Chris

Hello, @ShannockPie. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham, I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

He said after the game that it should be a "quick overturn" and was walking fine. He had what looked like two heavy bags too, so I wouldn't rule him out, but it might be a blessing if we gave him some time to get rest. That 'hurt' from the opening day needs to be the fuel towards getting the right result on Tuesday. If we can't beat bottom of the league, then I would fear a lot more of a fallout towards Stuart Maynard. I honestly don't know what's happened to our squad, we just aren't fighting, and every possible explanation just seems like something the players need to take more of an account towards. Whilst Maynard is clearly trying, I think part of the issue is we are used to things a certain way and changing this now, perhaps isn't the best time, but I respect Maynard for trying. Our squad isn't built around many different options; it's been catered too closely to playing three at the back. My biggest worry about this game is actually leading it, only for Sutton to punish us for switching off and therefore dropping three points all together or ending up as a draw. Neither of these outcomes would be good enough. Despite all the doom and gloom, I believe in our owners and feel we just need to salvage the best possible position we can this season. Then go again! So, naturally I am hoping for a win, but that seems bleak right now.

I've reached the point where there's zero time for me to be patient in passing the ball back, nobody seemed to try to make a forward run, and it took things quickly against Notts. Crewe were by far the better team, although their dark arts frustrated me because did they need to do it? Notts made the game very easy for them to cope with, I am not sure the time-wasting and players dropping like flies made much difference. If anything, it gave Notts more time after the 90 minutes when they did turn up to do something - which by that point it was always too late. It's difficult to feel sorry for anyone in this situation because everyone played very poorly. Whilst, I don't think Stuart Maynard deserves to be taking all the blame. He's reaching a point where it's difficult to overlook some of his current issues which I do honestly feel are being caused by the players. Jodi Jones, Macaulay Langstaff and Aden Baldwin are the only players I felt did enough to warrant a positive mention. Baldwin prevented numerous attempts on goal, Langstaff didn't stop trying and everything that seemed to be bright came through Jones. Crewe scored two very easy first goals. I still don't like seeing teams attempting to interfere with the keeper, it's gone beyond the presence of being there and a light bit of pushing to something on a whole different level. I've seen officials give free kicks just for a push. Yet there's no excuse for any of our players for switching off, it was a well worked goal by them and anyone who could have done something simply became a bystander. Our players need to stop watching the game at times as if they're not actually on the field and be more aware of what they can do in order to defend situations. Crewe's second goal is by far more irritating. Major communication error between two players, one of which should have left the ball clearly for the other to deal with - without appearing to try to hold the other's hand. I have seen one of said players get far more comments thrown his direction, but the player who wasn't going for the ball and didn't go for the ball. They made the situation very dangerous and are at fault, as anyone with a pair of eyes can see by the point the header was in motion. It became a risk of injury or collision which turned it into a comical error. Why can't we get that close to marking the opposition? Doing so to our own player is just void of responsibility. Then an unfortunate bounce straight to a Crewe player, to which again, Notts were ball watching and not the player. I honestly didn't see contact made for the penalty, I saw it in slow motion and I thought the Crewe player clipped their own heels in order to try to get our keeper sent off. There was time for him to easily lob an open net. Even watching the highlights and going frame by frame I am unconvinced it was anything but that. It doesn't really matter, we had nothing to suggest that we could make a game of it. Usually by the 70th minute Notts tend to get a surge and therefore look better and whilst the changes helped to make us more attacking minded. The damage had already been done, pushing for our first, left us open for their third, and it was game over by that point. You have the game finished by the 90th minute mark, to which all of a sudden we become brighter and play as if we have half an hour to go. Crewe didn't make it difficult for us to play, we did. There should be no false credit to Crewe, because it comes down to us not being good enough. The thoughts of the players, whether it be about morale, focus, or their uncertainties regarding Maynard, are of great importance. They let us down and this is the first time I felt there was little in their defence of how we played. I believe the players are letting Maynard down too. The signs are that we aren't capable of reaching the playoffs, that is fine. If some of the issues is pressure, Maynard must find a way to take it off the players shoulders but if they can't help themselves - I am not sure if he can do anything to change it. Given the opportunity, I would go Neil Warnock mode on them at full time. Perhaps, even Sir Alex Furguson.

