Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Macarthur FC is running low.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastian Esposito 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.
Michael Pratezina 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Massimo Luongo's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nikos Tsaras has his answer from Macarthur FC; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Supporters organise against the Macarthur FC board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The deal with Sydney FC is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sydney FC have kept their man, and Macarthur FC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. David Scott has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over Brisbane Roar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Rose 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.
Position 11, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastian Esposito 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Macarthur FC, another week without a signature from Will McKay.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Macarthur FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Supporters organise against the Macarthur FC board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Macarthur FC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Newcastle Jets, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Macarthur FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Liam Rose 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Will McKay trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Macarthur FC can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Politidis 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Macarthur FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Macarthur FC could ask drops and the wages Harry Politidis can ask rise.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vladislav Chesnokov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harry Politidis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Macarthur FC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Macarthur FC have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Harry Politidis has agreed terms with Melbourne City for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Politidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zane Helweh 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.
The mood at Macarthur FC has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Macarthur FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Melbourne City left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Macarthur FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Rose 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vladislav Chesnokov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Macarthur FC can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Macarthur FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Liam Rose 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Macarthur FC are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Auckland FC? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Rose was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 games now in a shape the manager was not using a month ago. Changing a formation is easy and keeping one is not, which is why the second of those is the part that tells you something.
“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 Macarthur FC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ji Dong-Won 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Rose was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Melbourne Victory: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
The dugoutTomislav Uskok asks for a word with the manager