theAnticlough

One thing to consider is that we are coming off an ex-manager and team that was one of the worst 'clutch' performers we've seen. Especially during that crucial run-in when we seem to lose close match after close match and if anyone was going to impact the game late it was always going to be the opposition. We've got to win at least a few close matches which are in the balance. Hopefully, our share or more than our share this season. Beating Fleetwood at home 1-0 is a nice result and we'll all take the win but it doesn't suddenly mean we're George Graham's Arsenal. On another day, the fact that our defenders, WBs and CMs couldn't dominate the ball, will come back to bite us. Fleetwood had enough of the game to get a draw. Great, we might have shaken off being the soft touches we were, but to rack up the wins and stay high up the table we're going to have to play high quality football on a consistent basis.

@NottsTastic, yeah he was the best of the subs. Seemed a lot more up for it

I gave it a listen @Robbie. I've really enjoyed Magpie Circle this year, it's been getting better and better, but a large part of that is the ever-consistent Stall. I've watched the vlogs too, the Friday preview - all alright and worth watching For me though, this 'Sunday supplement' is a video or podcast too far. Too many of the opinions seem over-egged to me and football takes seen through the sole prism of Paul Mace's slant on the game rub me up the wrong way. I found myself disagreeing too often to find it enjoyable!

Good post @McPie, especially the part above. Most fans have seen enough football over the years, not to need to speculate on this. Successful teams are more often than not those that can perform well and take the game to the opposition, overrun and outplay them. We've also seen there's another way. Sometimes resolute teams that can defend really well without being all that talented offensively can succeed too. For the first, most common category, a team will have to be otherworldly to succeed if it doesn't have a decent defence. Many of us had our hearts broken in 1982 with Brazil, maybe the greatest collection of attacking talent ever. For fans sake I don't think you should set out to be George Graham's Arsenal. Design your team to attack, and if you need to fall back on a solid defence, it's great to have that in your locker.

I'll give it a look a bit later, but the club were upfront about the changes before the season started and with the appointment of MP. Everyone was saying that they need 'possession with a purpose' and need to look to play forward a lot more. And who wouldn't want to be more resilient, tougher and focussed on winning? So yeah, there are changes - ones they spoke openly about and seem to be delivering on.

Agree with that@Ash, it was Norburn's best game. He showed for it more and was more involved

Shot outs to the usual suspects - Palmer, McDonald, Dennis and this time Bedeau and Jatta for really solid 7 out of 10 performances, but I think Iorpenda just edged it. He was the difference IMO, the spark and the main thorn in their side. He was also asked to be the sole player linking midfield with the forwards this week, normally we have 2 in this role, and to be honest he did a better job alone than 2 players did in the games before.

Very nice to bag the 3pts today. Nobody let us down today, everyone put in a shift in a solid team performance. I thought our front players all did well on not a lot of service. Weakest area I felt was the WBs, but you can't have everything and those players tried. Are league 2 teams clones? I could swear I saw exactly the same set of players in Tranmere, Shrewsbury, Bromley, Barrow shirts

You were correct

I don't think MP will want to change his shape. If so that could mean Dennis back to an inside forward slot. We'll soon see

Personally, I think the answer is Dennis to an inside-forward slot. He holds the ball up, gets involved, closes down and coming from deeper might open up different scoring opportunities for him. One thing's for sure, we can't make a promotion challenge without goal output from those two positions. And from all the options, he's the only one who's shown he can put the ball in the onion bag at the rate we need

Interesting point @Chris, JJ has underwhelmed so far inside but there's no clamour to move him back to WB. He's just about done well enough to deserve a few more games inside, especially if he's going to have both Jatta and Dennis ahead of him now. But what are the other options? Luker's out. Grant and Traore can't really be relied on to produce, Hall's unproven. Iorpenda might not give us the stats we need, Jarvis can't seem to get going, Edwards is gone. The loss of Didzy and Crowley in the space of a few months was a massive blow, if you think in terms of replacements. It's going to be interesting what we get from that/those positions today and from whom. I think we're going to see Dennis there sooner than later.

I forgot how to count in my post on another thread, you can't have a midfield diamond, a front 2 and WBs obviously! :) Agree with @Robbie, let's see Hall (standing in for JJ) playing behind Jatta + Dennis for this one But we need that vertical, up and down the pitch movement if we're having 2 up front, so I don't see a place for Norburn is this one, Iorpenda to be Palmer's sidekick please, especially for a home game. If you think about it, you can't have a front 2 plus Norburn and Palmer in a WB formation, that's heading for 4-4-2. The other solution is bringing back Dennis as an inside forward No.10. MP might do that.

