Ohh Tommy Johnson

I think there are a lot of issues at paly here. It is very rarely just one big thing that goes wrong in these situations. Injuries have left us without some of our best players, we have been unable to rotate when fatigue or loss of form sets in. The disruption of having LW leave, and SM come in. An inexperienced coaching team learning their trade, and some transfers not coming off as hoped. Also losing Jason Turner changed the culture at the club (I'm not saying for better or worse, but a change at the top always leads to a change in culture). The more I think about it, the more I think SM is the least of the issues. He must have shown something in the recruitment process - it wasn't a hurried process. So I think he will be given every opportunity to show what he can do. Sadly, given a large section of the fanbase have already decided he has to go (indeed many did before he even arrived), the pressure is already really high which can't help. Our current owners don't seem to be the panicking types, and Trew and Hardy show what happens when the owner flips and flops, so I don't think there will be changes there for a while. A couple of wins and a clean sheet will do wonders for fatigue and confidence, lets hope that starts tomorrow.

It was also the middle of summer and a lot of players could simply have been away. I can see why they didn’t go for wholesale changes. Stability and just one or two changes a season has served us well up to this point. I think we needed a leader at the back, uncompromising on the opposition and those around him. Someone who sets high standards and demands it of those around him. I think we may have seen a different outcome with even just one more defender in that mould. Right now I think a lack of confidence along with some players being on their last legs is a huge part of the issue. We haven’t been able to rest players or take them out of the firing line which can’t help, and right now they must be wondering where the next point is coming from. I don’t think many of them will have experienced Meadow Lane at its toxic worst, but judging from Tuesday night, I don’t think they will have to wait long. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of our fans squaring up to another for a fight.

I think I would do something similar. You could feel the tension increasing on Tuesday, the longer it stayed 1-0. If Langstaff had scored one of his chances that a couple of months ago he would have buried, or we had made our periods of dominance pay then I think we would have kept a clean sheet. I also think SM is lacking in his own confidence. He should resist the temptation to chop and change as much. My team would be Slocombe, Macari, Baldwin if fit, Cameron or Chicksen, midfield of JoB and Bostock, Nemane and Jones, forwards Langstaff and Jatta ( but I would allow them to be a bit fluid) with Crowley just behind. Bench Colkett, Austin, Ashby-Hammond, Didzy, Saunders, Chicksen / Rawlinson, TAR. An alternative would be to go 4 at the back Macari, Cameron, Baldwin, Chicksen, JoB, Austin, Nemane, Crowley, Jones with Langstaff up front with Jatta on the bench. We need to get the game won as early as possible and not drop the intensity off if we score like we did Tuesday. 2 or 3 up and I bet defending becomes a whole lot easier.

Wordle 961 4/6* ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????????

I keep doing this; making a swap, realising it was an error and then swapping the letters back again. That cost me 2 stars today. #waffle745 2/5 ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???? streak: 6 wafflegame.net

I wish he would take on his man a bit more a la Jones on the other side. That would really give oppositions something to think about.

Interesting read as I hadn't realised that these were from last season! I wonder if anybody has changed their view? I would have put us as Play-off / Automatic contenders last May, now I think we will finish just outside the paly offs. But, it is so tight, I wouldn't be surprised if we finished anywhere from 3rd to 10th or 11th. I think there has been a lot of disruption to contend with and we need to get our defensive shape sorted. If we can do the latter, then I don't see why we can finish above 7th. ... but I put 'Top Half' as I think this is more likely at this stage.

Nice one. I scraped in again today. I think I need a rethink on tactics - swapping one letter at a time leaves little room for error. #waffle742 0/5 ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???? streak: 5 wafflegame.net

Wordle 958 4/6* ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? A tricky one today!

Wordle 957 6/6* ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????????

#waffle741 0/5 ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???? streak: 4 wafflegame.net Squeaked in after a couple of silly moves.

If he's going on the wing he would need to be special to push Jones or Nemane out. I have no problem with them (whoever) sitting on the bench and letting them fight for a place. It also takes time to fit into our patterns. Williams and, it seems, Maynard are very detailed and I can imagine the players are drilled endlessly in patterns and so on. It isn't easy to walk into the first team in that situation. Look at Bostock, Jones and now Robertson non of whom have hit the floor running, took a few weeks to get into the team and then took a while to show what they can do (assuming Robertson does so). Regardless of whether they go straight into the side or not, they should strengthen the squad; more competition for places, more competitive training etc etc. Let's see what happens.

