A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Donay Jansen has come up in conversations Bidvest Wits were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from Reyaad Pieterse.
Bidvest Wits have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bidvest Wits have made the call to Free State Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justine Mthwane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nkosikhona Ndaba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Bidvest Wits will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Market28 May 2029
Zeke May returns from a loan that gave him nothing
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Bidvest Wits 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits 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 Thato Sibiya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nobody at Bidvest Wits 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bidvest Wits. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kutlwano Letlhaku and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khulekani Kubheka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kutlwano Letlhaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Seth Kwadwo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Bidvest Wits
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khulekani Kubheka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bidvest Wits told Siphelo Baloni something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khulekani Kubheka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits 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. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kutlwano Letlhaku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Thato Sibiya 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.
In brief
The dugoutKarabo Molefe asks for a word with the manager
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam El Mahjouby will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
8 new faces, and Bidvest Wits 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karabo Molefe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 Thabiso Lebitso is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khulekani Kubheka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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 Kutlwano Letlhaku is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khulekani Kubheka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 11 on 28 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Lebogang Williams to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Kwadwo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
1 for Thato Sibiya, marked 7.82, 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kutlwano Letlhaku and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thato Sibiya 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from Reyaad Pieterse.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bidvest Wits can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
10 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 dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Reyaad Pieterse
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 goal that put Polokwane City ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Bidvest Wits equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Lebogang Williams to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khulekani Kubheka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mamelodi Sundowns go through and Bidvest Wits go home, 2‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khulekani Kubheka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
1 for Ethan Brooks, marked 7.71, 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.
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.
Thato Sibiya 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.
He is 22 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Karabo Molefe
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bidvest Wits people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Zuko Mdunyelwa has just signed for Bidvest Wits, and for once the answer mattered.
Bidvest Wits asked and University of Pretoria said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bidvest Wits asked and Orlando Pirates said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justine Mthwane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Quadri Liameed has just signed for Bidvest Wits, and for once the answer mattered.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax Cape Town have kept their man, and Bidvest Wits go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Quadri Liameed and Bidvest Wits agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Reyaad Pieterse.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thamsanqa Khune will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Sifiso Mbidana was one of the reasons people came, and $550.0K does not replace that by itself.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Diogo Calila is living that version at Bidvest Wits, and it tends to show in the first month.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $90.8K of what Bidvest Wits paid for Bongani Ngcobo is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
He is going to Mamelodi Sundowns, the club has $1.4M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Teboho Erasmus is living that version at Bidvest Wits, and it tends to show in the first month.
The offer from University of Pretoria for Nqobani Biyela 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.
Mamelodi Sundowns pay $1.4M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Kaizer Chiefs for Thamsanqa Khune 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.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Bidvest Wits go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mandla Mabunda has just signed for Bidvest Wits, and for once the answer mattered.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Bidvest Wits had all but put away. Kaizer Chiefs will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ethan Brooks. 1‑0 against Orlando Pirates, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khulekani Kubheka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
15 combined actions and 7.18. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Jomo Cosmos were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Thamsanqa Khune has his answer from Bidvest Wits; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Lebogang Williams after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Bidvest Wits 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits 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 Reyaad Pieterse, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Dec 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 Lebogang Williams left the room before anybody could ask which.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Donay Jansen obliged against Kaizer Chiefs. 1‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Bidvest Wits.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justine Mthwane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nkosikhona Ndaba and Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Half the programme played, position 13, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
0‑1 to University of Pretoria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Mory Konaté 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.” Lebogang Williams after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 Thato Sibiya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against University of Pretoria in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Marc Yapéndé is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from Justine Mthwane.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Bidvest Wits production line keeps running
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Polokwane City made Bidvest Wits work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Mory Konaté falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bidvest Wits told Kutlwano Letlhaku something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Lebogang Williams on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidvest Wits has been clear about where Reece Braithwaite stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 Bidvest Wits know it.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Mory Konaté 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khulekani Kubheka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Nobody left the Bidvest Wits dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Lebogang Williams to a room that had heard them before.
The new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Thabiso Lebitso before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Mory Konaté falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Thabiso Lebitso before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Lebogang Williams after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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 new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Andile Mokoena before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Mory Konaté 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.
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.
Ajax Cape Town next, and one man in the Bidvest Wits dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Andile Mokoena before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
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 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.
