StarkMallard

Maybe they could all play @piedestrian, if we've got more options at the back that opens up the possibility of playing a back four with Bedeau at left back. With Iorpenda, Ness and McDonald, that's seven players competing for three or four places, so we're more than covered.

It's not really fair to judge the forwards based on that as they saw so little of the ball, I don't think we had a shoton oroff target in the first half. He did have a very heavy touch a couple of times early on and generally struggled to hold up the ball, but he wasn't the only one.

We were incredibly fortunate to only let in two goals in the first half, we got an absolute hiding. Five would have been a more accurate reflection. We were leaving gaps all over the place which they were running into, they had the freedom of the flanks and we couldn't handle their forwards. We were in a blind panic for the first half an hour or so. That's not meant as a criticism, it's just how it was. We had an experimental lineup in the first half while they played most of their first team, so it was always going to be a struggle. And let's not forget that several of their players were playing Bayern and co in the Bundesliga a little more than a year ago, so there was a gulf in class too. We stabilised a bit in the second half (especially after Platt, Bedeau and the rest came on), we closed the gaps and made them work harder for their chances so there's that.

He's a good interviewee, that's for sure! The start of the game was feisty after what looked to me like a high, two-footed challenge from Hinchy that he got booked for. The home team's manager was absolutely jumping up and down with rage, it was quite comical. A few moments later there was a melee after another challenge (which I didn't see very clearly) and a Darmstadt player got booked. It calmed down a bit after that though. That's how it looked to me, but it all happened right in front of MP. I'm not sure that the potato farmers (Kaiserslautern) will be tougher, they've had a lot of comings and goings and may not be the cohesive unit Darmstadt were in the first half. We've also got another game under our belts. It'll definitely be a tough game though. And it's true that the new coaches are working the team really hard. After the final whistle, the Darmstadt players shook hands with ours and headed down the tunnel. Meanwhile, the Notts players applauded the fans and then proceeded to have a full-blown training session on the pitch. Players were sprinting the width of the pitch and being timed individually, all sorts of stuff, it definitely wasn't your usual warm-down. I hope we reap the rewards!

And a view from the Notts block...

I'm glad he didn't join the franchise, and him going to L1 softens the blow somewhat. Sometimes you can improve the team as a unit even when you lose a quality player, and that's what we've got to do.

Great turnout from Notts! Very surreal but cool to see so much black and white in my adopted home. Make no mistake, Darmstadt absolutely murdered us to death in the first half. They just played through us. They looked like a proper team who were ready for the season, we looked like a pub team. They looked like scoring every time they came forward, which was often, and we couldn't handle Hornby at all. But then of course the team we fielded in the first half was essentially a second eleven with some trialists thrown in, plus we're earlier in our pre-season preparations than Darmstadt so they'll naturally look sharper. We were a lot more competitive in the second half, limited the home side to a couple of chances and had one or two ourselves. Reynolds had some good moments. @True Magpie, I think Matt Hall was the goalkeeper in the first half. I don't think either goalkeeper embarrassed himself, but we need an experienced man between the sticks. Overall, a great evening out and a useful workout for the team, but there's clearly some way still to go before we're really ready. By the way, Darmstadt have one of Germany's most cheesy stadium hymns...

This is going to fuel rumours isn't it? Especially the mardy statement by his agent blaming the club. I wouldn't be too quick to blame the club here, the authorities that deal with foreigners here are hopelessly understaffed and it's very conceivable that they wouldn't have got a tourist visa through in a month. But it's still incredibly frustrating for Jatta and the team. We're playing three games in Germany, so he'll miss a significant part of our pre-season preparations. MP won't get to work with him either.

I think I'll wait for the home kit. Surely we're due a good one.

Wedo have plenty of wide players already to be fair. I think a central attacking midfielder, a goalkeeper and at least one striker should be our priorities now.

Nearly a month on and Notts have teased the new away kit. You don't see much, but it's definitely green and it's not plain either. I've always fancied a green away kit. Still nothing on the home kit, but I've noticed the club's graphics on Facebook have started using a background where the white stripes are slightly broader than the black. Maybe a hint?

Our second pre-season game and the first of our European tour is upon us, so as the local boy I thought I'd open a match thread (feel free to merge if another one is scheduled)! Darmstadt will be tough opposition - they're a solid Bundesliga 2 side and are also further along in their preparations than we are. Their new signings include centre half Patric Pfeiffer - rejoining the club after helping them to promotion to the Bundesliga during his last spell, while another man to watch is big striker Fraser Hornby, who came through the youth ranks at Northampton and Everton and has played for Scotland up to under-21 level. Expect them to play an attacking style with a high defensive line. The home side started their pre-season with a 24-0 win against the mighty force that is SV Traisa, and at the weekend they beat Viktoria Aschaffenburg (fourth division) 4-1. As for Notts, it'll be interesting to see which of the Alfreton trialists make the trip and whether there are any new faces. It'll also be Barry Cotter's first appearance in a Notts shirt. It'll be interesting to see how MP intends to play, but realistically it's about getting minutes in legs at this stage. I've no idea whether there will be a live stream yet, but if they do it'll probably be on the Lilies' official YouTube page.

