Robbie is the Assistant Editor at Football FanCast, specialising in football analysis, transfer coverage and feature writing, with particular expertise in Manchester United, Celtic, Rangers and the wider Premier League and Scottish football.
A sports journalist since graduating from the University of Exeter in 2020, Robbie has spent more than six years covering professional football across the Premier League, EFL, SPFL and European competitions. His career has included news and feature work for 90min and more than a year covering the Premier League and Manchester United in particular at Football Faithful.
Robbie joined Football FanCast through the site’s academy programme in 2022, progressing to the Exclusives team before becoming Assistant Editor in October 2023. His work combines original reporting, transfer insight, football analysis and informed feature writing, with a particular focus on understanding the context behind the latest news and what developments mean for clubs, managers and players.
He has developed extensive knowledge of Manchester United, Celtic and Rangers through regular coverage, while also bringing a broad understanding of the Premier League, EFL and Scottish football. His experience covering the game extends beyond the page, with a long-standing connection to Wycombe Wanderers that has seen him attend home and away matches for more than two decades.
Through his reporting and analysis, Robbie provides readers with credible football insight, informed transfer assessment and detailed coverage that goes beyond the headline, drawing on years of experience following clubs and competitions at close range.
And so, Leeds United pick up where they left off last season, grinding their way to a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest thanks to Anton Stach’s late free-kick.
It wasn’t pretty, nor was it particularly thrilling, yet that matters little on the opening day, with Daniel Farke’s men once again proving that they’re no pushovers in the Premier League.
It had looked set to be a more comfortable encounter when new man Harry Wilson opened the scoring early on, albeit with the Welshman denied a dream debut by the offside flag.
Harry-Wilson-Leeds Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
As was the case for much of last season, the onus fell on that man Stach to conjure up a moment of magic to secure all the points, the German very much heading toward cult hero territory at Elland Road.
Stach’s match-winning City Ground display in numbers
2025/26 ended on a rather serene note, as the Whites comfortably staved off relegation, with Stach proving central to that.
Rodon-Struijk-Stach-Leeds
Signed from Hoffenheim on a £17m deal last summer, the towering midfielder proved one of the finds of the season in the Premier League, scoring and assisting eight goals across his 28 starts for Farke’s side, having created nine ‘big chances’ and averaged a standout 2.2 key passes per game.
Now firmly in the picture as one of the division’s leading midfielders, Stach has carried that momentum into the new campaign, producing his latest match-winning moment at the City Ground.
So deadly in general from dead-ball situations due to his wicked delivery, the 27-year-old is an immense goal threat too, having now already scored four direct free-kicks across the last 12 months or so.
This latest effort may well have been aided by the palm of Forest ‘keeper, Matz Sels, but the pace and dip that he managed to get onto the strike was certainly behind the Belgian’s error.
Stach-Leeds-Forest REUTERS/David Klein
That late winner perhaps also helped to mask what wasn’t necessarily his finest performance in a Leeds shirt, it must be said, with Stach particularly errant in possession, recording just a lowly 55% pass accuracy rate and losing the ball on 19 occasions.
He was, as ever, an asset off the ball, however, having won nine of his 14 attempted duels, while making 11 defensive contributions in total.
It’s also hard to argue with his stellar end product, with that not true of everyone on the day.
The change Farke still needs to make despite Forest win
It was the type of performance that we’ve perhaps come to expect from Farke and co in 2026, the Yorkshire side so difficult to beat, yet at times lacking that ‘wow’ factor in attack.
daniel-farke-leeds REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff
Recent reports have suggested that the club could even be looking at the likes of AC Milan star Rafael Leao, as well as Marseille’s Igor Paixao, with it evident to see that Wilson alone won’t be enough to beef up this polarising forward line.
Indeed, it was perhaps a typical Brendan Aaronson display too, the American buzzing around in his usual all-action style, yet again found wanting in a creative sense. Ever the man to split opinion.