Marked for Jake Richards
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Colchester United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Dani Ángel 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Jake Richards at 19 — 8.30
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jake Richards did not need any: 8.30, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match17 Oct 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dani Ángel 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 Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Samson Tovide 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 ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Kyreece Lisbie at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Colchester United.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ben Perry
“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
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 54. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Kal Naismith out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Luton Town will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Luton Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Reuell Walters at 21 — 7.83
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Reuell Walters did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Christ Makosso and Luton Town agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Luton Town 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Isaiah Jones 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 Luton Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Reuell Walters 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Wigan Athletic came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Dani Ángel 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
6 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
No hiding place for JK Gordon
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to JK Gordon, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 47. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dani Ángel 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 terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kyreece Lisbie 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Gabriel Melo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Kal Naismith breaks a bone — 112 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Luton Town's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luton Town 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Isaiah Jones 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 Luton Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Kasey Palmer 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.
Squad14 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.43. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match12 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Luton Town?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Doncaster Rovers? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.