Chris

Rest in Peace, Steve Thompson. He was in charge back when I was a child, and I don't remember much about him. It doesn't change how sad it is to learn about his passing, and I wish I knew more about his time in charge of Notts. I am sure his legacy will live on, and I am thankful for his contributions to our club's history.

I think the club has a policy when it comes to recruitment that they generally avoid signing players over 30, nevertheless, I thought his signing for Wrexham was a masterstroke for them, and he became one of their most important players. They've got such a strong personality, a great knack for scoring, and in the end, they're all about winning. Ollie Palmer would have been a good signing for us in my eyes, many "good" players have proved that they can continue well into their 30s, and I think Ollie will be a strong signing for Swindon Town.

Hello, @SoccerLord. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham. I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community. Would you care to introduce yourself? See you around the site.

Prenton Park is always a challenging venue, irrespective of current form, and we had a strong performance against them last season in our opening match. I think it will be harder considering our form, and I wouldn't really say we have looked better away from home this season. Notts have been underwhelming in their away performances. I would hate to see a repeat of Barrow. We need to try to inject some noise in the away end. I know everyone says if the players put the effort in that it will come naturally, but I think the sign of support could take some of the edge off the game. It could also give the players some confidence and see them try that extra bit harder, knowing they have our support. So that will be something I aim to try myself, at the very least. Should Martin Paterson include Alassana Jatta in the XI? Do I think he will be on the bench? This is going to be a big talking point and interesting thing to watch out for. If this conversation the club has had with him is in any relation to him pretending to have a back spasm, stick with Matthew Dennis. If it was genuine, then that is the only reason I think he should start. But then, wouldn't it make sense to have him on the bench, since he's missed a lot of matches? Keep the squad as settled as possible, I would say.

I resign... I won't be playing Wordle anymore. 😭😭😭 Wordle 1,532 6/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Having seen every game so far, bar the home win against Shrewsbury Town and the Wigan Athletic cup game. I think it's more communication that is hindering us, along with a lack of movement. When we are doing well, it's a lot more natural, but out of possession, it seems almost forced to make any effort. We have gone from being a team that can quickly intercept the ball and push on. To a team that loses it quite easily, it is a lot more indecisive as to whether we are going to try to win the ball back quickly, and those 2nd and 3rd balls are being chased like we would have under Luke Williams. A fair case to the point of it being shape-related is a fair one, as we are very relaxed at times when it comes to keeping it. When Kelle Roos has the ball either in his hands or at his feet, who often wants the ball? When we have conceded or almost conceded, who is reacting in the way that makes you think they are fired up and don't want to lose or draw? There has always been an element to Notts being slow; however, previously in games where we have played well, we quite rightly deserve the 3 points. We have come back from setbacks and pushed. That winning mentality, along with the desire to make space and to win the ball back quickly, is currently missing.

Martin Paterson was asked about Alassana Jatta in his post-match press conference ahead of Tranmere Rovers. These are my thoughts on what was said.

I thought it was good the first question to Martin Paterson in his pre-match interview was in relation to Alassana Jatta, but unfortunately he gave a very basic answer, which personally leads me to think more about it. Why would you say, "We had a really good conversation this week"? 🤔 Also, how Paterson answers the follow-up question about "fans reading into speculation." He does the political thing where you give a long-form answer but make a short comment on the direct question. I personally feel the clubs had a sit-down with Jatta, and they've reached some sort of agreement over his future. What that is, I can only speculate, but I imagine this has happened. Points for asking the questions, less so for the answers, and I think the follow-up question could have been more to the point. I just feel like it might have been pre-decided by both parties before the questions were asked, just to appease fans. I could very well be wrong, but coming in straight off the bat with questions that we have wanted just seems a little sus to me.

I'm pleased for Stuart Maymard; he has a chance to prove himself at a level he should be fine with. York City might benefit from him and from allowing him to change its fortunes. If he gets the support and the fans are on board with him, it makes a difference; yes, he was stubborn at making changes and reading games as they unfolded, but he wasn't a bad head coach for us. @Piethagoram, @Wheelbarrow repair man, he will be. The club will have taken into consideration the years left on his contract and agreed upon a price when signing him in the first place. Usually, head coaches are paid off quickly at our level. Some Premier League teams will disburse a delayed salary after a manager's sacking, but that's when you are talking big money. I would be surprised if Notts operated differently.

