The clubs have shaken hands with Platinum Stars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Tsiki Ntsabeleng may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Black Aces will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Everything agreed with Kaizer Chiefs, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Squad5 Jun 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. Bloemfontein Celtic have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Simphiwe Selepe is on it.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Black Aces than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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 The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.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.
“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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Black Aces have done the hard part with Bidvest Wits, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to Platinum Stars this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bongani Zwane is on 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Black Aces know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Black Aces. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Bidvest Wits moved on, Teboho Grobler reports back to Black Aces, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Black Aces close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 12 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.
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.
Polokwane City wanted more than $12.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad6 Sep 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.
5 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.
Black Aces have gone to Polokwane City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad30 Aug 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.
Gift Furman 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Black Aces will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Chippa United 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.
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.
The offer from Polokwane City for Ramahlwe Khune 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.
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.
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.
The offer went to Polokwane City this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Black Aces has been clear about where Teboho Grobler stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tusker waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Black Aces is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
The offer from Jomo Cosmos for Ramahlwe Khune 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Portimonense keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Simphiwe Selepe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Braga have kept their man, and Black Aces go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
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 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hlompho Mphela has written the date down.
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.
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.