Leaderboard

Have we progressed under Martin Paterson? I suppose it depends on the criteria used as a metric. Compare our league positions after defeats on new years day 2025 and 2026: Position Played Won Drawn Lost Goal For Goals Against GD Points 01/01/2025 7 24 11 6 7 36 26 10 37 01/01/2026 7 23 10 7 6 36 26 10 39 Amazingly they are very similar. If results are the criteria, then maybe we haven't progressed. If performances are the metric then I would say we have regressed. We all know what happened from this point onwards last season, so to avoid it happening again, we need a good January transfer window!

Today's game was a chore, So I'll present to you the scores: Stoke City 0-0 Preston North End West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Bristol City Burton Albion 5-1 Northampton Town Luton Town 4-0 Wycombe Wanderers Accrington Stanley 2-1 Barrow Gillingham 1-1 Cambridge United Eastleigh 1-1 Woking Solihull Moors 7-1 Tamworth This round the honours are shared by @Garry Lee, @Robbie and @super_ram, who all hit double figures! @magpiejue holds on to the lead overall, while this was also a good round for @super_ram, who goes second. We've got a full round of league fixtures on Monday (the 29th), so I'll post the fixtures for that in the next few minutes. Thanks for playing and see you over there!

I love the fact that Belshaw is a Notts fan who grew up in Clifton, was a mascot as a boy, grew up supporting Notts, played for Clifton All Whites, played for Notts Academy. I totally agree with @Fan of Big Tone one of our own and full of enthusiasm and experience can only be a positive. The great thing about his experience is that it's been gained at different levels and includes the joyful feelings of promotion and the fighting for said promotions. His attitude and demeanor show how focused and happy he is becoming part of a winning machine. Welcome to our collective James, may your contribution be towards the greater good. ⚽️

The results: Leyton Orient 1-1 Cardiff City Peterborough United 3-1 Bolton Wanderers Accrington Stanley v Barnet - POSTPONED Chesterfield v Colchester United - POSTPONED Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Bromley Aldershot 1-5 Solihull Moors Sutton United 1-2 York City Woking 4-0 Hartlepool United Drum roll for this round's winner @Megan_Elizax! And also a mention to @4everapie, who got 8 points despite only predicting five games, which is frankly showboating. No change in the top ten this week, @magpiejue still leads the way with @Dan banging on the door in second. The next round is on Saturday, so the prediction league pixies will post the fixtures on Wednesday. Thanks for playing!

The results: Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Charlton Athletic Hull City P-P Watford Plymouth Argyle 3-0 Burton Albion Reading 1-0 Stockport County Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 AFC Wimbledon Barnet P-P Crewe Alexandra Barrow P-P Bristol Rovers Walsall P-P Fleetwood Town And this round's winner is... me! Come on people, put some effort in. But everyone did manage to score despite only four of our matches actually going ahead this time. @magpiejue consolidates her position at the top somewhat, but a big-scoring round from one of the chasing pack could still change everything. Elsewhere, @cheeky~k8 and @Megan_Elizax join @Garry Lee in notching up a hundred points. And that's how things look now the festive fixtures are complete and the Christmas chocolates are finished! I'll post Saturday's fixtures on Wednesday and hopefully there will be more points, thrills and spills. Thanks for playing everyone!

Despite the changes of coaching and playing staff and playing style you could argue that many of our unsolved problems remain the same. The biggest of these is inconsistency. In my opinion this can only be addressed if we sign three or four experienced players who are good enough to start matches.

Losing four players of that quality would be a major blow to any team at this level. That we're in the mix again is a great achievement and shows that we're getting more out of what we have at our disposal. I think the quality of football we're playing has been worse, and that's largely due to our best centre midfield pairing being unavailable pretty much all season and our inability to sign a new number 10 who can make the ball stick. The result is too many hopeful balls forward instead of dominating the opposition. What we're better at is "hanging in there" and getting our rewards in games that are 50:50, and we were sorely lacking in that department last season. However, our limitations are there for all to see and a couple of prudent additions could make all the difference.

