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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
Position 16 and 3 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces 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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fawaaz Basadien was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ntsikelelo Nyauza and Black Aces agree another 2 years.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ntsikelelo Nyauza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Black Aces has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Black Aces until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Ronwen Jali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Black Aces can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Mamelodi Sundowns wanted more than $5.2M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Black Aces have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Black Aces have done the hard part with University of Pretoria, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
In brief
The terracesThe town asked, and Black Aces paid $1.7M
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Black Aces have done the hard part with Kaizer Chiefs, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ntsikelelo Nyauza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
$290.0K on the table at Golden Arrows. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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.
Black Aces have made the call to Orlando Pirates. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ntsikelelo Nyauza 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Percy Khune signs something — a contract at Black Aces or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Position 16 and 8 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.
“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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Solly Khunyedi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bongani Mabunda and Black Aces agree another 3 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Bongani Mokoena 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 Ntsikelelo Nyauza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Black Aces says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 34, with 2 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
In brief
The dugoutMandla Dolly knocks on the manager’s door
Ntsikelelo Nyauza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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 Black Aces 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Black Aces dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 0‑4 Mandla Modiba left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Black Aces are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Black Aces until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
6 goals in one match, Themba Jali on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Black Aces and University of Pretoria.
2‑4 to University of Pretoria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Erick Dala 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.