menzinho

Well Stal described it as a smash and grab, so it’s definitely frustrating to take. I’ll wait for the highlights but their goalkeeper seemed to be in great form whilst ours just picked the ball out of his net three times! Hopefully it’s a case of ‘just one of those games’, more often than not if you’re the team creating all the chances you’ll win the game. A set-back but no-one in the top 6 won, so it’s not as disastrous as it seems.

Just watched the extended highlights, I’ve no idea what the daggers plan was to deal with us. They didn’t press, they didn’t tackle and they didn’t mark! I’d like to know our record against them in this league, we seem to beat them all the time. A lot of folk always have them as their dark horse but every time we’ve played them I’ve been really unimpressed. Credit to us though, if a team is going to let you have the ball trouble free than it’s important we do the damage and we really did. None of the goals are going to be in the goal of the season package but the play to create the chances was great as was the finishing. I was little worried about the formation at the start of the season, particularly with the wingbacks but Chicks and Nemane are a lot more effective now. Still unbeaten and back to homes games to come, feels like a great opportunity to gets 5 wins in a row!

I was slightly worried about this one, Halifax were going to score at some point and although they did I’m glad it counted for nothing in the end. Sounded like neither side really got going but the goal gave us confidence and then our quality of finishing was the difference, in particular Langstaff! I had a slight doubt he may struggle with the step up at first but it’s been no issue at all. He really is the real deal. And you can’t forget Scott and Mitchell. Scott with his first start and a goal and Mitchell continuing his promising form from pre-season. No lack of firepower at the moment! As for Halifax, they might struggle this season, I didn’t think so initially but given how well Pete Wild has started at Barrow it looks like he was key to their success.

I’ve seen a few people say the first half was dreadful, it wasn’t good but it wasn’t that bad. We were pretty much in control of the game, but in an attacking sense we were poor. Second half still largely poor but then the subs came on the game got chaotic and we just really benefited from it. However, I still didn’t feel comfortable with our defending. The game got very stretched and there was a lot of space for Chesterfield, luckily they didn’t really exploit it. Credit to the players though for getting back in it, cos when we went 2-0 down I thought that was it. I know there’s more to football than formations but I just don’t think the 3-5-2 suited us there. First half no real threat, and then for that last 30 mins we were all over the place. But for me the wingbacks are key positions and Chicksen at LWB is counter-productive. He really didn’t cause them any problems and the space he left behind caused us more problems. I really like Chicks and he didn’t always get that much support but playing him that high just isn’t his game. It suits Nemane more because he can at least beat his man. And Rodrigues played a lot deeper too, really wasn't able to do enough in an attacking sense for us today. Weird, a largely uneventful game but a wild last 30 mins. I’ll take that point but still a lot to work on for me.

I’d have taken a point before the game but I agree it’s annoying to let two leads slip. That said Boreham Wood are a good side and it’s still very early in LW reign so I’m not too downbeat. Mitchell the headline maker in the second half there. Need to see the pen in the highlights later but I always feel with referees at this level they have a tendency to want to level out the big decisions.

By all accounts Ndlovu is their target man, big and psychical so I expect his replacement to be slightly less effective. And I was worried D-KE might fly in on Ruben to try to stop him breezing past him for the 3rd time, so that’s a relief. The heat is going to have an impact, so I think keeping the ball here will be vital. Let Boreham Wood chase us around in 35° heat and knacker themselves out! I’d sacrifice one of Austin or J’OB for a bit more ball retention with Palmer. Otherwise I think the starting the 11 should be the same. This is one of those games where I’d take a dull 1-0 win. I think it’ll be close, wouldn’t be surprised if was a 0-0 but hoping we can nick it too!

Yep, great start to the new season and the result was better than I expected. Promising debuts from Austin, Baldwin and Langstaff. Especially Langstaff, very early days but but 20 goals certainly looks like something he can achieve.

Yeah, can’t say I’m too clued up on Forest Green Rovers, but I can have a think about what team Luke Williams might pick! We’ve played 3-5-2, well a variation of it during pre-season. It’s hard to describe at the minute but it seems to be very flexible. I’d probably call it a 3-1-5-1. We seemed to push three players up behind the striker and the wingbacks were very attack minded. I’m guessing that will be the formation. So, Slocombe in goal seems obvious and the back three, I think Cameron and Baldwin are in which leaves the RCB spot for either Bajrami or Brindley. If Palmers fit he’ll be the holing CM, otherwise I think LW quite likes Francis. Wingbacks, I’d go Chicksen and Nemane. Austin, O’Brien and Rodrigues in behind Langstaff. Just don’t think Scott has had enough game time after his illness and Mitchell has looked sharp but Langstaff really looks like he’s got that natural goal scoring ability. I’d expect us to dominate play with Maidenhead getting as many men behind the ball to frustrate for as long as possible. I don’t think it’ll be a Barnet style win but I think we should get off to a good start again this season.

