49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Seve Patrick will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aston Villa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Iling-Junior signs something — a contract at Aston Villa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.86, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings12 Nov 2040
Luka Álvarez, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Esquerdinha 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.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Luca Fletcher scored in the 85th minute, Ipswich Town had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Aston Villa took the lot.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Boubacar Kamara and Aston Villa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Evann Guessand 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aston Villa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Aston Villa heard it as anything else.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Manchester City kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Aston Villa will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
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.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evann Guessand 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicholas Davis and Aston Villa agree another 5 years.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Benjamin Mitchell had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Wolverhampton were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Seve Patrick has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Oct 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaden Philogene 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Peter Murphy has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Iling-Junior signs something — a contract at Aston Villa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aston Villa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.70 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Esquerdinha 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Edward Hamilton has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
SquadAmadou Onana is playing like a man with something to prove
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Birmingham will make the call about Luca Fletcher this week. Aston Villa have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
12 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
In brief
SquadWords at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
The terraces6 Aug 2040
The mood at Aston Villa has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Evann Guessand and Aston Villa agree another 2 years.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Mylona will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aston Villa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The phone has started ringing about Benjamin Mitchell again, and this time the name on the line is Fulham. Aston Villa are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad6 Aug 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evann Guessand 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
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.
Esquerdinha 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.
The mood at Aston Villa has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Evann Guessand 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Birmingham will make the call about Luca Fletcher this week. Aston Villa have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 phone has started ringing about George Pickford again, and this time the name on the line is Sunderland. Aston Villa are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
36 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 approach has been made to El-Kanemi Warriors and the answer is somebody else's to give. These things are settled in private and reported in public, usually in that order.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aston Villa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
80 appearances across 17 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
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.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Boubacar Kamara and Aston Villa agree another 1 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad12 Mar 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaden Philogene 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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The goal that put Chelsea ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Aston Villa equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
611 appearances across 16 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Johan Manzambi and Aston Villa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evann Guessand 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.
At 22 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.
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
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.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
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.
A 3‑1 win over Newcastle United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Benjamin Mitchell and Aston Villa agree another 4 years.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Valentino Pereira may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Amadou Onana
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Aston Villa is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aston Villa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The deal that would have taken George Pickford to Sunderland has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Aston Villa with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Aston Villa heard it as anything else.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
Squad30 Jan 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaden Philogene 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 mood at Aston Villa has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aston Villa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad23 Jan 2040
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evann Guessand 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Joseph Parker has just signed for Aston Villa, and for once the answer mattered.
At 22 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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Burnley will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings16 Jan 2040
A brace, and Luca Fletcher takes the afternoon — 8.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luca Fletcher provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Richard Martin and Aston Villa agree another 5 years.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luca Fletcher. 2‑1 against Burnley, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
23 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The mood at Aston Villa has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Dec 2039
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evann Guessand 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Aston Villa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Evann Guessand signs something — a contract at Aston Villa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.84 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Dec 2039
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evann Guessand 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
0‑3 to Blackburn Rovers, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Aston Villa dressing room in a hurry
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aston Villa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
1‑2 to Brighton, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Nov 2039
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kosta Nedeljković 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Jack Hunter obliged against Burnley. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Aston Villa.
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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Aston Villa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
At 21 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.
Marked 8.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Aston Villa and Newcastle United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boubacar Kamara 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aston Villa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 May 2039
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaden Philogene 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.
A new face in his position, and Evann Guessand suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Aston Villa have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aston Villa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Boubacar Kamara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nathan Collins has his answer from Aston Villa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The mood at Aston Villa has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — the manager made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Diouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aston Villa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad21 Mar 2039
Boubacar Kamara is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Boubacar Kamara is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aston Villa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.