“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.
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.
Itumeleng Zwane 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 in one match, Teboho Ngcobo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Black Aces and Ajax Cape Town.
It finished 4‑2, and it was Teboho Ngcobo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Black Aces.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phakamani Mahlambi 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bradley Jali has his answer from Black Aces; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Player ratings3 assists and not a goal for Bradley Jali
The dugoutBradley Jali knocks on the manager’s door
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.
Out, 0‑1 to Orlando Pirates, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Itumeleng Zwane 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bongani Mkhize and Black Aces agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
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.” Andile Jali, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutEvidence Phiri has become a man the manager trusts
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bradley Jali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Black Aces the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
At 19 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.
Black Aces offered $15.0K; Platinum Stars said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phakamani Mahlambi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Jomo Cosmos have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
7 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.
Add another name to the list: Bidvest Wits have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Teboho Grobler. The answer from Black Aces has not changed — yet.
Itumeleng Zwane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Black Aces
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.30 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
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.
Jayden Adams and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phakamani Mahlambi 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“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.
4 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.
Itumeleng Zwane 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Phakamani Mahlambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Black Aces is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Teboho Ngcobo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
Minute 86, against Platinum Stars, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
10 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.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bradley Jali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Black Aces the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Kaizer Chiefs 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.
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.
Jayden Adams 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Phakamani Mahlambi 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. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kaizer Chiefs 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.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phakamani Mahlambi 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 was up, the win was priced in, and then Bidvest Wits scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“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.
Itumeleng Zwane 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 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thamsanqa Furman and Black Aces agree another 1 years.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bongani Lorch is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
The dugout20 Sep 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 1‑2 Andile Jali left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
University of Pretoria will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, 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 7.96 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.99, and involved in 3 of his side's goals.
The deal that would have taken Bradley Jali to Polokwane City has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Black Aces with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Jayden Adams 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. Bradley Jali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Black Aces the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$22.0K 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 Phakamani Mahlambi 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. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramahlwe Khune and Black Aces agree another 3 years.
The dugout16 Aug 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 0‑2 Andile Jali left the room before anybody could ask which.
Itumeleng Zwane 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phakamani Mahlambi 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 name of Ramahlwe Khune has come up in conversations Black Aces were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Black Aces have made the call to Free State Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
“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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Teboho Ngcobo signs something — a contract at Black Aces or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The offer from Bidvest Wits for Teboho Grobler 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.
“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.
Black Aces had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sporting CP, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Jayden Adams 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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 Phakamani Mahlambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Jomo Cosmos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ramahlwe Khune. The answer from Black Aces has not changed — yet.
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.
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.
Itumeleng Zwane 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Thabo Mile
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Jayden Adams 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Phakamani Mahlambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jayden Adams 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Itumeleng Zwane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andile Jali after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A Black Aces teenager takes the young player award
Bongani Zwane is 17, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Jayden Adams 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.
Minute 93, against Chippa United, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lebogang Mokotjo and Black Aces agree another 3 years.
A 1‑1 draw with Chippa United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout1 Mar 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.” Andile Jali chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Simphiwe Selepe 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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 0‑1 Andile Jali left the room before anybody could ask which.
The offer from Maritzburg United for Teboho Grobler 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.
Jayden Adams 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Itumeleng Zwane 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. Defensa y Justicia have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Black Aces have made the call to Atletico Nacional. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It needed Tsiki Ntsabeleng to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Ajax Cape Town, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
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.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Phakamani Mahlambi 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Itumeleng Zwane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Phakamani Mahlambi. 2‑0 against Bidvest Wits, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
10 combined actions and 7.91. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Mamelodi Sundowns go through and Black Aces go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Jayden Adams 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.
Position 14, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
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.
Phakamani Mahlambi 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Itumeleng Zwane 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 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.