Saturday, 3^rd January 2026.

My team for tomorrow is based on the hope that we play the strongest available eleven, let’s hope they’re all fit:

All of us here at The Scarf Bergara Wore have got together to create a Spotify playlist. We’ve limited ourselves to ten tracks each, made up of five all-time favourites and five that we’re listening to at the moment. It’s resulted in a truly eclectic mix of music and we hope you like it:

To whet your appetite, today’s tune is one I’ve added to the playlist, one of Kevin Gordon’s best, “Oil City Girl”:

Sunday, 4^th January 2026

Matchday, Reading v County, League 1.

I wasn’t feeling all that special this morning and the boots I have to wear offer no grip at all on snow and ice, so I decided to stay at home rather than travel to Reading on the Flyer. A pity, I think it’s only the second league match I’ve missed so far this season but discretion is the better part of valour and all that.

The team selection was very interesting; the starting eleven was about as strong as it could be with the players available and the was no sign of Messrs. Addai, Dodgson, O’Keeffe and Moxon. This left the bench looking rather short on experience, if not talent.

Reading have had a decent return from their matches over the Christmas period so it was no surprise that we found them difficult opponents. Although County had the better of the midfield exchanges, when it came to the final third, we made heavy weather of converting the chances we made. Malik Mothersille had three good chances to score but couldn’t make the most of any and other players were just as guilty when they appeared to be in prime position. If Mothersille missed chances and Fevrier and Diamond lost the ball rather than passing to a teammate, they were at least getting us forward and pinning Reading back at times. The problem we have is that we don’t make enough of our dominance when we have it. Kyle Wootton can’t do it all on his own and we lack a pacy striker in the Tanto mould playing off him. On the subject of strikers, it was good to see Beno Andrésson back on the pitch although I’m not convinced that Mothersille was the right player to make room for him. Mothersille certainly didn’t think so, and unfortunately made his feelings clear as he left the pitch.

We’ve developed a habit of conceding late goals and I’m sure Dave Challinor will be working on preventing that but it wouldn’t matter quite so much if we could score more than one ourselves. The seemingly inevitable happened deep into injury time, a period of concerted pressure on our goal culminated in an unstoppable shot from outside the area by Lewis Wing.

A better performance but that’s scant consolation for a 1-0 defeat.

Today’s tune is a plea for unity in difficult times from Merry Hell, “We Are Different We Are One”:

Monday, 5^th January 2026

Matchday, County Ladies v Chorley Women, FAWNL Division 1 North.

County Ladies were back in action yesterday after their Christmas hiatus. Here’s how they lined up, with new signing Olivia Thompson on the bench:

County survived a couple of scares in the first half. Chorley were awarded a penalty on fifteen minutes but Chorley’s Nicola Worthington hit the post with it. She managed to slot the rebound home but because she’d touched the ball twice, the goal was disallowed. Eight minutes later, Chorley had the ball in the net again but it was disallowed for offside. The game remained 0-0 at half time, the only remaining points of note were bookings for Abbie Podmore and manager Steve O’Hara.

County went ahead after only three minutes of the second half when Olivia Wilson and Em Lysons combined to find Jess Battle who headed home off the post. The Ladies’ first substitution was made immediately after, Abbie Podmore being replaced by Olivia Greenhalgh. The Blues’ second and final goal came just after the hour mark when a bout of penalty area pinball allowed Shauna Jein to hit a shot that found the net via a deflection. Further substitutions followed on sixty-nine minutes, Livvi Turkington and Paige Cole coming on for Nat Watson and Shauna Jein. Olivia Thompson made her debut, making it tree Olivias in total, just before the end when replacing Jess Battle.

An excellent win to start the new year, leaving County in fifth place just three points behind the leaders, Wythenshawe.

Of the players left out of the men’s squad on Sunday, it appears that Corey Addai was ill and it’s been announced today that Corey O’Keeffe will be returning to his parent club, Barnsley. No firm news on Owens Moxon and Dodgson, but DC has said he needs more from them.

Further squad news late this afternoon; Jid Okeke has been recalled from what was scheduled to be a season-long loan at Walsall. The German-born right back has done well in his time there and, if the general dismay displayed by Sadlers fans at the news is anything to go by, might turn out to be the answer to one of our problem positions, or at least provide some backup.

Sick of the transfer speculation yet? Why not follow Bowling For Soup’s example in today’s tune and jump “Out The Window”?

Tuesday, 6^th January 2026.

