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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Mothiba 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sifiso Mokotjo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Mandla Grobler is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable 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.
Mandla Grobler, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Platinum Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bradley Mothiba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Williams Dolly has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mandla Grobler. 2‑0 against University of Pretoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and University of Pretoria were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“I did not go to Western Sydney Wanderers to sit and watch. I want to come back to Platinum Stars and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Andile Erasmus
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kermit Williams 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.
Something was said to Mandla Grobler and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platinum Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Platinum Stars will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Kermit Williams 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sifiso Mokotjo after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.64, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Mandla Grobler, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Platinum Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mandla Grobler has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Kermit Williams at his very best
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Itumeleng Kekana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Platinum Stars 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Platinum Stars have done the hard part with Golden Arrows, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lucan Louw is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
The dugoutMandla Mokotjo asks for a word with the manager
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Platinum Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Maritzburg United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Platinum Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Mandla Tau 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.
A loan enquiry to Orlando Pirates: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Platinum Stars have done the hard part with Orlando Pirates, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Kermit Williams 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 Jul 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Mothiba 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. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Platinum Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kermit Williams trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mandla Mokoena
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Platinum Stars have done the hard part with Golden Arrows, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Orlando Pirates is saying, and nobody at Platinum Stars is enjoying the guessing.
Mandla Tau 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.
Nobody at Platinum Stars 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Platinum Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Kwenzakwenkosi Mbatha has written the date down.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Platinum Stars have done the hard part with Orlando Pirates, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Kermit Williams 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 phone has started ringing about Andile Jali again, and this time the name on the line is Ajax Cape Town. Platinum Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Mothiba 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mandla Grobler and Platinum Stars agree another 5 years.
Platinum Stars have made the call to Racing Club. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Kermit Williams 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.
14 games, 5 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Platinum Stars now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
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.
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 Kermit Williams is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Platinum Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Platinum Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Simphiwe Selepe 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 Nkosi Gumede was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mandla Tau signs something — a contract at Platinum Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platinum Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Mandla Tau 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nkosi Gumede 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Platinum Stars, and 12 appearances in 36 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platinum Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Mothiba has written the date down.
Simphiwe Selepe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Mothiba 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.
“I watch every Platinum Stars game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Free State Stars runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 Kermit Williams is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Platinum Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Boikanyo Komane is 35, with 8 appearances behind him, and Platinum Stars will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platinum Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Teboho Phiri and Platinum Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Mothiba 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.
“I did not go to Gor Mahia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Platinum Stars and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Mothobi Mvala'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Platinum Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platinum Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mandla Grobler did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Alpha Onyango’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Gor Mahia.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Alpha Onyango was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Gor Mahia is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nkosi Gumede was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Platinum Stars is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Platinum Stars, and 5 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hlompho Mothiba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Simphiwe Selepe 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nkosi Gumede 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.
Everybody at Platinum Stars saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Platinum Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
4 goals in 7 games at Gor Mahia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Platinum Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Mandla Grobler, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73
A mark of 7.73 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Clinton Mwendwa on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Kermit Dala had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Bloemfontein Celtic were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ramahlwe Mkhize is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Nkosi Gumede 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.
“I watch every Platinum Stars game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gor Mahia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Mothobi Mvala is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lewis Bandi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
0‑2 to Tusker, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Mandla Grobler is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Gor Mahia will try very hard not to make too much of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout8 Mar 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 Clinton Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fidel Origa 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Enock Morrison 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“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 Gor Mahia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Daniel Sakari has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Kenya Police will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Gor Mahia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paul Ochuoga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo 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.
Alpha Onyango 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shariff Musa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Clinton Mwendwa on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Platinum Stars, and 2 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Bloemfontein Celtic arrived with $4.5M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
8 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Platinum Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Luther Grobler has gone, the accounts have $4.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“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.
The offer from Bidco United for Mark Shaban 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. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 21 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kano Pillars have kept their man, and Gor Mahia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Kevin Omondi again, and this time the name on the line is Muranga Seal. Gor Mahia are listening politely and promising nothing.
Everybody at Gor Mahia saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Alpha Onyango 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.
In brief
SquadShariff Musa falls out with a teammate over standards
Transfer targetsA loan move for Akpos Godbless is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Efe Obiomo is in the works
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shariff Musa 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of David Simiyu
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Williams Dolly did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
An average of 7.03 in a first team he is several years too young for. Platinum Stars have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nkosi Gumede 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Williams Dolly has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
He is 21 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.
A 2‑0 win over Black Aces, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match21 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Platinum Stars. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boikanyo Komane 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gor Mahia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mandla Grobler trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gor Mahia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo 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.
Alpha Onyango 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.
With 5 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
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.
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 Michael Kibwage has written the date down.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kariobangi Sharks left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Clinton Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Gor Mahia who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Shariff Musa 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 doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Gor Mahia know which stage they are at.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gor Mahia, another week without a signature from Kamohelo Mokotjo.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Shariff Musa's mistake
KCB made Gor Mahia work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo 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.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lewis Bandi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 20 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shariff Musa 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gor Mahia asked and Bendel Insurance said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 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 Gor Mahia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Gor Mahia asked and University of Pretoria said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Gor Mahia know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Frank Odhiambo has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Mathare United next, and one man in the Gor Mahia dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Tusker had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
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.
Mandla Tau 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Itumeleng Mphela has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Platinum Stars heard it as 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.
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 phone has started ringing about Mandla Grobler again, and this time the name on the line is Tusker. Platinum Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luther Grobler trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.