Chris

I have seen some Derby youth streamed games over the years, and they don't have a bad academy. Even when they were at their worst, it's the academy that gave them something to fill their squad out and some are real gems for the future. Easily Championship, League One potential and if their better prospects get the right time I think they could see more pushing them forwards or being sold on. I am not surprised they beat us 2-0, to be fair it could have been more and our lads shouldn't dwell on it.

As I get older, I do understand more why some fans seem more 'half full' than 'half empty', I feel quite rational when it comes to what I observe and I try to keep things in mind when times are tough. I wouldn't class myself 'happy clapper', though isn't that what a fan should do when times are tough? I mean, I try to put this out there that during previous regimes we wanted a squad that wanted to win, love the club and respected the fans. The Reedtz family has instituted this with every managerial appointment: players come in to give it their best shot. Some aren't good, but very few do not care or don't apply themselves. I felt very worried about relegation out of the Football League, but like many other teams it's done us more good than any previous reset attempts. That's a big reminder that there's always something to remain optimisitic about. Look, I am one of those fans who support the club, but I will support the players too in their efforts. They come and go, but we remain and if that means we don't hit the expectations I can accept it. Seasons always have their ups and downs, so when you have what we do now we really need to stay humble. Trust the process, try to encourage and so far we haven't had a bad season really since Alan Hardy left. And there's nothing wrong with ambition, but I can't allow that cause problems for long term success and so I think there's always a balance.

I am currently wide awake with stomachache, and there's zero chances that I will get to sleep any time soon (side effect of medication). I won't go into that further, because it will bore everyone. Though I am finding it enjoyable to continue coding, I have finished the social publishing tool at least a working version but I do need to figure out how to hook it into a part of the which would make it even more powerful. Right now, I am working on the partner system application which has been out for almost a year and bringing that back would be nice to get a handful of business involved with helping me to maintain the sites costs. Before that, I was working on a task manager and in the past I tried using two. One was very powerful but between v4.5 and v4.7 it was maintained very well and I swiched to a simplier one but struggled to make it work. This one I am building a believe to be more effective, and whilst I might release it for others to use right now it's very bespoke to my tastes and needs. And before I get told off by someone, honestly sleeping isn't an option right now and all I can do is wait for the right time. I shouldn't impact me tomorrow at all, I am really enjoying the improvements to the weather and I can honestly feel the difference with moving around. I might try to have a walk to my dad's tomorrow, check in on him and tell him off for not getting into a routine. Really, I just want to make sure he's okay and give him some company. It's my eldest daughter's birthday next week and we'll be grandadnapping him.

There was a lot of pressure going into the game for him, a few Walsall fans spoke to me before the game and they mentioned how clueless their manager was. It sounded like with every press conference and post match presser he was doing the typical "save my job" comments. I mean he claimed Walsall played well against Notts, they really didn't. Only marginally were they any better than us, and attacking wise was their own blessing but still not pretty. A manager can't defend a performance conceding the goals in the manner he did against us, so late in the game. To me it would have suggested that the players just wasn't buying into his vision, and have zero confidence in moving forward under him which does tend to force the deicison to pull the trigger.

So, I am curious. If PON were to host its own talent contest. What would be your talent? Everyone possesses unique talents, often lying dormant, yet when uncovered, they can truly shine. That doesn't change the fact it's something unique about you. I am very interested in what yours might be; I won't waffle on about what I would consider to be mine. I did that in the weekly discussion (which you should get involved with). 😉 So, what are you hiding in the talent department?

I made up with Kevin when he apologised to me after referring to me as "Arsenal Fan TV" and claiming I hassled the players for selfies. I only have a few, and the whole complaint about his falls apart when I show I had no involvement over JJ publishing the images sent to the FB page from a friend called Ben (R.I.P) Highlighting Liam Noble's training session with us. This will make me sound bitter, but I had no end of abuse directed towards me on certain social media channels due to his unprofessional comments. Although he apologised, I must confess that I still harbor resentment. I was waiting for this to happen, the moment he made some baffling signings and stopped playing someone far better than one certain signing. I am sorry, I don't believe he's good enough to manage. He is biased towards his friends, he doesn't understand tactics as a manager and he's just a bit cocky in believing he can do better. Our fans call Paul Ince, Keith Curle and Chris Kiwomya. All three of those are better than Kevin Nolan. My tinted glasses can't go as far as declaring Jamie Fullarton as better but they are incredibly close.

I finally finished 1.0.2 of the social publisher app I have built. 😁 As of now, I have received META's approval, albeit only for "testing." I hope they won't make it hard for me to obtain and use their API, there's been many cool features lost of the years due to them and I pitched this idea way back in v3.4 to a friend called Newbie LAC. It will be a good step forward, as I rely on other social tools but I have always wanted something in-house. I like to keep the operation costs down, so this is a viable way and I may extend the function to the status page. As that could be a backup if the site does go down, it will still cover what the publisher should be doing but that's further work and I am rabbitting on about coding. I spoke to my dad, who for some reason enjoys making me live on the edge. I called him around 1:30, as he didn't respond to my messages prior. It's easy for some, I tell you. Here's me wanting to keep awake, while he's enjoying kips right left and centre. 😝 No, but in all seriousness. He sounded cheerful, and more awake than normal even though it seemed I had disturbed him. I have been having a joke with the friends who take me to games, and I have been showing them my impressions of characters. I can impersonate a variety of celebrities, including the easily recognisable Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's known me since early school days, and I hide my impressions until the final year of school. I mean, I did things to make people laugh before but it wasn't anything more than just random bursts. Anywho, my business studies teacher had a group of career advisers come in and she told them about my impressions. I still regret taking their advice about being a voice actor, it would have been a sweet job. 😍 So, I sent three voice messages to my friend to make him and his partner laugh. Usually, I do Miss Piggy, which has them in stitches but I have been expanding. Today, i sent them Barney the dinosuar singing "I love you, you love me", Yogi Bear and Herber 'the pervert' from Family Guy. Just for a laugh, I forwarded two to @Fan of Big Tone. Kirk Ireton sounds like a good area to be looking into. I am a bit wary of routes which take you onto roads. I have seen people hiking going and coming back from away games and some drivers just plough through them. I thought that was you and Mrs T riding that peddle bike for two. 😂 That's a great bit of information; I will forward it to my friend.

I can do a good impression of Yogi Bear, saying that he's smarter than the average bear. 🤣 Donation page has been revamped with new widgets, as per my coninued effort to be transparent it also shows I would break down the donations. I never expect to reach the goal target, but when it does it would have a breakdown. 9/10 all the funds go towards the dedicated server. https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/donate/ The Avatar Gallery has been rebuilt and new features such as claiming a display picture are included to avoid other members using the same one. My full attention turns to the social publisher application I am building, this will hopefully tie into the featured system (not spotlight) and allow for the featured page to bring interesting content. I am also outlining what will be included for those who subscribe to PON. Everyone helps massively, so please don't feel inclined to donate or subscribe. As a community we do our best with every single action we take.

If my walking becomes challenging due to the terrain, or pain, it may take longer. It's not so much the distance, though I think 8 miles is do-able. We are planning to book somewhere for 2 nights, so multiple routes would be very ideal. Well done, my friend. 👏🏻 That is really something. It's great to see you actively keeping your fitness up.

Strava is what I used when I had regular walks every day. I can't do that now but I am hoping to focus on things which might help my staminia. Not that I think it would be a real changer, but I do think I can maintain walking without giving up because of pain. My friend that takes me to games, he's trying to get me to go to the gym with him and that's something I am going to do - we have been waiting to see if Jake wants to come but as all people his age do he doesn't find the time. Kate's currently with my dad, Jake's gone out for an eye appointment and I think I might be by myself for now. The house is very quiet, it usually is, but this quietness is 'still'. Speaking of Strava, I plan at some stage this year to do a hike. This is very ambitious of me, but it's something I have wanted to do for the past 10 years and I have put that off, so I can't critise Jake all that much. Somewhere nice in the Peak District, and routes I can take as easy or as slow as I want. Does anyone know a good site to find routes to walk? There's a couple of options to stay in and around the Bakewell area, but the sites I have found don't really give good details on what routes are actually like.

Biggest understatement in terms of comments on football: "Suspensions likely to come.". 🤣 What the hell am I seeing? I know South American football is very violent, and Brazil are one of the worst places for that, but the keeper turns a bad 50/50 into something you might see in WWE/AEW, Only they wouldn't do the lamest knee drops, if I were in charge of the punishments I would issue bans. None of this is professional behaviour, and the punishment of bans is the only real way to combat it.

I look back at the start of the season where I honestly felt disappointed about the decision not to go with a more proven name after the sacking of Stuart Mayanrd. I felt we should have given him more time if the decision was to pluck someone else out unproven due to Maynard's history with earning promotion. I have been vocal about my annoyance with how we would make substitutions and start the wrong players under hum. It seemed like form didn't mean anything, and these are two key areas I feel Martin Paterson excels in. The majority of players Paterson starts with deserve to be there, and it's based on form. He's not afraid to mix things up, but what he brings is stability. Routine and a steady team does bring good results in most cases, which makes it a lot easier when he makes changes to win a game or to keep us in it. There's only a select few games I think Paterson made a mistake with his changes, I look back on Maynard and ponder why he was insistant with throwing certain players on that just offered little in games. Some fans believe Notts are a weaker team this season, and I don't agree. I believe we are more together, but it helps when you have a manager that will make changes to win a game instead of trying to hold onto a win/draw. Les Bradd and so many other ex-footballers have said that attacking is the best form of attacking. Even when we aren't as god going forward, under Paterson we are stronger at the back. Paterson has proven so far that he's been a very good decision to be appointed, some will feel our squad should be walking the league but that's not football in any sense of realism.

I thought today was mostly good, but I feel a bit bummed (down) now. I have been burying my head in code, trying to get parts sorted so that it's easier to return the content to the site. I won't focus on that, but it's like a bomb being dropped on the inside and no matter how many positives I can think of it still not enough to change the perception in my own mind. That said, whilst I waited for the kick off yesterday's game I finally met someone who I have looked out for at away games for awhile. I thought I had in the past, but I think it's a mismemory. It's always been a huge pleasure to meet people, and it's one of the many privileges of the site. It's one of the best things about the community aspects, as I still remember not knowing any fans aside of my family and although sometimes I find games to be overwhelming I do look back at all the wonderful people I have met. I'm not mentioning who, it's not fair and respect privacy but they also kindly donated. When someone does this in person, I find it difficult and I tried politely to say that it wasn't needed. In my mind, I was worried it would be taken the wrong way, but when someone insists I will accept it but it doesn't take the awkwardness a way. Everyone who has helped, it does show me what the site means and I am always thankful for that. It was nice to have a brief chat, but I wished I didn't fall into complaining about a few things. 🤣 Ironically, those views were multipled by the behaviour of some supporters who I am gunning to speak with in person. I won't stand by seeing abuse, and I will call it out. These people are always the first to want something from the club or the players, even after being a gob*hit* towards them. In other news, I have made a large step with improvements and I will continue to reach this target. I am hoping to have my social publisher application ready, but I am still stuck on a few parts.

It would really be something special, if we can start a new winning streak and use that to fuel us into a top 3 finish fight. I really hope MK Dons mess up and fall into the playoffs, but it's interesting to know we are doing better at this stage in comparison to last season.

If the game in hand that we have, and MK Dons/Cambridge United goes our way, and we win. It could push us much closer to Bromley. Notts only needs a few more wins to seal a promotion place, and whilst that is good, the club shouldn't just sit on that. We need to push for an automatic space, there's still much that can happen and its highlighting why wins like yesterday are crucial as we almost came back with no points. I'd like to believe we could mount a bid for the title, but I think just being in contention for an automatic place is more realistic. I am hoping that we can continue to win, even when the performances aren't the best and come the final six features it would be satisfying to see us in a similar position as we are now. That would make me believe we are capable of securing 2nd or 3rd.

It was a good decision, because they did make an important impact. Some may very gain a vote or two, so it is best that they were included. I felt very sorry for Conor Grant, he couldn't get going and it was mostly due to how we played. The lack of space creation, but that did change when the subs came on.

Matty Platt was brilliant at the back and dealt with Walsall well. Tom Iorpenda and Nick Tsaroulla are also two I considered, whilst I thought Jodi Jones played an important role he wasn't exactly his usual self and I found some of his decisions/play to be wasteful. Ollie Norburn wasn't really in it until we made changes, so I can't vote for him despite agreeing he was a hero today.

There's no glossing over how terrible things were for the majority of the game, but the main thing is the win. It was a superb comeback and very exciting in the dying minutes of the game. For those who attended there's nothing at all like coming back in this manner, and it means more when the performance overall wasn't the best. That isn't something we need to dwell on, or be harsh on the players. Unfortunately, I found the game very difficult and it's making me reconsider attending games in the future because I don't go to listen to people abusing the players (both teams). Notts seemed to lack urgency and failed to generate any genuine forward momentum. Everything was being channeled through the right, and it made it very easy for Walsall to just sit back and attempt to stop us. I understand why modern football relies on passing back, but it is frustrating and today there was too much of this. It came as a result of players not making runs or movement, we can blame the player with the ball but if he knows Walsall will pinch it back it will make them re-think who to give the ball. The subs made a huge difference and we started to do everything that was lacking before Walsall had scored. It was a wake up call, and whilst they were poor too. I feel a draw was a fairer result, so I am delighted we pinched all three points. Winning ugly is something a lot of fans claim to want, but in truth many focus too much on performances and whilst I believe they matter. As, I would rather be a good, consistent team. I understand the importance of winning ugly. Tom Iorpenda, Nick Tsaroulla, and Jodi Jones truly impressed me, although JJ struggled at times with his performance, and I believe it's important to acknowledge that without excessive criticism. It's harsh to be lenenant to him, at the cost of another player who put in more effort but didn't really output much. Just my opinion, of course.

Strut your smarts like I told you in the PM, I should make it clearer my message is a joke. Though, I do like the idea of randomly whacking people like Granny would joke about. 1 New Notification "Chris has just wracked with GrannyPie's walking sticks". 🤣 It's nice to be back, and it will be even more enjoyable when the standards I set myself improve, but I know, little steps. I want to make sure I get next season spot on, and planning will help with that. Thanks for your kind words, Mr Michael. 👍

It would be a welcome boost to the squad to see Alassana Jatta back, but if he is ready I hope we see him return to good form and work hard. He's been a bit patchy in spells, and his goals often overshadow this fact, but provided he scores goals that is the main thing. I think to some extent it does with other strikers, our favourite players of some fans. The game is very crucial that we don't drop points, I don't think it will prove to be as forgiving as the Grimsby home game. Winning matches at this stage of the season is such a vital thing, and I think realistically all we need is 4 wins to secure the playoffs, if we say 73 is enough which I think it would be or 75. We'd have to win 8 or 9 to stay in an automatic fight, which makes me hopeful we don't take our feet off the gas and just settle for the playoffs. It puts a lot of focus on rebounding from the home defeat, and pressure to get back to winning ways, but I don't think its always a bad thing. Walsall aren't the same team as last season, but are a good squad. Now for us is a decent time to be playing them, despite the media. We have a talented squad capable of supporting Matthew Dennis creatively, even in Jatta's absence. The main thing is to make sure we finish our chances, and don't fall asleep at the back. Squad wise, I don't think much needs changing but I would hope Martin Paterson thinks carefully about when to make changes. He's done well, and I do prefer his changes over Stuart Maynard, but insisting on bring two fresh legs out wide and a CB who plays behind one of them just seems risky when the game is so tight. Walsall never makes the Bascot Stadium an easy place to get points.

Right that's it!! Do you remember how forums used to have a poke feature? MySpace had it, then Facebook but they made a big thing about removing it due to being rude. Well, I am going to build one where I can wrack people with my mum's walking sticks instead of poking them. I don't like seeing the comment "cleverer people". I try to explain, but I do understand that it can go over people's heads.

Learning about important figures is something I think more people should do, it's partly why I like posts like this because without them being mentioned you might not otherwise be aware or make the connection that this is the same person who was issued on a stamp once upon a time. There's an element of legacy that makes it exciting to read about those who fought in the war, who made a difference and stood for good.

I would hope he settles into a role, but as far as his career goes I really don't care about him. He showed his colour when he ran off to FGR, and the best thing he did was to leave and take Michael Doyle with him. Two things Notts became better for having been done, no offense to Doyle but he hung around offering little as a player but he did help somewhat as an assistant. I wonder what he's doing since leaving Woking? Ian Burchnall won't last long in Scotland IMO.

I have fixed all the existing themes which members can choose from, ensuring that they are all back to working order. If an issue does occur, or you notice something please don't sit on it, mention it and I'll get to the bottom of it as quickly as I can. However, I am happy with the tests and checks I have performed. The default PON theme has been completely resolved. The lightweight theme is fixed. The fluid version which breaks down the forums into a single listing is unchanged as it didn't appear to have any issues. With these changes, I have made sure that the icons in the mobile app are fixed and work accordingly. This includes the mode toggle, which is now my own code as I found the two previous apps to be fiddly to maintain as I made alterations to one and the other used the incorrect icon for the light mode. The majority of resources have been re-enabled after upgrading them to the latest version; only two remain disabled currently. I have also upgraded to the latest version of the site software which brings mostly fixes and speed improvements with the removal of redundant javascript. The Full List can be read below: I would like all who read this to know my aim is to bring back the content ASAP, however, there are still things out of my control such as if I am unwell. I have missed putting out content, but at the same time I can get overwhelmed by social media. I believe the publisher tool I am close to competing with will allow team members to chip in on their terms. It's about making a difference where possible, but it would be welcomed as with the right interest the gaps I find difficult due to health could be somewhat covered. Please do whatever you can to help, whether that be commenting or starting topics. It's wonderful to see so many people engaging, and although things are slow, the community never fails to amaze me. It's a pleasure to be able to do what I can, and although sometimes it's not enough. Your support goes along way in allowing me to fire on all cylinders! Many thanks! Chris