theAnticlough

Another takeaway - don't get injured if you want to be a 1st team regular. McDonald, Dennis, Platt, JJ have all experienced this in the last few months. They were automatic selections, got injured and then found someone else playing well in their place and it's a fight to get back in.

Pato goes from strength to strength His maxim 'performance is the responsibility of the player, the result is his responsibility' is really working a treat by this stage. Team selection has made so much sense (especially when Compared to Maynard's chopping and changing) and I think the players understand, respect and respond well to this. If you perform you will keep your place. If you don't, MP will give a chance to someone else. I get the impression the club are tracking perfromance really well and we have a Head Coach who is not afraid to act on the information he gets, and what he sees for himself.

Yeah, it was a sad case. I'm convinced the main reason RM signed him in March was insurance against injury (especially Maca) in a season we were hellbent on getting promoted. In the event, we hardly needed him for that. Just checked though, he's made 15+ moves in 13 years, so he's just one of those journeymen players. Good luck to him at Hornchurch, who are clear at the top of NLS

A point to mention re:Iorpenda I think, is that he got his first goal (and the earlier chance) from defensive midfield. Norburn hardly ventured over the halfway line, which is fine, so Tom had licence to support the attack from deep and join in at set pieces. I think he should stay there. Now the monkey's off his back, he could chip in 4 or 5 from that position. His mobility and athleticism also mean he's an ideal midfield partner for Palmer and Norburn. And we've seen that he combines very well with Robbo. It also gives the opposition a real headache having to account for him joining the attack from deep and sometimes late. It sounds like Palmer will be out til Jan almost, so we need Tom there til then probably. Once this season we had Jatta, Dennis and Iorpenda as the front 3, all on top of their games, and it was awesome. One game is all I can remember for that. This might still be a good formula for the run-in, if Jatta stays and we don't land a new, 1st choice no.10 in the window. For now though TI is doing great in CM and he should stay there IMO.

With the chance to watch the film for their penalty, it's clear that it was very soft indeed. Neither Notts player involved did all that much and you have to assume it was given against Grant. Their player went down theatrically whoever it was that was supposed to have fouled him. So that, added to the non-sending off of Nemane, meant that we were right to give it to the ref at HT and at the end still. He could have cost us 3pts and that means a different looking table at the end of the season.

Terrific game tonight, even though we were second best in terms of play. Dennis' great goal was very important. It would've been a different story if they'd scored the next goal. It'll be interesting to see the penalty - it just looked like a crazy scramble from the far end of the Pavis. I don't think the foul on Tsaroulla was a pen. But Nemane should've been sent off for a second bookable offence. I think how quickly Warne subbing him soon afterwards at HT points to that as well. Fans had a right to be incensed about that. Everyone played their part, but it will be good to get Robbo back and then the skipper.

It'd be mean not to give it to Iorpenda. Catharsis for him. After that freakish miss in the first half, you could see how much it meant to him. His all-round game was strong anyway and it was a good shout by the sponsor to make him MoM. I wonder what will change for him now he has that monkey off his back - his first ever senior goal. Loved Dennis' involvement - I think he has to play regularly again. Also Bennetts did very well.

The 'Welcome back Crowley' game earlier this year had a very nice outcome. A classic Notts night under the floodlights, including cracking goals from Didzy and Will Jarvis.

Totally understandable, you've really got to brace yourself for some winter matches in the worst conditions. It's kind of a bit dangerous...very easy to get sick. We were nuts to attend Lorient v Lyon 2 nights ago - the whole Atlantic Ocean seemed to be descending on the stadium. Many of the Lyon fans were shirtless in an uncovered area and stayed that way all game, even after going 1 down and then with 10 men. I expect to be more comfortable tonight, if the game goes ahead.

Just got back from a trip to France Took in a game - Lorient V Lyon. I had no idea about the Ultras culture they have there, it's really something else. Got to ween myself off wine and cheese now. I don't know how well the pint and burger will go down tonight :)

Yeah, I think MP will be a gradualist following the Bristol Rov win -JJ and RodMac to be eased back in from the bench. Iorpenda and Robbo have shown that they can be a very effective pairing. I think the key to our performance is Jatta and Dennis - we need them to be self starters, win their fair share of the battles and really lead from the front. Some games could get called off today. Might this be one of them?

