Richard Omondi 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.
Kakamega Homeboyz left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Jun 2035
Words at Mathare United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Wekesa 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mathare United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Mathare United could ask drops and the wages Ochieng Mulee can ask rise.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mathare United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mathare United can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mathare United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Richard Omondi 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mathare United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mathare United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Richard Omondi 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.
Squad13 Nov 2034
Words at Mathare United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serikzhan Suyumbayev 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.
In brief
SquadGeorge Owusu has become a man the manager trusts
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.
“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 Mathare United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kevin Ouru 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.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Words at Mathare United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Wekesa 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mathare United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mathare United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mathare United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Richard Omondi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Serikzhan Suyumbayev and Mathare United agree another 2 years.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mathare United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Words at Mathare United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Oudu 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mathare United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mathare United is running low.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.11 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mathare United can pretend not to have heard.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. George Owusu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over APS Bomet, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Jul 2034
Brian Wekesa 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.
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.
Brian Okoth 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 hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. George Owusu did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Mathare United, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cheick Diakité and Mathare United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mathare United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Mathare United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
7.79, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mathare United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑1 win over Nairobi United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Edwin Jumba 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mathare United can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Douglas Mokaya 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Brian Wekesa and Mathare United agree another 2 years.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad8 May 2034
Edwin Jumba 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.