Aldershot away has done us in again. We just can't seem to get a run going this season and it feels like a case of one step forwards and two steps back (again!) Teams will be battling like that in the play-offs and I just don't trust us to be able to match them at the minute, especially away from home and that's a big worry for me. And I get the ref obviously wasn't great but we've still got to defend much better, hopefully Cameron and Brindley coming back can give us a boost. The only bonus for us is that Chesterfield are getting worse and Grimsby couldn't beat Barent so somehow we stay 5th!

So odd how we need a goal to get us going sometimes, although we didn't start to badly we just seem to have these lapses where we switch off. I think the early goal for Kings Lynn probably didn't help they just tried to hold on to it and by half-time looked a bit defeated. Pleased for Nemane thought he was the best player on the pitch, another player who's not had much game time but I think he can be a big player for us.

Dreadful. But that awful first-half set the tone. Hearing that we couldn’t even win the 4th ball in our own penalty area sums it up. Then suddenly you think we’re going to get something when it gets 2-1 but we just implode. It’s been the tale of our season, just when you think we’re about to string a run of wins together we drop an absolute clanger. And when you lose like that it feels as if all the good work from the last 4 games has come undone. If we’d lost 2-1 we’d have bemoaned the poor first half cos second half (up until about 70 mins) we had some chances. But to just get done like that, I thought we were over that kind of performance. We’re lucky Grimsby drew and Boreham Wood’s shocking run just continues, but in terms of the bigger picture of promotion, after today you can’t help but think it’s a big ask.

Great result, and I'm liking this defensive grit we seem to have gained recently. Winning headers in our box, putting bodies on the line, it all bodes well for a strong finish to the season if we can keep it up. Maybe we're getting a bit of luck too as if that pen had gone in 2-1 makes it a very different game. But credit to Jaros for reading the pen and making the save. A home semi-final doesn't seem out of reach now especially with teams in the top 7 still having to play each other, it's got to be the aim. And that also puts Ruben level on league goals with Woots now, both have 15. I think he might finish as our top scorer too.

Big dilemma for me is do we stick with the 3-5-2 which is probably better overall or switch to a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 which is better for getting all our attacking talent in the side. Last season we clicked under the 3-5-2 and nearly got to the Play-off final and that was down to playing a formation that allowed us to fit our better players into their most effective roles. Ruben, Miller and Ellis are prime examples. Now it's slightly different, and I feel Southend's defenders will be made to work a lot harder with the likes of Sam and Roberts on the pitch. Southend were on a fantastic run recently, but like Dripsey says they've tailed off recently. Dagenham were 3-0 up at half-time last time they played a home game. I'm hoping for a similar outcome.

For a so called derby game I thought the first 20 minutes were quite tame, Chesterfield just let us have the ball and when they did get it we didn't want to tackle them! That goal was bad and Whittle was just able to stroll into the box completely unmarked. Then for the equaliser watching in real time I thought it was a nailed on pen. Having seen the replays it's soft, he retracts his leg but his momentum takes him into Ruben. When you dive in the penalty area you're asking for trouble though. We had some nearly moments but the first half was a bit meh... Second half was better the tempo was quicker but weirdly for us I thought we lacked numbers in our attacks sometimes and we took another touch when we could've had a shot. How Woots missed the header I don't know. Should we have got some fresh legs on upfront for the last 15? Nemane and Sam combo, would that have worked? Who knows. Still had a few ffs moments when we dallied on the ball a few times and nearly gave Chesterfield a goal. Asante's miss was almost as bad as Woots, luckily he was not on it for a lot of that game. 7 points from 9, I'll take that, so called big games out the way (until the play-offs at least) can we finish the season unbeaten now though ????

Chesterfield have injuries and Kellerman is suspended for them so not a bad time to play them. I think we'll stick with the 3-5-2, it's working at the moment, so same team that won against Boreham wood for me. Hopefully Lacey is okay and D-KE deserves to play LWB but I can see him coming off after about 60 mins, cos I'm almost certain he'll be on yellow and last warning by then! Really tough on Sam though (and Roberts if he's fit again). But a 3-5-2 just doesn't play to their strengths. And I even think Nemane's been very unfortunate to not get more game time, I like him. I'm never confident when it comes to predicting a win, but given the recent results and introduction of Arter I am a lot more more hopeful!

We've got some players back for this game! Some still ill but from the video Notts released of training O'Brien, Sam and Brinds all back so no emergency CB role for Wootton now! I couldn't see Lacey in the vid so I'd guess it'll be Rawlo and Brinds in at CB. Got to get Sam back in too so that for me means going 4-2-3-1. And do you just chuck Arter Straight in too? Not played for ages and only had a few training sessions... I want to see what he can do! We need to get something out this game, Dagenham back in a good spell but they are even more inconsistent than us! It won't be easy but a win would be massive.

