Marked for Dylan Suleiman
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jul 2031
Dylan Suleiman damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Boardroom7 Jul 2031
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Thomas Dixon has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad7 Jul 2031
41 days out for Charles Kompany after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Accrington Stanley will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 Jul 2031
“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 targets7 Jul 2031
Accrington Stanley have gone to Milton Keynes Dons with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Conor Coady 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.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Peterborough United have kept their man, and Accrington Stanley go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Josh Woods 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 dugout7 Jul 2031
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Jun 2031
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Accrington Stanley lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom30 Jun 2031
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Accrington Stanley is running low.
Market30 Jun 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Accrington Stanley can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
The deal with Walsall 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.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Notts County have kept their man, and Accrington Stanley go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Swansea City wanted more than $3.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Mathis Bostoen 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Accrington Stanley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louis Enahoro-Marcus 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.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
A loan move for Connor Reilly is in the works
Accrington Stanley have made the call to Birmingham. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Jun 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dylan Suleiman
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Accrington Stanley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market23 Jun 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Accrington Stanley can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
$760.0K was the most the club would pay and Notts County were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
$250.0K on the table at Milton Keynes Dons. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
$3.0K on the table at Swansea City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Conor Coady 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.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
Accrington Stanley asked and Hull City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Kaysha Kameni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Jun 2031
A muscle injury sidelines Chris Sleveland for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Accrington Stanley will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Jun 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dylan Suleiman
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Accrington Stanley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
$130.0K settles it between the clubs for Filip Piatek
Barnet have accepted the money. What Accrington Stanley do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
$760.0K on the table at Notts County. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
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.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Conor Coady 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.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Josh Woods 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.
Market16 Jun 2031
Johannes Käck is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Accrington Stanley has been clear about where Johannes Käck stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout16 Jun 2031
Kleven De Oliveira is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad16 Jun 2031
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Accrington Stanley will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Apr 2031
Johannes Käck damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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 ratings14 Apr 2031
Up for the corner, and Dylan Suleiman delivers — 6.05
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Dylan Suleiman scored, was marked 6.05, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Nikita Dubov 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 Apr 2031
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Dylan Suleiman 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.
Match12 Apr 2031
A 1‑0 win over Tranmere Rovers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Accrington Stanley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris Sleveland 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 dugout14 Apr 2031
“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 dugout14 Apr 2031
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Thomas Dixon could afford to be generous.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Jul 2030
The unthinkable, invoiced: Kamarni Ryan sold
Ipswich Town arrived with $6.5M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The terraces1 Jul 2030
Kamarni Ryan has gone, the accounts have $6.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Conor Coady 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 Accrington Stanley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jul 2030
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Dylan Suleiman, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market1 Jul 2030
He is 20, and nobody at Accrington Stanley signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Transfer targets1 Jul 2030
A loan move for Lucas Thomas is in the works
Accrington Stanley have made the call to Chesterfield. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets1 Jul 2030
A loan move for Jonny Day is in the works
Accrington Stanley have made the call to Wycombe Wanderers. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 May 2030
Joaquín Vera 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.
Boardroom20 May 2030
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.
Squad20 May 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dylan Suleiman and Accrington Stanley agree another 3 years.
The dugout20 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andriy Vyskrebentsev, and the manager let it.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Accrington Stanley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louis Enahoro-Marcus 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.
Market20 May 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Niall Huggins signs something — a contract at Accrington Stanley or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Mar 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Accrington Stanley they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
Dylan Suleiman: 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.” Accrington Stanley have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Mar 2030
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Accrington Stanley can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“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.
Match16 Mar 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Thomas Dixon after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Boardroom18 Mar 2030
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Accrington Stanley now.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Nikita Dubov 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 Accrington Stanley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Kamarni Ryan beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Jan 2030
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.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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 Accrington Stanley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Jan 2030
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Accrington Stanley are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets7 Jan 2030
Everything agreed with Southampton, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Jan 2030
Accrington Stanley asked and AFC Wimbledon 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 dugout7 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Benardoni, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2029
West Bromwich Albion ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kallum Fuller-Thompson did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
The game went through Kamarni Ryan — 6.87
Marked 6.87 on 15 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match22 Sep 2029
Newport County left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mikey Lane and Accrington Stanley agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Lewis Ward
“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 dugout24 Sep 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Kane Miardjo 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 Accrington Stanley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Josh Woods 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.