Chris

Notts County's season continues to move in an upwards trajectory after an impressive display - albeit with a temporary blip - in a 4-2 win at Wycombe Wanderers in Saturday's League Two encounter at Adams Park. Richard Duffy opened the scoring with a header and some comical defending led to Adam El Abd scoring an own goal to see the Magpies two goals up early on, a position retained at the break. Wycombe, to their credit, fought back and clawed two goals back, but perseverance from Notts saw Jonathan Forte claw his side back into the lead before he laid the groundwork for Lewis Alessandra to add a killer fourth. In this article, Pride of Nottingham looks at several aspects of the game, from the performance to whether the result was fair, and how to build on from a successful weekend. Was the result fair? It’s refreshing to write this - Notts fully deserved the win and, although claiming all three points was made tougher by allowing Wycombe back into the game, County fully deserved to power on and claim the win, so absolutely fair! How did Notts play? Notts put together a fine performance in the first half, with the pressure heavily preventing Wycombe gaining any forward momentum. The opening goal saw a surge from Notts, and for the most part the football was bright. In the second half, we saw that jagged play return and Notts looked out of the game after conceding twice. Yet things clicked after Jonathan Forte scored and Notts seemed hungry for more goals! How did Wycombe Wanderers play? First half they were simply outclassed, and looked certain to fall victim to a heavy defeat – yet Gareth Ainsworth managed to spark a temporary revival which saw the host take the game to the visitors. Overall they put together a heroic performance but fell short when it truly mattered. Did our tactics work out? Kevin Nolan introduced Jorge Grant to the starting 11, and applied tactics, which would cast doubts over the ‘route one’ claims – in the first half Notts played some very good football, showing no fear against Wycombe and working hard. A relapse briefly, mostly due to a loss of focus – would eventually see two substitutions fix anything that may not have been working. The tactics from the word go, to the in-game plans worked a treat! How did the referee perform? There were some dubious decisions, yet he largely allowed the football to flow throughout the game and would only fall to some very minor criticism from me. Who do we play next? Accrington Stanley, who are they? Don’t forget that the game is played on Friday 25th due to the Forest game. How should we play them? It’s hard to consider any changes after the recent results, and performances, there are very few things to suggest. Others may wish to see Adam Collin dropped for Ross Fitzsimons but this is extremely unlikely to happen. Given the opportunity to add a bit of pace upfront instead of Jon Stead is the only change I would suggest. Notts must continue the direct approach, whilst maintaining the spirit to score and of course ensuring the play stems from the floor. I would suggest that centre of the park is the ideal area for us to explore, as there should be more time to create chances there. Wycombe fans view (courtesy of Gasroom.org): fedup1980: There is no denying that the quality of our football is very poor regardless of the goals. Shev: Left ourselves too much to do. Three of their four goals were horribly soft. At least we are finding the net - 7 in 3 games, but 8 conceded is not going to cut it. bill_stickers: I'm less angry at the 4-2 than I was at 2-0. At least we played some footie second half and it was entertaining. Their third was undeserved but the fourth just shows how poor we are defensively compared to two years ago. Shev: It did show something to get back to 2-2, but it is a shame we look so wobbly every time a ball is knocked into our box. There are going to be a lot more high scoring games, seeing as so far both teams are guaranteed two goals just for showing up. Glenactico: Similar game to Cheltenham. Stinking start left us chasing the game, then we stuff up the comeback with some woeful defending. I'd venture that our attacking football was better than County's. Second half we were excellent and looked a real threat. Could easily have put ourselves 3-2 ahead. Defensively we look horrible. Not winning enough in the air and Brown really hasn't inspired any confidence at all. wformation: A disappointing result today, but the second half did show that we can play football which is enjoyable to watch. Unfortunately, the OG in the first half and the third goal, following a foul close to our penalty area, undid the improvement. If the squad maintain the style we played in the second half I think the rest of the season could be very exciting and certainly enjoyable. Already we have scored 7 but conceded 8. So we can't say we are not seeing many goals. With the injured players back who knows how much better we might get. COYB's Share your thoughts about this tactical analysis article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County bounced back from their 2017/18 League Two campaign opening-day 3-0 loss at Coventry City in impressive fashion, seeing off a dirty Chesterfield side 2-0 in Saturday's encounter at Meadow Lane. A heated encounter, Gozie Ugwu should have earned a red card for a number of clashes with home players, and was hauled off at half time by Gary Caldwell. Gibraltar international Scott Wiseman, meanwhile, did get his marching orders after hauling down Terry Hawkridge, denying him a clear goalscoring opportunity. In the end, the encounter was settled by the man of the moment, Jorge Grant, whose looping header to break the deadlock was followed up by a spectacular free kick into the bottom corner of the Spireites net. Pride of Nottingham was at Meadow Lane for the game and took plenty of photos as part of its regular Faces of PON feature - here are our top 5 pictures! #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 -- Click to view the full gallery 'Faces of PON' on Pride of Nottingham's popular Facebook page here. -- Share your thoughts about this below and don't forget to join in with the Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Notts County put their woeful 3-0 defeat at Coventry City last week firmly behind them as they claimed a solid 2-0 win against Chesterfield in their first home game of the 2017/18 League Two season. Jorge Grant proved to be the star once again with an impressive brace consisting of a looped header followed by a stunning free kick in injury time. Prior to the loanee's goals, it was a heated, controversial game, with Gary Caldwell's side playing dirty and going down to ten men, though it could so easily have been nine bearing in mind Gozie Ugwu's antics. The result gives Kevin Nolan's side their first win of the new campaign following the loss at the Ricoh Arena in League Two and also in the League Cup at Scunthorpe United. Pride of Nottingham spoke to a number of fans prior to the Spireites game, asking them a number of questions about the opening games of the campaign and their hopes for the game ahead. Share your thoughts about this week's Meet the Fans video on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Notts County got their first win of the 2017-18 League Two season on Saturday after beating a dirty Chesterfield side 2-0 at Meadow Lane. A controversial and heated encounter, Gozie Ugwu should have earned a red card for a number of clashes with home players, and was hauled off at half time by Gary Caldwell. Scott Wiseman, meanwhile, did get his marching orders after hauling down Terry Hawkridge, denying him a clear goalscoring opportunity. Ultimately, Jorge Grant proved to be the star man for Notts once again, coming on as a second-half substitute and opening the scoring with a looping header before curling a wonderful free kick into the Spireites net in injury time. In this article, Pride of Nottingham looks at several aspects of the game, from the performance to whether the result was fair, and how to build on from a successful weekend. Was the result fair? It was difficult to see how Notts would score without the changes made within the second half, Jorge Grant instantly made an impact and his direct approach was greatly lacking prior to his arrival, whilst he also gave the squad some calm edge within the final third. It’s harder to suggest that Notts didn’t deserve the 2-0 win, a superb header and free kick greatly warranted. How did Notts play? There were signs of that jagged play we saw against Coventry City in the opening day, however there was little sign of nerves. From a defensive perspective, Notts did very well with Dan Jones frequently winning the ball back or breaking down the play. Going forward Notts passed nicely, though play was often forced or simply rushed. For a debut home performance of the campaign, it was a decent showing by Notts. How did Chesterfield play? Quite poor, they moved well but often wasted chances. They looked like a side which knew they would struggle and because of this resorted to being physical – which wasn’t pretty at times. They got the ball into the channels and linked well, yet no real tests were offered bar the odd chance and a one on one with Adam Collin. Did our tactics work out? To a degree yes, however the line-up worked from the perspective that Notts wouldn’t concede easily but going forward we had little firepower – not due to a lack of effort or performance. Simply down to the way that Chesterfield played and for the fact we desperately lack pace. The second half changes were very well thought out and changed what was lacking within the first period. How did the referee perform? I thought he actually did very well, he seemed to miss things but generally play to continue. He didn’t seem to be on either team's side which makes a change, and I know he made some poor decisions but within League Two I expect this. Who do we play next? Everton Under-21s in the EFL Trophy / Checkatrade Trophy; league-wise it’s Wycombe Wanderers who will be another stern test for the Magpies. How should we play them? We need Jorge Grant to start, it’s hard to see how we can maximise our creativity from midfield without him. Apart from that, I would keep the line-up very similar to the Chesterfield game – perhaps resting Jon Stead. Adam Collin deserves to retain his place despite opinions, the defence is hard to change after the 2-0 home win and the midfield just needs to think before rushing decisions. Going into the EFL Trophy Notts should use it to experiment with the strike options, along with one or two changes in midfield. Here's what Chesterfield fans thought of the game, courtesy of Thecfss.co.uk: Turrhall: We've been the better team, not by much, but better. Ref atrocious. Spireitefitzy: If he can get a win from here then Caldwell's stock will go up. Just a shame he has a ready made excuse if we lose. No natural wide players on the pitch and playing strikers wherever he feels like, it's poor and lessens our chances lf winning. Heart of a Niven: [Joe Anyon] looks tiny in goal. He has absolutely no presence and may as well be on the end of a Subbuteo stick for all the good he does. Spireitefitzy: Not a sending off, but shouldn't really be putting your arms up there to give the ref the opportunity. Ugwu should be off and serving a three game ban but it was missed, not sure if they can go retrospective if it's not reported so shouldnt be any repercussions. He doesn't look up to this level though. Westbars Spireite: 8-0 on corners suggests a 1-sided game. I know today is only the second league game (and likely defeat) but things could go very wrong, very quickly for Caldwell off the back of last season's farce. He earned no goodwill at all and has to change things quickly. Now would be a good start. Spire_78: Could sack Caldwell... probably should for his record alone if nothing else - except i'd have more confidence in Kim Jong-un choosing a replacement. The problems run far far deeper than just a poor manager and a collection of mediocre players. The club is being ruined gradually from the top seemingly without a care in the world - genuinely starting to fear for our League future, if this continues we could quite easily follow the likes of Stockport and York. gordon_brittas: Lowest ebb, and I can see it getting worse if changes aren't made. Two league defeats to bang average opponents. God knows what the score will be when we play the Luton's and Coventry's of this league. Exharboroughspireite: This has been coming ever since we didn't roll the dice and backed cook for the final push. Sadly I can't see this having a turnaround until either Allen puts some substantial cash into the club again or finds another buyer. The day to day running of the club Is a disgrace and Caldwell appears to be the third manager on the bounce who simply cannot hack it. Share your thoughts about this tactical analysis piece on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Notts County got their first win of the 2017-18 League Two season on Saturday after beating a dirty Chesterfield side 2-0 at Meadow Lane. A controversial encounter, Gozie Ugwu should have earned a red card for a number of clashes with home players, and was hauled off at half time by Gary Caldwell. Scott Wiseman, meanwhile, did get his marching orders after hauling down Terry Hawkridge, denying him a clear goalscoring opportunity. Ultimately, Jorge Grant proved to be the star man for Notts once again, coming on as a second-half substitute and opening the scoring with a looping header before curling a wonderful free kick into the Spireites net in injury time. Pride of Nottingham was at Meadow Lane for the first home game of the season and is delighted to have taken plenty of pictures, both of the game and of the Black and White faithful. See if you're in this week's Faces of PON! COME ON YOU PIES! Share your thoughts about this week's edition of Faces of PON on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.