Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Kakamega Homeboyz spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Senou Coulibaly 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. Gor Mahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Senou Coulibaly 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.
Gor Mahia asked and Great Olympics said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Sofapaka have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dimpho Madalane. The answer from Gor Mahia has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mara Sugar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia 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 The request is on a desk at Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
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.
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.
1 for Seikorowei Preye, marked 7.72, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shabana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Position 3, 41 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gor Mahia have done the hard part with Dubočica, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ben Stanley Omondi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 17 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Senou Coulibaly 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Free State Stars have kept their man, and Gor Mahia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dubočica have kept their man, and Gor Mahia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia 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. Gor Mahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.55 for the rest of it.
Senou Coulibaly 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 Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Add another name to the list: Mara Sugar have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kevin Omondi. The answer from Gor Mahia has not changed — yet.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.84 for the rest of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Senou Coulibaly 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Senou Coulibaly 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 Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Mara Sugar; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Kariobangi Sharks next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.75 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“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 Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Patrick Ekandjoum will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia 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 Enock Morrison was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Bryton Onyona has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paul Ochuoga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Johnstone Omurwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gor Mahia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adamu Ibrahim. 2‑1 against Shabana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Dalphine Omuri has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Position 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Senou Coulibaly 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Dalphine Omuri scored in the 85th minute, Bandari had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Gor Mahia took the lot.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Senou Coulibaly 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 Aymane Mourid was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gor Mahia, another week without a signature from Enock Morrison.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia 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 Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“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.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Anthony Mbugua on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mark Shaban
The dugoutFrank Odhiambo has become a man the manager trusts
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Senou Coulibaly 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enock Morrison was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ben Stanley Omondi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A brace, and Felix Oluoch takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Felix Oluoch provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Senou Coulibaly 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.
Kakamega Homeboyz made Gor Mahia work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enock Morrison 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gor Mahia has been clear about where Lewis Bandi stands, which is more than many ever get.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Something was said to Bourama Togola and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutBourama Togola is still being punished for one mistake
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Enock Morrison
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Patrick Ekandjoum will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Enock Morrison and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gor Mahia told Bryton Onyona something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Gor Mahia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Daniel Sakari’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Gor Mahia needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Enock Morrison signs something — a contract at Gor Mahia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Bourama Togola 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.
11 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 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 Frank Odhiambo is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ben Stanley Omondi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Salisu Adamu has just signed for Gor Mahia, and for once the answer mattered.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enock Morrison was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ben Stanley Omondi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Shariff Musa
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Shariff Musa has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gor Mahia have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Ulinzi Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Gor Mahia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Shariff Musa in the middle of it, and Ulinzi Stars unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first 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 Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paul Ochuoga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Bourama Togola 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enock Morrison 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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Gor Mahia 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
11 new faces, and Gor Mahia 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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Anthony Mbugua left the room before anybody could ask which.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Enock Morrison was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Gor Mahia until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enock Morrison was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
76 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enock Morrison 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A loan enquiry to Free State Stars: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Enock Morrison is on it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia 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.
Gor Mahia asked and Niger Tornadoes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Bourama Togola is in the works
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Gor Mahia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Daniel Sakari 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.
SuperSport United 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 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enock Morrison was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shariff Musa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Gor Mahia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Gor Mahia have made the call to SuperSport United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Gor Mahia had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Patrick Ekandjoum has come up in conversations Gor Mahia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Daniel Sakari 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.
Ben Stanley Omondi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gor Mahia, another week without a signature from Enock Morrison.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enock Morrison was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Daniel Sakari 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniel Sakari is on 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.
Nobody at Gor Mahia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Gor Mahia has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Enock Morrison and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Stanley Amon is on it.
“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 Gor Mahia will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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.
Daniel Sakari 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 at Gor Mahia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The medical room confirms 40 days on the sidelines for Lewis Bandi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Shariff Musa 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.
34 appearances and 19 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 Felix Oluoch is on it.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Gor Mahia have had the benefit of it.
21 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Daniel Sakari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanley Amon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniel Sakari is on it.
“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 Gor Mahia will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
19 goals in 34 games at Muranga Seal — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Gor Mahia updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Enock Morrison 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 Frank Odhiambo 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Daniel Sakari
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Daniel Sakari has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gor Mahia have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Enock Morrison was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Robert Kakeeto has his answer from Gor Mahia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Enock Morrison is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
Kevin Omondi’s loan is measured in nothing happening
6 clean sheets from 33 appearances at APS Bomet. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stanley Amon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Something was said to Ben Stanley Omondi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
1 for Daniel Sakari, marked 7.89, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Kapen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kevin Simiyu has just signed for Gor Mahia, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Enock Morrison and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Gor Mahia will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Stanley Amon is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Stanley Amon 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.
Daniel Sakari 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 training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Stanley Amon is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Anthony Mbugua, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 7.92. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Anthony Mbugua, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Frank Odhiambo scored, was marked 7.68, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Enock Morrison and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
66 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stanley Amon did not need any: 8.48, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanley Amon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 17 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Enock Morrison was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daniel Godwin is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
Mathare United next, and one man in the Gor Mahia dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gor Mahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mara Sugar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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, wages agreed, and Sofapaka waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Enock Morrison and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Stanley Amon 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.
