Puleng Marema

Attacking Midfielder (C) - Retired
3 Jan 2030
Thursday
Process

Marked for Puleng Marema

145 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Thabang Matuludi out for 69 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Lindokuhle Mathebula is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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.

Squad

Puleng Marema signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Puleng Marema commits to Polokwane City for another 1 years.

The dugout

Monty Batlhabane has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

Back issues
124 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Brian Bwire

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Bwire, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for Polokwane City against Black Aces

0‑1 to Black Aces, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

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 0‑1 Lebogang Phiri left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Thabang Matuludi 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 Thabang Matuludi is on it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Thabang Matuludi

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Looking ahead

Lebohang Mankga faces his old club

Bloemfontein Celtic next, and one man in the Polokwane City dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

Market

The Rodney Maphangule question follows Polokwane City around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rodney Maphangule’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

117 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

23 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

17 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Sabelo Motsa 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.

Player ratings

Monty Batlhabane runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lebohang Mankga

“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.

The dugout

Polokwane City keep their word to Giovanni Philander

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

When it matters, Rodney Maphangule 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.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Lebogang Phiri chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

Squad

Sabelo Motsa has to sit this one out

A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Polokwane City lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.

In brief

116 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

16 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

24 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

The drought breaks for Polokwane City

9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Free State Stars were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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.

Match

Polokwane City get the job done against Free State Stars

A 1‑0 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 ratings

Monty Batlhabane was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Player ratings

Bonginkosi Dlamini stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.71 on the card, and the Polokwane City support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

A satisfied Lebogang Phiri

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Lebogang Phiri could afford to be generous.

The dugout

Thabang Matuludi has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

115 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

9 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Polokwane City

9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A fracture rules Puleng Marema out for 31 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Lindokuhle Mathebula: 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.” Polokwane City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Thabang Matuludi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Tlou Nkwe 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.

Squad

Keagile Malepe stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Keagile Malepe and Polokwane City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sibusiso Tshabalala

“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.

Market

Francis Baloyi is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Polokwane City has been clear about where Francis Baloyi stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

114 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

2 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Polokwane City

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

38 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Lindokuhle Mathebula asks to leave Polokwane City

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

Squad

Kgaogelo Ramushu 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.

Player ratings

Tlou Nkwe stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.53 on the card, and the Polokwane City support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Ayabonga Gwangqa

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Polokwane City told Ayabonga Gwangqa something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Thabang Matuludi

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Lebogang Phiri: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

In brief

113 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

25 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

45 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

No end in sight to Polokwane City's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Polokwane City has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Polokwane City against Kaizer Chiefs

1‑3 to Kaizer Chiefs, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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 dugout

Lebohang Mankga 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.

The dugout

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 1‑3 Lebogang Phiri left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

When it matters, Rodney Maphangule 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.

Market

No place for Mashudu Makhavhu in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mashudu Makhavhu has his answer from Polokwane City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

112 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

53 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

No end in sight to Polokwane City's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Polokwane City has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Orlando Pirates end the Polokwane City run at 8

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Polokwane City come up short against Orlando Pirates

Orlando Pirates left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Brian Bwire

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Bwire, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Thabang Matuludi at his very best

Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Polokwane City.

The dugout

Lebogang Phiri: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Thabang Matuludi has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

111 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

11 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mashudu Makhavhu decides it from twelve yards

3 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.

Match

Polokwane City march on in the cup

Ajax Cape Town are out and Polokwane City go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Keagile Malepe

Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Puleng Marema breaks a bone — 60 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

No end in sight to Polokwane City's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Polokwane City has to find a result from somewhere.

The dugout

Owami Ndlela keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Polokwane City

The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Polokwane City

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

In brief

110 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

67 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Lindokuhle Mathebula puts it in writing

“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 Polokwane City, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 5 signed and 12 gone

That is the business done at Polokwane City until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Squad

Words exchanged at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Polokwane City

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Giovanni Philander

“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.

Squad

Francis Baloyi is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Francis Baloyi 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.

Player ratings

Tlou Nkwe stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.37 on the card, and the Polokwane City support went home talking about one name.

In brief

109 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

28 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Puleng Marema breaks a bone — 75 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Late improvement for Thabelo Tshikweta

At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Player ratings

Monty Batlhabane runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Lorenz Ferdinand is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Doncaster Rovers. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Alexandre Miranda is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Sporting CP. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Rodney Maphangule 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 Rodney Maphangule is on it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Lebogang Phiri was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Polokwane City dressing room was either.

In brief

108 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

82 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Late improvement for Brian Bwire

At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Tlou Nkwe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Simon Ramabu takes the honours

Marked 7.91 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Polokwane City had the best player on the pitch.

Match

Polokwane City and Maritzburg United take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

Thabang Matuludi has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Thabelo Tshikweta

“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.