TSBW’s Review Pod covering the Reading game came out last night. The committee for this week’s therapy session was Jimmy Harmer, Steve Bardsley, Nick Reid and Toby Culverwell. Here’s how the consultation went:

• The team: A fluid 4-2-3-1.
  • Goal: Hinchliffe.
  • Back four: Hills, Pye, Hunt and Edun.
  • Midfield: Norwood and Osborn.
  • Attacking midfield: Mothersille, Fevrier and Diamond.
  • Centre forward: Wootton.
  • Bench: Wogan, Olowu, Andrésson, Bailey, Edwards, Gardner and Astles.
•  First half: County pretty much controlled the first half, the performance was streets ahead of Northampton just three days earlier. The old problem remained though; we just don’t score enough goals, despite having three of our most creative men playing just behind Woots. We also seem to have lost our ability to press teams, something Chally always said was part of our identity.
• Second half: no subs at first, presumably in the hope that we could turn our domination into goals. When this didn’t happen, it was a surprise that Mothersille, the player who had looked most likely to break the deadlock, was chosen to be withdrawn. He made his displeasure clear, which at least shows that he cares. Andrésson showed some good touches when he came on, perhaps if he can get a few games under his belt he can help with the goal drought. Norwood and Osborn, while both excellent players, are perhaps too similar to really provide a full-time answer in midfield, Bailey might be better in the middle with Osborne at left wingback. We had an early warning of the dangers of failing to mark players loitering on the edge of our box, but failed to heed it. Reading’s goal came through exactly the same scenario, Lewis Wing finding himself in splendid isolation and firing past Hinchliffe, who hadn’t a hope of doing anything about it.
• Man of the match: A choice between Mothersille, Hills or Pye.
• Transfer window: there are a few rumours flying around, but little hard fact:
  • Right wingback: Roman Dixon and Connor Barratt seem to be non-starters. Jid Okeke is definitely back at County, but is he good enough to start? Could we hang on to Jack Hunt?
  • It sounds like Josh Stokes will be coming on loan, he’ll hopefully give us the forward runs we used to get from Will Collar and Callum Camps.
  • Stoke goalie Jack Bonham is touted by some to be heading our way.
  • While most of our permanent signings have worked out pretty well, our incoming loans have rarely set the world on fire. Does the cheque book need a good workout this January if we’re serious about promotion?

Plenty of food for thought, watch for yourself here:

I’m seeing unconfirmed reports that a young ‘keeper called Harry Lee-Frith has signed for County from Liverpool. He’s fifteen now and he’s been at Liverpool since he was eight. It’s said we were in competition with several other clubs to sign him but he decided on us because of the more credible pathway to the first team. The picture in a County looks a bit AI to me, but no doubt all will be revealed in the fullness of time.

A Hungarian journalist on Twitter has said that the rumoured takeover by Mark Stott’s group of DVSC, a team based in Debrecen and competing in the first tier of Hungarian football, is now complete. Several names from County, including Gavin Bailey, Jonathan Vaughan and Simon Wilson are predicted to be members of the new board.

The last big news item for today was the signing of Josh Stokes on loan from Bristol City. He’s often been decent against us, it’ll be good to see how he gets on in royal blue.

One of the more reliable transfer speculation sites on the internet is suggesting that County are exploring ways of keeping Jack Hunt for the rest of the season. Jack’s dilemma is explored by The Clash via the medium of guitar-led post-punk rock in today’s tune, “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”:

Wednesday, 7^th January 2026.

In this week’s match preview, Steve Bardsley spoke to Kosi of the Huddersfield pod, “And He takes That Chance.” In very detailed delve into Town’s season so far, we learned:

• They’ve gone above us in the league since we beat them at their place. Like us though, it’s hard to reconcile their league position with their performances which speaks volumes about the quality of League 1 this season. They generally score freely but concede a lot as well.
• They have a pivotal month coming up with games against us, Bradford and Luton.
• Manager: There have been increasing rumblings of discontent from the fans about Lee Grant since Christmas.
• Transfer activity: Kosi expects some players to leave and thinks they need a central midfielder and a winger.
• Players to watch:
  • Murray Wallace: Ex-Falkirk, Scunthorpe and Millwall centre half in his second spell with Huddersfield.
  • Radinio Balker: Dutch central defender with experience at the highest level in his native country.
  • Leo Castledine: Forward on loan from Chelsea with ten goals to his credit this season.
• Players in common: Ollie Norwood and Jack Hunt have both done time with County and Town.
• Tactics: He reckons it depends on who’s fit but Kosi expects a 3-5-2 formation.
• Prediction: Kosi thinks it’ll end 2-2.

Get the whole thing here:

Steve, not content with interviewing opposing fans, produced this interesting and informative graphic:

A few things have changed since he wrote it through:

• Corey O’Keeffe has gone back to Barnsley.
• Nathan Lowe has suffered a serious injury and returned to Stoke.
• Jid Okeke has returned from loan at Walsall.
• Corey Edwards’ loan from Rochdale has been extended until the end of the season.
• Josh Stokes has signed on loan from Bristol City.

