StarkMallard

Brilliant win, and a great way to bounce back. Gillingham did have some dangerous moments on the break (and we rode our luck a couple of times), but they really didn't look special and we deserved our win. Just 23 more points and we're staying up! Kudos to every Notts fan who braved the weather in that open away end.

Thanks for your feedback everyone! Personally I didn't go to any of these. I would have been at the 4000th game at home to Hull if it hadn't been postponed. I think the match programmes were sold in the club shop, I might have one knocking around. Were any of you there in 1998, 1975 or even 1952? It took more than one attempt ????

Right, so we've scored 49 goals between us and we're letting in 2 goals a game on average. It's going to be 0-0, isn't it? I'm a bit nervous as this'll be the biggest test we've had so far, and on the back of a chastening experience in Essex. But it's up to the players to pick themselves up, cut out the silly errors and show their quality. They deserve our faith and support; let's get behind them and NOT jump on their backs. We are a newly promoted team and were always bound to be taught a lesson every now and then. Hopefully we can take Saturday's on board quickly.

This is very true. Also, our recruitment has consistently focussed on bringing in defenders who are comfortable on the ball and can contribute to build-up play ever since the takeover, and overall it's served us well. Our defenders play a lot of football and play high up the pitch. We concede goals as a result, but it's also one of the reasons why we're so creative and difficult to play against. That said, the gifts are frustrating and left us chasing the game yesterday. In particular, Baldwin's decision making seems poor this season and he could maybe benefit from a spell on the bench. Unfortunately we clearly didn't land our defensive targets in the last transfer window and LW doesn't seem to trust the loanees, so that leaves us looking a bit thin. We're still top of the table, but we haven't played any of the more fancied teams yet so some realism is required. All the same, you can only beat what's in front of you and 20 points in 10 games is a great start to life back in L2. On another note, did anyone else notice the kit clash? I like us having blue away kits, but it's always a problem when visiting teams that play in blue and white stripes. We used to have a third kit for cases like this. The similar colour of the shorts and socks made things worse.

My thoughts entirely, they very nearly beat Mansfield too. Maybe they're a side that raise their game for the better opposition? We should hopefully have enough, but we can't afford to let our standards slip in this league.

I didn't watch this one as I was on my way back from holiday, but luckily the flight was delayed just enough for me to find out the result! The last time Notts were playing while I was on a plane, we'd bee relegated by the time I landed, so this was a marked improvement I'm glad you were all entertained with lots of goals, although LW would probably have preferred the 2-0. The major wobble in the second half will give him food for thought, but I blame the expert summariser on the PON Facebook page who praised the Notts defence just before the first FGR goal went in! We got away with it, we're top of the league and we play fantastic football in front of big crowds every week. Times are good!

It's just a clickbait article really. They do make it clear that it's based on win percentage, but it's still very jarring to see a joker like Jocky Scott on a list of "10 best ever managers". It just goes to show that win percentages aren't everything. Both had win ratios of 38.6% and just missed out. Howard Wilkinson managed us while we were fighting against relegation from the top flight. Allardyce joined us halfway through a relegation season and took about 12 games to record his first win, and we didn't pull up any trees in our first season back in L1 either. All the same, the achievements of both are head and shoulders above most of the names on this list, stats notwithstanding. Another example is Luke Williams. When we appointed him, his only experience as a manager was at Swindon, where he had won 26.7% of his games. Does that make him a bad manager?

We shouldn't be too unhappy with the draw really, I think that's one of the tougher trips we'll have. All the same, it's a bit of a shame we switched into game management mode after equalising when we seemed to have them on the ropes. Maybe I'm still spoilt from last season! Langstaff was unlucky not to score, the first time he had a leg stuck out looking for contact, but it was a hard cross and spun over. But apart from those we struggled to bring him into the game as much as in previous weeks. In the first half in particular we seemed to miss McGoldrick and struggled to keep the ball in their third for any length of time. All the same, I think we just about shaded the first half and were certainly the better side in the second, but the hosts had their moments too. We can't really quibble. Lovely finish from Cameron, a poor first touch took him into a perfect shooting position and you just knew it was heading in straight away. It was an odd one to watch on the stream - the Notts fans were all tucked away in the top tier and fans were only sprinkled around elsewhere. It looked like we were playing in an empty stadium, there were shades of the Reynolds Arena in Darlington. To those of you who were there, do you think the Franchise really had 5300 there? As a Notts fan I know what a three-quarters empty stadium looks like, and it doesn't look like that.

