Marked for Jonny Stuttle
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Jan 2029
“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.
Market29 Jan 2029
The fee is $1.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Plymouth Argyle drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sheffield United is saying, and nobody at Walsall is enjoying the guessing.
Match27 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Walsall's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Walsall has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Walsall
Joe Powell and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Walsall
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ronan Kpakio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Jake Hollman has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Walsall is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
The afternoon belonged to Luca Netz
A mark of 7.71, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Jan 2029
Terms done: Josh March is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Notts County waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Walsall is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Leeds United is saying, and nobody at Walsall is enjoying the guessing.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A brace, and Damion Downs takes the afternoon — 8.58
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Damion Downs provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market22 Jan 2029
Alex Pattison 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 Walsall can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Walsall is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The deal with Ceuta 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Joe Powell 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 Walsall this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Ronan Maher has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Walsall is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ceuta people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Everything was agreed with Mérida and then the doctor spoke. Ceuta have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Marc Domènech is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.26 with 21 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market8 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 Ceuta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Jan 2029
Ceuta say no — this time
The offer from Alcorcón for Jonny Stuttle 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
The phone has started ringing about Kuki Zalazar again, and this time the name on the line is Sanluqueño. Ceuta are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
No thanks: Aihen Muñoz rejects the move
Ceuta had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Real Sociedad, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Ceuta
Marc Domènech 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ander Herrera
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ceuta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Ceuta
Marc Domènech 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Ceuta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ale Meléndez 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.
Loan watch20 Nov 2028
“I did not go to Las Palmas to sit and watch. I want to come back to Ceuta and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
The dugout20 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jeremía Recoba’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Ceuta needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Jonny Stuttle 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 Jonny Stuttle trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Oct 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ander Herrera
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ceuta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Ceuta
6 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 dugout9 Oct 2028
Anuar keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ceuta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Marc Domènech, 21, steals the show — 7.72
Marked 7.72 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joseba Zaldua commits to Ceuta for another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ceuta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Oct 2028
Ceuta come up short against Elche
Elche left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Joseba Zaldua
“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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Ceuta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ale Meléndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Oct 2028
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ceuta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The terraces2 Oct 2028
The mood at Ceuta has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market2 Oct 2028
Jonny Stuttle 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 Ceuta can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
No sign of nerves from Marc Domènech at 21 — 7.67
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Marc Domènech did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match30 Sep 2028
5 matches without a win for Ceuta
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ceuta are no longer polite ones.
Market2 Oct 2028
Juan Busto has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ceuta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joseba Zaldua commits to Ceuta for another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Ceuta
Marc Domènech and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ceuta know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Ceuta
Marc Domènech 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
Unai Eguíluz 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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jeremía Recoba, and the manager let it.
Match27 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Salvi Sánchez
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Adrián Lapeña 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Enzo Maidana has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ceuta.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Marc Domènech is the weekend's best young player
At 21 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
Marc-Olivier Doué damages knee ligaments — 104 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 104 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market26 Jul 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 Ceuta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Jul 2027
The fee is $1.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Guadalajara drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.14, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Ceuta
Marc Domènech and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Ceuta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremía Recoba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Justin de Haas back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ceuta has worked with Justin de Haas before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Ceuta asked and Betis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A loan move for Lautaro Torres is in the works
Ceuta have made the call to Temperley. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Ceuta
Joseba Zaldua 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.
Match8 May 2027
Still nobody has beaten Ceuta
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Jeremía Recoba 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.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Match8 May 2027
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match8 May 2027
It needed Jonny Stuttle to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Real Sociedad B, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout10 May 2027
José Matos 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 José Matos is on it.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Diego Vázquez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Ceuta dressing room was either.
Squad10 May 2027
Marc Domènech is the weekend's best young player
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Ceuta
Joseba Zaldua and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Ceuta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeremía Recoba 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 72 days on the sidelines for Pedro López, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Cédric Teguia is still paying for one afternoon at Ceuta
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Jeremía Recoba 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 Ceuta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Mar 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Yago Cantero has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ceuta.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ceuta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ale Meléndez 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 Ale Meléndez is on it.