Marked for Christopher Kumar
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Nadi
Jimson Abana 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
Jimson Abana 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 Jimson Abana is on it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Aidan Malakai Singh 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
A falling-out at Nadi
Eneriko Matau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Nadi asked and Persis 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jimson Abana, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Vinayak Rao is still paying for one afternoon at Nadi
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Nadi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aidan Malakai Singh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The formation has left Merrill Nand behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Nadi will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Nadi close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The deal with Lautoka 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Suva moved on, Ratu Saimoni Nabogi reports back to Nadi, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lautoka have kept their man, and Nadi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Nadi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ratu Halstead was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Nadi
Clivert Sam 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
Ratu Halstead 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Nadi
1‑3 against Lautoka, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Suva waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Nadi is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nadi
Jimson Abana 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 dugout31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Dave Nabenia left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Nadi
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Vinayak Rao is still paying for one afternoon at Nadi
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.