menzinho

Charlton Athletic 1-2 Norwich City Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Portsmouth Stevenage 0-2 Reading Wigan Athletic 1-0 Exeter City 🃏 Accrington Stanley 1-3 Chesterfield Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Crewe Alexandra Altrincham 0-2 Southend United Yeovil Town 1-1 Morecambe

MK and Bristol being top isn’t surprising because they are both owned by very rich families from the middle east. I’d have thought just given the size of us, we’d have been in the top 10. I know Chris and Alex have always said that we operate in a way where we want to out-perform our playing budget, but just given how we turnover more money than most teams in League 2 I'd still expect us to be top-half in terms of budgets. 🤔🤷‍♂️ Barrow is an interesting one, having done a bit of digging one of their owners used to be the CEO of a company that is allegedly worth billions, so I’d imagine he isn’t short of money. They’ve also got some players like Tom Barkhuizen, Ben Jackson & Connor Mahoney that played in the Championship before joining Barrow so they will all be on decent wages. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were spending more than what most might think.

A few years ago I went on holiday to Greece, it was a really early flight and I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to get to the airport. So once I finally arrived even though it was mid-afternoon I was feeling super tired and just wanted to get to the hotel to have a nap. I can remember exiting the airport to find the bus to take us to the hotel. When I found it stood right at the side was a guy in a smart white shirt looking at people’s bookings, telling them to get on and leave their luggage with him as he'll load it for us. Once I was on the bus and we were on the move I got this horrible thought of what I'd possibly just done. And then I just knew, looking at the driver and the rep in their proper uniforms... I'd handed my suitcase to a total stranger and surprise, surprise they had no idea of a man in a white shirt who worked for them. I felt so stupid, I’m always super cautious and careful when it comes to getting scammed but because I was so tired I just wasn’t thinking properly. Luckily, all my important stuff was in my hand luggage and because I’m paranoid about the luggage being lost I’d split my clothes with my brother (who was on another bus) so I didn’t lose everything. Now I'm like a hawk if I have to load my bag onto a bus, I'll wait to be the last person so I can see the undercarriage shut with my case in it!

Gutted for him. It felt like he was doing more twist and turns against Chesterfield than he had all season, I know it could’ve happened at anytime but it's incredibly unfortunate it happened the one time he played out his usual position. That’s 4 ACL’s in 3 years for us now. Luker’s injury wasn’t disclosed, he had to have surgery on his knee as well, it was probably similar to an ACL but not quite as severe. He’s basically missed the whole season too.

In a way having no natural striker probably focused the players more. Grant was great upfront but at the same time we didn't play loads of high balls for him to challenge for because it's not his strength. Sometimes I think we can get too drawn into the physical battles with the big defenders but last night was a textbook way of dealing with it. Rawson for Accrington had to work harder keeping track of Grant and he knew he couldn't always follow him when he dropped deeper and this caused them loads of problems. Back to within 2 points of the automatic spots now, we've just got to keep going anything is possible because the results in this league are always surprising.

I thought Tangen looked really bright first half, best we've seen from him so far. But for me I thought Jones and Grant were the two stand-outs. I've been pretty critical of Grant but he had one of his best matches last night, so I voted for him. Can he finally finish the season in that kind of form?

Is the image of Bennetts the clue that he might be leading the line tonight? 🤔 I think it'll be either him or Grant. Surprised that Enrou isn't even on the bench, is he injured? Great night for Harrison Iwunze though, potentially could make his proper first team debut. The trophy doesn't really count!

Watford 1-1 Wrexham Luton Town 3-1 Exeter City Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Stevenage 🃏 Bristol Rovers 1-0 Shrewsbury Town Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Harrogate Town Walsall 1-2 Cambridge United Southend United 2-2 Rochdale Woking 1-0 Yeovil Town

I agree with much of what has already been said, I’d have Bedeau 1st and Iorpenda 2nd, I think they are the clear standouts for me this season. I’ll be amazed if one of them doesn’t win the clubs player of the season. I’d have Dennis 3rd, just purely because his goals have been vital for us this season, he’s basically replaced Didzy which is no mean feat. Macari 4th, very close between him and Dennis, he’s been super reliable and really solid in defence this season. Then I’m torn between 3, Jatta, Platt & Tsaroulla. But I think I'll say Tsaroulla 5th for me. He’s played pretty much the whole season in a position that isn’t his natural one and he’s top of the charts when it comes to assists and chances created this season. I still don't like the inverted wingbacks being a thing, it’s the one hangover from last season I want to see kicked to the curb. But I get given we’ve been so limited with right-footed wingbacks, we’ve pretty much had no choice but to play him there.

