Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Joe Lewis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tennai Watson 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barnet have kept their man, and Grimsby Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Grimsby Town will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and John Egan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Gillingham next, and one man in the Grimsby Town dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.75, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gubbio keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Grimsby Town asked and Frosinone said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Saburtalo will make the call about Géza Dávid Turi this week. Grimsby Town have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Grimsby Town have made the call to Junior. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grimsby Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Grimsby Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with KV Kortrijk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
John Egan 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominic Hyam 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 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Darragh Burns has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Shrewsbury Town will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Position 14 on 62 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
A season average of 7.75 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Grimsby Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grimsby Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sonny Finch did not need any: 7.90, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 offer from Trento for Diego Andrada 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Porto keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Iwan Morgan takes the afternoon — 9.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iwan Morgan provided it, and the 9.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
John Egan 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Grimsby Town and Barnet, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Tyrell Sellars-Fleming 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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Nobody left the Grimsby Town 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
SquadJacob Labovitz falls out with a teammate over standards
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grimsby Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
John Egan 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tennai Watson 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.
Bristol Rovers left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Joseph Harris left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grimsby Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tennai Watson 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Grimsby Town are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Iwan Morgan did not need any: 8.15, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Joe Lewis 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacob Labovitz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A season average of 7.61 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Grimsby Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Iwan Morgan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.76
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tennai Watson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Successful dribbles: 33. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Grimsby Town will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
John Egan 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Labovitz 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Grimsby Town 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.
“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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Joseph Harris chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Walsall defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Iwan Morgan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 9.91
A mark of 9.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Grimsby Town can pretend not to have heard.
John Egan 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.
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 dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Joseph Harris, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tennai Watson 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Libertad have kept their man, and Grimsby Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Géza Dávid Turi, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Grimsby Town 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.
7.18, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Grimsby Town had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Joseph Harris chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutIwan Morgan has become a man the manager trusts
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Grimsby Town have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A brace, and Iwan Morgan takes the afternoon — 9.20
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iwan Morgan provided it, and the 9.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A season average of 7.59 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Grimsby Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Iwan Morgan wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Iwan Morgan found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gillingham went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Grimsby Town people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Grimsby Town until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
John Egan 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.
Gillingham made Grimsby Town work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tennai Watson 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rhys Chadwick did not need any: 7.90, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
$450.0K settles it between the clubs for John Egan
Hull City have accepted the money. What Grimsby Town do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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.
Grimsby Town had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Caracas, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grimsby Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Brando Preciado is living that version at Grimsby Town, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Grimsby Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tennai Watson 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hull City can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Oxford United for Ilyas Ansah 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.
Oli McBurnie 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohamed Belloumi. 1‑0 against Sheffield Wednesday, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The phone has started ringing about John Egan again, and this time the name on the line is Grimsby Town. Hull City are listening politely and promising nothing.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hull City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Tottenham paid $20.8M and Hull City took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Nottingham Forest pay $11.5M, 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. West Ham United moved on, Christos Mouzakitis reports back to Hull City, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Mohamed-Ali Cho has gone, the accounts have $20.8M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. John Egan has agreed terms with Wolverhampton for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hull City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Los Angeles Football Club have kept their man, and Hull City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadMatthew Targett falls out with a teammate over standards
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sunderland people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Position 19, 10 points, and a crowd that arrives braced. Seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere and everybody who has lived through one knows the sound of it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Hull City is saying, and nobody at Sunderland is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sunderland this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Habib Diarra has come up in conversations Sunderland were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Brentford have kept their man, and Sunderland go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadReinildo falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sunderland can pretend not to have heard.
“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.
Omar Alderete 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Caleb Shakespeare is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The name of Trai Hume has come up in conversations Sunderland were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The offer went to Manchester United this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$6.3M was the most the club would pay and Crystal Palace were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hull City can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Hull City had all but put away. Portsmouth will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Hull City 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Oli McBurnie