Get the kids in if at all possible. It'll be good to give Randall, Morias and the loanees some game time to get them a bit sharper for when we need them. But that's the only thing this game is good for - it's a slap in the face to all teams in L1 and L2 to have to play against B teams and I couldn't care less if we go out. This is one stupid competition I didn't miss.

That's a great win for us. A crucial moment was when we were 2-1 up and Stone got just enough of a hand on a Stanley shot to divert it wide. Moments later, Palmer slotted a wonderful ball to Langstaff and it's 3-1. So it's definitely one of those that could have gone either way, but that doesn't mean we were lucky. When you have Langstaff, a Jones or a Palmer in your team, those crucial moments on which a game can turn are more likely to go in your favour. Just look at our second goal - 99 times out of a hundred, a striker receiving the ball with his back to goal and with so many red shirts around him is going nowhere. I agree with John Coleman that the yellow cards are getting silly - I think it was Brindley who got booked waiting for the ball boy to give him the ball. And the "yellow for kicking the ball away" rule is being used to penalise players who have a shot a fraction of a second after the whistle has gone. That's not dissent, that's muscle memory! It might not be saying much, but Accrington were the best team I've seen us play so far - they were physical, but they could also bring the ball down a play a bit too. Wouldn't be surprised to see them near the top at the end of the season.

This is an interesting point @liampie. I would wager that most people on here aren't nearly as critical or analytical when they're actually at a match. This is a place where we can mull over and analyse what we've seen, but as the match is usually long finished by the time most people log in to PON, the spontaneous excitement of a match doesn't really come across. It might do when there are live updates, but most people's attention is elsewhere. I think that's reasonable. What is less reasonable is just being an absolute misery as @Chris describes, but that's people for you.

Very impressive performance, for large parts of it we made Tranmere look like a Sunday League team. The way we passed it around them was breathtaking at times and we really should have scored more than two. Then came the substitutions. I've said before, just because you can use five subs, it doesn't mean you should. Replacing half your outfield players stops any momentum in its tracks, then you have the situation we found ourselves in yesterday with Scott coming off injured. That's incredibly unlucky and could have happened in the three subs era as well, but with five substitutions available and in the position we were in it just seems so unnecessary to take that risk. But we've got the three points we deserved and it's hopefully a lesson learned.

Apparently more than 2,000 away tickets have already been sold so it'll be a belting atmosphere. I'd expect Doncaster to be a bit more ambitious than Morecambe were. They've had a bad start but got a draw against Mansfield, so that's a sign of life. Wanted: an early Notts goal to calm the nerves, then we'll be swinging.

Since we'd shipped 9 goals in our previous 3 games, it was understandable that the focus was on defence. So a clean sheet is a plus. All the same, it feels like two points dropped. We spent the first half playing at walking pace and looked reluctant to take men on, it was reminiscent of Ardleyball. If we'd been a little more positive then, I think we'd have swung it in our favour. We looked a lot brighter at the start of the second half, but the substitutions stopped our momentum and we never regained it. That's a pity as Morecambe were there for the taking. They were well organised off the ball, but very poor on it and the greatest threat to our goal came from unforced errors by Baldwin and Cameron. I think the promotion celebrations must have killed a few of Baldwin's brain cells as his decision making was awful. Despite some of the justified criticism of a few players, they haven't become bad players overnight. They're still getting to grips with a new division and a few changes in the team. The calls to replace half the team I keep seeing on certain social media platforms are ridiculous.

Really delighted with this result, it made my day. While going behind twice wasn't exactly ideal, it allowed us to see the fighting qualities we saw last season and reassure the team that they can turn a game around in this division too. In truth, Grimsby's second came after our strongest phase of the match where we really had them on the ropes. We certainly deserved to win, but the second half was a lot scrappier and we didn't quite seem to have it under control. Some thoughts: - I don't quite understand the point of Stone kicking it so long all the time. Nine times out of ten we just give away possession. - Langstaff was unlucky not to get off the mark. The effort that went over the crossbar had ricoched off the defender and then the keeper and onto Langsatff's already outstretched leg, there wasn't much he could do about it. The goals will come. - 13,000 for the first home game, wow! To put that into perspective, we got 9,000 for our first home game in the Munto season, and that included about 3,000 away fans. Scorers' names in all caps reminds me of the Football Post!

