Chris

It's interesting to scroll through the pictures and see how the land Broadmarsh was built on looked in 1953. This photo of Nottingham square is quite different from how it looks today.

It's ironic how much they are going to have taken out of them, and one day, when they achieve something the right way, someone else might come along to complain about Forest. What goes around, comes around. Karma and all that. 😄

I thought he had a very good game, a little disappointed for Sonny Aldjofree as I really do believe he was up there, but you can't argue with the votes. Second half, Keanan Bennetts looked like a very sharp player. I am very pleased for him; thanks to all who voted! Please look out for the poll against Wigan.

It's games like this where I would make a change to the formation and consider playing someone more closely in a supportive role to Matthew Dennis. Otherwise, I can see it being quite different as Wigan do have some quick players, and if they have done their homework. There are various ways in which they could punish us: playing the ball over the back of our back three, set pieces, chasing and pinning us back when we try to pass it out from the back. Free kicks look to be a real concern, at least depending on who is in goal. When opposition teams have a good turn of pace, I am always quite wary of how they can overload us at the back. Our formation is designed to give us control in possession, with an extra man in attack, but against a team like I would describe Wigan. The quality might be too much; I think we'll leave our keeper exposed, whoever that may be. We might just struggle for it without considering who is marking whom and how we can force them to play how we want them to. It should be a good enough game; I think they will allow us to play, but much of it depends on how good they are in goal and how well we defend against them.

Well, if the club has learned anything from listening to fans pleas, they should be trying to sort out the lone striker requirement. The interview was decent, most of what you would expect, but the intention for the interview wasn't aimed at someone like me; it was aimed toward his doubters and the fans who are concerned. I thought I read that the club was looking at bringing in another striker; I know they don't grow on trees, but the thought of signing someone who can score 20+ needs to be lowered to someone who can get double digits easily. So far this season, we don't seem to want to walk the ball into the net, which will make it difficult for someone like Matthew Dennis. I hope Roberto Gagliardi sees that we need someone who can lead the line. While we relied on what we refer to as "walking the ball into the net," it did lead to a lot of goals being scored. There's no reason why we need to avoid it; just don't rely on it as the only means of scoring.

Today at times has been quite unbearable for me; my house is positioned facing the sun and doesn't have any protection to prevent it from becoming too hot. I choose not to moan completely, so I will leave it there. I have spent most of the day updating PON, adding data, and providing feedback on the most recent application, which is progressing very nicely. The dev has done a wonderful job with the UI and with taking on board my suggestions. If anyone remembers the old app, it had become quite bloated and difficult to update, but this is not the case with the new app. There is a lot of data needed to get the most out of certain features, but it will be well worth it with what is coming, and I am very excited about it.

Update: I have corrected the Head Coach page, retitling it from "The Manager" to Head Coach to fit in with the club's vision. It's fully updated to cover Martin Paterson. https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/club/head-coach/ The first team staff page is also now updated: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/club/staff/ As is the first team squad: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/club/first-team-squad/ Instead of doing goalkeeper, defender, midfield, attack. I have categorised the players into the positions they fit in our current system. Therefore, at least to me, it makes sense to identify where a player should be expected to play. Avoiding the club's current layout, where players seem to be thrown on, i.e, Barry Cotter is a wing back, as is Kellan Gordon. Not a defender or midfielder, as the OS has them currently. League table has prime positions now styled in with CSS: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/club/league-table/ All toggle nicely between the light and dark versions of the themes PON offers. I am hoping to get the newsletter widget upgraded, with the API pointing to the system PON will be using. I tried briefly to send bulk messages at the beginning of the pre-season, but it didn't work as I had hoped. So, I will focus on curating an email list where people will have subscribed. Therefore, I can focus on delivering the news, information, and guest pieces for them. Both the league and squad page now use the app I spoke about previously. It would be great if some members would be willing to volunteer some time to help me with this, as I need to add a lot of data to make the most of the system's full features. Primarily focusing on adding players to different teams. (Please let me know in the comments if you can help.) Upcoming versions will feature data-driven statistics widgets. Top 5 goalscorers, assists, league, and Notts-related statistics, among much more. The fixture widgets will be sprinkled around the site, so we can show the upcoming game and previous results in selected areas. Linking to our match reports and match discussions. Man of the Match ratings, along with team and formation selectors, prediction league, and what grounds you have visited. All are to be looked into; the current prediction league will not be replaced, it will just be easier to manage and remind people. Scores will be guessed, then posted to the appropriate topic with the Joker card. After which, @DangerousSausage can automate the scores and league table accordingly. That information will then be posted to the topic. 👍🏻 Historical data and stat pages will also be a future goal for the application, as I wish to preserve as much history of the Pride of Nottingham as I can. There are some excellent resources out there, but my aim is to make sure any data PON has will be future-proof. There's no ETA or timeline with the future features, the main thing is to get the system as powerful as possible with the core functions.

