After seeing saturdays performance, it made me wonder, was it Ricardos fault? the players just did not want it enough and call me crazy, the only one who put effort in the whole game was Hollis. he was their for everything, the defending was defiantly better but in the second half every player went walk abouts. Milsom had a good game i thought. But was it ricardos fault?

Lemme know what you thought and what needs to happen.

Well we can't really base yesterday's game or performance on anything, not until the new manager has had time to settle in.

I am interested in what style of direction and football that will be, yet I don't solely blame Ricardo Moniz - there's elements throughout his tenure which should have been better but only, he, the club and the players will know. Personally I think falls onto the players shoulders.

I did not like seeing Hollis reprimanded for moving out of his position, as I did feel he did well.

The defence needs to change, a partnership at the back needs to form and players need to take account of their own actions. To say Ricardo was a defender by trade, looking at our marking you would never have guessed. We need to be difficult to beat, at the moment this is not simply the case. I did not think Milsom contributed very well, he has played better a way from home and I would put in into the midfield.

This season, like a lot of other seasons, has seen more staff turnover than Game of Thrones. Too many players, too many squad selections, no time to gel - especially at the back. Morale is low - players are disenchanted about both their role in the team and also the poor league position. After Oxford scored their third goal, about half our team slumped onto the pitch, like they'd given up. 

Just look at some of the scorelines from the last two months - 4-2. 3-1. 4-3. 2-2. 3-0. 2-2 again, and 4-2 yesterday. It might be great for the neutral, but we're not the Harlem Globetrotters - we're not here to entertain, we're here to drag ourselves out of this league which, frankly, is a disgrace to a club of our standing.

We need to trim the squad down to a core of about 15 players plus another 7-8 fringe and up-and-coming players, so everyone knows their role in the squad and is happy with it, but with competition for places. Scott Loach is a quality keeper but he's just rotting on the bench - he should be given a few games to stake his place in the team. Let's face it, our season's a write-off now, we just need to tread water to survive and ideally try to finish in the top half, so we might as well experiment to find the ideal blueprint and put things in place to ensure we can launch a playoff challenge next season. 

I want a manager who, by the end of the season, can fix the shambles that is our defence and make us hard to beat. Not even a case of winning just yet, just "hard to beat". Seriously, I would take a 1-0 win, two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 defeat every month (assuming it's four games a month, obviously it'll vary) and bore the c**p out of fans but that would see us end the season midtable and give us a good springboard for next season.

And also - and you'd think this is a given - we need a manager who is actually SUITED TO THE LEAGUE WE'RE IN AND HAS EXPERIENCE IN IT. The last manager who had anything similar to this was Keith Curle, and he wasn't actually that bad in hindsight, was he? After him was Chris Kiwomya, who had never managed in the league. He was a failure. Then Shaun Derry, who had also never managed in the league. He was decent enough but by the end things didn't work out - and now he's doing ok for Cambridge. And then Ricardo Moniz - who had never managed in the English leagues. And he was a failure. So a Mark Cooper or John Sheridan would be great - they know what it takes to succeed in the lower leagues.

I can't comment on Saturday, but against Morecambe I saw no lack of effort, that wasn't the problem at all. The problem is that we are too gung-ho. I've had a look back over our recent results, and the last time we conceded fewer than two goals was on 31 October. So for the last two months we've had to score at least twice just to get a point. The team against Morecambe contained Campbell, Burke, Aborah and Hewitt, who are all about as useful as a chocolate fireguard when we're on the back foot. Smith, who was frankly ready for the glue factory years ago, was supposed to provide defensive cover, while the immobile Edwards had the unenviable task of covering the massive gaps Hewitt left behind. With that kind of set-up, it is a foregone conclusion that you will concede goals.

I like attacking football, but if you don't want to concede a hatful of goals you need mobile defenders who can fill the gaps quickly, and you need a midfield stopper who can nip counter-attacks in the bud. We have neither.

As for whether it's Moniz's fault, he put this squad together seemingly without the slightest interest in the defensive side of things, so you've got to say yes. But Guy Branston and Ray Trew also have to take their share of the blame for this failure. Let's just hope the next appointment is a good one and that this is the last we'll see of the merry-go-round for a few years.

the defence, we have focused to much on building from the midfield and we all knew when ray said we would be a side that would score one more than the opposition that this season would be like walking a tightrope.

i just think its as simple as that myself, fix the defence and we will be fine. 

I can't think you can say they didn't want it they got outplayed for me the problems I noticed are the middle of the park when we play Campbell Aborah Smith Burke.

we have no legs except Campbell smith can't keep up Stanley has never bein quick Burke is slow and lazy fact.

Id seriously start with Campbell Milsom Curtis and Murray as there is pace and Murray Campbell will get back Murray tracked back great and scares fullbacks with his movement alone.

Also I was impressed by Atkinson first game only 19-20 showed decent pace got forward tried to go past people holis was okay didn't mess about.

Id be tempted to drop Carroll the penalty was a dive after seeing it but even so the guy is going towards the corner flag way don't rush out give him a chance to dive simple.

Id still sign a solid CB and maybe play them with Bennett and holis if he can find some form then maybe sell Adams put Sheehan to left back and maybe try sign one of them little wingers with pure pace and trickery.