The dugout

Lebogang Phiri: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

In brief

107 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema breaks a bone — 89 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Mashudu Makhavhu 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 Polokwane City can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Malebogo Modise signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Malebogo Modise and Polokwane City agree another 3 years.

Squad

The step up is real for Vuyo Moalosi

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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 targets

Door shut on Gonçalo Sousa

Polokwane City asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Monty Batlhabane

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Polokwane City find a way past University of Pretoria

University of Pretoria made Polokwane City work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

No hiding place for Malebogo Modise

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Malebogo Modise, and the manager let it.

In brief

106 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Puleng Marema out for 96 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Transfer targets

Lisandro Tejada is a medical away from Polokwane City

The deal with Middlesbrough 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.

Match

No end in sight to Polokwane City's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Polokwane City has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Brian Bwire stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Brian Bwire and Polokwane City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Kabelo Sekaledi is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A late step up for Simon Ramabu

At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Polokwane City

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Market

One of our own: Morgan Erasmus joins the Polokwane City first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Morgan Erasmus is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Polokwane City promote Percy Lorch from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Percy Lorch 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.

In brief

105 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema breaks a bone — 103 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Mashudu Makhavhu says Polokwane City went back on their word

“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.

Transfer targets

Sebastián Buitrago turns down Polokwane City

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atletico Nacional keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

The step up is real for Keagile Malepe

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Thabang Matuludi has improved at 29, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Transfer targets

Santos tell Polokwane City: David Nogueira is not for sale

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lebohang Mankga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Alexandr Frantsuzov is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Lokomotiv Moscow. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City ask about Samukelo Zikalala

A loan enquiry to Orlando Pirates: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

104 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

24 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Lebohang Nkaki out for 98 days

98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

110 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Lebohang Nkaki has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Real improvement from Monty Batlhabane at Polokwane City

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Monty Batlhabane is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Jegors Olijars rejects the move

Polokwane City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atalanta, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Guidonia Montecelio tell Polokwane City: Jean Galindo is not for sale

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ayabonga Gwangqa

“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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for David Nogueira is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Santos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

103 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Lebohang Nkaki

105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

117 days out for Puleng Marema after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Sapolwethu Kelepu has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Milton Pereyra will not be coming to Polokwane City

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Napoli is saying, and nobody at Polokwane City is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Monty Batlhabane commits to Polokwane City for another 4 years.

Squad

The step up is real for Vuyo Moalosi

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City rebuffed over Shaun Els

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City try to borrow Sebastián Buitrago

Atletico Nacional 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.

Market

Talks stall between Polokwane City and Sabelo Motsa

“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.

In brief

102 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

10 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Lebohang Nkaki

112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Puleng Marema out for 124 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Mamelodi Sundowns come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Polokwane City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Transfer targets

Federico Serra will not be coming to Polokwane City

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Milton Keynes Dons is saying, and nobody at Polokwane City is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City rebuffed over Tcherno Jamanca

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Porto have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Lebohang Mankga 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.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City ask about Milton Pereyra

A loan enquiry to Napoli: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Jegors Olijars is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Atalanta. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

101 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Stevens Goovadia out for 21 days

21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Puleng Marema breaks a bone — 131 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 131 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Only the photograph left for Vincent Mtsweni

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vincent Mtsweni will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Polokwane City the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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 targets

Polokwane City rebuffed over Ezequiel Gerez

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chacarita Juniors have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Tlou Nkwe 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Federico Serra is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Milton Keynes Dons. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Shaun Els is in the works

Polokwane City have made the call to Kaizer Chiefs. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Boardroom

7 new boys at the Polokwane City academy

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.

In brief

99 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Stevens Goovadia

35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

25 days out for Meshua Mello after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Sapolwethu Kelepu has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Pedro Cauã

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Polokwane City have done the hard part with Potenza, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Transfer targets

Leandro Milito turns down Polokwane City

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Racing Club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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 targets

Polokwane City rebuffed over Jeremías Correale

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Argentinos Juniors have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Sabelo Motsa 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.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City try to borrow Ezequiel Gerez

Chacarita Juniors 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.

In brief

96 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Stevens Goovadia out for 56 days

56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

46 days out for Meshua Mello after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Only the photograph left for Lebohang Nkaki

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebohang Nkaki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Polokwane City the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

Giovanni Philander 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 Giovanni Philander is on it.

In brief

95 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Stevens Goovadia

63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Meshua Mello breaks a bone — 53 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Vincent Mtsweni has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Polokwane City to lose Vincent Mtsweni for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Vincent Mtsweni has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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 dugout

Puleng Marema has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

93 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 20 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.

The dugout

Sabelo Motsa says Polokwane City went back on their word

“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.

Market

Sapolwethu Kelepu has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Ayabonga Gwangqa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ayabonga Gwangqa commits to Polokwane City for another 4 years.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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 dugout

No hiding place for Lebohang Nkaki

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lebohang Nkaki, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Rodney Maphangule 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.

