Marked for Caleb Murray
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces8 Dec 2031
Supporters organise against the Newcastle Jets board
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.
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
Both of them Will Byrne's — 8.50
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad8 Dec 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Cléùr and Newcastle Jets agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Dalton Wilkins 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.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Nikos Vergos 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 terraces8 Dec 2031
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Will Byrne has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout8 Dec 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jack Green, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Caleb Murray named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Caleb Murray is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Nov 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 Nov 2031
A 1‑0 win over Central Coast Mariners, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings24 Nov 2031
A debut Andrew Lee will not forget — 7.73
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.73 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Match19 Nov 2031
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Newcastle Jets scored in the 109th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad24 Nov 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Nov 2031
1‑3 to Melbourne Victory, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings24 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces24 Nov 2031
He is 16 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.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Words at Newcastle Jets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jack Green 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Nov 2031
23 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.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market3 Nov 2031
“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.
Match1 Nov 2031
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Newcastle Jets can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad3 Nov 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dalton Wilkins and Newcastle Jets agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Dalton Wilkins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match1 Nov 2031
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Hakan Tosun left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Oct 2031
22 matches without a win for Newcastle Jets
The run now stands at 22, and the questions being asked around Newcastle Jets are no longer polite ones.
Match25 Oct 2031
0‑3 to Melbourne 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.
The dugout27 Oct 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Newcastle Jets may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match25 Oct 2031
No clean sheets in sight for Newcastle Jets
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match25 Oct 2031
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Newcastle Jets can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad27 Oct 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom27 Oct 2031
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Newcastle Jets
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Words at Newcastle Jets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Vergos 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 dugout27 Oct 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Cléùr, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Aug 2031
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market11 Aug 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Western Sydney Wanderers waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Newcastle Jets is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
The paperwork begins on Alfie James
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Newcastle Jets have done the hard part with Western Sydney Wanderers, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Dalton Wilkins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sydney FC have kept their man, and Newcastle Jets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Aug 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Clark and Newcastle Jets agree another 3 years.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
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.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
A loan enquiry to Melbourne City: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
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 James Delianov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Jul 2031
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Dalton Wilkins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
$11.0K on the table at Sydney FC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Vergos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
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.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
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.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
A loan enquiry to Western Sydney Wanderers: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
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 James Delianov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 May 2031
“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.
Squad12 May 2031
Dalton Wilkins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 May 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Vergos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 May 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jason Gray and Newcastle Jets agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 May 2031
Caleb Murray 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.
The dugout12 May 2031
Simon Johnson has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Newcastle Jets 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.
Market12 May 2031
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Newcastle Jets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 May 2031
Lucas Lloyd knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Lloyd trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 May 2031
Caleb Murray: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Newcastle Jets will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Dec 2030
A 0‑3 beating by Western Sydney Wanderers was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match14 Dec 2030
6 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.
Market16 Dec 2030
“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 Newcastle Jets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Vergos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Dec 2030
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Newcastle Jets can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Dalton Wilkins 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 dugout16 Dec 2030
“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.
Boardroom16 Dec 2030
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad16 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Caleb Murray and Newcastle Jets agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces14 Oct 2030
The mood at Newcastle Jets 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.
Boardroom14 Oct 2030
Pressure builds in the Newcastle Jets boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match14 Oct 2030
Position 12, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market14 Oct 2030
Joel Parker 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 Newcastle Jets can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Nikos Vergos 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aaron Walsh and Newcastle Jets agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
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.
Market14 Oct 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Samuel Aduragbemi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Sep 2030
“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 Newcastle Jets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Dalton Wilkins 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 dugout30 Sep 2030
This is not rotation. Will Byrne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Newcastle Jets is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Declan Holmes commits to Newcastle Jets for another 3 years.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
Carter Foxe gets picked when it counts
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 Carter Foxe is on it.
Market30 Sep 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Newcastle Jets, another week without a signature from Declan Lewis.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces16 Sep 2030
The mood at Newcastle Jets 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.
Boardroom16 Sep 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Newcastle Jets
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match16 Sep 2030
Position 12, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad16 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Nikos Vergos 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.
Market16 Sep 2030
Luka Vicelich is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Newcastle Jets has been clear about where Luka Vicelich stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad16 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Caleb Murray commits to Newcastle Jets for another 3 years.
The dugout16 Sep 2030
Luka Vicelich 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 Newcastle Jets, and both men came out saying it was fine.