menzinho

When you look at that starting 11, we’ve basically got 3 defenders and 1 defensive midfielder. Both Jones and Nemane are effectively wingers that have been converted into wingbacks. Crowley and Austin are attacking midfielders and McGoldrick and Macca are both forwards. That leaves 4 players, Palmer, Cameron, Baldwin and Brindley who are naturally defensively minded. I know people criticise the defence, and yes they could’ve defended individual moments better, but to see comments about needing “new defenders” is unfair in my opinion. We started with an incredibly attack minded team, which gave them little protection. I agree with @NottsLoyal about the importance of Bostock, in my opinion right now the midfield is heavily reliant on Palmer and Bostock playing together, they give the defence more cover. Not having Bajrami is a huge miss, he’s our only other defensive midfielder. Tipton is potentially an option here and I think we’ll have to use him as there’s no way we can go a whole season and expect Palmer and Bostock to play every second. We’re still top of the league and think todays game and results in general show there isn’t much difference in quality between all the teams, a whole host of teams will think they can get promoted this season.

Entertaining, but nervy at the end there! First half was us in control, a little bit of off passing but generally pretty solid stuff. Second half we just never got going, well not until they scored 2, stood off them and they got into the final third too easily. That said they didn’t really create much, just relied on our inability to defend a corner. We played into Deeney’s hands, he wasn’t very mobile in the flow of the game. He wanted to stand in the 6-yard box and do his work there and we let him. 2nd goal was particularly awful the ball seemed to bounce into the net in slow-motion, really thought Stone should’ve dealt with it much better. We’re just blessed with superior attacking play at the moment, Jones and Crowley both great again. We scored 4 really good goals, yes their keeper fumbled the 3rd straight to Bostock but the build up to get to that moment was on point. 4th goal was the best for me, quick break, great ball from Jones and you just knew it was going in the moment McGoldrick got that first touch right. I’ll take an exciting 4-3 win over a dull 1-0 win, I’m not complaining but there was too much sloppiness from us in that game (yeah I know that's a complaint!). And a little bit of set-piece work to be done before next weekend I think…

Only positive about Salford’s attempt to get some City and United fans down there (they probably won’t rush back after that) by changing it to Friday was being able to stream it. Thought 2-0 flattered them, they couldn’t complain if they’d lost that 4-0. Macca could and should be on double his goal tally already this season, but the fact he’s in those positions all the time means he’ll score a good amount this season. Press was excellent, probably aided by it not being 30°C, we never gave them time on the ball to build out from the back. Crowley was probably my man of the match, absolute quality touch and finish for his goal. I was also very impressed with Austin in the wing-back role (can we even call them wing-backs anymore, wide-midfielders now as they are so high up the pitch!) looked like a natural and he’s an excellent crosser. And I agree with @JohnTheBost about Stone, although he didn't have to make that many saves his ability to play out from the back is a step up from Slocombe, I've been pleasantly surprised by him as when he signed I was a bit unsure about his ability.

The first half was a bit of a case of both teams not wanting to over-commit, I thought we looked comfortable without creating much. Macca has the one huge chance to put us one up, did Nemane need to cross it as hard as he did or 9 times out of 10 does Macca score that? Not the start we wanted to the second half, we lost the ball with Nemane high up the pitch but someone usually fills in when the wing-backs bomb on. For me Rawlinson has to go and close the ball carrier down, tell Brinds to mark his man, then Cameron marks the spare man (Leko). Easy to fix in hindsight but surely the immediate danger was the man on the ball charging at the goal!? I can only assume he thinks Nemane's going to get back, even though he’s 10 yards behind him... Hey-ho, it spurred us on anyway and we more than deserved a point, great strike from Cameron, that heavy first touch actually benefitted him there! We probably could’ve gone on and won it. I thought Adebayo-Rowling put in some great crosses just needed more runners to get on the end of them. Can’t argue with another point away against a team who were in League 1 last season.

