Marked for Nathan Lowe
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Justin Devenny has come up in conversations Stoke City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Nathan Lowe is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Stoke City asked and Everton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every Stoke City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Derby County runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Joe Buršík
“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 ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Steven Nzonzi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stoke City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The step up is real for Angus Lloyd
At 17 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ben Johnson 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched George Hirst
7.48, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Stoke City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 7.30 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Stoke City had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Ben Killip dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Michael Bailey could afford to be generous.
Market28 Dec 2026
Steven Nzonzi is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stoke City has been clear about where Steven Nzonzi stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Michael Svoboda 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Divin Mubama. 2‑0 against Charlton Athletic, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match27 Oct 2026
Derby County left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I want to play”: Joe Buršík speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ben Killip dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Michael Bailey kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 saves: Joe Buršík was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad26 Oct 2026
20 days out for Luca Bombino after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stoke City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Steven Nzonzi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stoke City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.44 for the rest of it.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joe Buršík, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Divin Mubama 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Ben Killip asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 Stoke City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Stoke City's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Stoke City has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Sep 2026
5 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Portsmouth have kept their man, and Stoke City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Milan Smit reaches 100 appearances
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksym Talovierov and Stoke City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Michael Svoboda 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.