theAnticlough

The 'outs' I was expecting. Even that didn't happen. What does that say? No takers for Edwards, Robertson etc? Good news on Jatta. But now it gets interesting.....If he won't sign our extension...then we probably have to sell in January (the Bros let Wootton and Ruben see out their contracts, but we were trying to get back to the EFL). That means we have to showcase him. So we have to play him. We currently have L2"s top scorer, so we will have to play 2 up front. Or drop Dennis (unthinkable for me at the moment and it'd kill his morale). It could be be a difficult balancing act, and MP's team selection will be influenced. There will be input from the financial, I mean technical board :)

@sentient, welcome to PON. I'm quite new here myself, hope you enjoy the site as much as I've been doing.

Yeah, he's followed games in which he messed up with a strong performance twice now - and that shows resilience. Same with Iorpenda, after his mistake on Saturday the next thing he did was cross for the equaliser. From the post-match, MP understands very well that young players will make mistakes while they're learning their trade in the men's game. The good thing about our young loanees so far is the bouncebackability. Great sign for them and for us.

Good thread - McDonald and Palmer were the two stand-out performers. It's a far cry from last season when neither were anywhere near the pace for player of the year. Different story this year though, both are doing great. Hopefully others can get up to their level soon - Tsaroulla, Jones, Bedeau Jatta etc. Dennis of course is already there

I think we can safely say that McDonald's last 4 or 5 games were much better than Platt's form at the start of the season. That takes some getting your head around because of last season. Centre is definitely his best position. Last season we saw him most often in his worst of the 3 positions across the line.

I think it's time to give a lot more credit to Rod McDonald. I chose him again. His reading of the game was excellent, he got himself in the right spots to intercept or clear time after time. He was so far behind Platt and Bedeau last season, so who would've thought he'd be in the early running for Player of the Year. Also a word for Kellan Gordon. I hope his winner today gives him the confidence to contribute more. I'd say he's a much better all-round wing-back than Cotter, who's more of a full-back.

Well done MP on getting a response out of the team. When he sent them back out early, I doubted it would happen. Great three points in the end. Some great determined defending to see out the game.

Very poor and very frustrating. We have proven good players way off form - Jones, Bedeau, Tsaroulla We have unproven players way off proving themselves - Cotter, Iorpenda And we can't afford all these games for Norburn to gain sharpness. Not showing for the ball and the occasional first time ball straight back to a defender isn't worth the shirt. There are many things for MP to address at HT he must think 'where do I start?'

He's certainly trying for as much continuity as possible and trusting this group of players to turn it around. COYP

Really good interview with Norburn as well btw https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/videos/be8ffcaa-4af3-4f50-80f1-328350520950 Should be cutting him a bit of slack as he's still finding that match sharpness

I liked that interview better than the Bromley post-match. It's alright being disappointed and emotional sometimes (shows you care) and the points about our strikers were valid but the overall content was a bit alarming (since when do we have to panic or change our club because some Bromley players are tall, so what?). After that, the buzz word of the week i.e on Magpie Circle and in this interview today (about 10 times!) is alignment. MP's mission is to inject some tempo, aggression and purpose but apart from that to keep to our ball-playing, possession-based identity. We had success with Palmer, Langstaff, Nemane, Jones, Crowley all in the same side. We may not have all that quality at the moment but that proves you don't have to have a team of brick shithouses to have success at the lower levels. Good luck to them, but I wouldn't pay to watch Bromley and their likes

Same here, much prefer the computer. I keep my phone as far away from me as possible! It's good you get where your parents are coming from. Years down the line you'll remember all the things you did outside and with friends, and too much unproductive time on devices will seem like a waste of a youth. I guess a healthy balance of all things is a challenge for all of us, but especially for the younger generations. When school restarts you'll get back to a normal routine

I turned last season's Salford game into a Manchester stay - a city i used to live in. I visited all of my old haunts. Generally though, I was sad about the state of things there. I was especially disappointed with the area around the Etihad Stadium. Years back it really was post-apocalyptic around there - Ashton Old Road / New Road and the Clayton Aniline area but all the regeneration was lipstick on a pig IMO.

The Case for Prioritising a Cup Run? How about glory and the standing and respect of the club. We enter only 3 competitions so why can't we take all of them seriously and try to go as far, or as high, in each of them as we can? As you can tell, I'm a traditionalist here. I believe too many lower league clubs became infected and influenced by behaviours of the elite teams - resting players, picking your games and priorities, poo-pooing the domestic cups to chase the dollar. Teams down the league copied these behaviours without ever checking if their fans were on board with it. Even now success in the cups is cloaked only in the language of money. To hell with that, I want to get to cup QFs for the respect and the glory. Those victories over Newcastle and Everton and the QF at Leeds were what made me a ardent Notts fan. I remember those great games under the lights not the money that was earned from them. I love the fact we made the FA Quarter-finals in 84 and 91, giving our best against the eventual winners in both cases, Everton and Tottenham. Again, as a fan, I don't give two hoots about the money - let Palmer take care of that, it was about the thrill of the run, the respect for the club and all the memories created. I still think all of that is the reason to have cup runs.

Good luck to him, he earned that - making the play-offs is something on his CV, to go with what he did at Wealdstone. I hope him and Alves do well. I think his strength is, as he says, on the tactical side - he does seem to have a good understanding of the game. Doubling down too much on this strength was his undoing at County IMO. He became too clever with his team changes and too much focus on game tactics seem to neglect all those other things which make for winning football - the psychological side, the aggression, the toughness, earning a shirt and the right to keep it. Everyone is on a learning curve with what they do, so maybe he'll find this balance at York and get them back in the EFL. That will definitely be their target and expectation.

Hmm that could be dangerous. If he gets his confidence up he could hurt us. But if he has one of his bad games where he gets muscled off it all the time it will be OK. There's no point having Palmer and Norburn around him. I'd prefer to see Iorpenda deeper anyway, but he could neutralise a No.10 like Whitaker.

Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Norwich City Watford 1-1 Southampton Barnsley 1-2 Huddersfield Town Wigan Athletic 0-2 Stockport County Joker Barnet 1-2 Colchester United Bromley 2-0 Harrogate Town Hartlepool United 1-1 Boreham Wood Morecambe 1-2 Woking

I get a reprieve for a few weeks@liampie, then they’ll be installing girders and various hardware into my jawbone. Can’t wait 😜

Even on loan. Get on it Gaggers

Following the results only, it could be that this transfer is a complete nightmare Last night, an unused sub in a 8-0 defeat, Vitoria slump into the relegation places with the worst form in Serie A. He's only totalled a few sub minutes since he got there, but if doesn't get more time after a 8-0 loss, then he may be wasting his time there.

I would be too afraid to say anything to that dude. I wouldn't waste my breath :)

It's just 5 games, and he's playing behind defenders he hardly knows yet. Most of what he does is tidy and I like how he can get rid of the ball quickly sometimes. He needs a clean sheet, more familiarity with the team and the fans to give him more of a chance. Anyone can make an indifferent start at a new place of work. Sometimes it takes a bit of time.

Is any of that new from today, @Robbie, or all from the post-match interview?

Sorry to hear that @Fan of Big Tone, let's hope slowly means glacially, but if not it must be pretty routine to remove, in fact, it is.

Had a root canal finished yesterday, stitches taken out of the molar area today - I'm finally starting to pull away from the dentists' chair. Tough week ahead at work - a Notts signing would brighten things up a bit