Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Chris Sutton was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The goal that put Hawke's Bay United ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Southern United equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Marko Nastasic 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 dugout17 Nov 2031
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Nobody at Southern United is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Southern United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Position 5 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Sam Nelson 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.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Southern United were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Southern United has been clear about where Chris Sutton stands, which is more than many ever get.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Marco Barbarouses's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Southern United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Everything agreed with Team Wellington, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Southern United offered $8.0K; Team Wellington 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.
Marko Nastasic 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 Callum Smith was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Waitakere United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Monty Bell will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Southern United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer went to Team Wellington this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Sam Nelson 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 Callum Smith 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 Matt Colvey is on it.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Southern United would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chris Sutton trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Marko Nastasic 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 had been thinking. Callum Smith 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 Southern 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Monty Bell was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Owen Wood has written the date down.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Callum Fenton signs something — a contract at Southern United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Southern United is running low.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marco Rufer and Southern United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tommy Fenton signs something — a contract at Southern United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Southern United 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 Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dane Cacace and Southern United agree another 4 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 Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dane Cacace and Southern United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Smith was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Southern United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Southern 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Southern United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owen Wood will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Southern United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Smith was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Southern United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Sam Nelson is training like a man with a point to make
Nobody has promised him anything and he has not asked. The coaching staff have noticed, which at this stage of a season is the only thing that matters.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Chris Sutton
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alex Nelson did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Sam Nelson 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Player ratings20 Jan 2031
Matt Payne was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Smith was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Hawke's Bay United for Owen Wood 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.
Sam Nelson 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Southern United has been clear about where Deklan Payne stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bill De Vries was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matt Colvey signs something — a contract at Southern United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Southern United has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
In brief
The dugoutChris Sutton knocks on the manager’s door
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Southern United is running low.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Southern United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Owen Wood and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Bill De Vries 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 Clayton Stamatelopoulos is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Southern United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutChris Sutton asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Deklan Payne
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Dane Rufer has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The phone has started ringing about Owen Wood again, and this time the name on the line is Waitakere United. Southern United are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Chris Sutton has his answer from Southern United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Monty Bell was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matt Colvey signs something — a contract at Southern United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager's exit leaves Owen Wood exposed
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United 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 Monty Bell was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United 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 Bill De Vries was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Southern 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Southern United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutChris Sutton knocks on the manager’s door
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on James Waine
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Monty Bell will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Southern United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Marko Nastasic 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.
Nobody at Southern 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bill De Vries was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Southern United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Kirwan and Southern United agree another 3 years.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Garbett, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
Tommy Fenton was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.