This is something I have been meaning to go watch, a few Notts fans I know planned, but then things became a bit harder to keep track on. The Academy does deserve our support if fans are free to attend; it gives them some experience of being watched and around vocal noise. This is sometimes part of the nerves going into a match as a youngster, so I think it's great we have fans who do go watch them. A loyal fan named Dave Fells never misses a game he can attend.

Crewe are one of those teams that have the foundations to do well and can, in any game they play, but occasionally they're inconsistent. I am not surprised that they're doing well now, it just takes a bit of time to build that momentum, and it seems they have everything going in their favour right now. I hope they focus on playing good football, as I can see them switching to the dark arts if they fear we'll do too much damage with the ball. They're robust enough to avoid this and to make the game entertaining with end-to-end action, something which Notts sometimes struggles against. Notts prefers to have the ball and intimidate the opposition under relentless pressure, but sometimes I feel we just need to drop it back and make the most of the creative players we have to create that opening. If we focus on trying to walk the ball into the net, I think Crewe will pounce on the counter-attack. Notts needs to be patient and careful, the right pass at any moment could unlock a good run and for me, I think smart overlaps and through balls in and behind the Crewe defence will be where we may capitalise the most.

I am more in favour of young players coming in, who their parent club see them as having a future with them. Sometimes we get players who aren't wanted and they just become squad fillers. I suspect, someone of the better loans we have had to contribute a fair amount towards their wages (well what we can). Some players are not often seen, but it's very rare to find talented players like Jack Grealish, Callum McGregor, Ryan Yates, and Jorge Grant. Certainly, I believe we should be looking out for them and willing to incorporate good talented loan players. Had Lewis Macari not been given a chance, it's highly unlikely we would be including him in this and the fact we managed to secure his services full time - it's a positive sign of how the loan system can compliment your squad.

Hello, @TruroPieSi to the Pride of Nottingham. I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

We know Tiernan Brooks has potential and so far, I like how we have been giving him the chance to gain experience outside Notts. I believe he will one day become our first team keeper, that has to be the club plan, and I am delighted to see he's doing well at Rochdale. I thought the loan move made a lot of sense by allowing him to go to them, it's a good choice to pick up further game time and experience.

It doesn't get any more difficult than playing Wrexham at their ground, last season we did so well up to a point, and it will be interesting to see how we match them now. I wasn't at the home game against them, but whatever the outcome we need to be mindful of taking games as they come and not overreact if things don't go our way. I fully suspect Wrexham will make it difficult. It is crucial to ensure the involvement of Macaulay Langstaff. I hope if David McGoldrick starts appearing sluggish that we don't avoid making that change because in the final 20 minutes a bit of energy and speed can make a huge difference. Will Stuart Maynard make any changes?

I wasn't really expecting this, hopefully, this can fuel a resurgence in form. The goals were well worked, I hope David McGoldrick's tap in helps to lift his performances and Jodi Jones with his magic, to assist Macaulay Langstaff. This is a very good result, it's good to see Notts having picked up three points on the road. If anyone attended, I would love to know more about the penalty. I was at my dad's peering over at his laptop as he watched the Rams beat Exeter City. They did an outstanding job! So, I am pleased to see our lads doing it too. It was nice to hear Jake go, 'Dad, it's 1-0, Langstaff', then 'Dad, it's 2-0 now'. Whilst this is great for the lads, plus Stuart Maynard - I do acknowledge that there's still much work to do. I just hope for better form, if that means we pick up wins but don't quite reach the playoffs, so be it. However, if we can build and maintain an undefeated streak, who knows? It would be nice to pick up wins and draws, instead of the defeats suffered in this depressing bad patch of late.

@allardyces tash Winning ugly isn't a bad thing sometimes, performance wise there's a lot to improve, but we could focus on that once we start to lift the camps' morale. Right now, we have gone from looking like we could beat anyone (earlier in the season), to struggling defensively and drawing to losing more games than perhaps we should.

If they play as they tend to do against us, they'll frustrate and delay the game when it benefits them - so it could be scrappy. They defeated Walsall 3-0 away from home, so that says enough about them. I also feel they're exactly the type of team I have been talking about as opposed to us, as we seem to be declining and in a pretty big slump. They're pushing and doing well to maintain a steady amount of form. Teams like Newport are leveraging their results to inch even closer to the Playoffs. For me, this gives them the advantage and with our own low morale I can see them making it difficult for us to score. Obviously, things aren't as easy to foresee or even predict ahead of time. Notts are making this very hard and whilst we may have lost the confidence in our ability to win, Newport might not play to their best either. Yet, I think they will make it difficult and most likely force us to be indecisive, so I don't expect a classic game. I worry that we might encounter another defeat, narrowly but still a loss.

