DangerousSausage

It took us 131 years to get around to testing the delights of National League first time around. I wouldn't mind waiting another 131 years for the next time!

The interview on the OS was quite illuminating. It sounds like it was effectively a done deal even before the season was finished. He says it was his decision to leave. And there's this: To me that sounds like he's here to replace Taylor and provide competition for Chicksen, which was non-existent last season. So not necessarily a Nemane/Rodders replacement. The few Sutton fans I've seen online do seem to rate him, albeit with caveats like "on his day". Let's see what magic the coaching staff can work on him.

Also new school here. I've got a Spotify subscription and get a lot of use out of it as I listen at work. I've also got a sound bar at home I listen on. I've still got all my CDs and have saved some of them to my computer using a lossless format, but most of the time I just stream them as I can barely tell the difference and its easier.

Definitely, it'll be interesting to see if Chesterfield can follow us next season and what the league will look like now that we and Wrexham are out of it. I always kept an eye on it anyway, but my interest will probably wane a bit after a few years.

That's a good, proper old-fashioned name. Will Randall. No idea if he's good at football though. The only thing I know is that he was released from a Sutton team that didn't light the league up last season, despite being a regular and their joint top scorer. But maybe he wasn't interested in a new deal as a contract from Notts was in the offing? He's a versatile player with experience of League Two, and LW knows him. I trust their judgement and hope we get the best out of him!

Good news! This gives us a solid option hl between the sticks. He could do with competition though.

It's not really a Real/Barca situation. Before Klopp turned up, BVB were fighting relegation, and they've only won the Bundesliga five times in total (twice under Klopp). One issue is that most of the clubs that traditionally chase Bayern along with them have fallen by the wayside. How competitive would the Premier League be if it were just Man City and Spurs and Brentford fighting for the title, with Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the Championship? The Bundesliga is a bit like that right now. Dortmund tend to buy in young players, but there are plenty of other clubs renowned for their youth work. One is Freiburg, who finished fifth in the Bundesliga and whose under 23s just finished second in the third division (a league higher than Bayern's, and as high as B teams are allowed to go). But they're a small club who will never realistically compete for the title.

I do it every day, but it's frustrating. Either I get it quickly and I'm disappointed that it's over for the day. Or I spend ages on it and need five or six guesses, and then I'm annoyed.

The official figures are on the first PDF attached to this link: https://www.thefa.com/news/2023/mar/31/publication-of-payments-and-transactions-310323 We spent 68,000 on fees over the year, which was slightly less than Oldham and Chesterfield and less than half as much as Wrexham (163,000), but more than all other NL clubs. Eight League Two clubs spent more than us, most of them only slightly more. Stockport were waaay in front (236,000) and were the only L2 team to outspend Wrexham. I'm not sure how this compares to the Trew era, but I remember us spending heavily on agents back them. We've also developed a habit of signing players from NL and NLN clubs, so you'd expect lower fees. I'm expecting the squad to be strengthened, but not a wild spending spree. You can only spend something like 65% of your turnover on wages in L2, so I doubt there'll be a huge increase. But if the agent fees are any guide, we're probably already operating on a very competitive budget for L2, and the EFL money coming in won't harm things at all.

Slow down, it's still May! ???? Most of our squad will still be on the beach. If they're still nowhere to be seen this time next month, then they probably are waiting for something better, but it's too early to judge. I've heard that Bostock left Doncaster because he was angling for something better - turned out to be their loss and our gain. Cameron and The Man signed from a team in the same division as us. So it's swings and roundabouts - we probably will lose a player or two, but we'll also be in for players out of contract elsewhere. I trust the recruitment team to keep developing and improving the team. We've still got to adjust to life in League Two again and Stockport are a year ahead of us in that respect @Ohh Tommy Johnson. And they've got loads of money. But without League One football, they're hopefully a less appealing prospect.

I'm not sure joining Stockport would be lacking in ambition @Ohh Tommy Johnson, they're clearly going places. But it would show that the player sees them as a better bet than us, which would be disappointing. We should bear in mind that any offer was probably submitted before the bank holiday weekend, when they still had a chance of going up. Their defeat against Carlisle won't have helped their chances of nicking our players. But this is all paper talk and really isn't worth worrying about.

Haven't Truro always aimed big? I'll believe it when I see it.

I'm not surprised Nemane is attracting interest. His pace would be tricky to replace, but it might be an opportunity to bring in a more natural wing back as we were quite lop sided at times. It would be great if Rodders stayed, but if now we've got a ready-made replacement. I'd be disappointed if Cameron left for a rival, but we don't know that yet. He probably has got offers on the table, but Stockport can no longer offer L1 football. Many players are on holiday right now, and after that they'll want to sit down with their agents before signing a contract. For some it'll probably be a formality. Others might want to wait and see what offers they get, but that doesn't mean they'll take them. Sausage says relax!

