2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. George Odhiambo will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Bidco United escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
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.
Clinton Okinyi 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
It needed George Odhiambo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against AFC Leopards, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Steve Hoffman's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Francis Chege 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mpho Manare trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
7 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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rajab Omar, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Bongani Cele 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.
Patrick Masika 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 dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Dennis Kweyu's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
The dugoutMpho Manare knocks on the manager’s door
Player ratingsDennis Kweyu could not find anything
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nelson Likhanga and Bidco United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Dennis Kweyu 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 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 Steve Hoffman 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 Bidco United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ulinzi Stars next, and one man in the Bidco United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bidco United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
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.
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. 13 actions, 7.12, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clinton Okinyi 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.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bongani Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Juma to a room that had heard them before.
7.64, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Bidco United had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Thomas Wainaina's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidco United has been clear about where Christopher Raila stands, which is more than many ever get.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Bongani Cele 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Peter Manyama is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidco United has been clear about where Lulama Nxumalo stands, which is more than many ever get.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ibrahim Juma after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Still no offer on the table, and Nelson Likhanga’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Mathare United next, and one man in the Bidco United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Simphiwe Mlondo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.62
A mark of 7.62 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Randy Bakari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Simphiwe Mlondo had Bidco United level again within 1 minutes, and Mara Sugar never got to play with a lead at all.
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 Ibrahim Juma left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Steve Hoffman is on it.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Kariobangi Sharks next, and one man in the Bidco United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidco United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bongani Cele 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 Thomas Wainaina is on it.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Ibrahim Juma on the draw
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.
91 minutes played. Thomas Wainaina found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Shabana went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
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 7.73 for the rest of it.
George Odhiambo 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.
$38.0K was the most the club would pay and Muranga Seal were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Steve Hoffman, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Bongani Cele 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.
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, wages agreed, and Posta Rangers waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bidco United 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nelson Likhanga has just signed for Bidco United, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Bidco United 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.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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. Collins Kibwage 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United 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 Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Bongani Cele 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Gor Mahia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ulinzi Stars is saying, and nobody at Bidco United is enjoying the guessing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mark Bikokwa and Bidco United agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidco United, another week without a signature from Rajab Omar.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bidco United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
George Odhiambo 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.
Bidco United offered $43.0K; Muranga Seal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bandari have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Bongani Cele 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United 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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bidco United have gone to Muranga Seal with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Randy Bakari 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 phone has started ringing about Lazarazu Otieno again, and this time the name on the line is Mathare United. Bidco United are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mpho Manare has his answer from Bidco United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Daniel Mjengu is in the works
The dugoutThomas Wainaina has become a man the manager trusts
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom1 Jan 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Bidco United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” George Odhiambo has his answer from Bidco United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Randy Bakari is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 102% of the Bidco United income
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
George Odhiambo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Bongani Cele 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United 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. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
George Odhiambo 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Bongani Cele 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 Steve Hoffman is on it.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.31, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Randy Bakari 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Bidco United 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bidco United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Kevin Juma’s negotiating for him
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Bidco United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Bidco United were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bidco United told Llyton Chapman something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidco United 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 Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Randy Bakari 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 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidco United has been clear about where Newton Ochieng stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidco United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.31, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Kwanele Msomi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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 Thomas Wainaina is on it.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Lazarazu Otieno's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 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.” Bidco United 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 Bidco United 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Bongani Cele 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidco United 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 Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidco United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Randy Bakari 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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 Steve Hoffman is on it.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Bidco United could ask drops and the wages Stephen Ochieng can ask rise.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Simon Munala
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A season average of 7.31 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bidco United know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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 Thomas Wainaina is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and George Odhiambo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lazarazu Otieno has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Bidco United.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Lazarazu Otieno's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Position 14 on 33 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Lulama Nxumalo decided nobody was going anywhere. Bandari had no time left to answer.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Clinton Okinyi is a Bidco United player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Randy Bakari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lulama Nxumalo. 1‑0 against Bandari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Bidco United were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Bidco United will try not to make too much of it.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ibrahim Juma after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Two goals and a mark of 8.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to George Odhiambo, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Bongani Cele 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 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, 6.75, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Bidco United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Posta Rangers spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simphiwe Mlondo did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A season average of 7.29 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bidco United know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
7.62, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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; George Odhiambo will call it something else in private.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Bidco United ran out of time with AFC Leopards. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Bongani Cele 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.