My immediate response to yesterday's performance in the form of a tweet. The opening of the game was good, Notts looked bright and eager to start it off well. There was something positive about how direct our play unfolded, the way we kept calm even when we had to come back. I think it always looked likely that we would score the first goal. The run by Jodi Jones to make the space, to which Dan Crowley perfectly struck the ball - it was a superb goal. From there, our problems began. Gillingham instantly didn't sit on the score and wanted to get back into the game. That level of desire from Gillingham was impressive. Notts are very standoffish when it comes to defending. Nobody were marking the cross from Gillingham which led to their leveller. I felt at the time that Jodi Jones needed to be a bit braver with trying to win the ball, however, I also believe that Macaulay Langstaff should have tried to fill the space in front, instead of thinking to cover Jodi. It's one of those situations where you would ideally see that someone more defensive would see that space and attempt to plug the gap. John Bostock was watching the space but the ground he covered would have been more vulnerable had he moved. The cross was very good, the defence should have handled it better, but there was an element of misfortune. There was little Aidan Stone could have done and the comments I heard during the game directed to him, it added to the frustration. From there, Gillingham surged off the back of the confidence gained from the goal, and you could see how they wanted more - whilst Notts just stepped back. Notts' defence was very weak with Gillingham's second goal. Again, we didn't show any spatial awareness and nobody attempted to cut out the cross. There's been an element of this for a while now, we simply ride our luck and the way the ball comes in there's just not enough pressure from a defensive point of view. We can't just stick a foot out, the danger of giving a penalty away is quite high but no attempts to block the ball? It's obvious we are once again ball watching. Kyle Cameron could have got a little tighter to the player that flicked the ball on for the goal, that may have made a difference. Yet, you could make the point that Aden Baldwin just watched the ball pass him by. Look, we see things differently from the stands and to the players it happens so fast - whilst we need to be better. I accept that these issues will occur; my point in commenting is to discuss and bring awareness to them. Unfortunately, again Jodi just isn't watching his man and reacts a little slow to the threat. I have made the point recently that I wished to see more from him in regard to his defending, we are blessed by his ability but as the last hope in our defence his positioning, marking and reaction should have been better. Our whole defending should have been better, so it's not just one plater - it's collectively, but it comes from being aware of the threat and how the play is opening up before us. We concede goals, there's 'major issues', if we narrowly lose praise is given to how things have improved 'defensively'. Simply, right now it's very early days and I would agree that our issues were set in well before Stuart Maynard arrived. I really hope fans can give him the time needed to get grips, quite a lot expressed to me that they feel he's out of his depth and I personally think it's too early to point the finger there. I think calls for making changes are deserved; if this is formation based or tactical, so be it. I do feel like our game management needs to be picked up, with our squad working harder. Another point I read yesterday, is how losing Luke Williams may impact our mentality but if this is the case, we need to put it aside and move on. I wasn't impressed with David McGoldrick, Notts seems afraid to take him off, but he was appearing at least to me to be very tired, but his home performances haven't been great as of late, and maybe he would benefit from a bit of a rest? Dan Crowley and Jodi Jones were very good, by far our best threats going forward. We need to get Macaulay Langstaff more into the game, the guy doesn't stop running and my earlier point about his defending, it's good he's trying to cover, but I still think we need him further up the pitch. If we give him instructions to go back, then he's responsible for defending, ideally someone else would be doing this, but I feel currently there's little play to get him involved. I was wrong about Aaron Nemane, he was poor and his crossing a lot of the time was just smashed in hope of causing trouble. I don't think he was the only one, a lot of our crossing was wasted. Jaden Warner wasn't an issue for me, yes he made one slip, but that's because of the rain. The ball bounced a bit weirdly, and it just seemed to slip. I think in the first half he looked far better than he did in the second. By that point, Notts were struggling to make simple passes and that's pressure. Gillingham stuck to a game plan, adapted to their setback and responded exactly how I wished Notts would. Defensively, they grew in the game and did very well. Around the 70th minute mark, Notts started to get into the game and a goal at this point could have rescued a point. I didn't feel if this did happen that we could go on to win, but I did feel like we might be able to get a third. Gillingham were unlucky not to have got a 4th, the moment when the ball went from post to post was a very nerving moment even at 3-1. I'm afraid despite the pressure from us to try to get something, we just lacked any real quality to get the goals required. My final point, yes, the game was very disappointing and difficult to watch. We are in this together, whilst I may have my personal views on performances and what went wrong, I won't tweet this to the players because it's counterproductive. I would hope if any of them read this post, they would see I am trying to be fair. We lost, we moved onto the next game. It's very cliché, and I repeat it, but I feel it's very true in this situation. Stuart Maynard's first win should restore some of the confidence in the camp, but working on the mistakes made by poor defensive decisions and position would be a starting point. We are better off no matter where we finish this season, I have faith we can learn from this and pick up within time but as fans we need to be a little patient.

