Robbie

@Blake That's a poor show from teachers. They should be encouraging not punishing!

This game is going to be big for both sides. Both Notts & Gillingham have had good starts to the season & will be both keen to continue their good runs. Notts can go into the game with lots of confidence. Since the teams last met Notts have improved considerably in defence & Gillingham the same in their attacking game. Key players for Notts will be Platt, Palmer, Crowley, Jones, Jatta & McGoldrick. It will be a close game with no quarter given. I believe it will be low scoring with the odd goal winning it. I'm confident that Notts will just edge it on Saturday. I say 2:1 Notts.

It's good news that the injured players are close to returning back to the team. Stuart will manage their return in his own way & he will not rush things. I give Stuart lots of credit for how the team is playing. His methods are clearly working at this time & he must be highly delighted. Stuart will have to keep the players firmly focused on playing one game at a time, & to ensure that they keep their feet firmly on the ground. The players will know the significance of this game with Gillingham. What we do know, is that Stuart will have planned well, & will pick a team to specifically deal with the Gillingham threat. CMON U PIES.

I think it is going to be very difficult to get a player to stay long enough at a club to break goalscoring records. I think Les Bradd's record will possibly never be broken. With agents ruling the roost nowadays & wanting to make their cut out of any transfer money, successful players will be under pressure from all sides to move to a bigger club. If Macca is still struggling at Xmas, I hope that Notts will phone Millwall & offer to take him on loan for the rest of the season, then negotiate a permanent transfer back to Notts. Then the record might be broken.

Dan Crowley has continued with the form he showed last season. He is an integral part of the Notts side & with Jodi we have two of the most exciting players in League 2. The Notts side has clearly strengthened since last season & Dan is clearly positive about the possibility of getting success this season. It's heartening to read that Dan is focused on Notts & that he loves being here, & that he thinks Notts are a great Club, but it would be nice to see him extend his contract, by putting pen to paper. Meanwhile, all Notts fans will be hoping that Dan, Jodi, Jatta & Co, can lead Notts to a win against Gillingham on Saturday. Dan played down the significance of the Gillingham match but I'm sure Dan knows, like everyone else, that a win would be absolutely massive for Notts.

Some good points there WBRM. I also think that Clubs nowadays demand a certain level of fitness from their players, that is a much higher level compared to what was acceptable years ago. They also tend to want to manage an injured player's return to the senior side, for instance Palmer & Scott, (over several weeks), in a way that doesn't risk the injury returning. When you consider Notts have Robertson, Scott, Edwards, McDonald & Ness out, that's a big chunk out of a 22 man squad. Just speculating, but I wonder if McDonald & Ness were just not fit enough to the level for what Notts required?

PL clubs are always going on about fixture congestion. They always play their 2nd string in early League Cup & FA Cup Matches.They ensured FA Cup replays were discontinued due to what they claimed was fixture congestion.They prioritise the PL & the big PL Clubs concentrate on the European competitions. But it hasn't stopped them pushing for a new competition, the National League Cup, which is a 32 team midweek competition, comprising 16 under-21 teams participating in Premier League 2, and 16 first teams from clubs participating in the National League. Some NL clubs have already pulled out. Barnet, Eastleigh, Solihull & Southend have decided not to take up their places, with Dagenham & Redbridge, Wealdstone, Woking and Ebbsfleet taking their place. I see this as PL clubs just wanting this competition for the sake of their under 21 teams to give their players more game time, & it strikes of hypocrisy. I'd rather see FA Cup replays reintroduced rather than this new competition that won't make any money for National League sides, & will add another 4 to 7 games on their fixture list.

Luton 2 - 1 Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield United 1 - 2 Derby Bolton Wanderers 1 - 0 Reading Peterborough 2 - 1 Bristol Rovers Bradford City 2 - 1 Wimbledon Salford City 2 - 2 Walsall Hartlepool 1 - 1 Dagenham Oldham 3 - 1 Yeovil Town Joker

When I first started watching Notts they had 11 players & 1 sub only in a game. Pitches became very poor & bare during the winter, & the tackles used to fly in too. Players became injured but not to the extent that we see today. There could be many reasons for this. The game is faster now, players do more running around, & they are required to employ the high press, which requires more energy which together, puts strain on ankles, knees, muscles & ligaments. The game is a squad game now where more players are used in a game. Medical monitoring has advanced where injuries can be detected much earlier, whereas in the past players would play on with niggles & injuries undetected. There are more games played too, compared to the past. The way the game is played has changed to, with teams employing a passing game, rather than a direct style. Training has become more rigourous, with players required to be much fitter compared to those players in the past., hence players getting injured during training. So is it a case that players of yesteryear were much tougher than those of today or are the increase in injuries just down to the rigours of the modern game, the way it is played, what is expected of a player now & the improvement in injury detection?

Good morning all. Overcast here this morning. Looks like we may get some rain any minute. It's calm and not too chilly. Up early to get a few things from the local Asda this morning. Found my front left tyre flat. Good job I have a small portable air compressor. Not sure why the tyre was flat because it's a relatively new one.

Your Weather for Friday Morning

I think Jimmy Sirrel would have done well in this era, the only caveat to that assumption would be the perpensity of modern day owners to have a Head Coach rather than a Manager. Like Cloughie, Jimmy was good at spotting talent & building successful teams based on good defence & good attacking prowess I think that Jimmy would want to be solely responsible for recruitment & rely on scouts to advise him on players he was interested in. In fact, he would like to be the man at the top. I think that is why Managers of a bygone era might struggle to adapt to the new way of doing things now, however Jimmy had character & a sense of humour, & I'm sure that would have put him in good stead to succeed in 2024.

@thommo It's ankle ligaments. I think they may know more after the operation.

I was always confident that Notts were going to continue to be very potent up front this season even without Macaulay. With such good attacking midfielders like Crowley, with his ball passing ability, & Jones with his pin point crosses, it was highly likely that Jatta, McGoldrick & others could get plenty of opportunities to score goals. And Notts have started well with 14 goals to their name & unbeaten in the league, the confidence of the players must be very high Gillingham are going to be a big test on Saturday & the team will have to be at their best for the challenge. The game will answer a lot of questions on Notts credentials for success this season. It's a big loss to lose Edwards to an ankle injury, but Notts have plenty of cover to replace Edwards. Palmer starting for Notts will be big and is leadership & influence will be vital in this game. Abbott could also have a big influence on the game. If Notts's defence can hold firm, I think that Notts will carve enough chances to get one or two goals & win the game, but I would be happy with a draw.

This is astonishing. Why would he go to a smaller club?

I'm really pleased that Notts get good away support every single match. We can rightly say that we have one of the, if not the best away support in League 2. It is dissapointing though that Chesterfield gave us such a relatively small allocation. It will be another big test for Notts but we can go into these games with confidence now.

Update. Notts have WON the match by 10 wickets by scoring the 23 runs the required without loss. The Notts win relegated Kent, but Notts have to wait for the Lancashire match, which is still playing, to find out if they will have to go to the last match, to ensure survival in Division 1