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.
Position 15 and 21 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Mamelodi Sundowns, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Omar Khailoti 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. Golden Arrows 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 The request is on a desk at Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Golden Arrows 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 phone has started ringing about Nduduzo Mhlongo again, and this time the name on the line is Kaizer Chiefs. Golden Arrows are listening politely and promising nothing.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mamelodi Sundowns keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Sbonelo Cele 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 Velemseni Ndwandwe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Golden Arrows go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bloemfontein Celtic waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Golden Arrows go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Selaelo Rasebotja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe 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.
Kaizer Chiefs 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Golden Arrows has been clear about where Siyabonga Buda stands, which is more than many ever get.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Golden Arrows have done the hard part with Kaizer Chiefs, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sboniso Madonsela and Golden Arrows agree another 3 years.
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.
The mood at Golden Arrows 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Golden Arrows
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Selaelo Rasebotja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe 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.
26 games, 1 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Golden Arrows now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Everybody at Golden Arrows saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“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.
Squad29 May 2028
6 new faces, and Golden Arrows 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.
Zuko Mdunyelwa 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
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jerome Karelse signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tusker runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Golden Arrows will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Golden Arrows says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Golden Arrows, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ramahlwe Mothiba has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe 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.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Golden Arrows says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Zuko Mdunyelwa 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 Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dumisani Msibi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jerome Karelse signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Thamsanqa Modiba has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Philani Khumalo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Sbonelo Cele 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 Velemseni Ndwandwe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tusker runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Dumisani Msibi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ayabonga Gwangqa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Golden Arrows that is a harder question to answer.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Golden Arrows will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Golden Arrows. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
BoardroomThe Golden Arrows production line keeps running
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Golden Arrows, 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.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Zuko Mdunyelwa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jerome Karelse signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Neo Mokoena has written the date down.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Position 15 on 21 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows 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 Velemseni Ndwandwe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Something was said to Zuko Mdunyelwa and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
0‑4 against Maritzburg United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Omar Khailoti and Golden Arrows agree another 4 years.
Zuko Mdunyelwa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe 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 Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.96, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Philani Khumalo had Golden Arrows level again within 3 minutes, and Polokwane City never got to play with a lead at all.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Selaelo Rasebotja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Mamelodi Sundowns held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Golden Arrows answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
It needed Teboho Tlolane to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mamelodi Sundowns, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Golden Arrows are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
0‑4 against SuperSport United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siphamandla Ncanana 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.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Golden Arrows 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑4 Ramahlwe Mothiba left the room before anybody could ask which.
The bid was some way short and Golden Arrows did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Golden Arrows close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 4 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.
Golden Arrows offered $1.4M; Mamelodi Sundowns said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Stabiso Njoko reports back to Golden Arrows with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aaron Appindangoyé and Golden Arrows agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax Cape Town have kept their man, and Golden Arrows go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$1.4M on the table at Mamelodi Sundowns. 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 deal that would have taken Kwandakwesizwe Madonsela to Bidvest Wits has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Golden Arrows with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Everything agreed with SuperSport United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
$790.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Golden Arrows people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Golden Arrows may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The terraces17 Jan 2028
Supporters turn on the $790.0K sale of Oumar Komara
He is going to Mamelodi Sundowns, the club has $790.0K 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.
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Platinum Stars were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Golden Arrows 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.
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.
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: Anothando Menemene from Mamelodi Sundowns for $200.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nhlanhla Zwane and Golden Arrows agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1‑4 to Kaizer Chiefs, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The offer from Orlando Pirates for Nduduzo Sibiya 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 Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
Selaelo Rasebotja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Golden Arrows go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Golden Arrows, and 4 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Lukhele and Golden Arrows agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Selaelo Rasebotja’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Golden Arrows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stabiso Njoko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Sbonelo Cele 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.
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thokozani 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout13 Dec 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 0‑2 Ramahlwe Mothiba left the room before anybody could ask which.
Something was said to Stabiso Njoko and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Jomo Cosmos next, and one man in the Golden Arrows dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Teboho Tlolane 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.
