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I posted this after Chesterfield signed Tshimanga. I'm certainly no mystic meg, you only have to watch a couple of interviews to see that there was something off about his character. I'm surprised that its come so quickly after a slight blip in form (loss and draw in the last 2), but one way or the other this seemed inevitable. He has history surrounding the alleged claims - and at this stage it's all alleged pending investigation - but the rumours are flying around on social media. I genuinely hope that this isn't the tip of the iceberg. Paying 200-300 k for a striker and having to crowdfund for frost covers is a big red flag. I say that with no malice intended - nobody wants to see another side crippled by financial instability due to irresponsible owners/boards. Chesterfield still have a decent squad and are a threat at the upper echelons of the NL - but if we're serious about getting top spot, I seem to think Stockport and Wrexham are perhaps the bigger competition.

Slocombe 6 Probably the busier of the 2 keepers, which says a lot, given Notts had the bulk of the possession Brindley 7 Had a good long range effort, generally read the defensive situations very well Lacey 6.5 Had his hands full with an awkward #9 Cameron 5.5 Missed with a free header from a corner. Some poor passing too Chicksen 6.5 Comfortable and could be considered unlucky to be subbed Richardson 6 His least effective game for us. Final ball just wasn't there Vincent 5.5 Busy but things didn't happen to him, subbed at the break Palmer 6.5 Unusually, too many mishit passes in the first half. Much better 2nd Rodrigues 5 Well shackled. Found it hard to influence against tight defending Roberts 5 Just seen in patches. Tried to set himself up in the final moments, cutting in but the room wasn't there and the chance was lost Wootton 5 Marked out of the game. Subs Brunt 6 Added impetus but could do nothing to really break the lines Sam 6 Immediate poor touch but showed his awkwardness. Couldn't quiet get his shot well hit on the turn Parsons 5 Struggled to make a telling influence

How Qatar won the right to hold the World Cup is mind boggling. I think we all know how they won, ching ching, you know what I mean! I won't be watching the WC for the first time in my life. The treatment of workers who built the stadium, the on going persecution of the LGBTQ community etc etc. I love the WC, but peoples rights come first. We are all equal in my eyes.

Isn't it nice to see the circus elsewhere, instead of at Notts? These type of headlines are things we've become too familiar with, so its nice it's a different team (rather than us). I'm also mindful to hold back directly on commenting as its early days still, however, I am not surprised that Chesterfield are now waking up. There's been something iffy going on since last season and, I am partly wondering now if James Rowe could be someone the club merely wants to blame. You know, push him under the bus and hope for the best? A bit like appointing Jamie Fullarton seemed as if it happened just to take our eyes off the chairman/club. James Rowe does seem a little suspect, but we'll never know the inner workings. I read one news piece which suggested he was bullying players, a little bizarre for a club doing well within its respective league - especially since there seems to be more going on behind the scenes. If Chesterfield are somehow in a situation whereby money is an issue, I would wish them all the best. It's always the fans who get hurt, and whilst I find a lot of them that I have encountered to be incredibly self-entitled with their own club matters. A little wake-up call never hurts anyone, provided things resolve themselves. We'll have to watch this space.

The results: Blackpool 1-0 Millwall Sheffield United 2-0 Luton Town Oxford United 3-2 Sheffield Wednesday Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Bolton Wanderers Leyton Orient 0-0 Port Vale Sutton United 0-0 Northampton Town Grimsby Town 1-2 Bromley Woking 2-0 Wealdstone --- @super_ram came out on top this week - congrats! @super_ram - 11 @Dripsey3 - 8 @DangerousSausage - 7 @magpiejue, @Megan_Elizax - 6 @gtownjohnno - 5 @Dan - 4 @4everapie, @nottsnutter - 3 @ARLukomski - 2 @GrannyPie - 1 --- The table: Dan - 169 Dripsey3 - 167 super_ram - 140 magpiejue - 140 4everapie - 137 gtownjohnno - 136 DangerousSausage - 127 ARLukomski - 121 nottsnutter - 117 jimbob - 117 Megan_Elizax - 113 GrannyPie - 110 Chris - 106 barnet11uk - 93 KB1862 - 52 liampie - 45 Joshua - 34 Feral Fox - 29 allardyces tash - 21 TheSkipper - 16 CliftonMagpie - 10 Alex - 7 Canadian - 4 --- So that's us for another week. Can anyone gatecrash the duopoly at the top? How many people can I get away with banning to artificially enhance my position? And will Notts ever play a football match again? To get a little bit closer to answering at least two of those questions, join us for the next round on Saturday - the fixtures will be posted here on Wednesday night. Thanks for playing and have a good week!

This summer we would usually be looking forward to the World Cup, but we'll have to wait until November due to FIFA's decision to award it to the footballing hotbed that is Qatar. As everyone surely knows by now, the regime in Qatar isn't the most savoury one; an army of foreign workers has been called in to build the necessary infrastructure and the construction of the stadiums has come at a tremendous human cost. Like the 1978 tournament, the 2022 World Cup will be an example of sportswashing - a dictatorship using sports to boost its reputation and distract attention away from human rights abuses. This begs the question of how football fans here should react (it would have been nice if UEFA or the national FAs had done something, but that ship has sailed). The most obvious would be a boycott, but given the sheer pulling power of the World Cup that could be doomed to failure. Otherwise, the tournament could be used to shine a very bright light on the Qatari regime and to make the attempted sportswashing of the regime's reputation blow up in its face. I'm not sure exactly what form that could take though. It might all sound very political, but this tournament is mired in politics anyway now. Personally I'm not sure I can stomach watching it, but I know many more will. Thoughts?

