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menzinho
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Everything posted by menzinho
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Pete was the one (and only person) that reported about Millwall and Macca… MK have got new owners, presumably pretty wealthy so could they be having a bit of spend before the window closes? I can accept selling Nemane to MK because we received Grant and a fee. But Crowley is another level in terms of playing ability so I'd be telling them he's going nowhere! I know he’s only got 1 year left on his deal and that is an issue. However we don’t know if the club have had talks about an extension or even if Dan wants to stay here long-term but regardless of all that I’d rather he stayed for this season at least. I too hope it's more rumour than real...
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???? ???? I can remember going to games when I was a teenager and Notts were in League 2 and thinking it was an amazing when the attendance was 6,000 (cos it rarely happened!). It's very impressive how much the fan base has grown, I think we'll be looking at another season of around 9-11k for most home games, which is incredible for a fourth tier club!
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Yeah I liked the look of him after getting a bit of a longer look at Shrewsbury. A goal on his first start is great, should indicate he'll get into those positions and get a few similar goals over the season. He seems to have a very good first touch and is skilful enough to turn and dribble past players and he's pretty quick too. I know it's early days and we have good competition for the attacking midfield roles but I already think he's put himself in contention to start against Fleetwood.
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I thought the Terrace was all licensed and legit as Notts have posted about them before, could be wrong though. I’ve never seen a knock off Notts shirt though, I think there’s a pretty limited market! I’ve been to many a tourist destination where they have the usual knock off United, Liverpool, Barca, Madrid, PSG shirts. No idea how you'd ever stop that though, I guess they make so much money many anyway they're not that bothered in all the effort it would take to stop it. I think if the price of the shirt continues to go up someone might see a bit of gap in the market to make a cheaper Notts alternative. If it ever did happen and they used the actual Notts crest on a knock-off shirt the club would be able to sue and stop it. However if they “designed” their own Notts badge to look similar they’d probably get away with it and legally too – You’ve only got to look in any budget shop/supermarket and their versions always look really similar to the branded versions.
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We had so much control after a really good 1st half but we were just far too complacent in that 2nd half. Two of the goals were gifts, put them in the highlight (horror) reel with the others from the last game against Shrewsbury, but our performance was really lacklustre. I don’t know if the players were lured into a false sense of security by just how poor Shrewsbury were 1st half but you’ve got to come out after half-time like it’s 0-0. Had that been a league game at least we’d have drawn, but you’ve got to say when you’re 2-0 up to go 3-2 down is really poor. Can we not play Shrewsbury for a bit now ta.
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We’re a bit hampered by injuries at the moment so whilst I think Stuart Maynard would like to make some changes, he might be limited by who he can pick. Rod McDonald, Robertson, Gordon, Tsaroulla and even Palmer could be missing. I’m hoping this might be the first time we see Palmer though, I think a first round second level cup is a good time to get some game time. I’m sure we’ll see a few changes though, Slocombe in goal could be one, he’s not had the best pre-season but Stone has barely featured at all. I’d start Cundy so you can rest one of the three centre backs that started against Tranmere. And I'd start Edwards, Grant and Didzy too, that way a few are rested but the team is still pretty strong. I’m not particularly fussed by the Carabao Cup (is it still called that?) to be honest but I’d like to beat Shrewsbury because our last showing against them was comically bad defensively and I need that memory to be erased and replaced with a win!
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Cedwyn's throw was surprising, it was odd seeing it for the first time but I can understand why Luke Williams just ignored it! *Controversial opinion alert* I think the long-throw is the most overrated tactic in football. So many teams try it, I think they all think they've got the next Rory Delap but the reality is the ball just about reaches the box. Unless you've got a really useless defence it rarely results in a goal these days. Cedwyn's throw was decent but Tranmere weren't exactly in panic mode over it. I think teams would just be better playing a short throw where you knock it straight back to the thrower to just cross it in!
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I think the most encouraging thing is how well we defended our box – something we rarely said last season! Platt, Bedeau and Macari were really solid as was Cundy when he came on and we’ve got some real height at the back now. I know it was only the first game but Bass looks like he might just be the keeper we’ve been crying out for, didn’t panic when he came out to claim the crosses. Crowley was probably the best play on the pitch for me. Not having one of Robertson and Palmer fit (and Edwards being ill) I get especially with Henchy being so new why you’d drop him deeper, but we really missed him in an attacking sense. Austin and Scott struggled to bridge the gap between our midfield and Jatta and Jodi was doubled marked for a lot of the game too. I thought we improved when the subs came on, considering he’s never played with any of his team mates before Grant showed some nice touches and we could’ve won right at the end!
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I'd expect the team that started against Peterborough in that first game will make up the majority of the starting 11. I'm hoping that Robertson is fit enough to start and I'd be tempted to partner him with Edwards, otherwise I guess Hinchy will get his first start! Tough first game, like many have alluded to, I'd be happy with a draw.