Fixed here, too. Yet they find their ways of taking more money from you, one way or another. The prices can't be justified. Something needs to be done to make them fairer again, but for now we have to tolerate it because nobody will try to make a difference. What makes me wonder is my friends in America who can use air conditioning throughout the day, but in the UK we have to choose between when warming our houses is affordable. It's not a problem during heat waves, but in the winter months it's awful when you spend silly money just to stay warm.

So, it was you who copied... Ah @Fan of Big Tone. 😂🫣

I was one of the fans at the game trying to get our lot to sing, it was very depressing, but the more voices grew in number, the better the atmosphere became, and I firmly believe that the encouragement from our away end helped the lads perform. A lot of people expressed that they were only going to see Anfield, and many thought we stood no chance. It's fair to say I believe in cup magic, and the whole experience was really something special. Some Liverpool fans gave Jake a scarf; they took a photo with us as we both had our "Every Liddle Helps" t-shirts on, well Jake had his on underneath his Notts shirt. I wasn't really happy with the amount of negative comments people told me about Liverpool, the typical "don't leave anything in sight or it'll be stolen." I felt that sort of stuff happens everywhere, but it did make me nervous as to what to expect. Most Liverpool fans that I came across not only made a fuss of Jake but were very inviting and friendly. The game itself saw us come back and made it a memorable night.

Yes, my grandfather Ray took me and my brother @william1984. I think this is the game where we caught a supporter's coach opposite my uncle's arcade near Bobbers Mill Bridge.

Hello, @DublinPie. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham, I am very pleased to see you. The site can be overwhelming for some, and I don't know if people think asking for help puts people out or if they feel self-concious about not knowing. There's no need, we simply want fans to feel at home when browsing the site. I will try to get updated guides on the site to replace when is now pre-dated, sorry @True Magpie. But please do ask if you are unsure about something, we can throw things at you and it might not be all that useful. My starting tip would be to make the most of one of these pages. Dashboard: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/dashboard/ I created the dashboard because I felt PON needed a central hub, so the page has everything in one place. It's not there to discourage members from browsing the site, but more of quick glance. Topicfeed: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/topicfeed/ This is very useful if you want to get stuck in to posting, you can read, react and comment on discussions from this single page without ever needing to come off it. Please do reach out if you have any questions, even if you ask here. I believe that's a fan called Brian, mate. He doesn't live in Ireland now, but does have DublinPie on his shirt.

Look and @Fan of Big Tone and @Robbie doing it in three, who copied who? 😉 Wordle 1,531 6/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩 ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟨🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 From the 3rd guess, I thought I had the word. Imagine the final guess, I couldn't incorrectly get it wrong. Playing Wordle feels just like following Notts – it's equally frustrating!

It's the way of professional football clubs, unfortunately. To play the devil's advocate, even if the club came out being open as to what was going on (they actually might be, for all we know now), some fans will still make up their own minds, and rumours will just change based on facts, and half-truths can be more dangerous. I think clubs tend to try to get all their facts and play along with things whilst trying to keep things in-house. If we think back to Stanley Aborah, his absence from the team was a really dark moment and very depressing because Notts looked very poor under Jamie Fullarton. Alsorts was going round the rumour mill, and for some time Aborah was frozen out of the squad. His reaching out to speak to the BBC Sport team meant that the truth had to be clear. It dismissed the false rumours about him refusing to play and highlighted how the club wanted him gone for whatever reason. Switching back to Alassana Jatta, I think at first you have to address the rumours of the bids. Use the local media for this case; make it known what is what. Some might say the club's refusing £700,000 and £900,000 offers might mean the club just doesn't want to sell him, but the club needs to be practical. The initial rejection of Jatta's bid was acknowledged in a statement on the OS. If a player wants to go, get the highest fee possible and make it known what figure you are looking for; otherwise, you'll miss out. I have been saying to fans that the clubs need to be transparent, especially to season-ticket holders. A fan asked me at Alfreton about various things relating to the media team's lack of updates and transfer business. Notts can't just make willy-nilly statements and hope fans quieten down, but when things reach the point of a player saying he has a 'back spasm' it's for the local media to unearth the truth. Then Notts just needs to be open; it just creates a circus, and whilst it might be 'PR' management, it's very much at the cost of genuine fans not knowing what is going on with their club.