Unless Aaron Nemane is injured, I honestly can't see him being dropped. His size makes it difficult to work to his ability when you play teams like Mansfield, they will simply mark you out of the game and make it difficult in many other ways. I don't see Gillingham falling into this category; in fact, I believe they would be the prime example of where Nemane should be most effective. It's all about how he makes the space to run at the opposition, but I can see them finding it hard. I would like to see Notts showing more urgency to get forward, to make the space required for other players to contribute their ability. We are a little afraid to take on players, also, I think it extends to drawing fouls. We never seem to make the most of yellow cards being issued. I believe the squad will stay the same as the one from Mansfield. We need to show more creativity to mix the channels and attack through the middle, there are ways we can draw Macaulay Langstaff into the game without making him work tirelessly in order to just get a touch. We have players who Gillingham will want to mark, this should open space. Notts needs to start moving the ball into areas where we can play simple one touch football, then release the ball as the play opens up. Gillingham aren't pushovers, but I think we have the ability to maintain them. Aden Baldwin and Jaden Warner will be interesting to see how they continue their form together. Also, I really hope we can see Kyle Cameron at his best - I would love to see him get on the scoresheet and show improvements. He's a good skipper, who has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and we just need to see him a bit of form.

Will they thrash us? Can we win? Or will it be a stalemate and boring? Part of me feels that we could do well and take the points, though I am mindful of the comments about Mansfield dropping points and that makes me anxious that it will lift them even more for the local derby. They are in a position where maintaining their good form is very important, we are desperately needing to pick up our away form and having lost to them at home - the pressure swings back to us. Notts needs to start the game off positively, keep it calm at the back and protect our goal. If we can maintain the ball, we need to make sure that at times we break up our focus on how we do attack. If we rely solely on the flanks, Mansfield should suss us out and that won't benefit us. Yes, we have quality, and it can change games, and I am not doubting it's an important area to exploit, but it should restrict us from working the central areas. This is the best area to feed Macaulay Langstaff the ball. Our best form came when Dan Crowley and Matt Palmer would take the edge of the five yard box, with passes which overlapped and in the cases when space didn't open up, we would play it out wide splitting the defence but importantly making space to move into. Honestly, part of our current issues is how predictable and unimaginative we are when it comes to creating chances. If we can make use of the middle of the park, I would fair our chances much higher against Mansfield. I think they'll be thinking it's won before kick off, so we need to match their mentality and just be brave.

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Oh, the joke of the first image would be lost on some of today's teens. @liampie I believe nobody owns it. I think it's internationally governed. If the land were to be able to be settled on, then a whole host of countries would be arguing over it.