He wouldn't have scored that against Barrow, he would have been scythed down way before he got close.

I'm not sure Luke Williams will have much of a say, but I reckon the line up will be something like: Stone Warner Baldwin Cameron Nemane Jones Robertson Bostock Crowley McGoldrick Langstaff Bench Loan Goalkeeper (I have a mental block on his name) Brindley / Macari (if fit) JoB, Austin / Randall /TAR (3 of depending on Jones' fitness) Sanderson It almost picks itself at the moment. If Jones is injured, then Austin for Jones, if jones is fit then TAR drops out. It is going to be a tough old match, even with Mansfield suffering with suspensions and injuries. A draw would be a good result.

#waffle740 4/5 ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???? streak: 3 wafflegame.net

Bad start, but got there in the end... Wordle 956 5/6* ???? ???????????????? ????????????????????

You've missed the goalkeeper.

He would have been close for m too. The trouble with the MoM award is it tends to go to the one that catches the eye. It is undeniable that this was Jones, but without Baldwin there would have been at least one more goal against. A header cleared a shot in the first half. We were directly behind the shot and no way was Stone getting to it. He made several other telling blocks and tackles. On the other hand Jones seemed to open them up at will, and was our main creative outlet, so I can see why he was given it. Despite the criticism I thought Robertson ad Bostock also tightened up the defence after Maynard made that teak at half time. They weren't perfect, but it was good to see the change working. I was fully expecting a drop off after the break which has happened a lot in the past few months, but this time we had a positive response. From that point of view I would say Maynard had a good first game and had a positive influence. I suspect in previous weeks we would have lost that. There has also been a lot said about showboating and trying to be too clever (not so much here). I didn't see it that way. There may have been an element of trying to show the new head coach what they could do, but I got the feeling that these flicks etc were for players that weren't where they expected them to be. Maybe this is due to a change in the system which hasn't bedded in yet. There were a couple where I could see what Didzy (in particular) was trying to do, and if they had come off would have put Jones, Macca or Crowley through - they were just a second behind, ahead or going a different direction. The same to Bostock, he seemed to slow things down a lot, but it seemed to me that his first intention wasn't on, so he took another touch and played it safe. I don't go to enough games to know how we 'normally' play, but I felt we did OK and should feel pretty positive about the future under Maynard.

That's fair, but I would also say, they don't score that in the second half. We were noticeably tighter in the second half.

We were right behind the goal. There were a couple of deflections (I thought) and they fell nicely for Barrow, but had there not been those deflections I don't think they would have scored. We didn't transition quickly enough, though, once Bostock had lost the ball which made things difficult. I thought Stone had a good game.

I do think our defence is unfairly targeted by our fans though. I thought their goal took a couple of deflections which fell very nicely for them, on another day it would have fallen for us and the threat would have gone. I thought we looked a lot tighter in defence, especially in the second half. A bit more pace at the back would help, and I think we will see Warner at Mansfield.

I thought at the time it was red, my friend from the US (whose wife actually refs to a high standard over there) couldn't believe the Yellow (and thought the Assistant refs were there for little more than decoration. Mind you I also thought Bozzy gave them a penalty first half with a shove in the back, so maybe the ref was just poor.

There's very little parking there apparently, but local people rent their drives and front gardens. One of his friends makes about $500 a game. The whole neighbourhood snarls up so they have tailgate parties out clears. We had a great time.

Where do Nottingham play these days? I saw them at Ireland Ave (Rob Andrew was playing for Nottingham in those days) and Meadow Lane, but I don't know what happened then as I moved away and ended up traipsing over to Wycombe and the Coventry to watch Wasps. We used to have epic weekends in those days - Notts on Saturday afternoon, Panthers Saturday evening and then Wasps on the way home on Sunday!

@Chris He is coming over from a place called Kalamazoo (a fantastic name if you ask me) to a meeting in Ireland and the flight stops over in Heathrow. He was going to watch a Wrexham game, as I say, but I said he would be better off watching us, so he rearranged the meeting to come over this weekend. We are going to be in the Kop so he can get the full atmosphere. It's a shame Barrow will only bring a taxi load, but it should still be fun!