menzinho

If hadn’t been for the points deductions it would be a foregone conclusion really. It does feel like gap between the Championship and Prem is getting bigger and I’d be amazed if either Luton or Burnley stay up. I agree I don’t think forest staying up is that bad, their prices will continue rocket and most ordinary people won't be able to watch them, luckily there’s a better value team across the river… It's likely you’ve got the three teams that went up going straight back down, and the potential champions have breached 115 rules. It’s the greatest league in the world, apparently.

He’s a long way from the goal and I think that’s what saved him, I agree there’s still a lot for the attacker to do before he can potentially have a shot on goal, no-one can actually say where the ball would’ve ended up. So, by the current laws I guess the ref is correct. I don’t agree with it though, I think it’s borderline cheating like “tactical fouls” or when players just drag a player back to stop a counter and take the booking. The modern game doesn’t really have the sufficient rules for these situations in my opinion.

I think VAR does have a place in football, I just don’t agree with the way it’s used currently. I thought it was going to be used for clear and obviously mistakes, but it seems they check everything and every goal, even when they don’t need too. When you’re having to look at things for 3/4 minutes it can’t be a clear or oblivious mistake… I don’t want to force them into making more mistakes by applying time constraints or just the one replay but if it’s an obvious mistake you should, in theory, spot it straight away. Another grievance I have is the handball rule, deliberate handball we’re told, but so many times I’ve seen balls smashed at players who are about 5 yards away and it hits their arm that’s slightly away from their body and penalty is given. VAR never overrules it either.

Some potentially very good options mentioned already. I know people will be dubious of another young player from Norwich, but it seems Accrington got the best one this year. Brad Hills played pretty much every game for them at CB this season and by all accounts was very good.

I think these will be key additions if want to progress, I think having both Jodi and Nemane against the better teams causes us more problems than it solves. Connor Barrett's 11 assists for Fylde stand out, I've never seen him play but if he's equally as good as defending at it seems he is attacking that would seem like a really great option. And think someone like Joel Senior would be the solid, but unspectacular option, he'd definitely be better at defending than Nemane. I think Rydel has been offered a contract by Stockport but if he turns it down I'd be approaching him. I was hoping to see a bit of Tsaroulla in Crawley's play-off game but he didn't start and I'd turned off by the time he came on (for all of about 10 mins!)

Can’t say other than Alex Bass I’m that excited by any of the current offerings at the moment, the young Stoke keeper looks good but we’ve got our own young GK in Tiernan right now and the next keeper we bring in needs to be first choice really. I wonder if Wimbledon will go in for Alex Bass now that they’ve released their previous No.1 Nik Tzanev. They’ve probably got a slight advantage over us if we were to go in for him as I’m assuming he enjoyed his spell there…

The Bradford home game, first half, was great too. I’ll go for the Morecambe 5-0 win at home, completely dominated them. And it's mad that we did the double over Doncaster and they looked like the poorest team in the division. Yet now they are one game away from Wembley. And it might sound it, but I’m genuinely not being bitter here, but I think both them and Crawley (assuming they don’t fall apart in the second leg) will struggle in L1. But good luck to ‘em!

I was always more hopeful he'd stay, because I too think there's a very limited number of clubs who could afford him and realistically want him. In my opinion I think most Championship clubs would view him as a risky signing as he'd be jumping up two levels. And in League 1, a lot of clubs would love him but not many could afford him. I've always thought Macca is very happy here and the interview just confirms that for me, I'm even more hopeful he'll be around next season too!

Yeah it's a real shame that Southwood broke his leg in the last game of the season, think that rules him out. He would've been, potentially a very good option, faced 8 pens and saved 4 of them this season! The only GK that’s been released that has caught my attention (and hasn’t been mentioned) is Matt Macey from Portsmouth, I think I’m purely drawn to him cos he’s 6 ft 7”! Think he’d be a touch out of our budget though. Possibly the same with Bart now too, I’d guess he’d have been on a very good wage playing the championship for the last 10 years.

