Michael Karamor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Felix Oluoch 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 Caleb Olunga and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Nairobi United than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Felix Oluoch has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“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 The request is on a desk at Nairobi United, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nairobi United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Nairobi United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phila Dlamini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ernest Mohammed, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Kevin Chemelil to a room that had heard them before.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
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.
“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 Nairobi United, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael Karamor and Nairobi United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nairobi United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
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.” Kevin Chemelil, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 dugout9 Jul 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Gad Mathews
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Michael Karamor 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.
Sofapaka made Nairobi United work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Nairobi United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phila Dlamini 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.
He is 16 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Kevin Chemelil on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Posta Rangers had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Nairobi United did not stop to explain themselves.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Posta Rangers were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Kevin Okumu 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 ratings18 Jun 2029
Alvin Mangeni was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.51. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Nairobi United told Michael Karamor something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
In brief
The dugoutGad Mathews dropped after a run of poor form
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Michael Karamor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Phila Dlamini 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Gad Mathews
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dancan Omala and Nairobi United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Kevin Chemelil after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nairobi United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. APS Bomet had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Dancan Omala is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Faustine Samaki has his answer from Nairobi United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 Nairobi United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Day 11 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Kevin Okumu 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gad Mathews, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Nairobi United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Caleb Olunga 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Gad Mathews
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nairobi United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nairobi United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Benson Omalla signs something — a contract at Nairobi United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nairobi United can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lungisani Mncwabe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nairobi United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nobody at Nairobi United 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 words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Faustine Samaki was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mustafa Kizza signs something — a contract at Nairobi United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nairobi United can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nairobi United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bryn Deeley was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kevin Okumu 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Felix Oluoch’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout14 Feb 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 Eric Ouma to a room that had heard them before.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
“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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Bryn Deeley 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.
Kevin Okumu 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.
Nobody at Nairobi United 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.
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 Faustine Samaki has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutDancan Omala knocks on the manager’s door
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nairobi United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Nairobi United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Prince Buregeya 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
Dancan Omala 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.
Nobody at Nairobi United 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.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Nairobi United would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
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 Faustine Samaki has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutDancan Omala asks for a word with the manager
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nairobi United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Nairobi United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Alvin Mangeni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Bryn Deeley 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Nairobi United will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nairobi United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nairobi United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Nairobi United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Nairobi United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryn Deeley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Nairobi United 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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Nairobi United would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roy Okal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nairobi United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nairobi United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Somobwana, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Dancan Omala 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nairobi United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Tenuka Ranaweera is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Nairobi United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nairobi United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Gad Mathews on the training pitch