theAnticlough

Time to chip in on this debate...players out of contract next month McDonald - I think we can be a little less sentimental than we when came up to L2, but this guy is a hero of our promotion. And a class player, whose reading of the game can help stretch his career into his mid-30s. I say we offer him a new 2-year contract. Norburn - Ditto. We can avoid his slow start now, and he'll bring the calmness and nous that'll be important in L1 Tsaroulla - don't let him do to us what he did to Crawley. Tie him down through his peak with a 3 year deal Platt - having two defenders out long-term to start life in L1 is a big handicap. How convenient it would be to cut. But we just can't. Reputation around football and within our club dictates that we have to look after him. Also, he's too good. If we ever did slip back down, having a warrior like him would mean we'd never slip down to far. Length of contract to offer though is tricky Bennetts - we have to say goodbye and good luck. We can't ride with a player who'll struggle at the level and won't score or assist. We have to take a punt of someone else, or use the salary slot, combine it with another ,and get a top first teamer in. The consolation for Bennetts is that his association with a promotion team will land him another team in L2 Kouhyar - exactly the same. I think he'd be closer than Bennetts, but we needed to see much more in the games he started. Tangan - unless they've seen great things in training, I don't think we should pick up the option to buy. He's not always involved and we can't afford that type of player in L1 matches. It's still a gamble and we need sure things in the No 10 positions Perott - keep

I agree about consolidation but I think we can allow ourselves to be a bit more ambitious and optimistic. The Reedtz bros, Monty and now Pato are on a upward curve together. 4 years NL / 3 years L2 / and then the fairybook ending to Chapter 3 is 3 more years, so NL to Championship in 10 years of their ownership! What might that look like? Year 1 - 14th to 9th, Year 2 9th to 6th, Year 3 - Play offs again

Will conceed on those two @StarkMallard, but lets ask ourselves who we're really afraid of... Bradford? No, we were beating them only last year Doncaster? Ditto Mansfield? Notts fans would never allow that Bromley? Ditto Wimbledon? Bunch of thugs we owe one to Luton? Old sparring pals from Nolan's days, now on a level again Sheff Weds? Might still be in disarray for a season or two Oxford? When Ruben went there we were all saying he's gone to smaller club MK Dons? We have their number recently Cambridge? Let's focus on the 2-0 win at Meadow Lane Stockport? We could bring back Frank Vincent and beat them that way Wigan? Didn't we outplay them when we met in the cup? Burton? Really? Add to those Stevenage, Orient, Wycombe, and that's 16 not to be scared of at all. We can spend the first season saying 'only x pts off the play offs', even though the L1 promotion system is as close to the NL's as it is to L2's. We can definitely aim for mid-table upwards.

I think I was still happy that our previous had departed to be disappointed! But yeah, 'underwhelmed' What an appointment though. I know this is in the afterglow of a Wembley masterclass but he really does have all the hallmarks of a succesful team manager with a long career ahead of him relentless focus astute man manager - seems to know player psychology tactically sound makes good team changes, only when necessary plays a positive and entertaining brand of football incredible work ethic that has to rub off on others and the list goes on, kudos to the brothers for this great pick (and some credit to Gagliardi too, who at least gave us Luker, in the beginning Dennis, and in the end Norburn)

For sure Big Tone, but my thick head is a permanent condition I'll go out today to celebrate it properly...my youngest has really got into it and that adds to positive vibes The renaissance of our club is outstanding. All those years of thinking what happens when all the old codgers go? Are we in the wrong part of Nottingham? Only to see new generations of County fans to emerge in numbers much greater than we had in the 80s and 90s even. Then there's the stunning matchday experience, with The Nest and an unbelievable slate of big, local and localish games against Leicester, Sheff Weds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Mansfield, Peterboro, Doncaster, Oxford, Luton, Barnsley, Stockport, Burton etc. A great time to be a Pie, let's all savour these days.

It really was the game of the season for player performances - a lot of 8/10s and better. Belshaw, Ness, McDonald, Robertson plus a couple of the subs, Grant for sure. But I've got Jodi edging out Jatta. Having JJ hit one of his peaks was just too much for Salford to cope with

Fantastic so far - such a sweet moment when that 2nd went in. Norburn and Robbo great - they've got nobody doing that job for them. Great we had Jodi Jones peaking at the right time - playing brilliantly and one of the best assists I've ever seen. The ball was going sideways by the time it was in front of Jatta. And now Mnoga on a yellow... Without their small pitch, no tolerance of their usual antics, exposed for lack of skill, I'm not sure what they can do to get back into this...

As expected, nobody will argue with that Still slightly uneasy at not having Browne on the bench...In a dream world it'll be all over after a hour and we can stop worrying about it ;)

Echo all of that. But strangely calm here - confident, but ready to accept the reverse in a nigh on 50-50 game. I think I need to catch sight of Robinson and some of their players to remind myself how much I want us to win it!

Interesting stuff @Robbie The results and votes are what they are. But something's awry if Aljofree can get 10 more votes than macari on 27 fewer appearances!! Macari should be far far higher on that list than he is. MP wouldn't have picked him 36 times until his injury, if he wasn't doing well. I think MP described him as 'underrated' in one of his interviews. PON votes definitely point towards that.

This will be a better game. I'd say Kyle Wootton playing at centre-back might not be looking forward to facing some of Ruben's through balls. You have to fancy Bolton?

Agree on the midfield. MP will probably leave it as it is. Palmer's had a great bounceback season individually and played much better than Norburn overall. But his place has become tangled up with the captaincy and I suspect the meek way we went down to some of those 14 defeats, simllar to the 2 Wimbledon games last year have Pato thinking we need some different leadership on the field. RodMac captains the side now and it gives the team a different flavour and self-image.

