The Waitakere United Sentinel
Squad5 Nov 2029
Jake Smith damages knee ligaments — 103 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Joe Payne has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Waitakere United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Crisis meeting at Waitakere United
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market5 Nov 2029
Rory McDonald is on his way
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.
Match3 Nov 2029
No end in sight to Waitakere United's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Waitakere United has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Nobody could get near Kosta Smith
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Waitakere United
Kosta Smith 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Waitakere United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deklan Sutton 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.
Match3 Nov 2029
A bad afternoon for Waitakere United against WaiBOP United
0‑2 to WaiBOP United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
In brief
- Squad Tim Sutton gets it from the manager
- Market The shop window has Stefan Tuiloma in it
- Boardroom Waitakere United answer back