Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ulinzi Stars is running low.
Tumiso Mogakwe had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Posta Rangers were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ulinzi Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Edwin Simiyu 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ulinzi Stars told Edwin Simiyu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tumiso Mogakwe signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Khotso Malope 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 easiest signature of my career.” Nicholas Kipkirui and Ulinzi Stars agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Masita Masuta had Ulinzi Stars level again within 4 minutes, and Nairobi United never got to play with a lead at all.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boniface Muchiri signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonlevitt Osiago will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Bonaventure Muchika 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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ulinzi Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The terraces28 Aug 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ulinzi Stars and Tusker in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Edwin Simiyu 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 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 ratings28 Aug 2028
Paul Odhiambo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.74. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ulinzi Stars now.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Nicholas Kipkirui 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.
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boniface Muchiri signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Brian Omurwa has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonlevitt Osiago will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
Match5 Aug 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Ulinzi Stars. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ulinzi Stars scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ulinzi Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mark Shaban did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Bidco United made Ulinzi Stars work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
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.
8.55. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mark Shaban did not need any: 8.42, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ulinzi Stars now.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
At 21 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.
A 1‑0 win over Kariobangi Sharks, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Nicholas Kipkirui 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 offer from AFC Leopards for Timothy Odhiambo 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boniface Muchiri signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonlevitt Osiago will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boniface Andayi 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Paul Odhiambo. 1‑0 against KCB, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
107% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ulinzi Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ulinzi Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ulinzi Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Khotso Malope 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Paul Odhiambo has his answer from Ulinzi Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
BoardroomUlinzi Stars sign 7 boys into the academy
SquadYassin Yasser loses the manager who believed in him
4 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.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ulinzi Stars now.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
Bonaventure Muchika 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.
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ulinzi Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boniface Muchiri signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mark Shaban did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ulinzi Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Leonlevitt Osiago has agreed terms with AFC Leopards for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
At 21 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.
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
103% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
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.
Reuben Juma 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.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boniface Andayi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tumiso Mogakwe. 3‑2 against Posta Rangers, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Posta Rangers spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Marked 8.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Khotso Malope 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.
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.
8.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Ulinzi Stars are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boniface Muchiri signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Paul Odhiambo decided nobody was going anywhere. Nairobi United had no time left to answer.
Player ratings15 May 2028
A brace, and Paul Odhiambo takes the afternoon — 8.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Paul Odhiambo provided it, and the 8.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A 3‑2 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Paul Odhiambo 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.
Nicholas Kipkirui 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
Boardroom109% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Timothy Odhiambo: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Timothy Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
4 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.
Boniface Andayi 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 accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ulinzi Stars now.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boniface Muchiri signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 goals in one match, Paul Odhiambo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ulinzi Stars and Kenya Police.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Dennis Kweyu 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.
Marked 8.84 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Ulinzi Stars know it.
In brief
Boardroom89% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ulinzi Stars now.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Paul Odhiambo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Paul Odhiambo 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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces27 Mar 2028
The mood at Ulinzi Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Khotso Malope. 2‑1 against Kariobangi Sharks, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Mara Sugar the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Ulinzi Stars will enjoy reviewing.
Boniface Andayi 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 Mar 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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 words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Boniface Muchiri and Ulinzi Stars agree another 3 years.
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Shabana? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
13 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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 terraces28 Feb 2028
The mood at Ulinzi Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8.47. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
12 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thabo Nkabinde and Ulinzi Stars agree another 4 years.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
Bonaventure Muchika 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.
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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
6 new faces, and Ulinzi Stars 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ulinzi Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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 run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Ulinzi Stars are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 17, and nobody at Ulinzi Stars signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tumiso Mogakwe signs something — a contract at Ulinzi Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ali Torabi is living that version at Ulinzi Stars, and it tends to show in the first month.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ulinzi Stars now.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Nicholas Kipkirui 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Amos Manyama 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Francis Onyango 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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 offer from Muranga Seal for Nadeo Argawinata 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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 offer from NK Domzale for Tumiso Mogakwe 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.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Ulinzi Stars will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Khotso Malope 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ulinzi Stars told Nadeo Argawinata something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ulinzi Stars can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
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.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ulinzi Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Add another name to the list: Muranga Seal have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Denis Owino. The answer from Ulinzi Stars has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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 words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Khotso Malope 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.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ulinzi Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Khotso Malope 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.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ulinzi Stars can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ulinzi Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Bonaventure Muchika 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.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nadeo Argawinata 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
SquadBoniface Andayi falls out with a teammate over standards
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ulinzi Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
Reuben Juma 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.
Bongani Mahlangu is 19, and Ulinzi Stars have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadKhotso Malope falls out with a teammate over standards
BoardroomWages eat 121% of everything Ulinzi Stars earn
BoardroomThe numbers do not look good at Ulinzi Stars
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nadeo Argawinata 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
SquadKhotso Malope falls out with a teammate over standards
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ulinzi Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nadeo Argawinata will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ulinzi Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Brian Omurwa has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ulinzi Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
139 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khotso Malope and Ulinzi Stars agree another 3 years.
“I did not go to Kariobangi Sharks to sit and watch. I want to come back to Ulinzi Stars and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Khotso Malope 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
136% of the income goes out in wages at Ulinzi Stars
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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ulinzi Stars 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 Ulinzi Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boniface Andayi 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 Sep 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khotso Malope 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.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ulinzi Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nicholas Kipkirui has just signed for Ulinzi Stars, and for once the answer mattered.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ulinzi Stars are no longer polite ones.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tumiso Mogakwe 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ulinzi Stars, and 5 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
He is 17, and nobody at Ulinzi Stars signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
141 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ulinzi Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ulinzi Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Bonaventure Muchika 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 Ulinzi Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simon Omondi did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Muranga Seal will make the call about Nadeo Argawinata this week. Ulinzi Stars have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Simon Omondi 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.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
A 1‑1 win over Kakamega Homeboyz, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Simon Omondi, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.96
A mark of 7.96 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nadeo Argawinata 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Simon Omondi 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 brace, and Khotso Malope takes the afternoon — 8.63
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Khotso Malope provided it, and the 8.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ulinzi Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ulinzi Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Faxriddin Muhammadov 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.
11 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.
Boniface Andayi 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 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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nadeo Argawinata may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.