Chris

After my Grandather Ray died in 2000 I wasn't that much in the loop with watching games. I had started playing Championship Manager, which would later go on to become the Football Manager series. Tony Hackworth wasn't that bad on it. However, since doing PON I have had many comments about bad players expressed to me and Tony Hackworth tends to be one. I actually liked Tony Agana @Piethagoram, but I was a young kid watching him. I think the idea about signing someone like Hackworth was ambitious, but ultimately the wrong choice. The money could have been spent on two players that could have yielded better results.

A future production for Aardman Animations or DreamWorks, A Tale of Vegetables on the Move. ????

It really shouldn't be like this; if Spanish fans celebrate these incredible young talents then they shouldn't harbour any discrimination. I am sure they celebrated the achievements; there's just no need for racism.

Queen's Walk always used to look like a nice place to wonder, but my Grandfather would say it was dangerous and occupied by certain people. There's some really nice areas to explore in Nottingham; there are a few places in the Meadows where I like to have walks.

Well, that's awkward, isn't it?

Junior Morias impressed me when he had cameo appearances, it left me asking why we don't see him more but with the options we have it would always be difficult to feature him. Now, Macaulay Langstaff has departed it does present the chance where he could feature more - provided the club doesn't deem the void left needing to be filled. I think some of the criticism for Morias comes from him missing so much due to injuries (although I am dubious he was actually injured). We need more depth, I do hope that we don't rely on signing just trialists. It would be a smart choice to continue the strong recruitment, so we can add further quality and depth, with the trialist becoming signings of 'potential'. I don't want to use the term 'squad members' because I feel the way we are building, any player could get a chance to play. It's important we make the competition for first team places down to performances.

Oh wow, I would have loved that! The only time I would have caught using my phone, would be to snap pictures of the scenery and memories @Fan of Big Tone! It's typical teens these days, they're too glued to technology. I think it was Toton where @cheeky~k8 planned for us to go have a family day, there was an old steam train in service their that did a short track, but it was closed by time we found it. Around 2pm, but I recall seeing many old abandoned trains and information. I have never been on a steam train to my recollection, my grandfather Ray loved them and one of my favourite films is The Railway Children. Back on subject, It's nice to see Loughborough preserving this type of thing and trying to keep it going.

I totally forgot about the Euro final, so Sunday I should see @super_ram anyway - if he will have us over again. Also, @super_pie wants to go meet up with my brother tomorrow to play Pokemon Go. So, my lazy and carefree weekend is out of the window. Yet there's no better way to watch England, than with my dad and son. It reminded me of rushing home from school to watch Euro 96, 3pm kick offs really made it a rush. It's finally our year! It's coming home!! ????????????????????????????

Repeat the same plan as the Netherlands, Spain will want to retain the ball and attack. This will natural allow space to open up, we just need to keep in check our creativity and ensure that we don't make mistakes when passing. Some are fine, but if we give the ball away easily - Spain are one of those teams who can quickly turn nothing into a counter attack. Attacking carefully but directly, it will put pressure on Spain. We have the quality to make their defence have a nightmare for 90 minutes, but they also have clever players who can make it difficult. I will be watching with @super_ram, if he'll have us over again.

Interesting to know, @super_pie was very quick to point out that Cole Palmer got the assist. It felt like Michael Owen type moment, when he scored against Argentina after coming on.

I wouldn't have expected it, but it's a good touch on the Embassy's part. England being this successful in recent years, it's been long due. Fingers crossed, they'll be congratulations us come the final. ????????

They seem very popular, I keep seeing friends of mine sharing them on Facebook. They've got a very Wallace and Gromit style to them, when they stand like they're in the picture they are very uncanny valley. I am expecting one or more to be a bad guy, but they do look nice.

I still need a weekend off, so I won't be doing much. I might try to coax everyone to watch a film together, we haven't done that for a while and I wouldn't mind making popcorn for it. Otherwise, I plan to do nothing. I'll be sure to give @super_ram a few video calls, as Ava has mentioned wanting to tell him something. ????

@DeadlyMacca: I remember when you joined as DeadlyDennis, and if you wish to change albeit, but I am with @Fan of Big Tone. You don't have to make any changes, as Macca still works. I mean, you could take up @Robbie's suggestion, and join the trendy way Tony declares his appreciation to a former Notts great - with the Fan of. I'm sure whatever you decide it will be great.

It was a great performance by England, we played without fear and even after conceding to such a spectacular goal. We pushed, controlled, and created numerous opportunities, demonstrating that we clearly outperformed the Netherlands. They tried to counter with their elbows and other sly tactics. It's a shame, because when they didn't - the Netherlands could break looking like they could cause trouble. The game was very entertaining, with a moment where I was going 'Yes, yes, yes... Shoot'. Alongside @super_ram, doing the opposite 'No, no, no, what are you doing'. As Phil Foden hit the bar. @super_pie was shell-shocked by all three goals, yet he froze like ours hadn't gone in. ???? By which point I was already jumping, shouting and celebrating. I think it took Jake back a little just how well we played, but Super also made it enjoyable with his remarks. I am just teasing a little with the Foden incident, but it was funny.

