103 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.
The terraces27 Jan 2031
The mood at WaiBOP United has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WaiBOP United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
WaiBOP United have made the call to Hawke's Bay United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A loan enquiry to Southern United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Joe Sutton 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Canterbury United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at WaiBOP United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
0‑3 to Team Wellington, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
WaiBOP United asked and Canterbury 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.
In brief
SquadJoe Rufer falls out with a teammate over standards
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WaiBOP United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑7 against Southern United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Waitakere United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at WaiBOP United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Waitakere United for Chris Cacace 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Southern United is saying, and nobody at WaiBOP United is enjoying the guessing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WaiBOP United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between WaiBOP United and Southern United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Ben Just 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.
124 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WaiBOP United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WaiBOP United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Auckland City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Joe Sutton 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.
The name of Chris Cacace has come up in conversations WaiBOP United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
WaiBOP United have made the call to Southern United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutRory Wood has become a man the manager trusts
Looking aheadWaiBOP United take on the side everybody is chasing
The words a physio says slowly. 131 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 goals in one match, Rory Wood on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of WaiBOP United and Auckland City.
40 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
15 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WaiBOP United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jago Godden 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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WaiBOP United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Jago Godden 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at WaiBOP United can tell you which week it ends in.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Position 7, 1 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
38 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at WaiBOP United has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces2 Dec 2030
The mood at WaiBOP United has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
29 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.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” WaiBOP United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WaiBOP United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑8 to Southern United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Rory Wood had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Auckland City were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matt Reid will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WaiBOP United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Clayton Cacace commits to WaiBOP United for another 4 years.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joe 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.
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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Oliver Tuiloma has written the date down.
In brief
BoardroomThe WaiBOP United production line keeps running
WaiBOP United interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
0‑3 to Auckland City, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” WaiBOP United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jago Godden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Joe Sutton 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joe 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.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jake Cacace has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Jago Godden 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Joe Sutton 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Jago Godden is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Position 6 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Jago Godden 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.
39 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Auckland City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WaiBOP United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Sutton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Southern United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Boardroom19 Aug 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at WaiBOP United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around WaiBOP United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jago Godden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
WaiBOP United have made the call to Southern United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Singh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Southern United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Oliver Kirwan's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The deal with Southern United 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.
WaiBOP United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hawke's Bay United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
WaiBOP United asked and Auckland City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Joe Sutton 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.
Chris 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.
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.
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.
Jago Godden 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.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Callum Singh 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.
Jago Godden 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 Joe Sutton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ryan Boxall and WaiBOP United agree another 2 years.
Squad6 May 2030
Jago Godden 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Noah Payne is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
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.
Ben Just 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 Jago Godden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rory Wood signs something — a contract at WaiBOP United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutNoah Payne asks for a word with the manager
BoardroomThe WaiBOP United production line keeps running
SquadThe training reports on Owen Colvey are not good
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jago Godden 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.
Joe Sutton 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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jake Cacace has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” WaiBOP United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joe Sutton and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jago Godden 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 squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Noah Payne is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
The dugoutFrancis Payne knocks on the manager’s door
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at WaiBOP United 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.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Singh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutJago Godden without the man who signed him
30 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Waitakere United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at WaiBOP United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Chris Cacace had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The deal with Southern United 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Southern United is saying, and nobody at WaiBOP United is enjoying the guessing.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between WaiBOP United and Southern United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and WaiBOP United have had the benefit of it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Auckland City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Add another name to the list: Waitakere United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Chris Cacace. The answer from WaiBOP United has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joe 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.
WaiBOP United have made the call to Southern United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
29 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at WaiBOP United has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces31 Dec 2029
The mood at WaiBOP United has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jago Godden 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.
Joe Sutton 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jake Cacace after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
28 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Jago Godden 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.
Marked 8.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Waitakere United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Callum Singh 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 needed Deklan Barbarouses to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Waitakere United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
27 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Joe Sutton 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jago Godden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chris Singh and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jake Cacace was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the WaiBOP United dressing room was either.