I notice on an MK Forum they’re already doubting Alexander’s appointment; We went 1-0 up and it all looked good, and I have to confess I was confident we would go onto win, but we just stopped playing and Crewe grew ever more confident. Gone was the confident passing and the high press and in came a lost shape and no apparent game plan and panic-stricken players just booting it long to nobody, but we shouldn’t be shocked we’ve seen it several times this season already, and according to Salford and Motherwell fans this is so the Alexander way. You genuinely wouldn’t think they’re second in the league, most of their fans think they’re lucky to be there. They seem to think they start fast and play well for the first 30 minutes. So if we survive that we could well be on our way to anther 3 points. If one of or even all three of Mo Eisa, Jonathan Leko and Matthew Dennis are out that will undoubtedly help us. One thing I think impacts us though is the weather, could be positive, could be a negative. Are we going to be able to press effectively when it’s nearly 30°c? Will it be off the pace and therefore end up leaving big gaps to play through. Or will we be able to just keep the ball, tire them out and cause them to leave gaps? I notice we’ve got Chris Kavanagh as the ref, so we’ll see how much better a so-called top official is!

That really shouldn’t have been so stressful at the end. We could’ve thrown that away in the last 10, they had a couple of really good chances. That said, we could’ve scored another too! I thought we deserved to win the game, we created enough chances to win a couple of games there. Issue was we fluffed so many of them, we could’ve (and should’ve) been a 4-0 up before they scored. No idea how Macca didn’t score, there was that manic couple of minutes after Didzy opened the scoring when he had a hatful of chances. I was impressed with how sharp we looked, a real slickness to our play at times. We controlled the game, until the last 15 minutes really, the mass changes just disrupted us a bit. And then Scott having to limp off gave them a boost. Glad we held on though, maybe just make the 4 subs next week!

When I saw the team sheet my first thought was that’s brave. I thought we'd overloaded it with attackers but it worked, a great win. Langstaff unlucky not to get a hat-trick by all accounts, the first of many for the season I'm sure. Shame we conceded right at the end, not going to stop my celebrations, but I’m sure LW will be annoyed with it! Also I see Morecambe beat Bradford City 3-0, one of the teams expected to challenge for top-spot, so that turned out to be a very good away point. A good week for Notts!

I’ll take an away point, promising things and equally some bits we need to improve upon. Starting with the good, Stone looked very comfortable on the ball and was happy playing outside his own box. Nemane is looking like he’ll be a big threat to teams with his pace in behind as will Jones with his crossing, they were our main threats. A clean sheet is always a good thing, the defence has taken a bit of bashing by some so yesterday should be a real confidence boost. We were dominate on the ball, made 600 passes but only had 9 shots. Morecambe made 130 and had 13 shots. I know shots doesn’t account for dangerous crosses/opportunities and nearly getting a toe on them moments, but both sides had a few of them. It’s great we’ve carried on from last season in terms of style, but the criticism after that game, given the amount of ball we had, was failure to create openings. I agree with others on here that Morecambe could’ve been got at more, we just needed a bit more sharpness and cohesion with the runs and passing. Quicker passing at times too. I think over the course of a long season we’ll create more as teams start to tire the chances will open up, right now everyone is fresh so the patient wait for gaps approach is not as effective.

Luke Williams said he got his team back today and I agree with him. We started ok, dealt with Grimsby’s press better than Sutton’s (first goal aside). I thought we dominated the first half, but at the same time until the latter stages we didn’t create much. Once we scored, we grew in confidence and I thought we'd see another goal, not for Grimsby though! Really frustrating to go in at HT 2-1 down yes it was a good ball over for their second but the awareness and reactions from our defenders has to be a lot better. Pleased that we started the second half really positively and got the goals quite quickly. A great header from Crowley who looked really quality on the ball at times today. And then we saw the game out pretty comfortably. Still think we’re a defender short, given it was makeshift back three right at the end. I was impressed with Brinds in the middle of the three but that game suited him against the smaller attackers like Rose and Eisa. Not sure I’d have felt confident with him against a big ol’ unit striker. Apparently, Fisher was in the stands, just curious or potentially signing? Who knows but I’m not sure we actually need him. I’d rather see a player like Debrah personally. Great to get a home win at the first time of asking, I feel reassured that with these players we can compete at this level.