Yeah what's happened at Birmingham is pretty tragic, a classic case of just going for the big name without doing any proper research. As for us, I don't think we've ever had an American owner, we definitely haven't had one this century (which covers my time following Notts) I've got some vague recollection of some American's mentioning they were interested in purchasing us when Ray Trew was looking to sell the club. I'm sure someone claiming to be part of the consortium was even posting on social media but I can't remember the names of any of them... The Taylor Swift story was bonkers, I can't imagine it was ever serious though!

I’d be so tempted by Aaron Hayden, if it wasn’t for his awful injury record. Is it just bad luck? I’d look into a bit cos he’s scored 19 goals for Wrexham in about 80 games which for a CB is insane. Most of them would’ve been headers too, and that’s an area where we struggle. If we’re looking for a JO'B replacement, Luke Young would be a very good option. Played lots of games, very experienced, although he actually reminds me of Michael Doyle more… Chris Con-Clarke of Altrincham looks ready to step up a level, not sure he’s needed but if Jodi went I’d go straight in for him. And I’ve been watching the Bunch of Amateurs series which follows Dorking, Harrison Male is definitely a terrific shot stopper but I agree his smaller size does mean he’s not that commanding of his area. He's good on the ball too as Dorking always try to play out from the back. If I had to liken him to a well-known keeper I’d say he reminds me of Jordan Pickford.

It’s a tough decision to make, he obviously loves playing but at the same time you must want to finish with a good season performance wise. There’d be nothing worse than finishing with a string of performances where you look past it. Would the club offer him a coaching role? We have Stuart Maynard, Matt Saunders, Craig Saunders, Joao Alves and Tom Weal (set-pieces?). That would give us 6 coaches and for a L2 club that seems like a lot. I think someone would have to leave to free up a space. And I’m still thinking about the recent interview with RM and him talking about the academy and wanting to see the progression there. It’s way more of a gamble but giving someone like James Sanderson a chance, over an experienced pro here has to be way more beneficial in the long-term.

I was actually really surprised at how poor Colchester were, I expected them to give us much more a game. Was that down to us being too good? I'd like to think so! We easily dominated them, probably played safe a bit at times but over the course of the game created more than enough good chances. A 2 or even 3 nil win wouldn’t have flattered us. I was a touch worried with it being 1-0 going into the last 10 minutes though, especially with our defence and ability to give a goal away from nothing. We had that one moment from the corner where they had a great chance to score which would’ve been unfair but not surprising… No idea why they didn’t really go for it more, they’d have been better off committing more players to try and get something from the game - something I guess we as Notts fans can't ever moan about! I was surprised to see how far backward Jayden Richardson's development has gone, thought he was decent for us and had the potential to go on to better things. And John Akinde still playing football, not the threat he used to be that’s for sure. It’s likely Colchester will still be in the league next season and Newport who are currently on 7 losses in a row run. Even the most pessimistic of Notts fans should be confident we won’t finish bottom. Glad and reassuring to see we looked a cut above one the division's poorer sides.

Colchester definitely won't have the same level quality as Stockport, but they'll have the same level of desire to get a win. If we can be bothered it's a very winnable game, the pressure is on them. I'd make a few changes from the team that started against Stockport but I can't really suggest a team because I've no real idea who is or isn't injured, I'm 99% someone will have picked up an injury since Tuesday because that's just how it's gone all season. It's a really good chance to get a win to round off the home games and it'll be the last time the majority of fans see the team. I'm not sure too many would be thrilled with a lap of honour after a loss...

Actually, because Pep Guardiola has said it’s much better for teams playing in Europe it should definitely get the go-ahead. These are clearly the most important teams in the English pyramid and need to be protected at all costs. Imagine them having to use their whole squad to play Lincoln City on a Tuesday night, it would be impossible for them to rotate their players because there’s no way their fringe players made up of internationals and very talented youngsters would be able to compete with these EFL and Non-League clubs… I’m all for a boycott. It would sort the issue pretty quickly in my opinion.

