Match Discussion: Game 7 - The Shots (A)

[PON_News]

Game 7 - The Shots (A)

Team: Aldershot Town

Date: 07/11/2020

Where: Recreational Ground

What line-up should Neal Ardley opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

[Chris]

I'll be tuning into Radio Nottingham for the game, I just hope Mark Stallard is assisting Charlie Slater as I might turn off early otherwise. Keep to the game, no rambles or boring statements about the pitch condition or what tattoos certain players has.

I have missed matchdays, but in one sense it's been good that I only missed a single game - so yeah, thanks COVID-19.

Notts should be able to pick up from where they left off, I would feel happier playing at home but it's a good chance to prove we are capable of getting good results on the road. I don't think they'll go to hit us, but I do wonder if set pieces will undo any good work.

[RetroPie]

The biggest question will be what will the players fitness levels be like?

Defensively Notts cut off when the energy levels start to fade which leads to those mistakes we all know.

I'm hopeful, but I see a draw to be truthful.

[liampie]

notts should be okay, it will be interesting to see the linup and how neal ardley will balance any missing players.

greg abbott has spoken about the players fitness.

this will improve with game time so i welcome to see it, but aldershot is a good chance to show our fans that notts are good enough to fight for promotion. the season has not been a bad start but a loss, it could make the league table a little misleading. i think a draw is likely myself.

1-1 would be my prediction.

[Dripsey3]

I thought this game was off. It's hard to know how it will go. Avoiding defeat would be enough given the circumstances. 

[Dripsey3]

It's a miserable day here. Dark and wet. This result fits the day perfectly. Hard to understand how Notts haven't scored again against a team that Notts should be beating. It's Dover part 2. There are extenuating circumstances so we'll take it on the chin and move on. 

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

An absolutely woeful performance from start to finish.

Even accounting for the Covid stuff and lack of fitness etc... that's not why we lost the game today. We lost because of the instructions given to the players. Despite both sets of players (more so us) slipping all over the place, we continued to try and play more or less inside our own box with risky passing. Unsurprisingly, one of our players slipped and we gift them a goal and the 3 points. Our boring sideways passing achieved absolutely nothing. The midfield 3 looked like they'd never played a game together. 

Chasing the game, we take off our best player (Rodrigues) and bring on Enzio. How many times has that sub been made already this season, and how many times has it worked? Enzio looks shot. 

Rapidly loosing faith that our tactics will result in us being at the right end of the table come the end of the season.

We've lost to Maidenhead, Aldershot and Dover so far. 3 really poor sides. 

[Chris]

Perhaps the preparation and, tactics could've been better.

It's still a 1-0 defeat.

It's hardly a massive defeat and, if it's true about how shocking, how poor the players were, how bad the tactics the was then I am surprised it was only a single goal conceded. People are making it sound like Notts lost 10-0 which didn't happen. You can play poorly and, lose. It's normal.

We're not a side that will win each week or even every game.

Those calling for Neal Ardley's head and, most likely the rumour makers need to get a grip on what "support" means.

[allardyces tash]

@Super_Danny_Allsopp Keep the faith though.

Notts has a good squad and Neal Ardley isn't the type to just allow himself to get the sack so easily.

I just write games like this off as a bad day at the office, if we lost 6 in a row or something I might be more inclined to be more annoyed. No manager at this level is perfect, I have faith that the next match will be better provided the club doesn't get rid of him.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

14 hours ago, Chris said:

Perhaps the preparation and, tactics could've been better.

It's still a 1-0 defeat.

It's hardly a massive defeat and, if it's true about how shocking, how poor the players were, how bad the tactics the was then I am surprised it was only a single goal conceded. People are making it sound like Notts lost 10-0 which didn't happen. You can play poorly and, lose. It's normal.

We're not a side that will win each week or even every game.

Those calling for Neal Ardley's head and, most likely the rumour makers need to get a grip on what "support" means.

This is a prime example of a defeatist attitude. 

