2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.75, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Themba Dala, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.26
A mark of 8.26 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.10, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Mandla Mahlangu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.27. 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.
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.
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.10, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Themba Dala 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mandla Mahlangu. 2‑1 against Maritzburg United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kutlwano Letlhaku has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Nobody at Ajax Cape Town 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kermit Billiat. 2‑0 against Platinum Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Themba Dala did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
1 for Hlompho Lorch, marked 7.42, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An average of 7.08 in a first team he is several years too young for. Ajax Cape Town have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ajax Cape Town 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Themba Dala 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.
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kutlwano Letlhaku is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
0‑5 against SuperSport United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ajax Cape Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Themba Dala 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.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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 Ajax Cape Town 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.
2‑5 against Bidvest Wits, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Themba Dala 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Ajax Cape Town and Bidvest Wits, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 easiest signature of my career.” Itumeleng Grobler and Ajax Cape Town agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Themba Dala, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.24
A mark of 8.24 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ajax Cape Town and Bloemfontein Celtic in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
A mark of 8.22 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Themba Dala 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.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kutlwano Letlhaku has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Themba Dala, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.36
A mark of 8.36 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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 is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Themba Dala has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.35 — 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.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Dumisani Msibi: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Themba Dala 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Khama Manyama has improved at 26, 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.
Add another name to the list: Kano Pillars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dean Erasmus. The answer from Ajax Cape Town has not changed — yet.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sboniso Madonsela is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces6 Sep 2027
Ajax Cape Town spend $1.1M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.1M for Itumeleng Mothiba, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
Add another name to the list: Gor Mahia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thulani Modiba. The answer from Ajax Cape Town has not changed — yet.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Kwanele Nkabi has improved at 26, 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Keagan Zungu has come up in conversations Ajax Cape Town were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There were 86 minutes on the clock and University of Pretoria had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Ajax Cape Town did not stop to explain themselves.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Themba Dala did not need any: 8.23, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ajax Cape Town 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Ajax Cape Town.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sboniso Madonsela 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.
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Themba Dala, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.05
A mark of 8.05 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lwandiso Radebe is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Al Gaish will make the call about Kutlwano Letlhaku this week. Ajax Cape Town have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kutlwano Letlhaku did not need any: 8.34, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The name of Kutlwano Letlhaku has come up in conversations Ajax Cape Town were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Ajax Cape Town
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
At 21 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Themba Dala. 2‑0 against Polokwane City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hlompho Zungu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Themba Dala 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.
31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Mcebisi Langa 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.
The phone has started ringing about Thulani Modiba again, and this time the name on the line is KCB. Ajax Cape Town are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Keagan Zungu again, and this time the name on the line is Olympique Akbou. Ajax Cape Town are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
Add another name to the list: Chornomorets have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mandla Mahlangu. The answer from Ajax Cape Town has not changed — yet.
The chase for Sboniso Madonsela ended with $410.0K changing hands and Golden Arrows out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Themba Dala 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 terraces19 Jul 2027
Ajax Cape Town spend $410.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $410.0K for Sboniso Madonsela, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
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 offer from Fleetwood Town for Mandla Mahlangu 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.
Themba Dala 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Kamohelo Mareletse from Mamelodi Sundowns for $180.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
The chase for Dumisani Msibi ended with $330.0K changing hands and Golden Arrows out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
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 terraces28 Jun 2027
Ajax Cape Town spend $330.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $330.0K for Dumisani Msibi, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Andile Mothiba was one of the reasons people came, and $140.0K does not replace that by itself.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $400.0K has been paid because Bruce Bvuma is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bruce Bvuma and Ajax Cape Town agree another 2 years.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lwandiso Radebe is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Themba Dala 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.
In brief
SquadMcebisi Langa has improved at 25, which nobody expected
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Ajax Cape Town spend $530.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $530.0K for Mcebisi Langa, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Gift Ngcobo 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Themba Dala 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.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ajax Cape Town 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ajax Cape Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Themba Dala 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
In brief
SquadWords at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Muhammed Şengezer wants continental football; whether Basaksehir can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not 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 Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
A season average of 7.17 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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.
Muhammed Şengezer 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Basaksehir and Giresunspor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marked 8.52 — 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.
Andreas Skov Olsen 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mostafa Mohamed. 2‑1 against Fatih Karagumruk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ajax Cape Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ajax Cape Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.17, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
10 goals in 25 games at Basaksehir — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Basaksehir updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
9 goals in 21 games at Ajax Cape Town — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Basaksehir updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 season average of 7.17 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mandla Mahlangu and Ajax Cape Town agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Monnapule Saleng 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Gaziantep will replay every second of the added time for a week.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Muhammed Şengezer wants continental football; whether Basaksehir can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Muhammed Şengezer 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.