7.80, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khulekani Kubheka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bidvest Wits the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thato Sibiya is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Andile Mokoena before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
Bidvest Wits asked and University of Pretoria said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
8.13. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Andile Mokoena before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Mory Konaté falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Two goals and a mark of 8.93 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 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Justine Mthwane did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Up for the corner, and Marc Yapéndé delivers — 7.74
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Marc Yapéndé scored, was marked 7.74, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Up for the corner, and Seth Kwadwo delivers — 7.74
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Seth Kwadwo scored, was marked 7.74, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kutlwano Letlhaku 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The deal that would have taken Werner Oosthuizen to Chippa United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Bidvest Wits with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken Mory Konaté to Kaizer Chiefs has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Bidvest Wits with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Thabiso Lebitso is a Bidvest Wits player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Bidvest Wits asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The new man at Bidvest Wits has worked with Andile Mokoena before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Mory Konaté 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Bongani Ngcobo reports back to Bidvest Wits with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 17 gone
That is the business done at Bidvest Wits 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bidvest Wits they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bidvest Wits asked and Jomo Cosmos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The borrowed shirt is his now: Bidvest Wits have made the move permanent, and the only thing that changes is the paperwork. Everybody involved already knew exactly what they were getting.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Golden Arrows for Bongani Ngcobo 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax Cape Town have kept their man, and Bidvest Wits go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bidvest Wits have done the hard part with University of Pretoria, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Aug 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Lebogang Williams to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Thato Moalusi is in the works
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bidvest Wits have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Bidvest Wits can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mory Konaté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Looking aheadA test against the best for Bidvest Wits
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Somila Ntsundwana's mistake
0‑3 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and University of Pretoria waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Add another name to the list: SuperSport United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Khulekani Kubheka. The answer from Bidvest Wits has not changed — yet.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Black Aces this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$450.0K was the most the club would pay and Golden Arrows 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is saying, and nobody at Bidvest Wits is enjoying the guessing.
$450.0K on the table at Golden Arrows. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Nkosikhona Ndaba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I 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 Bidvest Wits know it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Mory Konaté 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.
Bidvest Wits have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Bidvest Wits asked and Ajax Cape Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nkosikhona Ndaba and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bidvest Wits will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mory Konaté 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.
A loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Shaun Els is in the works
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bidvest Wits have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bidvest Wits asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Nqobani Biyela again, and this time the name on the line is Platinum Stars. Bidvest Wits are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khulekani Kubheka 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 deal with Ajax Cape Town 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Teboho Billiat 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 Mory Konaté 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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bidvest Wits had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mamelodi Sundowns, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Reece Braithwaite and Bidvest Wits agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nkosikhona Ndaba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from Reyaad Pieterse.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mory Konaté 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.
Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
Bidvest Wits asked and Ajax Cape Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Bidvest Wits have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khulekani Kubheka 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bidvest Wits people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Bidvest Wits asked and Orlando Pirates said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Nqobani Biyela again, and this time the name on the line is Platinum Stars. Bidvest Wits are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mory Konaté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bidvest Wits have made the call to Golden Arrows. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Maritzburg United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bidvest Wits is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Orlando Pirates pay $380.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Bidvest Wits asked and University of Pretoria said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Mory Konaté 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 loan enquiry to Ajax Cape Town: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Nkosikhona Ndaba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Romario Dlamini, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Donay Jansen 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 loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Platinum Stars 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Donay Jansen 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.
Squad29 May 2028
7 new faces, and Bidvest Wits 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
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.
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 Mpho Mathekgane is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Teboho Billiat 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Cemran Dansin 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ethan Brooks trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Something was said to Khulekani Kubheka and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Bidvest Wits could ask drops and the wages Romario Dlamini can ask rise.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donay Jansen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bidvest Wits told Khotso Malope something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thamsanqa Khune trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bidvest Wits. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin 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 Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nkosikhona Ndaba and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bidvest Wits know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin 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 Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from Reyaad Pieterse.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidvest Wits has been clear about where Kagiso Malinga stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donay Jansen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody 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.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bidvest Wits. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Teboho Billiat 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Cemran Dansin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Zeke May has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Cemran Dansin 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidvest Wits has been clear about where Werner Oosthuizen stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bidvest Wits know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Siphelo Baloni trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidvest Wits has been clear about where Nqobani Biyela stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Bidvest Wits could ask drops and the wages Romario Dlamini can ask rise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Cemran Dansin will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Bidvest Wits escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Position 9 on 39 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits 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 Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Cemran Dansin 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.
It needed Cemran Dansin to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Maritzburg United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 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 Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Nkosikhona Ndaba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Reece Braithwaite has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 2‑0 win over University of Pretoria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
An average of 7.01 in a first team he is several years too young for. Bidvest Wits have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Romario Dlamini will call it something else in private.
“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.
The dugout6 Mar 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 Lebogang Williams left the room before anybody could ask which.
Teboho Billiat 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Cemran Dansin 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.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Siyethemba Sithebe has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Bidvest Wits.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Lebogang Williams, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
Teboho Billiat 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.
Bidvest Wits asked and SuperSport United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
$380.0K was the most the club would pay and Jomo Cosmos 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Cemran Dansin 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Bidvest Wits go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Bidvest Wits close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 3 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.
$380.0K on the table at Jomo Cosmos. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Teboho Billiat and Bidvest Wits agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
An average of 7.01 in a first team he is several years too young for. Bidvest Wits have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Cemran Dansin 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything was agreed with Golden Arrows and then the doctor spoke. Bidvest Wits have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Nkosikhona Ndaba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donay Jansen 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Free State Stars scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bidvest Wits have done the hard part with Chippa United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Selwyn Stevens is living that version at Bidvest Wits, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bidvest Wits asked and SuperSport United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Something was said to Romario Dlamini and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Golden Arrows 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.
