Sven Yidah 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between APS Bomet and Tusker, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the APS Bomet dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Feb 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 2‑5 defeat, delivered by Francis Nyakeya to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edward Masembe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at APS Bomet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edward Masembe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 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.” Francis Nyakeya, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at APS Bomet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at APS Bomet
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mathare United have kept their man, and APS Bomet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Harun Chemelil has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Enock Wanyama's mistake
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bidco United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at APS Bomet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
APS Bomet close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
Sven Yidah 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.
APS Bomet asked and Kenya Police said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edward Masembe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. Sven Yidah has moved up it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Enock Wanyama signs something — a contract at APS Bomet or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what APS Bomet can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Gor Mahia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Hillary Otieno 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.
Everything agreed with Posta Rangers, 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 APS Bomet 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. Shabana have kept their man, and APS Bomet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kenya Police 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antony Naibei 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. APS Bomet will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The offer went to Gor Mahia 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Sphamandla Shangase is living that version at APS Bomet, and it tends to show in the first month.
APS Bomet asked and Kenya Police said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edward Masembe 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.
Hillary Otieno 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 Edward Masembe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at APS Bomet has been clear about where Sosthenes Idah stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at APS Bomet. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. APS Bomet have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Hillary Otieno 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antony Naibei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edward Masembe 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 APS Bomet 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 Edward Masembe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Hillary Otieno 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” APS Bomet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Hillary Otieno 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 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edward Masembe 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at APS Bomet. 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 APS Bomet, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at APS Bomet 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason APS Bomet will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Hillary Otieno 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.
In brief
The dugoutCurtis Wekesa asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason APS Bomet will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Sven Yidah 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Brian Buleti is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Sven Yidah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antony Naibei 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
10 combined actions and 7.83. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edward Masembe 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.
Hillary Otieno 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 Oct 2026
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edward Masembe 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at APS Bomet, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Bob Cetric has written the date down.
Next up on the road: Muranga Seal, position 9. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.49 for the rest of it.
Hillary Otieno 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about APS Bomet and Bidco United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Francis Nyakeya after 3‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Hillary Otieno scored, was marked 7.97, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at APS Bomet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
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 was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
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.
Marked 6.93 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Philip Wasai for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. APS Bomet will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Curtis Wekesa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.55, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Dalphine Omuri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 Francis Nyakeya left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dalphine Omuri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the APS Bomet squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at APS Bomet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sosthenes Idah’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and APS Bomet needing him to play as if none of it matters.
7.71, 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.
APS Bomet offered $360.0K; AFC Leopards said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at APS Bomet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maxwell Kubasu. 2‑0 against Shabana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Kakamega Homeboyz 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Francis Nyakeya on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. APS Bomet will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $398.8K — a club that wants Hassan Beja enough to be asked twice.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. APS Bomet have done the hard part with Shabana, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to AFC Leopards 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.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Francis Nyakeya to a room that had heard them before.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at APS Bomet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edward Masembe 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.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for APS Bomet
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Chris Wilunda
Nairobi United go through and APS Bomet go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Hillary Otieno 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ulinzi Stars have kept their man, and APS Bomet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Cosmas Abuta again, and this time the name on the line is Bidco United. APS Bomet are listening politely and promising nothing.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.58, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ulinzi Stars is saying, and nobody at APS Bomet is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at APS Bomet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Peter Muguna 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Clinton Odhiambo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicholas Njeru 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. Eric Masika 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 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.
Hillary Otieno 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.
APS Bomet asked and Bayelsa 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.
The name of Dominic Kipkirui has come up in conversations APS Bomet were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
APS Bomet have made the call to Ulinzi Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.