Marked for Max Johnston
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Derby County, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Derby County
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Derby County is running low.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Sam Szmodics in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Derby County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Oscar Fraulo
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Derby County training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryan Hedges 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Sam Szmodics and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Max Johnston commits to Derby County for another 5 years.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Derry Murkin 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 3‑1 win over Charlton Athletic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.92 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. David Ozoh 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 ratings28 Dec 2026
The game went through Henrik Meister — 6.71
Marked 6.71 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Léo Gomes
“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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tom Marriott breaks a bone — 22 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for Derby County
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Derby County are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Sam Szmodics in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Derby County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rhian Brewster and Derby County agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Derry Murkin 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Oscar Fraulo
“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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Max Johnston beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match5 Dec 2026
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Derby County had all but put away. Middlesbrough will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Derby County told Lars-Jørgen Salvesen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tom Marriott breaks a bone — 29 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Sam Szmodics and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Johnston was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Max Johnston, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Liel Abada
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Nov 2026
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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Léo Gomes
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Oct 2026
A 3‑2 win over Luton Town, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match28 Oct 2026
Jaydon Banel wins it after the whistle should have gone
98 minutes played. Jaydon Banel found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Luton Town went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Derby County — 7.41
1 for Lewis Travis, marked 7.41, 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Léo Gomes 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Stoke City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Johnston was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Léo Gomes
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Oct 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Sam Szmodics in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Derby County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Derby County do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Derby County.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured for Liel Abada
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Derby County told Liel Abada something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Jaydon Banel
“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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Calvin Ramsay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sam Szmodics 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brayan Alcócer arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Brayan Alcócer has, at Derby County, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. David Ozoh 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Leicester City. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Charles Butler could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer from Everton for Carlton Morris 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Derby County have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Sam Szmodics 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Derby County asked and Brighton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Johnston was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lewis Travis, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
A goal on 96 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Derby County
7 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.