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.
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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Dennis Kweyu's mistake
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 12 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal with AFC Leopards is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it 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 Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The borrowed shirt is his now: Bidco United have made the move permanent, and the only thing that changes is the paperwork. Everybody involved already knew exactly what they were getting.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
1 for Thomas Wainaina, marked 7.72, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Simphiwe Mlondo 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
SquadBongani Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidco United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Position 16, 22 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bidco United know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Randy Bakari 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bidco United asked and Shabana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Bidco United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bandari, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidco United has been clear about where Edwin Ramaja stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ibrahim Juma after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Steve Hoffman's mistake
7 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.
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 7.56 for the rest of it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mathare United keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bandari is saying, and nobody at Bidco United is enjoying the guessing.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bidco United asked and Gor Mahia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bidco United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Simphiwe Mlondo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have shaken hands with KCB; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.22, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Randy Bakari 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.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidco United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Ulinzi Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
0‑1 to Mathare United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clinton Okinyi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThomas Wainaina has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Llyton Chapman
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidco United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mara Sugar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
3 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. APS Bomet have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Randy Bakari and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Add another name to the list: Mara Sugar have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mpho Manare. The answer from Bidco United has not changed — yet.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
0‑3 to KCB, 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bandari is saying, and nobody at Bidco United is enjoying the guessing.
George Odhiambo 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. Shabana have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Bidco United know it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidco United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Simphiwe Mlondo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.54
A mark of 8.54 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mathare United have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Lawrence Juma 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Simphiwe Mlondo. 1‑0 against Shabana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ibrahim Juma on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. APS Bomet have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kevin 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.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Gor Mahia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kenya Police have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Llyton Chapman is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Randy Bakari 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“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 dugout29 May 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Juma to a room that had heard them before.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bidco United told Njabulo Nzimande something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutDaniel Kakai has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Bidco United is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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 Steve Hoffman is on it.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ibrahim Juma was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Bidco United dressing room was either.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
SquadSimphiwe Mlondo, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.76, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Simphiwe Mlondo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.40
A mark of 8.40 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Posta Rangers were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mpho Manare will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidco United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” George Odhiambo and Bidco United agree another 2 years.
Randy Bakari 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.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.94, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Randy Bakari 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Nairobi United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Kevin Juma 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bidco United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
Nobody left the Bidco United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ibrahim Juma after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout17 Apr 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 1‑2 Ibrahim Juma left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Bidco United 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Randy Bakari’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Bidco United needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mpho Manare will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidco United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Randy Bakari 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 combined actions and 6.71. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout10 Apr 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 Ibrahim Juma left the room before anybody could ask which.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Kenya Police had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Bidco United did not stop to explain themselves.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simphiwe Mlondo did not need any: 8.37, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
George Odhiambo 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.
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 dugout3 Apr 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.” Ibrahim Juma kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Bidco United 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kenya Police in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Bidco United could ask drops and the wages Clinton Okinyi can ask rise.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidco United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Daniel Kakai on the training pitch
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.
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.
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.
“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 dugout20 Mar 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.” Ibrahim Juma chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simphiwe Mlondo did not need any: 8.27, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mpho Manare will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidco United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
8 goals in one match, Clinton Okinyi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Bidco United and Mathare United.
Daniel Kakai 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 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Simphiwe Mlondo 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.
Marked 8.18 — 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.
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidco United, another week without a signature from Kevin Juma.
In brief
The dugoutDaniel Kakai knocks on the manager's door
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simphiwe Mlondo did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Munala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Bidco United is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ibrahim Juma could afford to be generous.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Bongani Cele could not do
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Bidco United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Feb 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Juma to a room that had heard them before.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mpho Manare will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidco United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Munala 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 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Simphiwe Mlondo 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.
Bidco United ran out of time with Sofapaka. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Bidco United were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and APS Bomet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sofapaka have accepted the money. What Bidco United do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidco United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Bidco United 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.
George Odhiambo 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.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Bidco United 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. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bongani Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bidco United have made the call to Gor Mahia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Francis Chege 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 phone has started ringing about Mpho Manare again, and this time the name on the line is Mara Sugar. Bidco United are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Bidco United will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Nobody at Bidco United 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. 100 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bidco United asked and APS Bomet said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Nobody at Bidco United 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 Simon Munala signs something — a contract at Bidco United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and APS Bomet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Tusker is saying, and nobody at Bidco United is enjoying the guessing.