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I’m almost certain Jim lives in Sheffield with his young son and he was coaching at United's youth academy in the evenings last season. Even if we had offered something he’d probably already had some talks about becoming a full-time coach there. It’s perfect for him and I’m sure he’ll do a great job!
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Notts have made no secret of their ambition to improve on last season’s mid-table finish and push for promotion this season. Finishing in the play-offs seems a very realistic target. However, it’s not going to be easy. Several clubs have similar aims and have recruited well in the hope of securing a place in League 1 come the end of the 2024/25 season. This isn’t a prediction as such but rather an analysis of the teams that have recruited well and will be hoping to push for promotion this coming season. (Yes, I’m too cautious to stick my neck out and predict who will get promoted!) MK Dons, having finished 4th last season, will be many fans’ favourites to win the league next season. There could be some concerns given their poor showing in the play-offs, but over the course of a long season, with the talent they have in their team, I’d expect MK to do well. They’ve strengthened their defence with the signings of centre-backs Sam Sherring and Luke Offord. Both are 24 years of age but have considerable league experience. Sam, formerly of Northampton, won promotion to League 1 and was a key player in their team, while Luke was captain at Crewe, racking up over 150 appearances. Just like Notts, they have also acquired two players from Crawley. Liam Kelly and Lawrence Maguire were mainstays in the team last season and both featured in the side that beat MK in the play-offs. They’ve added experience too, with Tom Carroll, who played in the Premier League with Tottenham and Swansea, and was playing for Exeter in League 1 last season. The central midfielder impressed their fans in his 42 appearances and turned down their contract offer. Losing young forward Max Dean to Gent isn’t ideal, but replacing him with Salford’s Supporters’ Player of the Season, Callum Hendry, will have softened the blow. On paper, MK have had an extremely impressive summer, adding a lot of quality to what was already a strong squad. A top-three finish should be their aim. It’s no secret Gillingham are financially well-backed and were one of the teams tipped for promotion last season, but they struggled for goals, scoring only 46 – the second-lowest in the division. So, this summer, it’s no surprise their recruitment has focused more on attacking players. Jack Nolan scored 17 goals for Accrington last season, and he’ll be hoping to continue that form for the Gills. Elliot Nevitt wasn’t far behind in the scoring charts, netting 16 times as he helped Crewe to a play-off final. Armani Little has joined from Wimbledon and should add some much-needed creative flair. Meanwhile, the direct and quick winger Arron Rowe has joined from Huddersfield after a solid season on loan at Crewe. Perhaps the most important new recruit, however, is head coach Mark Bonner. His last spell in League 2 was with Cambridge, and it ended in promotion to League 1, as well as finishing as the league’s top scorers. Given Gillingham had the 4th most touches in the opposition’s box last season, the addition of some proven goalscorers should result in more goals. They’ll be hoping the added firepower will get them closer to promotion this season. Doncaster had an incredible finish to last season, winning 10 in a row and only losing 1 in 18, so for many, they were the favourites going into the play-offs. However, a defeat to Crewe meant they missed out on Wembley and face another season in League 2. Billy Sharp is the headline signing, rejoining his old club, but at the age of 38, he’ll need to be managed effectively to get the best from him. Harry Clifton is a smart signing; the former Grimsby Player of the Season will improve their central midfield options, and Joe Sbarra will add creative flair. Winger Jordan Gibson was surprisingly released by Carlisle after making 40 appearances in League 1 and scoring 9 goals. Doncaster have kept most of their side together from last season and have signed some talented players. Manager Grant McCann will be counting on continuing their good form into the new season, and they’d have no excuses if they don’t finish inside the top 7 again. Swindon have high hopes for this campaign too. Their controversial owner, Clem Morfuni, has said, “The budget’s gone up. Our budget’s quite healthy this season, and you’ll see that reflected in the players we sign.” I’d agree – their summer recruitment has been encouraging. They’ve signed three centre-backs, with the headline signing being Grant Hall, who’s made over 150 appearances in the Championship, most notably for QPR. However, recent injuries have meant he’s struggled for game time, but if he can stay fit, he will be one of the best centre-backs in the league. Just as impressive is Will Wright, who was one of the stand-out centre-backs in League 2 last season. He’s equally adept on the ball as he is off it, so he will be a massive help in playing out from the back. Ryan Delaney, who turned down a contract offer from Newport, should provide good competition too. In Rosaire Longelo and Tunmise Sobowale, they’ve added two young wing-backs with experience of playing in League 1. In midfield, they’ve paid an undisclosed fee to sign Ollie Clarke, who was a key man in Mansfield’s promotion-winning side. And Harry Smith, the 6ft 5in striker who scored 11 times