menzinho

There wasn’t much in it, that deflection was unlucky and changed the game but that’s football. It just didn’t quite click for us in the final third, we missed our chances and the longer it stayed at 0-0 the more confident Wrexham got. No one really had a bad game, I think Wrexham’s man of the match was their keeper which says a lot. I knew he was on loan, didn’t realise he came from Arsenal having just played a season in the Austrian 1st Division! They’ve certainly got a bit of pulling power. I just think right now our injuries have hampered us. We needed to be able to bring on a player or two who could change the game, but right now we don't have it. I’m not too down after that, still would’ve been nice to win/draw but performance wise it was much better than Mansfield.

Yep a very good night for us. Jones sounded like he gave their full back a night to forget, Macca unlucky not to get a hat-trick and chances for Morias too. But most importantly to me we got a clean sheet (maybe aided by the poor performance of Newport) but a good confidence boost for the defence nonetheless. Sets us up nicely for Wrexham.

They won’t have a new manager before playing us so that’s a positive. It’s not always the case that a new manager guarantees a better result, but I always think players will usually try that bit harder to impress a new boss. They’re aren’t very good at scoring and recently starting conceding, probably because they’re trying to rectify their goal troubles and have pushed a few more forward leaving them more vulnerable at the back – I hope that’s the case anyway! We always seem to react well after a big defeat, the team will want to get straight back on track. I seem to remember after the Dorking loss we played York (who were no pushovers) we ran like 1/3 more than usual (maybe I made that figure up) but we definitely ran more than normal! I think the conversation afterwards was about how out-working the opponent always gives you a better chance of getting a good result. Same sort of reaction would be fab. Yeah I’m really hoping Bostock is fit too, guess we'll know when the pre-match press conference is out. Cameron should be back, I’m sure Luke said they found out he was unavailable on the morning. Suggests to me he was ill, It would be really unlucky/freakish to pick up an injury at home!

I thought Mansfield really did a job on us. Yes we started well and scored but after that we couldn’t get the ball into midfield or our wingbacks so the defence passed it around a bit, got pressed and then passed it back to Slocombe to kick long. We then didn’t pick up enough second balls and just looked a bit passive/all over the place. It was worrying how thread bare the squad was. Scott and Bajrami would’ve been good options for us that game it’s a real shame they are missing. And then to have Cameron, Chicksen, Randall (did we accidently forget to register him to play) and Jones all out. That meant the bench was weak, Morias was our only attacking option but the fact only O’Brien and Adebayo got on says a lot. Might as well send Macari and Tipton back as it feels like they’re just here to make up numbers at the mo. That result and peformance was very unexpected. Don’t get me wrong the overall picture is still very good, but the goals against is becoming a tad worrying now.

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! ????????

In a weird way I’ve enjoyed our spell in the 5th tier, watched some new teams, we won most weeks and like you say finished top 5 every season. Hardly a disastrous way to spend 4 years in my opinion but it’s certainly a great feeling to back in the EFL! I won’t miss the general shenanigans and incompetence of the NL Board, but we can look back and laugh now. Some highlights (lowlights) for me… Getting played off the park by Barrow(celona) and genuinely thinking we’ll be down here forever! James Rowe the Chesterfield manager telling an opposition player he’ll bite his f’ing nose off. Jim Parmenter telling us that their pitch at Dover was fine yet he had to record a video inside because it was raining so much… Gary Johnson dancing around when Torquay beat us in the “you stole our players” derby. (Funny how the last two are in NL South now, enjoy it lads, you could be there a while)

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.

My guess would be Phil Turner. I know it’ll be a player before my time, we’ve only recently had skilful midfielders and the ones before that never won any silverware! I don’t know if he won any cups for a previous club but he came out of retirement after 8 years to come on as a sub for Grantham Town. That is incredibly brief!

The legend in his home county and argumentative nature makes me think it could be Roy Carroll.