The thing about Junior Morias is he's very fast; when he has been given games this has caused teams to almost fear him getting the ball. Having a striker that can gain this type of attention can be a good thing, so hopefully he catches Stuart Maynards eyes more within the pre-season. Most fans will be curious about the trialists and players who might make an appearance before signing. Wycombe will be a good test for much of our squad, but the results aren't important and neither is the performance - it's not something you can reasonably rate. I do think on an individual level you can. It is also encouraging to see good play, but if it's inconsistent, which a lot of friendlies are, it's more a training exercise.

It's not been nice seeing Cheeky feeling unwell; she has a lot to deal with due to her sinuses. I couldn't live with the amount of headaches and migraines that she gets, it's something which I have tried to push her to get seen for years. Unfortunately, progress was being made, but COVID delays have pushed that back. I feel much better now. It's difficult to tell if tiredness is coming from a bug or just my body. I look perfectly healthy, but I'm not really as able-bodied as I look. I am hoping for a quiet weekend. I still feel quite drained, but I get that from walking. I do one to have a family picnic at some point. We haven't done this for a while and having three teens can be quite a challenge to get them to do these types of things now. Also, it would be nice to get @super_ram out to Alfreton. I haven't paid respect to my grandparents for a while now. It would be nice to do that, I know this means a lot to my children too.

I know someone might say that they hate seeing videos as it hypes up the potential of a player. Yet, Alex Kirk does look like he has a good level of awareness to cut out dangerous attacks. It's a good insight into his ability, getting that on a consistent basis away from where he's familiar can always be a challenge. I have heard nothing but praise for his performance against Alfreton. We have a few more friendlies where we should be able to judge him a little further, yet I can see the potential.

When he signed I thought we had a promising signing, but he never fitted in, and I don't think he really pushed himself enough. As I said before, he always seemed to be isolated and stuck up. Had he integrated himself better, he might have been able to produce better performances because when he did get chances those games mostly passed him by. I don't wish to be harsh on him, but it was often like going down to 10 men. There's a player in there, I just don't believe he wants to work for it. He's probably better suited to teams where he's one of the better players in the squad and therefore doesn't require the effort to break into a team like ours. He really should have featured more as a player for us, but it wasn't to be. I'm glad he's agreed a release with Notts, I didn't see anyone coming in for him. Now, I imagine a club will pick him up because his wages will be more negotiable.

If it had happened outside the box, a free kick would have been given. This would have been a much easier decision, as it is incredibly harsh to give a penalty, but it's unlike England to get the benefit of decisions which helps. I believe that the referee's performance was acceptable overall, although there were instances where he failed to issue cards to several Netherlands players who had made reckless and dirty challenges. At the time, I said it was a foul on Harry Kane even if he had got the shot away. I don't know why the referee didn't give an indirect free kick; the rules and decisions these days seem to be stricter. An indirect free kick would have been fairer. I do believe it was a foul, I don't believe the player deserved a yellow card. He was going for the ball, the timing was just late but again, if this happened outside the box I believe the officials would have flagged instantly. VAR made a decision which benefitted us, however, in the grand scheme of things I believe we would have been fine without it. England performed a lot better, chances were falling and those who think the Netherlands were unlucky. That might be the case, but really they didn't do enough. Their goal was an incredible strike which Pickford unfortunately couldn't get more of his hand onto - even if he did I doubt it would have made much difference. It was a good game, but the Netherlands didn't really trouble us on goal. Yes, there were several exhilarating moments with shots on goal and near misses. England hit the post twice, had a goal disallowed and forced some good saves from the Netherlands keeper.

I have a very bad memory, as I watched the video @super_ram recommended and I do now recall Kevin Wilson. It sounds like Neil Warnock didn't want him at the club going off the interview. Warnock originally wasn't my cup of tea either, but he grew on me over time. Kevin Wilson, from my memory, wasn't a player afraid to get stuck in or take the brunt of challenges. I really needed to see a picture of him, which the tash he had at the time instantly reminded me.

It is a very big move, if he puts his all into it - it could change his life for the better. The French league is very different from the English, but from Non-League to this sort of thing. Well it's a dream move for any aspiring player.

I read it as "Kelvin Wilson". ???? I don't recall Kevin, I looked at Wiki and I should. He was around when I first went to watch Notts, maybe it's because I was young but from the players I remember from the 90-94 squads I could probably name 90% of the players. Was he a regular starter in 94? Good luck to him with the move.

It's all the rage, Jake was telling me about it - supposedly it reduces injuries, but you are not supposed to do it (he says). I used to get told by my old duty head of year (managed my school's team) that socks help avoid injuries. I know if I were to ever knock a muscle or something like that, I'd rather it is tight and supported. God knows if it's just an excuse or an actual thing.

Provided we don't give it to David McGoldrick, I will be happy. I'm not trying to be negative towards McGoldrick, it's just of my view that someone else would be better. He's somewhat predictable, so I don't think he would make a good choice. Cedwyn Scott has taken them before and done well. Jodi Jones could be a good option, then we have Jata who could smash them into the back of the net. Yet, it wouldn't surprise me if Dan Crowley doesn't step up to take them.