A first visit to Meadow Lane

[NewNottsFan]

So Saturday came and it was time to board the flight to East Midlands, head to Meadow Lane and see what all the fuss was about

So here is my impression of the place, the pitch, the fans and the team.

Our hotel was near the ground and had plenty time to wander around before the game started and it was a nice , but cold, day

Trent Bridge, the City Ground and the city centre all got a visit en route to Meadow Lane.

We had a few beers in the wheelers suite before kick off which was nice , if a little tired in places. Colin Slater interviewed Tommy Johnson pre-match so it was good to see CS in the flesh having listened to him on a few occassions.

The stadium itself is great and clearly fit for a higher standard than the club is currrently playing although the playing surface didn't look quite as good as I would have expected

The team? Scott Loach - Good solid keeper and the club are lucky to have two quailty keepers on the books

Wes Atkinson - Judging on yesterdays performance? not good enough for Notts. Looked nervous in defence and didnt track his runner for the first goal

Audel - Shaky start but all in all was there or there abouts

Hewitt - Not big enough to be a commanding CB and would have preferred to see him at RB

Adams - Generally decent on the ball

Banton - Luxury, however, did look as if he could go by the full back any time he wanted to. The issue with him is that , when you are fighting , he's the type of player who almost leaves you a man short

Thompson - Hard working but at times lacks a little bit of quality, could do well with the right partner in midfield

Milsom - Is a decent midfielder but doesnt really effect the game enough

Campbell - Again, only on yesterdays performance? Not good enough for Notts in my opinion.Struggled to provide any width to the team

Stead  - Struggled to win any aerial challenge for about 65 mins. Did some neat and tidy work and showed his quailty but unfortunately a lot of it was done in his own half.

McLeod - largely anonymous and didnt look at threat to me

The team generally suffered as the game went on as the middle 4 seemed to drop back too tight to the defence which meant that, when the ball was played forward then the gap between midfield and the front two was apparent. This meant that it was hard for Notts to push up against BR.

Two very poor, avoidable, goals against a team who did create chances but were much the same type of side as Notts. It shows me that anyone in this league can beat anyone..but unfortunately letting goals like that in doesnt help.

Bristol Rovers were just a bit slicker with the ball and that midfiled 4 of theirs was quicker in support of the front men which made them more dangerous.

I cant comment on anything other than Saturday but as team Notts need players in quite a few positions. Aborah? that type of player, in my opinion , wouldn't work in a , or that midfield 4. Like Banton he would be a luxury and may be better in a 5 but the midfield generally need to be a bit more dynamic.

Spoke to some of the staff who seem very complimentary of JF and his work ethic, standards etc but on Saturdays' performance, if the players arent executing what he wants them to do then maybe its time for back to basics.

The fans? I thought the atmosphere was pretty good !  a few near the dugout were getting very personal and Roy Carroll had a bite back at them but other than that they were fine. A bit of singing near the end against JF ( which the BR fans assisted with) and a very brief hint of a banner in the KOP but generally speaking not the cauldron I was expecting.

All in all a pretty disappointing result  and I do worry where the goals will come from based on Saturdays performance.

This post is purely my opinion based on Saturday but hopefully be back down soon to see them again!

[Elite_pie]

A pretty good summary.  The bit that stands out, because it's a comment that's been made by several people is:

"The team generally suffered as the game went on as the middle 4 seemed to drop back too tight to the defence which meant that, when the ball was played forward then the gap between midfield and the front two was apparent."

It's been a problem in all four home games under Fullarton, and on Saturday you could see Jon Stead openly begging the midfield to push up more.  If it's that obvious, why didn't Fullarton address it?  Even at two goals down the central midfielders stayed deep and even Campbell and Banton spent more time in our half than theirs.  It's very frustrating to watch, as Fullarton seems determined to start with a negative formation and stick with it come what may.

[DangerousSausage]

Hope you enjoyed your day out! You're braver than me taking a long trip to see Notts right now, I enjoyed my last couple of matches but on my next visit I'll be giving Meadow Lane a wide berth.

Notts already have quite a few players who could do a job for us given the chance / some decent coaching, but unfortunately someone at the club has decided they're not wanted. But there's enough of that elsewhere!

Moniz decided he wanted to build an attack-minded team, and so he signed a number of attacking midfielders who are comfortable on the ball and create chances. Unfortunately he neglected to balance it out with grafters, leaving us with an unbalanced squad. A Ravenhill-style holding midfielder would IMO allow some of our other midfielders to shine, and this as well as the CB position should have been addressed in January at the latest.

Despite the histronics on Facebook, Notts fans are actually quite a stoical bunch and you'll rarely see a genuinely intimidating atmosphere. Ian McParland and Gudjon Thordarson both took us to our lowest ever league position, yet hardly a murmor was raised against either. So in the scheme of things, the unveiling of a bedsheet on your fourth home game is pretty extreme for us!

[Elite_pie]

3 hours ago, DangerousSausage said:

Despite the histronics on Facebook, Notts fans are actually quite a stoical bunch and you'll rarely see a genuinely intimidating atmosphere. Ian McParland and Gudjon Thordarson both took us to our lowest ever league position, yet hardly a murmor was raised against either. So in the scheme of things, the unveiling of a bedsheet on your fourth home game is pretty extreme for us!

That's quite right, and it got me thinking.  In 45 years the only time I can remember another 'Manager out' banner at Meadow Lane was during Steve Thompson's second spell, and that was only a handful of fans.  When you consider some of the abject failures we've had in charge, that's remarkably tolerant.  I've never known anywhere near the level of abuse directed at Fullarton, and even though the vast majority of that abuse is aimed at the appointment rather than the person, it's still unprecedented in my time as a Notts fan.  Sad to see and needs ending quickly for everyone's sake.

[Modern Notts Fan 🔥]

I've been telling you for the last 7 games we ain't gettin no goals we play full football now and Jamie Fullarton is failing and this Saturday Yeovil will smash us 3-0 the best part was the stewards trying to take the flag and running away 

[Modern Notts Fan 🔥]

I think Fullarton is crap simple as that say what you like we are a team that scored the most goals in the league at home to a team who hasn't scored in 6 games 

[Fozzy]

Nice to see that @NewNottsFanhas finally witnessed the clueless dross that we have had to put up with these last few weeks.

Unfortunately, there is talent in the squad, but those talented individuals are not being used and now it looks as though Noble has been added to the list.

[Chris]

@NewNottsFan the fans do get behind the club, there's little appreciation it seems for the people who honestly try to make a difference and with anything, the negatives often out weigh the positives. The last Tuesday game, I sat at the back of the Kop - I rallied the troops and for 85 minutes we did a superb job. However, people seem to only talk about the last 5.

Anyway, it sounds like you had a good time.

Hopefully it won't be your last visit! If you spoke to any fans, you'll notice how friendly and engaging they are. The amount of people I just randomly say 'hello' too and have gotten to know via speaking at half time. COYP!