“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Walsall can pretend not to have heard.
9 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.
Walsall asked and Sunderland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ronan Maher 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.
Everything agreed with Southampton, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Walsall, another week without a signature from Omar Sowunmi.
Ipswich Town have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” John Henderson after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Walsall have 7 straight wins of it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Emre Tezgel, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.18
A mark of 8.18 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.
1 for Mason Hancock, marked 7.60, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Walsall 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Vincent Harper was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emre Tezgel did not need any: 8.15, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Walsall. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
A 1‑0 win over Tranmere Rovers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
5 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Accrington Stanley made Walsall work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Jake Hollman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Walsall man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Emre Tezgel was the best thing in any of them.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emre Tezgel did not need any: 9.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Walsall know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Dylan Thomas 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Jake Hollman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emre Tezgel did not need any: 8.08, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Walsall this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21 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: Emre Tezgel. 2‑0 against Barnet, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.29 — 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
Emre Tezgel 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
Something was said to Mason Hancock 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 Barnet in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Marked 7.47 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Walsall had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” John Henderson chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Joshua Phillips is living that version at Walsall, and it tends to show in the first month.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Walsall, another week without a signature from Grant Smith.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Walsall told Ethan Laird something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Aden Flint 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Colchester United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emre Tezgel did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Colchester United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — James Furlong has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Walsall know, and have known for weeks.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Walsall squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alex Pattison has written the date down.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emre Tezgel did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 21 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Emre Tezgel. 1‑0 against Grimsby Town, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Walsall have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Antony Evans’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Walsall needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Something was said to Emre Tezgel and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Ronan Maher 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.
7.61, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Walsall had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” John Henderson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Walsall dressing room was either.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Oldham Athletic? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jamille Matt’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Walsall needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Ethan Laird 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.
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.
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Walsall had the best player on the pitch.
Squad5 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Walsall 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Walsall than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Ethan Laird
Walsall asked and Wrexham said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aden Flint 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 7.67 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Walsall had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.” John Henderson chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Milton Keynes Dons in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Walsall will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Successful dribbles: 9. 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.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Walsall can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Reading have kept their man, and Walsall go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $378.2K — a club that wants Ryley Towler enough to be asked twice.
The deal with Birmingham 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, John Henderson could afford to be generous.
West Bromwich Albion will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Birmingham were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Barnet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Birmingham is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Osman, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.20
A mark of 8.20 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.
“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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Birmingham can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Everything agreed with Tottenham, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Birmingham had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Millwall, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Birmingham asked and Rotherham 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.
He is 22 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Carlos Vicente at his very best
Player ratingsThe game went through Tommy Doyle — 7.38
Ibrahim Osman 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Birmingham
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The name of Ethan Laird has come up in conversations Birmingham were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Steven Barnes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Adam Harris is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matthew Cooper is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Birmingham have made the call to Millwall. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Carlos Vicente
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
BoardroomBirmingham say no to the training-ground money