Marked for Anthony Miller
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Feb 2033
Anger at Perth Glory spills outside the ground
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.
Squad28 Feb 2033
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad28 Feb 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Perth Glory this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces28 Feb 2033
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.
Match26 Feb 2033
It finished 1‑0, and it was Grant Campbell’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Perth Glory.
Squad28 Feb 2033
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Grant and Perth Glory agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 Feb 2033
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Kevin Falcao kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings28 Feb 2033
A defender's afternoon for Trent Ostler
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout28 Feb 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anthony Miller, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2033
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Perth Glory until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Matthew Sutton and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sydney FC have kept their man, and Perth Glory go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Rhys Harris is the month’s best young player
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Perth Glory will try not to make too much of it.
The dugout7 Feb 2033
The manager makes an example of Lachlan Jackson
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2033
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anthony Miller and Perth Glory agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings7 Feb 2033
The afternoon belonged to Theo Leeming
A mark of 7.72, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Anthony Didulica 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2032
Clayton Taylor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anthony Miller and Perth Glory agree another 3 years.
Squad24 May 2032
Anthony Didulica 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.
The dugout24 May 2032
Trent Ostler has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Perth Glory 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 dugout24 May 2032
Caleb Butler 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.
Market24 May 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Perth Glory know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.