Feral Fox

Unfortunately true... A good point. When you look at the stuff stacked against us last night...their first home game (which makes last weekends point a poor one!) with fans in, TV cameras, hollywood owners in attendance for first time, bucket loads of cash thrown at players and lots of them on display... Mistakes will happen, just depends on the threat from it. Eg. JoB was a bit messy last night and gave a few silly passes away and occasionally put us in danger. Slocombe on the other hand, he should be better than the two mistakes in two games which have led to goals. If it had been a young up and coming player, then fair nuff. He is supposed to be the mainstay keeper. And as mentioned above, no commanding of his area unfortunately.

Well worth the point tonight imo. Resolute defending as a team. Cameron steadied the ship superbly. Massive improvement from Saturday. Hopefully now the Torquay game has gone, he’ll produce like he did tonight. Plus the insightful running into the middle helped beef up in the centre of the park…which is the weakest point I think. Francis isn’t convincing me so far, but prepared to give the benefit of the doubt. R and R had no impact at all. Hope they rest up and are rearing to go by Saturday. Chicksen came in and did well. Again. Great header by Woots. That goal was Premiership worthy. He’ll be attracting attention sooner rather than later. Slocombe. Poor again. I said pre season he was a weak link and the mistakes so far reinforces the point. We won’t change the keeper, but I do hope he settles and becomes a bit more dominant in his box. And as a parting thought…ban towels on the touch line. So much time wasted (which I know probably worked in our favour in the end!) and it’s not a good look waiting for him to grab his towel every throw in. We dealt well with the long throw ins, but I suspect other teams may give goals away because of it. It’s a weapon so I suspect that was the reason he was signed for them!

Not the best tbh. First half we were dire. No pace, no intent etc…almost like watching an Ardley side again. The two subs at half time helped. Both bought energy to the team, which was badly needed. Thought the defence were rubbish. Rawlinson still looking shaky and Cameron not much better today. Sloppy passing… And their goal. Oh dear. Shouldn’t bounce/head over a centre half like that and Slocombe out of position. Not the same team that won convincingly last week. Hope the rocket that IB gave them works in time for Wrexham. The one good thing for me…IB sees it like a fan does. Ardley used to stand there. IB is waving his hands at poor passes, shouting in frustration with the lack of tempo. His intentions are clear. Attack. We’ll be ok with him in charge.

Kept off yesterday, as didn’t want to let emotions rule too much. The defeat was our own fault. Didn’t convert chances when offered and lacked the killer edge in the final third. Pair that with the fact we looked shaky at the back whenever they put us under pressure. Lots for IB to think about and I look forward to seeing the retained list..or more importantly, the released list. I think it’s time to move on from quite a few guys now imo. Next season we need to be aiming for first, not playoffs and this squad isn’t capable due to being error prone and not good enough imo.

Team wise, if JoB is fit, I’d swap him in for Enzio. Leave the rest as a settled team. I hope we stuff them for a few reasons. The obvious one being were in the finals. Also feel their behaviour earlier in the season, not allowing the staff to be interviewed in the ground and throwing them onto the street, was pretty pathetic. According to Curtis, similar attitude still around the place by denying him a press pass. Good gesture by Notts, but shouldn’t need to do it. Torquay should grow up a bit!

Don’t like this kickoff time! Sat here thinking the games on in two hours. What can I get done before then. Messed up my Saturday routine!

Tomorrow will be a massive test for us. Win and we are riding the wave, probably to the final and even beyond. Lose and Bromley have managed to stop the train in its tracks at the wrong time, and done themselves a good chance of being involved. Confidence is massive here as I say, we need the win as that will push us on and give the players the “we can beat anyone” feeling.

Excellent win and hopefully some of the fans will now give IB the chance he deserves. Also glad his first comments were one of annoyance even though we won 4-1. That intensity is what we need. This season May still go wrong, but it bodes well that, when given enough time to coach the players, IB has stepped up to the plate and the players have responded in kind. So good to see Ruben, Chicksen, Miller etc…doing so well. Just goes to show it was never about recruitment and all about player management and belief. So glad to see the back of Ardley and looking forward to next season when IB can really work his magic. If we don’t go up this season, then next is a definite imo.

What an absolute dismal, disgusting performance. Looked as though none of them cared. If anyone on the player ratings gives above a 0, then you need to have a word because that probably sits as one of the worst I’ve seen for many a year. Roll on the end of the season so we can clear out most of these players and start again. Feels distinctly like the relegation season for me. No one caring and the quick 10 minutes of occasional forward play at the end is supposed to pacify the fans. Notts really ought to be refunding the streaming money to fans after today.

Superb result today and really enjoyed watching it. Thought first half we were careless and not penetrating enough. Came out to win second half and win it we did. Excellent substitutions by IB. Ones that Ardley wouldn’t have made imo and good to see them get a run at the game rather than waiting until last ten minutes. Focus is the biggest thing going forwards. We seem to have broken the confidence thing with two wins on the bounce and hopefully this gives IB a starting point now to get the players to buy into what he wants. Impressed overall and really think IB will be an inspired choice going forwards.

I won’t repeat what’s been said above. Main thing for today was the determination in the tackle for me. You see the confidence returning as the minutes ticked by. Desperately needed as well. Hope we can back it up with another 3 points on Monday. And only fair to specifically mention Chicksen. Thought he played excellently today. Dealt with nearly everything. Occasionally let a player go past him to cross, but that comes with understanding of the defensive unit playing together.

