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menzinho
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Everything posted by menzinho
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I was thinking a bit more about this yesterday too. Richard Montague has a very senior role at this club, he basically has a say in everything that goes on. He obviously leads our recruitment but being on the board of directors along with the Bros he does a lot more than just that. The relationship he has with the Chris and Alex is clearly very good, he knows the project here how well it's going, it's only going to get better. He wouldn't get that at Swansea, he'd likely get more money but I'm guessing his roll would purely be in recruitment, coaches and players, but with likely less control as those higher up are likely to want a say too. I don't know what Richard's personal goals are, maybe his dream is to be involved in a Premiership clubs recruitment, so maybe this does potentially get him closer to achieving that... Swansea needs a massive rebuild though, they might only be step away from the Premier League but in reality the gap is much bigger. -
I think Palmer, Bedeau and Whitaker would be my top 3 from that match. Bedeau edges it for me, really strong performance from him.
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It was far from vintage but I think considering how physical Morecambe were, I’m pleased we didn’t let them bully us no matter how hard they tried. I agree with those have already mentioned the ref (or lack off one!) that the first fifteen minutes was really poor, he set the tone that let Morecambe get away with pretty much what they wanted… Whitaker is settling in nicely now, again showed some really nice touches and I think there’s still more to come from him. I thought Will Jarvis did really well considering he had to replace Jodi, he looked comfortable on the ball, not sure wingback plays to all his strengths, he did have Bedeau in top form behind him who pretty much stopped most their attacks down that side. Defensively very good again, a couple of moments where we switch off but we are lucky to have Bass in goal, he makes it look easy at times when it really isn’t. And I think that Jatta goal summed up just why we needed to keep him. Who else does that for us? Holds off their centre back and turns him, brushes off another defender and then calmly rounds the keeper. He created and finished his own chance.
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I’m hoping we’ve learnt a few lessons after our last home game against a team in the relegation zone. I wonder if the players had a touch of over-confidence going into Carlisle, it’s all too easy to see how badly they are doing and think it’ll be a straight-forward game. I hoping we’ll be more switched on and up for it this time out. Derek Adams is the kind of manager who sets his teams up according to the opposition, I couldn’t really tell you their style or what they set out to achieve but they'll be looking to stop us. Interestingly they’ve lost to everyone in the top 8 1-0, aside from Wimbledon who they lost 3-0 to. So maybe a 1-0 wouldn’t be a surprising score, but I’m hoping we can somewhat buck that trend and go the way of Wimbledon! I wouldn’t expect many changes from the team who performed so well at Gillingham, unless someone has picked up an injury or a knock I’d go with that same starting 11.
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Burton Albion 1-1 Blackpool Huddersfield Town 2-1 Reading Barrow 0-0 Gillingham 🤡 Fleetwood Town 3-2 Cheltenham Town Salford City 2-0 Tranmere Rovers Aldershot 2-1 AFC Fylde Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 Yeovil Town Solihull Moors 0-1 Oldham Athletic
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Are Swansea fans just thinking because they got their head coach from us that because they’re now getting a new football director he’s probably coming from Notts as well? No mention of a name in the interview but there’s lots of people it could be and the great news Luke talks about could just simply be that they are now getting a football director, something he thinks Swansea really need. Richard Montague has only ever had to recruit for us, he’s not had experience signing players to get a team into the Premiership (or other equivalent top division), which is the aim for Swansea. I’m not saying he wouldn’t be capable but I’m just not sure he’d be Swansea’s first choice…
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Sky Bet League Two Manager & Player of the Month January winners - The English Football League WWW.EFL.COM The Official home of the English Football League You'll never believe who won it... (Yes, the pic is the spoiler)
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You know how in the other topic about our recruitment efficiency, it’s all really positive. This is the one current case that bucks the trend! Someone clearly doesn’t rate him if he’s out on loan again. I wonder if they’ll be some sort of mutual agreement to leave in the summer otherwise I guess he'll just be loaned out again. I agree, it doesn’t look like he’s going to have a future here.
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Having been into the National League I think it makes a lot of sense now. The difference between the bottom half of League 2 and top 10 in the National League is minimal. But more importantly as bad as being relegated is, it will make it easier to get promoted again. For me the issues would be more with the National League Board which was pretty shambolic at times, when anything didn’t go as planned they had no idea how to deal with it. Their communication was shocking at times and the distribution of funding with the COVID payouts was scandalous. The teams might be EFL standard, not sure behind the scenes the league is though.
