It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.37 — 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Teboho Khune trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Reyaad Pieterse 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.
Marked 9.65 — 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.
Marked 8.20 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Kermit Manyama arrives from Platinum Stars with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bidvest Wits is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 14 and 24 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.
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.
Lebogang Kekana is 18, and Bidvest Wits have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
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.
Jomo Cosmos paid $6.0K and Platinum Stars took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Add another name to the list: Polokwane City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kermit Manyama. The answer from Platinum Stars has not changed — yet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kermit Manyama and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ramahlwe Modiba and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khama Kekana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Platinum Stars could ask drops and the wages Teboho Khune can ask rise.
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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.08, 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Teboho Khune will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Teboho Khune will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.62 — 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.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Khama Kekana has let it be known that he does not like the way Platinum Stars are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Teboho Billiat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
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.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Golden Arrows will make the call about Teboho Khune this week. Platinum Stars have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“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.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Platinum Stars have had the benefit of it.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gift Lorch knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Platinum Stars lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Keagan Billiat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 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 Platinum Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.