Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deon Hotto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sipho Chaine is on it.
Yanela Mbuthuma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Deon Hotto 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 has re-ordered his thinking and Itumeleng Erasmus 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Evidence Makgopa is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando Pirates know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Patrick Maswanganyi has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lamin Jawo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at SuperSport United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at SuperSport United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. SuperSport United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bruno Miño trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at SuperSport United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Luther Phiri 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 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Evidence Makgopa is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrick Maswanganyi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SuperSport United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lamin Jawo 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.
A 2‑0 win over Polokwane City, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
8.25. 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.
Thulani Mothiba 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.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SuperSport United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bidvest Wits will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. SuperSport United were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now SuperSport United have 3 straight wins of it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Lamin Jawo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.75. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ronwen Zungu 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thabiso Lebitso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Oumar Komara
The dugoutRonwen Zungu has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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 finished 2‑0, and it was Thamsanqa Grobler’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to SuperSport United.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Lamin Jawo 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 SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Njabulo Blom's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Jomo Cosmos will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. SuperSport United were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. SuperSport United will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The offer from Enyimba for Williams Jali 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.
Everything agreed with Golden Arrows, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
3 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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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 offer from Grêmio for Erick Ngcobo 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.
A 1‑0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Itumeleng Modiba kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luther Phiri 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lamin Jawo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Itumeleng Modiba was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the SuperSport United dressing room was 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 Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deon Hotto 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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oswin Appollis’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Orlando Pirates needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando Pirates, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Siyabonga Dladla has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
34 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luther Phiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sipho Mbule’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and SuperSport United needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luther Phiri is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at SuperSport United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at SuperSport United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando Pirates have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Yanela Mbuthuma 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.
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 Kamogelo Sebelebele signs something — a contract at Orlando Pirates or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
7 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lamin Jawo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Itumeleng Modiba kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.47 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Independiente Medellin; SuperSport United go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
The chase for Ethan Chislett ended with $240.0K changing hands and Kaizer Chiefs out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kermit Tau 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 offer from Ismaily for Lebogang Billiat 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at SuperSport United heard it as anything else.
The offer went to Mamelodi Sundowns this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Kermit Tau 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and SuperSport United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Williams Jali 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.
Mamelodi Sundowns have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Orlando Pirates have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.