Marked for Eric Rupia
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Bryson Jerome out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gor Mahia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Felix Oluoch
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Felix Oluoch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Apr 2029
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.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Paul Ochuoga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Gor Mahia
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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Eric Rupia makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market2 Apr 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Daniel Sakari has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Looking ahead2 Apr 2029
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Bryton Onyona’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Gor Mahia needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad12 Feb 2029
70 days out for Bryson Jerome after a fracture
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.
Match10 Feb 2029
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Muranga Seal, and it could have been more.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.70, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market12 Feb 2029
Daniel Sakari 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 Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Feb 2029
Nobody wants to play Gor Mahia right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Frank Odhiambo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Ben Stanley Omondi 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Frank Odhiambo 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jan 2028
The knee: Mark Shaban out for 25 days
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gor Mahia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market17 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and APS Bomet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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 Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Jan 2028
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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Enock Morrison 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Enock Morrison has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eric Rupia, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Lewis Bandi 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 Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 Jan 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Frank Odhiambo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.