Marked for Jackson Manuel
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Dane Lockyer out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Auckland City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Auckland City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Auckland City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market25 Jan 2027
The fee is $260.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Waitakere United drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
David Yoo 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Southern United have kept their man, and Auckland City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Sebastián Ciganda has come up in conversations Auckland City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jordan Vale 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
23 days out for Dane Lockyer after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Auckland City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match18 Jan 2027
Auckland City refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market18 Jan 2027
“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 Auckland City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Auckland City have done the hard part with Waitakere United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad18 Jan 2027
David Yoo 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 Auckland City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Auckland City asked and Waitakere United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market18 Jan 2027
Southern United pay $22.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matt Ellis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
Dane Lockyer breaks a bone — 30 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Jan 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Only the photograph left for Jeremy Foo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jeremy Foo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Auckland City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match9 Jan 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
David Yoo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Auckland City is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Jackson Manuel has come up in conversations Auckland City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Matt Ellis 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
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Dane Lockyer out for 66 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Auckland City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” José Luis Miñano and Auckland City agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
David Yoo 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
José Luis Miñano 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.
Looking ahead7 Dec 2026
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Auckland City will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.