The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Waitakere United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Cameron Nelson 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.
“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 Waitakere United will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kosta Just signs something — a contract at Waitakere United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Sam Boxall are not good
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Eduardo Pereira has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Winston Tuiloma is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Add another name to the list: WaiBOP United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Owen Smith. The answer from Waitakere United has not changed — yet.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Tim Cacace has his answer from Waitakere United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Dylan Connolly is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kosta Just signs something — a contract at Waitakere United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Waitakere United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Eduardo Pereira has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Waitakere United is running low.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Waitakere United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Waitakere United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Waitakere United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matt Fenton 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Dylan Connolly was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cameron Waine and Waitakere United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. James Bell has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Waitakere United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The bid was some way short and Waitakere United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 12 gone
That is the business done at Waitakere 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owen Just will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Waitakere United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Strahinja Nastasic is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Winston De Vries and Waitakere United agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Waitakere 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Waitakere United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Strahinja Nastasic is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Tim Cacace has come up in conversations Waitakere United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Waitakere 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.
Waitakere United have made the call to Team Wellington. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Waitakere United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.