Chris

I think Matty Platt's performance has gone somewhat unnoticed because he was a vital part of the backline. I thought he was superb at the back, and stood out within my top five performances (he actually earned my vote in the Man of the Match poll). Jacob Bedeau also did very well, although at times he did risk picking up more yellows if not more with some of those lovely timed barges/pushes on the advancing Bradford players. Bradford City passed the ball around quite well, and prior to our goals they did seem to be testing Alex Bass more. David McGoldrick is the glue that gets us playing; his relentless effort to get us moving forward really put a halt to the passing backwards prior to our opening goal. There was a lot of sighing prior to that, and I understand it opens up the opposition, but it can be wasteful. It was a bit disappointing when McGoldrick had the chance, where he wasted it by not shooting - despite plenty of time, but he really did make up with it. City was quite poor, but their fans until we scored I thought were brilliant. Walking out when the 2nd goal went in, I think that is pathetic support. I have seen Notts get battered away to Rotherham United sat in the home end, and never dreamt of leaving. Credit to the fans who stayed, the numbers were really great to see, and I think we all hoped that their players would make a game of it. Unfortunately, they were poor. Some Notts fans think we don't stand up for other selves, and have no 'dirty' side to our play. Yet if anyone watched Platt and Bedeau, then you will know they took no nonsense from Bradford. Callum Kavanagh, he had those antics I don't like to see from players. Pulling on Bass's shirt, not just when he tried to get him to drop the ball but from corners. I loved seeing him get his comeuppance with being flattered. When he put his reckless challenge on Sam Austin, it just made him more of a target and honestly, it was great to see from us because it made him very ineffective. Second half, I didn't think we were that good. There were spells, and chances came, but we gave the ball away too much. Bass's distribution was awful, but so was the passing of the majority of the final 45 minutes. It highlights just how poor Bradford are, when they couldn't take advantage of it. For about 30 minutes, we relied on defending and Bass to stop them from scoring, so the clean sheet feels all the more special. It was a great win, but I noticed the players arrived later than usual. It ignited speculation that the club was convening in response to Salford's performance. I doubt anything special would have been arranged, as leading to games players go through the previous game. Also, what is this about Dan Crowley wanting to leave after the end of last season? There’s an overwhelming amount of gossip that feels completely irrelevant in terms of need at this point in time. It just seems designed to drag up negativity, which is very counterproductive.

We are forgetting that what Luke Williams says to the media is all part of his management style, and although I think his criticism during our home performance against Forest Green Rovers - particularly the second half performance was very harsh, leading to our poor form and downward spiral. I do think this type of approach never works out well, but Williams does try to get the players to take some pride in the performances they give. Sometimes it works, often it seems to ruin morale. Swansea still have some players who don't really meet the standard he probably wants, and the message is probably more directed to them. I like his honesty. I am sure he's very upfront with the players at his disposal, but I can't see their board sacking him over this or their recent results. As for Swansea players sticking up two fingers, which isn't I have read on this - the only real way is by improving and doing their best.

I thought Matty Platt was class in defence, with Jacob Bedeau also being a big part in the performance too. Alex Bass did well in goal, but his distribution was questionable. I don't think Alassana Jatta deserves the Man of the Match. I thought he was good but nowhere near the level of others put in. David McGoldrick played a good role in what made us dig deep and take the game to Bradford. Without him relentlessly trying to get us to play forward, instead of passing out at the back we wouldn't have scored any of the goals. Dan Crowley also played well in spells, but not quite to the level we tend to expect from him. All the squad put in a good performance though; it was great to see Jatta score twice - he could have had 3 quite easily.

Burnley 2-0 Watford QPR 1-1 Preston North End Blackpool 0-0 Stevenage Northampton Town 0-1 Charlton Athletic Joker Chesterfield 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Morecambe 0-1 Bromley Hartlepool United 2-0 Yeovil Town Wealdstone 0-1 Dagenham & Redbridge

It sounds very "woke" to me, probably some generation z thought he could rebrand it. I wished people would stop messing with football, and making changes which solely further ruin the game.