in a poor Sutton side, will provide a different and more direct attacking option. Swindon's fans have doubts over their owner, and ultimately what goes on behind the scenes seems to dictate a club’s fortunes. While those at the top might aim high, if the unsavoury relationship between fans and board continues, it will probably hinder the club’s progression. Darren Moore will be expected to get Port Vale back into League 1 at the first time of asking. At the end of the 2023 season, he had just led Sheffield Wednesday back into the Championship, yet now in 2024, he finds himself in League 2. George Byers is their stand-out signing; the central midfielder has played his entire career in the Championship and League 1, and at the age of 28, it’s surprising he’s now dropped into League 2. You have to assume playing under Moore at Sheffield Wednesday was a key factor in this move. His potential midfield partner, Ryan Croasdale, was a player many Notts fans would’ve been pleased to see at Meadow Lane after helping Stockport win the League 2 title a few months ago. Jayden Stockley is also dropping back down into League 2. His last time playing at this level was with Exeter between 2017 and 2019, where he scored 36 goals in 66 games. He’s since been less prolific but decent nonetheless as he’s spent his time in the Championship and League 1. If they were concerned Stockley may not hit the heights, they’ve backed him up with two young promising forwards: Lorent Tolaj, who scored 19 goals in the National League for Aldershot, and Ruari Paton, who scored 17 in the Scottish Championship. The main concern for Vale would be bringing their disastrous form into next season, having only won twice in 2024. It might also take the signings time to gel, but if they do click, they should be a really impressive team. Fleetwood has managed to recruit some good players, noticeably a trio of talented midfielders in Matty Virtue, Mark Helm, and Elliot Bonds. However, a number of good players have departed to stay in League 1. Clubs like Crewe and Wimbledon have found themselves in a similar situation, losing good players after a successful season and struggling to bring in quality replacements. Interestingly, Chesterfield are the current bookies’ favourites for the title, but I would be very surprised to see them top of the table come the end of the season. Their only strong additions have been Paddy Madden and centre-back Chey Dunkley, who featured regularly in League 1 for Shrewsbury. I think a play-off spot is a more realistic target. Some other notable transfers for teams hoping to improve on last season include the signing of Ben Woodburn by Salford. The former Liverpool player was described as one of the most gifted young players at the club and, at the age of 24, has even made 11 appearances for Wales. Bradford has added the talented attacking midfielder Antoni Sarcevic after his departure from Stockport, and Charlie Wyke could be a tip for top scorer. He’s been racking up goals for numerous League 1 clubs before re-signing for Carlisle, who will be hoping to bounce back after last season’s relegation. The season’s start is nearly upon us, but only at the end of the season will we be able to see if the recruitment has paid off. The promotion fight could be a lot closer with well-backed teams like Stockport, Wrexham, and Mansfield all gone. Let’s just hope Notts, after a decent summer of recruitment, find themselves in the thick of the battle to get to League 1 too! Click here to join in with the Pride of Nottingham's match discussion: Share your thoughts and opinions ahead of this weekend's opening League Two fixture against Tranmere Rovers. Join in the debate and add your thoughts on the new away and third kit: do you like them? Have your say on this matter within the Pride of Nottingham community forum.
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It's almost time until the proper football resumes again but over the pre-season it’s very easy to sometimes just get wrapped up in perceived negatives after losing a few friendlies and equally it’s easy to get carried away with the excitement of all the new signings. So what are your biggest reasons to be hopeful about next season and equally what is giving you cause for concern? You can have as many points as you like – but just try to balance every negative point with a positive one too! - No massive lists of just negatives, plenty of that on social media ???????? So here are mine to kick us off! Reasons to be concerned: 1. Losing an amazing goal scorer in Macca 2. An injury hampered pre-season could result in a slow start 3. Our attacking wingbacks may still leave the new defenders with a lot of work to do Reasons to be hopeful: 1. We’ve added 4 dominate centre backs who should make us better defensively 2. Jatta looking very sharp over pre-season and he’ll be even more settled now 3. Palmer and Robbo as a midfield pairing ????
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For those that are interested I've found the highlights from the Peterborough site, they are free to view! Highlights of the first match: https://www.theposh.com/video/player/0_qr5ds7cb?feed=572d5031-67d2-44eb-90e1-19cf03693c7d§ion=9029b27b-2dd9-4a50-8844-77c477038c99 Highlights of the second match: https://www.theposh.com/video/player/0_idoqe8ih?feed=572d5031-67d2-44eb-90e1-19cf03693c7d§ion=9029b27b-2dd9-4a50-8844-77c477038c99 Second match is, um, more entertaining... ???? ????
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That would be the dream @Robbie! And then he leaves Millwall at the end of the season by mutual consent and re-signs for us!
