It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Dean Khune 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.
A 3‑7 beating by Bloemfontein Celtic was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A brace, and Khama Zwane takes the afternoon — 8.81
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Khama Zwane provided it, and the 8.81 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gift Motupa 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. 10 goals between Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Beaten 7 times, with 2 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keagan 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.
At 17 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
2‑5 to Mamelodi Sundowns, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Keagan Mokoena provided it, and the 8.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Free State Stars and Mamelodi Sundowns in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dean Khune 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 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Jali 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.
1‑5 to Platinum Stars, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Percy Jali did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Free State Stars and Platinum Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Khune 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.
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.