The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hawke's Bay United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Marc Castells 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.
In brief
SquadMohammed Kabia falls out with a teammate over standards
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hawke's Bay United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hawke's Bay United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Auckland City for Stefan Sutton 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Hawke's Bay United, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Kabia and Hawke's Bay United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hawke's Bay United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Hawke's Bay United lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Position 2, 21 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 Hawke's Bay United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hawke's Bay United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Add another name to the list: WaiBOP United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Michael Lockyer. The answer from Hawke's Bay United has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Waitakere United have kept their man, and Hawke's Bay United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
$10.0K settles it between the clubs for Paris Domfeh
Auckland City have accepted the money. What Hawke's Bay United do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $10.3K — a club that wants Paris Domfeh enough to be asked twice.
Hawke's Bay United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at WaiBOP United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
$280.0K on the table at Auckland City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Hawke's Bay United offered $11.0K; Auckland City 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.
The name of Francis Reid has come up in conversations Hawke's Bay United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bill Just and Hawke's Bay United agree another 3 years.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and WaiBOP United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hawke's Bay United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Auckland City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hawke's Bay United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.