Position 12, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at University of Pretoria runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Denwin Farmer has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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 Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Jerome Karelse to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Maritzburg United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ramahlwe Mothiba chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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 Philani Khumalo is on it.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sbonelo Cele was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and University of Pretoria were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thokozani Khumalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ramahlwe Mothiba kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stabiso Njoko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sbonelo Cele is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dumisani Msibi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Golden Arrows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thokozani Khumalo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jerome Karelse signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Oumar Komara is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sbonelo Cele and Golden Arrows agree another 3 years.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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 Nov 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to University of Pretoria to sit and watch. I want to come back to Golden Arrows and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Golden Arrows will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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 Thokozani Khumalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Philani Khumalo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Golden Arrows and SuperSport United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Thokozani Khumalo 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.44, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 21 combined actions and a mark of 7.03, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Golden Arrows and Bidvest Wits, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Maselaelo Seanego is a Golden Arrows player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Philani Khumalo and Golden Arrows agree another 3 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Golden Arrows will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Keenan Phillips’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Golden Arrows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nobody at Golden Arrows 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kwandakwesizwe Madonsela will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Teboho Tlolane 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 Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout4 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Ramahlwe Mothiba to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Golden Arrows 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jerome Karelse. 3‑1 against Free State Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denwin Farmer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
7.99, 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. Stabiso Njoko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Platinum Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Golden Arrows ran out of time with Orlando Pirates. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
8.22. 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thokozani 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ntando Ngwenya and Golden Arrows agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ramahlwe Mothiba kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kwanele Nayo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Selaelo Rasebotja 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.
Golden Arrows ran out of time with Mamelodi Sundowns. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Free State Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal that would have taken Nduduzo Sibiya to Kaizer Chiefs has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 29 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Keagile Malepe is living that version at Golden Arrows, and it tends to show in the first month.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Orlando Pirates; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
Kaizer Chiefs left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Platinum Stars for Kwanele Nayo 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 wanted more than $800.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Mamelodi Sundowns for Velemseni Ndwandwe 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.
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.
Ayanda Jiyane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jerome Karelse. 1‑0 against Jomo Cosmos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Velemseni Ndwandwe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Thokozani Khumalo will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Golden Arrows escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $89.0K — a club that wants Thabang Molaoa enough to be asked twice.
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.
Bloemfontein Celtic pay $150.0K, 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bloemfontein Celtic waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Ntandoyenkosi Mabaso has gone, the accounts have $540.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The offer from Chippa United for Samkelo Dlamuka 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.
$68.0K on the table at Chippa United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Bidvest Wits paid $540.0K and Golden Arrows took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sbonelo Cele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Philani Khumalo and Golden Arrows agree another 3 years.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Golden Arrows people have started saying his name in the past tense.
SuperSport United pay $270.0K, 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.
Sbonelo Cele and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The phone has started ringing about Kwanele Nayo again, and this time the name on the line is Tusker. Golden Arrows are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 Golden Arrows has been clear about where Ayabulela Maxwele stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Jomo Cosmos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bidvest Wits paid $130.0K and Golden Arrows took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Golden Arrows, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutOumar Komara has become a man the manager trusts
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
Golden Arrows 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The phone has started ringing about Justine Mthwane again, and this time the name on the line is Bidvest Wits. Golden Arrows are listening politely and promising nothing.
Golden Arrows 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.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Golden Arrows are still learning each other
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Golden Arrows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Angelo Van Rooi has gone, the accounts have $660.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Golden Arrows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Golden Arrows people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Bidvest Wits for Samkelo Dlamuka 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.
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
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.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows 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. Golden Arrows have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Bidvest Wits for Angelo Van Rooi 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 given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Simón García 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sbonelo Cele was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sazi Gumbi has his answer from Golden Arrows; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mpendulo Dlamini is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Golden Arrows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thobani Gumede will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Sbonelo Cele 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 Mpendulo Dlamini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Golden Arrows no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
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 Philani Khumalo is on it.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Golden Arrows, and 9 appearances in 37 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at Golden Arrows 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.
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 Ayabulela Maxwele has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Golden Arrows, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Mpho Maila are not good
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Denwin Farmer
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadA muscle injury sidelines Siyabonga Buda for 14 days
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Angelo Van Rooi 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 Themba Mantshiyane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Olwethu Ncube trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Simón García has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Simón García 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.
Angelo Van Rooi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Golden Arrows. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Position 11, 32 points, safe from one end and out of reach of the other. The last weeks are about next season now, and the team sheet has started saying so.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Edward Maova will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Simón García 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 SuperSport United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Golden Arrows and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 33 matches say the rest.
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 Ayabulela Maxwele is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nqubeko Dlamini has his answer from Golden Arrows; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutDenwin Farmer knocks on the manager's door
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Golden Arrows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Sbonelo Cele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Mantshiyane 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.
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Golden Arrows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thokozani Khumalo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mpho Maila has his answer from Golden Arrows; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jerome Karelse signs something — a contract at Golden Arrows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Golden Arrows have no good answer.
116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denwin Farmer and Golden Arrows agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Golden Arrows 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.
32 points in position 11: too many to go down, too few to go anywhere. The honest description of a season like this is a shrug, and the supporters have already given it.
124 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Golden Arrows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SuperSport United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Golden Arrows 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.
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 Ayabulela Maxwele has written the date down.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Black Aces will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Golden Arrows were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 32 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Marked 7.63 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simón García 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 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Black Aces tried to reorganise, Golden Arrows did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
139 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“I 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Simón García 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.