I'd go with @Ohh Tommy Johnson's team too. I'd back those 12 to beat Grimsby's 11! ???? Grimsby are yet to score so that gives me a bit of hope going into this game. Hopefully we can avoid a hat-trick of red cards.

I get what you’re saying but I’m sure deep down if we won 3-0 and convincingly, you’ll be happy and it’ll help ease some nerves about the season ahead. I actually want to see a reaction, prove Saturday was a one off and go and show everyone what they’re really capable of. I’ll be more annoyed if we lose and concede 4 or 5 again.

Yeah, I wasn’t as confident as some and by no means did I think we’d stroll to victory but at the same time I didn’t think we’d get thumped. No way off dressing that up, it sounded awful. Conceding so early seemed to set the tone and then having Stone sent off effectively killed the game for us, awful back pass that put him a terrible situation by all accounts, but then it’s 75 mins of 10 v 11. At least we scored a goal...

Anyone else think the time since that Wembley win has flown by? Pre-season done and now we’re ready to start all over again, I’m not complaining and really looking forward to it! I’d expect Stone to start in goal given he had the most playing time and was fully fit over pre-season. I’m guessing formation wise we’ll start as we finished in some from of 3-4-2-1. The defence, in terms of the back three, feels like it picks itself at the moment. It isn’t the ideal start the season but given Aden’s minor injury I’d expect to see Brindley, Rawlinson and Cameron. Wingbacks I think will be the tried and tested duo from last season. In midfield O’Brien has got to be in with a shout to start, I think he’s had a solid pre-season but the temptation to get more control with Bostock and Palmer will probably be too great. If Macca’s fit he’s got to start for me, and I’d have McGoldrick and Austin as his support. We’ve got so much quality up top though; could have the likes of Scott, Jones, Randall and Crowley on the bench. Amazing options, proper game changers. Our games against Sutton have always been close, I’d expect Saturday’s game to carry on that trend but I’m hoping the buzz from last season carries over and we get a winning start!

Hopefully the club will have received some feedback after the game about the levels. If not, I'll take my earplugs for the first home game of the season!

How's the new PA system sounding? Plenty of goal announcements! ????????

GET IN! What a game, what a way to win. Amazing achievement from everyone at the club! WE ARE GOING UP!

Think I’ve just about recovered after a good nights sleep, just trying to recall the game and even though it was just yesterday it’s funny how in the heat of it all parts of it are just blurs! Going into to half-time I just thought, “no, not like this, we can’t end this season by being s’housed”. We started the game really well but not scoring dented our confidence and Boreham Wood’s grew. I love the guy but Ruben had a bit of a mare yesterday. I think his 3rd chance the one where Langstaff or Palmer, I genuinely can’t remember, lays it off to him I was on my feet ready to celebrate! And I thought his head noticeably dropped after the penalty save, he really didn’t do much in the game after that. Langstaff was quiet but he still had a couple of great chances, he didn’t get a lot of the ball but it’s hard to make runs in behind when you’re defending against a team that sits that deep. Hopefully Langstaff and Ruben are saving their goals for the game at Wembley! What a time for Aden to get his first two goals though, we saw the absolute best of him at times defending one on one against Ndlovu, luckily that lapse in concentration didn’t result in us going 3-1 down but his reaction and quickness got him out of trouble. Jodi Jones helped sway the game in our favour too, very good on the ball and the quality in his left foot was there for all to see. That moment when he scored at the end, that is going to take some beating as a best ever memory for me.

Oh. My. God. I cannot go through that again, that game has taken years off me! Just total relief at the end for me, madness, I totally thought we'd blown it at HT.

