The Final Countdown

[ARLukomski]

Notts
Dorking Wanderers (H) - March 11th
Eastleigh (H) - March 14th
Barnet (A) - March 18th
Scunthorpe United (H) - March 25th
Altrincham (A) - April 1st
Wealdstone (H) - April 7th
Wrexham (A) - April 10th
Woking (H) - April 15th
Maidstone United (A) - April 22nd
York City (H) - April 29th

 

Wrexham
Dagenham & Redbridge (A) - March 7th
Southend United (H) - March 11th
Bromley (A) - March 18th
York City (H) - March 25th
Oldham Athltic (H) - April 1st
Halifax Town (A) - April 7th
Notts County (H) - April 10th
Barnet (A) - April 15th
Yeovil Town (H) - April 18th
Boreham Wood (H) - April 22nd
Torquay United (A) - April 29th

 

[DangerousSausage]

I think Wrexham have the marginally harder run-in.  They are still to play Dagenham and Bromley away from home, where they are far more likely to drop points. On the final day we're both playing teams who could be fighting for their lives, which can also be unpredictable.

[menzinho]

Soccerstats.com has this handy stat that takes the remaining fixtures and gives you an average points per game from those opposition. As of right now the average points per game of the opposition for Wrexham is 1.44. The APPG of the opposition for us is 1.33. So on paper we have the marginally easier games.

But Wrexham have the game in hand and could be 4 clear by Tuesday night (here’s to hoping Dagenham didn’t use all their luck on us!). That would make them favourites for me, but I still think we've got a great chance.

I know some fans have been trying to play down the Wrexham game itself but I think that it's massive, could potentially give one side a real boost both points and morale wise going into those last couple of games.

Edited March 6, 2023 by menzinho

[CliftonMagpie]

Throughout the rest of the season, Notts and Wrexham are likely to remain close in the league standings, with everything to play for in the final few games. However, I don't believe either team will pull away and secure an easy title victory. That simply won't happen despite Wrexham fans thinking it will. While it's true that Wrexham are in good form, it's not reasonable to assume that they will win every game. Similarly, some of our fans may struggle with losing or accepting that we are in contention for the title, despite it being an unexpected turn of events.

[liampie]

dagenham, southend, oldham, notts, barnet, yeovil and torquay are all games wrexham cant take for granted.

we do not have it easy ourselves but i think on paper its tougher for wrexham.

[DangerousSausage]

I managed to jinx Dagenham with my last comment, so I'd better correct it: Southend and Bromley don't stand a chance against them and will definitely lose

[menzinho]

Yeah I didn’t have particularly high hopes for Dagenham. It was all about last ditch defending against us, they rarely had any spells of pressure nor did they create many chances. We beat them 0-5 remember, Wrexham were more than capable of getting the win there.

[Fozzy]

9 times out of 10 we would have beaten Dagenham that day, it was a fluke that they got anything out of the game, let alone win it. We have to look at winning every one of our last 10 games and hope that Wrexham slip up in at least one game (other than the one we play them in). Bromley and Barnet look to be the toughest fixtures left for them, whilst it is Barnet and Woking for us.

[allardyces tash]

It's disappointing to see Wrexham being awarded soft penalties and diving, as well as fouling the opposition keeper to win games. Such biased decisions are less about luck and more about unfair advantages to help them achieve their desired results. It's only fair that some of the remaining teams have the opportunity to face triumph and win against Wrexham, as they don't deserve the high praise they're receiving. Let's hope that justice prevails and the beautiful game of football is played with integrity and fairness.

[28111862]

I'm sorry, but I don't think we're going to be able to catch up with Wrexham. Unless they suffer some injuries of their own, our best chance was to build a bigger lead, but unfortunately that didn't happen. I can't think of any other way we could overtake them in the remaining games. While I do hold out hope, I have to be realistic and say that it doesn't seem likely to happen.

[BromPie]

There are 9 games left in the season, and Notts are currently 4 games behind Wrexham. For Notts to catch up, they will need to suffer only one defeat and achieve one draw, and then win the remaining games to equal the same amount of points. It is a challenging expectation to believe that either Notts or Wrexham can maintain their winning ways throughout the remainder of the season. It is likely that points will be missed, but all we can do is hope that the Notts players do their best to keep up with Wrexham until the final outcome is confirmed.

[Chris]

Football is never as simple as saying Notts will win every game to keep up with Wrexham or, that Wrexham will coast all of their remaining games. It simply isn't like that, whilst it does seem more likely that Wrexham will go on to win the league. It doesn't mean both teams won't gain or lose points, giving the title race further twists and turns. Unfortunately, we had the cards in our hands prior to the defeat against Dagenham & Redbridge, but we fell short. I'm not sure many thought the Daggers would win and, I know the match officials helped with that, but it can be used to highlight my point.

If Notts win Eastleigh tonight, I do actually think it would put some pressure back onto Wrexham.

I would hope at some point, sooner rather than later - some of their oppositions will cause an upset and defeat them. Those would be well worth the headlines, but I think certain media has their minds set towards Hollywood. Aka, TNT Sports. I mean, BT Sports for now.

[DangerousSausage]

Both of us have tricky games this weekend, so there's a chance of dropped points and further twists. The thing is, the fewer games there are left, the more realistic it becomes that Wrexham can win their remaining games and shut the door on automatic promotion. If that happens, we shouldn't obsess about Dag & Red or any other game where we dropped points - we are on 90 points, which would already have been enough to win the division every season since 2017-18, and we still have eight games left to play. If we do miss out, it'll be because we had the misfortune to be up against another exceptional team. In that case, we'll have two extra games to get the job done.

It's still far from over though!

[menzinho]

On 14/03/2023 at 12:50, Chris said:

I would hope at some point, sooner rather than later - some of their oppositions will cause an upset and defeat them. Those would be well worth the headlines, but I think certain media has their minds set towards Hollywood. Aka, TNT Sports. I mean, BT Sports for now.

It's interesting (and slightly disappointing) that the mainstream media over here have not really shown any interest in NL title race. It's an amazing battle, no teams in the other divisions are as ahead and close as us and Wrexham are. I'm not expecting tons of coverage as I get our level is not 'popular' but I've never really heard it mentioned on BBC, 5Live, Sky Sports etc it's only The Athletic that have written articles about it. The most coverage and interest I've seen is by ESPN, and that is pretty orientated around Wrexham.

[liampie]

@menzinho there is a lot of mainsteam interest, but only for wrexham which i do understand given their owners.

the way media companies think they focus on what they can hype, other than langstaff there is nothing attractive about notts and hes probably not that well known to fans above our level much. maybe by local teams, but certainly not as wide as the attention mullin gets. its quite frustrating.

our achievement i think is a lot more meaningful because we have transitioned more naturally, but i do see similarities in when we were owned by munto.

i bet rochdale and the others were equally frustrated that we grabbed all the headlines.

[Chris]

There's some good coverage out there, but it's not given the time that League One or Two get, let alone higher up. I think in the UK even overseas leagues get more attention but I do think it will start to change. The level is becoming very good, once Wrexham and ourselves are back in the Football League, it should make it fairer for other clubs. The BBC, Sky Sports and other outlets would probably be itchy to get a piece of it.

Liam makes a fair point about the Munto Finance season, many clubs absolutely hated Notts.

Many of the signings Notts made that season were free agents though, so I don't think Wrexham fans can truly compare us to them. The only thing that comes close is the £1million pound fee we agreed with Man City for Kasper Schmeichel which they never got and ultimately wavered in the end. They've been spending silly money on wages and transfer fees, which the FFP may come back to cause them trouble. Thankfully, we didn't have that trouble, but there are similarities for sure.

Tomorrow, for both teams, is a vital part of each of our seasons.

I really hope Bromley can prove themselves, everyone loves an underdog and them doing well would be worth the headlines.

[DangerousSausage]

The way it's looking, the title race might end up being a bit of a damp squib after all.

The comparison to the Munto season is an interesting one, but the big difference is that in Wrexham's case the money really is there. So if they fail one season, they can just go at it again, plus they can build for the future. As exciting as it was, I'm relieved our fans don't wave tenners at away fans any more. Personally I found singing "this city is ours" while watching League Two football a bit cringe as well. As much as I dislike Wrexham's bandwagon jumpers, we weren't an awful lot better.

[4everapie]

If we end up 2nd, which seems likely then we shouldn't be dispondent as we're a better team than the previous playoffs teams, L.W won't let the pressure get to the players hopefully, so I'm confident we'll have a great day at Wembley and say goodbye to this God-awful league once and for all. C'MON YOU PIES

[menzinho]

Interesting comments in the post-match interview from the gaffer, saying that the title race is over. A bit of mind games I think. No way he really thinks that surely it’s about hopefully getting Wrexham to become complacent because they think we’re done this season now. I don’t think it’ll work but I’m for trying everything right now!

[Fozzy]

Wrexham have been relentless since we last played them so if they win it, you can't fault them. We have to win all of our last seven and hope that Wrexham either lose another one, or draw two, still possible but a big ask. My worry now is that the goal we conceded on Saturday reminds me a lot of Wrexham's current tactics and will definitely be deployed against us.

[Joshua]

If Wrexham win it, they'll definitely deserve it. They've been on fire since we last played them!

[TheSkipper]

The road to victory seems to be paved for Wrexham from this point onwards. It appears highly unlikely that they will falter and allow Notts to overtake them in the race for the title. While I do anticipate Notts finishing the season just a point or two behind, I doubt we will be able to catch up to Wrexham.

Of course, if fate decides to play its cards, and we end up with an equal number of points, it could be a fortunate turn of events. However, luck of that magnitude seldom favours Notts.

Therefore, it seems that our best chance of securing a spot in the playoffs lies ahead. It's imperative that we start preparing for this eventuality from the moment the club acknowledges that the title is out of our grasp. We need to be focused, dedicated, and ready to navigate through the playoffs with all our might. Only then can we hope to achieve our desired outcome.

[DangerousSausage]

On 24/03/2023 at 19:37, TheSkipper said:

Therefore, it seems that our best chance of securing a spot in the playoffs lies ahead. It's imperative that we start preparing for this eventuality from the moment the club acknowledges that the title is out of our grasp.

I think the manager is trying to get the players mentally prepared already, see his comments about the title race being over.

We're certainly underdogs now, but we do have a path still. We MUST win at Wrexham away (easier said than done). If we can then stay within three points of them up to the last day - when it's do or die and the nerves are jangling, and one rash decision can ruin your season - you never know.

[liampie]

wrexham away is a must win game regardless of how the season goes, beating them on their home soil will be our reward. they can celebrate after losing to the biggest club in this league.