Leyton Orient 1-1 Luton Town Lincoln City 1-0 Barnsley Northampton 1-1 Huddersfield Stevenage 1-2 Cardiff City Joker Barrow 1-2 Tranmere Rovers Cambridge 1-0 Chesterfield Fleetwood Town 2-0 Salford Harrogate 1-1 Accrington

Kelle Roos on his better days is a good L2 keeper for us. His weakness on high balls compensated by really good shot-stopping. He’s also shown that he can bounce back quickly from a poor performance. What does he need to do? No more poor games up to the window. And something like no more than 3 or 4 over the remaining 27 games. In a word - consistency. What’s Dutch for ‘authority’? That’s what Slocs has to scream 100 times a week on either catches or punches in training. If Roos has that, he’ll be ok.

Hall's sending off was due to frustration. I don't think it was just the foul on him just before, he could've been getting quite frustrated in general, and over quite a few games. I have a hunch that we have another story like Kyle Cameron's here. He was a left-sided winger midfielder before he grew so tall and the Newcastle youth system converted him into a left-sided defender. My guess is that Hall was a striker in the Spurs youth teams but has been converted into an attacking midfielder as he didn't have the size, strength and pace for a modern day striker. But he looks most comfortable in the box and if it was a different era he'd be like a Gary Shaw, Paul Walsh, Rod Wallace type player - great touch and finishing ability playing off a bigger striking partner. He might still be working on his game as a midfielder, so looks a bit lost there at times.

Yes, the spirit. And the potential this match has to galvanise the squad and create more belief. The scenes at the end of the game were unbelievable. Players like Robbo and Macari looked like they'd just won the World Cup.it was great to see. And we've just about even up the end of game stuff - Barrow and Crewe is matched by Barnet and Bristol Rovers. Now we're more of a team that wins it at the end rather than losing it.

Yeah, with Hall out I think Dennis has to play. If both him and Jatta start, hopefully they'll realise MP won't do it again if either or both of them are anonymous or use 'service' as an excuse. There's always a way for forwards to get on the ball, cause problems and generally make the defence's life hell.

There's a chance he will do this but less likely in a home game. If we started with Norburn in CM and Iorpenda at AM I would think 'oh we're not winning this' straight away. Let's see next week

A fair call, he's our top scorer after all and seems determined to stay in that race and boost his total. I'll change my preference to be in line w/@menzinho. Reason being we can't have just one scorer on the pitch. Hall out is a reduction in our goal threat and only Dennis has shown he can do that. 2-up top and a different shape behind them - Robbo holding with Grant and Iorpenda either side but more advanced and licence to get forward, a 3-1-4-2. MK wouldn't want us to be so bold, so that's more reason to do it. We'd need Jatta and Dennis to really occupy their back line, both on and off the ball. And we'd be asking so much Grant and Iorpenda, they'd have to be replaced at/before 70mins, which would happen anyway.

Sounds good. Rest up well

Hall will be out v MK, right? Who should get his place? I hope MP doesn't bring Norburn in and push Iorpenda forward. I'd like to see somebody else given a go there. Maybe JJ will be back. Maybe he'll go for 2 up front instead. What would you like to see? I'd go Jarvis who was great in the corresponding fixture last season.

Spot on with those names I'd say. All subs played their part. In a game like that, you can't go on off the pace and give anything less than 100%, and none of them did

There'll definitely be another GK. Palmer's injury may spook them. The evidence so far is that Norburn would drag down a promotion push, so they may prioritise another CM. We have a lot of attacking mids, but none get near to the Didzy/Crowley standard. That might be impossible in the Jan window but wouldn't stop them taking a punt on somebody

Wishing you all the very best BigTone. Yeah, a very wet and cold start to the week. A day off today and I was proud of myself, no alarm and slept thru to 9:30. Must be my age, but I see long sleeps as an accomplishment. The rest of my free day will be spent in the usual way - fighting companies behaving badly; demands for payments long since paid, correcting over-billing, services not fully provided etc etc. Great fun

Yeah, I was impressed as well - their best player. But as a 'winger' he might not fit a position in our set up. Maybe the kind of player to consider in the off season, out of contract, when there's time to work out how they'd be integrated into the team

It's not always clear who's doing the last ditch defending when you're far away at the other end, but giving MoM to Kelle Roos is a safe bet. What a way to bounce back from a poor game. I really want him to succeed so it's great to see him fighting for his place and reputation