Marked for Harry Griffiths
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Uljanik Pula waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Uskok is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market30 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karlo Darojković will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Uskok the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market30 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Jul 2029
The phone has started ringing about Ante Žužul again, and this time the name on the line is NK Varazdin. Uskok are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Karlo Darojković has agreed terms with Opatija for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
The approach has gone in and the answer belongs to Elva. Business like this is done quietly and reported loudly, and rarely in that order.
Match28 Jul 2029
1‑3 to Jadran Luka Ploce, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
Still nobody in the Uskok dugout
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Pressure builds in the Uskok boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market19 Mar 2029
Tiago Duarte hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Wages eat 142% of everything Uskok earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Vito Čilić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Uskok 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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karlo Darojković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Mar 2029
Still no signature from Ante Žužul
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Uskok could get for him.
Market19 Mar 2029
The name of Marin Kuzmanić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Uskok say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Uskok
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Uskok is running low.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A brace, and Marin Kuzmanić takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marin Kuzmanić provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market22 Jan 2029
Marko Zubaj hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Uskok
Karlo Darojković 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
A 3‑2 win over Radnik Krizevci, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Mihael Bužić 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 terraces22 Jan 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Marin Kuzmanić 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces8 Jan 2029
Supporters organise against the Uskok board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Mislav Orsic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Uskok have done the hard part with Bjelovar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match6 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Uskok's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Uskok has to find a result from somewhere.
Market8 Jan 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Uskok have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Harry Griffiths and Uskok agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match6 Jan 2029
Uskok cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
In brief
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Squad
A falling-out at Uskok
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Boardroom
$294.1K of the owner's money at Uskok
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Marin Kuzmanić
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Dec 2028
Uskok sink to position 14
20 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uskok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
A bad afternoon for Uskok against Grobnican
0‑1 to Grobnican, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead18 Dec 2028
Uskok face Varteks in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Market18 Dec 2028
Uskok and Ante Žužul are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mislav Orsic after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Uskok
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The owner puts $198.1K into Uskok
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
Wages eat 178% of everything Uskok earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The terraces2 Oct 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Harry Griffiths 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
Trnje take the points off Uskok
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces18 Sep 2028
Supporters organise against the Uskok board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match16 Sep 2028
A hiding for Uskok
Beaten 0‑3 by Solin, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market18 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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 dugout18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Harry Griffiths, and the manager let it.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
The borrowing at Uskok reaches $9.0M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $9.0M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
Doors closed at Uskok
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Market18 Sep 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Uskok
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Lovro Gubijan's mistake
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Sep 2028
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market4 Sep 2028
“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 Uskok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 14 in, 15 out at Uskok
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 15 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Everything agreed with Karlovac 1919, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
$30.2K from the owner keeps Uskok afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Uskok asked and Istra 1961 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces4 Sep 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Harry Griffiths 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 dugout4 Sep 2028
Mihael Bužić gets it from the manager
“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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Embargo at Uskok
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Market
The Niko Mandić conversation is coming
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Boardroom
101% of the income goes out in wages at Uskok
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Aug 2028
Noan Gallo hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Aug 2028
The deal that would have taken Niko Mandić to Grobnican has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Uskok with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Everything agreed with Slaven Belupo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Gorica have kept their man, and Uskok go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“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.
Market14 Aug 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Uskok, another week without a signature from Lovro Gubijan.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
Uskok are still strangers to each other
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Market
No place for Baltazar Bogolin in the plan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Jul 2028
7 matches without a win for Uskok
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Uskok are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Jul 2028
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uskok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Jul 2028
3 matches without a goal for Uskok
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Uskok
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihael Bužić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mihael Bužić, and the manager let it.
Match29 Jul 2028
0‑1 to Jadran Luka Ploce, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 Jul 2028
Supporters organise against the Uskok board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Uskok may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Uskok have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad24 Jul 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match22 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Uskok's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Uskok has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Uskok have done the hard part with Uljanik Pula, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad24 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uskok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
5 academy graduates step up at Uskok
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Jun 2028
Uskok sink to position 14
29 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 Uskok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Uskok offered $20.0K; Rudes said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Mihael Bužić 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Too much change too quickly at Uskok
5 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.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noan Gallo, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the Uskok boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market12 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Solin waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Uskok is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A move Harry Griffiths would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Harry Griffiths is living that version at Uskok, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market12 Jun 2028
Gijs van Wijk hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Rudes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Uskok
Karlo Darojković 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Business is business: Jozo Vukman goes
Orijent 1919 paid $70.0K and Uskok took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Varazdin have kept their man, and Uskok go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
In brief
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Squad
This league is too small for Harry Griffiths
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The dugout
Vito Čilić has become a man the manager trusts
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Boardroom
Nobody arrives at Uskok until somebody leaves
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jan 2028
28 days out for Kameron Muir after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Notts County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 Notts County, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Jan 2028
The offer from Crawley Town for Harry Griffiths 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tyrese 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hamidou Keyta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tigre have kept their man, and Notts County go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
In brief
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Match
No time for Bristol Rovers to settle
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Kelle Roos
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Jan 2028
“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 Notts County, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jan 2028
The chase for Harry Smith ended with $490.0K changing hands and Barnsley out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Lewis Macari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chelsea have kept their man, and Notts County go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayann Pereira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market17 Jan 2028
The name of Harry Griffiths has come up in conversations Notts County were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match15 Jan 2028
A 1‑0 win over Leyton Orient, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match11 Jan 2028
The goal that put Mansfield Town ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Notts County equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthew Dennis, and the manager let it.