If Kristian Dennis is still a concern why risk him?

Jon Stead or Enzio Boldewijn could partner Kane Hemmings. I would rather avoid any chance of picking up an injury.

Hoping for a football match rather than hoof ball..... Susie Dent's word for today:...A reminder that a 'mumpsimus' (1500s) is someone who sticks obstinately to their beliefs, in spite of clear evidence that they are wrong.

I just want to see them give 100% and put on a good performance.

Win, lose or draw I wouldn't moan.

Use the wing, use the pace and the new recruits which feature and Notts will be just fine.

I am looking forward to the match.

Notts should have enough quality to ease past Colchester, defensively they just need to deal with the threats. I think the final score will be 2-0 Notts.

2 hours ago, heraldmagpie said:

I just want to see them give 100% and put on a good performance.

Win, lose or draw I wouldn't moan.

This is all I ask.

Opening games tend to be tricky and a game where by teams try to suss each other out.

Can we get some more score predictions folks?

Also, don't forget to share your thoughts throughout the day - it would be nice to see comments being added during the game. Let's bright PON and this match discussion.

I think it will be a close game and whoever is to score first will win the game. I can't call it but I think it will be 1-0.

its match day!

i am very excited, it feels good and the weather should be nice. its not too hot at the moment! i hope kn picks the best 11. there is a rumour going around twitter that stead and alessandra will start up top and duffy and hall in defence.

i hope brisley starts personally.

I will be leaving my home about 1ish.

I am looking forward to the game, I have a good feeling. I think Notts will smash Colchester!

It's a bit disconnected by Notts so far and predictable, Colchester have played quite well but lack a finisher. We are riding our luck a little.

Promising signs are that we are knocking on their door at times.

Thomas was MOM by a country mile, i noticed vaughan made about 7 passes and an interception, please tell me he gets no more than £500 a week, made me laugh ever time he jumped up for an header against their 6 foot 6 giants. 

Shouldn’t have expected a lot, but today was poor. Enzio and a Thomas look good, but we need a lot of hours under the belt to learn how to play it on the deck.

Vaughn will hopefully get better. He had a purple patch in the second which led to some some good football, but looked, like most of the team, out of it in the first.

Duffy was a liability. Poor tackling, terrible distribution and bad captaincy. Arguing with Nolan on the side didn’t help either. Not the captain by a country mile and by far the weakest distributor of the ball.

Jones also looked off the game today.

Lets hope it improves!

Defensively Notts did enough but very poor when attacking, they just wasted chances and kept passing themselves into trouble. I know they need time to settle and understand each other but I wonder what they have been focusing on with training.

Passing the ball back from good positions is extremely poor for me.

Very few players impressed me but it was an acceptable performance and a good draw.

It could have been worse to be fair, the players need time and give a few more games I think the signs are promising.

The team looks there, Nolan just needs to get it.

I would say the performance was disconnected too but promising, we had chances and so did they.

Neither took them so I don't think either us or Colchester fans can complain, a draw suited the game and Notts have a clean sheet to build on from.

I thought Notts played well in spells as did Colchester.

There was no quality to split either side a part, but I am pleased with the signs. it's a good draw.

Good and bad today.

colchester should have won, they had three wasted chances and none of ours came close. Disappointed but I agree it’s a start.

I don't understand the reaction after the game or why people left early, it's counter productive and Notts played okay. Support the team even when things are not going how you desire.

Good point.

I've been saying for a week or two now that I wasn't expecting Notts to make a flying start. The perceived "first XI" didn't play together at any time during pre-season so the side has still to gel and build an understanding. With so many new signings it won't happen overnight.

This wasn't a great performance. It was at times disjointed and lacking a pattern. Notts spent most of the first half hitting long balls and getting nowhere against a very tall and strong Colchester defence. It wasn't until after half time that Notts began to push the ball around on the floor and then they created a couple of decent chances. In time I think this will come together.

I thought Nathan Thomas and Enzio Boldewijn both looked useful., as did Kane Hemmings who clearly has a footballing brain. But I fail to understand the fuss over David Vaughan. Certainly he played a lot of passes.....but the vast majority of them were backwards and sideways. He's not (so far) looking anything like the creative attacking midfielder we need. 

And at the centre of defence we look every bit as vulnerable as we did last season. There's no pace at the back except for Jones...and HE can't defend. 

It's too early to be making judgements but based purely on this display there's a lot of work to be done. 

Average first game, Notts really was hit and miss. The second half chances had been created but the sideways passing meant nobody really had a chance. I find it positive and disappointing.

I want to see better come Cambridge though.

The issue is the lack of playing the ground.

Hoofing the ball does not lead to any sort of creativity, you are gambling that you connect with the end of the ball or create one chance that can kill off a game. I felt Notts was very lacklustre today and they failed to impress.

I thought Notts started with the wrong squad TBH.

I would have started with Dennis from the beginning, I think we would have had more chances created then.

The performance was disjointed they looked like a team who haven’t played together much but there were some plus points Enzio looks very good, Thomas also had a good game and Vaughan improved from the last game I saw him play. We kept a clean sheet which was good. However there’s lots of work to do on the training ground.

9 hours ago, Natty said:

I've been saying for a week or two now that I wasn't expecting Notts to make a flying start. The perceived "first XI" didn't play together at any time during pre-season so the side has still to gel and build an understanding. With so many new signings it won't happen overnight.

This wasn't a great performance. It was at times disjointed and lacking a pattern. Notts spent most of the first half hitting long balls and getting nowhere against a very tall and strong Colchester defence. It wasn't until after half time that Notts began to push the ball around on the floor and then they created a couple of decent chances. In time I think this will come together.

I thought Nathan Thomas and Enzio Boldewijn both looked useful., as did Kane Hemmings who clearly has a footballing brain. But I fail to understand the fuss over David Vaughan. Certainly he played a lot of passes.....but the vast majority of them were backwards and sideways. He's not (so far) looking anything like the creative attacking midfielder we need. 

And at the centre of defence we look every bit as vulnerable as we did last season. There's no pace at the back except for Jones...and HE can't defend. 

It's too early to be making judgements but based purely on this display there's a lot of work to be done. 

Spot on analysis from Natty

I think bringing in David Vaughan will hinder Husin's chances, to the detriment of the team. We needed someone like Pell ( good performances with Cheltenham) from him, has the physical attributes to make it in this league. Vaughan, pre season, caught too many times in possession