Piety

lots of optimism this time last year, but the wheels fell off as I suggested they might when we things got real, and we tried to play pretty football in league 2. JS has brought in experienced players, who should know how to handle football at this level. As the EUROs show it's more important to have good organisation and work as a team, than have 11 individuals on the pitch, and I hope they will blend. I would ask who is going to be our play maker, as I don't see a midfield general yet, I am sure JS has it in hand though, and the quality warm up games will give us a better indication of what is to come.

I would echo the above, after all its not a sprint its a marathon, so as long as we are at least 15 points clear at the top by Christmas I for one will not be calling for his head. ( joke ) We seem to be making a few signings. Has the transfer embargo been lifted? Has RT sold the club, and if so to who. interesting that we can pay compensation to get a manager with proven ability when the clubs for sale. Good job we have the Nottm post to keep us informed, and I am sure they would if it wasn't for the problems with fridge magnets on the dark side.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that there are major flaws in the way and by whom the club is being run. A change of manager is only directing attention away from these problems. We will never have a club that works as one - a team - until we have a manager with the authority and skill to lead. It seems clear that this is not the case at ML. Only when he has the power to manage, without interference and with his own players, should he be held accountable for our results.

In describing Notts as “abysmal” and “heart-breaking" RD is being polite as I am sure he would agree If he had paid to watch the complete shambles this year. Placing the blame firmly on the players, he seems to have missed the fact that their is very little right at ML at the moment. I can agree that, "Everybody at the club has to take responsibility", but then says, "it's been tough to keep players motivated." Their job is to play football, and with the players we have and the current standard in league 2, they only need to be proficient to be in the top half on the table, yet it is totally beyond them. How many other trades would management allow its work force o produce a shoddy product, then dismiss it as one of those things and look to next year. Have we really had 3 managers this year? I get the impression that the team is run by committee with no one person holding the reigns, with the power to lead us. I don't feel we have had a true manager for sometime now. We can chop the head off the beast but the monster wont die, it will just grow another head. M Cooper has decided it wont be his, and I don't blame him.

Well I suppose if they start with a bacon buttie, It might give them the confidence to tackle something bigger like an opponent.

This is a classic case of trying too hard. The players are worried that if they miss, they will get a roasting from there own fans so won't shoot. They try to go just a few yards extra, to make sure, and end up getting closed down. this brings more moans and groans and eats in to there confidence. So they try to get even closer to make certain, and so it goes on.

Yesterday, I said :- We know they will be big and physical, and try to intimidate. We know they will be happy to put the boot in, ( I think most of them would happily kick their gran), because that's the man-feeled way. They have had a good season and rumbled over a number of teams and by nearly reaching the play offs they will have met their expectations. The big question is:- Is local pride worth a good kicking? we will see who at Notts is committed to the cause, and try to play when there is nothing left to play for. The answer would appear to be not many

I am not surprised that the Manfeeled manager expects blood and thunder. His team is built for it. After our first meeting we had 6 players were unavailable due to injury, they have a liberal sprinkling of red cards which they have received throughout the season. We know they will be big and physical, and try to intimidate. We know they will be happy to put the boot in, ( I think most of them would happily kick their gran), because that's the manfeeled way. They have had a good season and rumbled over a number of teams and by nearly reaching the play offs they will have met their expectations What we don't know is if the referee will pay to the law of association football or m.m.a. In the case of the latter being chosen, I would remind him that their captain is no Vinny Jones and he cannot grab opponents below he belt. The big question is:- Is local pride worth a good kicking? we will see who at Notts is committed to the cause, and try to play when there is nothing left to play for.

Wednesday : According to the Nottingham Post, talks with the purchasing party have progressed over the last few days to the point that the sale is imminent. Yet we have hear nothing since. Now if someone so much as farts over on the dark side, we get all the details, and sometimes a pull out special with Florist fans being asked to speculate if it would have happened if BC was still in charge. But when it comes to the pies we get nothing. Do they know who is supposed to be buying Notts. The Yanks, Danes, local lads or the latest a Scottish consortium, I don't know and I bet they don't. This is a major point in the history of the club, and the Post claims to have inside knowledge, then leaves us hanging. Can we believe any thing they say.

You must have missed this season as there have been a number of games where players should have been made to buy a ticket as they were as much spectators as I was in the kop. They have no excuse for being carried. Give him a chance to show if he is past his injury and see if he is good enough.

His comments seem so simple and straight forward but anyone watching Notts can only agree with him, and wonder why others didn't see it or take steps to address this problem. Cooperman has identified a weakness and having gone public has got to sort it out. Then I assume he will move on to the next point. steady progress. Got to say, the more I hear from him, the more impressed I am.

is from a Monty python sketch for those of you who are under 50, so wont know.

Congrats to Northampton Towns manager Chris Wilder who is the winner of this weeks "stating the bleeding obvious" contest.

Is this a clever move so that we have someone to act as caretaker when the manager merry go round starts again.

