Marked for Abishek Begg
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Nadroga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ravinesh Reddy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Semesa Sacere 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maleli Tuinakauvadra, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The training reports on Abishek Begg are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
Steward Toata 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Nadroga asked and Lautoka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Nadroga, and 0 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Taniela Raubula asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Abishek Begg is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nadroga people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lautoka have kept their man, and Nadroga go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch2 Aug 2027
“I watch every Nadroga game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Nadroga
Semesa Sacere 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 dugout2 Aug 2027
William Khan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nadroga 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.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maleli Tuinakauvadra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The training reports on Abishek Begg are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Ravinesh Reddy plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match27 Mar 2027
Barrie Limoki scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Navua, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Kolinio Ravai to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sitiveni Begg, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Epeli Hughes, 15, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Nadroga would like this to lead.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A first senior shirt for Abishek Begg
Every debut is a small story about the future: Abishek Begg, 14 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nadroga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Nadroga squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nadi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Nadroga is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 Nadroga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Nadroga
Semesa Sacere 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Labasa 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Watisoni Bainimoli 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Abishek Begg is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.