Marked for Gabriel Cléùr
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market22 Jan 2029
Richard Nkomo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newcastle Jets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Nikos Vergos 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 ratings22 Jan 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Marked 9.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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.
Match20 Jan 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Will Dobson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Newcastle Jets.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A season average of 7.32 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match1 Jan 2029
Position 1 and 24 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Newcastle Jets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Jan 2029
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Newcastle Jets have had the benefit of it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
He is 21, he is averaging 7.34, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match30 Dec 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Newcastle Jets did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Zach Clough 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 Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market25 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newcastle Jets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Zach Clough 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 ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match23 Dec 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Marked 9.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“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.
Match23 Dec 2028
A 1‑0 win over Perth Glory, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Dec 2028
There were 6 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Nikos Vergos 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 Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Emmanuel Ini 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.
Loan watch18 Dec 2028
“I watch every Newcastle Jets game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match16 Dec 2028
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Newcastle Jets needed to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Zach Clough 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 Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Nov 2028
2‑4 to Brisbane Roar, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
A performance of 9.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“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.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Marked 8.42 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch20 Nov 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Newcastle Jets, and 1 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Feb 2028
Zach Clough 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 Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 9.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.55, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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 2028
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market7 Feb 2028
The Lachlan Rose talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Newcastle Jets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 Newcastle Jets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Zach Clough 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 Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Clayton Taylor, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch24 Jan 2028
“I did not go to Brisbane Roar to sit and watch. I want to come back to Newcastle Jets and fight for my place.” 10 appearances in 30 matches say the rest.
Market24 Jan 2028
Jariyah Shah is 18, and Newcastle Jets have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Match22 Jan 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad24 Jan 2028
James Delianov 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
Squad17 Jan 2028
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market17 Jan 2028
The deal that would have taken Jacob Brazete to Ba has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Newcastle Jets with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
A defender's afternoon for Gabriel Cléùr
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Zach Clough 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 ratings17 Jan 2028
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“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.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces3 Jan 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 22 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Nikos Vergos 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 Newcastle Jets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Jan 2028
1‑3 to Auckland FC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Cléùr
“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.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.67, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch3 Jan 2028
Alex Nunes is tired of being somebody else's player
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Newcastle Jets where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Brisbane Roar until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Nov 2027
Out, 1‑2 to Wellington Phoenix, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Nikos Vergos 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zach Clough, and the manager let it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Lachlan Rose 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 Newcastle Jets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Gabriel Cléùr, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zach Clough and Newcastle Jets agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Nikos Vergos 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.