A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 Salford City have had the benefit of it.
Ben Cisse 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Igor Tyjon 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutCole Stockton has become a man the manager trusts
Position 21 on 49 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ben Cisse 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Salford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Tyjon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cole Stockton. 1‑0 against Barrow AFC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 45 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Isaac Price wants continental football; whether West Bromwich Albion can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad3 May 2027
Chris Mepham 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rio Parmar and West Bromwich Albion agree another 4 years.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at West Bromwich Albion pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Igor Tyjon did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Remar McNeil and West Bromwich Albion agree another 3 years.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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 0‑1 David Grant left the room before anybody could ask which.
39 appearances at Salford City and the goals have stopped going in. West Bromwich Albion lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salford City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ben Cisse 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Salford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Tyjon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
In brief
The dugoutKallum Cesay knocks on the manager's door
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris Mepham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at West Bromwich Albion can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Jamal Jimoh-Aloba 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.
“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 West Bromwich Albion, and 5 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alfie Dorrington is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Tyjon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Ben Cisse 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.
Tranmere Rovers held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Salford City answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Salford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Sarmiento is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutCole Stockton has become a man the manager trusts
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Ben Cisse 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.
Igor Tyjon 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Igor Tyjon has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 2‑0 win over Harrogate Town, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Ryan Graydon in the middle of it, and Harrogate Town unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
George Campbell 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.
A goal on 87 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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 0‑1 David Grant left the room before anybody could ask which.
Marked 7.54 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, West Bromwich Albion had the best player on the pitch.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ben Cisse and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Salford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Tyjon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Salford City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Anthony Roberts on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Oliver Turton has his answer from Salford City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris Mepham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; West Bromwich Albion are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Grant after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Something was said to Isaac Price and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 22 and 31 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Anthony Roberts after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris Mepham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jed Wallace 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.
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” David Grant chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
7 clean sheets from 31 appearances at Salford City. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Nobody at West Bromwich Albion 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.19 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Tyjon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Salford City asked and Sunderland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Salford City have gone to Lincoln City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Salford City are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Salford City 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.
Kelly N'Mai 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barrow AFC have kept their man, and Salford City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
26 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Fabio Borini takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fabio Borini provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Salford City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Chelsea keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Salford City and Oldham Athletic, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Ben Cisse 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Salford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Tyjon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Salford City asked and Blackpool said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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 0‑2 Anthony Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Kaide Gordon is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Moussa Yeo is in the works
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Salford City are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Up for the corner, and Luke Garbutt delivers — 7.77
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luke Garbutt scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Up for the corner, and Kallum Cesay delivers — 7.51
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Kallum Cesay scored, was marked 7.51, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kyrell Malcolm is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Salford City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Position 21, 22 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Bromwich Albion can pretend not to have heard.
George Campbell 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayann Pereira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Ipswich Town.
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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ben Cisse 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout14 Dec 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 1‑2 Anthony Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Kadeem Harris's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Salford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Sarmiento is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anthony Roberts was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Salford City dressing room was either.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Tranmere Rovers? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Daniel Udoh’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Salford City needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutTommy Pilling asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Ben Woodburn
Igor Tyjon, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.60
A mark of 7.60 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Sarmiento was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Anthony Roberts after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayann Pereira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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.
Something was said to Akeel Higgins and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Josh Maja’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and West Bromwich Albion needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nobody at West Bromwich Albion 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at West Bromwich Albion that is a harder question to answer.
In brief
Loan watchBen Cisse’s loan is measured in nothing happening
Ben Cisse 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.50, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Bristol Rovers left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Salford City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 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 0‑1 Anthony Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Salford City told Igor Tyjon something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
In brief
The dugoutDaniel Udoh knocks on the manager's door
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ben Cisse 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Kallum Cesay has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ben Cisse, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Salford City dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 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 0‑3 Anthony Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutDaniel Udoh is still being punished for one mistake
The dugoutDaniel Udoh knocks on the manager’s door
Looking aheadSalford City take on the side everybody is chasing
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jamal Jimoh-Aloba is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Brayann Pereira 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jeon Jin-Woo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rabby Nzingoula signs something — a contract at West Bromwich Albion or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at West Bromwich Albion the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Next up on the road: Hull City, position 7. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Ben Cisse 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kyrell Malcolm is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Anthony Roberts after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Crewe Alexandra defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.01 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Salford City asked and Wolverhampton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Igor Tyjon has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 6.69 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Anthony Roberts could afford to be generous.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salford City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Salford City 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chelsea have kept their man, and Salford City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Salford City will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Alfie Dorrington is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Brandon Cooper’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Salford City needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Salford City, another week without a signature from Kallum Cesay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salford City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
$670.0K on the table at Crewe Alexandra. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Ben Cisse 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
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 0‑1 Anthony Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salford City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything agreed with West Bromwich Albion, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
4 academy players handed senior numbers at Salford City
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Liam Lawrence has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. John King is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Luke Jones has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jason Hill is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. West Bromwich Albion have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Peterborough United for Akeel Higgins was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Harry Harris is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Luke Robinson has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Brayann Pereira 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by David Grant to a room that had heard them before.