The Wellington Phoenix Gazette
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nikola Mileusnic damages knee ligaments — 65 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match9 Jan 2027
Cooper Davis wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Cooper Davis found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Sydney FC went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Nobody could get near Ifeanyi Eze
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Wellington Phoenix
Bill Tuiloma 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Wellington Phoenix training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sander Kartum 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Cooper Davis the difference as Wellington Phoenix beat Sydney FC
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cooper Davis. 1‑0 against Sydney FC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Adrián Flores
“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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Bill Tuiloma takes the honours
Marked 7.60 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Wellington Phoenix had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Off the bench and decisive: Carlo Armiento
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Wellington Phoenix were going nowhere until he came on.
In brief
- Market Oscar Fryer arrives on loan
- Player ratings The referee tires of Alex Rufer