94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Black Aces lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Black Aces will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Black Aces 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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Black Aces will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Black Aces is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$51.0K on the table at Polokwane City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thulani Mabaso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stockport County have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Keagan 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.
Mamelodi Sundowns have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 147 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thulani Mabaso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Black Aces asked and Aston Villa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mamelodi Sundowns have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kagiso Malinga 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 Khune and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Rivaldo Tau's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody at Black Aces 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.
Position 5, 53 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Black Aces they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Black Aces have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Evidence Mothiba 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Portsmouth have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Black Aces, another week without a signature from Evidence Mothiba.
Slavia Prague have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Black Aces is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siyabonga Mabena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Black Aces told Evidence Mothiba something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Black Aces, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Erick Mahlangu are not good
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Black Aces lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Black Aces is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siyabonga Mabena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Black Aces lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 53 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
4 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Black Aces they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Siyabonga Mabena 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.
In brief
MatchErick Modiba among the goals in a wild afternoon
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Black Aces lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
“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.
Marked 9.92 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Erick Modiba. 3‑2 against Platinum Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Erick Mokotjo, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Black Aces lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Black Aces they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siyabonga Mabena 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.
Keagan 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Kaizer Chiefs had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It needed Erick Modiba to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Kaizer Chiefs, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Erick Mokotjo chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
Jomo Cosmos will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Black Aces were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 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.
“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.
Black Aces had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Newell's Old Boys, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thulani Mabaso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
110 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Black Aces lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Black Aces people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 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.
The deal with Bylis is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Black Aces had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Independiente, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Black Aces lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Black Aces is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Newell's Old Boys keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Siyabonga Mabena 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.
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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kermit Mkhize reports back to Black Aces with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siyabonga Mabena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Black Aces asked and San Lorenzo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
A 1‑0 win over University of Pretoria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A mark of 7.85, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Erick Mokotjo, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Siyabonga Mabena 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Itumeleng Furman is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sazi Gumbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Erick Modiba to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Erick Mokotjo chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Out, 1‑3 to Kaizer Chiefs, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Erick Modiba takes the afternoon — 8.82
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Erick Modiba provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Siyabonga Mabena did not need any: 8.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kermit Mkhize reports back to Black Aces with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Black Aces and University of Pretoria in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Erick Modiba. 4‑2 against University of Pretoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thulani Mabaso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Black Aces have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Black Aces close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $30.0K — a club that wants Themba Jali enough to be asked twice.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Orlando Pirates keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
$29.0K was the most the club would pay and SuperSport United were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Erick Mahlangu is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.