Sheffield Pie

Amazing to think that if we'd beaten Newport (which just came too soon) we'd be top. Maybe we under-estimated the all-round strength of this squad. The bold use of subs, and the way players step up when needed, it's working really well.

New sponsor of the Family Stand, which is now named after this company rather than Haydn Green. Obviously a lot of people are upset about the renaming and asking questions such as: have Haydn Green's family been consulted? Will Haydn Green's contribution to the club's survival be commemorated in some other way? I'd also like to know a bit more about Green Shift Energy and how much they are actually paying, though the club would be very unlikely to reveal that. I could just about get that Notts would do this if it were a really big corporate partnership, with a prestigious brand, maybe one with Nottingham connections. Not sure that's the case here - it looks like they were set up last year using a company registration service, are owned by three young-ish guys, have a pretty basic website, and a small office in Newcastle. Does that suggest a big enough commercial opportunity to override Haydn Green's memory? Odd.

One big takeaway is that everyone loves Paterson now! He was an unpopular pick, some fans said he was out of his depth, gone by Xmas, etc. He's got us fitter, is getting the best out of Rodders, Matty Palmer and Grant, has integrated Robbo into the team well, got Jatta smiling and scoring again, and been a good judge of the loan signings. Notts' good form stretches quite a long way now. We've taken 20 points from the last 10 games, which is automatic promotion form. By taking 1 point from the first 3 games, we gave everyone else a head start, which we've partially clawed back. Hoping that attendances start to pick up again as the coach and team deserve it.

HERE WE GO. NOT EVEN SURPRISED.

Grant hat-trick tonight. I'm not even joking. It's been coming.

Quite revealing: Games 1-6 saved 8 out of 17 = 47% Games 7-11 saved 14 out of 17 = 82% The 6 out of 6 shots saved vs Fleetwood helped - maybe a turning point? Interesting to read the MoM thread from that game!

I don't get to watch every minute of every game so if he's improving that's good and yes let's get behind him. His stats do need to improve as currently it's looking like a massive downgrade. He's saved 65% of shots on target (13th best in L2). Last year Bass saved 74% (2nd best). Over a season that projects to 13 more goals let in, a big handicap.

I was there in the Bridgford end but can't remember much about it. Was that the one where one of our players, maybe David Hunt, got sent off late on for cleaning out a Forest player who was shielding the ball in the corner? This was around the time Forest played Celtic home and away in the UEFA cup, incredible numbers of Celtic fans that night, came close to being a tragedy apparently.

The starting line-up hasn't featured many of our 11 new signings lately. With Macari clear to play and Luker out that's going to be even more the case. What do we think is the balance of hits and misses? For me: 3 Hits: Dennis, Iorpenda, Hall. Not bad but really need more permanent signings to be hits as we get to keep or sell them. 4 Misses: Roos, Norburn, Kouhyar, Bennetts. Probably not a disaster in terms of the wage bill (Norburn maybe costing us) but Roos is a key position and if we factor in Jarvis and Traore not working out, not great. 4 Neither: don't know about Griffiths, Aljofree and Cotter haven't done great but are loans so not so serious, putting Luker in here as well even though he looked good.

Both. Everyone can and should lead by example - you don't need a title or an armband to do that. Having the authority to be vocal with your teammates is part of the captain's job.

Great list. Some of these would be amazing for Notts, assuming their legs or motivation haven't gone (we've had a few of those). Who would be dropped though to make way for them? Apart from Roos, the defence is starting to pick itself, Palmer and Robertson are developing a good partnership, Jones and Tsaroulla are among the first picks, Jatta plus Dennis/Iorpenda/Luker/Hall all looking good. Keeper seems like far and away the priority, then maybe someone with the experience to help us manage away games better. Thought that might have been Norburn but not looking like it.

Kicking the ball into the net is the hardest thing to do in football. If Grant were ever to overcome the mental block that stops him doing it (unless he doesn't have to think about it) then he'd be a pretty valuable player. Paterson obviously sees something in Grant to persevere with him, even though you might not think he's Patto's type, i.e. not got the killer instinct. It would be fantastic if he could fix it, that rare thing, a coach making someone a better player.

Seriously? That's a masterclass in negative takes. "would require practically a Brand New Squad" Why? They'd have just proved they're better than a lot of fans give them credit for by getting promoted. "The wage structure alone would increase several times over" No-one's getting a 200%+ pay rise. "Hiring of an Experienced Head Coach is going to cost Money" Why? The one we have would have just got us promoted. "the Owners aren't going to be able to continually waiver huge losses" How do you know? When they waived some last week, no-one saw that coming. "if those Players are Not replaced by like for like Players" and "if they were Relegated" Now we're into worrying about things that haven't happened after something (promotion) that hasn't happened yet and that a lot of fans don't think we're capable of! "more investment ... could bring about it's own problems" The phrase "every silver lining has a cloud" springs to mind. So you want new investment but reserve the right to paint it as a bad thing? You've missed a few obvious things that we need to worry about. What if Forest win back to back Champions Leagues and no Nottingham child decides to support Notts for a generation? What if the pitch fungus gets out of control and Meadow Lane has to be burned to the ground? What if some fans get their way and MP is sacked and the brothers put Chat GPT in charge?

I agree with the 'super scout' description. The priority is to get the recruitment back on track. That's not a manager - they have their favourites, are hand in glove with agents, then get sacked or clear off and leave a mess. We just need someone who can find those gems we've had in recent years - talented players who in terms of pure skill were way above the level we were at but were persuaded to come here - Rodriguez, Jones, Bostock, Crowley, Abbott, McGoldrick.

Notts start at a disadvantage to a lot of clubs. We need to be well known for something that will help us fill our relatively big ground and not be completely overshadowed by our neighbours. Being the oldest league club doesn't do it, never has. Being data driven is no longer a novelty. Being Wrexham's main rivals - that ship as sailed. Being a team that plays exciting, possession based football that people might stumble across on Sky Sports and think 'wow' was definitely working in terms of attendances, national profile, ability to sign players. Losing that would be a huge mistake, surely?