Hello, welcome to the Pride of Nottingham @danielpie1862! It's great to have you amongst us, I do hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham, @timperkins. Do you happen to be related to Tony? I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County fan site.

Sell and reinvest into the squad, but not just with signing strikers and a possible keeper. Use some of the money to offer new deals to the existing players who are of value and importance to our development. We always seem quite sluggish to handle contracts unless they can be used to lift morale or continue the excitement, such as when Notts announced Macaulay Langstaff's 5-year deal. We should never leave it until the end of the season to offer renewals, but in some cases players may wish to wait, and that is fine. I just feel when you have a striker like Jatta amidst rumours, and talk of his head being turned. It makes me question whether he thinks the club is moving forward, as I felt similarly after digesting David McGoldrick's departure. Fans are going to be annoyed if Jatta leaves, but reinvesting it and getting what is needed right could help us retain the players who are fighting to get us up the league. In turn, this builds confidence within the fanbase.

Recently, a server update caused some issues for the site. You might have noticed last Thursday we had some issues with errors; this is because Redis (a cache system) failed, and there were a number of issues preventing me from being able to fix it. Temporarily, I switched to a file-based cache while I investigated the issue. Yesterday, a friend took the time to look into this issue with me, and he fixed the issue caused by the server's packet updates. I didn't mention anything until now, as I wanted to wait for it to be confirmed as fixed, and usually giving it several hours will allow you to see everything is playing nicely again. So, Redis is now enabled, and the performance should be back to normal. Have fun posting and making content! 😁

What about one of your other grandchildren? I know the sentiment about passing things down in line, but your son will be living on with his siblings children. Repurposing items like jewelry or ornaments can be quite challenging. I hope you can find somewhere within your family, that they can be passed down too.

@Piethagoram, I always tried to comment and support them in the past, the thing is it's quite hard at times. You might be drawn to watching the player, whereas I might see something else and not find suggestions to be very good personally. I also didn't like disagreeing, as often I would pass based on what I would see but you clearly have an eye for it. There have been times when I've noted good players, but with the posts not happening, I tend to discard them. If you did put a scouting dossier post, I would chip in when I feel I can write something of value. I wouldn't take any disinterest from few responses, it's difficult but you may prompt others like @menzinho to add their thoughts. Not everyone feels comfortable judging players based on a game(s), but that does invalidate your effort. I have always enjoyed them too.

Well, we are not MK Dons are we? They spent £800,000 alegedly to sign Ex-Notts loanee Aaron Collins. South Wales ArgusLeague Two spending gulf laid bare as County's rivals spl...Former Newport County striker Aaron Collins has returned to League Two after Milton Keynes flexed their financial muscles to pay a reported…During the AH years, we almost signed him permanently, instead of him moving to Morecambe but he was deemed not good enough. He's a decent striker, not always prolific but he has had a good record with his previous two teams. I wouldn't send what MK Dons did to sign him mind, as it is a waste of money. We could do a lot more with the money, than a single luxary purchase.

