Marked for Kermit Mkhize
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Mar 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lebogang Kekana
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom31 Mar 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Platinum Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Chabatsane 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 dugout31 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Mar 2031
Lebogang Kekana damages knee ligaments — 76 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.
The terraces24 Mar 2031
Supporters organise against the Platinum Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Bongani Tau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lebogang Zwane, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Mar 2031
“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 dugout10 Mar 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad10 Mar 2031
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Kermit Mkhize 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.
Market10 Mar 2031
Thabang Molefe is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Platinum Stars has been clear about where Thabang Molefe stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gift Dala and Platinum Stars agree another 3 years.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
Mpho Chabatsane has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
Thabang Molefe knocks on the manager's door
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Jan 2031
14 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match18 Jan 2031
No end in sight to Platinum Stars's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Platinum Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Match18 Jan 2031
Beaten 1‑8 by Mamelodi Sundowns, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market20 Jan 2031
The offer from Black Aces for Simphiwe Dumisa 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.
Market20 Jan 2031
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.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Kermit Mkhize and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Jan 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Bradley Dolly
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match4 Jan 2031
No end in sight to Platinum Stars's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Platinum Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market6 Jan 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Polokwane City waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Platinum Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market6 Jan 2031
Kermit Mkhize hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platinum Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Jan 2031
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad6 Jan 2031
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Keagan Mphela, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Jan 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mpho Chabatsane and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Dec 2030
Bradley Dolly damages knee ligaments — 46 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Market9 Dec 2030
“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.
Match7 Dec 2030
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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mpho Chabatsane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match7 Dec 2030
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
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 Mpho Chabatsane is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Dec 2030
Bradley Dolly damages knee ligaments — 53 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
The terraces2 Dec 2030
Supporters organise against the Platinum Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match30 Nov 2030
A 0‑4 beating by Kaizer Chiefs was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market2 Dec 2030
“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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match30 Nov 2030
No end in sight to Platinum Stars's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Platinum Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Match30 Nov 2030
3 matches without a goal for Platinum Stars
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad2 Dec 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Oct 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Bradley Dolly
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Bongani Tau beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Marked 8.03 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match19 Oct 2030
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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Chabatsane 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 terraces21 Oct 2030
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ramahlwe Manyama 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.
Match19 Oct 2030
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then University of Pretoria scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match19 Oct 2030
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Oct 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Bradley Dolly
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces14 Oct 2030
Supporters organise against the Platinum Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market14 Oct 2030
“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.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mpho Chabatsane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Oct 2030
3 matches without a goal for Platinum Stars
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad14 Oct 2030
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.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.40 on the card, and the Platinum Stars support went home talking about one name.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
Morgan Mphela gets picked when it counts
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 Morgan Mphela is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Sep 2030
The knee: Bradley Dolly out for 130 days
130 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.
The terraces16 Sep 2030
Anger at Platinum Stars spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
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.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Marked 7.80 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match14 Sep 2030
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Chabatsane 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 terraces16 Sep 2030
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Tebogo Moreri 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.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Aug 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets26 Aug 2030
$660.0K 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.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Transfer targets26 Aug 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Kermit Mkhize and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match24 Aug 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Aug 2030
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets26 Aug 2030
Bidvest Wits 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jul 2030
27 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.
Market29 Jul 2030
The offer from Black Aces for Khumoitsile Rathokolo 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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mpho Chabatsane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Platinum Stars asked and Mamelodi Sundowns 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 dugout29 Jul 2030
“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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Ramahlwe Manyama 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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ronwen Mokoena and Platinum Stars agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
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.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom15 Jul 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Platinum Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
Platinum Stars asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Luther Khune in a row with a teammate
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.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
Bidvest Wits 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 dugout15 Jul 2030
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 dugout15 Jul 2030
Ramahlwe Manyama has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
Kermit Mkhize knocks on the manager's door
“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.
Market15 Jul 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mandla Modiba signs something — a contract at Platinum Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Jul 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Black Aces waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Platinum Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
Gift Mphela has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Platinum Stars can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
$82.0K settles it between the clubs for Dumisani Msibi
Jomo Cosmos have accepted the money. What Platinum Stars do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market8 Jul 2030
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.
The dugout8 Jul 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 Jul 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mpho Chabatsane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
Platinum Stars asked and Orlando Pirates said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Kermit Mkhize 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Jul 2030
“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.
Transfer targets1 Jul 2030
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Platinum Stars have done the hard part with University of Pretoria, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Khumoitsile Rathokolo 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.
Market1 Jul 2030
Black Aces are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Platinum Stars will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Transfer targets1 Jul 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Jul 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gift Williams commits to Platinum Stars for another 3 years.
The dugout1 Jul 2030
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 dugout1 Jul 2030
The manager's exit leaves Keagan Mphela exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Keagan Mphela is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
Gift Mphela has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Platinum Stars can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 Jun 2030
“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.
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Bongani Tau in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bradley Zungu commits to Platinum Stars for another 2 years.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
Platinum Stars asked and Kaizer Chiefs 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 dugout3 Jun 2030
The manager makes an example of Kermit Mkhize
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
Platinum Stars have made the call to Bidvest Wits. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces27 May 2030
Supporters organise against the Platinum Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market27 May 2030
“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.
Squad27 May 2030
Keagan Mphela 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.
Squad27 May 2030
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
The dugout27 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Luther Khune
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout27 May 2030
Kermit Mkhize asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout27 May 2030
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 Lebogang Zwane is on it.
Market27 May 2030
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Thabo Nkwana leaves Platinum Stars the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Boardroom27 May 2030
22 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom20 May 2030
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Platinum Stars is running low.
Market20 May 2030
“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.
Squad20 May 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mpho Chabatsane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 May 2030
Kermit Mkhize 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 dugout20 May 2030
“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.
The dugout20 May 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Kermit Mphela'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.
The dugout20 May 2030
Pheko Phago knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pheko Phago trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market20 May 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Khumoitsile Rathokolo signs something — a contract at Platinum Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout20 May 2030
Ramahlwe Manyama has become a man the manager trusts
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 May 2030
Bradley Vilakazi damages knee ligaments — 91 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
The dugout13 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Platinum Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 May 2030
Only the photograph left for Kermit Mphela
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kermit Mphela will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout13 May 2030
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Squad13 May 2030
Keagan Mphela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 May 2030
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
The dugout13 May 2030
Mpho Chabatsane has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout13 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bradley Vilakazi, and the manager let it.
Market13 May 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Platinum Stars, another week without a signature from Kermit Mkhize.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Apr 2030
119 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.
Market15 Apr 2030
Only the photograph left for Kermit Mphela
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kermit Mphela will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Platinum Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
“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.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
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Squad15 Apr 2030
Bongani 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mpho Chabatsane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
The manager makes an example of Kermit Mkhize
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
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 Mpho Chabatsane is on it.
Market15 Apr 2030
The name of Mandla Modiba keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Platinum Stars say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
Gift Mphela has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Platinum Stars can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Apr 2030
“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.
Market8 Apr 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Platinum Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
Mandla Furman: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Platinum Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Apr 2030
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Keagan Mphela, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Keagan Mphela 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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
Matías Esquivel has become a man the manager trusts
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.