That's true, but our defence was weaker. Alex Bass, Matty Platt and Jacob Bedau are all massive signings which are starting to suffer from our current tactics. This season, we have improved the squad overall, but failed to make sure the depth is there in the scenario of injuries. That let Stuart Maynard down, but it just shows how complex football is.

I don't like creating segregation between supporters. But the fickle fair-weather fans who don't really support the club, just the moaning and attention it gives does drive me crazy. Every club has an element of this, but I am more inclined to give my full support despite how I feel, yet I am more than happy to share and discuss my feelings. I don't think wanting a manager/head coach out, makes anyone a fair-weather fan by default. There are many other aspects which go into it. I am aware of fans who stopped watching Notts regularly during the years we were in the National League, who refused to attend away games, and rarely went home games but made it to the playoff final. They have seldomly started reappearing at away games, and are at most home games now. That is fair-weather by my definition, but it's their choice. I just don't like how they act like 'super fans' upon their return.

If it's a yes to my question at the end, then the UK people need to make it happen. If it's just someone responding, or using the song to generate some 'cheap heat' towards Starmer/Labour. I wonder where this was during the Conservative Party's time in power. No other party would make a difference, they all would fall to the control and pockets of the energy companies. I'm getting sick of people not giving Keir Starmer, or the Labour Party time. Will the money from the parody go towards helping the vulnerable people living in the cold?

Yes, correct. Ray Trew sold Bearne. Donga He and Kion Etete were both sold by Alan Hardy. I do hope the lad manages to make use of his time at Liverpool, and forge an EFL career because it's lost potential otherwise.

@Fan of Big Tone I have purged PON and CloudFlare's caches. CloudFlare suggests giving users 30 minutes for their cache to clear. Hopefully, this resolves things again.

I mentioned this last season, and I would say that it's valid now. However, bringing in experience such as a Director of Football isn't going to really help IMO. I said in my post where I touched up on that both the Saunders brothers should have been appointed as coaches, with the club finding an experience assistant - even if this was just whilst Stuart Maynard adjusted to the league. Yet, much of the mistakes we are seeing come down to how games are managed as they unfold. That makes the head coach more responsible, but I do think the inexperience throughout makes situations like this to be difficult. Notts could start a new unbeaten run, with Maynard pulling everyone together and us finding the form we all want. That would be great, but there are signs from last season creeping back in and again, I think it's more inexperience and a Maynard issue than anything else. This said, I do think the lack of foresight from the board is a worthwhile point to make (which mistakes happen). There is no replacement for Macaulay Langstaff's departure. Allowing Junior Morias to go out on loan, despite a lack of options up top. That's two strikers down. Not replacing Aaron Nemane, i.e. having someone aside from Jodi Jones who can take on their man and beat them. We really miss Nemane's pace right now; earlier today our National League Final at Wembley played as I left YouTube to randomly play videos, and it reminded me just how much we miss him. At first, we didn't miss him so much, but we later missed his speed. Allowing Adam Chicksen to go out on loan has repeated the same mistake as we have seen with Langstaff and Morias. We don't know how much of a say the club had with the departures out on loan, but considering we haven't recalled them despite being down to bare-bones does show a lack of foresight. I don't want this to seem like things are terribly wrong, because I don't think that is the case. It's more about managing poor form better, and making sure we learn from these types of mistakes. How different could things have been had we replaced the departures? Or, found a way to feature them/recall them??? Plenty of games remain, but these types of questions and thoughts, I think, give a more insightful look into mistakes. I do also acknowledge we might not have been in this situation without the injuries, but that highlights the importance of a balanced squad, especially with an inexperienced EFL head coach.

Does anyone remember the news ticker we used to have? Well, it's back! At the moment I do not want to have any of the messages automated. I will manually update the ticker as and when items become worth promoting. Content such as news, features and blogs are almost certainly guaranteed to be added. At a future stage, I will look into having some of these aspects automated but for now I want to guarantee members check them out. Which, is by any point automated items might be added, there will still be manual items. I encourage members to engage, and look out for what is shared within this space as it will be another area where important updates will be shared. Announcements will be used for vital or extremely important updates, with further news being shared here or within the admin announcements.

We do have a competitive squad, and I think Stuart Maynard is still learning, but he's very guilty of making poor decisions. Decisions which are costing us right now, whilst it's natural to struggle when losing key players, I just don't think Maynard has pulled the players together. Instead, he's relying on players to the point they become injured themselves. The players have done well, to an extent so has Maynard but the current form is very poor and unless that improves it - I just don't think his leadership will take us in the right direction. Of course, there's plenty that can change but at the same time if we continue the current form then it would sooner (rather than later) fall within sacking form. To some extent I would agree with you, however, there are people who are rationally seeing the current situation and I believe a lot of boards would be putting a manager in the form we are right now - under some form of 'review'. Simply based on the poor results, and again, I agree injuries don't help, but I think Maynard would benefit from focusing on trying to change outcomes during games, instead of leaving decisions until games are out of reach from salvaging. This doesn't always mean you have to make subs, but instructing the players to adapt tactically and positionally. I personally wouldn't shout for his head, but I am comfortable discussing it. Well, I think Stuart Maynard is to be let go. Notts will have some form of list of potential replacements, and I think the decision, which will be a tough call either way, should come down on the availability of someone being able to take over. If there's not at least 3 good candidates, or one perfect who is realistically likely to join then I think sacking a manager can be a massive gamble. Personally, I believe an experienced manager would be able to handle the situation right now much better. Unlike Maynard haters, I do hope it works out for him and that he continues to learn on his feet. I just feel unlike other periods where we have sacked managers, and we wonder who in the right mind would come in. We have a squad now that a lot of managers/head coaches would see only needs some improvements. I don't think someone looking to come in would want to change much, but I think it would be more inline with what Steve Cotterill did when he arrived during the Munto era. The January period is where the Notts board should be thinking is Maynard a good fit, if they believe we can further strengthen and allow him more time so be it. But how many games until then should we win? How many points gain or lost would it take for fans to rethink where we are right now? From now until the away game against Grimsby, 11th January 2024 - I think Notts are likely to pick up 8 points. Two wins, two draws, and the rest losses. Our current form is on par with struggling Barrow, the 3rd/4th worst form in League Two right now depending on the way you look at it.

I hope you are wrong, as Will Patching for me isn't good enough to replace Dan Crowley. They are vastly different players in my eyes, Patching being more of a midfielder who pulls the strings with his passing. He might have developed more having played for Derry, but I don't think he would be the right type of replacement in this theory. Patching would be a good signing for Carlisle, but I can't imagine him wanting to stick around with them because I can't see them doing much this year and I think improvements will only be seen within 2–3 seasons. I think they are destined to be a team who finish nowhere near a team fighting for playoffs. Unless they strengthen their squad massively, which could be done before, especially at the end of this season. Personally, I don't think Dan Crowley wants out of Notts. I believe the niggles with the injuries mentioned, and I think he's committed to Notts. I also don't see the sense in jumping to a League One club when we have every chance of getting promotion if we could get the right mentality/effort across the board.

I would overlook trying to sign Will Patching for Notts, I think he will be looking for a League One team. His time at Derry has allowed him to transform his career, as prior to that stint his direction within football wasn't looking good. He's a decent player, a bit lightweight when we had him, but I thought he had some promise. I find myself favouring him over the likes of Ed Francis. Patching always seems like a sensible player who would flourish within the right squad. So, I did feel a bit disappointed when he left. Whereas, Francis I thought it made sense that we didn't renew terms with him. Northampton Town could be a good move for Patching, but English football is different compared to the League of Ireland.