It's a sign of old age, I am told, when you start thinking back on how your local area has changed over the years, especially from what you remember it being like as a child. You don't have to name the area our street names. If you wish, be vague about names, etc, especially if you still live in or around the same area and wish to remain anonymous. I thought about starting this two weeks ago, after I overheard a conversation between a mother around 50 to 60 and her daughter, who I would say was in her late 20s. My earliest memory of the area is from back when my parents lived down a cul-de-sac. I remember the majority of neighbours being friendly enough, and my brother and I would usually play in the front garden, usually with his Ghostbuster backpack water pistol, with which I tended to spray some of the neighbours for fun. I remember visiting the doctor, and how my grandfather would drive us there and back. On occasion, Granny Pie (my mum) would walk to various nearby shops, and even at the age of, say, 7, I knew the majority of the shops very well. After my parents bought their home together, I lived 5 minutes from a row of shops. It used to start with a church of some form, a chemist, an optician's a cob/cake shop, an old DIY store, a large convenience store, and another that was owned by a husband and wife. I don't really remember her very well; she could be nice but tended to complain a lot about the customers. His name was Reg; again, he was mostly fine. In the front of their shop, they used to have all sorts of toys on display for sale, and as a child, I liked window-shopping. Saving up for something tends to be good fun. By the side of Reg's shop, there was a PVC door which looked like it would take you to an apartment but was actually the local hairdresser's. That's where I would have my hair cut until I was about 14 years old; she sold the space and moved away to retire. Long-standing members might recall a story where she shaved all of my hair off. Granny Pie wasn't happy, and I actually took the blame for that even though I said my usual, which "wasn't a skinhead." 😂 Down the road there was a newspaper shop; I used to cycle my bike there at times to check if they had certain sticker packs in stock, when Reg would only order a box once a month. Further down was a larger row of shops. Starting at the very end, I recall a very small frozen food ship, which is now a "bring-your-own-wine" restaurant. To be fair, it has been for most of my life. Across the road there was another hairdresser's where I remember the women pulling at my hair when I was very, very young and making me so irritated that I wouldn't keep still. Next to it, there's a post office that is still there. Across the road was a single newsagent, which stocked every drink imaginable, and the owner was a great guy. Unfortunately, he had a heart attack while I was working at a nearby care home. There were times he would let me get a drink even without paying if I had no money, not that I liked it, but he remembered me from my childhood and would offer very often as I walked back home. My memory is a little patchy regarding some of the shops across the road again, but I do remember a card shop which had all sorts of items. Pic'n Mix, party supplies, you name it, they probably had it. Then there was a Co-op, one of the smallest, and I never really liked it until I was a teen. Actually, before this, there's a chippy that is still there but obviously has different owners. It used to be my Grandfather Ray's favorite. I haven't been in there for years. Last time I was fetching some chips for Granny Pie, and Super was being awkward about us buying him some. 🥱 Next, there was a cake shop, which also sold cobs and freshly cut meat. It was very sad when it closed, as I had a lot of fond memories of going in, not just for a cake but because the staff were always super nice. Luckily, one of the staff members, who often spoke about wanting to train as a teacher, did manage to meet my son before it closed down. Jake would have only been a baby, and by that point it didn't sell much but cobs and cakes. A little further up, there used to be a butcher's I only recall going in there a few times with Super; I never really liked the smell. Even now, it makes me feel like going off meat. After that, there was a shoe shop, and again my earliest memory of going in was convincing my mum to buy me a Micro Machines racing car. It's run by a father and son team; I really hope the father is still alive. A few years ago, he was there, as I went there on purpose to get new keys cut. I also went to look for a belt for Super, but they sold shoes, bags, slippers, etc. Next to him, there's a barber's owned by a guy called Gaz. I used to get my hair cut by him until I was 17; I stopped going to him, but he was always very friendly. Thinking back, what is now an Asian store selling fresh fruit. There used to be a really cool shop that sold toys and things; I remember getting birthday presents from there back in the day. Much has changed; a lot for the worse. Numerous takeaway shops have emerged, yet most of them are quite mediocre. What used to be a larger Co-Op nearby is a local ASDA from hell. I think the area has massively declined; some things have improved, such as walking around, you don't stumble into so many ***kheads. You just end up living near them instead. Provided you stay to yourself, it's not an issue, but I wish my children could have grown up making more use of our garden. I used to spend a lot of time in my parents garden, playing football and other sports. Spinning myself around, hassling Super to let him allow me to help him tidy the garden. Buying Granny flowers for the front garden, not just for Mother's Day.

There's only so many loan players we can name in our match day squad and bench, so there is the risk of if our own players get injured we might get desperately close to that limit. I think the club has a tendacy of focusing on "one" player, at least in recent years and then you are surprised by the arrival more. I have no expectations of incoming players, unless Alassana Jatta does go during this transfer window. The club must be realistic and see there's no sense of riding the entire season on two options being Matthew Dennis and Mai Traore. I know, it's wishful thinking but without depth in the areas I mentioned I think we will have more of a challenge to be in for playoffs let alone promotion. In a few weeks time, we might be in a better position. Jayden Luker could emerge as an real option up front (when he recovers). It's safer if we act, rather than ignore the obvious.