Chris

TBH, an update on contract talks would have easily outweighed any disappointment from the transfer window deadline day. I think Jodi Jones and Dan Crowley will be waiting to see how things progress, but if Notts are approaching talks with them, then we need to sell how they are performing and give them reassurances that we are pushing for promotion. Players naturally want to be a part of ambitious clubs, it's all well-being linked to the likes of MK Dons, but there's no guarantee when making a move like that. Come Christmas, ideally that will be when Notts tries to get them both secured with a contract extension.

Congratulations, Dan Crowley! It was well deserved! Each of the nominations worked tirelessly during August, and it was a good month for the squad as a whole.

I'm not expecting a Ryan Yates type signing, although I do think from the sounds of it George Abbott sounds a more gifted footballer in terms of talent. I mean, it would be awesome if he was a work horse, or of the mould that we experienced with Jack Grealish and Callum McGregor, but I think that seems unlikely too. I have very little expectations from him, but I am encouraged, and I believe he will give us all. The comments about his defensive capabilities are a good sign, League Two is far more physical than youth football. Yet I think given a chance he will flourish and even if he's not of the benefits of the players mentioned previously, I am sure he will stamp his own marks on his time here. He sounds decent enough, he spoke well in his video, but not so much the video Notts used on the reel. He sounded very much like a footballer, but that could be down to being unsure what to say.

I don't see him as being an important part of the squad, if he becomes this, it would be a bonus but to my eyes he's more cover. I think there's a higher possibility that we might play him not as a striker. Obviously, I think we have signed him to give us options for that area. I just think we'll see him playing deeper, which if, it is the case, it could free up Cedwyn Scott who would benefit from playing as a striker. It's quite underwhelming, but it's for Jevani Brown to prove himself. There were comments about him coming back from an injury, so there's that potential that he might not be quite ready. Since this seems to be a remote transfer, I think it's highly likely that we couldn't make options before Brown's worked out, and he's come into the plan since then. As I say, if he does well brilliant, if he doesn't play much at least we have the cover. If he doesn't perform well, then I think we haven't lost anything. There's always January, which I feel we might use more productively.

It sounds very much like a PR statement to try to defuse any potential disappointment. "always making responsible decisions with the long-term financial sustainability of the club in mind." I didn't expect us to throw money at the transfer window, reading between the lines it sounds like the club has actively tried to bring in players but have fallen into the market of signing loan players towards the end of the transfer window. There's nothing wrong with that. I am sure that the recruitment process looked at the options, and we might not have got all the players we aimed for, but that's football. "We’re confident that we’ve achieved those objectives this summer and have every belief that, while League Two is shaping up to be an extremely strong division once again, the squad we’ve assembled is capable of competing for promotion." I feel confident, there's always January to review what we have budget wise and what players could possibly make movements coming in. The positives are that we have rejected bids, those could have seen reinvestments in the players, but I don't think we would easily find that type of quality. Dan Crowley and Jodi Jones are vital to the team's dynamics. It's a welcomed statement but quite basic; I am sure I would have expected one. As I say, I think it's to keep morale up and avoid negative landmines from going off.

Given the chance, I think we have to play through the middle a bit. Swindon might be expecting us to use the flanks, I think Tranmere Rovers assumed that and away from home we can't rely on the home advantage to lift the players. I really hope Curtis Edwards is rewarded for his superb game against Grimsby, I think he would make the difference again if we start bright enough. I've been noticing a lot of comments about Kabongo Tshimanga lately. I think he's very overrated and has wasted a good opportunity at Peterborough to make something of himself. He doesn't worry me, League Two might be more of his standard but if we play well defensively, he has always looked very average against us. He did when he played for Chesterfield, and he was in form for them. I don't want this to sound like I am dismissing Swindon's chances, I just think they'll have better options.

He did a lot in his short time whilst working with our academy, although a lot of that effort had to be restarted from scratch when Alan Hardy messed up the youth teams status. However, the coaching staff are a lot better than what you would believe for a League Two. They have the future hopefuls in year groups, working on their ability and trying to get them to take as much information on board. Paul Hart deserves to enjoy his retirement.