Is that a lesson learned there, if we do take Palmer off, make sure we have Bostock on the pitch so someone can play that deep midfield role. Credit to the team for not crumbling though and really pleased for Jim, his second hat-trick and this time there were fans to witness it! I didn’t follow any of the Wrexham game last night, I’d have been surprised had they not won. I’m not sure what more we could have done this season in terms of winning automatic promotion, we’re going to break the record for most points only second to Wrexham now. I just hope we can finish the job in the play-off’s because this team absolutely deserves to get promoted.

I thought Woking’s press was good first half, only problem was their game plan revolved too much about stopping us and they didn’t really have much of a plan on the ball. They put in a lot of good work but as with most teams this year chasing the ball tires you out so as the game goes on we’re always more likely to score/play better. Baldwin back was big, he’s vital in that middle of defence/sweeper position. His pace means no one can really get the better of him. Bostock had a great game too covered a lot of ground and Palmer looked better when he pushed higher in the second half. Deserved goals for Austin and it was good to see Morias get some minutes, he’s got a powerful shot it won’t be long before he gets his first goal. I didn’t quite get the switch of wingbacks either, still don’t think JJ is best used here, it’s a touch of Roberts from last season, given he likes to play as inverted winger where does he fit in a formation that only uses wingbacks for width. Chicksen got into plenty of good positions but had to use his weaker foot, we looked better with a natural right footer there. With the toughest games out the way, this run in feels like a bit of waiting game now. Just no bad injuries in the next two games please.

Yeah the theory is that the universe is constantly expanding. So I guess that means if we are living in an constantly expanding universe eventually, if there are other universes out there, we'll eventually expand into them. Doubt we'll ever able to prove it or find out though. Although I'm sure in another universe Scott’s penalty went in, can the scientists find that universe for us?

Pfft… Don’t know what to say after that, just gutted and missing that penalty at the end, that hurt. I’m not going to criticise Scott for the miss, he had to courage to step up in an incredibly pressurised moment but it wasn’t to be. Let’s not forget Wrexham are some team at this level, but that was the one game when we couldn’t afford any defensive mis-haps. I know we play a high line but the pace of the likes of Brindley and Baldwin is crucial to that, especially against the runs in behind and movement of Mullin (a great player who tarnish's his rep with the diving). I think we missed them today. That was the automatic spot game in all honesty, it’ll be some monumental collapse if Wrexham don’t finish top now. This season can still end in promotion for us though. We’ve played in a massive game today, with a lot of pressure and eyes on it. There probably won’t be as much media coverage for the Play-off final. If we get there, maybe in a funny sort of way this game will have helped.

On what was a very emotional day we did what we needed to do and luckily for us Halifax decided to make the title race a little bit closer. This game could’ve been a potential slip-up, you could see on the faces of the players and staff during the interviews this week it’s been really tough for them but they channelled their emotions incredibly well and put in another great performance, one we’ve been so used to seeing this season. Agree we could’ve had more goals, some impressive performances and pleased to see Vinny on the scoresheet too. It seems his loan was beneficial and he’s looking re-energised for us now even in a unfamiliar role, could he be a potential challenger for Chicksen next season? Don’t get me wrong it’s great the results today went perfectly but it means I’m even more nervous about Monday and even more desperate for us to get a win! This is some season.

Can't really add to what's already been said it was a very impressive and comfortable win. Couldn't have picked a better day for the community day, did we pay a fee to Scunny to make us look like prime Barca?! That'll really help sway those new and younger first time fans to come back! And Macca's equals a club record. I didn't see it coming at the start of the season but as the games have gone on it seemed more and more likely. I'll be amazed if he doesn't break that and the NL goal scoring record now. I'm just glad he's in contract, that price tag just keeps climbing. I'm sure lot's of clubs want him but they'll have to pay a really good fee for the privilege.

Dominated pretty much that first half and then they score from a long throw in the last seconds. Football eh… I think had we gone into half-time winning Barnet would’ve pushed even more and that potentially makes it easier to get a second goal. I just hate the fact in our current scenario it’s two points dropped rather than a good away point, any other season that’s a decent result.