Marked for Andre de Jong
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Mpho Padime
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mpho Padime will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orlando Pirates the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Apr 2028
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Relebohile Mofokeng 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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.
Market10 Apr 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market10 Apr 2028
The Sipho Chaine talk will not go away
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Andre de Jong knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andre de Jong trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Dec 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Sipho Chaine is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Sipho Chaine: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match1 Dec 2027
A 1‑1 win over Golden Arrows, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Given Msimango: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando Pirates have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match4 Dec 2027
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Yanela Mbuthuma 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamogelo Sebelebele 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.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 Orlando Pirates, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Aug 2027
The offer from Bloemfontein Celtic for Siyabonga Dladla 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Aug 2027
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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Thalente Mbatha 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Jomo Cosmos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tapelo Xoki. The answer from Orlando Pirates has not changed — yet.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Orlando Pirates will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Andre de Jong has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orlando Pirates 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
“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 Orlando Pirates, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
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 Jul 2027
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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Jomo Cosmos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tapelo Xoki. The answer from Orlando Pirates has not changed — yet.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tshepang Moremi, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nkosikhona Ndaba and Orlando Pirates agree another 3 years.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Evidence Makgopa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
Widzew Łódź come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Orlando Pirates did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Jun 2027
Tshepang Moremi wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Orlando Pirates hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Tumi Bowes gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Tapelo Xoki 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.
Loan watch17 May 2027
“I did not go to Chippa United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Orlando Pirates and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 40 matches say the rest.
The dugout17 May 2027
Tshepang Moremi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market17 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thalente Mbatha signs something — a contract at Orlando Pirates or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.
Loan watch17 May 2027
28 starts and a season average of 6.91. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Word from the training ground: Andre de Jong
The sharpest man in every session this week, by all accounts. Lines like this run the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Apr 2027
Orlando Pirates refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 57 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market26 Apr 2027
Ethan Visagie has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orlando Pirates they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Yanela Mbuthuma 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Thabiso Sesane'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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orlando Pirates they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Yanela Mbuthuma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nkosikhona Ndaba, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Masindi Nemtajela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Apr 2027
The Sipho Chaine story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sipho Chaine signs something — a contract at Orlando Pirates or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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 Daniel Msendami is on it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
38 days left on the agreement, 28 appearances behind him, and two clubs who have both been putting off the same conversation.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Mar 2027
Position 3 and 57 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market29 Mar 2027
“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 Orlando Pirates, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market29 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Ethan Visagie
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ethan Visagie will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orlando Pirates the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tshepang Moremi 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tapelo Xoki 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Thabiso Sesane is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Relebohile Mofokeng signs something — a contract at Orlando Pirates or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Dec 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market21 Dec 2026
Vitória come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Orlando Pirates did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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 Orlando Pirates, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Yanela Mbuthuma takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yanela Mbuthuma provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Andre de Jong: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando Pirates have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tapelo Xoki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Dec 2026
The name of Relebohile Mofokeng has come up in conversations Orlando Pirates were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match12 Dec 2026
Platinum Stars left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nkosinathi Sibisi 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“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 Orlando Pirates, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Thalente Mbatha asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Chippa United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Orlando Pirates and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kabelo Dlamini, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Andre de Jong has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orlando Pirates 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ajax Cape Town in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation Orlando Pirates did not have in the autumn.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
101% of the income goes out in wages at Orlando Pirates
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tapelo Xoki 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andre de Jong
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Tshepang Moremi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The plan did not have a place for Tshepang Moremi
Nobody at Orlando Pirates is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Bloemfontein Celtic will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Oct 2026
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yanela Mbuthuma. 1‑0 against Maritzburg United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 24 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nkosinathi Sibisi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.85. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“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 Orlando Pirates, and 3 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Deon Hotto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lebone Seema, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Loan watch21 Sep 2026
“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 Orlando Pirates, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Match19 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match9 Sep 2026
Platinum Stars are out and Orlando Pirates go through, 3‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ntando Ngcobo could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.40
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.40, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Andre de Jong takes the afternoon — 8.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andre de Jong provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market14 Sep 2026
Ethan Visagie has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orlando Pirates they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match9 Sep 2026
Orlando Pirates settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Platinum Stars spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Sihle Nduli
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.91, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando Pirates can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Jomo Cosmos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Orlando Pirates have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad31 Aug 2026
4 Orlando Pirates players away with their countries
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Andre de Jong
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.