The Birmingham Courier
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
- Market One of our own: Michael Walker joins the Birmingham first team
- Market One of our own: Stephen Morgan joins the Birmingham first team
- Market One of our own: Jack Shaw joins the Birmingham first team