Chris Rigg 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.
Something was said to Rodrigo Muniz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nottingham Forest in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Aston Villa, another week without a signature from Luke Skinner.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aston Villa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Mark O'Mahony has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
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.
Esquerdinha 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Charles Thompson after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
At 28 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Aston Villa have a decision that made itself.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Charles Thompson made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aston Villa can pretend not to have heard.
“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.
John McGinn 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rodrigo Muniz. 2‑1 against Crystal Palace, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Rodrigo Muniz was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
John McGinn 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. John McGinn is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aston Villa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aston Villa can pretend not to have heard.
The target is the manager, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Middlesbrough have kept their man, and Aston Villa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Manchester City left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
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 Edward Miller left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles King was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The fee is $7.9M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Birmingham drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 Aston Villa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Rotherham United for Louis Page 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 deal with Sunderland 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rory Wilson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Aston Villa are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The clubs have shaken hands with Chelsea; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birmingham can pretend not to have heard.
He is going to Aston Villa, the club has $7.9M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The name of Luis Vázquez has come up in conversations Birmingham were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birmingham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Birmingham have gone to Bradford 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wigan Athletic have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Aston Villa can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Inter for Alexis Mac Allister 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 offer went to Birmingham 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.
$2.2M was the most the club would pay and Arsenal 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.
Aston Villa asked and Newcastle United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
14 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
Transfer targetsA loan move for Josh Coburn is in the works
SquadWords at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birmingham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christoph Klarer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. 12 actions, 6.71, and a manager who will not be substituting him again 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 Birmingham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrew Hamilton after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Phil Neumann has agreed terms with Sheffield United for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Birmingham know it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chelsea have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0‑2 to Norwich City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Phil Neumann 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.
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.
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christoph Klarer 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.
Ollie O'Neill 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrew Hamilton after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Birmingham, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑3 to Sheffield United, 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.
Max Bird 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christoph Klarer 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. 51 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Birmingham is running low.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birmingham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Max Bird 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 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Birmingham have done the hard part with Wrexham, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Birmingham can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Birmingham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Birmingham have gone to Charlton Athletic 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Birmingham heard it as anything else.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Birmingham asked and Walsall said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birmingham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christoph Klarer 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.
43 appearances and 0 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Birmingham, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Josh King 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 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Demarai Gray trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Birmingham lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Lukáš Horníček 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.
Josh King 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Birmingham 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Max Bird signs something — a contract at Birmingham or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Birmingham, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Leicester City next, and one man in the Birmingham dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Doncaster Rovers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Andy Rinomhota has agreed terms with Luton Town for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Doncaster Rovers can tell you which week it ends in.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
In brief
SquadWords at Doncaster Rovers training over how hard people work
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Jakob Gunnar Sigurðsson 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.
0‑2 to Norwich City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 0‑2 Andrew Hamilton left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Birmingham, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.