Yeah, I get impression and I could be completely wrong here that Martin doesn't particularly enjoy the pre-match chats. I don't always watch them because he doesn't tend to give much away. I wonder if thinks the opposition listen and is therefore extra careful to give them almost zero insight! I actually think hearing from Andy and Sam, in pre-match build up would make it more interesting from time to time. They don't have the final say on the starting 11 so they probably could talk a tad more freely.

It is definitely going to be more of a challenge because of our current player availability. I think Iorpenda has to play as one of the CMs, especially as we've no idea if Palmer is capable of starting this one. Same for Jatta, I think Enoru has played up front for Tamworth, and the National League isn’t short of physical centre backs. Ok playing to his feet won’t be his strength, but his pace would allow us to play more balls in behind and turn the Accrington defence. Otherwise, I think that just leaves Bennetts. He’s pretty strong, quick and skilful. I think he could fill in. A massive positive for us is that since October we’ve only lost 2 matches away and generally speaking the team tends respond positively after a defeat.

The massive issue with Grant is that because we only play 1 centre forward the attacking midfielders need score goals. He’s got got 2 goals and 2 assists and in a team like ours he should be doing better. Look at Charlie Whitaker playing in a side that is so much worse than ours yet he’s scored 9 goals... Talking about keeping Didzy maybe we should've tried just as hard to keep Whitaker. Don’t get me wrong, I love Grant's work-rate and commitment to close down but for me he’s just a useful squad player to have. When Ruben played as a No.10 he scored goals and set them up, as did Scott, then Crowley and Didzy. I thought Hall was on the way to doing it but after he got sent off against Bristol he’s just looked off the pace.

I think that first 20 minutes was a bit of an eye opener for MP. I do understand that with Robbo out getting Palmer back in is the obvious choice but it might not be the best one. He seems to be reluctant to play Iorpenda deeper now but you do get more of a balance if he plays with either Palmer or Norburn. The defence on the right just looked all out of sorts. I just don't think Platt is suited to playing as a RCB at all. Even when he plays in the middle, I worry whenever he gets dragged out wide because he never looks totally comfortable dealing with the smaller, trickier players. In my opinion the RCB and LCB are tougher than the middle CB spot, you need to be more mobile and constantly switched on because you go from marking space, to wingers to strikers over the course of a match. We could've made changes and rectified it, but that kind of went out the window after Norburn got sent off and that for me did more damage than the poor start. It was a great effort to get it back to 2-2 but I was dreading the second half, it felt inevitable sadly. We really looked short in midfield, not only because we were down to 10 but by time both Palmer and Tangen went off we then ended up with a makeshift midfield which was just all over the place. Dennis getting a yellow card right at the end, was the perfect way to end a disastrous day, he’ll be out for either 1 or 2 matches as well.

I don't mind about the fitness of the players not being disclosed, it keeps the opposition guessing and makes their prep that little bit more awkward not knowing who they are potentially going to face. I'm hopeful though, imagine the buzz around Meadow Lane if both Jatta and Palmer are back in the squad! 🤩 The away fixture was one of our poorer showings this season and we didn't even have an excuse of them sitting really deep and giving us no space, Chesterfield were just simply the better side. So we do need to pay them back now, especially after last season too, I think we haven't won any of the matches since they've been promoted back to League 2. I'm sure we'll see a few changes for this one but I'd be tempted to start with the side that finished the match against Walsall. Although I would keep Macari at RCB because I'm not convinced Platt is suited to playing there.

Definitely, it's not like our players aren't used to playing in front of big crowds and whenever they get asked pre/post-match they seem to relish getting to play in front of so many. The bigger attended matches do tend to be against the better teams though, which makes it harder but we've been pretty good this season at home so I'm hoping we get a really good performance and result on Saturday!

I agree with @theAnticlough even when he was recalled from his first loan spell after Palmer's injury and then Robertson's if felt like that was the most obvious pathway for him to get into the team but it didn't happen. I can't see him being here next season but I hope he does well at Wealdstone.

