The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Selwyn Stevens did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Selwyn Stevens 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.
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jomo Cosmos has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces24 Dec 2029
The mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Selwyn Stevens, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.98
A mark of 7.98 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jomo Cosmos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
16 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
Thabiso Lebitso was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
0‑2 to SuperSport United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 David Schumacher left the room before anybody could ask which.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
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 dugout10 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” David Schumacher was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Jomo Cosmos dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Bidvest Wits defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jomo Cosmos is running low.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Siyabonga Makhoba and Jomo Cosmos agree another 1 years.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jomo Cosmos has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Selwyn Stevens, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moloko Nape will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jomo Cosmos 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 Jomo Cosmos 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.
Thabiso Lebitso was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Position 16, 5 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Judas Moseamedi 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chippa United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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 Lebogang Zwane is on it.
1‑6 against Kaizer Chiefs, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Position 16 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jomo Cosmos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jomo Cosmos and Kaizer Chiefs in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Selwyn Stevens, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31
A mark of 8.31 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jomo Cosmos 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 Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Schumacher after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Judas Moseamedi 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Schumacher after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Tsiki Ntsabeleng
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jomo Cosmos 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 Jomo Cosmos 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Schumacher to a room that had heard them before.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Judas Moseamedi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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 Lebogang Zwane is on it.
Selwyn Stevens, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.34
A mark of 8.34 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.
Judas Moseamedi 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It needed Selwyn Stevens to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Polokwane City, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Siyethemba Sithebe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
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 Kabelo Mahlasela is on it.
0‑4 to Mamelodi Sundowns, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 123th minute. Kaizer Chiefs will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Kabelo Mokoele could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.22
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.22, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Jomo Cosmos are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Jomo Cosmos 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos 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 Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Judas Moseamedi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Schumacher after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Jomo Cosmos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Liam Marthinus
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Schumacher to a room that had heard them before.
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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Platinum Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Selwyn Stevens, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The 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 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 mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. David Schumacher has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The clubs have shaken hands with Mamelodi Sundowns; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Mamelodi Sundowns, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Jomo Cosmos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Golden Arrows, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Boardroom9 academy graduates step up at Jomo Cosmos
Judas Moseamedi 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Bloemfontein Celtic said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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.
Golden Arrows have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
At 21 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.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Kaizer Chiefs have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and University of Pretoria waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
At 22 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jomo Cosmos have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Selwyn Stevens trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Jomo Cosmos has been clear about where Moloko Nape stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 16 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thobani Gumede is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Siyethemba Sithebe and Jomo Cosmos agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. David Schumacher has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moloko Nape will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jomo Cosmos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with Mamelodi Sundowns, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Thabiso Lebitso was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Selwyn Stevens is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Kaizer Chiefs have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Jomo Cosmos 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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to University of Pretoria this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Judas Moseamedi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thobani Gumede trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Polokwane City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kabelo Mahlasela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Jomo Cosmos will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Everything agreed with Mamelodi Sundowns, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Thabiso Lebitso was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Sirgio Kammies is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tshepiso Mahlangu commits to Jomo Cosmos for another 3 years.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jomo Cosmos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Judas Moseamedi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Jomo Cosmos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Jomo Cosmos would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Themba Khune trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. David Schumacher has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jomo Cosmos is running low.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Judas Moseamedi 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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 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.
In brief
The dugoutSifiso Nkosi knocks on the manager’s door
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 16 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jomo Cosmos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Judas Moseamedi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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 squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Sirgio Kammies was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Selwyn Stevens trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
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 Thapelo Ngcongo has written the date down.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kabelo Mahlasela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Siyabonga Makhoba and Jomo Cosmos agree another 2 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Something was said to Sibongiseni Ngcobo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jomo Cosmos is running low.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 12 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Sibongiseni Ngcobo will call it something else in private.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Bloemfontein Celtic 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 Tsiki Ntsabeleng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax Cape Town have kept their man, and Jomo Cosmos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Jomo Cosmos ran out of time with Ajax Cape Town. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Sifiso Nkosi
The dugoutThemba Khune dropped after a run of poor form
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. David Schumacher has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Jomo Cosmos close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Jomo Cosmos ran out of time with Free State Stars. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Liam Marthinus and Jomo Cosmos agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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.
