Marked for James Rogerson
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Accrington Stanley did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match29 Aug 2026
Barnet left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Cheltenham Town, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Josh Smith 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Liam Coyle 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Squad17 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.