I'll be on the stream as usual. Hoping with Doyles injury, we have a more positive outlook tonight. Might be a blessing in disguise...

Again and again, we lost the game through sloppy passing, lacking concentration and a piss poor midfield. Reeves, Doyle and JoB all together in the midfield again at the end. Not good enough and hope IB has seen enough already to see that trio can’t and won’t work. Thought Reeves was appalling today.

Agreed. But he seems reluctant to remove the shackles because it doesn’t suit his game plan. what a waste of talent and quite frankly, is draining confidence out of people.

If I was a BW fan, I’d be going crazy that they were robbed of the points. 10 minutes of actual grit and fight. Poor. Again. The season is petering out and the writing is on the wall imo.

What a total load of crap. The owners need to pull the trigger ASAP so we can sort out for next season. We can’t keep ignoring the poor management of the team any longer. The middle is so soft and slow, it’s ridiculous. Sam is not what’s needed for this sort of patch in the season. #ArdleyOut

Same old, same old. Play crap first half. Slightly better in the second (so far) but is this really a promotion team? Doyle distribution is so poor. New right back looks rough. Reeves looks panicked. The list goes on. Maybe tomorrow the headline will be Goodbye Mr Ardley. I do hope so as we are rubbish under his tutelage.

Really difficult to predict results at the minute. The odd spell of looking dominating is then replaced by long periods of sitting back and watching the ball go through Reeves and Doyle back to the keeper. And then individual errors lead to soft goals. A draw is probably the safest bet I’d wager. Doesn’t really help that the teams I follow in the Prem are doing the same with Man Utd and Spurs both struggling with the same issues. Pass, pass, pass and...nothing. No creativity etc... The old saying of that team looks good on paper is painful at the moment!

It’s times like these where I wish this country was a little more militant. Quite frankly, the shocking and derisory 1% pay rise beggars belief when you look at the amounts they’ve spaffed up the wall over the past 18 months. The real fact of it is sad though because people will happily stand on their doorsteps and clap, but come election time (not that there is any solid alternative at the minute! Those that know me, know the time I spent campaigning with a Labour rosette, but they’re just as bad now. ) they reap what they sow. Turkeys voting for Christmas. 25-35 billion trace and track that doesn’t work, but because it’s all owned by Tory mates...

I would agree @Dripsey3 Its well known I’m not a fan of Ardley, but I’ll give credit where it’s due. At the moment, struggling to give any. Yep, he’s built a solid defence and a never say die defensive approach. For me, we end there unfortunately. The lack of creativity in general, is worrying. Tonight was a fair point in poor conditions, but automatic promotion teams turn those wet and windy nights away into three points. We ‘respect the oppositions far too much imo. We have the players to totally dominate games from beginning to end, but it doesn’t happen anywhere near often enough. Most managers would give their right arm for a squad like ours, and we seem to be happy to chug along.

Probably a draw, but we’ll see. Stream purchased and tea cooking. Sorted for another night of football. Lets hope come 10pm tonight we’re celebrating rather than bemoaning lack of chances again. We’re a real mixed bag. Occasionally, it is fantastic, but more often than not, we’re lucky and scrape by imo. I can’t see us going up and and expect us to be needing a new manager come end of season.

80 minutes of pure rubbish and ten minutes of actual movement and imagination. Whoever thinks Doyle, Reeves and JOB all starting is a good idea needs to have a word with themselves. As the commentary said, depends how you view it. Either terrible starting team or good substitutions. Knowles, RR changed the game. Enzio will always divide fans. All depends how you view games. For me, I’d start him every match, regardless, especially with such a static middle.

What an awful performance, yet again from Notts. More statics at Meadow Lane that there is at Skegness! If this continues, there will be serious calls for Ardleys head. The negative tactics are shown up for what they are. Roberts kept the attacks alive. Now we look so disjointed.

I don’t think we need to meltdown. Losing is always difficult, even more so at Wembley after this season, but strangely, I’m upset, but ok with it. I suppose not being there today makes it even more surreal. I do think fresh blood and younger blood is now needed though. As you said above, Crawford in the middle with a workhorse maybe? Turner was all over the place, but we have Rawlinson. I’m not a fan of Brindley and today did nothing to help that opinion.. I think Doyle and Rose as a pairing are finished now. I expect Wes Thomas to be done too. but... I see all of that as an opportunity for us to build securely. The lads have done superbly and credit goes to the owners and Ardley for throwing a squad together as short notice this time last year. Now we need to implement more of the sensible plans such as the Cal Roberts signing etc...Ardley knows what he’s doing and I’ve got faith in him bringing us back stronger.

It’s a really weird one for me. I’ve been lucky enough to attend all the Wembley games before and loved the build up as well as the day itself. This time seems a little downbeat? As Chris said above, I was quite nervous going into the Barnet game and it was always there approaching on the calendar. The final is just sort of upon us imo. Hope we play to the best of our ability and get out of the blocks quickly. Vital to have a go at them and let them know we mean business. Difficult team selection though. Most would have Enzio any day of the week at a Wembley game, but after last week and JoBs performance? Tough call for Neil. Hopefully writing this will get me more excited about it. Such a shame that the first trip to Wembley for donkeys years has been snatched away from all the younger supporters, but the situation is as it is. Football is just a game. Covid-19 is a life changer for some families.