“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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Polokwane City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Jomo Cosmos were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Liam Marthinus
The mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
0‑3 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Ajax Cape Town, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Judas Moseamedi 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.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Bloemfontein Celtic 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Jomo Cosmos have made the call to Polokwane City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Jomo Cosmos have made the call to Kaizer Chiefs. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
37 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Maritzburg United were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jomo Cosmos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Selwyn Stevens, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.09
A mark of 8.09 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Jomo Cosmos and Kaizer Chiefs have settled on $270.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jomo Cosmos have done the hard part with Free State Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tsiki Ntsabeleng and Jomo Cosmos agree another 3 years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Marked 7.45 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
36 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
Thabiso Lebitso was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jomo Cosmos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jomo Cosmos can pretend not to have heard.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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 Lerato Ntamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
0‑1 to SuperSport United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lonwabo Magugwana is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jomo Cosmos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Judas Moseamedi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jomo Cosmos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Judas Moseamedi 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Golden Arrows left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by David Schumacher to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
31 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jomo Cosmos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” David Schumacher after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
30 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jomo Cosmos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jomo Cosmos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jomo Cosmos is running low.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 Themba Khune 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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” David Schumacher was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Jomo Cosmos dressing room was either.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jomo Cosmos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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 hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Selwyn Stevens did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 combined actions and 7.03. 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.
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.
25 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.
0‑4 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sirgio Kammies and Jomo Cosmos agree another 3 years.
Judas Moseamedi 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 Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by David Schumacher to a room that had heard them before.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Jomo Cosmos will not try tonight.
24 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 16 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sirgio Kammies and Jomo Cosmos agree another 3 years.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Schumacher after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
23 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.
10 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Jomo Cosmos will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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 dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Thabiso Lebitso'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.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 David Schumacher left the room before anybody could ask which.
21 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.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jomo Cosmos has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces4 Sep 2028
The mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jomo Cosmos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
14 seasons and 190 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
18 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jomo Cosmos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Jomo Cosmos and Ajax Cape Town have settled on $210.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jomo Cosmos can tell you which week it ends in.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chippa United have kept their man, and Jomo Cosmos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
17 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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jomo Cosmos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 against Bidvest Wits, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Jomo Cosmos and Mamelodi Sundowns have settled on $570.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jomo Cosmos have done the hard part with Free State Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Jomo Cosmos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mamelodi Sundowns, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jomo Cosmos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jomo Cosmos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
At 21 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.
Day 9 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jomo Cosmos has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces7 Aug 2028
The mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jomo Cosmos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jomo Cosmos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Jomo Cosmos and Orlando Pirates have settled on $1.8M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Ronwen Grobler recited it perfectly.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jomo Cosmos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Jomo Cosmos and Ajax Cape Town have settled on $190.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
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.
A loan enquiry to Maritzburg United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The clubs have shaken hands with Mamelodi Sundowns; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jomo Cosmos have done the hard part with Bloemfontein Celtic, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 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.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Kaizer Chiefs said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutThobani Gumede asks for a word with the manager
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thobani Gumede is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Thabiso Lebitso was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Jomo Cosmos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have shaken hands with Orlando Pirates; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
$590.0K was the most the club would pay and Mamelodi Sundowns were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Judas Moseamedi 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Jomo Cosmos and Free State Stars have settled on $1.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Judas Moseamedi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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 Selwyn Stevens 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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jomo Cosmos have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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.
Jomo Cosmos asked and Kaizer Chiefs said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Jomo Cosmos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Orlando Pirates: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Jomo Cosmos that is a harder question to answer.
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.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Judas Moseamedi’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Mamelodi Sundowns have accepted the money. What Jomo Cosmos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Jomo Cosmos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Chippa United 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.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Branden Matsila and Jomo Cosmos agree another 3 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jomo Cosmos have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jomo Cosmos have made the call to Golden Arrows. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Kabelo Mahlasela keeps the shirt for now, at Jomo Cosmos's convenience rather than his own.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thobani Gumede trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Judas Moseamedi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kermit Ngcobo has, at Jomo Cosmos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 18, and nobody at Jomo Cosmos signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Jomo Cosmos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Judas Moseamedi 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 Lonwabo Magugwana was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kermit Dala has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sirgio Kammies is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jomo Cosmos, another week without a signature from Kabelo Mahlasela.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Thato Mokeke was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thabiso Lebitso trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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 squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Thato Mokeke is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
The mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jomo Cosmos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Sifiso Nkosi
SquadGerald Ndlovu is the talk of the training ground
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Jomo Cosmos says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jomo Cosmos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jomo Cosmos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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 Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Sirgio Kammies is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
“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 Jomo Cosmos will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Judas Moseamedi 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thabiso Lebitso trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thabiso Lebitso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thabiso Lebitso has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jomo Cosmos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jomo Cosmos 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 Sirgio Kammies was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Thato Mokeke is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
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 Lerato Ntamane 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 Jomo Cosmos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
14 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.
Thabiso Lebitso 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Jomo Cosmos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kabelo Mahlasela 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 mood at Jomo Cosmos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Thabiso Lebitso 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 Kabelo Mahlasela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Kabelo Mahlasela.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Kermit Dala to a room that had heard them before.
$2.3M was the most the club would pay and Kaizer Chiefs were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Jomo Cosmos and Kaizer Chiefs, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Jomo Cosmos and Golden Arrows have settled on $310.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
$2.3M on the table at Kaizer Chiefs. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.89, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Jomo Cosmos 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.