Marked for Mark Gillespie
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Both of them Ivan Bašić's — 8.28
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.28, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Ivan Bašić’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Doncaster Rovers.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Owen Bailey 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 terraces9 Nov 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Josh Flint at his very best
Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Doncaster Rovers.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.
Market9 Nov 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zain Westbrooke, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ivan Bašić goes up and wins it — 7.83
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 7.83 for the rest of it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Jaïro Riedewald 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Glenn Middleton. 2‑1 against Rotherham United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match27 Oct 2026
Stockport County left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Mark Gillespie
“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 ratings2 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 ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joe Sbarra and Doncaster Rovers agree another 3 years.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Something was said to Jaïro Riedewald and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Wycombe Wanderers, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Remy Mitchell: 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.” Doncaster Rovers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Doncaster Rovers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 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.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
17 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Mark Gillespie 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ivan Bašić pops up at the right end — 7.88
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Seán Grehan is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match3 Oct 2026
Bolton Wanderers left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Janoi Donacien 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jamie Sterry, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings28 Sep 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 7.91 for the rest of it.
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Cardiff City left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match22 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Janoi Donacien. 2‑1 against Exeter City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Mark Gillespie
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tommi O'Reilly 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Daniel Smith to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Sep 2026
Port Vale go through and Doncaster Rovers go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Doncaster Rovers are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Jaïro Riedewald did the work nobody counts — 7.08
11 combined actions and 7.08. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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 Sep 2026
Luke Molyneux and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Daniel Smith to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Ivan Bašić
Nobody at Doncaster Rovers is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Ivan Bašić delivers — 7.50
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ivan Bašić scored, was marked 7.50, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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 Doncaster Rovers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hakeeb Adelakun, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Owen Bailey 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Daniel Smith to a room that had heard them before.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Leyton Orient next, and one man in the Doncaster Rovers dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
$1.7M. No player has ever cost Doncaster Rovers more, and expectation arrives with him.
Squad31 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Sheffield United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
No deal for Eric Bocat at that price
Doncaster Rovers offered $550.0K; Stoke City said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market31 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Matthew Smith is back at Doncaster Rovers, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Rio Kyerematen was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.7M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Match29 Aug 2026
1‑2 to Northampton Town, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Aug 2026
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A move James Maxwell would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. James Maxwell is living that version at Doncaster Rovers, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $360.4K — a club that wants Rio Kyerematen enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$340.0K on the table at Tottenham. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market17 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. James Maxwell is back at Doncaster Rovers, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
2 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Janoi Donacien 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timothy Graham is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Harry Walker has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
A move Remy Mitchell would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Remy Mitchell is living that version at Doncaster Rovers, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Bolton Wanderers 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 targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Braga keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jay McGrath and Doncaster Rovers agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tommi O'Reilly 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Jay McGrath
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Mark Gillespie is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.