On 31/07/2024 at 10:25, Wheelbarrow repair man said:

Preseason Friendlies are to build up a Players fitness, time for New Players to get settled into their New Environment  and for the Head Coach to get an idea of the players he'll start in his First XI  once the League Season Starts and by Winning Games to Install Confidence and a Positive Attitude.

Leaking Goals was a Major Problem last season and new Defenders have been brought in to Stop the Rot. And yet 7 goals conceded in the Last 3 Matches  alone Is A Major Concern. So perhaps the Fault doesn't lie with the Defence more of the way Notts play. I don't know how many more times Fans are going to have to say this, until Richard Montague and Stuart Maynard Realize it.

THE NOTTS TIPPY TAPPY FOOTBALL "MODEL" DOES NOT WORK.

I would say a Majority of Players Don't like it as it goes against the way they normally play  and New Players are struggling to Adapt. Stuart Maynard does Not have very good Man Management skills. However left to his own devices he May be able to Find a Winning Formula. But I think there is to much  Interference  from other  Quarters that Stops him doing his Job Properly.

And for Fans not overly concerned with the Preseason Results, if memory serves, the Preseason before Notts were Promoted back into the EFL, the Magpies Didn't lose a Match. Therefore Winning becomes a Habit and a Team will carry that Winning Attitude Into The New Season.

As you rightly said, winning becomes a habit, and it also breeds confidence.

I cannot for the life of me, understand how anyone can say preseason games don't matter.

It's like when some managers are saying cup games don't matter. Every single game that Notts play has to matter. 

It mattered to Boston Utd that they beat a league 2 club the other night.

I get the concerns about not having a starting 11 that would more resemble the starting 11 against Tranmere, I feel like this pre-season we’ve struggled more with injuries than is being revealed.

It’s not helped all the games have been away games so fewer fans have seen the team, most fans are relying on the club to bridge the gap and our media coverage is usually top notch but it feels like we’ve been fed scraps this season. The updates on the games have been minimal and highlights non-existent. I’m having to watch other teams highlights and interviews to try and gauge how we got on!

I’m still not overly concerned, yet… But I totally understand why fans would be concerned that we couldn’t score, but conceded against a team with 10 men. A post-match reaction from Boston would’ve gone some way to help calm and explain. I’ve heard we’ve been doing double sessions before games, so if that’s true it would explain why we seem to tail off as games wear on.

i partly wonder if its just stuart maynard trying to get a further insight on what changes work from off the bench, the team defensively was weak but against boston it should have been a closer result. people are saying that they scored for fun against peterborough and we should have fielded our strongest team but maybe we are trying to make sure the squad as a whole is on the right level amongst the squad?

there is no point having a bench of players who are not quite match fit.