I think we’ve got to look at the squad too, we’ve got a tad more depth this season but last season at the same point we had Bass, Abbott, McGoldrick and Crowley in the first 11 more often than not. In terms of closest replacements now, we’ve got; Roos, Iorpenda, Dennis and Hall. Dennis has been great, Hall and Iorpenda have been good additions but they aren't at the same levels as Crowley or Abbott. And we’ve had a goalkeeper who really struggles when a ball is played into the 6 yard box. Like you say 2 points difference is nothing but given the loss of quality in the squad this season I’d say we are probably over-achieving or just doing as well as we should be right now.

With names like Big Tone, Super Ram and Dangerous Sausage I do feel there's a lost consonant there

Wish all fellow PON stars a very happy new year! There weren't as many private fireworks on our street as usual (to our disappointment, we always enjoy the neighbours' fireworks without spending any money ourselves). But the city centres were manic as usual. There's talk about banning private fireworks as it's been totally out of hand for years, but it would be nice if councils put on an official display rather than doing absolutely nothing. Usually I'd take a new year's walk, but I've got a busy day of football, darts and Stranger Things coming up!

Wishing all PONsters (got to be careful how you say that) the very best for 2026. Happy and prosperous new year to everyone!!

Embrace 2026. Another year again sails on by, Quicker than a blink of your eye. Looking back have no regret, Of failing targets not been met. Forward thinking into pasturesnew, Planning for the future is good to do. Attempting things not tried before, Swimming, gym, a spin on the dance floor. Whatever journey comes your way, Tread the path of courage, and on it stay. A Kaleidoscope of chance will present, Sculpturing your life to some extent. Grasp everything you can with open arms, Make life happy without any qualms. This message is sent with love and a tear, We wish one and all a Happy New Year. Michael and Tracey. COYP.

This is my recruitment doc for the January transfer window. Any feedback is appreciated, as is any time taken to read it. Thank you CanvaNotts January Recruitment Doc 2026 2.pdfCheck out this YouTube Thumbnail designed by Analysts Bar.

I’d like to wish a very merry Christmas to all PoN members far and wide, if you don’t celebrate or if Christmas is a difficult time I hope you have a peaceful one. A special thanks to @Chris for creating PoN I hope all is well with you and your family. Have a good one if you can.

Christmas Gratitude. Christmas time is here again, Is it perfume or could be a Train. A visit from Santa guaranteed, Maybe he's brought a trusty steed. The pressure is on Mum and Dad, Get it right or someone will be sad. Hope you've listened to every chat, Idea's galore gleaned from that. The latest trend or fashion phase, Will bring a smile to their face. A little tech that's up to date, Everyone's dream, it's not too late. Whatever gift you are fortunate to receive, Be happy, grateful and always believe. Merry Christmas to one and all. 🎄🎉

Feliz navidad from Barcelona!

I watched on my laptop and once again it was a solid performance from all Notts players. A good team effort against well organised and stubborn opposition.I haven't seen many Notts games this season due to my team playing at the same time but there has been a definite improvement recently.Players that I found a bit disappointing earlier in the season are now performing at a much higher level and playing for the team.This makes it very difficult to pick out one single player.I will add that Jodie Jones seems to be very low on confidence at the moment but I'm sure he will sort himself out sooner rather than later.I agree with above comments regarding how many players deserve being voted for but I have chosen Lorpenda.

I think today it showed we need a bit of spark in the No.10 role, Luker and Hall coming on with 30 to go would’ve been ideal. The fact Traore remained on the bench, even when we needed a goal was telling, this situation needs addressing in January. Overall very solid though, we completely dominated the team top of the league all that was missing was a goal. I was also surprised that Bennetts was taken off so early. Ok he made that one awful pass which gave Walsall their only chance but he actually had the beating of Barrett, Jodi’s crosses were better but I don’t think he got past Barrett once. He hasn’t played for a while though, I suspect it’ll take a couple of matches before he starts to look his best again. I was glad we didn’t suffer a smash and grab by the end because that would’ve been totally undeserved. A lot of talk about that performance by Walsall being anti-football, if that’s how they want to play we can’t change it. They were organised and got exactly what they came for but their unwillingness to push forward didn’t make for a great match.

Barnsley are laughing at us at this point. Taking Didzy, loaning us Cotter and not picking up the phone when we'd like to return him without a receipt.

