Marked for Teboho Dala
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jul 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around SuperSport United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market7 Jul 2036
“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 The request is on a desk at SuperSport United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jul 2036
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Percy Lorch 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 targets7 Jul 2036
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Jul 2036
Sunusi Audu 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 SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2036
Orlando Pirates have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad7 Jul 2036
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Banele Mnguni has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Boardroom7 Jul 2036
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 dugout7 Jul 2036
When it matters, Percy Lorch plays
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 May 2036
Bayanda Zulu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SuperSport United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 May 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Percy Lorch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 May 2036
Sunusi Audu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 May 2036
Donay Jansen gets picked when it counts
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 Donay Jansen is on it.
The dugout26 May 2036
Gift Mphela 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.
Squad26 May 2036
Gift Mphela: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one SuperSport United will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout26 May 2036
Rivaldo Phiri 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 Phiri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 May 2036
The manager makes Teboho Dala a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at SuperSport United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 May 2036
Sunusi Audu 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 SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 May 2036
When it matters, Dean Mphela plays
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.
Market19 May 2036
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what SuperSport United could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings18 Feb 2036
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.03, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Percy Lorch 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.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2036
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match16 Feb 2036
Golden Arrows left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
The manager makes an example of Erick Zwane
“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 ratings18 Feb 2036
Donay Jansen beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad18 Feb 2036
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Khama Furman commits to SuperSport United for another 3 years.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
When it matters, Percy Lorch plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Jan 2036
Jomo Cosmos will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. SuperSport United were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market7 Jan 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and University of Pretoria waiting with a shirt. Nobody at SuperSport United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings7 Jan 2036
Age has not caught Erick Zwane yet — 8.44
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.44 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market7 Jan 2036
“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 SuperSport United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jan 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tommy St. Jago and SuperSport United agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match5 Jan 2036
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now SuperSport United have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Awab Qurashi Mukhtar 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.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Sunusi Audu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings7 Jan 2036
Ninety minutes of Donay Jansen at his very best
Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at SuperSport United.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Nov 2035
Teboho Dala 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 SuperSport United can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Nov 2035
Only the photograph left for Sifiso Mokotjo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sifiso Mokotjo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around SuperSport United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Percy Lorch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Sunusi Audu 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 dugout19 Nov 2035
“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.
Market19 Nov 2035
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Percy Lorch’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Sunusi Audu gets picked when it counts
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 Sunusi Audu is on it.
Looking ahead19 Nov 2035
Mamelodi Sundowns next, and one man in the SuperSport United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Dean Mphela 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 SuperSport United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Jul 2035
A fracture rules Liam Marthinus out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason SuperSport United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Jul 2035
Ronwen Zungu 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 SuperSport United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Donay Jansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Percy Lorch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2035
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market16 Jul 2035
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what SuperSport United could get for him.
Market16 Jul 2035
The Percy Lorch story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Percy Lorch signs something — a contract at SuperSport United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Jul 2035
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 Sifiso Manyama is on it.
Squad16 Jul 2035
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and SuperSport United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Jun 2035
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad25 Jun 2035
37 days out for Banele Mnguni after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. SuperSport United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jun 2035
“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.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2035
The deal with Gor Mahia 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.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Percy Lorch 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 targets25 Jun 2035
SuperSport United asked and Orlando Pirates said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Sunusi Audu 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 SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bongani Mothiba and SuperSport United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout25 Jun 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramahlwe Hlatshwayo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom28 May 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at SuperSport United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad28 May 2035
Donay Jansen 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 SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2035
Percy Lorch 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.
Squad28 May 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Paul Mhlanga commits to SuperSport United for another 2 years.
Squad28 May 2035
The formation has left Paul Mhlanga behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. SuperSport United will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market28 May 2035
The Erick Zwane story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Erick Zwane signs something — a contract at SuperSport United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 May 2035
Donay Jansen 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Percy Lorch 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.
Market14 May 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Apr 2035
Only the photograph left for Mcebisi Langa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mcebisi Langa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around SuperSport United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Apr 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gift Mothiba commits to SuperSport United for another 2 years.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Donay Jansen 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.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Marthinus 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.
Boardroom9 Apr 2035
85% of the income goes out in wages at SuperSport United
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market9 Apr 2035
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout9 Apr 2035
“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 Apr 2035
Keagan Grobler 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 SuperSport United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Luciano Agüero has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at SuperSport United that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Mar 2035
Sifiso Mokotjo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SuperSport United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Mar 2035
Donay Jansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Mar 2035
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Percy Lorch 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 dugout26 Mar 2035
The manager makes an example of Teboho Dala
“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.
Market26 Mar 2035
The Percy Lorch story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Percy Lorch signs something — a contract at SuperSport United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
Sifiso Manyama has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at SuperSport United 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.
Market26 Mar 2035
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs SuperSport United money.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad26 Mar 2035
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and SuperSport United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Jan 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. SuperSport United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market15 Jan 2035
“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.
Market15 Jan 2035
The offer from Kaizer Chiefs for Mcebisi Langa was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad15 Jan 2035
Percy Lorch 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.
Squad15 Jan 2035
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; SuperSport United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valerenga have kept their man, and SuperSport United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match13 Jan 2035
Shaun Els scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Kaizer Chiefs, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Market15 Jan 2035
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Adam El Mallah has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at SuperSport United.
Squad15 Jan 2035
Liam Marthinus 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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Teboho Dala
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Player ratings
Shaun Els beats them one at a time
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Dec 2034
Adam El Mallah has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SuperSport United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout11 Dec 2034
Teboho Dala: 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.” SuperSport United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Percy Lorch 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.
Squad11 Dec 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 SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Dec 2034
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout11 Dec 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Melusi Buthelezi, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Dec 2034
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 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad11 Dec 2034
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation SuperSport United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Nov 2034
Mcebisi Langa has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SuperSport United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Percy Lorch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Nov 2034
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at SuperSport United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Liam Marthinus 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.
Squad20 Nov 2034
6 new faces, and SuperSport United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout20 Nov 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Teboho Dala, and the manager let it.
Market20 Nov 2034
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what SuperSport United could get for him.
Market20 Nov 2034
The Erick Zwane story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Erick Zwane signs something — a contract at SuperSport United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout20 Nov 2034
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Oct 2034
Mcebisi Langa has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SuperSport United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Percy Lorch 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.
Match21 Oct 2034
Golden Arrows left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Oct 2034
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Mcebisi Langa 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 dugout23 Oct 2034
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by the manager to a room that had heard them before.
Squad23 Oct 2034
5 new faces, and SuperSport United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
Teboho Dala 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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2034
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.