16 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Max Kilman 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Julio Soler 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kasey McAteer. 1‑0 against Oldham Athletic, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Max Kilman 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Habeeb Ogunneye has his answer from Grimsby Town; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grimsby Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
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 Raekwan Nelson is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jude Soonsup-Bell’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Grimsby Town needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jude Soonsup-Bell signs something — a contract at Grimsby Town or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kasey McAteer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Habeeb Ogunneye 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrew Bell after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
“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.
Match15 Sep 2027
Zak Gilsenan wins it after the whistle should have gone
100 minutes played. Zak Gilsenan found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Charlton Athletic went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Raekwan Nelson 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Max Kilman 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grimsby Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Grimsby Town know which stage they are at.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iwan Morgan signs something — a contract at Grimsby Town or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Grimsby Town have no good answer.
In brief
The terracesThe stands have heard the Iwan Morgan talk too
“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 Grimsby Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Max Crocombe is a Grimsby Town player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Grimsby Town asked and West Ham 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.
It is the quietest kind of dressing-room problem and the one that lasts longest, because nobody has done anything anyone can be disciplined for. 4 players sit outside all 5 groups entirely, which is the detail that tends to matter.
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.
Habeeb Ogunneye 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Grimsby Town can pretend not to have heard.
Max Weiß 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Torp 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grimsby Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Grimsby Town 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Grimsby Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town 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 Victor Torp was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 91, against Oldham Athletic, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Grimsby Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Max Weiß and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Shackleton 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Habeeb Ogunneye and Grimsby Town agree another 4 years.
8 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.
Salford City will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Grimsby Town were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A brace, and Victor Torp takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Victor Torp provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Habeeb Ogunneye has just signed for Grimsby Town, and for once the answer mattered.
Max Weiß 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Torp 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Raekwan Nelson has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Grimsby Town have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Grimsby Town asked and Salernitana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.