menzinho

It was mentioned last season that our record against the better teams in League 2, top 10/play-offs and automatics was pretty bad. And so far, this season we haven’t exactly been able to buck that trend. Overall, right now – ‘cos the top 10 is very changeable at the moment – our record is: Played 10, Won 3, Drawn 2, Lost 5. I guess more telling is that against the teams in the play-offs and automatics we’ve only won 1 match (1-0 against Wimbledon) the rest have been all be losses and a draw. From the teams in 11th and below, we’ve only lost 1 game though, winning 8 times and drawing 5. So can we get promoted with such a poor record against the better teams or is it something we really need to try and improve? Maybe, just beating the poorer teams will be enough given how close the league is this season, but that doesn’t exactly bode well for life in League 1, where all the teams will be better…

Possibly, I think Jarvis and Jones as wingbacks at the same time would be a touch overkill though as both are wingers really. I can see him being used more in one of the three attacking roles. In the little interview with Stuart Maynard he says Jarvis can play through the middle off a striker and also as a No.9. I’m not sure I see Martin as wingback long-term either though, I think potentially against the better teams, when he has to defend more it won’t suit him at all. That would mean potentially we’d have Didzy, Crowley, Grant, Edwards, Martin and now Jarvis all vying for spots behind the striker. I do think the addition of Jarvis makes it harder for Martin to get into the team.

Can't say I know a lot about him but the write up is very encouraging. He did really well at Shelbourne so he got recalled, but couldn't then get into Hull's first team by all accounts. Be a lot easier for him at League 2 level now though, so that's quite exciting. All in all, he looks to be a really good signing.

It’s sad from a nostalgic point of view as Palmer, Austin and JJ are the last men standing from our promotion team. That team is like a distant memory now! But from a footballing point of view, it’s probably the right decision. He’s still unproven at this level, and we’ll never know if he’s properly over his injury. It can take years to get back to feeling your best for some players. No idea how he’ll do at Carlisle, but it won’t be easy as they are a poor team. He's had a rough year so I wish him all the best and hope a move closer to home makes him happier.

On the vid above it looks like the defender heads in it for Didzy's first. ???? Don't show it to whoever clarifies the goal tallies! It was a good way to round off the hectic Christmas fixtures, 12 points from 15 is great. I think our quality just shone through, as man for man we were just better then them and that's credit to our players. Swindon did try to press us but they lacked the energy and conviction. And when they did have the ball they just never had the ability to control the ball like we did. Even though we weren't at our best we still passed it through the lines really well at times and created some really good chances. Second half, not sure how we didn't add a third, but we kept switched on and didn't let Swindon get one back which is just as good.

Is Jacob Bedeau viewing this page and voting now, cos almost always when I’ve looked the past few MoTM Topics, he’s got a solemn vote! Sorry if your reading Mr Bedeau but Didzy, for like 70 minutes, was just sublime. Austin probably the closest to taking it off him, he had a very impressive game.

Stepping outside when it's -2 at 7:30am to defrost the car has, very quickly, become my least favourite part of the day! Got to be done though, my dad's got a screen cover that is supposed to combat the frost so I'm going to pick it up off him over the weekend. Even though it was a short week I'm glad it's Friday, I had a bit more time off than usual so getting back into the normal routine has been a struggle! Not much planned for the weekend for me, just meeting some friends for a curry on the Saturday evening. I'm not able to get to Notts for the Swindon match but hopeful of catching it on the TV. I used to have a neighbour who kept bits of her Christmas decs up until about March! She was a older lady living alone but she said that her lights and sparkly decs shining made the dark evenings feel a bit brighter, quite sweet really.

What has happened to Robertson? I know it was chest muscle injury a few months ago but then he came back in December. It's a strange almost non-football injury, I wonder if it has just not healed properly. Be very unlucky if he's picked up a new injury otherwise. Feels like we're going to have to all chip in and get a private investigator to locate Gordon and Scott at the moment... ????️‍♂️????????

I’m a bit worried about the lack of break before this game given how knackered we looked by the end of the Walsall game. It’s the same for Swindon though, but I’m not sure they are quite as gun-ho as we try to be… I would 100% be making changes, no idea who though cos our player availability list is seemingly triple-locked in safe and guarded by Rottweilers. We do have more good attacking options with Martin suddenly looking a player and Grant and Jones available to start. Just a shame we now we have a few issues at the other end, Tsaroulla, Gordon, Ness and Macari could all miss out. And I feel a bit for Jatta, he’s doing really well but he’s pretty much played every minute since the Salford game. I Hope he’s got enough energy for one more game! Swindon have improved recently, but they've still only won once away from home this season. As @Dripsey3 says their form is better so they should be more confident that they can potentially stop us and get something from the game. Even if they do press us, it surely won’t be as effective as Walsall they are a much better team with better players too. I think they are more likely to take the sit deep and counter approach, but we’ll see. Harry Smith, will be their main threat, a proper only his own fans like him type of player…

I've always been pretty impressed with Wimbledon, I think they could take one of the automatic spots with Walsall. Bromley keeping up the tradition of showing that the National League isn't a weak as lots of EFL fans believe, for them to be in the top half of the table with the same points as Chesterfield (and just 3 less than us) is very impressive. Dark horses for a play-off spot... ????

Yeah, not sure about this rumour. I don’t think Jatta is quite Championship level, I love him and he's great for us but you’ve only got to look at Macca to see how big the step up is – albeit Millwall don’t exactly play a style that suits him…

It has not gone well for him there; he started as the captain but fast forward to today, he’s been stripped of that and not really performed well in a team that are now the worst in the league… Think there’s no way for him back here, after what he said and being unable to accept the decision to be striped of the capacity but sadly for him, it was 100% the correct decision. He was never going to be a guaranteed starter and Bedeau has proved to be a better player in his position.