Mark Stott has issued an open letter to all County fans confirming the investment in Hungarian side Debreceni VSC. The key passage as far as I’m concerned is this: “I wanted to reassure you that Stott Capital’s investment in DVSC does not change our plans for Stockport County. The two clubs will operate entirely independently, and I remain firmly committed to delivering on our ambitions.” He also mentions two other investments that will be news to many County fans; Pro Football Academy, “the largest football coaching business in Europe,” and F2, “one of the world’s leading football media platforms.” The full letter is here:

This week’s TSBW Main Pod featured Russ Johnson, Waggie and Phil Lloyd. As usual, they covered everything going on in the County universe like a blanket:

• Reading (A): A better performance but after Northampton (A) it could hardly be otherwise. We made a few chances but didn’t take any. Malik Mothersille continued to improve but still needs to do more. Losing to a late goal after looking the better team for long stretches was a real kick in the teeth.
• Half season review:
  • We’ve only played well in patches, so it’s surprising to find ourselves in sixth place. We won’t stay there long if we don’t improve soon, though.
  • Lack of pace up front: We miss Tanto and haven’t managed to replace him. Mothersille is quick but perhaps not Tanto quick.
  • We seemed to be setting up to be a crossing team but the wingbacks we recruited haven’t provided the crosses we hoped for and haven’t proved as defensively able as the players they replaced either.
  • Intensity: We’ve lost our identity in that respect, we don’t press like we used to and the passion we got from players like Paddy and Sarce has been lost with them.
  • Few of the players introduced in the summer have made an impact. Putting it right in January will be difficult and expensive, how the club invests will show how committed the owner is to going up this season. Bringing a Paddy equivalent in League 1 would mean a sure-fire goalscorer from the Premier League and would come with a massive price tag that almost certainly rules it out. The alternative, kissing a lot of frogs in the hope of finding a prince, isn’t cheap at this level either.
• Departures:
  • Nathan Lowe: A talent for sure, but played out of position for the most part and never got the service he needed.
  • Corey O’Keeffe: The Barnsley fans warned us that he had a cross in him but wasn’t the world’s greatest defender. They weren’t wrong.
• Arrivals:
  • Jid Okeke: Back from his loan at Walsall, where he’s done well. Probably not first choice wingback for us yet but a promising back up.
  • Jack Hunt: Useful wingback on a short-term contract, might be persuaded to stay.
  • Harry Lee-Frith: Promising young ‘keeper from Liverpool, only fifteen though, so perhaps one for the future.
  • Josh Stokes: Attacking midfielder on loan from Bristol City. Might be just the thing we need.
  • Corey Edwards: The Rochdale loanee has had his loan extended to the end of the season. He’s looked very good in his appearances so far.
• Paul Mullin: A tongue-in-cheek suggestion that we sign the Wrexham forward, recently returned there from his loan at Wigan, has been given a unanimous raspberry by County fans. To put it politely.
• MCG: With a major investment in Hungarian team Debrecen VSC, County seem to have joined the swelling ranks of Multi-Club Groups. Although standard of football at the top level in Hungary isn’t fantastic, it does come with a Champions’ League place, so it will have its attractions. Debrecen is the country’s second-biggest city and has a university, so there may be business opportunities for Mr. Stott’s companies. Perhaps there could be opportunities for academy players to get some overseas experience once the partnership gets going.
• Random Shit Of The Week: An excellent Waggie production, a variation on Marry, Shag or Avoid? Russ and Phil had to decide whether to Play, Bench or Sell trios of County players from the past and it provoked some excellent discussion.

A cracking hour’s entertainment, highly recommended:

Today’s tune is a suggestion to the players for Saturday by AC/DC: “Shoot To Thrill”:

Thursday, 8^th January 2026.

There’s a rumour that one of Huddersfield’s best players is on his way to Middlesbrough, the deal having been agreed by his parent club, Chelsea. If he’s going for a medical, I can’t imagine him playing against us on Saturday.

County and Vitality have launched a six-week fitness programme for women aged 18+ to train, get stronger and complete a 5k run. A similar programme last year was extremely successful. It’s limited to thirty places, applications are open now and close on Monday 19th January. Details are available here:

Now that England’s disappointing cricket series in Australia is over, the time has come for today’s tune, The Longest Johns’ live version of “Ashes”:

Friday 9^th January 2026.

One disappointing aspect of County’s recruitment this season has been aiming to play with wingbacks but failing to bring suitable players in. The problem we have, I think, is that a worthwhile wingback has to be such a Swiss Army knife that they’re going to be unaffordable at L1 level. You can see this with Ibby Touray and Kyle Knoyle (decent defenders but not brilliant going forward) and Corey O’Keeffe and Owen Dodgson (can cross a ball but sometimes a liability in defence). Perhaps we’d be better playing with a back four; we may want to play with wing backs but if we can’t get decent ones, we’d be better taking the pragmatic approach and going for fullbacks and two centre halves.

Here’s my proposed lineup for Saturday. I’ve brought Olowu in for Hunt, but it’s otherwise the same starting XI as Reading (A). I think it’s maybe too early for Josh Stokes to start, but I’d expect him to be on the bench. He could be joined by Jid Okeke to make the bench look a bit more useful.

Huddersfield have lost another player this week, Ben Wiles leaving for MK Dons. With Castledine going as well, that’s thirteen of this season’s goals departing. It might make things a little easier for us tomorrow.

Closing this week’s blog before having my tea might prompt the usual five o’clock signing announcement, so here goes.

As a further inducement, today’s tune is “Cheque Book” from Legend’s Red Boot album:

See you all at Edgeley Park!

Animo et fide.