Mandla Mphela

Central Midfielder - Platinum Stars
21 Aug 2027
Saturday
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Marked for Mandla Mphela

16 Edition

The SuperSport United Sentinel

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad16 Nov 2026

Erick Lorch breaks a bone — 18 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad16 Nov 2026

Tempers go at SuperSport United

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo 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.

Squad16 Nov 2026

Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keagan Dala 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.

Player ratings16 Nov 2026

A masterclass from Mandla Hlatshwayo

Marked 9.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The terraces16 Nov 2026

The crowd has taken to Luther Williams

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match14 Nov 2026

SuperSport United see off University of Pretoria

Three points for SuperSport United, 1‑0 the final word against University of Pretoria in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad16 Nov 2026

No hiding place for Daniel Restrepo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Restrepo, and the manager let it.

Player ratings16 Nov 2026

Daniel Restrepo shuts the door

Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings16 Nov 2026

Nothing got past Njabulo Blom

15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

In brief

Back issues
14 Edition

The SuperSport United Sentinel

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad2 Nov 2026

A fracture rules Erick Lorch out for 33 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason SuperSport United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market2 Nov 2026

Mandla Mphela asks to leave SuperSport United

“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 Nov 2026

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo raises the bar for SuperSport United

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at SuperSport United heard it as anything else.

Player ratings2 Nov 2026

Sifiso Billiat runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Tempers go at SuperSport United

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo 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.

Squad2 Nov 2026

No hiding place for Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo, and the manager let it.

Match31 Oct 2026

Mamelodi Sundowns take the points off SuperSport United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad2 Nov 2026

6 new faces, and SuperSport United are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The terraces2 Nov 2026

The spotlight tightens on Mandla Hlatshwayo

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

In brief

10 Edition

The SuperSport United Sentinel

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces5 Oct 2026

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 26 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Market5 Oct 2026

Mandla Mphela asks to leave SuperSport United

“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.

Squad5 Oct 2026

Tempers go at SuperSport United

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo 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.

Player ratings5 Oct 2026

Khama Tau runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad5 Oct 2026

Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keagan Dala 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.

Squad5 Oct 2026

The manager makes an example of Mandla Hlatshwayo

“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.

Match3 Oct 2026

Free State Stars take the points off SuperSport United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad5 Oct 2026

A month that belonged to Sifiso Billiat

The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at SuperSport United who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.

Player ratings5 Oct 2026

Mandla Hlatshwayo leaves them behind him

Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

In brief

6 Edition

The SuperSport United Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad7 Sep 2026

Siyabonga Mothiba keeps SuperSport United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market7 Sep 2026

Mandla Mphela asks to leave SuperSport United

“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.

Squad7 Sep 2026

Tempers go at SuperSport United

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo 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.

Squad7 Sep 2026

Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keagan Dala 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.

Squad7 Sep 2026

The manager makes an example of Mandla Hlatshwayo

“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.

Market7 Sep 2026

Golden Arrows expected to open talks for Rivaldo Kekana

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. SuperSport United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Player ratings7 Sep 2026

Thamsanqa Tau could not find anything

4.84. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

Market7 Sep 2026

Experience through the door at SuperSport United

Daniel Restrepo arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.

Player ratings7 Sep 2026

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

1 Edition

The SuperSport United Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market3 Aug 2026

Inter Miami CF come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and SuperSport United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market3 Aug 2026

Mandla Mphela asks to leave SuperSport United

“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.

Market3 Aug 2026

Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at SuperSport United hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Tempers go at SuperSport United

Sifiso Billiat 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 Aug 2026

Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keagan Dala 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.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Keagan Dala knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at SuperSport United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief