Match Discussion: Game 1 - The Us (A)

[menzinho]

Yeah, I wasn’t as confident as some and by no means did I think we’d stroll to victory but at the same time I didn’t think we’d get thumped.

No way off dressing that up, it sounded awful. Conceding so early seemed to set the tone and then having Stone sent off effectively killed the game for us, awful back pass that put him a terrible situation by all accounts, but then it’s 75 mins of 10 v 11.

At least we scored a goal... 

[Piethagoram]

Losing a man early on, Brindley targeted as being weak defensively against a team of giants. I mentioned many times, Notts should have signed Omar from Bromley, a colossus for Sutton at the back

[Fan of Big Tone]

I don’t think any one imagined that result in their worst nightmares. I just hope it doesn’t knock the teams confidence going forward. It’s a long season and this was only the first game.

Feel sorry for the travelling fans.

[liampie]

i feel really let down by the players, i usually can come away with something positive and eventually calm down but i feel disappointed. i feel more disappointed by this performance than any of the ones we had when we went down to the national league. that squad was disjointed and lacking in so many ways, but this squad has the ability to play, they just choked and made it very easy for sutton.

some players did okay, but as a team they let us all down.

even luke williams said this, but unlike him i think todays result let all our fans down including those who did not go to the game.

if we continue to play like this its going to be a long season, luckily for us its the start and we should be okay. luke needs to demand more and better, just the basics would be a start. 

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

The weak link defensively, which we all suspected, was laid bare today.

 

Brindley, atrocious. There's nothing positive to say about that performance. Like he's playing on autopilot, with serious software defects.

 

Stone, abysmal. What goes through your head to make a challenge outside the box with your hands in that situation,  god only knows. Fitzsimmons-esque in being glued to his line for their first. Slocombe isn't be the best keeper for this level, but he's better than his supposed replacement.

 

There were many bad performances today, but the above 2 stand out for being completely inept

[Piethagoram]

Given the "height" in the Sutton team, surely Bajrami should have played at RCB? I had real concerns when I first saw the team sheet.

[Alex]

It was tough 

frustrated 

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

6 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

Given the "height" in the Sutton team, surely Bajrami should have played at RCB? I had real concerns when I first saw the team sheet.

Yeah, or Tipton I guess. The height issue isn't brindley's fault. Not being able to fight to win a ball or the inability to pass to a teammate, is. 

[DangerousSausage]

Short version: that was pants.

Longer version:

I feel disappointed and let down, and I didn't spend the afternoon in the London rain. I missed most of the first half, but I knew we were losing and a man down. In situations like that, the team that's trailing at least plugs the defensive gaps, the game develops an equilibrium and peters out. Yesterday Sutton murdered us right up to the final whistle and we can count ourselves lucky to have only conceded five.

I wouldn't have picked Brindley at the back, he's not really a centre half and got found out in the NL too at times. But he wasn't the only one who failed to compete or pass the ball - and if you're not getting close enough to the opposition or challenging for the ball, it doesn't matter what formation you use. Likewise, you can't put the opposition under relentless pressure with a possession-based approach if you keep losing the ball in your own half. Sutton were much sharper than us and were very effective, they played it long and high, got in our faces and didn't allow us to play our football. But that's no different to what we saw in the NL many times, except yesterday we didn't cope. That's got to change, and quickly.

Special mentions go to Cameron for his ridiculous back pass, yet Stone also had plenty of time to decide what to do. I'm not sure whether he was sent off for the deliberate handball outside the box or the foul, either way he made a hash of it and will have a few weeks on the bench to reflect on it even once his suspension is up.

[BromPie]

It was a sickening and shocking display that left me feeling annoyed. I am very disappointed with the start and can only hope that we can improve. I believe it’s a wake-up call, so let’s see how things go.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by BromPie

[Fozzy]

Shocking result and just goes to show, you can sign all the attacking players you want but to not think the defence also needed strengthening was a bad call by Notts over the summer, especially when teams found us out towards the back end of last season. You can’t rely on a single defensive signing and an untried loanee at that (I hope he is blinking good though).
Sides we play against this season are going to be bigger, faster and stronger than the ones we played against last season and we will have to do what Stockport had to do before we make that much progress.

People putting us up there as potential champions were listening to too much hype and believing it (including the players). A mid table finish for first season back would be very acceptable and I hope a lot of fans are now thinking the same. I also think the players also listened to the hype and weren’t in the right mental state for the game.

One thing is for sure, I seriously doubt we will see much more of Rawlo and Brindley after August has finished, they are further off the pace than even I thought.

 

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

I really enjoyed the afternoon.  Sure the result was disappointing and the performance was 'meh', but it was great to be back in the EFL (even if the ground as worse than several NFL grounds).  The fans showed humour and never gave up.  I have been giving the match some thought in light of what others thought and what I saw.  I think the doom and gloom that you can read in other places is totally overblown and we will be OK in the end.  I think we were mentally not at the game, and that was the main difference.

When we strung some passes together we showed we are more than good enough for this league.  We seemed surprised by the speed, and that may take a bit of getting used to, .  Last season we weren't given many close examinations.  Even Boreham Wood and Chesterfield were games that we knew we were good enough to win (albeit we nearly contrived not to). I wonder if the fact that us and Wrexham cantered to promotions has meant that our defences aren't as battle hardened as they could be.  We will need to learn quickly on this though.  I think we will, but it may take a few games.  I think once we find our feet, realise we need to be that bit quicker, more accurate and that the challenges will be tougher and more constant then we will start to see last seasons team emerging,

Wasn't their number 9 and odious piece of work?  He just seemed to be there to wind up fans and players alike; something he did with relish. 

I felt for Stone.  I didn't think he had a lot of choices with the back pass.  At the time I thought it was harsh, but seeing the replay I think the decision was right.  I'm not sure what else he could have done.  The comments he is getting are beyond ridiculous. I think his sending off affected the score (despite what Williams says), but, sadly, I don't think it changed the result.

[KB1862]

I haven't had chance to listen to the post match interviews or anything but I did watch the highlights on Instagram. 

The goals looked avoidable and highlighted problems we may have defensively. Also, the back pass from Cameron that led to Stone being sent off was absolutely horrendous.

The 4th goal though looked like there was a foul near the halfway line in the lead up to the goal. 

On a positive, Langstaff did superbly well in setting up McGoldrick for the goal. 

As disheartening as the result may have been on our EFL return, I hope fans continue to back the team rather than turn on them as it was only the first game of the season and things can only get better. Let's hope this was just a blip and better things are to come in the season. 

[DangerousSausage]

@Fozzy touches on a good point, the players weren't where they needed to be mentally. There's been a lot of hype around the team and noise about our EFL return, and maybe they got carried away with it. Sutton appeared much more focused on the here and now. 

Maybe this is an experience the team needed. Now it's time to let go of last season, ignore what the bookies are saying and concentrate on doing the simple things.

[Piethagoram]

10 minutes on the bus for me on Saturday. Notts hierarchy seemed aware of the defence needing strengthening , see the rumours over trying to sign Terence Vancooten from Stevenage.

Yes, we need a RCB with height, pace and power.

What frustrates me from Saturday, we should have been aware of the way Sutton played. Just gave the impression, we could turn up and win. Big mistake

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