Marked for Rishal Shankar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amitesh Krishna 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Rishal Shankar knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rishal Shankar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Suva
Rishal Shankar 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Amitesh Krishna 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Questions about Simione Nabenu on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Suva
Akuila Mateisuva 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amitesh Krishna 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan move for Delon Shankar is in the works
Suva have made the call to Rewa. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Suva will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market18 Jan 2027
A season-long audition: Ba still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Suva's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Suva have done the hard part with Nadi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Suva
Akuila Mateisuva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rishal Shankar, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amitesh Krishna 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Apisai Sesewa is in the works
Suva have made the call to Nadi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Mitieli Naiviro asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Suva
Rishal Shankar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Amitesh Krishna 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.
Market28 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simione Nabenu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ramzan Khan commits to Suva for another 3 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramzan Khan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rishal Shankar and Suva agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Josua Raqamu in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Amitesh Krishna 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Suva is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Suva
Remueru Tekiate 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amitesh Krishna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Suva
Rishal Shankar 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 Sep 2026
Amitesh Krishna 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Suva the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Suva
Akuila Mateisuva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mitieli Naiviro 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Nadi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.