I have reason to shout for Hull today, but I'll go the other way after their pathetic reaction to Southampton's expulsion. They spin a positive like playing a team that didn't know they were even still in it, into a negative - whingeing and bleating about a really unfortunate but necessary set of actions. What an awful message to send to their players and fans

Kind of same boat for me Dripsey. I'm stuck working overseas and can't make the final. I'll console myself with the knowledge I've seen us at Wembley muliple times and I'll be able to watch in comfort on a big screen. But nothing like the real thing of course, and wishing all those Pies the time of their lives on Monday

Great stuff @Robbie and thanks for posting this thread all season long. I probably got Iorpenda winning most myself. An interesting next step would be to divide those votes by the number of games played, I think that'd give a clue to who has consistently played with the most quality. I wouldn't want to take anything away from Iorpenda, I think the most MoMs is right, but I think the best performing player per games played, by a very clear margin, is Rod McDonald.

True, but despite all that @menzinho I have us slight favourites this time. Do you? What do we all think the subs bench will look like? I'm guessing at... Griffiths, Browne, Palmer, Kouhyar, Grant, Dennis, Ndlovu

I've never heard of Kieran Maguire, but it's just a question about the level of 'interest'. So what? The decision would still have been the same. And I agree. he's probably way short on the amount.

I think it's all be discussed here @YoopEyes so lets just say it's been good that we've had both sides of the argument. All I will say though, is that I hope Soton don't waste everyone's time 'seeking damages' as they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. On the issue of proportionality, all arguments would be undercut by the fact that Middlesbrough were striving for exactly the same prizes and bonanza.

There's an excellent interview with Matt Le Tissier on Youtube. He describes how the reputation of the club is tarnished, and repeats a number of times that their priority now must be trying to restore their reputation

I'm worried on behalf of Jodi. Remember the game at Shrewsbury when he couldn't get anything out of their RB and had to be taken off? This will be on a much bigger pitch than the reduced Shrewsbury one, but Mnogo is an awesome player IMO, incredible athlete and physical player. He might be just too much for JJ. Can we do anything different? If JJ can use his trickery and get him on a yellow, maybe it can go well. I just fear that side of the pitch being snuffed out and that'd be a big blow to our creativity. How much will we be willing to risk Bedeau making overloads deep down the left? Pity we don't have more reps of JJ being inside or we could ask Iorpenda to cover Mnogo defensively and confuse them coming in from there in attack. Match ups between teams is massive in the play offs and I worry about this one, and the double they got over us bears it out. Another thing I'm worried about? The game meaning so much to Jatta he tightens up. It's not just this season, but last seasons games as well - he must want to put one over them so much.

Salford were 8th or 9th over the season in ball possession (depending where you get your stats from), but they dominate in a different way to Chesterfield. They're disruptive as @Robbie says - they have some great athletes and good individual players on big money. We should have more of the game than against Chesterfield. And for sure this has to be one of our goals, keep them out of our half and away from our box as much as possible - they're dangerous. But when we're called upon to withstand pressure for long periods, lets hope the organisation, discipline and sheer guts we showed against C'field is repeated.

I think the games against Chesterfield are in danger of being misunderstood. It was a match up of 2 very good footballing sides, No1 in ball possession for the season - Chesterfield, and us 5th. They fielded their main playmaker Braybrook while we left ours, Palmer, on the bench. But the main reason they had the majority of the game over the two legs was that they were chasing the game. We were absolutely magnificent in defending everything they threw at us, but that was because we had to rather than strategy. They've had the continuity of Paul Cook building that team and style of play over many years and they're very good at it. Of course, we would have liked to keep the ball better - Robbo to do a better impersonation of Palmer in terms of playmaking, but the games didn't go like that and we were forced into defending instead.

Have to say I disagree with every word of that @YoopEyes When Leeds were caught under Bielsa there was no law. The EFL brought it in as a necessary response to that, so there is no precedent against the rules. There's massive stakes involved in promotion from the Champ to Prem. Soton trying to gain an advantage by breaking the rules was reckless governance and to me its a proportionate punishment, because all of that they were trying to cheat Middlebrough out of. Anyway, I'm just relieved Chesterfield weren't spying on Maca as he practised his penalty down the middle or we might still be in the National league. These are the kind of stakes involved, and it's brilliant that the EFL are sending out a strong message that it won't be tolerated.

Well yeah, all of that is what the spying was trying to take away from Middlesbrough - all their players and staff. I guess we have to work under the assumption that the spying gave them an edge, so taking away the massive Premier financial bonanza from Middlesbrough. In these situations, my sympathies are usually with the injured rather than the guilty parties Yes, shockingly bad governance of the club. If you're a member of the EFL you need to follow EFL rules, or face the consequences.

Yeah. You'd soon get to the situation where spied on teams would be adapting the training to misdirect the spies! Or just perceived spying or the chance of it - another example of focussing on the wrong thing It's an important rule for the integrity of the game and it's great IMO that a strong message has been sent and example set. I don't see how the EFL could've done anything else @Robbie, although I did expect them to bottle it. Streaming stuff like free-kicks and corners back home is a clear violation of the spirit of the game, let alone the rules. I've often wondered about this in relation to LW getting his players to 'practice their penalty'. Maca, Ruben and co chose what they were going to do and practised it. I wonder if they were checking for spies - they probably were, it takes nothing to send someone around, which is what Boro did. If it became rife and uncontrollable, you could see the EFL dropping the rule - that'd be a sad day and change the game.