The words a physio says slowly. 129 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 2, 55 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mamelodi Sundowns, and 7 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iqraam Rayners signs something — a contract at Mamelodi Sundowns or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
139 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to AFC Leopards to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 12 appearances in 36 matches say the rest.
146 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ronwen Williams 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 had been thinking. Bathusi Aubaas is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SuperSport United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mamelodi Sundowns, and 2 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to SuperSport United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 34 matches say the rest.
6 goals in 29 games at ASO Chlef — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arthur Sales will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ronwen Williams 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 had been thinking. Bathusi Aubaas is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I did not go to AFC Leopards to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mamelodi Sundowns hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aubrey Modiba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mamelodi Sundowns, and 1 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AFC Leopards runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to SuperSport United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 30 matches say the rest.
6 goals in 28 games at ASO Chlef — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arthur Sales will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Anothando Menemene is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Aubrey Modiba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to AFC Leopards to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 28 matches say the rest.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
198 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ronwen Williams and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to AFC Leopards to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at Mamelodi Sundowns no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
“For the first time in years I am picked because somebody wants me in the team.” Maritzburg United suits him; the awkward conversation belongs to Mamelodi Sundowns, and the summer will force it.
5 goals in 26 games at ASO Chlef — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Ajax Cape Town go through and Mamelodi Sundowns go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Tashreeq Matthews decided nobody was going anywhere. Polokwane City had no time left to answer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aubrey Modiba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SuperSport United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
9 goals in 21 games at University of Pretoria — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 139 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Austin FC for Brayan León was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mamelodi Sundowns hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 153 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns heard it as anything else.
The deal that would have taken Anothando Menemene to Chippa United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Mamelodi Sundowns with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Themba Zwane 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 155 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Bloemfontein Celtic for Arthur Sales was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A first appearance Thato Moalusi will want to forget — 5.57
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.57, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Ronwen Williams 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.
Add another name to the list: Gor Mahia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thato Moalusi. The answer from Mamelodi Sundowns has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fawaaz Basadien 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.
Position 2, 45 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“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 Mamelodi Sundowns, 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aubrey Modiba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SuperSport United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The offer from Jomo Cosmos for Khulumani Ndamane was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Ronwen Williams 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.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Aubrey Modiba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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 Iqraam Rayners.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AFC Leopards runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Anothando Menemene is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Nuno Santos takes the afternoon — 8.73
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nuno Santos provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.79 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The offer from Paradou for Keanu Cupido was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Mamelodi Sundowns will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lwandiso Radebe is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Add another name to the list: Jomo Cosmos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Khulumani Ndamane. The answer from Mamelodi Sundowns has not changed — yet.
Position 2, 37 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mamelodi Sundowns hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Marked 8.94 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Marked 8.61 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Malibongwe Khoza 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.
27 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 1‑0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Khulumani Ndamane and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Nuno Santos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.71. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thapelo Morena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Jayden Adams at his very best
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
21 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mamelodi Sundowns, and 3 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ronwen Williams 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 had been thinking. Bathusi Aubaas is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AFC Leopards runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Marked 5.74. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
In brief
Player ratingsArthur Sales changes it off the bench
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Lwandiso Radebe has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Nuno Santos’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mamelodi Sundowns.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Nuno Santos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.42. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fawaaz Basadien 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.
19 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Ajax Cape Town? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Lebo Mothiba could not do
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Lebo Mothiba
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Themba Zwane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mamelodi Sundowns hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I did not go to Free State Stars to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 3, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Peter Shalulile. 1‑0 against Bidvest Wits, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thapelo Morena 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lwandiso Radebe is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Lwandiso Radebe has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mothobi Mvala. 2‑0 against Golden Arrows, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mamelodi Sundowns lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Oarabile Booysen is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Free State Stars runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Anothando Menemene is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 34 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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 want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns heard it as anything else.
“I watch every Mamelodi Sundowns game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Asante Kotoko runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thapelo Morena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Mamelodi Sundowns, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Shooting Stars for Jody February was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 2‑1 win over Bloemfontein Celtic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Grant Kekana falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The offer from Asteras for Arthur Sales was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bidvest Wits paid $810.0K and Mamelodi Sundowns took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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 offer from Leeds United for Brayan León was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The phone has started ringing about Tashreeq Matthews again, and this time the name on the line is Paradou. Mamelodi Sundowns are listening politely and promising nothing.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Nuno Santos’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mamelodi Sundowns.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mothobi Mvala falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Aubrey Modiba
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ronwen Williams and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 2 years.
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The phone has started ringing about Arthur Sales again, and this time the name on the line is CFR Cluj. Mamelodi Sundowns are listening politely and promising nothing.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mamelodi Sundowns has been clear about where Peter Shalulile stands, which is more than many ever get.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dean Kekana has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
SquadGrant Kekana falls out with a teammate over standards
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Themba Zwane and Mamelodi Sundowns 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 Mamelodi Sundowns 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.