It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Canterbury United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Cameron Cacace. The answer from Team Wellington has not changed — yet.
Everyone has stopped pretending: PSBS Biak will make the call about Marco Fenton this week. Team Wellington have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Team Wellington, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ben Warland 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Team Wellington have had the benefit of 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Noah Rufer 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ryan Barbarouses trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Sam Nelson on the training pitch
Position 2, 24 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Team Wellington have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Waitakere United can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mitchell Wilson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Waitakere United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Waitakere United, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Monty Lockyer is 35, with 0 appearances behind him, and Waitakere United will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Monty Lockyer is still in the building
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marco Fenton. 1‑0 against Hawke's Bay United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I did not go to Auckland City to sit and watch. I want to come back to Team Wellington and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Position 3, 10 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.78 — 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.
Ben Warland 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.
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
“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 Team Wellington, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.13 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Deklan Nelson. 1‑0 against Canterbury United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I watch every Team Wellington game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Auckland City runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Team Wellington can pretend not to have heard.
Ben Warland 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Team Wellington can pretend not to have heard.
Ethen Sampson 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.
Southern United paid $28.0K and Team Wellington took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Team Wellington will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Add another name to the list: Astana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marco Just. The answer from Team Wellington has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington 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.” Tommy Smith and Team Wellington agree another 2 years.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Team Wellington know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Marley Leuluai is 19, and Team Wellington have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.