Everyone pretty much sums up my views too, so just to emphasise...

Following on with the embarrassment with the defence comment. I guess they thought the “style” would continue into the FL, in terms of keeping teams off the ball simply means they’ll have less time to attack and score and that it would still work. I thought we’d concede more this season but did anyone honestly think it would be this bad? I underestimated the step up in quality, we’re good enough to be at this level, but we can’t steamroll teams (in general) like we did in the NL. I still kind of think the goals scored is at the expense of our goals conceded too. We set out to attack, the team is usually overloaded with attackers and we push everyone high up the pitch. Both the GS and GC kind of need to be looked at the same time, I think there is a correlation between the too. We’ve still got a +3 GD, the funny thing is if we’d have had a season where we’d scored 50 and conceded 47 I don’t think anyone would have any real concerns… Maybe I’m completely wrong here but I think it’s actually easier to fix by making some personnel changes and tactical changes. Usually scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in football so I’d rather, if I had to pick, have to sort the issues out with the defence. Agree with the ticket prices, sounds like they are going up but I'm hopeful it's by a very small margin. I'm not sure a market research group consisting of just Paul, who is a successful businessman, is a fair reflection of the financial situation of all Notts fans! Yes, it was a bit awkward when he kind of unequivocally agreed with idea of raising prices...

I think Jodi will win it and I have no issue if that's the outcome because he's had a record breaking assist season. I voted for Crowley though, in terms of levels I think he's been our most consistent player this season.

Ashby Hammond 6.5 - Made a few good saves and had a lot to do, probably could’ve done better for their first though. Brindley 5 - Didn’t do a lot wrong, didn’t do a lot right either though. I thought his positioning was poor and he struggled take the ball forward. Baldwin 3 - Why does he try and turn so sharply when he’s under pressure, there was a forward pass on as well. Generally, a night to forget. Cameron 5 – Looked flustered and panicked in our own box too many times. At least he tried to bring the ball out of defence. Nemane 6 – Our most dangerous outlet, actually got at the Stockport defence. Struggled when moved to RB. Jones 5 – Didn’t really help us defensively first half, (I know it’s not his strength) but equally he didn’t cause them much trouble down either wing. Didn’t look like League 2 player of the season in that game. Bostock 3 – Completely off the pace, barely won a challenge, too many touches too many backward passes. Austin 4 – Ran around but struggled to get involved or do anything of note. Crowley 7 – It probably helped his teammates were so poor but in a game like that you can see why Arsene Wenger rated him. Good on the ball, tried to get us going forwards and scored a great goal. Langstaff 5.5 – The usual effort was there, missed a decent chance first half but scored a decent goal second half. McGouldrick 3.5 – Looked slow, again too many touches at times and his shooting was poor. Subs: Robertson 6.5 - It was a shame, given the other midfield performances, he didn’t start. Got at the Stockport players and stopped them playing through us (a bit). O’Brien 5 – Better than Austin and Bostock, still had a couple of sloppy moments on the ball. Randall 4 - Just kept shifting the ball when he got it, didn’t really want to take their defence on. And he cannot defend well, if he’d have backed off anymore for that last goal he’d have been in the stands. I thought we missed Jatta and Macari, somehow both are both injured though… I don’t what’s happening with this constant cycle of players picking up injuries this season. Chicksen, I assume is injured again? And we had to recall Mahovo because I guess Rawlinson and Tobi are injured too now... Are we training on some sort of ancient burial site where if you run over certain parts you get cursed?

