Marked for Denys Sliusar
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Feb 2031
0‑3 against Newport County, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Feb 2031
Denys Sliusar has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stockport County they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Sontje Hansen 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 Feb 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Iversen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Feb 2031
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Stockport County can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Iversen, and the manager let it.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Jan 2031
5 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad27 Jan 2031
27 days out for Patrick Dorgu after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stockport County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings27 Jan 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market27 Jan 2031
“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 The request is on a desk at Stockport County, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market27 Jan 2031
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stockport County have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad27 Jan 2031
A season average of 7.46 with 22 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match25 Jan 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Benoný Breki Andrésson. 8‑6 against Barnsley, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout27 Jan 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stockport County may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market27 Jan 2031
Patrick Dorgu wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Stockport County hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Jan 2031
18 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Patrick Dorgu breaks a bone — 42 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market13 Jan 2031
Bournemouth pay $19.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market13 Jan 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Walsall waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stockport County is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market13 Jan 2031
Only the photograph left for Denys Sliusar
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denys Sliusar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stockport County the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Jan 2031
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.
Market13 Jan 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.
Match11 Jan 2031
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Stockport County are no longer polite ones.
Squad13 Jan 2031
15 goals and a season average of 7.33. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Dec 2030
14 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad16 Dec 2030
5 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad16 Dec 2030
70 days out for Patrick Dorgu after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stockport County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match14 Dec 2030
Northampton Town will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Stockport County were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market16 Dec 2030
“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.
Market16 Dec 2030
Denys Sliusar has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stockport County they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Bailey Cadamarteri
16 goals and a season average of 7.30 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Sontje Hansen 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.
Match14 Dec 2030
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Stockport County and Northampton Town, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Dec 2030
79 days out for Patrick Dorgu after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stockport County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match7 Dec 2030
13 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match7 Dec 2030
A 2‑5 beating by Preston was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Benoný Breki Andrésson provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market9 Dec 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 Stockport County, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match7 Dec 2030
5 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.
Market9 Dec 2030
Patrick Dorgu wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Stockport County hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Sontje Hansen 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Nov 2030
104 days out for Patrick Dorgu after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stockport County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Nov 2030
“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.
Match16 Nov 2030
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market18 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stockport County is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Bailey Cadamarteri 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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Iversen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
The manager makes an example of Markie Meade
“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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Bailey Cadamarteri
11 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings18 Nov 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Sep 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stockport County can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stockport County may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market9 Sep 2030
The deal that would have taken Joel Medina to Newport County has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Stockport County with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Juan Caraballo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Sontje Hansen 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.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Iversen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Denys Sliusar has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
Burnley will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Brandon Pouani has pre-agreed a move to Stockport County, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market12 Aug 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stockport County people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout12 Aug 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stockport County may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Aug 2030
“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.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Sontje Hansen 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 Aug 2030
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lorenz Hutchinson is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Aug 2030
At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Clout was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Aug 2030
Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Stockport County had all but put away. Blackpool will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Aug 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stockport County have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market5 Aug 2030
Corey Addai has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stockport County they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Markie Meade is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Sontje Hansen 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Denys Sliusar 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Stockport County can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Market5 Aug 2030
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dmytro Kliots has his answer from Stockport County; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout5 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmytro Kliots, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 Jul 2030
“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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Sontje Hansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Clout was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Jul 2030
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Stockport County know it.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Stockport County are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Market29 Jul 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Patrick Dorgu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout29 Jul 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.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
Dmytro Kliots 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Jul 2030
A Stockport County player is an international champion, and the town will claim a share of a summer it had nothing to do with. 36 caps now, and a name that will be said differently for the rest of his career.
Market15 Jul 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stockport County have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market15 Jul 2030
“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.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stockport County have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market15 Jul 2030
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Sontje Hansen 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denys Sliusar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Jul 2030
A muscle injury sidelines Gbenga Opamoye for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Stockport County will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
Joe Neild 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.