Queens Park Rangers 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.
66 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
6 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.
Max Bird 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.
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.
Sheffield United will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Birmingham were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Max Bird and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Savinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Birmingham and Sheffield United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Bautista Caviglia has, at Birmingham, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Marked 7.91. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Savinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
19 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.
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Savinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Birmingham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Savinho provided it, and the 9.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
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.
10 goals in one match, Luis Vázquez on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Birmingham and Stoke City.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Savinho 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. West Bromwich Albion have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Myles Lewis-Skelly 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.
44 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Birmingham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
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.
Marked 9.09 — 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.
Minute 88, against Watford, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Savinho provided it, and the 9.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Marked 7.84 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Birmingham until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
A season average of 7.14 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Birmingham know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Birmingham scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Myles Lewis-Skelly did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Birmingham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Birmingham had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Arsenal, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ibrahim Osman 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.
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.
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. West Bromwich Albion have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
The deal with Millwall 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Birmingham asked and Arsenal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Birmingham, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Birmingham have done the hard part with Tottenham, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
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. Coventry City have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 36. 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.
Max Bird 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Myles Lewis-Skelly 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.
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Jhon Solís decided nobody was going anywhere. Derby County had no time left to answer.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Osman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jhon Solís. 2‑1 against Derby County, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Birmingham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Birmingham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ibrahim Osman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Myles Lewis-Skelly 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Hull City scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Birmingham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A mark of 7.60 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout7 Dec 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.” Stephen Reid chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Birmingham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Myles Lewis-Skelly did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ibrahim Osman 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.
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.
10 combined actions and 6.96. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
10 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jay Stansfield provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody 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 Birmingham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Harrison Holgate is living that version at Birmingham, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Myles Lewis-Skelly 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Birmingham are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“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.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
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.
At 23 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.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Jay Stansfield’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Birmingham.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Jay Stansfield was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.67. 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.
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Osman 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.
Norwich City left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Stephen Reid to a room that had heard them before.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lautaro Calderón and Birmingham agree another 4 years.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Ibrahim Osman 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.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Birmingham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Ibrahim Osman, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.94
A mark of 7.94 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ibrahim Osman 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ibrahim Osman. 1‑0 against Portsmouth, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
21 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
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.
Marked 8.20 — 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 goal that put Preston ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Birmingham equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Queens Park Rangers spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
3 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jay Stansfield 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.
Something was said to Myles Lewis-Skelly and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Ibrahim Osman 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 Myles Lewis-Skelly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stephen Reid, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Myles Lewis-Skelly did not need any: 7.64, 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 Birmingham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ibrahim Osman 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad28 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Birmingham 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.
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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stephen Reid after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Christoph Klarer may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Birmingham are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Stoke City will replay every second of the added time for a week.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Jhon Solís, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.42
A mark of 8.42 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.
Coventry City wanted more than $76.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Myles Lewis-Skelly 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Liam Millar. 3‑1 against Stoke City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
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.
Everything was agreed with Stoke City and then the doctor spoke. Birmingham have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 14 gone
That is the business done at Birmingham until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tyler Fredricson has, at Birmingham, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Ibrahim Osman 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.
$76.0K on the table at Coventry City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Luton Town have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Brentford for Christoph Klarer 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Birmingham have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everything agreed with Stoke City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newcastle United have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bournemouth waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Birmingham is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Ibrahim Osman had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and West Bromwich Albion were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
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.
The offer from Nottingham Forest for Jay Stansfield 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kashiwa Reysol have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Wrexham had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Birmingham did not stop to explain themselves.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Birmingham people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everton paid $7.6M and Birmingham took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Myles Lewis-Skelly did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Seattle Sounders have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Birmingham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denzil Uchenna 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Birmingham have done the hard part with Bournemouth, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tottenham have kept their man, and Birmingham go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Bright Osayi-Samuel has come up in conversations Birmingham were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Craig Dawson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
The offer from Ferencvaros for Christoph Klarer 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.
“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.
Carlos Vicente 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.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Birmingham 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Julio Soler is in the works