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Last roll of the dice really, they need more than just the potential new manager bounce to stay up. Given how his time ended at Bradford, it doesn’t fill you with confidence either. I say last roll of the dice but I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if Hughes got sacked before the end of the season! Be interesting to see how this all plays out for Cedwyn too, I’m guessing a large part of why he joined Carlisle was not only to be closer to Newcastle but to play under Mike Williamson. No idea how Mark Hughes will play and if he see’s him in his first team, they have about 30 players so he’s not short on choice.
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Salford not winning helps us, be nice if that gap could get bigger though. Lets hope Morecambe have tired themselves out before visiting us on the weekend!
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I’d be questioning the designers there, I guess they had some sort of a brief because it does mention it’s representing old red bricks that used to be made in Wrexham, but come on, given the amount of money that club has now they can do better than that. It looks like the kind of thing someone did quickly on a Friday afternoon when they forgot that was the deadline!
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Sorry to hear about your leg break @CliftonMagpie, I broke three of my fingers last summer (garden DIY paving stone accident) and had to have them taped and splinted so I couldn’t bend them for weeks. That was frustrating enough for me having never broken a single bone before! I can imagine and feel your struggles, it’s no fun when you can’t do the things you usually do. I will say not being able to drive was really inconvenient at first, but I quickly got used to being ferried around by family and friends! I've had a quiet couple of weeks really, no big changes in my life. I’m currently looking into having a holiday at some point next year at about this time, I’m not someone who enjoys the colder weather. Canary Islands seem ideal just need to find a good deal!
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Anyone have any idea how or who decides the player of month? A panel of former players, or do they just pick the name out a hat last minute... Either way it's a well deserved nomination, shame the weekends goal fell into Feb though as that would've surely sealed the deal. Shaun Whalley can't win it, he broke Matty Palmer's beautiful face! Someone from Notts need to send the scans in and get him booted off the shortlist!
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I think the recruitment has always been good to be honest. I think it’s hard to compare being in League 2 to the National League because the quality of player you are able to attract gets better as you progress up the leagues. Our recruitment in the National League was, overall, very good though. It helped massively in the National League that we didn’t have a transfer window so we had the opportunity to sign players before EFL clubs. Cal Roberts being the first example of that. It was also a sign of things to come and the main idea around our recruitment; we’re happy to pay a fee for a player if we think they will become even more valuable in the future. It's hard to say how much it's improved, because I think just being in League 2 opens up more doors. I'm sure the recruitment process has developed in terms of its strategy and we'll have been able to analyse why certain players didn't perhaps turn out as expected but ever since the Bros have come in we’ve signed lots of quality players.
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It is sad the Welsh Prem is so weak. I occasionally flick through the channels and end up watching some highlights on SC4, you wouldn't know it's the top tier at times as a lot of the facilities are reminiscent of Sunday league football. No idea how you improve the standard, and it won't ever happen but imagine if you did stick Cardiff and Swansea in the Welsh Premiership, it would mirror the Scottish Premiership with Celtic and Rangers. They would just dominate it for eternity.
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You just couldn’t make it up could you. Like you say Carlisle have literally just spent the entire January brining in players that Mike Williamson has worked with before; Cedwyn Scott, Paul Dummett, Stephen Wearne and Callum Whelan. He's also added other players to suit his style like Will Patching and Elliot Embleton. Their January window has just been a complete waste of effort time and money has it not? All Carlisle need to do now is bring in a manager who says all the new players don’t suit his style and they’ll have messed the season up perfectly! I think they are doomed personally, all to reminiscent of the season we went down, but somehow worse! Mike Williamson was all the hype 1 year ago, many would’ve wanted him as the Notts manager had he not already taken over at MK when Luke Williams departed. Look at him now though, he’s had an afwul 9 months or so, embarrassing loss in the play-offs, awful start with MK and then tanked at Carlisle...
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I'm almost the same as @liampie, except I've gone for Platt over Bedeau. So it's: Bass, Palmer, Jones, Jatta & Platt for me. I agree, it’s so marginal and those that miss out are simply just unfortunate as we have a lot of quality players at the moment.