The Chesterfield Town manager has been suspended pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct. Oh dear... Never really came across as a nice guy and from what I've gathered on twitter some people are suggesting he's a bit of a bully - nothing has been clarified yet though so it'll be interesting to see what happens and how it will impact Chesterfield's season.

Yeah I’m really going to struggle to get any enjoyment out this competition and I don’t think I’ll be watching it. In some ways it’s shame it coincides with England being good again but you can’t just forget how corrupt it is and how many workers lost their lives. I'm amazed how many companies are willing to be associated with it for the sponsorship and advertising. This might have potentially caused some issues but from what I gather the likes of McDonalds and Budweiser are signed up. And David Beckham I’ve no idea who advises him (someone greedy) suggested he should be an ambassador for this tournament, it’s embarrassing and thoughtless. As what for fans could though, that is a good question. I’m sure/hope as the World cup gets closer it’ll be make the news for the wrong reason and some organisation will do something that can be beneficial and allow the protesting voices to be heard. I’ll be amazed if there aren’t already groups organising protests and I’ll be amazed if all the games run smoothly, I’m sure they’ll be some sort of disruption.

On going issues with Lee Burge's health means he's staying put at Sunderland. Sounds quite serious so I wish him well. However it's a shame for us as he was doing really well here. Looks we'll be getting someone else in now.

Pfft, not great but not a disaster either. Second half sounded better, very disappointing to not score though. The non-event first half was probably just as if not more costly. Very similar to Kings Lynn expect this time Wealdstone shut us out. There’s just something sometimes about these away games to the teams nearer the bottom that we really struggle with, just can’t seem to get going quickly enough in particular. I’d have taken 4 points from these two away games, just means there’s more pressure on the Bromley game now, but weirdly that probably suits us.

I wouldn't have bothered to try to bring him back in, the situation has become somewhat of a joke and, I honestly feel sorry for Anthony Patterson as it will be him losing out. Some of our fans might not be happy, I just feel that Notts/Sunderland should've drawn the line when he was last recalled. It was great to get him back, but in my mind I did wonder what if he would be recalled again. Patterson needs game time, it's harsh on him to be messed about so much. Form for a young goalkeeper is one of the most important aspects of his game, in addition to confidence. How does being recalled, only not to play say to him?

It's certainly a strange approach. The owners want Championship minimum - you'd think that investing in a youngish squad with a mix of experienced players would be better long-term - keeping them as they go through the leagues and selling the ones that fall by the wayside. Very much a here and now investment - splash the cash on 30 odd year olds and give them 3 year contracts?!

Especially with Wrexham being able to spend stupid money on a bang average Ollie Palmer. One assumes they are just going to chuck the ball into the box for him to create havoc for Mullin to capitalise, because I doubt they will get many goals out of him. With a bit of luck it may have a more negative effect.

I don't think the player meant it. Superb punt to take the shot, decent goal for this reason, but I think stronger build-up play won beat it fairly easily as a better all round goal. PS. I thought the static cameraman was about to miss it all together.

Sometimes, one needs to take a back seat, and see a match through fresh eyes. After 90 minutes, I would say Notts would have been more than a match for either side in EFL 1 . In fact the top 8 of the Vanarama could survive quite comfortably in this league, if this match was anything to go by. Bolton had the "class" to win it, at the death... Ricardo Santos their centre half an absolute colossus ( had played for Barnet before joining Bolton)

I just think it is terrible that nobody has done anything about all the deaths which have occurred since Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup. I might be mistaken, but the Olympics don't award the hosting rights to nations whom don't have the infrastructure in place. If I am mistaken, my point is that the infrastructure must be in place BEFORE and, not something in hindsight. What happens if a bid wins, then all the promises are bodged through poor building or simply doesn't happen due to the lack of funds/interest to fulfil the plans? I'm not remotely interested in the World Cup in Qatar.

Thinking outside the box, if the EU past a directive to say all sporting organisations whose competitions are held in EU countries, need FULL transparency of their financial accounts ( and history thereof). Would UEFA and FIFA then comply? I would doubt it. A new global football organisation could be set up, fully transparent, maybe set in Brussels or London. Football relies on advertising revenues and am sure the big conglomerates would be willing to ditch FIFA and UEFA for more transparency?

Money,money,money !!!!!

What's with people not from Brazil adding a Portuguese suffix to their name... Couldn't really fault his technical ability when he was with us, just a shame everything else was lacking!

I also follow John Campbell @Super_Danny_Allsopp and find his videos to be excellent viewing, no mass hysteria, he just tries to deal with the data available. I think that David Schneider doesn't realise that the most densely populated part of Russia is in Europe . Obviously didn't get a very good grade in Geography.

To try and get a judge on the pandemic and how it evolves it is necessary to filter out the extremes. The extreme to one-side is the anti-vaccine, 'covid doesn't exist', government conspiracy types. On the other side is the place for the hysterical; lockdown forever, social distancing forever, gross over-estimation and exaggeration of hospitalisation/death forecasts. I follow John Campbell on Youtube. He looks at the situation in the UK and globally, presenting stats and offering his opinion. He is quite level-headed and practical about things: https://www.youtube.com/c/Campbellteaching

Cal Roberts is a class footballer and exceptional winger. I think he benefits more from playing wide in a 4-3-3 than he does playing more centrally in our usual 3-5-2. He's not a wing-back either. Also have to remember that he was out for a full season. It takes a bit of time to come back from that and start reaching the standards before the injury. The signs have been there and he looks to be starting to head back to those levels, which is fantastic news for Notts and terrible news for NL defences.