Hello, @John B. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham, I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

It really is common sense, but it also shows a lack of communication on the teams who suffer goals like these. Who's shouting "Man on" or "Look behind you?" It's just pass, pass, mistake. Goal.

It's difficult to handle a social media account representing the fans when the club doesn't start well; it's not something you can get used to. Just mentioning anything can trigger people, and I know a lot of it comes down to knee-jerk reactions. I am a very positive-minded person when it comes to Notts; I can see us improving, but it will only be harder with the bad feelings from within our own supporters camp. Notts has to do its part in lifting the spirit, but we as fans need to stand collectively and try to be encouraging. It's not always easy, but I am still encouraged by the Newport performance. We should have won that game easily, even though people are saying it's just Newport. Winning games leads to confidence; it makes decision-making easier because when things aren't so merry, you have doubts in the back of your mind. The young loanees came on and gave us something going forward; that is encouraging. All the complaints about taking Matthew Dennis off: he wasn't involved in the game, and I think it's highly likely Salford would have gotten a third before we even came close to scoring had these changes not been made. There's an element of fitness, and new arrivals, which could be the reason why we haven't quite gelled on the pitch. The training ground is where Martin Paterson can fix a lot of this, but every game from now until the end of the season, we have to try to forget about the previous results. People want us to play well, but say that winning ugly doesn't matter. I have always been of the mindset that good performances lead to good results. I don't focus too much on not playing well, because I tend to think about what could improve us.

The only real thing that has changed is the club's stance on loan signings; in prior seasons, it was seen as a top-up and not something to resort to in order to make up the team. Notts has made comments about wanting to own their players, as that is a long-term investment. Sometimes you have to step out of your routines to find something different. I do think we so far are heavily reliant on the loan players who have arrived, but I do understand at the same time that they each can bring a quality that we might not otherwise be able to afford. @DangerousSausage is correct that it's too early to say, but I don't think we are giving up on possession-based football. Under Williams, Notts focused largely on attacking football at the cost of defending, to the point good teams like Wrexham knew how to put themselves through with long balls behind our back three. This is something teams are still using against us, but we have improved much since then. With Maynard, we had it drilled into us that losing the ball wasn't something that should happen, and with the improved defense, passing backwards was always the answer. Teams caught on to how predictable this became and would press us into making mistakes. Maynard gave us structure with one hand, but took away the creativity that came from being unpredictable with the other. Now with Paterson, we are trying to play positive forward where the aim isn't to pass back 99% of the time the opposition team pulls ranks. We are willing to play passes behind the back line for players to run into, and whilst there is an element of "Championship" football to this, I don't believe it should be the approach for League Two. If it's refined, worked on, and improved to fit League Two, we could be a lot more ruthless when the squad is all caught up with each other. We have been poor with set pieces long before Paterson, so I am inclined to think he might try to work on this. The second goal was bad judgement to pass back to the keeper with no pressure to do it. Something that comes from the past three managers, with Ian Burchnall liking us to use the keeper to force the play forward. Re-watch the highlights; Salford predicted and gambled that the ball was going to end up with Roos. They started to position themselves around that, so it could be argued that they were fully aware and forced it to happen. The moment Roos decided to pass, one Salford player took to restricting the back pass to Platt, and another started running well before Norburn had even started jogging. A quick look before the pass over your shoulder would have made you realised you needed to sprint, but it was poor from all involved. It was very similar to Crowley last season at their ground, although I still believe that it was a foul.

Hello, @Chrismabbs. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham, I hope you will enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

Hello, @Norman Butler. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham, I hope you will enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

It's not that I felt Tom Iorpenda didn't give a good account of himself, but I did feel baffled to see him named as the official Man of the Match. I didn't think he did enough to warrant it myself. Both Matty Platt and Jacob Bedeau did a mixture of good and bad, but overall I would say they performed well enough. Matt Palmer would be in my list of five contenders, alongside Barry Cotter, who defended very well. I can’t include Jodi on my list, even though he seems to have regained his spark. I thought he was decent, but he didn't support Matthew Dennis enough in the first half, in my eyes. Sonny Aljofree really impressed me; he handled things well and defended bravely. I honestly think if he had played in the middle, the first goal would have been headed away. It's a bit disappointing that Platt didn't mark his man, but Aljofree would be my call for Man of the Match. Palmer, Aldjofree, Cotter, Bennetts and Jodi all looked up for it.