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I get the concerns about not having a starting 11 that would more resemble the starting 11 against Tranmere, I feel like this pre-season we’ve struggled more with injuries than is being revealed. It’s not helped all the games have been away games so fewer fans have seen the team, most fans are relying on the club to bridge the gap and our media coverage is usually top notch but it feels like we’ve been fed scraps this season. The updates on the games have been minimal and highlights non-existent. I’m having to watch other teams highlights and interviews to try and gauge how we got on! I’m still not overly concerned, yet… But I totally understand why fans would be concerned that we couldn’t score, but conceded against a team with 10 men. A post-match reaction from Boston would’ve gone some way to help calm and explain. I’ve heard we’ve been doing double sessions before games, so if that’s true it would explain why we seem to tail off as games wear on.
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I don't think the squad is too far away now, I think the fact Morias has departed means another attacker will be signed and then I'm actually struggling to think what other position we need to sign a player for! We don't have the budget to do a Stockport/Wrexham and have a big squad. If we replace Morias that would give us a squad of 23 (excluding the youngsters). I think that's fine to be honest, I’d rather have a slightly smaller squad with quality players that can play more than just the one position - which is what we have done (hopefully!). Yes we are going to get injuries but we’d have to have some sort of voodoo curse if 3 players end up suffering season ending injuries before the winter again!
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Some highlights for those that are interested. Oh and the trialist midfielder was apparently Jake Taylor, he came through Forest's academy before playing for Port Vale and Morecambe.
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I’d say we are ticking over quite nicely, we’ve got the bodies in CM now and I’d want to see Robbo, Edwards and Palmer get a bit more game time this coming week as it should be 2 from the 3 starting come Tranmere. Scott perhaps understandably will take a bit of time to get back in the swing of things considering the amount of time he was out injured. The good news is Jatta is looking very sharp and if he carries on like he has when the real matches start I think the worries about Macca’s replacement will disappear. I’m not overly concerned with the result, it’s meaningless and all the players know it – they’ll just be wanting to build up their match sharpness and avoid a potential injury.
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I know it's only pre-season but a result like that is definitely encouraging. Assuming like us they put out a mix of pros and youngsters, the level of the Wycombe team will be a lot better than Alfreton. Love to know who the trialist was that scored, judging by the team-sheet I'd say it was the trialist midfielder (although given our gun-ho attack at times you can't 100% rule out that the trialist defender scored it!) Elliot Thorpe could be the guy given he played against Alfreton... There’s is a picture online that shows Haji Mnoga played in the game, first half as he's playing in defence behind Gordon. He's a player that you would say is in a similar situation to Alex Kirk, in that he needs to join a team and settle down to properly start his career. However, given they both play primarily in the RCB spot you’d think we’d only have a spot for one them... Hard to know who has the better potential. Kirk wouldn’t have stayed at Arsenal for as long as he had if they didn’t think he’d have a chance of making it. Whilst Mnoga is a year old he's played a lot more professional games and even featured internationally for Tanzania. I’m glad I don’t have to be the one who has to decide, if indeed we do eventually sign one of them!
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As it's behind closed doors I'm hoping Notts will be recording it and can put some sort of highlights out after the match.
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Genuinely thought he'd stick around for the season so it's a blow to lose him. I agree and hope Scott can fill the void his friend has left. Macca's a fantastic player and Millwall are lucky to have him, he'll go down in the history books as one of the great strikers for Notts!
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I know the club spoke about finding a USP for our academy as we have to compete with the likes of Derby, Leicester and Forest, but producing players for other teams seems a tad counter-productive! Again, I don't think I've ever seen him play so I can't comment but I know the club had high hopes for him. Hopefully not a case of one that got away but I wish him all the best. Curtis Thompson was the last academy player to actually progress and play over 50 games for us and that was over 10 years ago now. I know it's not easy, as we get raided by the big boys whenever we produce anyone of potential stand out quality, but we do need to see some players progress soon otherwise it's a waste of time and money...
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It's spot the trialist time again! ???? I'm intrigued to see if we've had a few training with us since the team started back, I'm sure they'll be one or two. Not sure the game itself will be the most enthralling given it's the first game back. No-one will really be playing at 100%, and I think it'll be more geared to trying a few things out too so it could potentially be quite a low-scoring. As long as their are no injuries in these early friendlies, especially concerning Scott and Palmer it'll have been a success!
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The not coming to an agreement could simply just be him wanting to stay and the club wanting to get rid! Interesting he’s only commenting now, we’ve known he was going weeks ago. Anyway, as has already been mentioned, those two vital goals in the Boreham Wood game will always make me think fondly of him. Oh, and I'm still impressed by your ability @Chris to shoe-horn in a dig at Richard Duffy! You never miss an opportunity! ???? ????
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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.
