The Southern United Herald
Squad2 Jul 2029
Stefan Lockyer breaks a bone — 95 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Real improvement from Marc Prieto at Southern United
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marc Prieto is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad2 Jul 2029
James Kirwan 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 Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
Southern United rebuffed over Jayden Smith
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wellington Phoenix have kept their man, and Southern United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordan Vale 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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Intake day at the Southern United academy
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout2 Jul 2029
When it matters, Jordan Vale 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 dugout2 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Matt Stamatelopoulos
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout2 Jul 2029
Marc Prieto 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 Southern United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
- Market Liberato Bell leaves for nothing
- Market Joe Boxall leaves for nothing
- Market The Abishek Sorovi talk will not go away