Nat Phillips 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Fabio Blanco 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.
Nat Phillips 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Penafiel, and 3 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Penafiel, another week without a signature from Marcinho.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
BoardroomWages eat 94% of everything Penafiel earn
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Penafiel can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Nat Phillips and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willian Maranhão 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Penafiel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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 The request is on a desk at Penafiel, and it is not being withdrawn.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 Penafiel 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Penafiel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Rui Mendes was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Penafiel dressing room was either.
“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 Penafiel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Penafiel close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 14 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Penafiel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Marcinho 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
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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. Porto have kept their man, and Penafiel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Penafiel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Penafiel would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Nobody at Penafiel 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.
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 Marcinho has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel 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 Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Penafiel asked and Palmeiras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; Penafiel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Penafiel, another week without a signature from Kiki Silva.
Everything agreed with Pacos de Ferreira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Raúl Alcaina 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Penafiel asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; Penafiel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Penafiel have made the call to Santa Clara. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zé Hugo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Penafiel will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Penafiel can pretend not to have heard.
Thiago 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Penafiel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Penafiel, another week without a signature from Marcinho.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Penafiel can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Penafiel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Hellas Verona keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Pedro Ferreira 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 Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to West Bromwich Albion: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. West Bromwich Albion lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Universidad de Chile pay $29.2M, 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.
He is going to Universidad de Chile, the club has $29.2M 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Brentford; West Bromwich Albion go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Chris Mepham 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.
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.
$4.0K on the table at Queens Park Rangers. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. West Bromwich Albion lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Bristol Rovers for Isaac Price 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.
West Bromwich Albion asked and Crystal Palace said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Bromwich Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at West Bromwich Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. West Bromwich Albion lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bristol City waiting with a shirt. Nobody at West Bromwich Albion is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
$4.5M on the table at Crystal Palace. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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 West Bromwich Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Bristol Rovers have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Isaac Price. The answer from West Bromwich Albion has not changed — yet.
Wolverhampton paid $3.5M and West Bromwich Albion took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Krystian Bielik and West Bromwich Albion agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris Mepham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at West Bromwich Albion heard it as anything else.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Affengruber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tammer Bany 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at West Bromwich Albion, and 6 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alfie Gilchrist is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“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 West Bromwich Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” West Bromwich Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Affengruber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at West Bromwich Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. West Bromwich Albion know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jed Wallace’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and West Bromwich Albion needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Nat Phillips has written the date down.
Two goals and a mark of 8.79 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around West Bromwich Albion people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 West Bromwich Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
2 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The offer from Stoke City for Nat Phillips 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about West Bromwich Albion and Oxford United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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 settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around West Bromwich Albion people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” West Bromwich Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at West Bromwich Albion has to find a result from somewhere.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Baylee Dipepa had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
7.62, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The name of Nat Phillips has come up in conversations West Bromwich Albion were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.