Seems as if a lot training time has gone into getting behind the ball as what looked like 442, quickly became 811. Now JF needs to get them to tackle the opponents not stand off and let them have the ball. Then perhaps we can move on to passing the ball to a player in the same colour shirt as you are wearing. I would like to say that there was a lot of effort, but I don't think there was really. I rate Hollis as a stopper but when he gets MOM something is wrong. Adams and McLeod should have £22-00 deducted from their wages. i had to pay to watch, so why shouldn't they. Yes we could blame JF, but these are seasoned professionals doing a job that I would have given my right leg to do, sadly, I would still have been more involved than they were. I understand the kop calling for a sub, but there were a number of players who could have been replaced.

l have got to highlight Izale McLeod's part in our second goal. The way he pulled out of the shot allowing the ball to run through to Noble was sheer class. Most players would have kicked it. Izale decided to show us what a world class dummy looks like.

Got to say, he would have been a fair way down on my wanted list. If he is not good enough for Peterborough - who are in league 1, where we want to be asap - I cannot see why he would do better for us. I don't see him being a long term player, if he was to sign. If he cannot turn up for the trial / interview he is not committed to the cause, so I wouldn't want him. wonder if the job shop will stop his dole for not attending???

The club needs to do something to encourage younger fans, as a quick scan of the crowd photos will show that its the same OLD faces that turn up every week, and although the photographer concentrates on them , there are few younger fans in the crowd. If we don't get them whilst they are young and impressionable, they will be lost to the never never land that is at the top of premier league. Never able to get or afford a ticket Never ware the shirt when they are loosing.

The words and actions of Brian Clough are well documented, and are rolled out every time commentators are stuck for words. A short time ago we were given a display of Brian's more positive sayings when the city council paid for posters around slab square. Searching for the words and actions of Jimmy Sirrel proves less fruitful. I know Jimmy didn’t court the media, and never attempted to appear bigger than the team, but there are a lot of stories which show just how grate he was for Notts, which are in danger of being lost. Dave Mc Vay touched on some of the more comical elements in his book, but didn’t reveal much about Jimmy. To me, the selfless way he carried on working on the day when his wife had died, and only announced his loss after the game is more deserving of a Knighthood than winning a European Cup. Managers are paid to do that, it is not a service to football. Incidents like the day tv cameras rolled up to Villa park to see the reining champions take newly promoted Notts County apart, but against the odds, Notts won. A stunned reporter having already implied that it was a complete fluke, asked Jimmy how did his team beat the mighty Villa. In his broad Glaswegian accent he said those wonderful words:- We scored one…errr………..They scored none. With that, the interview ended. There was No bull, about referees or ifs and buts. There had been a plan. We played to it, won, and at the end of the game that’s all he needed to know… My Mother and Father met Jack Wheeler and his wife Ingrid I think, whilst in Scotland. My Dad who would play, manage, referee or do anything to do with the game, spent part of a weeks holiday listening to Jacks stories whilst the rains fell. (Best holiday he had in years.) I know there are a lot of stories which show just how good they were for the pies, perhaps we should collect them for posterity.

Is it April the first on Monday?

I felt at the time that the Oxford player made sure that there was contact with Roy Carrol, and watching the replay has not changed my view. Again the laws of the game have been ignored, with at least 6 or 7 players in the area when the kick was taken. The Morecombe player who netted the rebound was in danger of being hit in the back by the penalty. Who has decided that this infringement is ok. @jsrjaywas being kind when he said Notts were awful. it looked as if some players had given up now that Ricky has gone

I am not happy. I didn't go to the game, but from Radio N commentary it seems that again we got no help from the referee. At Cambridge Alan Smith gave away a penalty when a player ran into him from behind, and was booked. Tonight, Campbell was clearly tripped yet the Wycombe defender wasn't carded. Now I don't care what the officials choose to do, but they must be consistent in their actions. I find it hard to believe that the player who was battering the likes of smith Mcloud and Stead was floored by Liam Noble < is he aj in disguise? > yet he needed no real treatment and was unmarked. You don't see it on the highlights but both players are on the floor well away from the ball. The WW one is dying, but soon makes a miraculous recovery. when Hollis got kicked, we had to take him off. Must need to get a new magic sponge.

I hate it when some clever **** says, " I told you so." so I won't. Ricky and the new boys have got a crash course in how league 2 works. The rules are there to be broken, along with opponents legs. Play the man then the ball, if you haven't got it make sure he cannot use it. After a series of crunching fouls, our foreign legion had no idea how to combat football MMA style. with a referee who was out of his depth and showing it, playing football was not the order of the day. man-feeled skipper trying to be vinni jones, elbows pushes and stamps, these are not part of the game abroad, yet it seems that as it a DERBY, it ok. I had just finished an article supporting referees and saying what good job hey do. last night I deleted it.

I think Ricky and the new boys got a crash course in how league 2 works. In these games the rules are there to be broken, along with legs, arms, heads, and any other body part you can reach. By playing the man, not the ball, Mansfield ensured that if they hadn't got it, neither had Notts. The game changed after about 10 minuets following a series of crunching fouls. Seeing that the ref who seemed to be out of his depth was not prepared to take out his red card, Notts were from then on second to the ball, and hesitant whilst the yellows continued to get stuck in. I am not being homophobic but Is Mansfield captain - Hunt - allowed to do that?