piedestrian

I'm one of the detractors in the everyone vs Grant case. I think with this formation and its iterations over the last couple of years, I've been spoiled in Ruben and more-so Crowley. Ruben was brave and clinical - almost a second striker. Crowley was very technically gifted with decision making and vision alongside being brave. That said I have just re-watched quite a lot of Crowley and Ruben's goals/assists and see closer similarities in Kouhyar than I see in Grant. With the way we play, we put so much stock in this position and when the AM's fail, we fail given that Jatta is not a big brutish bastard and he plays better when stuff is played in front of him.

I think pre-season Cotter is just a good way to assess Cotter in general. For every Cardiff goal, a Kaiserslauten stinker. Personally, if we're rid of the wage which was probs a bit too large in our squad given his playing time, I think it's better attributed elsewhere.

I think that as a CM pairing, they don't come much better than Robertson and Palmer who really compliment each other. It's the AM duo that's gonna cost us. I personally think Grant is the weak link. Sure he's got intelligence and presses well, but it's only good up until he's 20 yards and closer to the goal that he turns to mush. Hall I think deserves more time to really make the position his own. I'd like to see Jarvis and Traore there as they both look intelligent and can drift out, but for the love of god don't put Jones back there. Fwiw, had Luker been here the whole season, we would be smashing the league and probs go up.

Rumour was floating around before the game that he's been sent back to Barnsley

We are 30% into the season. We have won half of those matches, drawn three and lost four we have the second best goal difference and third best in goals scored. MP is on a 47% win percentage and is currently 1.6 per game. However we're out of the EFL cup and the FA cup. I'm gonna caveat here with the fact I'm just using basic percentage rates from Fotmob here and haven't looked into the real stats like XG etc. Keeper - Kelle Roos has a 98% save percentage but a 49% high claim rate - he's semi-reckless and scares the backline. We have to pack the box when defending because we don't trust him, In terms of defence, McDonald is probably our most consistent defender we have but Platt and Ness both have really high aerial duels won and defensive contributions. Macari being the lowest. For our WB’s - Tsaroulla is probs our most consistent performer with 84% of chances created. Bennetts ranks the worst at around 45% Midfield - Palmer is having a storming season with 86% of chances created but Robertson makes up for Palmer's 14% defensive contributions with 77%. Iorpenda’s stats for defensive contributions and aerial duels make for interesting reading at around 90% mark. Grant and Norburn rank for worst midfielders. Forwards - Jayden Luker had a 88% chance creation and also a large defensive contribution. Interesting reading for Jatta’s and Dennis’s aerial duels, which are at 47 and 30% respectively. Overall - It suggests that we are really easy to understand. We have collectively, quite a large amount of technical players, but not really utilising them correctly. Playing up to Jatta isn’t and shouldn’t be the main style of play, he’s not a target man. Our WB’s don’t consistently perform and we’re far too narrow given we only trust left footed players. Our biggest weakness is our GK which other teams target via high dropping balls. That is the immediate fix in Jan. Personally, I think it’s calling out for a shift to a 4-3-3, with someone like Robertson, Palmer and Iorpenda playing and then a forward line of Dennis, Jatta and Jones. I think this gives us a better chance knowing that one of best players this season isn't coming back any time soon. All stats from Fotmob and percentages are based on a percentile ranking of that in the league. What this says I don't know, but after tonight I hope we don't regress but I have a feeling it might.

Jatta is the obvious choice, but special mention to MP who completely changed the game and also the tanoy for the "stewards, exercise" announcement which seemingly dumbfounded everyone in the stadium allowing us to score!

The thing is, and it should be the main narrative, is that we're judging every match based on the fact that we should be challenging if not completely levelling teams like Gillingham. This is both from an evolution of what we've come to expect from the brothers ownership and the overall objective of the season. Every delayed pass forward, every 8 second countdown and flap from Roos and every conceded set piece we get further and further away from what we've been told is the complete objective, supported by a big ol' bag of cash (budget). It's a very short rope for MP, one I'm sure he realises is getting smaller and smaller with every passing interview.