Barrow is a good team, but nothing special. I felt more disappointed by how much we relied on the flanks to open up play, for me, it was the centre which presented a great means of opening them up. We have great talents out wide with Jodi Jones and Aaron Nemane and on a different day, some of their crosses would have paid off. When I watched how Barrow were defending, I was crying out for us to exploit the game more through the middle. Scott Robertson played a pass to Macaulay Langstaff that had a little too much power and was extremely direct. It looked like we could open them up if we had played through the middle and our reliance on the wing just became predictable. Some of Jodi's crosses were very inviting, but Barrow knew to commit players into defensive areas. The majority wasn't even 50/50, more times than not it benefitted Barrow to clear the ball. Again, all it takes is for one of our players to connect, but to me, it didn't seem likely to happen at all. Macaulay Langstaff did very well at times even to manage to bring the ball down or get an attempt on it. There were some crosses which were very wasteful, but you have to accept this. We never played a style that would benefit Langstaff all that much. I know a lot of fans expressed disappointment in our performance, but Barrow stuck to their game plan to make it difficult. We either adapt to that or we hope that our quality will show. I also think we are lucky at times that Barrow didn't capitalise on mistakes, I thought Aidan Stone was very good. He looked calm and quick to react to threats, pulling off at least three key saves to deny them. Notts didn't have that much about our chances, we didn't ask enough or trouble the Barrow keeper. In possession, we were quite poor at times, easily losing the ball and misplacing passes. Some, like Robertson, grew into the game. Others like David McGoldrick and John Bostock didn't. Bostock wasn't in a position to be taken off due to his defensive cover, but McGoldrick should have gone off for Sam Austin instead of Robertson. In the centre we were very average, which presented the issue that we would be sloppy in our play. Had we brought the midfield more into the game and played through the middle, it may have benefitted them more. I thought Dan Crowley was class, sometimes I wished he would drop a little deeper and then go forward. He's very influential on the ball, but when he goes back, usually it's to pass and then reassume his position. I don't think we move all that much; Barrow impressed me for their desire to always try to make space. This urgency is lost with Notts; it's not a case of wasting energy but allowing it to open up play and to free someone else who will be able to use the space presented better. I hope Stuart Maynard sees this, as we are just way too relaxed. Performance wise, I don't think we were all that bad. Notts is simply in need of fresh ideas and more creativity in these types of games. Aden Baldwin showcased an extraordinary performance in defence, excelling in blocking and delivering crucial challenges. Crowley was exceptional with retaining the ball and holding it, so that it could release someone else. Langstaff played his usual way, trying to chase and make things happen - he just needs better play to work with. Stone was good, Kyle Cameron looked better defensively. To end, I felt disappointed in Barrow. They were very dirty and reckless at times; several of their players talked smack (tried saying silly things to provoke our players). Kian Spence should have seen red for his aggressive play, from grabbing Robertson around the throat and pushing him back. Luca Stephenson I am surprised to learn comes from Liverpool, he was one of the worst for speaking nonsense in an attempt to get into our players heads. A player who was very arrogant and kept trying to interfere with Stone during corner kicks should have seen a yellow card. You could argue, again with his attempts to delay and disrupt set pieces. You can't deny his foul on Jodi Jones didn't deserve to see red alone.

It probably helps to sell and keep the sport being talked about, not for good reasons, but drama does tend to get the most views and eyes onto a product.

I wonder if it's a loan with a view to buy? Forest Green seem to be wanting to build their squad. I don't see the point in them sending out a player that could benefit them, unless it's to give the lad confidence. He sounds like a decent talent but if it's just a loan, I really don't think we need him.

I believe VAR was introduced either to hide corruption within FIFA, you know throw a lovely new toy to distract people, or it was implemented to highlight how poor match officials are. Either way, I think both of these scenarios have come true. Joking aside, I think it's the implementation and standard of officials failing to do the right thing. Most of the appeals that go to VAR are common sense, you see it and can make a clear decision, but there are a level of clueless people in the operation of it. I mean, if a referee can make the wrong call in order to protect his mate from any backlash and that proves to be costly. How can we prevent uninformed officials from making decisions that are beyond their understanding? Better application and training.

I pray Notts never considers having Poundland as their sponsor, every time a play didn't prove their worth..... You know what would be said. I hope this goes a long way to helping Walsall. If Jamie Jellis hits the ground running, @sadlad should be happy.

I would like to say it should be quite straight forward with it being at Meadow Lane, but there are so many unknowns. Barrow will still see us as a team they want to beat due to the size of our ground and now with the addition of a new manager. This will be our first real insight into Stuart Maynard, something which we need to just remind ourselves that its early days no matter what. If we go on to lose, thrash them or draw. The performance will hopefully just be a starting point. Nothing more than a glimpse as to what we may expect from the newly appointed head coach, defensively we may still make the same usual mistakes. Provided the team works hard, chances should come, and it should be a great entertaining game. Barrow won't want to lose points just as much as us, but we need to make the most of being in front of our home fans. A draw wouldn't be a bad outcome. Barrow is a very organised team which plays to their strengths, I think they're punching slightly above their own weight, but that's what good teams do. I respect that, I can see them wanting to make the most of set pieces and dead balls. Moments where we commonly switch off, as for us, I hope to see us playing in a way where we bombard their area in the controlling manner that is both exciting and threatening.