Marked for Edward Smith
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Apr 2029
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around West Bromwich Albion are no longer polite ones.
Match23 Apr 2029
Position 22, 29 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Edward Smith breaks a bone — 44 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market23 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Mikey Johnston 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.
Match21 Apr 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Nat Phillips
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Edward Smith out for 52 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason West Bromwich Albion will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match14 Apr 2029
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at West Bromwich Albion has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Campbell will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around West Bromwich Albion the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Harry Maguire 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at West Bromwich Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikey Johnston 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.
Match14 Apr 2029
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at West Bromwich Albion can tell you which week it ends in.
Match14 Apr 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Krystian Bielik, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Edward Smith breaks a bone — 60 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Apr 2029
7 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Mikey Johnston 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.
Loan watch9 Apr 2029
“I did not go to Hull City to sit and watch. I want to come back to West Bromwich Albion and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
Squad9 Apr 2029
The team sheet said everything about Nat Phillips
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Nat Phillips.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Marked 7.44. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match7 Apr 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Leyton Orient came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Apr 2029
Edward Smith breaks a bone — 67 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at West Bromwich Albion is running low.
Match31 Mar 2029
6 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.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Harry Maguire 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at West Bromwich Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikey Johnston 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Mar 2029
Edward Smith breaks a bone — 76 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Mar 2029
28 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market26 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Bromwich Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 Mar 2029
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around West Bromwich Albion are no longer polite ones.
Market26 Mar 2029
Eseosa Sule has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around West Bromwich Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Mikey Johnston 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Mar 2029
1‑5 to Reading, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Edward Smith breaks a bone — 83 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Mar 2029
Callum Styles hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Bromwich Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Mar 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around West Bromwich Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match17 Mar 2029
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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Harry Maguire 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.
Match17 Mar 2029
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about West Bromwich Albion and Reading in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at West Bromwich Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikey Johnston 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Chris Mepham
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Edward Smith out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason West Bromwich Albion will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Mikey Johnston 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.
Match10 Mar 2029
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at West Bromwich Albion can tell you which week it ends in.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Sep 2028
Callum Styles wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at West Bromwich Albion hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at West Bromwich Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tammer Kumar 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
8 new faces, and West Bromwich Albion are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad4 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Ousmane Diakité
“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.
Market4 Sep 2028
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market4 Sep 2028
He is 14, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market4 Sep 2028
Stephen Simmons is 15, and West Bromwich Albion have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.