Marked for Declan Thomas
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jan 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Telstar can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Jan 2036
Still nobody has beaten Telstar
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Transfer targets7 Jan 2036
Everything agreed with Fortuna Sittard, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Jan 2036
Telstar had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ajax, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad7 Jan 2036
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Justin Devenny 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.
Match5 Jan 2036
The run at home goes on for Telstar
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Transfer targets7 Jan 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Antwerp have kept their man, and Telstar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings7 Jan 2036
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets21 Aug 2034
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Melbourne City is saying, and nobody at Perth Glory is enjoying the guessing.
Squad21 Aug 2034
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aidan Spencer and Perth Glory agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2034
A loan move for Abdoulie Tamba is in the works
Perth Glory have made the call to Melbourne City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad21 Aug 2034
Simon King and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
Rhys Harris 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.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
Declan Thomas gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Declan Thomas is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jul 2034
“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 Perth Glory, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jul 2034
Matthew Sutton 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 dugout24 Jul 2034
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets26 Jun 2034
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Melbourne City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jun 2034
Matthew Sutton 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 dugout26 Jun 2034
Ethan Price 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.
The dugout26 Jun 2034
Jordan Scott knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jordan Scott trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 Jun 2034
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.
Match26 Jun 2034
Continental football is in reach for Perth Glory
28 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jun 2034
“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 Perth Glory, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jun 2034
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.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2034
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basel have kept their man, and Perth Glory go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Jun 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kye Henderson commits to Perth Glory for another 4 years.
Market5 Jun 2034
The name of Matthew Sutton keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Perth Glory say nothing, which says plenty.
Boardroom5 Jun 2034
Open for business: Perth Glory enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
The dugout5 Jun 2034
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.
Market5 Jun 2034
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 Jun 2034
Noah Crawford knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noah Crawford trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 May 2034
Matthew Sutton 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 dugout29 May 2034
Declan Thomas 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.
Match29 May 2034
Continental football is in reach for Perth Glory
28 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 May 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Perth Glory may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 May 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adam Johnston commits to Perth Glory for another 4 years.
Squad15 May 2034
Simon King 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 dugout15 May 2034
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 dugout15 May 2034
Rhys Harris knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rhys Harris trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market15 May 2034
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Dean Murray may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout1 May 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Perth Glory may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market1 May 2034
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 May 2034
Matthew Sutton 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.
Squad1 May 2034
Anthony Miller slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Anthony Miller is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 May 2034
Jordan Scott knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jordan Scott trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout1 May 2034
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 dugout1 May 2034
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.
Match1 May 2034
Continental football is in reach for Perth Glory
28 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Market1 May 2034
The shop window has Adrian Ward in it
Perth Glory have let the market know Adrian Ward can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Mar 2034
Tate Gibson 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 Perth Glory can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Mar 2034
Simon King and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Mar 2034
“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.
The dugout27 Mar 2034
Rhys Harris 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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2034
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Henry Hore’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Perth Glory needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market27 Mar 2034
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alex Badolato signs something — a contract at Perth Glory or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout27 Mar 2034
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.
Market27 Mar 2034
Perth Glory have made Declan Thomas available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Boardroom27 Mar 2034
101 graduates from an academy now rated 11 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.