Gor Mahia asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gor Mahia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
61 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The phone has started ringing about Ebenezer Adukwaw again, and this time the name on the line is Sofapaka. Gor Mahia are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gor Mahia 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. Gor Mahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Stanley Amon 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 words a physio says slowly. 97 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stanley Amon 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.
23 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gor Mahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Gor Mahia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
55 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bidco United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stanley Amon 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
10 combined actions and 6.35. 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.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 102% of everything Gor Mahia earn
22 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Stanley Amon obliged against Nairobi United. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Gor Mahia.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ulinzi Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
7.74, 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Bendel Insurance 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Posta Rangers waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A brace, and Alpha Onyango takes the afternoon — 8.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alpha Onyango provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia 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.
First, on 47 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
A brace, and Stanley Amon takes the afternoon — 8.94
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Stanley Amon provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giscard Mavoungou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Gor Mahia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanley Amon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stanley Amon 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Thato Moalusi is in the works
18 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑0 against Kariobangi Sharks, and it could have been more.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Stanley Amon, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 9.38
A mark of 9.38 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Two goals and a mark of 8.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gor Mahia have done the hard part with Ajax Cape Town, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Gor Mahia will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanley Amon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
17 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“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 Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Stanley Amon, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Stanley Amon and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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 Bennet Mokoena is on it.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gor Mahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Patrick Ekandjoum obliged against Mara Sugar. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Gor Mahia.
16 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giscard Mavoungou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Bennet Mokoena has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gor Mahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Gor Mahia will try not to make too much of it.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gor Mahia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
29 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Bennet Mokoena, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Stanley Amon 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.
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bennet Mokoena provided it, and the 8.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Amonoo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Sofapaka spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giscard Mavoungou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match10 Apr 2027
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Gor Mahia. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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 is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 2‑0 win over Kakamega Homeboyz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanley Amon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Robert Kakeeto 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.
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.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gor Mahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Stanley Amon 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.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gor Mahia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Marked 8.69 — 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.
Bennet Mokoena, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Bennet Mokoena has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bennet Mokoena. 2‑0 against Ulinzi Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Robert Kakeeto 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Amonoo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Enock Morrison and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Enock Morrison. 2‑0 against Kenya Police, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rivaldo Mabunda provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giscard Mavoungou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanley Amon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shabana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lucan Louw has just signed for Gor Mahia, and for once the answer mattered.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Stanley Amon and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Samukelo Zikalala is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Ulinzi Stars will make the call about Paul Ochuoga this week. Gor Mahia have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gor Mahia asked and Kano Pillars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Bryton Onyona has come up in conversations Gor Mahia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Alpha Onyango 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 Shariff Musa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sofapaka waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Mara Sugar paid $27.0K and Gor Mahia 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 Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Niger Tornadoes: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
BA All Stars have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutLewis Bandi asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bandari waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gor Mahia have done the hard part with Kano Pillars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The name of Felix Oluoch has come up in conversations Gor Mahia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Gor Mahia asked and Nasarawa United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Everybody at Gor Mahia saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 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 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 phone has started ringing about Lewis Bandi again, and this time the name on the line is Bandari. Gor Mahia are listening politely and promising nothing.
Gor Mahia asked and El-Kanemi Warriors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Enock Morrison 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 Gor Mahia has been clear about where Mohammed Siraji stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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 registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
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 Philemon Otieno has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutMark Shaban knocks on the manager's door
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Amonoo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bennet Mokoena is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gor Mahia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Johnstone Omurwa'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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lewis Bandi 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.
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 Rivaldo Mabunda is on it.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Enock Morrison has moved up it.
In brief
The dugoutLewis Bandi knocks on the manager’s door
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Amonoo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The 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.
Alpha Onyango and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bennet Mokoena is on it.
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.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Samukelo Zikalala did not need any: 7.96, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Michael Kibwage was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody 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.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebenezer Adukwaw will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Alpha Onyango 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.
With 4 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He 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 Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Gor Mahia will try not to make too much of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shariff Musa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mohammed Siraji has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gor Mahia have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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 Philemon Otieno 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 Gor Mahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Something was said to Bennet Mokoena and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Gor Mahia 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.
Nobody at Gor Mahia 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anthony Mbugua was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Gor Mahia dressing room was either.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Samukelo Zikalala is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alpha Onyango 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shariff Musa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Rivaldo Mabunda is on it.
Kariobangi Sharks next, and one man in the Gor Mahia dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of 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.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Bennet Mokoena, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The 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.
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Gor Mahia will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Samukelo Zikalala did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frank Odhiambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Odhiambo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gor Mahia 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 Gor Mahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Gor Mahia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shariff Musa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
7.90, 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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.84 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia 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 7.85, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Gor Mahia and Mathare United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Gor Mahia asked and Muranga Seal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 19 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ulinzi Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gor Mahia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rivers United keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and David Okoth reports back to Gor Mahia with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gor Mahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gor Mahia asked and Real Bamako said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Gor Mahia know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Frank Odhiambo 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.