Marked for Simphiwe Sithole
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Oct 2029
72 days out for Francis Baloyi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match29 Sep 2029
Beaten 0‑3 by Kaizer Chiefs, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad1 Oct 2029
A one-man rearguard from Brian Bwire
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad1 Oct 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kgaogelo Ramushu and Polokwane City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
“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.
Boardroom1 Oct 2029
Nobody left the Polokwane City dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market1 Oct 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Sep 2029
A fracture rules Francis Baloyi out for 100 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 Polokwane City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match1 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Polokwane City's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Polokwane City has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Polokwane City close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 5 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.
Squad3 Sep 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kgaogelo Ramushu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Sep 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Simphiwe Sithole has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Polokwane City.
The dugout3 Sep 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
Steady
Squad13 Aug 2029
122 days out for Francis Baloyi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match11 Aug 2029
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Ajax Cape Town the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Polokwane City will enjoy reviewing.
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. Polokwane City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
Polokwane City asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom13 Aug 2029
8 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad13 Aug 2029
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kgaogelo Ramushu 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 dugout13 Aug 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jun 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Black Aces waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Maritzburg United have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Stade Malien: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Botosani 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.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simphiwe Sithole, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Tlou Nkwe 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lebohang Mankga, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Apr 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 Giovanni Philander is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Mar 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 Mar 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 Polokwane City can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Monty Batlhabane 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Brian Bwire 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The medical room confirms 45 days on the sidelines for Simphiwe Sithole, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout26 Mar 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 Giovanni Philander is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2028
24 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match14 Oct 2028
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Free State Stars were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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.
Match14 Oct 2028
A 1‑0 win over Free State Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.71 on the card, and the Polokwane City support went home talking about one name.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Lebogang Phiri could afford to be generous.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Thabang Matuludi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Polokwane City 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
Steady
Squad3 Jul 2028
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Puleng Marema breaks a bone — 131 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 131 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vincent Mtsweni will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Polokwane City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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 targets3 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chacarita Juniors have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Tlou Nkwe 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan move for Federico Serra is in the works
Polokwane City have made the call to Milton Keynes Dons. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan move for Shaun Els is in the works
Polokwane City have made the call to Kaizer Chiefs. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
Stevens Goovadia damages knee ligaments — 71 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Squad15 May 2028
A fracture rules Meshua Mello out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 May 2028
Brian Bwire 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Tlou Nkwe 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 dugout15 May 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.
The dugout15 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Puleng Marema
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Simphiwe Sithole: 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.” Polokwane City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Monty Batlhabane 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 Mar 2028
22 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
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
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 Thabang Matuludi is on it.