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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Ssenyonjo signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Position 6 on 47 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 47 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ssenyonjo provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
6 goals in one match, Alfred Emoni on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Bandari and Kariobangi Sharks.
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 goal that put Mara Sugar ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Bandari equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Dennis Kweyu 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.
16 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.
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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bandari is running low.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Bandari close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 6 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Shabana had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
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.
31 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.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Caleb Mwendwa after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
39 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.
“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.
A 1‑0 win over Mathare United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Caleb Mwendwa on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bandari has been clear about where Said Tsuma stands, which is more than many ever get.
47 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.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eric Nyakeya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and David Sakwa 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Bandari pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
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.
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 Alfred Emoni is on it.
62 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.
Levis Opiyo 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 8.45 — 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Bandari pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 69 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.
6 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.
“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.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
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.
Bandari asked and Kakamega Homeboyz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
William Wadri 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.
0‑1 to Nairobi United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
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 0‑1 Caleb Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Lewis Shivachi
SquadWords at Bandari training over how hard people work
The dugoutErick Balecho has become a man the manager trusts
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
4 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.
Levis Opiyo 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bandari told William Gitama something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Caleb Mwendwa chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joseph Onyango was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 William Wadri is on it.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
8.56. 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.
Add another name to the list: APS Bomet have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eric Nyakeya. The answer from Bandari has not changed — yet.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eric Nyakeya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ally Yusuf, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Caleb Mwendwa chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Kweyu 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 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 Erick Balecho is on it.
114 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
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.” Caleb Mwendwa kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutAlfred Emoni has become a man the manager trusts
121 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.
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.
“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 dugout28 May 2029
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 Caleb Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Kweyu 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.
128 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.
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.
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Kariobangi Sharks. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Caleb Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
135 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.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Izzadin Juma 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ochieng Rupia is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.99, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Bandari 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 first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Gor Mahia; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joseph Onyango was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shabana 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
4 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.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Caleb Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Marked 8.42 — 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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
William Wadri 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to William Gitama, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
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.” Caleb Mwendwa kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Nobody at Bandari 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 words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
“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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
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.” Caleb Mwendwa, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Dennis Kweyu 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 words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
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 1‑3 Caleb Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutWilliam Wadri has become a man the manager trusts
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 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.
62 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.
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.
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 dugout5 Mar 2029
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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Caleb Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Izzadin Juma 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Levis Opiyo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutErick Balecho has become a man the manager trusts
69 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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Tusker held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Bandari answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
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.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
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 Caleb Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
77 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.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Minute 90, against Ulinzi Stars, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Caleb Mwendwa after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Kenya Police will replay every second of the added time for a week.
William Wadri 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.
8.07. 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.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
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.” Caleb Mwendwa, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 4 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.
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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. John Onyango 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. James Juma 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. Elvis Manyama 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.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
Levis Opiyo 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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Onyango 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 Bandari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
106 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 APS Bomet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bandari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
Levis Opiyo 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 Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 William Wadri is on it.
Position 6, 51 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at Bandari misheard it.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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.
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.
“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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Dennis Kweyu 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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Ssenyonjo signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Eric Nyakeya had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from APS Bomet for Derrick Onyango 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nairobi United have kept their man, and Bandari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Onyango 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.
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eric Nyakeya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Levis Opiyo 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bandari has been clear about where Derrick Onyango stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Onyango 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.
136 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Sakwa, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Kweyu 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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Izzadin Juma trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Something was said to Samuel Ssenyonjo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 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.
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.
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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Dennis Kweyu 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.
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form 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, terms agreed, medical booked. Eric Nyakeya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
In brief
SquadWords at Bandari training over how hard people work
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.
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 Joseph Onyango was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
51 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
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.
Levis Opiyo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Izzadin Juma 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 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.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Bandari were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
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.
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 Alfred Emoni is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Bandari has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Izzadin Juma trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Derrick Onyango has written the date down.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eric Nyakeya 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.
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.
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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
Levis Opiyo 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Sakwa, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Kweyu 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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and John Makwatta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dennis Kweyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Izzadin Juma is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and John Makwatta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Derrick Onyango has written the date down.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Izzadin Juma commits to Bandari for another 4 years.
Squad16 Oct 2028
John Makwatta 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.
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 Alfred Emoni is on it.
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.
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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Dennis Kweyu 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.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Bandari would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Levis Opiyo 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Izzadin Juma is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Alfred Emoni
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alfred Emoni has come out of that comparison in the side, and Bandari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
Position 6, 51 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
“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.
