Marked for Simione Jale
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Sep 2029
Mohammed Ledua has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ba they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
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Squad24 Sep 2029
Words exchanged at Ba
Jake Colvey 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Sam Just 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 dugout24 Sep 2029
Harvey Ness 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.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
Kishan Sami gets picked when it counts
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 Kishan Sami is on it.
Market24 Sep 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ba know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market24 Sep 2029
Ba and Simione Jale are talking past each other
“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.
The dugout24 Sep 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 Ba, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Sep 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 The request is on a desk at Ba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ba is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Sep 2029
He is 21, he is averaging 7.35, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Ba
Jake Colvey 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 Sep 2029
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Transfer targets17 Sep 2029
Ba asked and Team Wellington said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Sam Just 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 dugout17 Sep 2029
Ali Mekawir gets picked when it counts
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 Ali Mekawir is on it.
Squad17 Sep 2029
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Sep 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ba people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A fracture rules Simione Jale out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Sam Just 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 Ba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2029
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Western Sydney Wanderers have kept their man, and Ba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Ilisoni Lolaivalu 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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
Ba can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Sam Just has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ba 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.
Market10 Sep 2029
Ba and Sailose Tawake are talking past each other
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Jun 2029
Position 6, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad11 Jun 2029
At 15 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad11 Jun 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Darko Rajkovic and Waitakere United agree another 3 years.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Tim Cacace 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.
Market11 Jun 2029
WaiBOP United are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Waitakere United will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
Owen Kirwan knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Waitakere United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Jun 2029
Waitakere United have made Kosta Just available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom28 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Waitakere United boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad28 May 2029
26 days out for Simione Jale after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Waitakere United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market28 May 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.
Market28 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Owen Smith
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owen Smith will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Waitakere United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 May 2029
Matt Fenton 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.
Squad28 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tommy Boxall and Waitakere United agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 May 2029
When it matters, Tommy Waine plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout28 May 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Strahinja Nastasic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 May 2029
The mood at Waitakere United has turned into something else
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.
Squad21 May 2029
33 days out for Simione Jale after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Waitakere United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market21 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Owen Just
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owen Just will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Waitakere United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 May 2029
Matt Fenton 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 May 2029
Tommy Smith 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.
The dugout21 May 2029
Francis Cacace 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.
In brief
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Squad
The penny has dropped for Tim Cacace
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Squad
Dane Fenton is training like a man with a point to make
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The dugout
The manager comes out for Tim Wood
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Dec 2028
The knee: Noah Nelson out for 28 days
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Waitakere United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match25 Dec 2028
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Owen Just, 18, steals the show — 8.14
Marked 8.14 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market25 Dec 2028
Only the photograph left for Owen Just
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owen Just will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Waitakere United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Matt Fenton and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Dec 2028
2‑4 to Hawke's Bay United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces25 Dec 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Owen Just has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 May 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Waitakere United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market29 May 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.
Squad29 May 2028
The step up is real for Jeremy Foo
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Market29 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Waitakere United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 May 2028
Jeremy Foo 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.
Squad29 May 2028
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The dugout29 May 2028
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Squad29 May 2028
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout29 May 2028
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