The deal with Gor Mahia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
George Odhiambo 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.
Bidco United asked and KCB said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bongani Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Bidco United will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United 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. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Simphiwe Mlondo has, at Bidco United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Randy Bakari 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 phone has started ringing about Mpho Manare again, and this time the name on the line is APS Bomet. Bidco United are listening politely and promising nothing.
A loan enquiry to Mathare United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Randy Bakari 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 words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United 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 Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidco United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Randy Bakari is living that version at Bidco United, and it tends to show in the first month.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Llyton Chapman is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Nobody at Bidco United 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.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francis Chege and Bidco United agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidco United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bidco United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Bidco United have gone and got theirs early.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidco United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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 words a physio says slowly. 64 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 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.
Clinton Okinyi 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 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 Dennis Cheruiyot trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Njabulo Nzimande 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Bidco United 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. 79 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidco United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
George Odhiambo 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Bongani Cele 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to George Odhiambo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
90% of the income goes out in wages at Bidco United
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bidco United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Samuel Kagere is on it.
In brief
The dugoutEdwin Ramaja asks for a word with the manager
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Munala 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 gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad1 Nov 2027
5 new faces, and Bidco United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidco United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Njabulo Nzimande 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bidco United will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniel Kakai is on it.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Bidco United could ask drops and the wages Cole Alexander can ask rise.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Clinton Okinyi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Bidco United have gone and got theirs early.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 35 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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 Thomas Wainaina is on it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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.” Ibrahim Juma chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mark Bikokwa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Bidco United needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dennis Cheruiyot trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bidco United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 easiest signature of my career.” George Odhiambo and Bidco United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Bongani Cele was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. 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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
Njabulo Nzimande 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 Bongani Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lawrence Juma, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Juma to a room that had heard them before.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniel Kakai is on it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Njabulo Nzimande and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cole Alexander. 1‑0 against Posta Rangers, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ibrahim Juma could afford to be generous.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Clinton Okinyi.
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
Player ratingsSimon Munala beats them one at a time
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
6 goals in one match, Bongani Cele on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Bidco United and Kakamega Homeboyz.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KCB have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Bidco United close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 7 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.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Bongani Cele 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 deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Bidco United will try again when the window opens; Shabana may not be selling by then.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
7.49, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bidco United will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kakamega Homeboyz have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Steve Hoffman, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Steve Hoffman is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidco United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A brace, and Bongani Cele takes the afternoon — 8.54
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bongani Cele provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Posta Rangers; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Gor Mahia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Munala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
George Odhiambo 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bongani Cele 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: George Odhiambo. 1‑0 against Tusker, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
The offer from CotonTchad for John Kelwishi 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidco United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Kenya Police, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Njabulo Nzimande and Bidco United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidco United 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 George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Siyabonga Dala has just signed for Bidco United, and for once the answer mattered.
Add another name to the list: CotonTchad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about John Kelwishi. The answer from Bidco United has not changed — yet.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Njabulo Nzimande and Bidco United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Bidco United have gone to Sofapaka with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Njabulo Nzimande 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gor Mahia have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidco United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Njabulo Nzimande 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. Bandari have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Bongani Cele 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ibrahim Juma after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Bidco United have made the call to Gor Mahia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Everything agreed with AFC Leopards, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bongani Cele. 3‑2 against Mathare United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Simon Munala was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Bidco United have made the call to Kenya Police. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 89% of the Bidco United income
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidco United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidco United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tusker have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Bidco United, 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 Bidco United 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. Kenya Police have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Peter Wafula 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
10 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Njabulo Nzimande 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 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
Kenya Police have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
9 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.
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 7.56 for the rest of it.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Bidco United and Shabana in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Bidco United is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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. 13 actions, 6.90, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
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.
Bidco United asked and Bandari said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Kevin Ouma
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidco United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
George Odhiambo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Bongani Cele 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.
Bidco United have made the call to Gor Mahia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutSimon Munala knocks on the manager’s door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidco United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Kenya Police, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Njabulo Nzimande 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.
Njabulo Nzimande 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 May 2027
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.