tusker now.
Match18 Aug 2029
6 unbeaten for Tusker
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Tusker did not have in the autumn.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Falaye Sacko 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Cliff Oruko in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Aug 2029
The run at home goes on for Tusker
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Cliff Oruko
7 goals and a season average of 7.30 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Aug 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 59 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market13 Aug 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Tusker have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market13 Aug 2029
“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 Tusker, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Tusker
Bryton Onyona 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Tusker
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Falaye Sacko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Aug 2029
It finished 2‑0, and it was Cliff Oruko’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tusker.
Match11 Aug 2029
Tusker keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Market13 Aug 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Tusker have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Ninety minutes of Cliff Oruko at his very best
Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tusker.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Aug 2029
Chris Erambo breaks a bone — 66 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tusker is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eric Kapaito and Tusker agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Tusker
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cliff Oruko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the Tusker support went home talking about one name.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
Abud Omar 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.
Match4 Aug 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
Victor Mbaoma 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 Mbaoma is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 73 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match28 Jul 2029
4‑1, and Eric Kapaito took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Tusker tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad30 Jul 2029
The match ball belongs to Eric Kapaito, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market30 Jul 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tusker people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Eric Kapaito, 33, rolls back the years — 9.16
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.16 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market30 Jul 2029
“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.
Market30 Jul 2029
Douglas Ochoko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tusker they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
This is not rotation. Telena Ochieng has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tusker is pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 80 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Jul 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tusker people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market23 Jul 2029
Abud Omar puts it in writing
“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 Tusker, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tusker is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market23 Jul 2029
APS Bomet come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Tusker did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. 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.
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
Belts tighten at Tusker
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A row about effort at Tusker
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Falaye Sacko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Jul 2029
“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
Upbeat
Squad16 Jul 2029
Chris Erambo breaks a bone — 87 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tusker can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
Douglas Ochoko: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tusker have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Age has not caught Eric Kapaito yet — 7.84
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market16 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tusker is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Tusker
Eugene Ikutwa 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.
Match14 Jul 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eugene Ikutwa. 2‑0 against Shabana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Abud Omar is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Ninety minutes of Eugene Ikutwa at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tusker.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 94 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tusker can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Tusker training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Falaye Sacko 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
0‑1 to Gor Mahia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Market9 Jul 2029
Abud Omar told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Abud Omar has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Tusker.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Cliff Oruko is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.21 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 101 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Posta Rangers waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tusker is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market2 Jul 2029
“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.
Market2 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tusker is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout2 Jul 2029
This is not rotation. Telena Ochieng has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tusker is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Jul 2029
A row about effort at Tusker
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Falaye Sacko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shabana have kept their man, and Tusker go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match30 Jun 2029
A 2‑1 win over Bandari, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Tusker
Yakeen Muthelil 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jun 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 108 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 Tusker, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Jun 2029
Tusker say no — this time
The offer from Nairobi United 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Only the photograph left for Dennis Magio
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dennis Magio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tusker the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Jun 2029
A falling-out at Tusker
Bryton Onyona and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
The numbers do not look good at Tusker
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match23 Jun 2029
APS Bomet left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Abud Omar 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.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
Wages swallow 109% of the Tusker 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at Tusker
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Tusker
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jun 2029
Chris Erambo breaks a bone — 115 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Jun 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tusker people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“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.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
A falling-out at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Jun 2029
6 unbeaten for Tusker
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Tusker did not have in the autumn.
Squad18 Jun 2029
A row about effort at Tusker
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Falaye Sacko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Victor Mbaoma
“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 dugout18 Jun 2029
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 Ian Simiyu Jr. is on it.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
The one thing Eric Kapaito could not do
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Player ratings
Ian Simiyu Jr. could have had three
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jun 2029
A fracture rules Chris Erambo out for 122 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tusker will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jun 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tusker people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market11 Jun 2029
“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 Tusker, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Tusker training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Falaye Sacko 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.
Match9 Jun 2029
Posta Rangers made Tusker work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Tusker asked and Pineto 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 dugout11 Jun 2029
“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.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jun 2029
129 days out for Chris Erambo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tusker will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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 Tusker, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Tusker
Ian Simiyu Jr. 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.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Tusker 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
A row about effort at Tusker
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abud Omar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match4 Jun 2029
Tusker at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 6, 29 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Market4 Jun 2029
Ulinzi Stars are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Tusker will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market4 Jun 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Douglas Ochoko slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Douglas Ochoko is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
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The dugout
Victor Mbaoma has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
Jacob Onyango gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 May 2029
A 2-goal lead gone for Tusker
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Nairobi United kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Tusker will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Market28 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tusker is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout28 May 2029
“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.
Boardroom28 May 2029
The numbers do not look good at Tusker
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad28 May 2029
Falaye Sacko 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Words exchanged at Tusker
Eugene Ikutwa 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 ratings28 May 2029
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout28 May 2029
“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.