A bizarre one then, it leaves me with more questions than answers. Could we have actually postponed that game? I don’t think you can do it for Covid now... But if 50% of that matchday squad were ill, then why even bother playing them. We were never going to get anything from the game if we had players trying to play when they were clearly in no physical condition to do so. And then does that mean we had fit players on the bench? Lacey and Rawlo were highlighted as particularly struggling. I’d have played only non-ill players and just taken the hit. Just explain to us that you can't postpone the game but some players were just too ill. If that meant Woots and Chicks as a center back pairing and Doyle and D-KE as the CM pairing, so be it. Chances are the result would’ve been the same anyway. Also sadly for what is our season defining month, it’s not going well. I still think we have a good chance of finishing in the play-offs we’ve got an easy run in (on paper) but I just think if we have to play a team in the play-offs away from home (very likely), right now I just can’t see us progressing.

Top spot is a big ask, just feels like we've been eight for an eternity now, luckily our game in hand is against Dover... Yeah, I hate this whole thing with referees that once they’ve sent someone off they all of sudden become very lenient with that team. The one thing you could’ve guaranteed if one of those penalty shouts had been at our end Halifax would’ve got one. I’d like to know the stats regarding us (or just the teams in the NL) and red cards, is it really a big advantage anymore? We usually do okay whenever we go down to 10! I remember the first game against Halifax in this league, Doyle got sent off but we scored and got a 1-0 win. Last night Solihull went down to 10 and they won. Woking also went down to 10, they went 1-0 down but got a goal back and drew...

No idea why we persisted with the same players and formation for so long, earlier in the season IB changes that to 4-3-3. We needed something different in midfield, Brunt and Cal offer pretty much nothing defensively and we needed to switch it up more with balls over the top into space to beat the Grimsby press, probably with Mitchell on as he has the pace for that. It feels like Cal is a bit shoehorned into this 3-5-2 and now I’d argue Brunt is a similar case, it’s great having all this high technical talent but you need a balance and that midfield was set up to only go one way. And it’s so bizarre after being so awful for the 2nd half how we suddenly kicked into gear right after they’d scored… It shouldn’t take a goal for that happen. Just felt like one team wanted it more today and it wasn’t us.

I just have this image of the scouts heading to watch Notts these last 2 games, just before the window closes, to really double check before submitting an offer. And them just sat there utterly perplexed... There are some good teams in this league and you’re not going to beat everyone in the top 8, these games away from home are hard. For me it’s the game against Wealdstone I’m more annoyed about. With the talent we have that we should be able to score at least 1 goal in, or at the very least come away from that game thinking how the hell did we not score! Breaking teams down has become our biggest problem at the moment. We’re only just into the second half of the season, still loads of games and twists and turns to come. Weren’t Chesterfield going to win the league a month ago, now it’s Stockport… Rochdale were 14 points ahead of us the last time we won a league…

Bromley have the best home record in the division (but they’ve also played 1 more home game than most, 2 more than us). We all know what they are about and defending balls into our box will be key to getting a good result here. I think it’s probably a good time as ever to get Rawlinson back in and play Lacey and Cameron either side. I think we’ll need to score at least 2 as well. I think you can bet on the type of goal in football now, feels inevitable they’ll score a header… Hard to predict, our recent away from isn’t great but we do play better against teams in the top half of the table.

Pfft, not great but not a disaster either. Second half sounded better, very disappointing to not score though. The non-event first half was probably just as if not more costly. Very similar to Kings Lynn expect this time Wealdstone shut us out. There’s just something sometimes about these away games to the teams nearer the bottom that we really struggle with, just can’t seem to get going quickly enough in particular. I’d have taken 4 points from these two away games, just means there’s more pressure on the Bromley game now, but weirdly that probably suits us.

Half expecting the team to get there but be locked out the ground, that or 15 mins into the game the floodlights fail. I just want it to be played, so please let there be no problems. I think it’ll be similar to the Kings Lynn game, they’ll set up to frustrate and if we can’t get much joy we’ll switch formation to get Roberts higher and wider. I noticed they had one of their players sent off against Woking at the weekend, hopefully he’s their star-man!

Disappointing that this was called off and it just means we've got more games to fit in, however Halifax losing at Maidenhead and Chesterfield losing in the week and drawing yesterday means the gap to the top hasn't really increased. Good wins for Stockport against Dagenham and Bromley against Grimsby though means they gain. Only six points points separating the top 7 now, with us occupying the 7th spot with 2 games in hand...

I do think it’ll be harsh not to start Sam in the same way I thought it was harsh Mitchell didn’t get to start after he bagged two goals earlier in the season. I think attackers/strikers need that run of games, and I think it’s why we are yet to see the best of both Sam and Mitchell. I can't see either Woots or Ruben being dropped for him though. Assuming everyone is fit then you'd have to probably switch to a 4-3-3 to get Sam in the team. Then you can have Sam and Roberts/Ruben playing alongside Woots and still get numbers in midfield with Palmer, Vinny and Ruben/Roberts. I don't think we'll play 4-3-3 so he'll probably be back on the bench - just means he'll just have to come off and score! As for Barnet Mason Bloomfield, Adam Marriott, Ephron Mason-Clarke and Sehat Tasdemir are all out so that's 4 decent attacking options we don't have to worry about. They've got more out too so we definitely won't be facing them at their strongest and right now there form has dropped a bit so on paper it's a good time to play them. Fingers crossed we get a performance that can honour the memory of Colin Slater.