Tommy McNally

Striker - Northampton Town
5 Jul 2029
Thursday
Process

Marked for Tommy McNally

135 Edition

The Northampton Town Herald

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Northampton Town refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 65 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Ross Fitzsimons keeps Northampton Town in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

The dugout

Tommy McNally: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Northampton Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Northampton Town

Zavier Gozo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Zavier Gozo reaches 100 appearances

100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sam Hoskins

“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.

Match

Román Almanza rescues a point for Northampton Town

It needed Román Almanza to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Grimsby Town, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

Zavier Gozo 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 Northampton Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Steven Shaw on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

In brief

Back issues
106 Edition

The Stoke City Courier

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Jackson Conway is a Stoke City player

The fee is $2.6M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Barnsley drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Market

Stoke City say no — this time

The offer from Napredak for Nikola Jojić 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.

Transfer targets

Stoke City rebuffed over Ollie O'Neill

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cheltenham Town have kept their man, and Stoke City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

No deal for Terence Vancooten at that price

Stoke City offered $1.4M; Burton Albion said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Million Manhoef 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 Stoke City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A move Jackson Conway would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jackson Conway is living that version at Stoke City, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Tommy McNally moves on

Northampton Town pay $51.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

Ramiro Funes Mori signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramiro Funes Mori and Stoke City agree another 2 years.

Market

Still no ink between Stoke City and Tomáš Rigo

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stoke City, another week without a signature from Tomáš Rigo.

In brief