Three points for Basaksehir, 2‑1 the final word against Gaziantep in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dodô 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mostafa Mohamed provided it, and the 9.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Basaksehir are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
$1.8M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ronwen Hlatshwayo was one of the reasons people came, and $1.8M does not replace that by itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
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 Khama Manyama signs something — a contract at Ajax Cape Town or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
$7.5M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Bradley Phiri was one of the reasons people came, and $7.5M does not replace that by itself.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ajax Cape Town and Orlando Pirates, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A season average of 7.16 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Jomo Cosmos, and it could have been more.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A brace, and Bradley Phiri takes the afternoon — 9.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bradley Phiri provided it, and the 9.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from CS Constantine for Mandla Mahlangu 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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Themba Dala did not need any: 8.46, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Alanyaspor the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Basaksehir will enjoy reviewing.
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 Basaksehir 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
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Themba Dala’s exile
Two goals and a mark of 9.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from AEL Larisa for Bradley Phiri 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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Themba Dala did not need any: 8.39, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
A brace, and Themba Dala takes the afternoon — 8.65
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Themba Dala provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The phone has started ringing about Mandla Mahlangu again, and this time the name on the line is Coventry City. Ajax Cape Town are listening politely and promising nothing.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Gift Ngcobo 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.
The offer from Atromitos for Keagan Tau 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.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Sifiso Kekana was one of the reasons people came, and $200.0K does not replace that by itself.
The name of Kutlwano Letlhaku has come up in conversations Ajax Cape Town were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Bradley Phiri 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.
Bidvest Wits pay $200.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Themba Dala, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.47
A mark of 8.47 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
At 20 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Mandla Mahlangu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.57. 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.
Andreas Skov Olsen 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 phone has started ringing about Ivan Brnić again, and this time the name on the line is Kayserispor. Basaksehir are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Basaksehir will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Berat Özdemir has his answer from Basaksehir; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mandla Mahlangu. 3‑2 against Free State Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ajax Cape Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
15 goals and a season average of 7.28. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Gift Ngcobo 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.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
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.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Basaksehir will not try tonight.
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.
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Two goals and a mark of 8.27 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mustafa Hekimoğlu did not need any: 8.05, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Mustafa Hekimoğlu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dodô 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.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
SquadA Basaksehir teenager takes the young player award
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Kaizer Chiefs the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Ajax Cape Town will enjoy reviewing.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Themba Dala did not need any: 8.16, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 Dec 2026
Gift Ngcobo 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.
At 20 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.
A mark of 8.13 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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.
Ashley Du Preez 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.
At 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kermit Billiat. 2‑0 against Chippa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Kermit Tau 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Basaksehir, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadWords at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kutlwano Letlhaku did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Gift Ngcobo 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.
At 20 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.
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
5 new faces, and Ajax Cape Town 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.
Andreas Skov Olsen 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
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 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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kutlwano Letlhaku did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 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.
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Ajax Cape Town man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Bradley Phiri was the best thing in any of them.
“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 Ajax Cape Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Sifiso Kekana reports back to Ajax Cape Town with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The offer from Dynamo Douala for Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ajax Cape Town can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Kutlwano Letlhaku from Mamelodi Sundowns for $660.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
At 20 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Mandla Mahlangu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ajax Cape Town.
Squad31 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Ajax Cape Town 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Three points for Basaksehir, 1‑0 the final word against Istanbulspor in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakub Kałuziński 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 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Trabzonspor spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The offer from Ismaily for Emin Bayram 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.
Muhammed Şengezer 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Themba Dala. 2‑1 against Trabzonspor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Themba Dala has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Basaksehir will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Onur Ergün 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 offer from Maritzburg United for Bradley Phiri 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.
He is going to Basaksehir, the club has $4.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Gift Ngcobo 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.
It needed Mandla Mahlangu to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Chippa United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Themba Dala has just signed for Basaksehir, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20, and nobody at Basaksehir signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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.
8.11. 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.
A conversation is coming this week. Basaksehir will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad17 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Basaksehir 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.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.48 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
A performance of 9.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kermit Billiat 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.
Themba Dala 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 Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Ngcobo 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ajax Cape Town has been clear about where Siyabonga Williams stands, which is more than many ever get.