Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Melbourne City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nathaniel Atkinson and Melbourne City 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 Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Melbourne City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stanley Amon 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.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Melbourne City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
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. Melbourne City will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andriano Lebib will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Melbourne City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Angus Thurgate 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.
Adelaide United will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Jonah Aryeetey has pre-agreed a move to Melbourne City, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Ben Gibson arrives at Melbourne City with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Melbourne City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Angus Thurgate 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.
Squad1 May 2034
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Besian Kutleshi 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Moses Ali’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Cléùr and Melbourne City 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 Melbourne City 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.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Stanley Amon is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Melbourne City 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 Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad6 Mar 2034
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Beckham Baker 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.
Squad6 Mar 2034
Mason Grant is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Melbourne City will try very hard not to make too much of it.
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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nathaniel Atkinson and Melbourne City 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.
Marked 8.59 — 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 8.44 — 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.
The offer from Adelaide United for Lucas Cooper 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 Melbourne City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 8.37 — 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cameron Howieson and Melbourne City agree another 2 years.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Melbourne City 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 Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Dec 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Beckham Baker 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 has had enough of the noise. Whether Melbourne City can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
5 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Beckham Baker 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andriano Lebib will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Melbourne City 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 Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAngus Thurgate falls out with a teammate over standards
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City 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 Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Beckham Baker 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.
Nobody at Melbourne City 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Sep 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Linus Lindelof and Melbourne City agree another 4 years.
Nobody at Melbourne City 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Melbourne City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad15 Aug 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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.
Cameron Howieson 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 at Melbourne City 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 offer from Sydney FC for Mohamed Amine Gherbi 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.
Angus Thurgate 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.
25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Aug 2033
Beckham Baker 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 name of Andriano Lebib has come up in conversations Melbourne City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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 Melbourne City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Perth Glory for Adrian Lawrence 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stanley Amon 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.
Squad11 Jul 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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 offer from Sydney FC for Mohamed Amine Gherbi 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Angus Thurgate 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.
Squad27 Jun 2033
Beckham Baker 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Callan Elliot and Melbourne City agree another 2 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Melbourne City can pretend not to have heard.
Stanley Amon 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.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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 name of Mohamed Amine Gherbi has come up in conversations Melbourne City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Melbourne City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Melbourne City can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
In brief
SquadWords at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Sydney FC had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Melbourne City did not stop to explain themselves.
“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 Melbourne City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andriano Lebib will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Melbourne City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Angus Thurgate 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
In brief
Player ratingsBeckham Baker was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andriano Lebib will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Melbourne City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Angus Thurgate 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.
Squad21 Feb 2033
Beckham Baker 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stanley Amon. 2‑1 against Brisbane Roar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Perth Glory kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Melbourne City will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings24 Jan 2033
Lachlan Lee could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.56
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.56, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Central Coast Mariners for Andriano Lebib 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.
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angus Thurgate 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.