Wordle 1,672 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟨🟩🟨🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 1,671 4/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 1,670 4/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#waffle1448 1/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩Same here @Fan of Big Tone 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 3 ⭐ #wafflerookie wafflegame.net

#waffle1445 3/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 112 🌟 #wafflecenturion wafflegame.net

A good January window is vital if we are to achieve promotion, we need 2 or 3 quality players who can help the team get us over the line. Surely we have some money in the coffers from the sale of Langstaff, Crowley etc. to fund the purchase of good players. The last thing we want now is for the team to falter and drop down the table necessitating another change of coach. I’m hoping to hear news of some signings soon but I don’t want to hear that Jatta and Dennis are sold. 🙏

#waffle1445 5/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 634 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

@theAnticlough I do agree that we have a better coaching team. Notts were just 5 points short of automatic promotion last season. If the squad is strengthened to the right degree, Notts could go on a good run from this point & get a promotion place. It is perfectly possible to achieve that because Notts are just one point behind where they were at the same point last season. As well as strengthening the squad, Paterson has to make ML a fortress & beat teams that are workmanlike, physical, & give no quarter at the back. But it can be done.

I do think Palmer and Robertson being out at the same is almost as disastrous as if Jatta and Dennis were to be injured at the same time. Playing out from the back isn’t Platt’s strength and watching him and Roos constantly play long balls to no-one was and is painful. But I do think getting Palmer back in the side will change things. Norburn in the middle is ok, but in terms of starting attacks and keeping us ticking over he’s just not doing it for me. Palmer always moves himself around to make himself available to collect the ball off the defenders taking the pressure off them to play. And we've missed Robertson’s energy in midfield, again not a dig at Norburn he battles but he’s no where near as mobile as Robbo. I’ll come in to defend Jatta a bit here. I think because of his size we think he should just bulldoze players all the time. But more often than not we play poor balls to him, he’s either chasing lost causes, fighting for flick on's or he has a defender tight to him pushing and pulling him. Play a half decent ball to him and he’s usually fine. Again, with Palmer and Robbo back, we should get a bit more control in midfield and be able to play closer to him rather than long balls from defence.

#waffle1442 4/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 631 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

Wishing all my Magpie friends all the best for 2026,happy new year everyone.

#waffle1439 4/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 628 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

Wordle 1,654 2/6 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩Blimey here too, @Fan of Big Tone

#waffle1438 5/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 627 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

Wordle 1,653 5/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 1,653 5/6 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩 🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#waffle1436 3/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 103 🌟 #wafflecenturion wafflegame.net

What a poor display that was. We had no control over the game at all, and if you can't string more than three passes together you're not going to have many opportunities in the final third. And we wasted the few opportunities we had. We had no midfield - whenever our players were struggling to hold onto possession by the sidelines, there was no support forthcoming from the centre of the field - their options were to go back or to have a hopeful punt forward. With Palmer or Robertson (ideally both) on the pitch, it would have been a different game. Bennetts is quick and gets into good positions, but is often wasteful with his end product. I think he'll be rested for Monday. I still don't see the point of Norburn. Jones could do with more minutes to build his confidence, he's getting cameos off the bench and is overthinking everything. Roos needs to learn to catch. HOWEVER, a bad day at the office doesn't mean we need to offload half the team. Some fans are too quick to write players off. I was a bit surprised the manager didn't freshen things up a bit. He'll definitely need to for the next match now. In the absence of Palmer and Robertson, I'd give Hinchey a go in the middle in the hope of having an actual midfield again, select Jones from the start and tell him this is his chance to reclaim his first 11 spot again. Jatta/Dennis have served us very well, give them better service and the goals will come again. Having said that, they would benefit from some help/competition arriving in the January window.

#waffle1435 5/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 624 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

#waffle1434 4/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 101 🌟 #wafflecenturion wafflegame.net

#waffle1433 5/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 622 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

Wordle 1,647 6/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Phew...fell into trap looking for Christmassy words

Wordle 1,646 4/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#waffle1430 2/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 49 🥈 #wafflesilverteam wafflegame.net

#waffle1430 3/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 97 💎 #wafflediamondteam wafflegame.net

Wordle 1,646 3/6 ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

@theAnticlough I'd like to see Kouhyar selected from the start too. I wonder if Martin thinks Bennetts is better defensively? Bennetts seems to be keeping Jodi on the bench too.

It certainly was but topical. Wordle 1,644 3/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#waffle1428 5/5 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩 🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 streak: 617 🧑‍🎤 #wafflesuperstar wafflegame.net

Wordle 1,644 4/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Very tricky