7.69, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Erickson Mulu 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Abdallah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.21 — 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Albert Boakye was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bidco United had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bandari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Abdallah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. William Gitama 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bandari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alfred Emoni 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Abdallah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Bandari saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.” Izzadin Juma has his answer from Bandari; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Something was said to Alfred Emoni and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Swaleh Pamba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Izzadin Juma’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Bandari needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bandari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mohammed Barisa reports back to Bandari with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Brian Otieno Odera has agreed terms with Kariobangi Sharks for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bandari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Free State Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
This is not rotation. Mohammed Barisa has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Abdallah 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until James Kinyanjui signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Alfred Emoni a promise
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bandari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
Alfred Emoni 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bandari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Bandari than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alfred Emoni 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.
Alfred Emoni 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Kinyanjui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bandari told Alfred Emoni something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Bandari than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bandari, another week without a signature from Rajab Omar.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Kinyanjui 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bandari, another week without a signature from William Gitama.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Samuel Njau has written the date down.
In brief
Looking aheadLooking ahead: the trip to Bidco United
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bandari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
7.16, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Alfred Emoni 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alfred Emoni 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
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.
0‑1 to Shabana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Wanyama to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bandari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mathare United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Amza Moubarack 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Nyamawi Beja will call it something else in private.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bandari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mathare United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Kenya Police 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.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Sofapaka left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bertrand Konfor Ngafei 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 dugout9 Aug 2027
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 1‑2 Ibrahim Wanyama left the room before anybody could ask which.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bandari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bandari will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bandari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Said Tsuma scored, was marked 7.96, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. James Omusinde will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bandari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nairobi United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A brace, and Said Tsuma takes the afternoon — 8.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Said Tsuma provided it, and the 8.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bandari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bandari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bandari will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bandari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Amza Moubarack 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bandari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bandari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Said Tsuma scored, was marked 7.54, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
1 for Bertrand Konfor Ngafei, marked 7.82, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The name of Nyamawi Beja has come up in conversations Bandari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Abdallah 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.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bandari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bandari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kariobangi Sharks waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bertrand Konfor Ngafei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Ibrahim Wanyama, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mathare United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Amza Moubarack 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 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 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bandari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bandari have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Izzadin Juma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari 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 Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Abdallah 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ibrahim Wanyama after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Amza Moubarack 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. David Sakwa 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
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.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Wanyama to a room that had heard them before.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Gor Mahia.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“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 Bandari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Izzadin Juma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Amza Moubarack and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Meshack Maphangule 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bandari will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Bandari have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
It needed Amza Moubarack to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Posta Rangers, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Levis Opiyo
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
Amza Moubarack 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 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.
Posta Rangers next, and one man in the Bandari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Bandari scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Amza Moubarack 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amza Moubarack provided it, and the 8.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.32 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bandari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bandari will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutLevis Opiyo is still being punished for one mistake
5 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Izzadin Juma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Something was said to Meshack Maphangule and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Meshack Maphangule was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Izzadin Juma, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ibrahim Wanyama was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Bandari dressing room was either.
Tusker next, and one man in the Bandari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bidco United had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bandari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Ajax Cape Town; Bandari go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Bandari 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.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Bandari asked and Ajax Cape Town 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Meshack Maphangule 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bertrand Konfor Ngafei 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bandari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Bandari have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Abdallah 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Bandari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Ajax Cape Town: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Everything agreed with Kaizer Chiefs, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Izzadin Juma has come up in conversations Bandari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Abdallah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bandari have made the call to Ajax Cape Town. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Meshack Maphangule 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bertrand Konfor Ngafei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bandari 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Sakwa signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Bandari have had the benefit of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bandari can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bandari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.
In brief
The dugoutErickson Mulu asks for a word with the manager
Meshack Maphangule 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bertrand Konfor Ngafei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Meshack Maphangule 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Sakwa signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Amza Moubarack 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 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bandari will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bandari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erick Balecho 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bandari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Meshack Maphangule 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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bandari. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Bandari will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Mark Bikokwa on the training pitch
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Bandari had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Bertrand Konfor Ngafei 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.
Amza Moubarack 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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Bandari the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Abdallah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
7.90, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
At 22 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Bandari. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Everybody at Bandari saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Abdallah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Bandari man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Mohammed Barisa was the best thing in any of them.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Bandari know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bandari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 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.
Amza Moubarack 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Abdallah is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Hassan Abdallah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hassan Abdallah has come out of that comparison in the side, and Bandari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.