Match Discussion: Game 20 - The Ammies (A) Live

[ARLukomski 𝕏 ARLukomski Instagram declanweliczko_arlki]

With all due respect, Salford were nothing special. They worked hard and pressed us, but they didn't play through us like a knife through butter. No team has this season and that's the thing. This league is very very average. This is the lowest standard I've known League 2 to be. I've still not seen a side that makes me go "Crikey they're really good, they'll certainly be up there." Stockport, Crawley and Mansfield were the best 3 teams I saw last season and no one has come close to it. 

As for injuries, it is an issue, but it is now at a point where it can't be used as the certified No.1 excuse. We had enough on the pitch to beat Newport, enough to get a point at Walsall (where defensive errors and a goal straight from a corner lead to their 3 goals). Nobody is tearing us apart. 

The reason why it's easier for teams is because we move the ball so slowly. As I said above, if you want to play this way, you have to do it with intent and a quick tempo, but we aren't doing that.

I have stayed behind Maynard through his tenure and last season was a write off anyway. We can say we were 5th at the time, but as I said above, performances, results and the goals we were conceding, even before he came in, were not sustainable and we were in a false position. Our lack of defensive summer recruitment in 2023 and not reacting to injuries in the transfer window started the issues. 

This season we started well and I was pleased with how we were playing and whilst I pointed out the problems within games where we could improve, there were good aspects to our game as well. We weren't and still aren't a million miles away. We just needed to play at a quicker intensity for longer in games and be more ruthless. 

The issue is we haven't seen performances like Donny (1st half), Wimbledon (2nd half), Grimsby, Bromley, Harrogate, Accrington and Carlisle (1st half) enough. We are so slow in how we play and there is no pace in the team and nobody ball carrying. Another worry is that once a portion of the fanbase turns, it's hard to come back and a good amount of Notts fans made their minds up last season. We need to realise yesterday was totally unacceptable. He'll get the January window 100% but form needs to turn now rather than later. I want him to succeed so much, however he's got to perform a comeback no Notts gaffer (I can think of) needs to perform to unite us all and get us back into contention in a very poor league. 

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

@Robbiemate, this goes beyond ratings. The set up of the team was wrong, Abbott/Palmer combination is the go to, not Abbott playing further up. Jatta, nothing stuck

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

Top from @ARLukomski

 

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

10 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

@Robbiemate, this goes beyond ratings. The set up of the team was wrong, Abbott/Palmer combination is the go to, not Abbott playing further up. Jatta, nothing stuck

Crowley is a talented midfielder. Are you saying he can't play defensive midfield?

Stuart wouldn't have played him there if Dan wasn't comfortable in that position.

I would have played Abbott & Palmer together & had Crowley on the bench coming back from injury.

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

So Stuart put George in that role. Are you saying @Piethagoram that he made a good choice putting him there?

I don't think that George was as influential has he has been of late 

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

No, I am saying with regard to your MoTM choices, Abbott at least covered the ground better than any other Notts player...and yes, Abbott was being played in the wrong position.

We needed Dan further forward as an attacking threat. Jatta and Didzy too static

[gtownjohnno]

8 hours ago, Robbie said:

Can't believe what I'm reading on here post match.

It was a really bad day at the office for the Notts team.

Stuart Maynard came out post match & apologised to the fans. He didn't make any excuses and took the responsibility for the defeat. That's what good leaders do. 

We have to give Salford the credit for their win, because they had a plan and it worked perfectly for them. They were just better than Notts on every area of the pitch on Saturday.

But I don't understand the pile on from a few members on here post match against Maynard.

Reality check. Notts have had so many injuries to key players, but despite that, & due to the effort of the players available to Stuart, Notts are still just three points from a play off position & there are still 81 points to play for. 

Three teams in addition to Notts out of the top eleven lost yesterday, Doncaster, MK Dons & Grimsby. 

Notts are still very much in the hunt to get success this season. It's far too early to write the team off just yet.

Next week Notts play Bradford at home. A good result will put Notts back on track. 

To say that Maynard is out of his depth is frankly a ludicrous assertion. A change of manager isn't going to make a difference, & may actually make things worse.

Notts fans need to just calm down, take a chill pill, & cheer on the team next Saturday at Meadow Lane.

