Fozzy

Plymouth may well be turning into the Arsenal of League 2, look good up until Christmas and then falling away. Excellent and unexpected result from Notts, but much needed after failing to beat Yeovil at the weekend. I reckon another 10 points should see us safe this season as I can't see either Orient, or Newport gathering any more than that.

A few shots on goal would be nice! News today on the embargo is that there is no news for another 48-72 hours, which means no new players for this weekend. It's looking grimmer and grimmer at the moment, we just need a spark but the issue is that if we do score a goal, I can't see us not conceding 2. I really hope they prove me wrong!

Yet again the energy for Notts comes from off the bench. Genaro did more in the few minutes he was on than Rodman has done all season. Hopefully JS will now realise that it's no good having an experienced side if there is no energy or urgency within it and that comes from having some youth and pace on the field. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Football in the Conmunity day today with thousands of tickets given away. I now fully expect a dire performance that normally accompanies these types of promotion and putting these kids off for life! [emoji35][emoji36][emoji42] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, announced on Radio Red this morning and O'Connor won't be fit either, so I have now changed my team to be: Loach Tootle, Laing, Duffy, Audel Richards Aborah, Milsom Collins Stead, Forte Duffy should be more at home hopefully against Crewe as they don't have a big target man up front, the worrying thing is if we allow them to move the ball quickly through midfield.

This has turned into a must win game for Notts after 3 defeats on the trot and a team of untouchables. Changes have to be made against a side that has always had a good footballing philosophy, so I can see a bit of a struggle against what should be a more mobile team. We could try Dickinson at Centre Half as he can't surely be any worse in that position and he is supposed to be able to play there. Go with a midfield diamond as we have no natural width and a side of: Loach Tootle, Laing, Dickinson, Audel Richards O'Connor (If fit, or) Aborah, Milsom Collins Stead, Forte To Mr Sheridan, Collin, Duffy and Rodman do not currently deserve to be in the side, so bin them to the bench to show that everybody can be dropped, not just the players you inherited. Also stop taking off your leading goalscorer when you need a goal!

Good read that @Piethagoramand pretty much sums up my views on the squad. I am going on Saturday, but if I turn up and see that Jordan has been dropped to the bench and Rodman is still in the side, I think I may think twice about the next game. It is becoming apparent that some players are untouchable and unsurprisingly they all appear to be JS signings, with Dickinson, Rodman and Duffy not showing anything at the moment. If he doesn't man up soon and admit that some of them aren't playing well enough to be in the side, then the fans will turn on him and the players, which is the last thing we need.

It was a real shame, but inevitable as there was no way the pitch would have been playable at any point after the rain came down. The only part of Saturday that annoyed me was realising that I'd basically thrown £4 away in using the cattle market car park, which I bet won't be made free for the rearranged fixture.

Play five first teamers, but tell them not to tackle, or get tackled as it is paramount that they don't get injured. Fill the rest of the side with fringe players who can do all the tackling and running. You can guarantee that Murray will be telling his side again not to tackle, so the last thing we need for the weekend is two players out who would normally start. I would even be tempted to play Collin in order only to put four outfield players at risk.

Good result, scoring early certainly does appear to settle us as a team. Can't wait for Saturday now as we start our run against sides in the top half (and a tough one at Mansfield), with Morecambe being very beatable. Come on you Stylish Magpies!

So I have just been told. Will make team selection very interesting! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The logical change for this game would be to bring Audel straight in for Laing, anybody else would mean having to shift around 2, or 3 players. We could put Dickinson in the back 3, but he would have to play in the centre and move Duffy to the right (leaving Hollis on the left). This would then mean Milsom, or Audel playing at left back and another midfielder coming in if it is Milsom, so not a very straight forward team selection. As has been mentioned earlier, it is bang on the right time to play Exeter as they have lost all of their home games this season and only scored once, so will obviously be nervous. Hopefully we can get an early goal and win this comfortably 2-0 (clean sheet please!), but knowing Notts we'll probably give away two soft goals and end up drawing it 2-2.

Like Notts, Orient are another side that are playing much better away than at home, so this will be a tough game. As I've said previously the midfield will be key, so I can see 352 being the formation again. I would like to see Jordan Richards gain his first start in the defensive midfield role as he will bring fresh legs to the side and I wonder if Rodman will be dropped as he has not done enough. Side I would like is: Loach Laing, Duffy, Dickinson Tootle, Richards, O'Connor, Aborah, Milsom Stead, Forte Side I expect to see is the same as last Saturday.

I think this has the hallmarks of being either a 1-1, or a 1-0 game. We need to go there and pack the midfield in order to deny them space, especially early on in the game and although this will stifle us going forwards a bit we might get ahead and then maybe be able to hold on.

