The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Burton Albion are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Max Sanders 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.
Zach Mitchell 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Burton Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Martin Sherif, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Max Sanders 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.
Minute 85, against Peterborough United, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Notts County go through and Burton Albion 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Sanders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Burton Albion will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Caylan Vickers reports back to Burton Albion with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burton Albion have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Sanders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Manchester United have kept their man, and Burton Albion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 2‑1 win over Rotherham United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Burton Albion have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Burton Albion will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The bid was some way short and Burton Albion did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 17 gone
That is the business done at Burton Albion until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Burton Albion had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Manchester United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burton Albion have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Burton Albion will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Plymouth Argyle for Caylan Vickers was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
The deal with Manchester United 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.
Martin Sherif 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 Aug 2027
Max Sanders 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.
Burton Albion asked and Brentford 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Martin Sherif did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.83, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jack Cooper-Love and Burton Albion agree another 4 years.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Max Sanders 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.
Gillingham paid $2.4M and Burton Albion took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Burnley is saying, and nobody at Burton Albion is enjoying the guessing.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Burton Albion are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Maciel 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.
Add another name to the list: Gillingham have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Millar Matthews-Lewis. The answer from Burton Albion has not changed — yet.
Martin Sherif and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Max Sanders 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Burton Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jack Holmes has written the date down.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Colchester United is saying, and nobody at Burton Albion is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Sanders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Burton Albion, another week without a signature from Max Sanders.
Burton Albion have made the call to Leeds United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Milton Maciel is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Maciel 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Burton Albion will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Kamil Dudek's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Burton Albion know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
The mood at Burton Albion has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Tottenham, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Sanders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Burton Albion asked and Leeds United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Burton Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Milton Maciel 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
Max Sanders 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomas Kalinauskas and Burton Albion agree another 3 years.
Burton Albion have made the call to Leeds United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jack Holmes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Burton Albion has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Burton Albion can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Wycombe Wanderers paid $480.0K and Burton Albion took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Milton Maciel 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.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Lucas Pires is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jamie McDonnell is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Manchester City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Bristol Rovers pay $130.0K, 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Max Sanders 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.
“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 Burton Albion know it.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Burton Albion know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Burton Albion is running low.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Burton Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Stockport County for Jake Beesley was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with Manchester City 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Martin Sherif is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Sanders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have shaken hands with Burnley; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Salford City had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burton Albion have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Finn Delap has agreed terms with Salford City for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jamie McDonnell 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.
Burton Albion asked and Tottenham 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Thomas Harvey has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The deal with Oxford United 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.
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Max Sanders 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 name of Finn Delap has come up in conversations Burton Albion were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Burton Albion
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The terraces24 May 2027
The mood at Burton Albion has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Will Collar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Milton Maciel 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Milton Maciel 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jack Holmes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alex Hartridge has his answer from Burton Albion; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Will Collar 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Max Sanders trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Burton Albion the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Burton Albion
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Burton Albion can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 46 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad3 May 2027
Milton Maciel 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mark O'Mahony. 1‑0 against Bradford City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Max Sanders.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Burton Albion is running low.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
The mood at Burton Albion has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hernán Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Thomas Harvey left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Burton Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.89, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Mirko Franchi 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Thomas Harvey kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Burton Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Maciel 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Burton Albion can tell you which week it ends in.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Burton Albion are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Terence Vancooten.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Burton Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Thomas Harvey has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Will Collar 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Jack Holmes.
Something was said to Jack Holmes and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Burton Albion saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Burton Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Kamil Dudek's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Kasey McAteer and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Thomas Harvey left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Burton Albion
33Edition
The Burton Albion Sentinel
15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Maciel 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Thomas Harvey chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Port Vale in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Burton Albion has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Thomas Harvey has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Up for the corner, and Max Sanders delivers — 7.85
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Max Sanders scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Milton Maciel and Burton Albion agree another 4 years.
A 2‑1 win over Wycombe Wanderers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Benicio Baker-Boaitey 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.
Marked 8.02 — 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.
Hernán Pérez 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 mood at Burton Albion has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Burton Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
6.97, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Milton Maciel has his answer from Burton Albion; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Milton Maciel 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.
Kain Adom 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.
