Marked for Dylan Scott
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jul 2031
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Brisbane Roar have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market14 Jul 2031
“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 The request is on a desk at Brisbane Roar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Youstin Salas 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebit Ngor 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 dugout14 Jul 2031
Michael Woud has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Brisbane Roar 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 dugout14 Jul 2031
Lachlan Wales 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.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
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 Charles Price has written the date down.
Market14 Jul 2031
Brisbane Roar have made Amadu Abdulai available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
The manager comes out for Michael Woud
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Michael Woud has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jun 2031
Sebit Ngor 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Jordan Lauton 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 dugout9 Jun 2031
Justin Vidic has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Brisbane Roar 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.
Market9 Jun 2031
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Brisbane Roar will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
“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 dugout9 Jun 2031
The manager makes Jay Barnett a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brisbane Roar. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
Sam Colvey 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 Brisbane Roar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market9 Jun 2031
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Matthew Sutton leaves Brisbane Roar the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Market9 Jun 2031
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Simon Murphy leaves Brisbane Roar the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Apr 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 Brisbane Roar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
The manager makes an example of Milorad Stajić
“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.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Sebit Ngor 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 dugout21 Apr 2031
Michael Woud has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Brisbane Roar 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 dugout21 Apr 2031
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.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
Sam Colvey 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 May 2030
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 Brisbane Roar have had the benefit of it.
Squad27 May 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 Brisbane Roar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 May 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lachlan Wales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 May 2030
When it matters, Joel King plays
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 dugout27 May 2030
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.
The dugout27 May 2030
Kurai Musanhi 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings4 Feb 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad4 Feb 2030
16 goals and a season average of 7.41. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Brisbane Roar 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.
Transfer targets4 Feb 2030
Everything agreed with Perth Glory, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Justin Vidic and Brisbane Roar agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Craig Goodwin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Dylan Scott arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dylan Scott has, at Brisbane Roar, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout4 Feb 2030
Simon Murphy 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.