Tony Hateley was a name my grandfather often mentioned; he would tell me about the likes of him and Tommy Lawton. It's hard to picture as a young kid, how Notts fortunes had changed and why we weren't a bigger club despite having some of the finest players in the game. Hateley was more than a traditional forward; he was very good at attacking teams and only needs a sight of goal to have a chance. My grandfather said he was brilliant at striking the ball first time and had a habit of doing well with his head.

Fitness can be a big part of football, and the level you play can be a big part in that working when the games reach those higher minutes. When you face a team that has a good level of stamina and ability, you will naturally start to give them more space, then more time on the ball and becomes a matter of trying to defend. I don't think it's a bad result, I am also pleased by the goalless score at half-time. There's a gap between us and Forest; our women's team should feel encouraged and not downhearted. I feel a bit bad that I am struggling to cover them, but I will get there once I have my system in place. They deserve as much help with promoting them as a club, and I am proud we have a women's team that is coming from the grass roots.

I keep trying to look out for news, between doing things. @super_pie has the habit of breaking transfers to me, which is super helpful. I can't see a lot of movement in or out, I also think from what I have seen of Aidan Stone training that the club is content with him as the backup, alongside Sam Slocombe. The amount of minutes they should get seems quite limited. Of course, I would like to see a striker come in, but I hope it's someone more long term. I am happy to see Jatta lead us, but I feel we do need someone with pace and offers a different approach to getting goals. I'm not against loans, I just think it's unlikely that we would see a youngster thrive in the role and that's what I sort of expect to happen. Naturally, I want all the players to do well, so we will see.

Derby County 2-2 Bristol City Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Stoke City Crawley Town 0-2 Barnsley Joker Peterborough United 2-1 Wrexham Accrington Stanley 1-1 Colchester United Carlisle United 0-1 Tranmere Rovers Altrincham 0-1 Oldham Athletic Gateshead 0-0 Eastleigh

Yesterday, we had a trip to @cheeky~k8's nan. It reminds me of going to see my grandparents, my children can complain about there being nothing to do, but it's nice just to chat. In my case, it was mostly listening and trying to keep @Dash_16k company. We arrived at Long Eaton around 2ish, before we walked to Kate's nan's house. We had KFC, which was nice. We haven't eaten out as a family for some time and, I treated @super_pie to some chicken on the bone. He loves it; it reminds me of my grandfather Ray. Personally, it makes me feel unwell. I just don't like it, but I am pleased he's less fussy. It was nice, just to take a step back from things. I still did most of what I would normally have done, but having that quality time with the family felt nice. It's tired me out a bit. Today, I see a specialist physio about my back pain. I'm not looking forward to it, but I am trying to find ways to make it easier to cope with. ????

I have one of the 1882 scarves somewhere in a bag, in the kitchen with loads of them and other winter stuff. I actually tried to get it exchanged, but I was refused. So, I tried to get my money back, but it was like making a stone bleed. To my announcement, exchanges were offered in the end, but I wasn't able to get to Meadow Lane during that period, so I ended up being stuck with it. As for Yeovil, it's very easy to do. Your eyes go blind to what you want to see. I have this issue with a side effect to some of the medication I am on. If I thought the sea was red, no matter what you said or showed me. I would be convinced I was right. I feel for Yeovil, they did well to reach the Championship and have suffered ever since.

I saw parts of the table tennis game, I thought both of the team GB girls did incredibly well. At one point, I thought they were going to win the game. China really does drill sports into their athletes, and it was nice to see the respect shown to both sets of players. The interview with the girls after was a nice moment.

I'm in agreement with, @liampie. I hate many of the needless changes; if the League Cup is revamped it wouldn't be of the focus of making it exciting. It would solely be down to how much money it could generate and this is the wrong approach.

I was recommended consider an automatic because my legs do tend to have a mind of their own. I'm pretty confident I could pass in a manual car tomorrow if I had a test, but with the way my disability affects me, I lost the confidence to pursue it. I did hope by now, I would be in a position to drive. @super_pie, is now looking to drive, and I think he'll do very well too. When I don't think my legs will hold me back, I might actually look at an automatic. Keep us in the loop with how you get on, Tone. I am sure you will adjust to it.

