Marked for Gift Mkhize
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Nov 2030
Junaid Seedat 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 University of Pretoria can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Nov 2030
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.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Masindi Nemtajela 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 ratings11 Nov 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
A performance of 9.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Marked 8.60 — 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.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Marked 8.26 — 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.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Sibusiso Tau is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.20 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Oct 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
A one-man rearguard from Veli Mothwa
There were 7 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.
Market14 Oct 2030
Gift Mkhize has one foot out of the door
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.
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 University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Oct 2030
Chippa United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Marked 8.35 — 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
“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.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Oct 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vusi Sibiya’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Sep 2030
A one-man rearguard from Veli Mothwa
There were 8 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.
Market16 Sep 2030
Only the photograph left for Gift Mkhize
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gift Mkhize will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around University of Pretoria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match14 Sep 2030
Beaten 3‑5, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Veli Mothwa 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 University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
A performance of 8.92 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Marked 8.85 — 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.
Squad16 Sep 2030
The manager makes an example of Siyanda Msani
“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.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. University of Pretoria lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
The terraces16 Sep 2030
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Aug 2030
Beaten 0‑4 by Mamelodi Sundowns, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The terraces12 Aug 2030
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 32 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad12 Aug 2030
A one-man rearguard from Veli Mothwa
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.
Market12 Aug 2030
Gift Mkhize has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Masindi Nemtajela 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.
Market12 Aug 2030
The shirt still fits. Siyabonga Grobler is back at University of Pretoria, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market12 Aug 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market12 Aug 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 Jul 2030
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.
Market22 Jul 2030
The bid was some way short and University of Pretoria did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Veli Mothwa 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 University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Jul 2030
Black Aces are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. University of Pretoria will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Sanele Mhlangu 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 Sanele Mhlangu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 University of Pretoria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Jul 2030
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market1 Jul 2030
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.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Masindi Nemtajela 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.
Squad1 Jul 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jun 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 University of Pretoria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Jun 2030
The bid was some way short and University of Pretoria did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Jun 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.
Squad10 Jun 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 University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jun 2030
The medical room confirms 27 days on the sidelines for Eric Mbangossoum, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Feb 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 University of Pretoria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Feb 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.
Match9 Feb 2030
3 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Samuel Julies 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Junaid Seedat is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.36 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Marked 9.30 — 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.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Marked 9.14 — 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.
Match9 Feb 2030
A 2‑1 win over Free State Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jan 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.
Boardroom14 Jan 2030
The numbers do not look good at Gor Mahia
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Frank Odhiambo 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.
Market14 Jan 2030
The name of Giscard Mavoungou keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Gor Mahia say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad14 Jan 2030
“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.
Market14 Jan 2030
The clock does Giscard Mavoungou’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Gor Mahia could ask drops and the wages Giscard Mavoungou can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jan 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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Veli Mothwa 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 University of Pretoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Jan 2030
2‑4 to Orlando Pirates, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Luvoyo Phewa 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.
Loan watch14 Jan 2030
“I watch every University of Pretoria 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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
A season average of 7.20 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.