Angelo Van Rooi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The words a physio says slowly. 147 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.
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thabo Matlaba and Golden Arrows agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Sbonelo Cele 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 Simón García, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simón García is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.87, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simón García is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Golden Arrows, and 8 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ramahlwe Mothiba after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutDumisani Msibi asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Sbonelo Cele and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout15 Feb 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 0‑2 Ramahlwe Mothiba left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Keenan Phillips trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Angelo Van Rooi reports back to Golden Arrows with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Golden Arrows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simón García 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.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Golden Arrows close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aguilas Doradas have kept their man, and Golden Arrows go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
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. Defensores have kept their man, and Golden Arrows go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Golden Arrows people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
16 combined actions and 6.92. 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.
Golden Arrows asked and Temperley said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 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 Golden Arrows is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Atletico Nacional 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Angelo Van Rooi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Golden Arrows has been clear about where Angelo Van Rooi stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑3 to Kaizer Chiefs, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Golden Arrows asked and Lanús said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nduduzo Sibiya has his answer from Golden Arrows; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Velemseni Ndwandwe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Golden Arrows dressing room in a hurry
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Angelo Van Rooi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
131% of the income goes out in wages at Golden Arrows
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Ramahlwe Mothiba to a room that had heard them before.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Keenan Phillips scored, was marked 7.81, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Black Aces runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑0, Ramahlwe Mothiba could afford to be generous.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Marked 7.05 on 16 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Angelo Van Rooi 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Golden Arrows, and 3 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Sbonelo Cele falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Golden Arrows has been clear about where Brandon Theron stands, which is more than many ever get.
It needed Velemseni Ndwandwe to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Orlando Pirates go through and Golden Arrows go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Free State Stars to sit and watch. I want to come back to Golden Arrows and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Black Aces were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thabo Matlaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Some 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
0‑1 to Maritzburg United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Thabo Matlaba 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ramahlwe Mothiba to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Sbonelo Cele
Angelo Van Rooi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
7.39, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Golden Arrows had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ramahlwe Mothiba chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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 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.
Angelo Van Rooi 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 Thabo Matlaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dumisani Msibi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Golden Arrows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thokozani Khumalo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
University of Pretoria, position 6, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything 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 Golden Arrows 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 Thabo Matlaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.00. 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ramahlwe Mothiba chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Golden Arrows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Themba Mantshiyane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SuperSport United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Sbonelo Cele
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nduduzo Sibiya provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A 3‑1 win over SuperSport United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thabo Matlaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Black Aces runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Golden Arrows has been clear about where Olwethu Ncube stands, which is more than many ever get.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Three points for Golden Arrows, 1‑0 the final word against Bidvest Wits in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Thabo Matlaba 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.
7.83, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Golden Arrows had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Ramahlwe Mothiba, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Golden Arrows, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Themba Mantshiyane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Keenan Phillips’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Golden Arrows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Golden Arrows. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Free State Stars runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Thabo Matlaba 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.” Ramahlwe Mothiba after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Angelo Van Rooi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
0‑1 to Free State Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Mantshiyane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Golden Arrows, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ramahlwe Mothiba to a room that had heard them before.
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ramahlwe Mothiba kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Jerome Karelse has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
A 2‑0 win over Maritzburg United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Golden Arrows 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 Themba Mantshiyane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Golden Arrows can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Golden Arrows close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 97 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.
Golden Arrows had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Flamengo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The phone has started ringing about Oumar Komara again, and this time the name on the line is Orlando Pirates. Golden Arrows are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Themba Mantshiyane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cortulua keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Angelo Van Rooi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The phone has started ringing about Sazi Gumbi again, and this time the name on the line is Ajax Cape Town. Golden Arrows are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. David Lukhele had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“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 Golden Arrows, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from SuperSport United for Oumar Komara 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.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Orlando Pirates left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Mantshiyane 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Velemseni Ndwandwe scored in the 85th minute, Jomo Cosmos had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Golden Arrows took the lot.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $210.0K sale of Nkosi Gumede
He is going to SuperSport United, the club has $210.0K 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.
Everything agreed with Sporting CP, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
SuperSport United pay $210.0K, 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.
Chippa United paid $150.0K and Golden Arrows took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Porto have kept their man, and Golden Arrows 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Dumisani Msibi
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Bloemfontein Celtic the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Golden Arrows will enjoy reviewing.
Golden Arrows had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at River Plate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Golden Arrows asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Angelo Van Rooi 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.
Add another name to the list: SuperSport United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nkosi Gumede. The answer from Golden Arrows has not changed — yet.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Thamsanqa Dolly has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Themba Mkhize has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Percy Dolly has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The name of Ismail Zuma has come up in conversations Golden Arrows were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keenan Phillips 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.