Marked for Mardani Majid
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Apr 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Esteghlal Ahvaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Esteghlal Ahvaz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“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 Esteghlal Ahvaz know it.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Mohammad Hossein Moradmand 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.
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Esteghlal Ahvaz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad8 Apr 2030
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Esteghlal Ahvaz would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match1 Oct 2029
Nadi are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market1 Oct 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nadi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
Boardroom1 Oct 2029
Nadi counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Nadi now.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Abishek Waqa gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nadi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tevita Ravia 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 Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch24 Sep 2029
“I watch every Nadi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Navua runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Sep 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match3 Sep 2029
Nadi are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market3 Sep 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nadi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market3 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nadi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Aug 2029
Nadi say no — this time
The offer from Suva for Shaheel Valentine 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Tevita Ravia 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 Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market13 Aug 2029
The Anare Jale conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Suva will make the call about Anare Jale this week. Nadi have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Shaheel Valentine will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nadi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market23 Jul 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Nadi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Jul 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match9 Jul 2029
Nadi up to position 3
28 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nadi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market9 Jul 2029
Apisai Sesewa has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nadi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom9 Jul 2029
Nadi counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Nadi now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 May 2029
“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 Nadi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 May 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Vishant Reddy 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.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad28 May 2029
8 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad28 May 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 May 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Tailevu Naitasiri defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad28 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nadi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Marked 5.57, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 May 2029
“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 Nadi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 May 2029
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 May 2029
Nadi come up short against Lautoka
Lautoka left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Beniamino Lebatavatava, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A mark of 5.45 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A mark of 5.75 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market21 May 2029
The Shiva Pillay talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nadi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
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Squad
Leo Lesumai knocks on the manager’s door
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Market
Still no signature from Mardani Majid
-
Boardroom
The Nadi production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Apr 2029
Whatever happens, Nadi do not lose
7 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Tevita Ravia 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 Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A defender's afternoon for Vishant Reddy
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Leo Lesumai gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match28 Apr 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Nadroga defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Liberato Wood 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Rocky Junior wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Rocky Junior has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Nadi know, and have known for weeks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Apr 2029
Apisai Sesewa hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nadi can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Marius Mahamat: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Nadi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vishant Reddy commits to Nadi for another 2 years.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
Match21 Apr 2029
6 unbeaten for Nadi
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Nadi did not have in the autumn.
Squad23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Mohammed Ayman
“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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Apr 2029
Honours even between Nadi and Labasa
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market23 Apr 2029
The Shiva Pillay talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nadi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
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Market
Mardani Majid runs his contract down
-
Boardroom
The Nadi production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Vishant Reddy 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad2 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Taniela Ravai
“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.
Market2 Apr 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match31 Mar 2029
No goals between Nadi and Rewa
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Rewa will be the happier side with the point.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Marked 5.59, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Ashneel Kumar is 34, with 35 appearances behind him, and Nadi will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Mohammed Ayman
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yasser Marwan commits to Nadi for another 1 years.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.53 on the card, and the Nadi support went home talking about one name.
Match24 Mar 2029
Point won or two lost for Nadi?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Tailevu Naitasiri? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Shainal Lal 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 Shainal Lal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
A defender's afternoon for Vishant Reddy
Defensive actions: 9. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Feb 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mardani Majid’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Nadi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Nadi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Jan 2029
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. Nadi will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market1 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nadi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Dec 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market18 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nadi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Nov 2028
“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 Nadi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Nov 2028
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. Nadi will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market20 Nov 2028
Only the photograph left for Ratu Verevou
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ratu Verevou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nadi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market20 Nov 2028
He is 19, and nobody at Nadi signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Liberato Wood 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 Liberato Wood trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Oct 2028
Apisai Sesewa hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nadi can pretend not to have heard.
Market23 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Ratu Verevou
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ratu Verevou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nadi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Nadi
Tevita Ravia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Ratu Verevou
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ratu Verevou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nadi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Sep 2028
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad25 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nadi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market28 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.