The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Macarthur FC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Macarthur FC can pretend not to have heard.
Ryan Fraser 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. James Hall has, at Macarthur FC, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mainz 05 have kept their man, and Macarthur FC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
James Hall is 18, and Macarthur FC have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Eli Collins is 19, and Macarthur FC have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
In brief
SquadMacarthur FC are still strangers to each other
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Macarthur FC can pretend not to have heard.
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 Kosta Grozos is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Macarthur FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Macarthur FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Macarthur FC have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ryan Fraser and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries 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
The dugoutKosta Grozos has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Max Vartuli
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Macarthur FC 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.” Macarthur FC 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 Macarthur FC 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 Francis De Vries was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ryan Fraser is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kealey Adamson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Macarthur FC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ryan Fraser and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Francis De Vries is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Musa Touré trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anthony Walker 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 is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Macarthur FC than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Macarthur FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for Macarthur FC
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Macarthur FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Ryan Fraser is on it.
The mood at Macarthur FC 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.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Macarthur FC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ryan Fraser 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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Oliver McKay chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
$28.0K settles it between the clubs for Jack Duncan
Melbourne Victory have accepted the money. What Macarthur FC do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everything agreed with Adelaide United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ryan Fraser 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 easiest signature of my career.” Max Vartuli and Macarthur FC agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wellington Phoenix have kept their man, and Macarthur FC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A whole season of being the finest 21-year-old anybody in this league could put on a pitch. Bhayangkara Presisi have him, and everybody else now knows it.
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. Bhayangkara Presisi will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Max Vartuli and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fredyan Wahyu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Khaled Kamal is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Silva is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dendy Sulistyawan is on it.
Position 3, 66 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 Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Léo Silva falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Bhayangkara Presisi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bhayangkara Presisi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Max Vartuli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Léo Silva 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.
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 Allano is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bhayangkara Presisi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Adelaide United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jake Najdovski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Adelaide United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jeremy Arévalo 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 Cameron Burgess was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
6 new faces, and Adelaide United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Adelaide United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch25 Sep 2028
Max Vartuli’s loan is measured in nothing happening
6 clean sheets from 11 appearances at Bhayangkara Presisi. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Jeremy Arévalo 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 Cameron Burgess was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Nobody at Adelaide United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jack Warshawsky has his answer from Adelaide United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Loan watch18 Sep 2028
Max Vartuli’s loan is measured in nothing happening
5 clean sheets from 10 appearances at Bhayangkara Presisi. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jeremy Arévalo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Adelaide United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Adelaide United 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 Adelaide United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Jonny Yull falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Adelaide United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
9 appearances at Bhayangkara Presisi and the goals have stopped going in. Adelaide United lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.