As I didn't see the Alfreton game I can't comment on Sawyers' performance. He's got pedigree alright, but he also hasn't played a lot of football in the last couple of years. I hope he isn't anothe one with a lengthy injury record. Returning to Grant, he's got potential but he wasn't able to make the ball "stick" in advanced positions like Crowley could. He's one of a number of players who could benefit from a full pre-season and surprise us next season though.

@Ash, the talk about his strengths and weaknesses reminds me of when we signed Nemane. He was L2 quality at best in my view, but we could definitely have done with him at times last season. I'm looking forward to seeing Cotter play and making my own mind up!

Interesting reading @TheSkipper, thanks for sharing. Judging by that, his main problem is the stepovers. Barnsley isn't the kind of place that appreciates stepovers. It sounds like he's another wide player whose strengths are going forward rather than defending. I hope we can get the most out of his strengths - maybe he'll be a wizard on the wing for us? He also knows Martin Paterson (and Connor Grant) from Barnsley and seems keen to work with him again. That's a plus as well.

Sounds interesting, seems to split opinion at Barnsley but he played 40 games for them last season. Maybe starting games rather than being a sub will do him good. Hope he's a magical signing!

How absolutely tragic. He got married less than two weeks ago too. My thoughts go out to his family.

What a great message, he's a class act. Hope to see him in football again soon.

What a crazy time that was. It was so obviously dodgy in hindsight, but at the time I was desperate for it to be real but also somehow wholesome and above board. If it had been real, it would have broken my heart to see us turn into the kind of soulless club Man City have become. I wanted us to become a Fulham, to play the big boys but hold on to our identity. All moot now anyway. That's putting it lightly. According to a podcast about the saga, he sat Sven in a restaurant in Qatar or somewhere and arranged for a bloke to come in dressed as the king while all the waiters stood and clapped! It was Ray Trew who ultimately paid for it all. That season could have ended the club, but instead we had a fantastic season with excellent players with our next owner footing the bill. Shame we ultimately squandered it.

I hope you're proven right @Robbie and we can have a good laugh at this thread once the season's over! Selling players on for a profit can be a risky strategy as it puts pressure on the club to recruit equally high-quality replacements for less money. I hope we've got some good irons in the fire.

Interesting post @piedestrian. I agree that Jatta was brought in to replace Langstaff, who everyone knew would be leaving sooner rather than later. I think Jatta's form tailed off because he was overplayed and we had no alternative to him, but that's a separate issue. I don't think we replaced Crowley adequately, but maybe Jarvis or Grant can step up after a full pre-season. However, the Bass sale is a bit different. By the board's admission the offer came out of the blue, so now we're suddenly looking for a new number 1. It clearly won't be Griff, but we'd do well to get an upgrade on Bass. We have started pre-season training with one striker and no senior goalkeeper and an awful lot of work to do. Talk of asset stripping is way OTT though. The club is a long way short of breaking even and is dependent on yearly funding from the owners. If they wanted to cut their losses, they'd sell up.

A couple of hours after my last post here I suddenly came round to @ARLukomski's thinking. As I said yesterday, we'll have to see what rabbits RG can pull out of the hat but I'm not feeling very confident so far. And now we've sold the best keeper in the league and are suddenly looking for a replacement just when teams are reporting back for pre-season training. This doesn't look like the carefully planned recruitment that was sold to us. Also, signing players is never an exact science, sometimes players just don't settle at the club. The more gaps we have to plug, the more likely it becomes.

That's a good tip @Piethagoram! I'd never heard of Tranzer before but it's a good idea. Deutsche Bahn should really offer one-month tickets but there you go. For anyone else who's got a Deutschlandticket subscription (so pretty much anything apart from Tranzer), just remember to cancel before we play Darmstadt and you're good to go. The ticket is then still valid for July. I should have mentioned the Quer durchs Land ticket, which can really pay off of you're in a group, but it's only valid for a day.

In struggling with the heat too - yesterday it was 35, today it'll be 36 and tomorrow it'll be 38. It's still 26 or 27 outside when I go to bed. We've got shutters outside our windows, so that helps keep the heat off a bit, but the evenings are still uncomfortable. Luckily it'll be cooler from Thursday onwards (cooler being the high 20s). I hate these conditions. It's OK when you're on holiday with a pool and an air conditioned room, but it's crap if you actually have to do stuff. I much prefer autumn.

I can sympathise, I've also been messed about with holiday requests in the past (which is even more annoying when you've got flights to book). But I can recommend visiting this corner of Germany even without football, there are some beautiful places here. It's nice to be able to drink beer in the stands, but many clubs only serve light beer (2.5%) inside the stadium. I can't remember whether Darmstadt are one of them.