They played like strangers today. There was no pass and move, it was a case of lump it up front and hope that Oliver wins it, but when he did there was nobody supporting him! There was just no urgency in our play and so many had off days against a very ordinary Accrington side that JS should have changed it at half time. Time after time we were short in midfield and losing the second ball as Forte and Rodman gave no support to the central two, but in my mind Forte is a striker and not a winger, so it isn't in his game to work hard for the midfield. Collin inspires no confidence as a keeper as his kicking and positional sense are pretty poor and I now don't have any doubt that Loach is a far better keeper in every aspect and I can't understand why he has not been given a game yet, surely his time cannot be far away. I will also add that Audel isn't a right back and we are so easy to defend against because we have no natural width, so everything has to go through the middle where a 5 man midfield just gobbles it up. Not sure what JS can do to change it, but he needs to find a way to bolster our midfield at home. Maybe 352 with Duffy, Laing and Dickinson as the back three, which would allow us to have O'Connor and two of Tootle/Aborah/Milsom in the middle of the park (until Skirtz is fit) might help? I thought Rico talked a lot of sense post match today and was basically asking the same questions of the players that we were asking.

Need to take the advantage right from the start and stop playing catch up. Get the ball out of defence and play our football in their half of the pitch I think was Warnock's saying and it's still true today, but we have a weakness with Collin's kicking at the moment. Hoping for our first home league win tomorrow and I think we will get it if we play high tempo football and move the ball forwards quickly, which may mean sacrificing Stanley for the game as a starter.

Pretty awful first half by Notts and deservedly behind. Back four is still suspect, Aborah hasn't really done enough to warrant his play maker role and Forte is lost out on the left. Couple of substitutions definitely needed in order to try and drag us back into the game! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would be interested to know what last seasons first round attendance figures were, apart from a few games the figures generally look around about the average for round one. I won't be going tonight, not because I'm boycotting this years tournament, but because I have boycotted it for the last 15 years as a complete distraction from serious football.

£12 per game is a bit steep in my opinion, although it does come down to a tenner if you go to both games and buy tickets in advance. I would have liked to have seen it priced at £10 and £16 respectively. I don't attend pre season games anymore, but if it was £16 for the pair I would have been tempted.

What an utter shambles this is turning out to be! Players and staff are disrespectful to our club and quite frankly they can sack the pathetic lot of them, they are a disgrace. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well pleased for Genaro, he has deserved to have had more of a chance this season and hopefully he will start again next week and give Cooper something to think about over the summer (if he stays).

Smithy his done alright up top, definitely given their centre halves a game, problem will be after he is shattered after 20 minutes of the 2nd half. Playing better and some nice stuff after a pretty disastrous first 15 minutes! Watch us capitulate now I've said that.... Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

Mad Dogs dig at Guy Branston is plain to see. He is absolutely spot on and I'm glad he has come out and said it, rather than the "They've go good players" that other managers say. If the players have no bottle then the side is always going to struggle and the players aren't that good! Rip it up and start again in the summer unfortunately, the side needs revolution, not evolution.

Several things that have to be done by this football club: Give Cooper a contract, the man talks sense and doesn't deserve to not have a contract with this bunch of gutless players. He has been dealt a rotten hand and cannot bring any players in, only work with what he has. Sack Guy Branston: Just look at the quality of players the so called head of recruitment has brought to this club, criminal if he stays. Gut this squad: I said earlier today maybe bring in 8 players, I'm now thinking 10 and just ship out 20, pay them off if they are no good. Give youth a chance. We're bringing these young lads through, so give some of them a chance. Not all at once, but drip feed them to see if they are any good. We've played plenty of 18 year olds in the past for quite a few games, some have made it, some haven't, but at least see if they can sink, or swim. Finally, I've come to conclusion that Ricardo Moniz was an absolute genius. To get this bunch of players, playing the football they did and scoring goals is phenomenal. Ok, we couldn't defend, but he must have seen that and thought stuff it, we'll play the football to hopefully score more goals than the opposition. I will be there on Saturday, if only to doff my cap to Derry and Jimmy, two people you could never accuse of being spineless!

This is going to be really interesting, but Cooper has a major problem in the fact that he has to get to a points target in order to guarantee himself a contract. For that reason I think he has his hands tied and won't be able to savagely rip apart the side like he would hope to normally. Low risk alterations are to bring in Wildin at right back, because that position can't get any worse and perhaps Gibson up front in place of McLeod. Sarpong appears to be the type of midfielder we need, as in he can tackle and also score goals, but I can only see 2 of the 3 playing at most.