StarkMallard

What a total nightmare. I didn't seriously think we'd be in the race for automatic promotion, but I never thought we'd be dependent on the points gathered in September and October to keep us out of a relegation fight. I was at least encouraged by the reaction each time we feel behind, we worked really hard to score our goals. So how demoralising must it be for the players to see a hopeful cross causing chaos in our box, or to witness Sutton's striker (who has the first touch of a Sunday League player) slaloming through half our defence. As well as being exhausting for us to chase the game, it gives teams like Sutton - who need every point they can get - extra motivation. If we go 2-0 up in a game like that and hold on to the ball, the opposition's heads drop and we get the points. Possession-based football can work just fine as long as you do the basics at the back. You can prevent the opposition creating chances by starving them of the ball ("if they cannae get the ball, they cannae score a goal"). Unfortunately we were often sloppy in possession alongside the chaos at the back. I'm at a bit of a loss right now and Maynard probably is too. We all know we're not good enough at the back and I don't think any manager will have us keeping clean sheets regularly. That's not his fault, but I don't think chopping and changing positions and formations so often is helping. If a player isn't sure where he should be standing or what his job is, he'll be nervous, he'll overthink in some situations and that causes hesitation and mistakes. The gung-ho football of the Burchnall/Williams years is no longer working and the team needs to evolve. In the meantime, SM needs to find a way to win with the players he's got now, otherwise that'll be someone else's job next season.

I think SM is trying to do that already to be fair. Luke Williams tended to stick to his favoured team and formation, and after a while the opposition knew exactly how we were lining up. SM has tried to switch things around - but do that too many times and you'll end up with confused and nervous players in unfamiliar positions.

I can't say too much about the match as I only saw the end of it when it was already done and dusted. Under LW we could gloss over days like yesterday as we'd had a good start to the season and were sitting near the top. Now the table tells a more realistic story. We had a soft start to the season that probably led many of us to think we're better than we are. But as soon as we started playing the current top six or seven we started to struggle, and it hasn't changed. We are just not effective enough at either end of the pitch to decide tight games in our favour. We've won just four games by a single goal this season. It's not a new problem, but it''s one that Stuart Maynard hasn't got to grips with yet. We seem to have missed an opportunity to strengthen our back line over the last couple of transfer windows. But the root of the problem goes back further: Ian Burchnall inherited a team that looked terrified to leave our half of the pitch and placed a lot of focus on being braver and taking more risks. Since then, every time we've signed a player (even defenders), the feedback from fans of their previous clubs has been the same: "he's great going forwards, but a bit dodgy at the back". It's given us a few years of brilliant football, but now we're lacking players who simply focus on the bread and butter of preventing the opposition scoring. We should definitely mix it up more during games to keep the opposition on their toes, but trying to turn into a long ball team with our skillful but physically weak team is a recipe for disaster. Until last season we played with a target man in Kyle Wootton - it would be handy to have an option like him again for League Two, but that ship has sailed this season sadly.

A couple of women came to my door yesterday, they said they wanted to talk about bread. White, brown, granary, they just wouldn't shut up. They were the Hovis witnesses!

As iFollow decided not to work for me or many other fans (and their "support" staff failed to fix it or even respond), I relied on the radio. Apart from a second-half wobble it sounded like we played well, but in tighter games like this we always seem to come up a little bit short. Wrexham play percentage football that isn't great to watch, but it's effective and that's what we lack sometimes. As for the handball, it was one of those situations where even VAR wouldn't give you a definitive answer. I think McGoldrick dramatically raising his arm out of the way led to the loud shout of "handball", which in turn influenced the ref.

We're off to Cheshire's second biggest club tomorrow then. We owe them one. It'll be difficult as they're a physical side that'll put us under pressure and try to force mistakes, but if we pick up where we left off at Newport we've got every chance of bringing points back with us. Looking forward to it!

When the teamsheet came out for tonight, no one knew quite how we would be lining up. Apparently only Baldwin, Warner and Cameron were practicing headers during the warm-up in an attempt to make Newport think we'd be playing a back three. SM obviously likes to keep the opposition guessing, and I'm really chuffed that his bravery and hard work paid off last night. We looked a different proposition off the ball last night, and that made a huge difference. Robertson looks a superb signing. Ashby Hammond looked decent enough with the ball at his feet, but if you're hoping to see a keeper who'll come off his line and claim crosses, you'll be disappointed. Almost saved the penalty though. And of course Jones is in unreal form right now.

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.

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.

