Marked for Patrick Rupia
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Jan 2034
Patrick Rupia 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 KCB can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jan 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 KCB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets16 Jan 2034
KCB asked and AFC Leopards said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets16 Jan 2034
Gor Mahia 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.
Squad16 Jan 2034
Harrison Owusu 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.
The dugout16 Jan 2034
Douglas Ochoko 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 KCB, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Jan 2034
When it matters, Eric Ouma 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.
Market16 Jan 2034
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bacari Djamanca signs something — a contract at KCB or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boardroom16 Jan 2034
KCB keep producing them
77 graduates from an academy now rated 4 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Dec 2033
A falling-out at KCB
Nashon Wekesa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom26 Dec 2033
Embargo at KCB
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Boardroom26 Dec 2033
The borrowing at KCB reaches $14.5M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $14.5M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Squad26 Dec 2033
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harrison Owusu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Dec 2033
Bacari Djamanca asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market26 Dec 2033
The name of Douglas Ochoko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KCB say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 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 KCB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Words at KCB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Japheth Lihanda 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.
Boardroom13 Dec 2032
KCB are $12.9M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Squad13 Dec 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Patrick Rupia commits to KCB for another 3 years.
Market13 Dec 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Douglas Ochoko signs something — a contract at KCB or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout13 Dec 2032
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Nov 2032
Words exchanged at KCB
Bacari Djamanca 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.
Squad29 Nov 2032
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nashon Wekesa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market29 Nov 2032
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Amos Masika has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market29 Nov 2032
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eric Miheso has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market29 Nov 2032
One of our own: Patrick Rupia joins the KCB first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Patrick Rupia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market29 Nov 2032
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ochieng Ouma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.