“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Perth Glory can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Perth Glory close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 6 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.
Brian Kaltak 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 Scott Wootton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Sydney FC for Jaiden Kucharski 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.
Everything agreed with Melbourne City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Brian Kaltak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kota Sanada has just signed for Perth Glory, and for once the answer mattered.
Wellington Phoenix paid $15.0K and Perth Glory took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Perth Glory training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Scott Wootton 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 easiest signature of my career.” Charbel Shamoon and Perth Glory agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 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 Lachlan Jackson is on it.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Brian Kaltak has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Up for the corner, and Brian Kaltak delivers — 7.39
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Brian Kaltak scored, was marked 7.39, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Brian Kaltak 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.
Central Coast Mariners left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Scott Wootton 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 given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Perth Glory know it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 Daniel Turner to a room that had heard them before.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Perth Glory told Arion Sulemani something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Melbourne Victory paid $130.0K and Adelaide United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Western Sydney Wanderers have kept their man, and Adelaide United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Perth Glory paid $10.0K and Adelaide United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Joel Anasmo 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. LASK have kept their man, and Perth Glory go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Arion Sulemani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Scott Wootton 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 words a physio says slowly. 18 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 offer from Melbourne Victory for Vinko Stanisic 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wellington Phoenix have kept their man, and Adelaide United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Adelaide United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Harry Sawyer 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.
Perth Glory asked and Wellington Phoenix 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 is going to Brisbane Roar, the club has $990.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Brisbane Roar pay $990.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Perth Glory this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Perth Glory have gone to Adelaide United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Perth Glory offered $160.0K; Melbourne City said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
In brief
SquadWords at Perth Glory training over how hard people work