Selwyn Stevens is 19, and Bidvest Wits have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
In brief
The dugoutMarks Munyai dropped after a run of poor form
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Sandile Khumalo has come up in conversations Bidvest Wits were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Nkosikhona Ndaba 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” S'fiso Hlanti has his answer from Bidvest Wits; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A 1‑0 win over Chippa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nkosikhona Ndaba has just signed for Bidvest Wits, and for once the answer mattered.
Everything agreed with Kaizer Chiefs, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Siphelo Baloni 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.
Bidvest Wits asked and Golden Arrows 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bidvest Wits has been clear about where Marks Munyai stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
1‑4 against Orlando Pirates, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The offer from Mamelodi Sundowns for Sandile Khumalo 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 Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. Bidvest Wits have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Cemran Dansin 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 did not go to Ajax Cape Town to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bidvest Wits and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Gomolemo Kekana, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31
A mark of 8.31 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits 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 Bidvest Wits 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 Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Bloemfontein Celtic. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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 words a physio says slowly. 43 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.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Gomolemo Kekana is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
In brief
The dugoutS'fiso Hlanti dropped after a run of poor form
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Marks Munyai 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mory Konaté and Bidvest Wits agree another 1 years.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin 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. 59 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.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Gomolemo Kekana, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Marks Munyai 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
It needed Gomolemo Kekana to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against University of Pretoria, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Sandile Khumalo's mistake
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
Siphelo Baloni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Somebody else is better right now than S'fiso Hlanti
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kagiso Malinga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Lebogang Williams after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Polokwane City? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sifiso Mbidana’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Bidvest Wits needing him to play as if none of it matters.
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Teboho Billiat and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Cemran Dansin 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Pentjie Zulu for 19 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Bidvest Wits will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bidvest Wits lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sandile Khumalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Cemran Dansin 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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Lebogang Williams left the room before anybody could ask which.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Marks Munyai 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 Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
The dugoutSandile Khumalo is still being punished for one mistake
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits 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 Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
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
SquadBidvest Wits are still strangers to each other
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than S'fiso Hlanti
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bidvest Wits lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 goals in one match, Kagiso Malinga on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Bidvest Wits and Golden Arrows.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.44 — 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.
A performance of 8.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Ethan Brooks was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. 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.
In brief
Player ratingsKagiso Malinga was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Daniel Itodo damages knee ligaments — 111 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marks Munyai 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 Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from S'fiso Hlanti.
Something was said to Monnapule Saleng and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and S'fiso Hlanti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Golden Arrows next, and one man in the Bidvest Wits dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kagiso Malinga and Bidvest Wits agree another 2 years.
Siphelo Baloni 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Cemran Dansin 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bidvest Wits, another week without a signature from Reyaad Pieterse.
Something was said to Reece Braithwaite and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Teboho Billiat 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 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gomolemo Kekana 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Lebogang Williams on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khulekani Kubheka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Teboho Billiat 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Bidvest Wits is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mory Konaté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Sep 2027
12 new faces, and Bidvest Wits 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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Marks Munyai
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Justine Mthwane did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Marks Munyai 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 Mory Konaté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Bidvest Wits close the window on a squad of their own making
27 in and 5 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.
Marks Munyai 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adam El Mahjouby is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Tloto Leepile is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gomolemo Kekana has come out of that comparison in the side, and Bidvest Wits have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
In brief
The dugoutMory Konaté asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces30 Aug 2027
The mood at Bidvest Wits has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Bidvest Wits, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bidvest Wits have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Orlando Pirates is saying, and nobody at Bidvest Wits is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sandile Khumalo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 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 Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sandile Khumalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 combined actions and 6.75. 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.
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.
The offer from SuperSport United for Romario Dlamini 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.
Everything was agreed with Mamelodi Sundowns and then the doctor spoke. Bidvest Wits have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Everything agreed with Chippa United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Siphelo Baloni 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bidvest Wits will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bidvest Wits can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bidvest Wits have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$2.0M was the most the club would pay and Orlando Pirates 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.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.96, and 2 involvements.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bidvest Wits this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Boardroom5 academy graduates step up at Bidvest Wits
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
Supporters organise against the Bidvest Wits board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bidvest Wits is running low.
The offer went to Orlando Pirates this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Ntandoyenkosi Mabaso from Golden Arrows for $540.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khulekani Kubheka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Bidvest Wits have gone to Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $300.0K — a club that wants Alwande Booysen enough to be asked twice.
$540.0K on the table at Golden Arrows. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Teboho Billiat from Platinum Stars for $1.7M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Bidvest Wits training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khulekani Kubheka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Everything agreed with Platinum Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Mamelodi Sundowns wanted more than $1.2M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The offer went to Golden Arrows this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Marks Munyai 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.
Thamsanqa Khune was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.1M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
9 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bidvest Wits, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bidvest Wits will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer went to Mamelodi Sundowns this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer went to Ajax Cape Town this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Marks Munyai 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Bongani Ngcobo from SuperSport United for $950.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
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.