Elite_pie

I am in Mexico as I type, just past midnight here. I watched the game in the hotel bar and it was a great atmosphere as most neutrals supported the Mexicans as they are such good hosts. Big trays of tequila shots were handed round after the final whistle!

Mine is a picture of a horse called Penzance on his way to winning the Triumph Hurdle at the. 2005 Cheltenham Festival. He was owned by the Elite Racing Club of which I am a member and explains the first part of my username. The black and white silks also appealed to me. He was bred by the club and it was fascinating to follow him from a planned mating, then foaling, going into training through to winning the top race for his generation. The fact that he won me a fair few quid might also have something to do with choosing him as my picture!

Mine is a combination of my two main sporting passions, Notts County and horse racing. The 'Elite' bit comes from a racehorse ownership group I joined back in 1994, the Elite Racing Club which has had some spectacular successes and explains my avatar. Last year we sold a filly bred by the club for a staggering £6 million. The 'magpie' bit is obvious, but unfortunately we've not managed the same successes just yet! In hindsight it wasn't a particularly bright choice because many assume that the elite bit refers to me, which was never the intention. I should probably have opted for Ordinary_pie instead!

I'm sure you meant 'relevant' rather than 'irrelevant'! I renewed ages ago, and due to my age it works out at just a tenner a game with a prime viewing position in the main stand. People rightly moan at the price of watching football, but in my case I don't begrudge a penny.

I really hope he doesn't sign for them, I always happily applaud ex-players (like Sheehan) who served us well, but it would be hard if he had a stag on his shirt. I'm probably one of the few who would be happy to see Bish back here next season. Forget his age, he always seemed the type who could go on to play at this level for a good bit longer than most.

Bristol Rovers in the cup without a doubt. Pity we couldn't play to that level consistently.

Shows what I know! Dan Jones was excellent tonight as were all the others in black and white stripes. It's just a shame that that a near perfect away performance was undermined by one of the most ridiculous penalty awards you are ever likely to see.

I've never been a fan of VAR, but decisions as ludicrous as that one makes me think again. You can't even call it debatable, he got it 100% wrong.

The left back position is the one that concerns me. Dan Jones was awful against Luton last game and was ripped to pieces at the Ricoh on opening day, although his chief tormentor Jodi Jones won't be there on Saturday. I'm still pretty sure that Coventry will target him as our weak link. Carl Dickinson is nothing special, but I think he is a more solid option than Jones.

I take it you're not a betting man Joe! The bookies have given us the highest odds to go up not the lowest. The higher the odds, the lower the chance. To illustrate this if the odds are converted to a percentage chance, Coventry and Lincoln are given a 30.8% chance of promotion, Exeter a 25% chance, and us a 22.2% chance. Also, the bookies very rarely get it wrong - they don't care which team wins, they just build in a margin so they profit whatever the outcome. The average price for a one in four chance is 3/1, but the prices on offer average out at 2.75/1. Sorry to be pedantic, but this is one of my pet subjects!

8.5/10 - to go from a relegation battle to a playoff place is quite an achievement. And we finished ahead of Mansfield.

Collin - 6 - competent. Tootle - 7* - good defensively and going forward. Brisley - 6 - ok against a good attack. Hall - 6.5 - covered well. Jones - 4.5 - all over the place defensively, didn't offer much at the other end. Virtue - 5.5 - not as involved as he has been. Hewitt - 6 - put himself about well. O'Connor - 6 - neat and tidy but no real impression. Grant - 5.5 - seems to have lost his ability to beat a man and shoot. Stead - 5.5 - never offered any goal threat. Forte - 5.5 - didn't make the most of the few scraps he got. Subs- Alessandra - 5.5 - another winger who can't beat a full back. Husin - 5.5 - never adjusted to the pace of the game. Smith - 5 - needs to work on his hairstyle. Disappointing. I realise we were facing good opponents, but we were second best throughout. Even when we were playing 10 men they had the better chances and looked more likely to score. Their passing and movement were a few levels above ours, and I think they'll be disappointed not to finish with 3 points. On the plus side, an excellent crowd and whatever happens in the playoffs we won't be humiliated by the Stags!

I would agree with the match sponsors and go for Matt Tootle. Solid at the back and effective going forwards.

My view is that you are not being insensitive in the slightest Tone. I think the club were wrong to arrange a tribute to Ray Wilkins (was it an EFL directive?) for the reason you state - he had no connection whatsoever with Notts County or Coventry City. I half-heartedly joined in because I have nothing against Ray Wilkins. He was a classy player and apparently a good bloke, but he had nothing to do with our club. Your other very valid point is where do you draw the line? If we're talking ex-England players do you draw the line at a certain number of caps? Would Gary Lineker get it and John Barnes not, or would it be the other way round? This sort of thing is done so often these days that the effect is diluted for the truly deserving cases. The other thing that I absolutely hate is a minute's applause rather than a minute's silence. I felt cheated when Jimmy Sirrel died and the decision was for applause. There are few more meaningful and emotive occasions than a football ground in complete silence. If that had happened after Jimmy's passing I'm pretty sure I would have shed a tear. Instead we had the banal applause, which is what we hear at every game anyway. We applauded a good tackle a few minutes later. Keep it special and it means what it should. Make it commonplace and it means very little.

Haven't done this for a while, but here are my thoughts: Collin 6 - Had surprisingly little to do in the way of saves, but generally looked assured. Tootle 6.5 - Most of their attacks were on the other side, but played his part in a sound defence. Duffy 8.5* - Excellent, led like a captain should and didn't put a foot wrong. Held us together at the back. Brisley 7 - As usual kept things simple, good in our box and good in theirs. Jones 5.5 - The one weak link in the side. Far too hesitant and struggled to contain the threat they offered on our left. Virtue 7 - Nothing spectacular, but worked hard and got into some excellent forward positions that we didn't really utilise. Hewitt 7 - Did what he's there to do, gave us that crucial physical presence in midfield. Noble 6 - Not a lot worked for him today but got stuck in. Grant 6 - Poor in the first half, but stuck at it and played his part even though his best bits were defensively. Forte 7.5 - The Forte we want to see. Looked up for it and made the most of his chances. Just keep it going. Ameobi 6.5 - Made sure their defenders didn't have an easy afternoon, should have done better with the chance he had. O'Connor - no rating, but great to see him back. No time to make a big impression, but a really good bit of keeping possession late on just when we needed it. It's a big ask, but I think he might still play a part this season. Hall n/a, but a good substitution when they were throwing high balls into the box. Absolutely buzzing tonight. This was the sort of game that could have gone either way but we were back to the Notts we saw in the first half of the season where guts, effort and desire (a massive plus in a tight League 2) meant that we won more games of this type than we lost. Just keep it going lads, if we make the playoffs you will have done yourselves credit as a team.