Marked for Erick Williams
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
88 days out for Alagie Sanyang after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ajax Cape Town will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ajax Cape Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market23 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match21 Oct 2028
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ajax Cape Town are no longer polite ones.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Luther Tau has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Itumeleng Williams 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Erick Williams and Ajax Cape Town agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Sep 2028
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match13 Sep 2028
A 2‑2 win over Golden Arrows, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
What a way to start for Erick Williams — 7.38
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.38 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Market18 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 15 actions, 6.27, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Sifiso Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abubeker Nasir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Ajax Cape Town 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.
Market22 May 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 Ajax Cape Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 May 2028
Khama Mabunda 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 dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Sifiso Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Itumeleng Williams 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 dugout22 May 2028
Hlompho Williams has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ajax Cape Town 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 dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Trevor Mokwena, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 May 2028
Rivaldo Khune 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 Rivaldo Khune trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Bongani Mabunda’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.