Elite_pie

No Aborah today - apparently he played for the U-21 side this morning. That won't help the atmosphere, I can see things getting pretty nasty if we go a goal behind.

I'm usually a lot better at predicting attendances than I am the scores, in fact I guessed at 3,189 on Tuesday and the actual attendance was 3,147. I think recent events will actually give the gate a bit of a boost on Saturday rather than a drop, with some going along to protest and some just to see what kicks off first hand. Rovers usually manage a decent following by League 2 standards, so I would be very surprised to see a sub 4,000 attendance.

I'm afraid I can only envisage another defeat here. Barring some miraculous kissing and making up the expected absence of Aborah will mean a very unpleasant atmosphere. The anti-Fullarton feeling will be evident from the start, and if we go a goal down things could turn really nasty which won't benefit the players at all. Rovers are in poor form away from home (lost 4 of the last 5), but even 'poor' may well be too good for us at the moment. Prediction: Notts 0-2 Rovers. Att. 4,950

As I understand it this claim relates to the first couple of days of Fullarton taking charge. I find it hard to believe that Fullarton would tell any player "I won't be picking you" that soon.

Fullarton is clearly quoted in the Red Rag as saying about Aborah "He's asked to leave the club directly and via email through his agent". That's a very clear and serious statement to make. If it's true, then Aborah deserves no sympathy. If it's not true, Fullarton's position is untenable. Rather than sending ambiguous tweets which actually say nothing, Aborah needs to tell the fans that what Fullarton has claimed is the truth or a lie.

Thoughts on the latest shambles: Loach 7.5* - not entirely convincing early on but two greats saves rescued a point. Atkinson 5 - beaten too often by a tricky left winger. Hollis 6 - defensively ok, passing awful but had few other options Hewitt 6 - did ok. Adams 5 - never looked comfortable all game. Thompson 4 - awful from start to finish, just seemed to run around a bit. Milsom 5 - a few tackles but nothing creative. Campbell 4.5 - reasonable first half, dire in the second. Banton 6 - looked a threat in the first half, never got the ball in the second. Stead 6.5 - tried hard but had very little support. Murray 4.5 - ran around a lot but no impact. Noble 5 - never really got involved. Mcleod 5.5 - looked like he wanted to get involved but no service. Burke n/a Fullarton 2 - the longer the game went on, the more lost Fullarton looked. Hopelessly out of his depth, please someone just get rid of him asap. A bright first 20 minutes when we were denied a stonewall penalty and Stead should have scored. All downhill after that, and the second half was a huge embarrassment. We were hopelessly outplayed by the team adrift in 92nd place, and actually bossed by a midfield containing Joss Labadie!! It really doesn't get much worse than that. Fullarton has subjected the home fans to 270 minutes of the most pathetic football I've seen in 45 years. He has to go before he kills this club. This is as low as I've felt since the pre-Munto McParland days.

History has taught me that whenever Notts are odds on favourites at home, it pays to back the opposition. The worrying stat is that Daggers have gained 16 of their 20 points so far away from home. We have struggled to manage a shot let alone a goal at home under Fullarton, so I don't have a good feeling about tomorrow. Hope I'm wrong, but I think D&R look way overpriced at 7/2.

When these 'Team v *****' threads crop up, I try and include Aborah but struggle to field an effective midfield around him. I don't like him in the deep role because for all his fancy stuff he has little real impact on the game, but to include him further forward needs a holding midfielder. Swerts would have been my choice before, now Smith is the only alternative. Other than that the option is to play one up front, which is very negative for a home game. A four man midfield with Aborah, Thompson. Campbell and Noble is just too easy to play against.

This is a pretty depressing thread full of negativity. Unfortunately after Saturday I'm going to have to follow suit. Luton 3-0 Notts.

My view of the complete shambles we’ve just witnessed:Carroll 6* - a few decent saves, looked dodgy with his desire to punch rather than catch.Atkinson 5 – never looked comfortable, regularly sliced open.Hewitt 5 – never looked comfortable, regularly sliced open.Hollis 5 – never looked comfortable, regularly sliced open.Milsom 5 – never looked comfortable, regularly sliced open.Campbell 4 – a passenger for much of the game, created nothing.Thompson 5 – ran around a bit , lost the ball too oftenBennett 4 – looked hopelessly lost in midfield.Adams 5 – a few good moments but as many bad ones.Stead 5 – tried but got no sort of service.McLeod 5.5 – offered what little goal threat we had.Noble 5.5 – brought on far too late to change anything. Murray n/aThat was as bad as it gets, and the scoreline flatters us hugely. Bizarre team selection, hopelessly ineffective formation, but Fullarton can only take half of the blame for this mess. The players need to take a long hard look at themselves, as they were completely outfought from start to finish. Did we have a midfield? I didn’t notice one. It was as if Wimbledon had two extra players on the pitch – always a man in space when they had the ball, always closed down by two or three of their players when we had the ball. They must have won 90% of the challenges, it really was men against boys. The fact that the ref needed a guide dog didn’t even seem to matter.

A lot depends on team selection and the way we approach the game. I'm concerned that we'll be a bit too negative and struggle to score, plus we still don't seem to have a settled defence so will do well to keep a clean sheet. I'm expecting a big change from the Moniz style, and a duller game unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong, but I can see a 0-1 scoreline.