Marked for Christopher Baledrokadroka
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Feb 2029
Every point is an argument now for Suva
Position 10 and 14 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Suva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simione Nabenu 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Suva
Salesitino Caucau 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 dugout19 Feb 2029
Ramzan Khan is still paying for one afternoon at Suva
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.
Market19 Feb 2029
The Bill Sutton talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Suva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Maleli Sorovi has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Suva can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
The Suva board call everybody in
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.
Market5 Feb 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Window shuts: 1 in, 1 out at Suva
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rewa have kept their man, and Suva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Suva
Luca Gatt 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 Feb 2029
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
Iliesa Rakuka loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Iliesa Rakuka's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Maleli Sorovi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Crisis meeting at Suva
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.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Suva people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market8 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Suva asked and Rewa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simione Nabenu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Christopher Baledrokadroka, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Jack Landreth, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
In brief
-
The dugout
Simione Nabenu without the man who signed him
-
Boardroom
Open for business: Suva enter the window
-
Market
The Bill Sutton story refuses to die
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 May 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Match20 May 2028
The wait goes on for Suva
10 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words exchanged at Suva
Bill De Vries 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.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Ramzan Khan beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match20 May 2028
A bad afternoon for Suva against Labasa
1‑2 to Labasa, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 May 2028
Bill 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Everybody at Suva saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mitieli Naiviro, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 May 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Maleli Sorovi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 May 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Match15 May 2028
Suva sink to position 10
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match13 May 2028
A hiding for Suva
Beaten 1‑4 by Nadi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match13 May 2028
No end in sight to Suva's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Suva has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad15 May 2028
Tempers go at Suva
Bill De Vries 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.
Boardroom15 May 2028
Belts tighten at Suva
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad15 May 2028
Bill 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.
Looking ahead15 May 2028
Suva face Labasa in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
In brief
-
The dugout
No hiding place for Simione Nabenu
-
Boardroom
Doors closed at Suva
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces8 May 2028
Anger at Suva spills outside the ground
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.
Squad8 May 2028
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Suva lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 May 2028
8 matches without a win for Suva
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Suva are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nishal Sharma and Suva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Bill 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.
Match8 May 2028
Halfway: Suva sit in position 10
6 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout8 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
In brief
-
The dugout
Half-satisfied: Maleli Sorovi on the draw
-
Looking ahead
A test against the best for Suva
-
Match
Suva draw a blank against Nasinu
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2028
Every point is an argument now for Suva
Position 9 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Apr 2028
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market17 Apr 2028
Josua Raqamu hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Suva can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Suva's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Suva has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
Belts tighten at Suva
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Match15 Apr 2028
Suva come up short against Lautoka
Lautoka left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Bill Sutton gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Revans Reddy and Suva agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Apr 2028
Anger at Suva spills outside the ground
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.
Match5 Apr 2028
Suva out of the cup
Nadroga ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Suva will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match8 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Suva
4 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Suva
Jason Dau 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bill Sutton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
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.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Match8 Apr 2028
It needed Salesitino Caucau to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Navua, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
Looking ahead
A test against the best for Suva
-
The dugout
Bill Sutton knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Suva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Mitieli Naiviro pops up at the right end — 7.90
7.90, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Suva
Jason Dau 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bill Sutton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Apr 2028
Suva caught on 93 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Ba scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match1 Apr 2028
Honours even between Suva and Ba
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market3 Apr 2028
No place for Ramzan Khan in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ramzan Khan has his answer from Suva; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Suva will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Suva
Bill De Vries 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Mitieli Naiviro 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sakaraia Naisua, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Simione Nabenu’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Suva needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market27 Mar 2028
The name of Mitieli Naiviro keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Suva say nothing, which says plenty.
In brief
-
Looking ahead
Home comforts ahead for Suva
-
Squad
The training reports on Ramzan Khan are not good
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Mar 2028
Chastening afternoon for Suva
A 0‑3 beating by Nadroga was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Suva
Bill De Vries 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.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Belts tighten at Suva
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mitieli Naiviro 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Nobody left the Suva dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces13 Mar 2028
The mood at Suva 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Mar 2028
At last: Suva win one
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Labasa. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
No sign of nerves from Jason Dau at 19 — 7.64
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jason Dau did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Bill 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 terraces13 Mar 2028
The crowd has taken to Jason Dau
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match11 Mar 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jason Dau’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Suva.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Maleli Sorovi could afford to be generous.