I know Stockport are good but we seriously don’t help ourselves... I’ll get the moan about the ref out of the way first. The first penalty is so bad it’s unbelievable, it’s blasted at Crowley from about 5 yards away and he was moving his arms into his body anyway. He didn’t make himself bigger and the ball would’ve been blocked by his chest anyway! I didn’t think the Cameron one was a penalty either because it looked to me like he took the ball cleanly before the two players naturally collided. Luckily our performance was so bad the ref didn’t actually cost us. I know we scored 2 but we created one good chance with Langstaff and then until they scored their 4th, we really struggled to create much. It was, once again, a masterclass in how not to defend. In general our players were poor on and off the ball, constantly taking 4 or 5 touches instead of 1 or 2. Their defence and general off the ball play showed us what we should be doing. Once they went 4 up they relaxed and allowed us to get back in the game but even after we’d scored 2 they were still very dangerous. Even without the penalties, 5 goals didn't flatter them. I know it’s easy to say in hindsight but it was so naïve playing 3 defenders, and being so open against a team that had scored as many goals as us before we kicked off. I know Stockport have spent a lot to bring in good players but we’ve got to be smarter on the pitch to combat it. We let teams have too many shots against us and we’re far to easy to get at. That fourth goal kind of summed up how easy we are to get at. Brindley is out of position, so one ball gets knocked into a massive space and they’re in on goal, one pass! How can you expect to not concede! It’s driving me mad. Yes we desperately need some new defenders but surely playing just 3 defenders and then the rest of the team as attackers isn’t the way forward.

Well did the people of Gambia outdo the US and Canada there! Notts training camp in the summer confirmed as a reward? I take it all back, definitely a serious award, well done Jatta!

Yeah I'm not quite sure what some fans are realistically expecting from this. A lot has already been said in the statement the board put out earlier, fair enough if you don't agree with it but you're not going to get a different answer a few weeks later. And considering they themselves have admitted the season has been disappointing season, it's not been disastrous so I'm not quite sure what questions are even that tough for them to answer? I think it'll be interesting to watch but at the same time part of me feels like I'll know some of answers they'll give. If for example they question why didn't we sign any defenders, I'm sure the answer will simply be; some of our targets weren't available/ some wanted too much money/ some signed for other clubs...

I’d have given the manager of the season to either Pete Wild or Lee Bell because I think their current position is more impressive given their resources. Mansfield, with the quality and investment have finished roughly where I’d expect them too. Player is harder to judge as I only get to see the Notts players on a regular basis but I’m very pleased it's been awarded to Jodi. From that team of the year awards the two who stick in my memory are Rob Apter who terrorised us away at Tranmere and Louis Reed in midfield for Mansfield. As for what the future holds, well there were rumours about Jodi being a target for Wrexham at the start of the season. Only the Wrexham board will know how true they were but I can see a lot of clubs being interested in Jodi after the season he’s had. I think it all comes down to what Jodi wants to do, he’s only got one year left on his contract come the end of the season. If he doesn’t want to sign a longer contract with us I think we’d be better offer selling him then letting him go on a free. Obviously, I hope he does sign an extension at the end of the season with us. We'd be mad not to offer him one! Langstaff signed a new contract at the start of the season until 2027 so I can’t see a new deal for him anytime soon. I don't think Wrexham would bid for him though. It would cost them a lot and they've already got Mullin who pretty much plays his role. Phil Parkinson likes to partner Mullin with a big forward upfront so I think Wrexham will be looking for a younger version of Ollie Palmer for them next season.

Pretty impressive to only have three shots on target and score them all! Maybe that makes up for all the bad luck we've had. It sounded like a decent performance but I don’t think their keeper really had to too much to do other than just pick the ball out of the net three times. That said Ashby-Hammond wasn’t that troubled either but it did sound like there were a few scrambles in the box that just didn’t fall Walsall’s way. Stuart Maynard was impressed in his post-match interview and I’m glad things seem to have turned in his favour. Be interesting to read the comments from those who went/watched.

Yes @Robbie thanks for the correction, I misread the sentence the 248 games will be broadcast over a period of 5 years! I thought they'd have done well to show to 248 games in one season!