Piethagoram

@Northants Pie Defensive protection foremost but utilising pace of Collins and Campbell to support Stead. There is no stand out partner up front for Stead IMHO

What also will be interesting will be the players who are not on the bench today

JS to play Collin Tootle Laing Duffy Dickinson O'Connor Milsom Collins Aborah Campbell Stead

Hope the 1k gate revenue covered those costs. Perhaps @erindoors can advise if the gate revenue is shared with Hartlepool ( what percentage?)

https://stuartfrew.wordpress.com/2007/09/04/an-afternoon-with-jimmy-sirrel/ Thinking of Pedro as his son makes his full Notts debut tonight

wishing Pedro's son a good game... a full debut, hopefully the start of many

Loach, Audel, Laing, Hollis, Dickinson (c), Rodman, Aborah, Burke, Richards, Campbell, Snijders subs Collin, Hewitt, Smith, Wildin, Edwards, Milsom, Atkinson False number 9 then

Prize money of 10k per win in the Group stages, we need a few of those to make up for the misspend on Idle

I believe it may be defined as 5 players who have played in last Saturday's first team match ( so being starting 11 plus any subs that played)

Each EFL Club must field a minimum of five first-team players in the starting 11. Rule for competition

Collin Wildin Smith Dickinson Audel Snijders Aborah Richards Burke Campbell Oliver A team like this might fit the bill, to avoid unnecessary fines and have a chance of winning...Prize money on offer maybe too good to avoid despite reservations over this competition

Nice behind the goal view....power of Stead's shot more visible from this angle than maybe from the television recordings

Quote As with any other business in the course of a potential sale, it is not unusual for creditor payments to be extended whilst discussions are ongoing with potential investors. Unquote ..not unusual?... Maybe usual practice for when one is suffering cash flow shortfalls, to stretch payment terms? How to tie a hand behind one's back before a new manager has even started? This quote is also worrying too.. Quote the need to find a genuine party with the right vision, skillset and resources remains their priority. Unquote So parties sign NDA's, presumably fulfilling the first 2 criteria in advance! So if a price is agreed, how come they fail to proceed? Very worried

Yates is a failure, full stop.

..how it wants to get there... Maybe our Head of Recruitment was the spanner in the works?

@notts-joe Top banana!

Just back. A team greater than the sum of its parts. As Elite highlighted, midfield was too soft at times, Atkinson was exhausted at 80 minutes. Audel has made Left Back position his own. Some atrocious final balls from Campbell and Hollis's lack of confidence on the ball might well prevent him getting a new contract if Cooper reverts to a back 3. Hewitt good going forward but defensively suspect again. A word of mention for the Pool's #33, Luke James...lively in the Rodgers mould, and maybe like Rodgers looks skilful but without a forwards shot on him

Like Jimmy when scouting a player, whoever was sat next to him would be bruised as Jimmy would dig in an elbow and say "aye, did you see that bit of skill"

I still vividly recall, when Howard Wilkinson arrived at Notts, Jimmy told him the side had skill but didn't want to put the effort in. Howard responded, "Jimmy, god I will make them work!"

The lessons Fullarton never learnt or didn't want to learn. Play creative players that give you time on the ball, giving the opposition something to think about and to push them back into their own defensive positions. So when you do lose possession, it's in a part of the field that does you less harm

At least when I checked the team on the twitter feed, coming in on the tram from Clifton, I thought that was as good a set up to be expected from a new manager. Maybe my only criticism as the game progressed, Burke should have swapped positions with Campbell. Very pleased to see Audel excel today but overall, we looked like a team and not a bunch of disinterested strangers playing for a manager no one liked.

Ratings Loach - 6 - Steady..had chances to release the ball earlier which became frustrating at timesAtkinson - 4 - Slightly better than Hewitt in that he did block some crosses but still unconvinced on his quality.Edwards - 6 - Steady Eddy.Hollis - 6 - Solid with the odd distribution lapse as usual. Perhaps should have done better with headerAudel - 7.5 - Man of the match Willingness to bring the ball gave us an outlet.Solid defence with fair share of winning headersAborah - 6.5 - Composure on the ball. Welcome back Oh Stanley!!!!.Noble - 4.5 - Poor, wasted dead ball delivery. Should have been more instrumentalThompson - 6 - Played with passionBurke - 5.5 - He needed to switch with Campbell...He needs to step up as he allows the others to put effort in.Stead - 4.5 - Too many loose lay offs gifting possession away.Campbell - 4 - Final ball atrocious. Pity as he puts in the effortSubsMcLeod - 4.5 - Idle by name, Idle by nature. Missing crucial chance, 150k should buy better.Murray - 5 - Not enough quality, missed great opportunity to release SnijdersSnijders - 5 - Not enough time to influence the game.

@Super_Danny_Allsopp you need to replace our so called Technical Analyst!!!

@notts-joe I wouldn't say it's confidence, it's about a basic ability to defend.... I have just listened to Mark Cooper's radio interview... Maybe my rating for Hewitt of 2, was too generous. Expect Edwards to be in on Tuesday...

On the anniversary of my 49th year of my first Notts match, what can only be described as a defensive shambles, I have just witnessed. An ironic chant towards the end of the game, by Notts supporters "You're not very good, as you only scored 4"... and Portsmouth crowd chanting towards Izzy... "You're still effing useless, as we've known you here before"... Actually both those chants were precisely to the point, it is sad to say. I have recently been banging on about giving Luther Wildin his chance at right back. Hewitt, exposed his defensive frailties for the umpteenth time this season and offered nothing in an offensive sense either. Smith had a good first half but again faded badly in the second, as his legs have had it. Hewiit's opposite number Ben Davies, formerly of this parish, gave an expert lesson in how to deliver a ball. Pompey's Kyle Bennet, who Notts tried to get from Donny back in September 2013, gave a lesson of good movement and perfect timing of runs. Ratings Loach 5 Suspect positioning for conceding the first but couldn't really do much with the others Hewitt 2 No pride, no passion, no defensive positioning awareness...maybe even 2 is too generous ( how come he wasn't substituted?) Milsom 5 Held up his side of the park reasonably well. No creative runs Boyce 3 Still doubting his match fitness Hollis 3 Didn't fit comfortably into the system, lack of footballing ability there for all to see Smith 4.5 Good first half for his reading of the game, but heavy legged for the second. Players were just running through him in the end...lucky to avoid a straight red towards the end for bundling the guy over on half way Thompson 5.5 Usual energy, put in a great cross which Stead contrived to miss with a powder puff header. Despite the effort, sheer lack of quality in terms of spotting an incisive pass Noble 4 Unusual for an invisible performance..most un-Noble like. Aborah 5 Pompey contrived to make his misjudged challenge worse than it actually was. Have watched the replay and their guy took the opportunity to fall over Stanley's outstretched leg. Nice ball skills, as one would expect...and was surprised he was pulled off. Maybe not yet match fit Izzy 2 well, that's 150k down the swanny. The guys a fraud away from home. Half-hearted challenges for the ball, poor control when he gets the ball, chants of Portsmouth crowd spot on... Stead 3.5 How he didn't convert Curtis's cross after their keeper dropped the ball...even I could have scored that with some power in the old neck muscles. Lives on past reputation a lot and really didn't trouble their defence at all Not going to mark the Subs, too depressed. MC has a job on his hands and Brano needs to volunteer his resignation, for recommending players like Hewitt, who are not good enough. Supporting Notts doesn't get any easier after 49 years. The pain of defeat still lingers