According to the radio we changed to four at the back @Dripsey3? Last season we got away with sloppy defending at times by outscoring the opposition. That's not going to go in our favour as much this time. It was clear over the summer we needed to improve in this department and it remains to be seen whether Tipton on his own will be enough. We also have an issue in that we got a hammering on the first day, which affects confidence, makes the players more nervous, causing them to make poor decisions and so the cycle goes on. It's partly a mental problem and we need to get over it quickly. That said, we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The last two games aren't going to be representative of our season as a whole - against Sutton absolutely everything that could go wrong did go wrong, we had an early sending off and defensively we seemed to forget the basics. Last night we were playing a L1 team with a nervous defence, a different formation and minus many attacking players who might have taken the pressure off a bit. Against Grimsby we have to dominate and play on our terms and not let fear get the better of us. Even just scoring the first goal could help settle them down.

@Fozzy touches on a good point, the players weren't where they needed to be mentally. There's been a lot of hype around the team and noise about our EFL return, and maybe they got carried away with it. Sutton appeared much more focused on the here and now. Maybe this is an experience the team needed. Now it's time to let go of last season, ignore what the bookies are saying and concentrate on doing the simple things.

Short version: that was pants. Longer version: I feel disappointed and let down, and I didn't spend the afternoon in the London rain. I missed most of the first half, but I knew we were losing and a man down. In situations like that, the team that's trailing at least plugs the defensive gaps, the game develops an equilibrium and peters out. Yesterday Sutton murdered us right up to the final whistle and we can count ourselves lucky to have only conceded five. I wouldn't have picked Brindley at the back, he's not really a centre half and got found out in the NL too at times. But he wasn't the only one who failed to compete or pass the ball - and if you're not getting close enough to the opposition or challenging for the ball, it doesn't matter what formation you use. Likewise, you can't put the opposition under relentless pressure with a possession-based approach if you keep losing the ball in your own half. Sutton were much sharper than us and were very effective, they played it long and high, got in our faces and didn't allow us to play our football. But that's no different to what we saw in the NL many times, except yesterday we didn't cope. That's got to change, and quickly. Special mentions go to Cameron for his ridiculous back pass, yet Stone also had plenty of time to decide what to do. I'm not sure whether he was sent off for the deliberate handball outside the box or the foul, either way he made a hash of it and will have a few weeks on the bench to reflect on it even once his suspension is up.

Teams chartering flights to away games has become a regular occurrence and really needs to be stamped out. In a country as small as ours there's no justification for it, especially as the larger clubs can afford to put the team in a hotel overnight. Wrexham have raised eyebrows because of their status, but this is pretty much the norm higher up the leagues. It doesn't seem to be a thing in Germany at all, I've seen several team buses on the motorway here. And the distances covered are much greater too.

They're unbeaten and level on points with first place though! Just finished 1-1, sounds like we played well and dominated possession. A good dress rehearsal. Slightly concerned about the absence of Langstaff, maybe it'll be mentioned in the post-match interview.

Fitting. Wordle 745 5/6 ????⬛⬛⬛???? ⬛⬛???????????? ⬛????????⬛???? ⬛???????????????? ????????????????????

I'd expect a different 11 in both halves to get as many players match fit as possible. It'll be interesting to see how the new signings do and where they play, but we won't be able to draw any conclusions from it. Wonder whether there'll be any trialists? I've been to Nuneaton's old place, a proper old-school rickety ground. Would have been fun to see Notts play there.

Nailed it today! Wordle 744 2/6 ⬛????????⬛???? ????????????????????

I got it, but it was a head scratcher. Wordle 743 5/6 ⬛⬛????⬛⬛ ⬛????⬛????⬛ ⬛????⬛???????? ⬛???????????????? ????????????????????

But you just did, so.....