It's an ambitious move if they are looking to spend so much money on a single player. Personally, I think goals are the least of their problems. Being able to control games and handle the threat of better teams would be my focus if I were the Millwall manager. They play some good football and look able to create goal-scoring chances, the issue is defensively they can be poor and their midfield whilst okay going forward, offers little in defending. Would paying £3 Million on a striker solve this? I don't think so; use it to sign a good centre back and a young upcoming central midfielder that can get them structured at the back. They will always be in the lower end of the Championship, but they have done well to fight for their place. I just don't think a striker would be the answer.

It could be wurst.... I know Notts used to re-heat the unsold hot dogs in the past, I hope this practice has stopped because it's the reason why they tended to be very rubbery. A good hot dog is a nice thing to fill the void with hunger at a football game. It does seem like other footballing countries are more creative when it comes to what food is served on a match day. Notts manages to make simple items like chips appear overpriced. Clubs aimed at drawing large crowds also attract affluent individuals who are willing to pay a premium when needed. I wouldn't, never will either.

I am nominating a player who has impressed in Greece for Panseeraikos. He also spent a brief time in Turkey and Scotland, I personally didn't think he would play at a very high level. I didn't think much of him, but he would come to haunt Notts when he played for Swindon Town in 2017. The player in question is Kaiyne Woolery. He was at Notts in 2015, barely did anything for us. I didn't see much in his ability but to be fair, he did reasonably okay after.

Little does anyone else know, until know I had to crack your winder in order to get you to stand and even then I had to discreetly hold you up. ????

It does make a lot of sense to beat the price rise, although not everyone will be able to do this. I do hope something changes to make it easier for people, because the cost of living does make things harder. I watched the news earlier, and it had a segment on this and the water price. Trying to justify giving the stakeholders money from the profits, at the expense of people who can't do much on a daily basis is just wrong. Meanwhile, these "stakeholders" make so much money, they don't have to worry.

I don't think we need to change much from the previous, hopefully, this will reflect in Stuart Maynard's starting XI. Nick Tsaroulla has looked good ahead of Adam Chicksen, who for me hasn't been all that great. I hoped that Chicks would take the opportunity, but Tsaroulla looks good going forward and defensively. Unless a player elsewhere has a niggle or something, I really don't see the point in changing much. I don't think there's need for any tactical changes either, so this is a plus in my opinion over Swindon Town who might actually make two to three themselves. How they started seems irrelevant as it's still very early. It would be a positive to see Notts put on a strong performance away from home; we have a good chance to climb the League Two table and push ourselves nearer the top.

I thought that the first sub was an OTD, but I can't locate it and therefore must be mistaken. I am aware of it though.

TC9 seems to spin a lot of false rumours out, I can see that by looking at the most recent content. I wouldn't buy into it. If you are going to report on things like this, you want to make sure you protect your reputation, not allow the rumours to be that. "Deal could be sorted soon" isn't a common way to sum it up either; "could" makes it sound doubtful. If you're confident of a player making a move, something like "expected" is much better.

I used to go to Notts games with my grandfather Ray, @GrannyPie's father. Obvious, @super_ram is a Derby County fan and my grandfather Tom supported his local team which is Alfreton Town. I really enjoyed going to Meadow Lane, back then we were in the old First Division which is now the Championship. I wasn't aware of Notts' history all that much, but my grandfather would tell stories of past results, players and historic moments. The first season I attended, we were close to the promotion places and I turned to my grandfather, saying "could we get promoted to the Premier League". He kept a straight face and said, that we would be lucky to stay up. He was far from negative, but very realistic, and it's because of him why I am such a die hard Notts fan. Obviously, my mum helped, but any chance my grandfather had to take me to a game he would. He always felt it was important I made the big games, such as the playoff and Anglo Italian Cup finals. One of my fondest games was the friendly arranged from the sale of Jermaine Pennant against Arsenal.