How do you digest that without seeming too critical? Well, it wasn't the performance or result that we would have hoped for; Salford are very well organised and know exactly when to press. They allowed us to look interesting for the first 10 minutes, then took control and looked good for their lead. There were things that happened which I think the officials missed, and I wasn't very impressed with that, but Notts contributed to its own difficulties. For the first 45 minutes, I think Salford didn't really have to work all that hard because of how poor Notts were. We did defend quite well, but as a "passing" team we easily lost the ball, knocked it around without any real purpose, and looked quite disconnected. There was little focus on attacking into space, and Salford were quite spread out. I always feel we don't try through the centre of the midfield enough; even when it's begging to be played there, someone will smash the ball to the flank, and we end up losing possession. I don't think the first half was all negative; we did defend quite well, and Barry Cotter blocked so many efforts which could have caused further issues. My issue with the ref is the lack of control; he didn't hurry up throw-ins, and he allowed Salford to time-waste in a very obvious manner. He missed blatant pushes, and I mean physically throwing arms out to make our player(s) fall. If we wanted to play quickly, he wouldn't let us. If Salford kicked the ball away, he didn't speak to the players. It seemed he wouldn't give us obvious free kicks, especially in the second half. We got our acts together when we came back out for the final 45 + 5 minutes of added time, where we never really looked to have that edge. Jodi Jones tried and looked sharp at times, but not quite the same. Speaking of Jodi, he really disappointed with his effort of rolling around like he was seriously hurt. That had me thinking the worst of him, like he had done something serious. The referee told him to get up, something which the official hardly bothered with Salford with, while Jodi went running away, arguing, and ended up being yellow-carded for dissent. It's shameful behaviour, and it's part of the reason why I didn't like him at Coventry City. Good player, but at 27 years old, you can't do that. He was 18 at Coventry; I thought he had cut it out of his game, but he tried it on, and it's not right. The substitute changes, Martin Paterson, made a difference to the game; we grew into the game and started to dominate. It's just before that, the little things we did which invited danger; Salford's second goal is one of the softest I have seen us gift to a team. That is frustrating, but leaving it so late to try to draw or more, it wasn't great. I don't think the referee changed the game, but I honestly believe he was poor. We need to manage games better; for all the times last season we struggled with physical teams, there were zero signs of improvement, and I know we need match fitness, etc. Yet I think it's the most disappointed I have felt in the beginning of a new season from Notts. Keanan Bennetts looked good; I thought Conor Grant held play up well, but we need more fight and more desire to attack.

Hello, @MC 11. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham. I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community! I do apologise for not taking the time to welcome you, somehow I must have missed this.

Oxford United 1-1 Portsmouth Stoke City 0-2 Derby County Exeter City 0-1 Blackpool Mansfield Town 0-0 Doncaster Rovers Gillingham 1-3 Walsall (Joker) Oldham Athletic 2-0 Colchester United Tamworth 0-0 Scunthorpe United Wealdstone 3-1 Truro City

Hello, @Pete. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham. I am pleased to be welcoming you and I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community Soon, you will be welcomed by other PON members. Please do say hello, and tell us a little about yourself.

Tomorrow promises an exciting return to Meadow Lane, where I can fully immerse myself in the vibrant atmosphere of the KOP. While I plan to capture some photos, my primary focus will be on the exterior of the stadium, the stands, and the less crowded areas. 👍🏻📸

This gets a bit political, but I want to focus on the point that nobody wanted to give anyone connected to Russia money at the beginning of the war's outbreak. Chelsea's owner had silly sanctions, his money withheld, and further pressure to sell Chelsea, from which sale he donated to Ukraine. However, this is perfectly fine. Why should they even get a handout?

It rings a bell, but I don’t know why. I wonder if it’s been mentioned here or to me in the past. Thinking a little more, it might have been a quiz where I heard about the village. Quirky things like this are interesting to read about. Celtic is also a very common name for clubs. At least their badge is unique to them and quite nice for a team within the Scottish football pyramid.

Wycombe Wanderers’ style isn’t exactly the same as ours, but they do favour attacking football. I suspect they’ll deploy George Abbott similarly to how we did, but he could find himself further up the pitch. I don’t blame Tottenham Hotspur for wanting to take him a level up; personally, I would have tried to find a Championship team, but he should have a lot more time on the ball in League One. This should help him establish his presence, and I hope their squad looks after him similarly to how ours did.

I can't see the season tickets selling many more now, but the club has to keep plugging them. I would love to know the amount of sales in total and the potential number of away fans expected to make the trip to Nottingham.

UEFA is making a big mistake, and I hope every European country opposed to the war in Ukraine lets them know. When the war is finally over, will they be doing similarly for the Ukraine teams which have been destroyed? While the Russian clubs might not have anything to do with the war, funding them during it seems completely wrong on all levels. How can they be sure the money will be spent appropriately? It's deeply upsetting to see this news, as everyone should be standing by Ukraine.