The Adelaide United Chronicle
Squad11 Aug 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ben Folami
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Adelaide United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Adelaide United
Joshua Smits 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.
Squad11 Aug 2031
A muscle injury sidelines Ryan Kitto for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Adelaide United will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Adelaide United bid $16.0K for Rhys Holmes
The offer went to Melbourne City this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad11 Aug 2031
A row about effort at Adelaide United
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Panashe Madanha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Door shut on Niko Ivanković
Adelaide United asked and Catania said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Adelaide United try to borrow Matěj Škrdla
Perugia 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.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
When it matters, Dylan Pierias 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 dugout11 Aug 2031
The manager makes Theo Leeming a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Adelaide United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
- Market Adelaide United pick up Ben Richards for nothing
- Market Harrison Baker leaves for nothing
- The dugout Amlani Tatu keeps his manager's vote