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A very exciting signing, hopes will be high given how Jatta’s transfer turned out! I trust the recruitment team, in terms of strikers they usually get it spot on. Jatta’s goal stats from the Danish Superliga weren’t great, but a lot of his appearances were off the bench. I’m not too worried about Traore’s goal return in the Eliteserien, because it’s a similar scenario. The top teams in Sweden and Norway are a lot better than the clubs at League 2 level, so I’m really hopeful we’ve signed another top attacking talent! Can't wait to see him in a Notts shirt soon!
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Thanks for all the kind comments, glad you enjoyed reading it! I thought Curtis had a really interesting story, to go over to Sweden at such a young age was a brave decision and it payed off for him. I know moving away isn't easy but given how competitive it is in England for a lot of younger players joining a club abroad could potentially give themselves more chance of having a successful career.
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Much better performance, no way did Gillingham deserve anything and it was a well defended win in the end. If we’d have gone 3-0 up that would’ve completely killed that game off and we should’ve maybe gone for it a bit more despite being in total control throughout. Probably got lured into to being too casual at the end given how Gillingham were offering so little, but we saw it out well and didn’t drop too deep. The back three defended excellently on the whole, barely lost a duel. We were just was so much better on the ball this game and our movement off it was noticeably better too. I think you realise you get so much more when Palmer plays, he doesn’t always do stuff that is noticeable but his ability to just keep the ball moving and positional play to always be in the correct position is superb. I like what I saw from Whitaker too on his first start, maybe not as influential as we’d like on the ball but he hassled them, pressed well and made some intelligent runs forward and in behind to create space. Lovely little turn and spin midway through the second half where he gets away from a player whilst being pulled back. He was on a yellow, but because he didn’t actually stop him wasn’t a foul? Is shirt pulling only punished if it stops the play now? Which brings us onto the ref, don’t usually comment but he was poor. Stopped the match for every little bit of contact, 95% of them weren’t fouls just players going down, both us and Gillingham did it but you can’t blame the players if they know they’ll get a free-kick every time they feel the slightest bit of contact. And Jodi got a bit of kicking too, very little protection again. It was the right decision to bring him off, as much as he probably didn’t need too they were so frustrated you could see someone doing something nasty.
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Curtis Edwards has had far from an easy path to making it as a professional footballer. From working on construction sites to lining up against Jack Wilshere and Mesut Özil, his story is more interesting than most. After a spell on the sidelines, Curtis Edwards is now back at Meadow Lane, ready to make his mark in the second half of the season. I believe he's arrived at the perfect time to help push the team forward. But before we get to the present, let’s go back-right back-to when Curtis was just starting his football journey. He spent his teenage years in Middlesbrough’s academy on a scholarship with the Teesside club, but at the age of 18, like many aspiring footballers, he was released after failing to secure a professional contract. He then went on trial at various league clubs but was unsuccessful. After failing to impress even League Two sides like Hartlepool, he thought that was it. Eventually, he signed for Darlington in the Northern League Division One at the start of the 2013/14 season. However, it was only part-time, and he quickly found himself spending more time on building sites, focusing on earning money to enjoy the nights out he felt he had missed. He admitted that football wasn’t his priority at that time, which was reflected in his frequent club changes, signing for Thornaby, Spennymoor Town, and then Thornaby again, meaning he finished the season playing in the Northern League Second Division, five tiers below League Two. But the cold early mornings and the aches and pains from construction work soon made him reconsider his future. He knew he had talent and wasn’t quite ready to give up on his dream of becoming a professional footballer. So, at the age of 21, he made the bold decision to move to Ytterhogdal in the Swedish third division after fellow Teessider Brian Wake secured him a trial. With renewed determination, he quickly impressed at the club and earned himself a contract. For the first time, he produced consistently strong performances, scoring nine goals in 20 matches. Those performances were about to be rewarded in a way not even Curtis could have dreamt of. Perhaps there was a slice of good fortune, but that’s football, isn’t it? In the summer of 2016, midway through the Swedish season and during an international break, Curtis was invited to play in a friendly match for Östersunds, a newly promoted Allsvenskan side, as they were short on numbers. He played in two friendlies and impressed manager Graham Potter so much that he was offered a contract for the rest of the season. He made his competitive