Marked for Dane Nelson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Clayton Barbarouses and Team Wellington agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Dane Nelson 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Oct 2027
Team Wellington refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Chris De Vries 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.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I did not go to WaiBOP United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Team Wellington and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
Justus Ohanu 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
Business is business: Dane Nelson goes
Team Wellington paid $12.0K and Southern United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Brisbane Roar to sit and watch. I want to come back to Southern United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 0 matches say the rest.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Owen Waine 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Marco Boxall 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 Southern United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Aug 2027
Team Wellington refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Francis Bell 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Francis Bell
“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.
Market16 Aug 2027
He is 17, and nobody at Team Wellington signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market16 Aug 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Team Wellington, another week without a signature from James Stamatelopoulos.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody is after Jake Sutton’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Jake Sutton suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Team Wellington have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer from Waitakere United for Chris Fenton was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Justus Ohanu in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michael Barbarouses, and the manager let it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Team Wellington are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Southern United will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market9 Aug 2027
The Ryan Garbett talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Southern United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Marco Boxall 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
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
Jake Garbett hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 Feb 2027
Southern United refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Justus Ohanu 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Jake Garbett
“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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Southern United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market8 Feb 2027
The market said no: Alex Wood stays put
Southern United opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Alex Wood stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Jan 2027
21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad11 Jan 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Southern United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match9 Jan 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Southern United did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Justus Ohanu 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad11 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Sam Waine
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sam Waine, and the manager let it.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 1‑1 draw with WaiBOP United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.