The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Teboho 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Marked 5.66. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evidence Dala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kermit Mokoena has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Evidence Dala in the middle of it, and SuperSport United unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Teboho 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.
Marked 9.03 — 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Kermit Modiba’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Platinum Stars.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabo Mokwena 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. Platinum Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Sifiso Tau will want back
The terracesThe press have found their man in Kermit Modiba
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Orlando Pirates go through and Platinum Stars go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Platinum Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A first appearance Keagan Dala will want to forget — 5.15
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.15, 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Maritzburg United moved on, Percy Vilakazi reports back to Platinum Stars, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Evidence Dala 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Zungu 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.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Khama Mokotjo takes the afternoon — 8.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Khama Mokotjo provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Sifiso Tau reports back to Platinum Stars with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Evidence Dala 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Khama Mokotjo had Platinum Stars level again within 3 minutes, and Free State Stars never got to play with a lead at all.
It needed Khama Mokotjo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Free State Stars, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platinum Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Al Ahly for Kermit Mokoena 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 Platinum Stars 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kermit Mokoena has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
“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 Platinum Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Teboho 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bradley Zungu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platinum Stars 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 Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evidence Dala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dean Lorch. 1‑0 against Kaizer Chiefs, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
7 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kermit Mokoena reports back to Platinum Stars with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Teboho Williams and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
3 academy players handed senior numbers at Platinum Stars
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.
Add another name to the list: Gor Mahia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Williams Ngcobo. The answer from Platinum Stars has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Zungu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Erick Billiat 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bradley Mothiba 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.
Teboho 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Bradley Zungu 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.