Fozzy

Mussa could be a very good signing, he's tall and looks decent, didn't we track him at one stage last season? We don't sign players just on ability nowadays, his attitude will also be looked at.

Very much doubt any League 2 (and not many League 1) side has 250K to spend on a player, let alone 500K to be honest, it would have to be a deal based on additions. The club is probably trying to deter buyers, as we have seen in the past where clubs haven't played players on purpose in order to avoid paying out.

It looks as though this is now our model for player recruitment @liampie. Sign up and coming players with a point to prove, rather than players on a downward trajectory, which we have been far too guilty of in the past. If you look at it from a sensible head point of view, we have signed 3 members of the National League North team of the season, whilst Bajrami and Baldwin have also been very highly rated by their previous clubs fans, so it looks good business on paper and their wage demands should be lower. The question will still be though, "can they step up a division in class?", we won't know that until the season starts. We still have serious lack of height issues in the squad beyond the backline, which really does need looking at and rectifying.

Austin is a weird one as he has played most of his career as a full back. Apparently he has been a revelation as an attacking midfielder so I'm interested to see him step up. I'm starting to get a little nervous about this season, but excited as well. The players we are signing look to be a good age with a lot to prove, it is just the fact that they haven't yet proved it at this level (apart from Baldwin) that makes me a nervous. I'm still waiting for the box to box 6ft+ midfielder that we still need, but we could be in for a heck of a season, or we could be left with a lot of egg on our faces.

Definitely good enough for the EFL, just a shame he is so injury prone. A fully fit Lacey is a very good defender, but would say he needs a dominant centre half alongside him. He's like the topping to a very good desert

Always wary of signing players with a bad injury record, they've never normally gone well for us. Will be interesting to see what they do with Brindley if the view is to play him on the right of a three. Still means we are one centre half short to play in the centre.

Or 433, with Ruben on the left, Langstaff on the right and Scott in the middle. You're right though, you can't get all four in the same stating line up so fully expect one of Ruben or Roberts to go even though they are both proven to be top drawer at this level, whilst the new boys have to negotiate that step up (really hope they do).

I think that's what we need to do @Piethagoram. I would keep Vincent as he looked useful last season until Burchnall destroyed his confidence by bringing Brunt in (can't believe he has got a move to the EFL), the rest can leave. I really like Rawlinson as he just doesn't fit with the possession football we're now playing, but I could see a lot of clubs wanting a defender like him. Mitchell and Francis have both been disappointing and JOB is coming to the end of his career, I would also add Taylor to the list of surplus to requirements.

Still need another three or four signings in my opinion. Tall brutish centre mid, tall commanding centre half, and a target man. The fourth would probably be a keeper.

Wish him all the best, it is a shame that injury stopped him from showing us what he is capable of. He looked to have potential but goes down as a disappointing signing because we never got to see if he was any good or not.

Gives you an idea on playing style, pace we move the ball at and shape though. I probably phrased it badly.

It was always going to be a left field appointment @4everapie, but at least this guy does have a lot more coaching experience than IB had, but his style of play does sound very similar. I totally agree with @DangerousSausage view, and think we are a bit delusional to think that you can play pretty football all the time to get out of this league. We need to be more physical at times and be able to bully sides when passing it around isn't working. Footballers at this level cannot play like Man City and ping the ball around with pace, we are more obsessed at times with just passing the ball sideways and taking too many touches. More pace and more power is still needed, and I think they might just be learning this with the additions of two quick players and one being 6ft plus. I still think we need at least one more centre half (hopefully two, Bajrami is one being talked about), a target man who is good in the air, and a 6ft plus, brutish central midfielder.

I'm hearing a lot about what a great coach he is, but the question he has to answer is does he have the tactical nous needed to win games in this division. And does he have a plan B? I'm not getting overly excited about this, and will wait to see how we go in pre season.

Looks like everyone is being proven right...

Personally, I can see them all leaving, we will probably offer contracts to most, but they might all choose to leave. I would release DKE and Chicksen. A bit harsh, but we need better and more physical players in the full back positions, so would have to sacrifice them, even though I really like Chicksen as a player. Of all the ones listed, I would only really want to keep Lacey (although injury prone), (possibly) Brindley, and Sam. I can see Sam having a really good season next year as he now looks to be up to speed and just seems to have something about him. I would bring him in for extra training though to work on his heading. Our main issue is the centre of the pitch, we just have to sign a tall, well built, ball winning midfielder this summer, to play alongside Palmer as neither Vincent or Francis are it. Try to move on Taylor and Mitchell, but that might prove to be extremely difficult.

Exactly. In such a crucial game he should have chucked Knight on the bench. In the case if it going to extra time he was allowed an extra sub, so why not gamble? Some very big holes need filling this summer, if we have to sell Ruban and Roberts to help fill them, then so be it.

Yet again, as soon as we come up against a side that has more fight and passion for the game, we roll over and have our bellies tickled. Burchnall and his team just seem to have been oblivious this season to see our inability to defend crosses into the box and it was our undoing yet again. Stupid free kick to give away though to give them the chance to equalise. Big decisions need making regarding our playing style as it is obvious that we need a more defensive back line (which means bigger and stronger) along with someone in the centre of the pitch who can break up play and is useful in the air. I would be very happy to sacrifice this tippy, tappy football for more pace and aggression. Both Warnock's and Allardyce's sides were successful because they bullied the opposition, but could also play in the right areas of the pitch. As Warnock said once, play your football in the oppositions half. Interesting few weeks coming up, but at least we will now find out if FGR were really after Burchnall, or was it someone else after all. Recruitment will have to be spot on as I fear that fans patience will wear thin very quickly next season.

@DangerousSausageGrimsby have been allocated 2000 tickets and they have sold them all. Nott have said that they aren't going to be allocated any more. The crowd will be around the 12K mark I think because of this. If we get 10K home fans for the match, we have done well.

Our luck might start improving now as it's not been the best seven years whilst he has been covering us. In all fairness, I used to enjoy his articles, but haven't really read anything in the Post for a couple of years now. The website is horrendous to negotiate in order to find any Notts news, constant popups, and I can't remember the last time I actually bought an Evening Post from a newsagents. Will wait to see if we get a full time replacement for him, or whether we will be reduced to snippets.

It will all come down to our ability to escape the press that will be employed against us. We are more than capable of beating all the clubs put in front of us, but we are also capable of buckling under the pressure in games. I can't predict the winner of these playoffs but if I had to, I would back Solihull. Mainly because they have finished the season very strongly and played some tough opposition in that run in.

Might as well start Brindley and Cameron as they both need minutes in their legs, ready for the playoffs. IB should go with his strongest team, but don't think her will.

.Really good article. I've always thought he would be good enough for the Premier League, but I suppose there aren't many clubs bigger than Celtic.

Doesn't time fly, didn't realise he was 28 years old now!

I love conspiracy theories! Would like to see if this gets investigated by the authorities, but seriously doubt it.

@Dripsey3 Halifax want third and aren't guaranteed a home semi, so they will not be resting players as currently Solihull have that position on goal difference. I think Stockport will do it by a point, although they got beat at the weekend, by all accounts they were the better side until Wrexham scored so should make it over the line. I fancy them to beat Torquay on Wednesday and will be good enough for a point on Saturday against Halifax. From a Notts perspective, Wrexham are in better form, so it would be in our interest for them to go up automatically as I can see Stockport collapsing in the play offs after practically have promotion wrapped up a couple of weeks ago.