The mood at Brisbane Roar 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.
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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 The request is on a desk at Brisbane Roar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Youstin Salas 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.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 11. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
0‑3 against Melbourne City, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgos Vrakas and Brisbane Roar agree another 3 years.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout8 Dec 2031
Noah Maieroni is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Macarthur FC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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.
“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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Brisbane Roar is running low.
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.
“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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Will Thompson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The mood at Brisbane Roar 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.
Brisbane Roar had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Melbourne Victory, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Brisbane Roar have made the call to Melbourne Victory. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Melbourne Victory 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.
“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.
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.
“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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
$130.0K on the table at Melbourne Victory. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amlani Tatu 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.
Brisbane Roar asked and Melbourne City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Brisbane Roar have made the call to Melbourne Victory. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Brisbane Roar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A season average of 7.35 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Amlani Tatu 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.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Brisbane Roar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Brisbane Roar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Noah Maieroni 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 Amlani Tatu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Joel King has taken the hint, and Brisbane Roar are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” James O'Brien and Brisbane Roar agree another 4 years.
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 words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Brisbane Roar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Noah Maieroni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Amlani Tatu 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Giorgos Vrakas's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Beath knocks on the manager's door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Brisbane Roar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amlani Tatu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” James Fenton has his answer from Brisbane Roar; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Brisbane Roar will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Noah Maieroni 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amlani Tatu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 dugoutPeter Hunter asks for a word with the manager
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brisbane Roar can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Brisbane Roar is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Noah Maieroni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amlani Tatu 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.
Brisbane Roar asked and Sydney FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Brisbane Roar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom19 Aug 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Brisbane Roar
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The deal with Adelaide United 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.
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.
Brisbane Roar offered $290.0K; Melbourne City said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
Brisbane Roar asked and Mainz 05 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Brisbane Roar is running low.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Brisbane Roar people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Melbourne Victory 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Central Coast Mariners have kept their man, and Brisbane Roar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Words at Brisbane Roar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Valkanis 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.
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.