debut just days later in a 4-0 win over Sundsvall and went on to feature regularly in the remaining fixtures. He had stepped up from the third tier seamlessly, crediting the technical, possession-based style of play, similar to what he had learned in the Boro academy, as a key factor in his success. However, it was the 2017 season when Curtis truly started to shine. He played in nearly all of Östersunds’ matches and helped them to a fifth-place finish, the highest in the club’s history. That year also saw him win his first trophy, as Östersunds lifted the Svenska Cupen after a 4-1 victory over Norrköping, with Curtis playing the full match. Coupled with the club’s European success, he found himself facing top-quality opponents such as Raúl García and Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Club, Salomon Kalou and Vedad Ibišević from Hertha Berlin, and eventually Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal side, packed with internationals, in the knockout stages. By this point, he truly felt like a professional footballer, frequently recognised around Östersund and receiving compliments from fans. By mid-2019, after making over 100 appearances for Östersunds, his career took another step forward as he joined Djurgården, throwing himself into a title race. Just days after signing, he scored on his debut in a 4-0 win over IK Sirius. Ten wins, two losses, and a draw in the final match of the season secured the title by a single point over Malmö and Hammarby. Ahead of that decisive game, he described winning the league as the greatest moment of his career, admitting that he had initially moved to Sweden simply for a new experience, never expecting his journey to take him to the top division, let alone a title challenge. The following season, he continued to play regularly, helping Djurgården finish in a respectable fourth place. He also made his Champions League debut, featuring in a qualifying match against Ferencváros, although they were ultimately eliminated. After seven years in Sweden, his time there came to an end in 2022 when he moved to Norway. There, he helped Stabæk FC, who had just been relegated to the First Division (second tier), secure promotion back to the Eliteserien with a second-place finish. Finally, in 2024, he returned to England, joining Woking for the second half of the season. His performances impressed both their fans and manager. Michael Doyle, the former captain of Notts County, hoped to keep him for a longer period. However, Curtis chose Meadow Lane as his next destination, and it appears he arrived at the perfect time. Over the summer, Notts lost two key players in Jim O’Brien and John Bostock. Both had different playing styles and personalities, but they played significant roles in the midfield, maintaining high standards and morale. Their departures left a gap in terms of experience, but looking at Curtis’s career, it’s easy to see why Notts believed he would be a valuable addition to the squad. At 30 years old, he still has plenty to offer. In his early appearances, we’ve already seen glimpses of his quality, both on and off the ball. Technically, he looks very comfortable in possession, but he also works tirelessly, supporting the strikers and pressing the opposition. Just as he did in Scandinavia, he appears to fit Notts’ style perfectly. Unfortunately, an injury sustained against Accrington means we won’t see him in action for a while, but his experience could prove vital in the second half of the season, especially if Notts are pushing for promotion. After everything he has experienced and overcome, and with all the big matches and competitions he has played in, Curtis Edwards could have a major impact on Notts County’s season. I can’t wait to see him back in action at Meadow Lane! Check out our web store and support the Pride of Nottingham. Shop for stunning prints, stylish t-shirts, and a variety of other exciting items. Each contribution plays a vital role in fostering the growth of our community. 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Hull City 2-1 Stoke City 🤡 Millwall 1-1 QPR Leyton Orient 2-1 Stockport County Reading 2-2 Bolton Wanderers AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Bradford City Newport County 0-0 Barrow Braintree Town 1-0 Hartlepool United Wealdstone 3-2 Solihull Moors
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I've not been able to find anything out but it wouldn't surprise me, as departing mid-way through the season, except for personal circumstances is odd. It's also both their first full time coaching job in football too. I'd find it strange you'd walk away from it unless you have something else lined up, which at the minute they seemingly don't.
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I feel like we need to get them back after we had that Sam Austin equaliser controversially ruled out when we played them earlier! I think we have to try and take advantage of their bad form, they are currently on a 7 match winless run. Don’t let them score early and if we start to dominate I’m sure their fans will soon get frustrated. I wonder if now is the time for some of the new signings to start, sometimes I think it’s easier than constantly having to come off the bench. I’d be tempted to start Johnson just because he is right footed at RCB and one of Jarvis or Whittaker behind Jatta. If Palmer is back and masked up, he’ll probably go straight back into the team likely in place of Hinchy which is a tad unfortunate as he has played well recently.