Yes that was very funny to see! He must have been in the dressing room when Stuart Maynard gave his team talk and said to get stuck into them ???? Dan was very caring and attentive with him so it most likely was his son.

Makes sense, it benefits everyone really. With Tsaroulla and now Jones back getting in the team was always going to difficult again for Chicksen. I get he can play at LCB back too but both Bedeau and McDonald will be ahead of him here. Funny how Neal Ardley is now at Woking, having replaced Michael Doyle as the manager. They just don't want to give up that Notts link!

Interesting how we all see the match so differently. I thought Didzy and Crowley were passengers at the start of the second half and when they got the ball they generally took to many touches. Likewise I thought second half was one of Platt’s poorer performances. His scuffed clearance leads to their first and then he is beaten to the ball by Lowe for their second. First half everyone was pretty good though but I did find it odd we pushed Palmer out a touch wider, and he wasn’t as involved at times. We played almost in a diamond at times with Abbott at the base. I think second half we really needed Palmer and Abbott to play more as a holding duo to potentially stop their advances. It was a game of two halves so it’s much harder to score, Martin played well and got undeservingly hooked for me. But overall I think Abbott came away from that match with the most credit.

I would like to know why he isn’t fighting for his place now though? Have we given him Christmas off, is he injured? The fact we’ve had no update always tends to mean people jump to the worst possible outcome, but I don’t want to believe the 'negative' rumours. We were desperate for some fresh legs upfront yesterday, if he’s fit surely he gets on the bench…

Josh Martin’s contract could’ve in theory expired after today’s game, all we know is that he's contracted until some point in January but we don’t know how long… So with that in mind, would you extend his contract to the end of the season, or further even? I’d keep him until the end of the season, hopefully even keep him for longer is he continues to play well. When he’s played at wingback, whilst only having minimal playing time, he’s never looked that comfortable there. He did well against Walsall though, definitely better around the oppositions box than his own but he really excelled in the middle when he played just behind Jatta against Cheltenham. I'd like to see him play here more often.

Harrogate will be relegated from League 2. Wrexham will still be in League 1. Wayne Rooney will be Blackpool's manager. The outcome of the Man City trial will be a fine, they won't be relegated. Lionesses to be knocked out of the Euro's at the group stage.

What could’ve been… First half performance was like a dream, I guess that means the second half was a nightmare. I think the big two issues second half were the inability to deal with the Walsall press and that we looked absolutely knacked by the 70th minute. We just didn’t react to Walsall stepping onto us, we just played like it was the first half and we had all the time in the world, when we didn’t. Again, not having much of out-ball hurt us, because Walsall stepped up there was more space in behind but we had no-one to exploit it. Everyone in the stadium could see Walsall equalising as we didn’t even look that great in defence, no natural wingbacks is always going to be a hinderance and Platt had a particularly poor second half. Easy to say in hindsight but I think we should’ve made all our subs and been more pro-active too. Hinchy would’ve provided some fresh legs in the middle of the pitch but the fact no-one came on to replace one off the front three was baffling. Like what was the point of having Brown on the bench if he’s not going to get on when both Didzy and Jatta were struggling to run. I thought taking off Martin was mistake too. I’d have pushed him into the attacking midfield role at the expense of either Crowley or Didzy, who beside their late chances, had poor showings overall second half. I think SM bottled it by not taking off one of them off, Martin was playing well and wasn’t exactly that tired. Fair play to Walsall turning it around, bizarre not to press from the off though as had we gone in 2-0 that could’ve been a different game. No idea who the first player in will be this January but they need to be lightning fast and capable of playing upfront.

Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 Derby County West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Preston North End Lincoln City 2-0 Rotherham United ???? Northampton Town 1-1 Stevenage Barrow 0-1 Bradford City Morecambe 0-0 Tranmere Rovers Rochdale 3-1 Altrincham York City 2-1 Gateshead

Happy New Year everyone! I had an early night last night, still felt a bit rough suffering with my cold. My partner went out with some friends to celebrate and had a good night. I was tucked up in bed by 10 and honestly I didn't regret it! Good news now, I've passed a late fitness test, I feel a lot brighter this morning so I'm on my way to Meadow Lane this afternoon!

Stating the bleedin' obvious here, but a win would be absolutely massive. It would show what could be achieved this season. We are probably in decent place in terms of injuries, I would think Ness will miss out but hopefully Macari is ok and can come straight back into the team. If Josh Martin is still contracted to us he probably deserves another start in the attacking midfielder role, he looked so much better here than at wingback. I guess the other big question is will Jodi start? He'll step onto the pitch at some point today, surely. I'm really looking forward to it, should be a cracker of a match.

The situation with Cedwyn is very strange, I've heard a few rumours but not that he's been training with Carlisle. I'm not sure if he would be allowed considering he is contracted to us, it would be very strange if true. That's not to say he might not end up there now the window is open. He needs the game time and Carlisle aren't exactly a rival. Might not be the confidence boost he needs though as they don't exactly create tons of chances, their current top scorer Armstrong only has 3 goals...

The response since the result at Salford has been absolutely fantastic. What a result that was in the end, I cannot wait to watch the highlights of the match! Fingers crossed the injuries to Macari and Ness aren't too bad.

This is insane, it's going to finish 6-7 at this rate!