“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 The request is on a desk at West Bromwich Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Valletta waiting with a shirt. Nobody at West Bromwich Albion is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason West Bromwich Albion will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at West Bromwich Albion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
West Bromwich Albion asked and Blackburn Rovers 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jed Wallace and West Bromwich Albion agree another 2 years.
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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Ipswich Town the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that West Bromwich Albion will enjoy reviewing.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Tommy Setford 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Chris Mepham 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
13 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ousmane Diakité was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
George Campbell 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cole Dexter and West Bromwich Albion agree another 3 years.
7 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 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 West Bromwich Albion hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Daryl Dike 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 easiest signature of my career.” Jed Wallace and West Bromwich Albion agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ousmane Diakité 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.
Marked 7.82 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, West Bromwich Albion had the best player 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Valencia had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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.
The fee is $3.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Ipswich Town drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
1 for Jayson Molumby, marked 7.24, 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.
“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.
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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jed Wallace and West Bromwich Albion agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zépiqueno Redmond 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Zépiqueno Redmond has come out of that comparison in the side, and West Bromwich Albion have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Chris Mepham signs something — a contract at West Bromwich Albion or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Akeel Higgins is on it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Iliya Gruev 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. West Bromwich Albion will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at West Bromwich Albion has been clear about where Isaac Price stands, which is more than many ever get.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Lincoln City had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and West Bromwich Albion did not stop to explain themselves.
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 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris Mepham 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 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.
5 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.
Iliya Gruev 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Chris Mepham 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.
“I did not go to Southampton to sit and watch. I want to come back to West Bromwich Albion and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Marked 7.06 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.15 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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.
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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jed Wallace and West Bromwich Albion agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Chris Mepham 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.
“I did not go to Birmingham to sit and watch. I want to come back to West Bromwich Albion and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Dauda Iddrisa 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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” West Bromwich Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
“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.
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.
Marked 7.13 on 15 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Daryl Dike 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.
West Bromwich Albion asked and Chelsea said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Something was said to Jayson Molumby and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It needed Karlan Grant to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Sheffield United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.