I'd consider myself to be a cautiously optimistic fan but right now I feel pretty positive because I think at this point we have over-achieved this season. We had an indifferent start not helped by Jatta missing the first month of the season (and now he’s been out for over a month), Palmer has been out for close to 3 ½ months and Roberston can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to being injury free. We also had a goalkeeper for half a season who was terrified of stepping out from under his crossbar and we've had no No.10 with the quality of Crowley or Didzy. Yet here we are 1 point off an automatic place! I’m pretty amazed to be honest, in terms of finishing the season now it's a bit of a basic response but we've just got to keep doing what we've been doing. We've got much more resilience to us this season and that gives us a good chance of getting over the line.

A Steve Evans side v an Andy Woodman side... I know one thing, that poor 4th official will be deaf by the end of it!

I can remember a toe-curling interview/game thing that Kevin Nolan did with Alan Hardy and one the questions Alan was asked was something like, “Where do you see Kevin in 5 years time?” and he answered, with no hint of irony; “Manager of the England National Team”. I suspect if he wanted another managerial/head coach role it'll be either League 2 or the National League for him.

Two draws against Bromley now, not bad at all considering they are top. This has been the biggest difference for me this season, our results against the better teams have improved massively, we are a lot more competitive and the fact we can take points from these types of matches really does give me hope we could be on for a great season finale!

Jodi was excellent, but I went for Platt. Just thought he defended really well especially against a team that played so direct and with such a big physical forwards.

Derby County 2-1 Swansea City Portsmouth 1-2 Sheffield United Barnsley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Blackpool 0-2 Plymouth Argyle Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Gillingham 🃏 Oldham Athletic 2-1 Fleetwood Town Tamworth 2-0 Aldershot Woking 3-1 Altrincham

The thing that amazes me most about Bromley is their style and how they basically pass the ball between 100 & 150 times per match. In 90 minutes of professional football it just doesn’t seem like it could be possible to win so many matches with so little of the ball. It’s like some kind of magic, against Gillingham when they won 4-1 they made 98 successful passes and their passing accuracy was 43%! Bromley are very strong at home too, they haven’t lost a match all season but someone is going to beat them at some point so in a way we should really relish this type of challenge. In the little snippet of training that Notts posted yesterday it showed a lot of the first 11 training including Hinchy too, no sign of Jatta, Robbo or Norburn so I'm wondering if this is a sort of hint. I'm probably reading way too much into it! Anyway, all eyes will be on that team-sheet at 2pm, really hoping we've just been purposely quiet to give Bromley no indication of who is and isn't fit.

I think so, we have a number of players who can play in more than just the one position. With Cotter excluded and Gordon sold the right wingback spot is now one where we don’t have a naturally right-footed player. I know Kouhyar has played at wingback but it’s not exactly his natural position, a bit like Sam Austin last season he’s just a player that seems to fill in where needed. Aside from that I think the squad is in better place now than it was before January. Belshaw is a big plus, Ndlovu adds some much needed depth upfront, Beck-Ray is like a wildcard signing but his speed really excites me and I've got a good feeling that Tangen could be the player that really looks the part in the No.10 role.

Spot on, I’ve just looked at the match report from last season: “We lined up in a back four, with Alex Bass protected by Jacob Bedeau, Matty Platt, Robbie Cundy and Lewis Macari”. Also I was reminded of this: “And our shaky start was compounded on six minutes as Bass got his pass into midfield wrong, allowing Thompson to seize possession and beat the goalkeeper with his shot from the edge of the area”. Bromley will press aggressively from the start but no-one has the energy to maintain it for more than 10/15 minutes, but not giving them possession on the edge of our box will be useful! I’m almost certain this is the kind of thing that will be flagged up by our revolutionary technical board. If we go to Bromley and try to beat them at their game we will lose. I think the big things for me will be to not give away unnecessary set-pieces and work extra hard to stop crosses. Last season we had Jodi, Crowley, Didzy and AJ all in peak form, which helped obviously, but we beat them by getting the ball down and playing round them. Even earlier this season when we were nowhere near the levels we’ve been showing recently, I thought we played well. Crewe went there a couple of matches back and got a 2-2 draw, there’s no reason we can’t get a positive result too.