'It's not that bad, we only lost by 1' (to another piss poor team).

'We're not a side that will win each week'.... which is exactly why we won't be getting promoted. The good sides will win (pretty much) every week. The mediocre sides will win every now and again. 

 

[menzinho]

Yeah, it was a pretty bad performance by all accounts. I didn't watch it but the commentary about the players constantly slipping over was about as entertaining as it got! 

Roberts and Rawlinson missing isn't helpful but the point of a squad is that we should be able to perform without them. Too many players had bad games. Wootton wasn't on it like he has been and Lacey had a uncharacteristic shocker. I worry without Roberts and Enzio's loss of form we've lost what was quite an integral part of why we were so successful last season, we need to be able to find ways of getting results without them.

There's that old saying that champions can play badly and still get results,  seems we've got that first bit nailed - just need to work on the second bit.

[Chris]

2 hours ago, Super_Danny_Allsopp said:

This is a prime example of a defeatist attitude. 

'It's not that bad, we only lost by 1' (to another piss poor team).

'We're not a side that will win each week'.... which is exactly why we won't be getting promoted. The good sides will win (pretty much) every week. The mediocre sides will win every now and again. 

6 games into the season, I realise that form comes much later for some teams.

I'm not a defeatist by any means, I just acknowledge that Notts can't come from being a poor League Two team that deserved to be relegated to winning every National League team just because we're the biggest club in the division. 

I'd say, I am more a realist that understands that with good times - it takes time to have those better teams which most of our fans seem to take for granted.

Yes, Notts has lost 2 games in a row but again, the Maidenhead result should've been done and dusted when we went 2-0.

I haven't seen Aldershots goal, I'm unsure about the match stats but I do feel had the players not messed up in the previous game before the COVID-19 break that some would see the bigger picture. Anyone who thinks Notts will walk this league isn't aware of the difficulties, could Notts be doing better? I think so, but some of the games so far has been in our hands and yet we failed to maximise the points gained.

Going into the National League last season, most fans said that they would accept mid-table.

Most believed the club would struggle and, this is what has happened but we enjoyed a very successful spell last term that propelled Notts into the playoffs after a very sluggish part. I don't feel I have kneejerk reactions to the slightest defeat, I feel the club are in a very good position and, if they work harder that we can push up the table. Torquay and Stockport have gotten off to an amazing start, I can't help but feel some of our fans see this and, believe we're entitled to be doing the same just because of our stature. 

[DangerousSausage]

I listened on the radio. They often spoke about the players slipping over - Mark Stallard mentioned that the players would have been out on the pitch before kick-off and would have had the chance to get a feel for it. So why were they slipping about as if they were on an ice rink? Lack of preparation (born of complacency) perhaps? Not very professional at all. Being The Best Team In The Division won't help if you let your standards drop.

@Chris despite all the adversity, last season we finished third and came within 90 minutes of going straight back up. Despite our much better circumstances, our summer transfer business seems to have actually weakened the squad. It's still early days and 9 points from 6 games isn't a disaster, but if we end up going backwards I can fully understand the frustration. We don't have a divine right to success, but we have good (and rich) owners, an established management team and a dressing room that fully buys into its ideas, and financially we can blow everyone in this division out of the water with the sole, possible, exception of Stockport. Everything is in place for success. The bar was always going to be set high, and justifiably so.

[Joshua]

I don't know why so many of the players struggled to stay on their feet, maybe the pitch but it was just a poor display. Notts never set the pace, I am not sure why its all Ardley's fault because the players should've done better yesterday regardless of the tactics.

The players just never looked like creating a good chance on goal.

[TheSkipper]

If Notts managed to win playing that poor, I would be surprised. Teams that start slow, are always second best are never going to get that break to score or lead in a game. I think too many are overlooking the players who are responsible when they cross onto the field.

Nobody had a great game for Notts, Roberts and Rawlinson are two big misses as mentioned.

When 10 players are poor, its always going to be a task to demand more and from there the game will get harder.