I suppose I've given myself ten games, so my analysis is as follows. At the current trajectory, we're looking mid-table. That's not a criticism of what we look like in a footballing sense, merely statistical. At present we’re averaging 1.375 points per game. If we continue in that vein, we’re seeing us finish 11th at best (this is based on the last 4/5 seasons. Let’s look at the scores: 1-1 draw against Newport (who are now 22nd) 2-1 loss against Salford (who are 3rd) 1-0 loss against Wigan - played a strong squad and garnered 65% possession 2-1 loss against Barrow (who are 21st) 4-1 win against Shrewsbury (who are 23rd) 2-2 draw against Bromley (who are 7th) 2-1 win against Tranmere (who are 16th) 3-0 loss against Lincoln (second squad put out) 1-0 win against Fleetwood (who are 11th) 1-0 loss against Gillingham (who sit in 2nd) MP sits on a 30% win rate - we also have scored 8 goals excluding the 4 we scored at Shrewsbury which feels like a bit of an outlier in scores. Now that’s the data side done, what have we been told about what’s expected. First and foremost, he’s been told by the club that they want promotion, “as simple as that” - 1st August, Martin Paterson (bbc). We’ve also been told that this is one of the highest budgets that we’ve had to date with the Reedz brothers, one which MP, up until recently deemed unsatisfactory as he wanted a new GK and a new striker. Lastly, we’ve been told physical elements and directives on changing the club to be more involved in the “dark arts”. 1 - We will not achieve that on the current trajectory. 2 - Whether or not we ever were able to compete or make inroads about getting in more players, it’s not his job, publicly, to say that. 3 - Although more physical players in terms of size have come in, we’re much more susceptible to crosses and set pieces than we ever were under Williams and Maynard. Onto MP himself. Forever the socialist, “it is not I, only we!” MP is driving the “we, the team” in terms of narrative. Whether that’s a collective call for unity or that of concealment of his real thoughts which come out in training or the dressing room, we’ll never know. We get versions of himself via interviews, which haven’t won me over. I think personally, that his career is something he links to hard graft and perseverance, and that he’s trying to change the club’s playing philosophy, not adapting or moulding it. There are occasions whereby I’ve enjoyed bits, because I’ve seen technical flair and exciting play happen, but then I question myself, is that because of him or in spite of him? There are players we’ve seen that have improved/deteriorated from his managerial/coaching style with Matt Palmer being the standout. If MP were to go, I’d worry about how it might affect his game for the remainder of the season. Bedeau and Jones have dropped in terms of a really high bar we’ve had here for a while, so suggests his methods are much more jarring than what we’ve seen before. I think MP is on a short contract here, given that it wasn’t mentioned in the press when he was appointed, so suggests he wasn’t highly regarded or was a backup to a backup - if this is indeed the case. If the owners have the foresight that it only takes one bad transfer window to throw out a DOF, then time is ticking very quickly for Martin. Lastly, Martin had 20 games at Burton before he was sacked, which I can see become a real big possibility if we don’t see improvements all over. (I think I deserve praise for not mentioning Roos or Grant once!) - also I have posted this on Footymad also, but thought it's an engaging conversation peice at least!

Bit unfair on Traore @CliftonMagpie. He played well for his cameo against Fleetwood, just needs a goal and a run of games to show what he can do. Unfortunately or fortunately, we've changed our game plan to accomodate a player like Jatta, which Traore isn't. I feel he's more of a poacher and technically stronger, similar to Langstaff than a Jatta style forward.

so astute he's leaving... BBC SportRichard Montague: Swansea City director of football set t...Richard Montague left a similar role at League Two club Notts County to take up what is a key position at Swansea in February.

No idea what his legacy will be. Probs that of Hans Backe

@gtownjohnno ,sorry but he's really proving an astute hire to Swansea. To the point, I don't think we can really go back to a manager's manager role at Notts. I think the mechanisms are just too different, plus as much as I've come to get used to MP, I wouldn't trust his judgement on new signings alone.

End of the day, it's whether you win or not. Even in the days of Spain winning everything, people got complacent and bored with the tiki-taka style of play. We found ourselves bored to death win Maynard, we even got rid of Curle not long after his undefeated away record, so as much as aesthetics have an involvement, I much preferred celebrating at the final whistle than looking at the stats of a match last year and seeing 67% posession to lose 2-0. We played some largely, quite attractive stuff with a lot of technical players doing a lot of hard work. I can really see myself falling in love with this team, it's all down to consistency and luck from hereon.

MP's best match so far. Really nailed the game management element. Notts' really rallied in the 2nd half, subs were effective and all deserve a special mention. Dogged from Robbo which assured a tiring midfield, Traore enabled their back line to sit further back as not overwhelm us and made some excellent touches (on that note, I saw him smile after progressing the ball, it's nice to see him get a bit of happiness from all this) and Grant made some excellent final third plays. We're not getting too much from the WB's, for me they seem really inconsistent - one match Tsaroulla can be great but the next a complete liability. Thought we could have taken Gordon off and brought Bennetts who may have helped us kill the game off. All in all, a good game, with a good crowd and good weather.

John Sheridan Chicksen and Adam Campbell for players (albeit on loan for Fleetwood I think)