Also I know stead scored yea but I just can't help but feel Spencer is pushing for a start now great control holds the ball up and is sharper for me nothing major just simple little tweaks here and there 

23 hours ago, Joe Jones said:

we're not here to entertain, we're here to drag ourselves out of this league

I have to disagree with that Joe, I think they have a duty to entertain I pay a lot of money every year for a season ticket and I want to be entertained if we can win as well as entertain that's fantastic. 

The team across the river are unbeaten in 8 matches but their fans are booing them because they aren't playing entertaining football.

By and large Moniz was providing entertainment at home and I still believe given time he could have turned it round.

I hope the next manager provides entertainment and wins games and then everyone will be happy. 

well smith is on his way to Plymouth Noble is wanted by Portsmouth an Cambridge Jenner sprockel swerts are on a one year deal I believe carol is coming to a end that's 6 right there that could be out the door some point but whoever comes in needs to replace that.

Milsom and Curtis can both play in the middle smith is a coach at best he gets over run in every match I'm not sure about Carroll I would prefer Loach now as Carroll seems to be mistake after mistake.

We have got some good youngsters to date tho such as yohan rutty smith montel Gibson could come good Richards bishop Lartley an Atkinson looked promising plus De Silva if he gets another chance 

A solid reliable spine of a team is what is needed. I also agree with @tonyhateley about the entertainment side of things. It's easily forgotten due to fans committment, but football should always be about entertaining the paying customer. I agree that when we attack on song, then we look very good and it is exciting. But I believe the change of manager will lead to a better balance.

 

Cut down the squad. Relieve Branston of his duties. Both need to happen imo!

i personnelly hope smith does not go, i hope he stays as a coach as alot of players look up to him, he has changed noble this year by telling him what to do, he is also on very low wages! My starting XI would be:

                                                                  Loach

                                            Hewitt   Sheehan  Bennett   Milsom

                                 Campbell          Aborah   Noble Curtis

                                                        Mcleod and Murray

Don't know how we could make that midfield work with curtis in the middle but i hope we do.

                                  

Edited January 4, 20169 yr by NewarkPie

@tonyhateley Notts had flashes of flowing, entertaining football against Oxford, not to mention Morecambe, but the feeling at the end of the match for me was the same as has been for the majority of the last two and a half seasons - disappointment, dismay, and almost nausea. I'm sick of seeing our supposedly proud team being humbled and defeated time and time again, to see Mansfield higher up than us, Burton Albion even. And losing to teams which can barely be considered professional. 

Andy Morrison, the ex-Manchester City defender, was a scruffy mongrel of a player, but he is a cult hero at Eastlands because, in 1999, he dragged the club, then languishing in the Second Division, "kicking and screaming" back up to the Championship. That's what we need. Sure, you may not feel entertained, but goddamn I'd rather pay £20 to witness a dour 1-0 win or goalless draw and feel like we've got something out of the game, than to be leaving Meadow Lane knowing we couldn't even beat a team with a prawn on its badge. Just my humble opinion.

@NewarkPie - I don't think we should push Curtis Thompson onto the wing, he's much better as a central midfielder and when we have placed him on the wing - he tends to get lost or finds it hard.

Otherwise the lineup looks pretty optimistic.

@Joe Jones Unless you travel away a lot (which I don't) then surely you have to agree that the home performances have not only been entertaining but by and large pretty successful, I am thinking of games like Newport, what a fantastic game that was it had everything. I haven't got the stats to hand but I think the home form was one of the best in the division, it was the away form which let us down miserably. 

I may be on my own here but I think I would rather see a 4-3 win, a 3-3 draw or even a 3-4 loss than a boring 0-0 or 1-0 dour defensive display.

I guess we all have a different opinion of what we want to see regarding Notts.

In the first half we seemed to have sacrificed attacking flair for more stability at the back, but that just handed the initiative to Oxford. It's hard to blame the makeshift defence too much when the midfield allowed Oxford to stroll through at will. Burke and Campbell barely put in a cross or tackle all game , and those two with Aborah means an incredibly lightweight midfield. We badly need a Neal Bishop type in there to stop the opposition playing. The new manager has a big task on his hands, all we can realistically hope for this season is that we stay well clear of the relegation pack. I stand by what I've been saying elsewhere for months, that this squad just doesn't have the quality for anything above mid table.

We have the quality, the belief and confidence is lacking.

As we are with a proper centre back pairing and another striker who can perform for more than 75 minutes. Either that or Jon Stead remains up top and quits drifting back to give high fives to Roy Carroll.

If we are to get out the league this season then we need a manager whose teams have a natural attacking flair but who defend as a unit better, aside from the obvious issues regarding central defenders as a team our whole defensive ethos is completely wrong, this is the biggest issue that opposing teams are killing us with. When either of our full backs attack no-one has either the organisational sense nor the positional sense to provide cover so we get opened up like a can of beans every time an opposing team attacks. Leaving Stanley Aborah to do the holding midfielder role is ridiculous, if we are not going to apply constant pressure up front then we have to get better at suffocating the opposing team when they have the ball in our half, especially on and around the half way line, then use the pace and obvious attacking flair we have to break quickly and use Izale to the best of his ability. We don't need to become a counter attacking team we just need to identify our strengths and play to them not try playing to a given ideal irrelevant of the players at the managers disposal. The best manager we've had at recent times for doing this was Steve Coterill and look what he achieved..