Sherel Floranus 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.
At 20 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Hlatshwayo 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 will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at Brisbane Roar 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jordan Lauton and Brisbane Roar agree another 3 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 Brisbane Roar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 Joel King is on it.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Brisbane Roar is running low.
Sherel Floranus 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.
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.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Elliot Collier's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brisbane Roar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Sherel Floranus 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.
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.
Brisbane Roar have made the call to Adelaide United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Aydan Hammond is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brisbane Roar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brisbane Roar. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Brisbane Roar asked and Sydney FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Sebit Ngor 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Marc Tokich 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.
Adelaide 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.
Brisbane Roar have made the call to Viking. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Brisbane Roar 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Brisbane Roar will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutJoel Anasmo asks for a word with the manager
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Brisbane Roar people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Brisbane Roar, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Brisbane Roar have done the hard part with Viking, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Sherel Floranus 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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Tokich 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.
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 Aydan Hammond is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebit Ngor trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brisbane Roar. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Sherel Floranus 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Adelaide United have kept their man, and Brisbane Roar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Tokich 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.
Brisbane Roar have made the call to Shonan Bellmare. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brisbane Roar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Brisbane Roar has been clear about where Joe Wallis stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Elliot Collier's mistake
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Brisbane Roar people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Brisbane Roar is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Brisbane Roar have done the hard part with Melbourne Victory, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Brisbane Roar asked and Shonan Bellmare said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brisbane Roar 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 Dimitris Valkanis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brisbane Roar can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brisbane Roar 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 Dimitris Valkanis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Melbourne Victory: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Brisbane Roar will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Brisbane Roar is running low.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Sherel Floranus is living that version at Brisbane Roar, and it tends to show in the first month.
Sherel Floranus 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Jordan Lauton 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.
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. Brisbane Roar will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Brisbane Roar no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. James Durrington will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Brisbane Roar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clayton Taylor 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 Joel King is on it.
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.
20 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
In brief
SquadJoel Anasmo is training like a man with a point to make
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brisbane Roar can pretend not to have heard.
Haine Eames 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 Clayton Taylor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Panagiotis Kikianis's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebit Ngor trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 8 on 25 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Clayton Taylor 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Dean Bouzanis has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Jay O'Shea will call it something else in private.
“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 Brisbane Roar, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Justin Vidic has come up in conversations Brisbane Roar were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Clayton Taylor 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Felix Goddard, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Jordan Lauton 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Brisbane Roar can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
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.
“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 Brisbane Roar, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Slovacko keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Clayton Lewis is living that version at Brisbane Roar, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 24 signed and 15 gone
That is the business done at Brisbane Roar until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Clayton Taylor 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.
Brisbane Roar asked and Melbourne Victory said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WaiBOP United can pretend not to have heard.
Winston 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Archie Craig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Monty Cacace 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ben Stamatelopoulos and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Archie Craig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at WaiBOP United is running low.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Auckland City is saying, and nobody at WaiBOP United is enjoying the guessing.
Tommy Singh 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at WaiBOP United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Monty Cacace 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; WaiBOP United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WaiBOP United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at WaiBOP United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pablo Santana and WaiBOP United agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Archie Craig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
12 appearances and 6 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Pablo Santana was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WaiBOP United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 WaiBOP 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 WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
This is not rotation. Marco Barbarouses has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at WaiBOP United is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Regont Murati 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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ryan Singh
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Francis Barbarouses has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 WaiBOP 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 WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and WaiBOP United know it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Archie Craig 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at WaiBOP United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Cameron Lewis was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.