@BromPie, if you like your Indian food and you're heading to Edinburgh again, give Kebab Mahal a try. It looks (and sounds) proper dodgy, but the food in there is genuinely brilliant. I'm going to have to go to Edinburgh again. Fantastic city.

Stockport are ambitious, will strengthen further and will be among the favourites for automatic promotion. So if we're going for two in a row, this might not be the greatest result for us. I bet the away travellers are relieved there's no to trip to Cumberland though!

I read this line first and thought you meant a nightclub ???? have a great time. Skeggy looks bracing @Chris! But I miss being able to just go to the coast for a day trip. As for me, I spent much of Saturday watching the drama unfold in the Bundesliga and third division (which is quite fun when it doesn't directly involve you). Yesterday we went to a medieval festival at Münzenberg Castle, which is to the north of Frankfurt. Had a cracking day there until the hay fever got me. There's even a Scottish beer stand!

I'd watch it, but it's on DAZN and I'm not made of money! I've got family who are Barnsley fans so I'd have to go for them, but I've got no ill will against Wednesday either. May the best team win. Barnsley have got a good traditional away end behind the goal, and Wednesday's ground is nice and old school. Both of them would be a great away day in the not too distant future. Would be great to see Notts compete at that level again.

Agreed @KB1862. In the Premier League there has often been artificial competition created when clubs receive a lot of investment - Chelsea and Manchester City have risen to the top and shaken up the old older that way, and Newcastle may be next. One effect of 50+1 is that it's much more difficult for clubs to gain enough outside investment to challenge Bayern financially. So you have a situation where they're massively outspending the rest. Also, the Bundesliga is slowly filling up with clubs whose only objective is to stay in it. Heidenheim, Darmstadt and Augsburg are there on merit, but they won't be challenging for honours any time soon. After Bayern, the clubs with the most German titles are Nuremberg (they had the most as recently as 1989), Dortmund, Schalke, Hamburg and Stuttgart. Only two of those will be in the top flight next season, and Nuremberg are grateful to still be in the second. So where is the competition coming from?

No, but this is only their third season in the Bundesliga and they're punching well above their weight. Apart from winning the East German cup in 1968 their trophy cabinet is completely empty. Now they'll be Berlin's only Bundesliga club - what an opportunity for them! Don't expect them to be competing for the title any time soon though - Bayern can sign some of the world's top talent, while Union lost their top scorer to Florist. Bayern spend more than twice as much on players than the next team, so it's hardly surprising that they're dominant. Many of the clubs that have traditionally competed with them - Bremen, Stuttgart - have gone backwards, and Schalke have just been relegated for the second time in three seasons.

I'm disappointed for Coventry as they used to be my second team, but what a fantastic story and an inspiration Luton are. That's how it's done! Getting sick of seeing the entrance to their away end on German Facebook pages though. Yes, we know, it's a row of houses.

I saw it unfold on TV (German Sky do a "conference" where they flick from one match to the other). Dear oh dear. BVB were absolutely bricking it and were deservedly two goals down before they'd even started to get into the game. A frustrating watch. Bayern at Cologne were little better, but they at least produced a moment of magic when it counted. For a while it looked like Cologne were going to hand Dortmund the title. BVB had to win at home to secure the title and they failed. They'll never have a better shot at it than this season. The only other challenger I can see next season is RB Leipzig, and I'd rather Bayern win it the next 30 years than they get anywhere near it.

Some people only post sporadically, some lurk most of the time and don't always feel the need to post. That's OK, everybody is welcome! A lot of the people mentioned above are sporadic posters and I enjoy reading their input. Others do drift away, either from PON or from Notts or football generally. I think the pandemic made a lot of people reassess how they spend their time. That's OK too. I just hope our former posters are well and enjoying whatever life brings them. @PTID1862 used to post loads, but I'm fairly sure he made a conscious decision to stop posting. I hope he's well. @Feral Fox still pops up from time to time when he's not doing politics.

Good luck Jimmy Goals. Hopefully he'll flourish with regular football.

There's been a push to overcome the stigma around mental health since the tragic death of Robert Enke, who was a national team player. Imagine if a current England player committed suicide. It would make shockwaves and really bring mental health to the forefront of people's minds. It's worth noting that the initiatives in the article are from fans' groups and not the clubs themselves (and of all fanbases, the one from St. Pauli is one of the most proactive). They really look after their own and try to give their fellow fans a lift during testing times. Fundraising campaigns for severely ill fans are commonplace here.

That's awful news, I remember them playing in what's now the National League. I hope they sort themselves out. King's Lynn also resigned from the Northern Premier League on the eve of the season a few years back (before they were Town) and they've gone from strength to strength since, so it can be done.