Marked for Kayne Ramsay
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Charlton Athletic, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Charlton Athletic may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Maeson King 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 Charlton Athletic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Isaac Hayden 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Kayne Ramsay has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Kayne Ramsay keeps the shirt for now, at Charlton Athletic's convenience rather than his own.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Charlton Athletic may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Isaac Hayden 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 Charlton Athletic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
A 2‑1 win over Hull City, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 8.84 — 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Craig Dawson, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.83 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
89% of the income goes out in wages at Charlton Athletic
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Lloyd Jones 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lloyd Jones, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
103% of the income goes out in wages at Charlton Athletic
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sonny Carey
3 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market22 Feb 2027
The Lloyd Jones story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lloyd Jones signs something — a contract at Charlton Athletic or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Feb 2027
“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 Charlton Athletic, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Lloyd Jones 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
2‑3 to Bolton Wanderers, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miles Leaburn, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Feb 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Thomas Kaminski knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Bournemouth to sit and watch. I want to come back to Charlton Athletic and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.28 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match2 Jan 2027
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Charlton Athletic is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Harry Clarke 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.61 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maeson King, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Kayne Ramsay
Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Craig Dawson 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 Charlton Athletic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match19 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tyreece Campbell. 1‑0 against Rotherham United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Amari'i Bell
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Craig Dawson 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.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
The spotlight tightens on Lloyd Jones
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Lloyd 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 Charlton Athletic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Craig Dawson
“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 ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.45 — 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Birmingham leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Sonny Carey is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.20 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 27, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match24 Oct 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Craig Dawson 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 Charlton Athletic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Amari'i Bell 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Dennis Cirkin knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Charlton Athletic, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match10 Oct 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Charlton Athletic are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dennis Cirkin 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.69 on the card, and the Charlton Athletic support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Reuben Reid, and the manager let it.
Match10 Oct 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sheffield came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 24 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Charlton Athletic have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sonny Carey and Charlton Athletic agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Lloyd 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 Charlton Athletic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Kayne Ramsay's contract
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Sonny Carey knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Charlton Athletic, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Aug 2026
Tiernan Brooks is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Charlton Athletic has been clear about where Tiernan Brooks stands, which is more than many ever get.