40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Platinum Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1 for Andile Zungu, marked 7.24, 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.
Andile Jali 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.
Andile Jali 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.
“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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Vilakazi 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.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Samkelo Mzolo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Platinum Stars and Black Aces.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Andile Jali was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Peter Guinari 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 Samkelo Mzolo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Maritzburg United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2‑5 against Mamelodi Sundowns, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Samkelo Mzolo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Platinum Stars and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Guinari 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 words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Andile Jali 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Peter Guinari 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Platinum Stars told Elkanah Godgift something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bongani Khune did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Peter Guinari 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 easiest signature of my career.” Hlompho Phiri and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Platinum Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Orlando Pirates for Ignacio Rodríguez 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Tau 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 ratings28 Aug 2028
Samkelo Mzolo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from University of Pretoria for Themba 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hlompho Phiri is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Andile Jali 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 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.
A 1‑0 win over Chippa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bongani Khune is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 32 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Peter Guinari 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
A conversation is coming this week. Platinum Stars will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Guinari 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zakhele Shabangu and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Peter Guinari 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Platinum Stars have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Tau 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Platinum Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Erick Mokoena 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erick Mokoena 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.
Khama Vilakazi 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 given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Platinum Stars know it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Themba Tau will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Platinum Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Platinum Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Erick Mokoena 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platinum Stars 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bloemfontein Celtic left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Vilakazi 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platinum Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Erick Mokoena 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 Feb 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Mendes 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.
At 22 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Themba Tau trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Platinum Stars and SuperSport United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 22 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Vilakazi 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. Mandla Khune did not need any: 8.39, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad6 Dec 2027
At 21, Mandla Khune is already the best thing here
An average of 7.23 in a first team he is several years too young for. Platinum Stars have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Erick Mokoena 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 Platinum Stars and Chippa United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mandla Khune. 4‑2 against Chippa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Andile Jali 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 performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Vilakazi 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Erick Mokoena
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Erick Mokoena has come out of that comparison in the side, and Platinum Stars have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hlompho Phiri signs something — a contract at Platinum Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
At 21, Mandla Khune is already the best thing here
An average of 7.12 in a first team he is several years too young for. Platinum Stars have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Peter Guinari 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ignacio Rodríguez 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Platinum Stars and SuperSport United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Vilakazi 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.
“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 Platinum Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A brace, and Mandla Khune takes the afternoon — 8.47
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mandla Khune provided it, and the 8.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Platinum Stars know 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hlompho Phiri and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Guinari 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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Percy Mokoena 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Erick Mokoena at his very best
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Percy Mokoena at his very best
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Erick Mokoena 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.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.65, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Platinum Stars know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Mendes 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.
He is 20, and nobody at Platinum Stars signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Platinum Stars is running low.
The deal that would have taken Luther Billiat to University of Pretoria has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Platinum Stars with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Percy Billiat 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.
Bongani 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Platinum Stars is running low.
Erick Mokoena 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.
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Rodríguez 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Platinum Stars 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Percy 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platinum Stars can pretend not to have heard.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Platinum Stars know it.