Marked for Peter Miheso
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match8 Mar 2034
A 1‑0 win over Nairobi United, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings13 Mar 2034
John Omurwa could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.78
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.78, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match8 Mar 2034
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and John Omurwa decided nobody was going anywhere. Nairobi United had no time left to answer.
Player ratings13 Mar 2034
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Musawenkosi Madonsela provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match11 Mar 2034
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad13 Mar 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mara Sugar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2034
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Peter Miheso and Mara Sugar agree another 3 years.
The terraces13 Mar 2034
At 18 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.
Match11 Mar 2034
Kenya Police made Mara Sugar work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces12 Sep 2033
Anger at Mara Sugar 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.
Squad12 Sep 2033
A knee injury of the worst kind for Timothy Kipkirui
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mara Sugar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Sep 2033
1‑5 against Sofapaka, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match10 Sep 2033
No end in sight to Mara Sugar's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mara Sugar has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 Sep 2033
George Juma 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 Mara Sugar can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Sep 2033
No clean sheets in sight for Mara Sugar
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad12 Sep 2033
Kwenzakwenkosi Mbatha 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.
Match10 Sep 2033
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mara Sugar and Sofapaka, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Transfer targets12 Sep 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KCB have kept their man, and Mara Sugar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces23 May 2033
Supporters organise against the Mara Sugar 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.
Match21 May 2033
The wait goes on for Mara Sugar
11 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.
Match21 May 2033
Beaten 1‑5 by Bandari, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market23 May 2033
James Masika 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 Mara Sugar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 May 2033
Kwenzakwenkosi Mbatha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 May 2033
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mara Sugar and Bandari in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The dugout23 May 2033
Peter Miheso gets it from the manager
“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.
Boardroom23 May 2033
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout23 May 2033
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
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Squad
Beaten 5 times: a bad day for Simon Masaka
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Squad
George Juma falls out with a teammate over standards
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Looking ahead
Mara Sugar take on the side everybody is chasing
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Apr 2033
Beaten 0‑5 by Tusker, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad4 Apr 2033
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ibrahim Ochieng and Mara Sugar agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Apr 2033
Simon Masaka 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.
Boardroom4 Apr 2033
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout4 Apr 2033
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad4 Apr 2033
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
Squad4 Apr 2033
A place in the month's best eleven for Peter Miheso
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Peter Miheso has come out of that comparison in the side, and Mara Sugar have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout4 Apr 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Collins Omurwa, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Apr 2033
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout21 Mar 2033
Timothy Mulee: 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.” Mara Sugar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Mar 2033
Simon Masaka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings21 Mar 2033
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Mar 2033
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“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.
Match19 Mar 2033
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Ulinzi Stars came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market21 Mar 2033
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kwenzakwenkosi Mbatha’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout21 Mar 2033
Ibrahim Mulee has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mara Sugar 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.
Player ratings21 Mar 2033
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 11 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout21 Mar 2033
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Feb 2033
It had gone 31 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
The terraces28 Feb 2033
Anger at Mara Sugar 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.
Boardroom28 Feb 2033
Mara Sugar interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Squad28 Feb 2033
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings28 Feb 2033
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.40, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad28 Feb 2033
Simon Masaka 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.
Match26 Feb 2033
Three points for Mara Sugar, 2‑1 the final word against Bidco United in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces28 Feb 2033
The crowd has taken to James Okoth
At 18 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jan 2033
“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 Mara Sugar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Simon Masaka 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.
Squad10 Jan 2033
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Peter Miheso and Mara Sugar agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2033
Mara Sugar asked and Gor Mahia 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 dugout10 Jan 2033
Simon Masaka 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.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Words at Mara Sugar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Juma 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 targets10 Jan 2033
A loan move for Nicholas Olunga is in the works
Mara Sugar have made the call to Kariobangi Sharks. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout10 Jan 2033
Kenneth Olunga has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mara Sugar 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
Crisis
The terraces21 Jun 2032
The mood at Mara Sugar has turned into something else
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.
Match19 Jun 2032
13 matches without a win for Mara Sugar
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Mara Sugar are no longer polite ones.
Match21 Jun 2032
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market21 Jun 2032
“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.
Player ratings21 Jun 2032
Amos Mulee, 17, steals the show — 8.52
Marked 8.52 at 17, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
The deal with Sofapaka is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad21 Jun 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mara Sugar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Jun 2032
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mara Sugar and Mathare United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match19 Jun 2032
2‑4 to Mathare United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.