AFC Wimbledon next, and one man in the Burton Albion dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Burton Albion have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
0‑3 to Cardiff City, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Armando Shashoua provided it, and the 7.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Will Collar 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Thomas Harvey after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Burton Albion can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Position 22 and 27 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Up for the corner, and Max Sanders delivers — 7.89
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Max Sanders scored, was marked 7.89, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Will Collar 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Maciel 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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Burton Albion can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Burton Albion
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Burton Albion close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Maciel 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
The deal with Stevenage 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.
0‑3 to Wigan Athletic, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The fee is $260.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Barnet drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
Hernán Pérez 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.
Position 22 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
$4.9M on the table at Coventry 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
$260.0K settles it between the clubs for Owen Evans
Barnet have accepted the money. What Burton Albion do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Burton Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
Burton Albion asked and Huddersfield Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Burton Albion, another week without a signature from Jack Holmes.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Burton Albion
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Burton Albion asked and Chesterfield said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Benicio Baker-Boaitey 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Benicio Baker-Boaitey. 1‑0 against Blackpool, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mark O'Mahony did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armando Shashoua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 2‑0 win over Huddersfield Town, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
1‑4 to Lincoln City, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armando Shashoua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Armando Shashoua, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Burton Albion dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Thomas Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
3 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Kamil Dudek's mistake
Caylan Vickers, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Will Collar 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 easiest signature of my career.” Terence Vancooten and Burton Albion agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
At 21 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Thomas Harvey could afford to be generous.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Caylan Vickers trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.51, and 3 involvements.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Thomas Harvey after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Burton Albion told Jason Sraha something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rotherham United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Benicio Baker-Boaitey’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Burton Albion needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Mark O'Mahony 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.
Rotherham United next, and one man in the Burton Albion dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon ran through Jack Holmes
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Stockport County next, and one man in the Burton Albion dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kain Adom is on it.
They sit in position 6 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
In brief
SquadWill Collar is training like a man with a point to make
Loan watchJames Jones watches his loan from the bench
It finished 0-7. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Nov 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Burton Albion and Chelsea in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armando Shashoua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Caylan Vickers, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.76
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
7.47, 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.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and AFC Wimbledon were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Milton Maciel 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.
A 4‑3 win over AFC Wimbledon, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Burton Albion and AFC Wimbledon, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mirko Franchi has, at Burton Albion, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
6 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.
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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Caylan Vickers, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Will Collar 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
13 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burton Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Emeka Adiele is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
Something was said to Alex Cochrane and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Thomas Harvey chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Terence Vancooten and Burton Albion agree another 3 years.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Exeter City in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kain Adom is on it.
In brief
The dugoutJordan Amissah asks for a word with the manager
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 7.94 for the rest of it.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Burton Albion had all but put away. Leyton Orient will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Millar Matthews-Lewis, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Thomas Harvey chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
0‑3 to Luton Town, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Caylan Vickers did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armando Shashoua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
12 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Thomas Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
Will Collar 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.77, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Thomas Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armando Shashoua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chelsea have kept their man, and Burton Albion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Burton Albion has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Burton Albion close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Milton Maciel 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Burton Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Shashoua 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Burton Albion, another week without a signature from Jack Holmes.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Caylan Vickers is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burton Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Stevenage had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
12 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ty Barnett is living that version at Burton Albion, and it tends to show in the first month.
Caylan Vickers 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armando Shashoua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liverpool have kept their man, and Burton Albion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Burton Albion, another week without a signature from Max Sanders.
1 for Max Sanders, marked 7.48, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $9.7M — a club that wants Ephron Mason-Clark enough to be asked twice.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Burton Albion
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Portsmouth have kept their man, and Burton Albion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Joshua Scott has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michael Bell 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Simon Murphy has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Liverpool keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The shirt still fits. Jack Holmes is back at Burton Albion, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Swansea City have kept their man, and Burton Albion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Milton Keynes Dons have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about James Jones. The answer from Burton Albion has not changed — yet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Millar Matthews-Lewis and Burton Albion agree another 4 years.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Burton Albion are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Burton Albion, another week without a signature from Jack Holmes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Luton Town have kept their man, and Burton Albion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Still no offer on the table, and Caylan Vickers’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
A loan enquiry to Liverpool: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Burton Albion are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Millar Matthews-Lewis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.