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

That foul on Jones was a red card all day long, it was cynical and could have caused an injury. I don't think a draw is a bad result, many online commenters seem to think that Barrow were just there to be swatted away, but they've only lost five games all season and are near the top for a reason. There was a bit of slow and ponderous passing from us on the extended highlights, but you can't really judge based on that.

That would make sense, but then we'd just end up scouring VAR stills for a pixel of clear space between the attacker and the last defender instead. Maybe we should just accept that refereeing decisions will always have a human element no matter how much technology you add in, and can never be entirely consistent.

I've never been a fan, but I don't doubt it could be implemented more smoothly. The trouble is, there's still a human element, it's just two men in a room with a monitor rather than the ref. I've seen countless contentious decisions made by VAR when even the slowest replays aren't clear. If you're not 100% sure whether a defender's hand brushed the ball even when you slow it down to individual frames, you shouldn't be giving handball. Likewise, we need to think about the offside rule and what it's actually for. Should goals really be ruled out for offside because the striker's nose was 1 millimetre beyond the last defender? Is that really giving him an advantage? VAR seems to have ushered in this fundamentalist interpretation of the offside rule, and it no longer seems to matter whether the striker was actually gaining an unfair advantage. We seem to have got to a point where, if ANY part of the striker is even the minutest distance past ANY part of the last man, it's ruled out. That's impossible for humans to judge and is often difficult using slow-motion replays too. It inevitably results in delays as the replays have to be scoured for infringements that are undetectable by the human eye.

I used to be addicted to panto. But it's behind me now!

I think it'll be too late for any new head coach to implement anything @Chris, but maybe our next man will be in the stands? It'll be interesting to see whether the new keeper will get the nod now he's got his feet under the table. We gave Stockport a really good game at their place just a few weeks back, and with home advantage and if everyone is at their best there's every chance we could come away with points.

Ray Trew used to claim that the womens' team would pay for itself, but I always thought that was optimistic. At the time we actually had the biggest attendances in the WPL (helped by the fact that they played at Meadow Lane and not a non-league ground), but there's no way we'd have been able to keep up with the big guns now. That said, the way the team was disbanded overnight was a disgrace and left many players without a club. Like you say, it's great that we've got a proper women's team now.

He's not in their squad, I'm guessing he's cup tied as he was a regular starter at Gateshead. But good luck to him at Morecambe!

I missed the first half, which was probably why it was so great but that's a fantastic result. Doncaster and Morecambe might not be the best the division has to offer, but you can only beat what's in front of you, and we've done it in style. It was so important to string a couple of results together, and the clean sheets are the cherry on the cake.

I think it was a penalty, Richardson was about to pull the trigger and would certainly have scored. Cameron took his heels with no attempt to play the ball. Stockport would have scored either way. Richardson looked a right handful after he came on, but did he spend as much time whingeing and provoking the opposition when he was in a Notts shirt?

Neither of them looked great @Chris, I could see the second coming a mile off. However, in our general play we looked less like an accident waiting to happen than in recent weeks, and that was due in part to the much improved assistance and movement in midfield. Against Harrogate they were constantly passing it back to the keeper because there was nowhere else to go, and it always looked a matter of time until a pass went astray. Yesterday was a world apart from that.

There are some cracking comments here and I don't have much more to add. The overall performance was such a big improvement on the Harrogate game it was like watching a different team. We didn't create tonnes of chances, but we were away to the team that's top of the league, and because we conceded first Stockport had the option of staying deep and not taking too many risks. It's a shame we lost again, but not many teams will get a result there. Now we need to carry this on against Doncaster and I'm confident we can get a much-needed win.

If any of you want me, I'll be hiding behind the sofa.

We are 21 points clear. We could conceivably lose all our remaining games (which we won't) and still stay up. As for being sussed out, we were sussed out years ago. Every team we play knows that the best way to play is is to press us high and stop the back three play it out. It's not rocket science, but it didn't use to matter because we were too good. What we saw yesterday was nowhere near as good as last season, let alone as good as we need for L2. The game got away from us due to two straightforward goals, but we didn't threaten at all either. Time and again our defenders had the ball and were forced to play it back because there was no movement in front of them, no one was making himself available for the ball. We miss Palmer badly, and LW moving Austin into the middle instead of bringing on Gosling speaks volumes as to the latter's chances of staying. The January window will determine whether we can push for the top seven, or whether we'll end up in the bottom half. I was expecting us to lose a few this season, but not as lethargically as that. I expect to see a bit of fight when things aren't going well, not a limp surrender. It was a deserved and easy win for Harrogate.

As always, the challenge is getting past the opposition's press. If we do that, we can beat anyone in this league. COYP, bring the points home!