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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilisoni Lolaivalu 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.
WaiBOP 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.
Southern 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.
“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.
The phone has started ringing about Liberato Lewis again, and this time the name on the line is Team Wellington. WaiBOP United are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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.
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.
The minutes were not coming at WaiBOP United, so they will be looked for at Team Wellington. A loan out is not a goodbye, but it is always a question: about the player, or about the plan.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Ryan Nelson
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Auckland City is saying, and nobody at Team Wellington is enjoying the guessing.
Team Wellington asked and Hawke's Bay United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jake Waine is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jai Nelson has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sam Singh is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matt Rufer is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Team Wellington will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.