84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Port Vale lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deal with West Ham United 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.
César Olmedo 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Joel Cotterill has his answer from Port Vale; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Port Vale lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Port Vale can pretend not to have heard.
Port Vale have gone to West Ham United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Port Vale have gone to Swansea City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Kylan Midwood and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brin Horvat 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 words a physio says slowly. 140 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Port Vale is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Port Vale have gone to Cheltenham Town with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Port Vale have gone to Accrington Stanley with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
César Olmedo 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Port Vale can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Port Vale they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kylan Midwood 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kylan Midwood trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Port Vale 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Port Vale, another week without a signature from Erik Sviatchenko.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Port Vale know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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. Preston have kept their man, and Port Vale go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
César Olmedo 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.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 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 Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20 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.
0‑1 to Accrington Stanley, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brin Horvat 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 words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale 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 Cameron Humphreys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Port Vale are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Port Vale had all but put away. Northampton Town will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It needed Ronaldo Herrera to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Northampton Town, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Port Vale lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michiel Haentjens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Port Vale told Jack Grealish something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jordan Houghton is on it.
“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 Port Vale, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Port Vale have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Port Vale hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Jack Grealish 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.
“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 Port Vale, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee is $5.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Manchester City drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jack Shorrock will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Port Vale the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stoke City have kept their man, and Port Vale go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Newcastle United 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.
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Grant Ward
The dugoutGeorge Hall knocks on the manager’s door
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Port Vale lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Port Vale will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Port Vale have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Port Vale can pretend not to have heard.
Port Vale have gone to Sheffield United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Port Vale have gone to Chesterfield with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barnet have kept their man, and Port Vale go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Port Vale lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Port Vale have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Illan Wood 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 Martín Szumik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 5 on 84 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.
“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 Port Vale, and it is not being withdrawn.
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. 9 actions, 6.88, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Port Vale will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from IFK Mariehamn for George Hall 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Port Vale have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Erik Sviatchenko 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.
Marked 8.26 — 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.
“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 Port Vale know 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 Port Vale can pretend not to have heard.
The goal that put Crewe Alexandra ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Port Vale equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Deji Oshilaja 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.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Something was said to Onel Hernández and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
SquadMartín Szumik 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 Port Vale, 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.” Port Vale have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cameron Humphreys 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Port Vale go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: George Hall. 1‑0 against Newport County, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Port Vale will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
15 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.
Position 3, 57 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Port Vale have done the hard part with Chesterfield, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Port Vale have gone to Bristol Rovers with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
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.
Port Vale asked and Portsmouth said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Port Vale, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Deji Oshilaja 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.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Tyler Magloire
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.
Deji Oshilaja 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 Tyler Magloire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Port Vale would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rui Costa signs something — a contract at Port Vale or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Port Vale has been clear about where Gabriel Salguero stands, which is more than many ever get.