Bolton Wanderers 2-0 AFC Wimbledon Joker Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Bradford City Cambridge United 2-0 Oldham Athletic Salford City 1-0 Tranmere Rovers Walsall 3-1 Chesterfield Forest Green Rovers 2-0 Hartlepool United Tamworth 1-0 Eastleigh Yeovil Town 2-1 York City

Yeah, that Jatta could still leave in January is a given. But the year extension is a massive pressure release which will have knock-on effects to MP's team selection, the media focus, and maybe the mood of the squad Jatta turns 27 in January, his next contract could be the most important of his career/life. We should have a highly motivated player for the rest of the season/half-season.

Scrub all of the above, or at least modify; who knew the club had a rabbit up their sleeve? Such contractual clauses aren't so common as in the NBA, for example, where almost every other contract has a 1-year player option or a 1-year team option on top of the guaranteed years. That Notts were holding this 1-year team option was a real game-changer and now we have Jatta signed through to summer 2027. I think we have to give Jatta credit too, him and his agent could still have made life difficult, but who knows what assurances have been given about the next two transfer windows. What does it mean for the team? I think we still have to make sure to showcase him, and he'll want to do that too, but it's not as desperate as if his contract was running down. We'll want to play Jatta and we'll want to play Dennis - but MP doesn't have to force it if he doesn't want to. But 2 up front and a midfield diamond behind it looks the way to go here, if we want to have our strongest players out on the pitch.

We have to do something different because Jodi is off on Malta duty. It's not easy thinking up the best combination. As it's a home game, we should make sure we put out an attacking line-up. I'd rather not see the double pivot of Norburn and Palmer. I'd probably go for Palmer, then Iorpenda and Hall just ahead playing behind both Jatta and Dennis for this game. If the WBs are Tsaroulla and Gordon, that's not too gung ho. What do I expect? Norburn to start, and Grant, Jatta on the bench.

Is it Phil?? That’s mine

We should see Iorpenda back against Tranmere. He's done pretty well so far, but personally I suspect he's a dangerous player for us. That means one who looks the part but won't contribute the goals, assists and wins we need from his position (he's playing in Didzy's role at the moment, to illustrate the point). I hope he proves me wrong, obviously. I also feel a bit sorry for him. Is he a deeper-lying midfielder or an inside forward? I think the best answer to that is neither - with his energy, physique and athleticism he's more of a classic box-to-box midfielder. Today though, it seems you're either a No.6 or a No.10, definitely the way Notts have set up the last few seasons. Where would Bryan Robson, for example, have played if he was in the premiership now?

@Fan of Big Tone, I think we need a weekly dentistry thread, seems to be a reoccurring theme, especially with me 😃

Too right @TheSkipper, any competition where an advantage is given to the top-level teams by developing U21s against us isn't worth respecting anyway. Bin it and onto Fleetwood.

He must've been unhappy and Paterson probably let him know he wasn't going to play. I wonder what his next move will be? Back to the NL? Or Scandinavia? He was a good ball player but L2 is too physical for him. Good luck to him anyway on his next stop

Interesting set of players. Who will play RWB? Will there be a RWB? What about Edwards, is he injured? We have 3 RCBs, will they stay within 5 yards of each other on the right? or will they space out to cover the whole defensive line :) ?

I'm talking about Paterson. We don't know yet if he's the right man or how it'll all work out but it's clear that he's giving it his best. Braver selections, substitutions and interviews than we saw from Maynard - fighting back from 1pt in 9 to go 7pts out of the next 9. Being the one to represent the club in all the interviews, handling some probing and awkward questions, which are really for the technical board. Just generally showing real commitment and passion. That's what I mean by gumption. If more players in the squad had the same spirit we'd have nothing to worry about

With a bloated squad, maybe the club thinks that the first thing to do when you're in a hole is to stop digging - no more hopeful punts, which would push the squad size to over 30 Players like Ness, Traore, Jarvis, Macari, Gordon, the list goes on and on, will have a chance to prove themselves over the next 4 months. They'll have to show the same gumption as MP, who is fighting off pressure already. It's their careers they're wasting, so time to roll up the sleeves, follow MP and give it their all.