Briar Bateman

Attacking Midfielder (L) - Birmingham
21 Nov 2030
Thursday
Process
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Marked for Briar Bateman

217 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad23 Sep 2030

A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Ledesma

125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Birmingham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match18 Sep 2030

The small margins put Birmingham out

Out, 2‑2 to Mansfield Town, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market23 Sep 2030

Trae Briscoe puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Birmingham, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout23 Sep 2030

Frankie McMahon-Brown says Birmingham went back on their word

“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.

Squad23 Sep 2030

Words exchanged at Birmingham

Demarai Gray 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.

Squad23 Sep 2030

Real improvement from Trae Briscoe at Birmingham

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Trae Briscoe is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match21 Sep 2030

Whatever happens, Birmingham do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

The dugout23 Sep 2030

No hiding place for Josh Griffiths

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josh Griffiths, and the manager let it.

The terraces23 Sep 2030

The crowd has taken to Briar Bateman

At 23 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.

In brief

Back issues
212 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad19 Aug 2030

The knee: Alex Cochrane out for 76 days

76 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Birmingham lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom19 Aug 2030

The scrutiny sharpens at Birmingham

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Birmingham is running low.

Transfer targets19 Aug 2030

Birmingham agree $2.6M for Leon Chiwome

The clubs have shaken hands with Grimsby Town; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Market19 Aug 2030

Dan Sweeney is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birmingham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad19 Aug 2030

Tempers go at Birmingham

Demarai Gray 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.

Squad19 Aug 2030

Julián Ledesma wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Birmingham know it.

Squad19 Aug 2030

Briar Bateman is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.

Boardroom19 Aug 2030

6 academy graduates step up at Birmingham

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

Transfer targets19 Aug 2030

Manchester United tell Birmingham: Chido Obi is not for sale

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.

In brief