Simon Hall

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Birmingham U18
28 Dec 2027
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Marked for Simon Hall

67 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match2 Nov 2027

The cup run ends for Birmingham

0‑0 against Norwich City, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Squad8 Nov 2027

Ben Cisse wins the shoot-out

1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.

Squad8 Nov 2027

14 days out for Simon Hall after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Birmingham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match6 Nov 2027

No end in sight to Birmingham's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Birmingham has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad8 Nov 2027

Words exchanged at Birmingham

Grégoire Coudert 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.

Squad8 Nov 2027

Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jay Stansfield 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.

Player ratings8 Nov 2027

Demarai Gray beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings8 Nov 2027

The kick that got away from Zadok Yohanna

Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.

Player ratings8 Nov 2027

Christoph Klarer stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.43 on the card, and the Birmingham support went home talking about one name.

In brief

Back issues
66 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad1 Nov 2027

22 days out for Simon Hall after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Birmingham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad1 Nov 2027

A one-man rearguard from Grégoire Coudert

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings1 Nov 2027

Jhon Solís goes up and wins it — 7.99

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.99 for the rest of it.

The dugout1 Nov 2027

Ben Cisse 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.

Match30 Oct 2027

The wait goes on for Birmingham

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.

Squad1 Nov 2027

A falling-out at Birmingham

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

Match30 Oct 2027

A bad afternoon for Birmingham against Norwich City

2‑3 to Norwich City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad1 Nov 2027

Jay Stansfield 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 terraces1 Nov 2027

One of their own: August Priske

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.

In brief

65 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad25 Oct 2027

Simon Hall breaks a bone — 31 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout25 Oct 2027

Grégoire Coudert gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings25 Oct 2027

Both jobs done by Jhon Solís — 7.68

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. 10 actions, 7.68, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

Match23 Oct 2027

Birmingham rescue it on 92 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Preston had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Squad25 Oct 2027

Home is on Paik Seung-Ho's mind

“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; Birmingham are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

The dugout25 Oct 2027

Birmingham keep their word to Jhon Solís

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.

The dugout25 Oct 2027

Christoph Klarer is still paying for one afternoon at Birmingham

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.

Match23 Oct 2027

August Priske rescues a point for Birmingham

It needed August Priske to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Preston, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad25 Oct 2027

A smaller club would suit Christoph Klarer now

He has had enough of the noise. Whether Birmingham can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.

In brief

64 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match16 Oct 2027

A hiding for Birmingham

Beaten 0‑4 by Queens Park Rangers, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

The dugout18 Oct 2027

Grégoire Coudert 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.

Squad18 Oct 2027

Simon Hall breaks a bone — 38 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad18 Oct 2027

Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jay Stansfield 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 dugout18 Oct 2027

The manager makes an example of Max Bird

“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.

Squad18 Oct 2027

Christoph Klarer reaches 200 appearances

200 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.

Boardroom18 Oct 2027

Nobody left the Birmingham 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 dugout18 Oct 2027

Mark Bennett answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout18 Oct 2027

Somebody else is better right now than Jo Coppens

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.

In brief

63 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad11 Oct 2027

A fracture rules Simon Hall out for 45 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Birmingham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout11 Oct 2027

Zadok Yohanna: 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.” Birmingham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad11 Oct 2027

Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jay Stansfield 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.

Squad11 Oct 2027

Edwin Zapata 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.

Squad11 Oct 2027

Denzil Uchenna 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 Birmingham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market11 Oct 2027

Birmingham and Patrick Roberts are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

The dugout11 Oct 2027

Ben Cisse is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout11 Oct 2027

Dael Fry 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 Dael Fry trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market11 Oct 2027

The August Priske talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Birmingham know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

56 Edition

The Birmingham Courier

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market23 Aug 2027

Kristoffer Lund asks to leave Birmingham

“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.

Market23 Aug 2027

Cambridge United come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Birmingham did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Boardroom23 Aug 2027

Graduation day at Birmingham

5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Player ratings23 Aug 2027

Ben Chrisene beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets23 Aug 2027

Manchester United tell Birmingham: Altay Bayındır 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.

Market23 Aug 2027

Birmingham promote Alexander Kelly from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alexander Kelly 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.

Market23 Aug 2027

Simon Hall steps up from the Birmingham academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Simon Hall has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Match21 Aug 2027

West Bromwich Albion take the points off Birmingham

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Match17 Aug 2027

Birmingham come up short against Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief