Chris

Hello and welcome to Pride of Nottingham's PONcast, episode 23. In this week's episode we discuss Notts County's 1-0 win over Port Vale, recap August 2017 and look forward to September's remaining fixtures, analysing each team that the Magpies will be coming up against over the next three weeks. PONcast hosts Chris and JJ also discuss the possibility of Saturday night 7:45pm kickoffs being introduced, and whether the game should resist changes to the traditional 3pm slot on Saturday. All this and more in PONcast episode 23, only on Pride of Nottingham! Share your thoughts about this week's PONcast 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.

The best of the action from Vale Park as Notts extended their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions.

Notts County's season continues to go from strength to strength after a solid 1-0 win over Port Vale in Saturday's League Two fixture at Vale Park. Lewis Alessandra came on as a substitute and scored with his first touch of the game in the second half to edge the visitors ahead. The Valiants didn't offer much and, even with Shaun Brisley coming off injured and leaving the Magpies down to ten men having made all their substitutions, they still couldn't find a way back into the game. In this piece, Chris has taken an in-depth look at how both sides played, whether the result was fair, and how to move forward. Was the result fair? I feel the result may have probably been fairer as a draw, however I do think Notts performed better than Port Vale – so victory to the Magpies isn’t unjust or unworthy for the Valiants. How did Notts play? Notts tried to change the tempo of the game at times, only for Port Vale to bring it back down to the ground to which slowed down the game massively. Notts could have done with creating more clear chances, with a cutting edge, but overall the win wasn’t pretty at all. How did Port Vale play? They played like a team struggling to adapt to the division, despite having signed some new players – this probably also impacted their play. Port Vale struggled to get hold of the game and looked largely ineffective throughout the pitch. Did our tactics work out? The simple answer would be yes, yet this type of game is where in-game tactics could have been used to give Notts more of an edge. I’m not complaining though as everything worked well, yet from a tactical point-of-view there could have been positive changes. Yesterday’s game was largely down to performances and the type of play which emulated from it. How did the referee perform? Average League Two referee is how most would sum up Robert Lewis. There will always be something questionable decisions, yet he allowed the game to flow and generally didn’t interfere too much. Who do we play next? Morecambe – this will be a difficult game in terms of the physicality for Notts. They’re a side which we must show we can play against, and well. How should we play them? It’s quite obvious that Kevin Nolan already has the basis of his starting 11, any changes will merely reflect on the opposition or injuries/knocks picked up. Personally, I would look into forming a holding midfield and include the absentee Rob Milsom – he will allow Notts to fight the type of tactics which Morecambe will try to play with, whilst his ‘move forward’ frame of mind will allow Notts to go forward in a positive way. I highly suspect there won’t be any changes up top, however I would start with a bit more pace there if possible. Shola Ameobi will be influencing the midfield and anchor play, so if Jon Stead starts he must play closer to the Morecambe defence. He could use Jorge Grant, as someone who could release him but there’s no doubt in my mind that Notts must look to retain the ball and move promptly with it. Draw the fouls and use it to gain ground, whilst any free-kicks outside of the penalty will be key. Port Vale fans view (courtesy of One Vale Fan): Jeffers: We can't score goals as we don't play with strikers other than the cart horse up front. It's not Tom Pope's fault but his best days are behind him. Where is the pace to frighten defenders... lying on the sick bed. Jacko51: In our last 12 league games we have failed to score in 9 of them. Brown won't solve this problem by playing Tom Pope on his own up front with no one within 30 yards of him. Tom won't outrun the defence so you can't play the ball in behind. There is no point hoofing the ball in the air to Pope if no one is near him to pick up the knock downs. It's absolute madness to keep doing the same thing game after game and expecting a different outcome. Jeffers: Tom played well against Crewe but not today. Jones gave him 20 yards and caught him. Don't be blinded by Toms heart on the sleeve attitude, but he will be lucky to get 10 goals. He never was blessed with pace, but my frustration is that he needs legs around him which Brown doesn't see. Bluedevil: Why did Brown make his first substitution when he did? We had no shape or threat after his changes, County couldn't have believed their luck. Brown snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory today. Share your thoughts about this 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. 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 v Accrington

Notts County have ended August in a healthy league position of seventh in the table following two wins, a draw and a defeat from their first four League Two fixtures. This weekend, in the first match of September, the Magpies travel to Vale Park for yet another difficult proposition in these early weeks, against recently relegated Port Vale. As baptisms of fire go, having three teams that were in League One last season as your opponents in the first five league fixtures of the season has to be right up there. Nonetheless, Notts are in a healthy position both on the pitch and off it going into Saturday's game. Pride of Nottingham spoke to Valiants fan Robbie Earle's Perm ahead of the fixture to get an insight into the opposition. About REP: I've been a supporter since 1982, I fell asleep during my first game against Scunthorpe apparently! My dad was a Vice President and dragged me along as a very small child. Favourite player without a shadow of a doubt was the legend that is Robbie Earle, I have his shorts from the play off final victory over Bristol Rovers from 1989! You've twice been in administration this century - what happened and how did you as a club overcome it? The first followed the collapse of ITV Digital and our slightly hookie chairman sticking all his eggs in one basket with it after he had axed our legendary manager John Rudge. The second was simply repulsive. We were being run by a 'fans' consortium', Valiant 2001, who sourced money from the average fan and then basically used their positions for their own their own benefit from 2003 to 2012 in various guises. They brought a number of odious characters to the board during that time and clung to power so desperately even though they did not have the finances to support the club and ignored many fans' protests, the fans they were supposed to represent! One member became CEO and took out a significant salary annually and even got his share money back before admin struck, others bought in with nil-paid shares (they never paid for them) but ultimately every single board member (Micky Adams briefly aside) should hang their heads in shame during those 9 years. You were relegated last season - what went wrong? - What steps has the club taken in the summer to have a team with the potential to bounce back? Things were going well until October when the playing side began to fall apart and Bruno Ribeiro, who was brought in by our owner last summer to reinvigorate the club after a particularly dull and uninspiring time under Rob Page. Sadly as seemed obvious to all the vast numbers of players from overseas struggled to adjust as the temperatures dropped and Bruno resigned on Boxing Day. That lead to Michael Brown taking over the role of manager on a temporary basis until the summer and finally being appointed full time this summer. This ultimately is where the problems went from bad to worse, we have signed a crazy amount of players over the last 14/15 months and Brown's signings have in the main been injury prone, aging or unproven youngsters. Tactics have largely been completely baffling and his training regime has led to many muscle injuries. Fans started to turn a couple of weeks ago during our abysmal defeat to Chesterfield but Brown and his assistants Morgan and Kelly seem slightly oblivious hoping more signings and a settled side will improve us. We have cried out for quality over quantity during the reign of Page, Ribeiro and Brown and all three have simply ignored this which has lead in my opinion to our decline. We in Nottingham have "noisy neighbours" in Forest - how does it feel as a Port Vale fan to have Stoke City FC on your doorstep? Its a little inconsequential at the moment to be honest. We had the upper hand for much of the 1990s but since the early 2000s our paths haven't crossed. Fans still sing songs about Stoke and that little diver Mark Stein but in all honesty we are light years apart currently which is a huge shame as, when I was growing up, the intensity in the city between the two teams was superb. Robbie Williams is arguably your most famous fan - do you have any stories, or have heard any stories, about him at Port Vale? Quirkily, he actually went to the same school as me and saved me from being beaten up by some older kids during my first year! I also sat on the same row as him away at a Stoke game in the early 90s. Other than that not too much as he doesn't attend or openly support Vale so much anymore. That said during the 90s and at the height of Take That's powers he generated record club shop sales by wearing replica shirts etc which young girls the world over then ordered and of course he put in £249k to the club when the 'fans consortium' Valiant 2001 (the maximum amount allowed at the time) came to power, sadly that and his proxy vote on the board was then used by the repulsive board members to protect their positions of power. What games are you looking forward to the most this season? Coventry to be honest, one of my closest friends is a huge Coventry fan and finally I'm hoping we will get to attend both games together as it hasn't happened over recent seasons. Other than that any local game where there is a good atmosphere created by the crowd is always worth attending, so roll on the 2nd September! Score/and scorer(s) I can't see anything other than ANOTHER defeat if Brown is still in charge sadly as you appear well organised with a strong spine, 0-2 with Lewis Alessandra and Michael O'Connor, a real favourite of mine, scoring. (We wish he was playing but he's out for the long term - Ed) Hopefully you will leave that terrible excuse for a human being Dan Jones a long way away from Vale Park. Share your thoughts about this Opposition View feature 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.

Four games into the 2017/18 League Two season I can honestly say how good it is to be back, with the club in a new direction and the players largely showing that we can move forward as a club – especially after the disappointing opening day defeat against Coventry City. Performances against Scunthorpe United in the League Cup and against Wycombe Wanderers in the league highlight the much-improved atmosphere and work ethic at Notts. With many of the new signings getting to grip with the expectations of Kevin Nolan, the togetherness in the early games shows just how different things are – whilst to a degree it shows just how much further the club could go. I’d even say that the Magpies have exceeded my expectations, and I’m not overly disappointed about missing out on going top due to the draw against Accrington Stanley. Yet despite it being very early into the new season, there are some concerns which will hopefully be dismissed after 7-10 games. The first concern is the squad size - well, more the fact we seem to have signed players that are more ‘quantity’ rather than ‘quality’. This said, some seem to be able to be future first-team players, yet it’s just difficult to see how they will do it here at Notts – as there seem to be limited chances and it’s important for young professionals to gain match time. I realise that there’s a section of fans that believe many of the younger signings are simply development players, yet for me I would have rather seen us opt for the quality that can bring further stability back to the club – maybe even reinforce the chances of gaining promotion this season. Another concern is the inability to reward players who perform well, whilst backing inconsistency – this is a two-sided coin but for me having players fighting to start is only a good thing. Yet the competiveness isn’t good when there’s little to no rewards. Take the Jonathan Forte situation for example – this has the potential to be a much bigger problem and if it happened under the previous regime I would be certain it would have more of an impact on the team morale. I saw a poll on Twitter, I think it was started by NewarkPie, and the response in favour to see the out of favour player Forte start. Now, I do think Nolan is trying to foster some consistency and keep certain players’ morales high – yet the whole ‘I had a frank and honest conversation’ is pretty weird. Considering Jon Stead, he hasn’t really contributed anything and the fact that the majority of fans seem concerned that he’s simply lost his legs. Personally, I thought he would gain motivation from simply sitting a game or two out. Can we really keep starting every game with him and Shola Ameobi up top? Coventry was a stark reminder that even in League Two you require pace to stand a chance. And this is where having young faces and hungry professionals eager to step in would be a realistic way forward. Up front we have little options on paper - despite Jonathan Forte showing us that he can score, will he make any impact playing the odd 15 minutes here or there? Nobody knows what Callum Saunders has to offer, yet I don’t think he’s even made the bench in a league game – someone correct me if this is wrong. And the fact that a large portion of fans want Notts to sign a striker, even going as far as saying the club should wave their chequebook at players (*cough* JJ *cough*). We have seen in previous seasons that this simply isn’t an easy thing to do. So in a nutshell, I hope the club can avoid issues regarding players who are phased out of the first time or have limited chances to play, whilst ensuring that the quantity we have are in a position to be quality, another situation which we require to be wary about. Overall it’s very early doors, and this complete performance by Notts doesn’t seem that far a way. Yet we need to be more lethal upfront, and more clinical at the back. Additionally it would be welcoming to see Notts being able to pass and retain the ball, as this would have ensured the outcome of the Accrington game would have been much different. Share your thoughts about this feature 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.

Pride of Nottingham asked several Notts County fans a number of questions ahead of the Magpies' 2-2 League Two draw with Accrington Stanley at Meadow Lane. If you would like to feature, get in touch! Feel free to submit potential questions below and we will look into asking them. Be sure to subscribe, share, like and comment - Your support is greatly appreciated. Visit us on: Website: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/ Community: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/community/ Don't forget to register on our site, look out for us on social media and at live games. COYP!

A topsy-turvy August on the pitch for Notts County has ended on a somewhat sour note as the Magpies were held to a 2-2 draw by Accrington Stanley on Friday night. In the first League Two fixture of the bank holiday weekend, rescheduled due to a clash with the neighbours over the Trent, the Magpies edged into a 1-0 half time lead at Meadow Lane lead thanks to Jon Stead's penalty. Things got even better for Kevin Nolan's charges as they doubled their lead in the 54th minute through Jorge Grant, but for the second consecutive game, this was to be wasted. First, Mark Hughes looped home a volley, then in injury time, after a player from each side had been sent off, Mallik Wilks struck the equaliser. Notts were unable to conjure up another fightback like at Wycombe Wanderers, and in fact were lucky not to concede a killer third in the dying stages of the game. Pride of Nottingham was at the Lane for the game, and interviewed a number of home fans prior to kickoff, asking them about the Notts team spirit, their favourite goal so far this season, and more. 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. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

