Ashley Du Preez 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.
A season average of 7.34 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Siyanda Msani 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 easiest signature of my career.” Luther Dolly and University of Pretoria agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Ashley Du Preez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Ashley Du Preez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siphelele Mkhulise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at University of Pretoria.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Golden Arrows next, and one man in the University of Pretoria dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Riyaaz Ismail and University of Pretoria agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luvoyo Phewa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Luke Daniels’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to University of Pretoria.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Black Aces will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. University of Pretoria were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings8 Sep 2031
A brace, and Risen Albert takes the afternoon — 9.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Risen Albert provided it, and the 9.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siyanda Msani 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.
Player ratings8 Sep 2031
Luke Daniels was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.92. 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. University of Pretoria will try again when the window opens; Ajax Cape Town may not be selling by then.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Luvoyo Phewa 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.
At 32 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
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 Muhammad Bower has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at University of Pretoria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ronwen Tau leaves University of Pretoria the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria 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 Siphelele Mkhulise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Assan Bojang has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
At 18 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vusi Sibiya and University of Pretoria agree another 2 years.
Muhammad Bower 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 had been thinking. Siyanda Msani 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.
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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria 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 Siphelele Mkhulise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luther Mabunda and University of Pretoria agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 University of Pretoria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Siyanda Msani 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.
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.
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 Muhammad Bower has written the date down.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khama Jali trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Luke Daniels 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siphelele Mkhulise 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.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Siyabonga Jali leaves University of Pretoria the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. University of Pretoria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ashley Du Preez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammad Bower trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason University of Pretoria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” University of Pretoria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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 Siyanda Msani is on it.
Something was said to Teboho Dolly and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Percy Tau trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” University of Pretoria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Teboho Dolly did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ashley Du Preez 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.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Luke Daniels was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.83. 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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Golden Arrows were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siphelele Mkhulise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 3‑1 win over Golden Arrows, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at University of Pretoria has to find a result from somewhere.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ashley Du Preez and University of Pretoria agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Veli Mothwa 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“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 dugout9 Dec 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 0‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Ronaldo Maarman had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Golden Arrows were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siphelele Mkhulise 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.
Riyaaz Ismail 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at University of Pretoria has to find a result from somewhere.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around University of Pretoria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Veli Mothwa 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.” Interim Coach after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at University of Pretoria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria 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 Siphelele Mkhulise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at University of Pretoria.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ashley Du Preez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and University of Pretoria needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at University of Pretoria 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around University of Pretoria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ntando Ngwenya is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria 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 University of Pretoria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at University of Pretoria can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around University of Pretoria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tshiamo Chiloane and University of Pretoria agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and University of Pretoria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siyanda Msani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Percy Tau
The dugoutTshiamo Chiloane loses the manager who believed in him
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” University of Pretoria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Veli Mothwa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Gozie Umeh 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jordan Allies trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Luther Lorch has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Teboho Dolly will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around University of Pretoria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. University of Pretoria will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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 had been thinking. Siphelele Mkhulise 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. University of Pretoria have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ntando Ngwenya is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luvoyo Phewa 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.
University of Pretoria asked and SuperSport United 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 easiest signature of my career.” Muhammad Bower and University of Pretoria agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siphelele Mkhulise 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mboniseni Mbandlwa and University of Pretoria agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lebogang Mokoena trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. University of Pretoria will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“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 University of Pretoria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Veli Mothwa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Siphelele Mkhulise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. University of Pretoria lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at University of Pretoria is running low.
Siphelele Mkhulise 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Siyanda Msani 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luther Lorch after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. University of Pretoria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Teboho Dolly, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Siphelele Mkhulise 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luvoyo Phewa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 17 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.
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at University of Pretoria.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.