DangerousSausage

Very interesting article (click here to access it directly). While a lot of the fire has been directed at the back three and Stone for individual errors, we seem to have lost the balance we had last season. When we lost the ball in advanced positions last season, the opposition immediately had Austin and Rodders snapping at their heels to win it back. McGoldrick and Crowley offer less in this respect. We also have two wing backs who aren't really suitable for that role as they offer little defensively. It's too easy to play through us. To be fair, the new manager has realised that our defensive behaviour as a team leaves something to be desired, but he now has to work with the squad to find answers. He needs to find the team that works best as a unit - and it might not include the best individual players. Attempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater and turn this team with these players into a long-ball team would be a disaster. We need to play to our strengths and that means playing with the ball on the ground. That isn't an aesthetic thing, it's what we're best at.

Pancakes have to be thin and about the size of your plate. They're dead easy to make yourself, but of course I forget again this year. Fun fact: pancake day was also a thing in Robin Hood's day. (Trigger warning: contains footage of Worksop.)

Birmingham City 0-2 Blackburn Rovers Norwich City 2-0 Watford Charlton Athletic 1-3 Lincoln City Leyton Orient 2-1 Northampton Town Accrington Stanley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Colchester United 1-1 Grimsby Town Halifax Town 1-0 Maidenhead United York City 2-0 Dorking Wanderers (joker)

The results: Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Stoke City Middlesbrough 1-2 Bristol City Blackpool 1-1 Oxford United Reading 2-0 Charlton Athletic Swindon Town 1-1 Salford City Walsall 0-3 Newport County Altrincham 3-0 Rochdale Boreham Wood 1-0 Maidenhead United --- This week's winner is @ARLukomski, closely followed by @gtownjohnno and @Fan of Big Tone! @ARLukomski - 8 @Fan of Big Tone, @gtownjohnno - 7 @Dan, @DangerousSausage - 6 @cheeky~k8, @Harry Buckley, @super_ram - 5 @DonnyNotts, @william1984 - 4 @magpiejue - 3 @4everapie, @Robbie, @TheSkipper - 2 --- There's little change in this week's table, with the top two streaking ahead and @cheeky~k8 moving back into the top three: ARLukomski - 169 gtownjohnno - 165 cheeky~k8 - 145 4everapie - 142 william1984 - 142 super_ram - 139 Fan of Big Tone - 138 DangerousSausage - 137 magpiejue - 131 Dan - 126 nottsnutter - 113 Megan_Elizax - 110 Chris - 106 liampie - 101 DonnyNotts - 99 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 82 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 62 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 Robbie - 30 KB1862 - 22 Harry Buckley - 17 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- As there's a full set of fixtures on Tuesday night, there will also be a prediction league round. The fixtures are online now - good luck!

Last season we were usually a class better than our opponents, now we're not. We were always going to have closer games against teams at our own level, and those games are often decided by fine margins. The match at Gillingham was one example, we won it at the death that day but more often we're not giving ourselves a chance due to our defending. We took the lead yesterday, and if we could have held it for longer, Gillingham would have had to start taking risks and the game could easily have unfolded in our favour. In those games you can't just blast the opposition away, you've got to be able to hold a single goal lead or even a draw.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for another midweek prediction league round. Get your predictions in by 7.45pm on Tuesday night, don't forget your joker and try not to get more points than me as it makes me mardy. Cheers! Birmingham City v Blackburn Rovers Norwich City v Watford Charlton Athletic v Lincoln City Leyton Orient v Northampton Town Accrington Stanley v AFC Wimbledon Colchester United v Grimsby Town Halifax Town v Maidenhead United York City v Dorking Wanderers

I thought we started the match well, we looked creative and incisive. It didn't translate into many clear-cut chances, but that was due in no small part to Gilingham's deep, well-organised defence. When we took the lead it was well deserved. In days gone by, a single goal would be enough to win a home game, or at least get a point. This season, we need a hatful to stand a chance. What followed after the goal was a horror show, a very basic equaliser visibly shook the team's confidence and we never recovered it. They made it hard for us, and we made it easy for them. Now we need to get our remaining points from the strugglers and get used to the idea of the bottom half of the table, as that's where we'll be finishing. I thought Robertson had a decent game and could prove a good signing given time. Warner has the makings of a decent player, but anyone expecting this raw youngster to save our season needs to give their head a wobble. That's exactly what we've done under Maynard, the midfielders are tracking back and shielding the defence much more than under LW. None of that compensates for players not challenging for headers or loose balls.

Agreed @Fozzy, although I can imagine the club making the second year of Scott's contract dependent on a certain number of appearances. I love the idea of him leading the line for us next season, but players who don't play ultimately don't do us any good. We've already signed far too many players who never seem to be fit and don't seem to have learned our lesson with the newcomer from Crewe (hope I'm wrong there). With hindsight we made a mistake in the summer by putting too much faith in our existing team. It's pretty evident that the squad needs a lot of work doing to it and we need to make room for that. There'll be no post-promotion euphoria next season, and probably no Langstaff either.

The Mail Online clickbaiting again, what a surprise. I'm not sure what I'd make of this, it's a big change but then red and yellow cards were new once. I can imagine there being confusion over what exactly would merit a blue or a red card. Wouldn't a blue card be less of a deterrent for a professional foul? On the other hand, I've been at ice hockey matches where sin binned players have to sit alone on a kind of naughty step and it's hilarious.

Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Stoke City Middlesbrough 1-0 Bristol City Blackpool 2-2 Oxford United Reading 2-0 Charlton Athletic Swindon Town 1-3 Salford City Walsall 1-1 Newport County Altrincham 2-0 Rochdale (joker) Boreham Wood 1-1 Maidenhead United

To be honest I remember him mainly from the commentary of the Charlie video. "Colin Foster far side. Draper sweeps it in..." Walker got sacked after we had a poor start to the following season. We ended up getting relegated.

Hi @Wheelbarrow repair man, is this one of your colleagues? Welcome

You know what to do - get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday and remember your joker. Good luck! Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City Middlesbrough v Bristol City Blackpool v Oxford United Reading v Charlton Athletic Swindon Town v Salford City Walsall v Newport County Altrincham v Rochdale Boreham Wood v Maidenhead United

Very good post. To play the devil's advocate though, this season we're having a run at League Two with several players who are too good for this division, including a striker who'll score 25 goals blindfolded. They don't grow on trees. That's a good foundation for success, and you could argue that if we end up in mid table, we've underachieved. Having said that, I can't stand the entitlement and the whingeing. There are people who seem to relish it when we lose and become abusive towards anyone with a different opinion.

You'll have to overtake me first. I'm sitting pretty on my magnificent total of 131 points, way ahead of you with your pathetic 131 points.

Norwich City 2-1 Coventry City Swansea City 0-1 Plymouth Argyle Burton Albion 0-1 Lincoln City Exeter City 0-1 Bristol Rovers Crawley Town 1-2 Morecambe Sutton United 1-1 Doncaster Rovers Halifax Town 1-2 Aldershot Solihull Moors 0-2 Altrincham --- Six of our games were away wins, so our results were quite the mixed mag. Congratulations to this week's winner @william1984! @william1984 - 11 @4everapie - 9 @magpiejue - 7 @gtownjohnno, @Harry Buckley - 6 @Fan of Big Tone, @Robbie - 5 @Megan_Elizax - 4 @DangerousSausage, @DonnyNotts - 3 @Chris, @Dan, @super_ram - 2 @ARLukomski, @cheeky~k8 - 1 @nottsnutter - nul points --- @gtownjohnno is just three points behind @ARLukomski at the top, while @4everapie and @william1984 jump up the table! ARLukomski - 161 gtownjohnno - 158 4everapie - 140 cheeky~k8 - 140 william1984 - 138 super_ram - 134 DangerousSausage - 131 Fan of Big Tone - 131 magpiejue - 128 Dan - 120 nottsnutter - 113 Megan_Elizax - 110 Chris - 106 liampie - 101 DonnyNotts - 95 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 82 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 60 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 Robbie - 28 KB1862 - 22 Harry Buckley - 12 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- And that's it for another week. Next Saturday's fixtures will magically appear on Wednesday courtesy of the prediction league fairy. Thanks for playing and see you all then!

Oh dear. He hasn't got the glow of a promotion season he had at Notts, so things are going to get heated now. Big turnaround needed if he's going to last the season.

I thought we were unlucky to go in behind at the break and if it had been a draw everybody would be saying it's a fair result. However, from about the 70th minute onwards we seemed to run out of energy and ideas and really needed some inspiration from the bench. The sub, when it came, was too late. I hope the new signings can improve this in the coming weeks. Jones and Nemane switching flanks was a brilliant idea at the start, it surprised the opposition and nearly got us ahead in the first minute. However, later in the first half it was pretty evident that they were struggling being on the wrong side, a good example being Nemane reaching the byline at the end of the first half, trying to change feet and getting dispossessed. They should have been changed back sooner. Baldwin made some eye-catching blocks and tackles, but at least a couple were him recovering from his own mistakes. Warner certainly wasn't overawed by the occasion and looked very confident, maybe a little too confident. Finally, it's time i got off Facebook. The post-match comments were a mess of people abusing the manager and Mansfield "fans" who obviously hadn't watched the game having a gloat about 2 minutes after the final whistle. I hope Mansfield go up, on the pitch they absolutely deserve it. Maybe we can swap divisions with them in a year or two, or whenever we're actually ready for promotion. They can keep their bragging rights!

That's a walk down memory lane I could have done without @ARLukomski! Yikes, it's like a ritual humiliation ???? They're the best side I've seen this season and would have been well clear in the table if they could have turned some of those early season draws into wins. Them having players out doesn't necessarily mean we'll get an easier ride as their replacements are getting their chance and will be fully motivated to take it. Any points from this would be a good result.

E I E I E I O, up the prediction league I go! Norwich City 0-2 Coventry City Swansea City 2-2 Plymouth Argyle Burton Albion 1-1 Lincoln City Exeter City 1-1 Bristol Rovers (joker) Crawley Town 1-1 Morecambe Sutton United 2-1 Doncaster Rovers Halifax Town 1-2 Aldershot Solihull Moors 2-1 Altrincham

This is a great article, there's a lot in there that I hadn't heard before. I thin it's his life experience that makes him such a good man manager and an engaging bloke to listen to. He should consider writing an autobiography one day, it could inspire some people.

Probably not to be honest. Every generation produces players who are amazing for their clubs but don't show the same form for England, and Cole fitted nicely in that category. I don't recall him getting a run of games though, he tended to get called up, failed to impress and was dropped again for the next game. The competition at that time certainly didn't help matters. Robbie Fowler came much closer to reproducing his club form for England and he was a bit-part player too. Sheringham was a quality player, but I remember him being injured at lot. The emergence of Michael Owen didn't help him.

I would choose famous Reading fan Kate Winslet. Do I need another two?

I made myself a belt out of wristwatches. It was a complete waist of time!

Poor Tommy, that's nightmare fuel ????