A rollercoaster August on the pitch for Notts County has ended on a somewhat sour note as the Magpies were held to a 2-2 draw by Accrington Stanley. In Friday night's League Two fixture at Meadow Lane, rescheduled due to a fixture clash with the neighbours over the Trent, the Magpies edged into a 1-0 half time lead thanks to Jon Stead's penalty. Things got even better for Kevin Nolan's charges as they doubled their lead in the 54th minute through Jorge Grant, but for the second consecutive game, this was to be wasted. First, Mark Hughes looped home a volley, then in injury time, after a player from each side had been sent off, Mallik Wilks struck the equaliser. Here is Pride of Nottingham's review and analysis of the match. Was the result fair? It’s harder this week, as on one hand Notts didn’t deserve to lose their 2-0 goal lead but on the other we didn’t finish our chances which ultimately lead to Accrington coming back into it. Putting aside tactics, changes, and the woeful decisions by the officials, I actually feel the final score doesn’t reflect well on the game at all. How did Notts play? First half we passed the ball around well, defended efficiently but that same old problem of rushing when in the final third appeared. Until the Jon Stead penalty, I honestly couldn’t see Notts scoring and that decision lifted the confidence of the players. My gripes against Accrington is that we simply weren’t fluid enough when it came to truly finishing the game off – yet several players did perform well and as a team we did okay. How did Accrington Stanley play? They passed the ball well, made good movements and actually looked sharper when they focused on playing football (not pulling shirts or diving) – yet they didn’t defend very well and heavily relied upon their goalkeeper. When it came to scoring opportunities they didn’t really threaten as much as I felt they should have, I’d describe them as the typical ‘League Two’ team. Did our tactics work out? In a way, yes, the tactics set out by Kevin Nolan worked. It allowed Notts to play with a level of confidence but there were visible signs that needed adjusting at half time – whilst the substitutions actually balanced the game in Accrington Stanley’s favour. Reverting to one up front in the second half really had a negative impact on the game. How did the referee perform? Possibly one of the worst referees I will see this season, he gave fouls for literally nothing – most of the time he seemed to favour Accrington. Whilst they as an opposition side focused on shirt pulling, physically restraining players and pushing – very few of these decisions were noticed. I feel the penalty decision was quite soft, and a call which he felt probably would balance up his poor decisions – yet he was card/whistle happy and I just wanted to see him assert his authority a lot more without being daft. Who do we play next? Port Vale – a team which will give us more of a football match, and Notts will need to show their determination towards achieving a respectable league finish by ensuring we leave with a good result. How should we play them? It’s obvious to suggest, yet I have been calling for it for a while now – start Jonathan Forte in place of Jon Stead. Also, bring back Lewis Alessandra, allow Jorge Grant to play a more direct role just behind the forwards when in procession and allow someone like Rob Milsom to be the forward thinker in midfield. Without completely changing the balance, there’s not a lot Kevin Nolan can do but I feel this would give us favour over Vale and how they may possible set themselves up. Defensively we need to be accountable, only commit when there’s a good chance of winning the ball – so Richard Duffy go back and access your defending against Coventry City and Stanley. Stanley fans view (courtesy of Accringtonweb): Phil Whalley: Terrific spirit from the Stanley boys, Wilkes a superb finish after a Sykes nod on for an unlikely point. Once it went 10 vs 10 we were all over them. Chappers MOM by a country mile, let's get behind this lad, he needs to keep building his confidence. McLeod terribly unlucky to be sent off, he was rightly fuming. A really good point against one of the better Notts teams of recent years. Alvin the Chipmunk: Best goalkeeping performance by any Accy stopper in many a year. Not a vintage performance but sheer bloody mindedness salvaged a point. Lord Stiffupperlip: Another stonewall penalty denied, which could have won us the game. But how & why were they given theirs? Must be the softest penalty award ever! Monkey Hanger: Still a penalty as one of our lads charged into the back of one of theirs in the box. Soft maybe but did Kayden go down too easy with the push. Penalty for me anyway as contact was there. just going off the highlights which was not the ref's view. Share your thoughts about this match 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.

A topsy-turvy August on the pitch for Notts County has ended on a somewhat sour note as the Magpies were held to a 2-2 draw by Accrington Stanley on Friday night. In the first League Two fixture of the weekend, rescheduled due to a clash with the neighbours over the Trent, the Magpies edged into a 1-0 half time at Meadow Lane lead thanks to Jon Stead's penalty. Things got even better for Kevin Nolan's charges as they doubled their lead in the 54th minute through Jorge Grant, but for the second consecutive game, this was to be wasted. First, Mark Hughes looped home a volley, then in injury time, after a player from each side had been sent off, Mallik Wilks struck the equaliser. Pride of Nottingham was at the Lane for the game, and as always, we spoke with fans and took pictures of them. See if you've made it in this week's Faces of PON! Share your thoughts about this week's 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. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.