Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every AFC Leopards game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Mara Sugar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Sebastian Wekesa 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 Vincent Mahiga is on it.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. AFC Leopards would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
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 Fortune Omoto is on it.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Julius Masaba has moved up it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastian Wekesa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AFC Leopards know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Musa Oundo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards 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 AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑2 to Nairobi United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Timothy Onyango to a room that had heard them before.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Humphrey Katasi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wa All Stars have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mathare United held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. AFC Leopards answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Dean Manyama 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Free State Stars have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I 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.
“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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Musa Oundo
The dugoutMusa Oundo asks for a word with the manager
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Luther Zwane
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
AFC Leopards close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Dean Manyama 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AFC Leopards and Ulinzi Stars in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ikorodu City have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Dean Manyama 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ssenyonjo provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Musa Oundo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards 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 AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Samuel Ssenyonjo in the middle of it, and Kenya Police unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
2‑2 against Bidco United, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Fortune Omoto takes the afternoon — 8.64
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fortune Omoto provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything agreed with SuperSport United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Bidco United for Musa Oundo 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.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
AFC Leopards asked and Posta Rangers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Ssenyonjo. 2‑0 against Bidco United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mara Sugar have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Brian Juma has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Duncan Mwendwa has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Collins Kipkirui has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrick Olunga has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Mara Sugar will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. AFC Leopards were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hassan Beja did not need any: 8.23, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kennedy Odhiambo and AFC Leopards agree another 2 years.
Kennedy Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 9.73 — 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.
AFC Leopards asked and SuperSport United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work