Marked for Andrei Coubiş
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Sep 2027
A 2‑0 win over Mansfield Town, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad20 Sep 2027
Ben House keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lincoln City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Daniel Vanderpuye at 19 — 7.62
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daniel Vanderpuye did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andrei Coubiş is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Renzo Reynaga 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 ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Sep 2027
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Match18 Sep 2027
1‑3 to Doncaster Rovers, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ivan Varfolomeev 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
Andrei Coubiş 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
James Collins 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tom Bayliss 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Luton Town, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrei Coubiş and Lincoln City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Jayden Danns 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Joe Gauci 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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
23 starts and an average of 6.51. He went there to play and he is playing, which is the only thing a loan was ever for.
Market8 Feb 2027
Lincoln City spent the window trying to move Freddie Draper on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
Yunus Emre Konak 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 terraces11 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Jayden Danns 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 2‑0 win over Stevenage, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tendayi Darikwa 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Lincoln City lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Market11 Jan 2027
Adam Reach is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Lincoln City has been clear about where Adam Reach stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Joe Gauci 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 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 Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrei Coubiş
“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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ivan Varfolomeev 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
When it matters, Ben House plays
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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 9. 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
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tom Hamer and Lincoln City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Joe Gauci 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 Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrei Coubiş
“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
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market10 Aug 2026
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.