Market

The Brian Bwire talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Polokwane City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

92 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Puleng Marema

27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Lebohang Nkaki is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sabelo Motsa

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sabelo Motsa, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

Giovanni Philander has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

91 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Puleng Marema

35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

Sibusiso Tshabalala keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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.

Squad

Polokwane City count the cost of losing Thabelo Tshikweta

34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Keagile Malepe signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Keagile Malepe commits to Polokwane City for another 3 years.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kgaogelo Ramushu

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kgaogelo Ramushu, and the manager let it.

In brief

90 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 43 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.

Squad

21 days out for Meshua Mello after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Kgaogelo Ramushu keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Bonginkosi Dlamini

“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.

In brief

89 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Puleng Marema

51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Meshua Mello out for 28 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Keorapetse Sebone keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Sapolwethu Kelepu is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Rodney Maphangule 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 Rodney Maphangule is on it.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Mtsweni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Bonginkosi Dlamini 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 Bonginkosi Dlamini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Brian Bwire talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Polokwane City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

88 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Puleng Marema out for 58 days

58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A fracture rules Meshua Mello out for 35 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Thabelo Tshikweta keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Lebohang Nkaki is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Polokwane City

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ayabonga Gwangqa

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayabonga Gwangqa, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

Giovanni Philander has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

87 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

27 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Puleng Marema out for 65 days

65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A fracture rules Meshua Mello out for 42 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Polokwane City

Tlou Nkwe 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Lebohang Nkaki

“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.

The dugout

Puleng Marema has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Polokwane City 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.

In brief

86 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

20 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Puleng Marema

72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

Simphiwe Sithole: 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.” Polokwane City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

Squad

Polokwane City count the cost of losing Simphiwe Sithole

22 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

Francis Baloyi 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.

The dugout

Thabang Matuludi 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 Thabang Matuludi is on it.

In brief

85 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 79 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.

Market

Sapolwethu Kelepu is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Boardroom

Polokwane City to lose Lebohang Nkaki for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lebohang Nkaki has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

Monty Batlhabane stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Monty Batlhabane and Polokwane City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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 dugout

When it matters, Rodney Maphangule 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.

The dugout

Monty Batlhabane 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.

Market

The Brian Bwire talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Polokwane City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

84 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Puleng Marema out for 86 days

86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Only the photograph left for Lebohang Nkaki

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebohang Nkaki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Polokwane City the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Sapolwethu Kelepu has agreed to leave Polokwane City for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Rodney Maphangule signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodney Maphangule and Polokwane City agree another 3 years.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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 dugout

Sibusiso Tshabalala 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.

The dugout

Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

Monty Batlhabane 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.

The dugout

Giovanni Philander 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 Giovanni Philander is on it.

In brief

83 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 93 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.

Match

The small margins put Polokwane City out

Out, 0‑0 to Mamelodi Sundowns, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Squad

8 saves: Brian Bwire was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

The terraces

A cup hiding at Mamelodi Sundowns leaves Polokwane City explaining themselves

0-8, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.

The dugout

Vincent Mtsweni keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Simon Ramabu

17 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Polokwane City and Mamelodi Sundowns in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Match

Polokwane City cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Monty Batlhabane 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.

In brief

82 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 100 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.

Match

Polokwane City taken apart

0‑3 to SuperSport United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

The dugout

Puleng Marema keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Brian Bwire 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Polokwane City

Tlou Nkwe 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 ratings

Monty Batlhabane runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sabelo Motsa

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Polokwane City dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Lebogang Phiri answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

81 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 107 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 107 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.

Match

Thabelo Tshikweta drives the Polokwane City comeback

2 behind and going nowhere, until Thabelo Tshikweta decided otherwise. Bidvest Wits had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.

Transfer targets

Jegors Olijars turns down Polokwane City

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atalanta keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Player ratings

Bonginkosi Dlamini scored one and made one — 7.91

Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.91, and 2 involvements.

Match

Thabelo Tshikweta the difference as Polokwane City beat Bidvest Wits

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thabelo Tshikweta. 3‑2 against Bidvest Wits, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire 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.

Squad

Tlou Nkwe 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 Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Sinakhokonke Mthembu stays at Chippa United as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Polokwane City will try again when the window opens; Chippa United may not be selling by then.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Brian Bwire

“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.

In brief

80 Edition

The Polokwane City Courier

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Puleng Marema damages knee ligaments — 114 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 114 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Monty Batlhabane

Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Polokwane City agree $210.0K for Sinakhokonke Mthembu

The clubs have shaken hands with Chippa United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 0 in, 5 out at Polokwane City

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Transfer targets

Jegors Olijars due for a Polokwane City medical

Everything agreed with Atalanta, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Gastón Nazar

Polokwane City asked and Atlético Tucumán said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

A falling-out at Polokwane City

Tlou Nkwe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Polokwane City come up short against Golden Arrows

Golden Arrows left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Sabelo Motsa 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