“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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martin Wanyama commits to Bandari for another 3 years.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
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 Caleb Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Kariobangi Sharks will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Bandari were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
Marked 9.47. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Bandari.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Izzadin Juma 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.
William Wadri 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 8.43 — 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 manager’s verdict
The dugoutAlfred Emoni has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutIzzadin Juma knocks on the manager's door
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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Izzadin Juma 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Izzadin Juma will call it something else in private.
2 behind and going nowhere, until William Gitama decided otherwise. KCB had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. William Gitama provided it, and the 9.12 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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Bandari close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 8 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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Izzadin Juma
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Izzadin Juma 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Shabana scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
“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.
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 Izzadin Juma was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Caleb Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutAlfred Emoni has become a man the manager trusts
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 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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
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 7.94 for the rest of it.
117 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
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.
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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Izzadin Juma will call it something else in private.
Two goals and a mark of 9.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Faraj Ominde has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
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.
William Wadri 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Sofapaka tried to reorganise, Bandari did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
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.
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.
Posta Rangers left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Caleb Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Bandari pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
0‑3 against Kakamega Homeboyz, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Caleb Mwendwa after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutIzzadin Juma has become a man the manager trusts
SquadA Bandari teenager takes the young player award
21 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad10 Jul 2028
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.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bertrand Konfor Ngafei will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Bandari will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Eric Nyakeya again, and this time the name on the line is Mara Sugar. Bandari are listening politely and promising nothing.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Ulinzi Stars spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑1, Caleb Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
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.
Izzadin Juma 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. Tusker have kept their man, and Bandari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Caleb Mwendwa after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Dennis Kweyu 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bertrand Konfor Ngafei will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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.
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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Ulinzi Stars will make the call about Izzadin Juma this week. Bandari have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad5 Jun 2028
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.
The goal that put Muranga Seal ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Bandari equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Caleb Kibwage is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Izzadin Juma 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.
Half the programme played, position 10, 23 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
7.39, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Bandari had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout29 May 2028
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.” Caleb Mwendwa kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutWilliam Wadri has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for David Sakwa
“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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
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 7.71 for the rest of it.
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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Kweyu 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 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Caleb Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
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.
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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Bandari will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
“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.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Izzadin Juma, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
At 21 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.
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.
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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
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.
0‑1 to Gor Mahia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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 Caleb Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Shabana in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Amza Moubarack and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bertrand Konfor Ngafei will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bandari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faraj Ominde 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 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 Alfred Emoni is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Lewis Shivachi
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amza Moubarack. 1‑0 against Sofapaka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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.” Caleb Mwendwa, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Levis Opiyo 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.
At 21 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.
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.
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.
6 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.
Levis Opiyo 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 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Dennis Kweyu 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 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
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.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Bandari had all but put away. Nairobi United will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑4 to AFC Leopards, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
4 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.
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.
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.
31 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.
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.
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 Izzadin Juma is on it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Caleb Mwendwa chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
SquadJoseph Onyango falls out with a teammate over standards
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
0‑1 to Ulinzi Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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 0‑1 Caleb Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Faraj Ominde has his answer from Bandari; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 dugoutJohn Makwatta knocks on the manager's door
Looking aheadBandari take on the side everybody is chasing
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” David Sakwa has his answer from Bandari; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Caleb Mwendwa after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Muranga Seal spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Izzadin Juma, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The shirt still fits. Dennis Kweyu is back at Bandari, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
40 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.
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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
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 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 Izzadin Juma is on it.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bandari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 122 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Gazelle Garoua for Alfred Emoni 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 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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Amza Moubarack signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The fee is $39.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Posta Rangers drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
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.
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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“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.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Izzadin Juma trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrew Juma and Bandari agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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 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.
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.
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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
“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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bandari will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Levis Opiyo 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.
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.
“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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until William Wadri signs something — a contract at Bandari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutAlain Ngeleka knocks on the manager's door
Levis Opiyo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Bandari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Makwatta 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 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 Bertrand Konfor Ngafei is on it.
“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 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.
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.
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 Levis Opiyo is on it.
“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.
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.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Bandari
Levis Opiyo 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.
“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.
Nobody at Bandari 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.
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.
A season average of 6.52 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bandari know what they have, and so, by now, does 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.
Levis Opiyo 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
John Makwatta 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.
Nobody at Bandari 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 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.
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 Bertrand Konfor Ngafei is on it.
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.
“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.