“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 The request is on a desk at Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Free State Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Keabetswe Morake and Free State Stars agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Simphiwe Selepe 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. Kieran Craig 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.
A point taken on 92 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout17 Dec 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Stephen Ross to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Free State Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑3 against Orlando Pirates, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Position 14 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Simphiwe Selepe 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Kieran Craig 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.
“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 Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Free State Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simphiwe Selepe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Free State Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Kieran Craig 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.
Position 15 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Free State Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Simphiwe Selepe 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. Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ramahlwe Phiri commits to Free State Stars for another 3 years.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Stephen Ross left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Player ratingsLebogang Jali beats them one at a time
“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 Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Simphiwe Selepe 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 92 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 are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Simphiwe Selepe 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Kieran Craig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Oct 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 Stephen Ross to a room that had heard them before.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ojo Johnson 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.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Free State Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Free State Stars scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Two goals and a mark of 8.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Free State Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑1 win over Ajax Cape Town, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Free State Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Stephen Ross made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Out, 1‑2 to Bloemfontein Celtic, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The offer from Mamelodi Sundowns for Itumeleng Jali 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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Simphiwe Selepe 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kieran Craig and Free State Stars agree another 4 years.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Free State Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑3 against Kaizer Chiefs, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
27 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Free State Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Kaizer Chiefs were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Free State Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kaizer Chiefs have gone to Chippa United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Everything agreed with Manchester City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Kaizer Chiefs had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Juventus, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Free State Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Paralimni had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
0‑3 to Orlando Pirates, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Free State Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Free State Stars have done the hard part with Kaizer Chiefs, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer from SuperSport United for Keagan Dolly 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.
26 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Etiosa Ighodaro provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kaizer Chiefs people have started saying his name in the past tense.
218 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kaizer Chiefs people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kaizer Chiefs they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Keabetswe Morake and Kaizer Chiefs agree another 4 years.
Brandon Petersen 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 have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Godwin again, and this time the name on the line is Sliema Wanderers. Kaizer Chiefs are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs 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.
In brief
The dugoutOscar Destiny knocks on the manager's door
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and University of Pretoria waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Oswin Appollis 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Xhosa Manyana is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Reeve Frosler has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bradley Cross and Kaizer Chiefs agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
73 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Valletta waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kaizer Chiefs is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Add another name to the list: Jomo Cosmos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Keabetswe Morake. The answer from Kaizer Chiefs has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kaizer Chiefs can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebohang Dhlamini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kaizer Chiefs the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 27 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.
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.