Take off those rose tinted glasses!!!!

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

So @gtownjohnno Give some constructive sensible feedback on the match. 

[gtownjohnno]

1 hour ago, Robbie said:

So @gtownjohnno Give some constructive sensible feedback on the match. 

 

Why do you ask for the impossible!!!

[Fozzy]

14 points from the past 13 games, scoring  only 11 goals, sorry to say that we are not in a good position.

Inverted wingbacks do not work with league 2 standard players. Jatta is being starved of service because we are obsessed with keeping the ball but doing nothing with it and Notts fans are basically pinning all our hopes now on JJ coming back and hitting the ground running.
Crowley comes back and is played out of position, Abbott is moved out of position to accommodate a player playing out of position That’s four players played out of position in the game, when they could have all been played in position and been more effective, that is sheer madness!

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

We started well enough against Salford, but we allowed them to pin us back and for some reason Notts started to play more long balls. I thought we wanted to keep on the floor and play pretty football? If this was the players going against the tactics, someone from the coaching team should have pointed it out that it wasn't working. Very early in the game our passing wasn't great, we gave them too much space and that forced us to start playing the wrong passes out of the back.

I believe Dan Crowley was fouled for the first goal, even seeing the highlights I feel this way, and it's clear that our players stopped playing.

Alex Bass didn't completely stop, but his reaction was clear that even he felt it was a foul and the referee in my opinion should have stopped the game. Later in the game, a Salford player clashed into one of ours and that broke a moment in the game where Notts looked lively. So, I don't think the decision from the officials seemed balanced. The foul on Bass, where Conor McAleny pulled his shirt and forced him to drop the ball, should have seen him punished with a yellow card.

Even without the poor officiating, Notts didn't help themselves, and it was a very sluggish performance overall.

The amount of times Jatta could have controlled the ball better, but his first touch or control let him down, gifting the ball back. This isn't necessarily his fault, as it should have been a clear signal not to play in this manner. Yet his pace wasn't effective either; times when he could have got the ball he made poor runs or positioned himself in a harder way to make something happen. This for me, is a form and performance issue, but I would have taken him off - keeping David McGoldrick up top.

Salford weren't brilliant, but they looked good for the three goals they scored.

If you play as a team, work hard and persist with positive play, then the rewards are clear. That is why Salford made the game work for them, whilst our lads were extremely poor, they resembled a team that had never played together before. This was one of the worst performances I've seen since our relegation to the National League. I'm sorry, but Stuart Maynard should have addressed the situation before we fell behind 2-0.

On 15/12/2024 at 11:11, Robbie said:

Crowley is a talented midfielder. Are you saying he can't play defensive midfield?

Stuart wouldn't have played him there if Dan wasn't comfortable in that position.

I would have played Abbott & Palmer together & had Crowley on the bench coming back from injury.

Dan Crowley's best position is in an attacking role. Being talented isn't enough to play defensive when you have better options. George Abbott hasn't been bad lately. I thought he played well against Salford, but he's a totally different player alongside Matt Palmer in a defensive position. It doesn't stop him going forward, he can break up the play and offer solid protection for the defence.

Take Crowley out of the Salford game, we would have been very limited as only David McGoldrick looked like he could make something happen.

I don't think it was the wrong call to play Crowley, I think it was the incorrect call to allow the team to focus on lumping the ball to Jatta when he wasn't doing all that well. His touches and control weren't brilliant, and his performance was pretty average to that of what we know he can do.

We needed pace, which was a very early sign and something I said to my friend before Salford had even scored. Josh Martin contributed positively, even though he faced many negative comments during the game. I think he performed well. 

On 15/12/2024 at 14:56, Robbie said:

So Stuart put George in that role. Are you saying @Piethagoram that he made a good choice putting him there?

I don't think that George was as influential has he has been of late 

To be fair, there's not been much wrong with George Abbott. We missed him against Walsall, that was very clear and prior to that he consistently stood out as one of our better players.

[DangerousSausage]

Just a general point from me. Last season I was calling for Crowley to play deeper as I thought he was ideal to cover for the missing Palmer. However, this season Palmer is back and we've got a lot more choice in that position. Right now we need him further forward as we've been so pedestrian and predictable the last few weeks. I hope SM draws the right conclusions.