theAnticlough

Sweet moment BT, to be savoured (I mean the moment, not just the beer :) )

That's another solution @McPie, no Norburn, trust Palmer to play the midfield anchor on his own and either make it a midfield diamond or 2 mids ahead, either side of him, connecting with the 2 strikers. Formations with a back 4 is another way to go, but I can't see him doing that. Dennis as an inside forward seems the best way to go. He's shown aspects of his game that suggest he can do well there.

I think MP wants it as a regular option for sure. At the moment though, he will also want it for (club) political reasons, fitting in the returning player we need to showcase + L2's current leading scorer. Too many games like Saturday and he'll soon have to make it Plan B again. IMO the problem isn't as much Jatta/Dennis as Palmer/Norburn. The skipper is doing a wonderful job showing for the ball, linking the play, holding his position - but because he's not strong defensively Pato is plonking another holding player beside him. With these two CMs, wing-backs hugging the flanks, wide defenders off form, 2 strikers waiting for it upfield, there just isn't enough playmaking through the pitch to be able to play an effective passing game. It's too much to ask 1 player - Iorpenda for example, to do the job that was shared by Didzy and Crowley last season. It's too easy for L2 teams to snuff out that player, keep tight on the WBs and all the team can do is pass it for a bit, get frustrated, then hit it long. Personally, I want Pato to try out Dennis in the Didzy role to help with linking up the build up play from defence ton attack. It may not happen in the Crawley game, and a win on Saturday may mask the problem, but over time games like the Gills would become the norm under the current configuration IMO

JJ being tried out at No.10 made sense and was worth a shot, having lost Didzy and Crowley. Unfortunately he wasn't quite ready and was buffeted around every game in that congested area. Personally, I think we'll be forced to go back to 1 up front and we'll need 2 no.10s again (which might include Dennis), but Gordon going out will probably be the deciding factor in JJ going out wide again. And once he moves, we might not see him back inside again this season.

I think the coaching team will be given a fair shot, taking into account the quality available to them. Par might be mid-table up until January, when we can do something about it. A poor below-par run could prompt the bros to act before then. I don't think it's too much to ask MP to keep us just about 'in touch'. I think RobGag can get the biggest slice of the blame if we're not regularly in the top 10 from Sept-Jan, and I think the club and the fans can understand that. Par will be keeping in touch. Issues of style and performance levels should be secondary to results for the moment and ideally reviewed at the end of the season.

I've got RodMac down for at least 3 of these awards now.... When Platt gets back (unfortunately a long time away) I don't think anyone would want to see RodMac trapped on the right again with his left foot. As he says himself, CB is his position. So I'd imagine Platty becomes the latest player to try to solve our RCB position. That's assuming Rod can maintain this run of great form in the coming months. I suppose that's an unknown

You've identified something very important @Sir Magpie. The wide defenders are absolutely crucial in any possession-based scheme. Who does the GK pass to more than anyone else? - the RCB/LCB. The CMs? The same, probably. The CB? The WBs?. Those two positions see more of the ball than anybody, so they've got to be up for using it and capable of doing so. As you said, Bedeau been a shadow of himself so far. From Player of the Season candidate to nowhere near that level. Aljofree's been good in defence 90-95% of the time, but when the other 5% is costing you goals on a regular basis, it's not much use. As for showing for it, using it, sparking attacks? I can't remember a single instance of positive play. This is a very important area, crucial for our success this season. We have to hope Bedeau returns to last year's player soon. As for RCB, the achilles heel of NCFC since they got back into the EFL, I'm afraid the search goes on.

I think it helps to think of keeping possession as just something good players and teams do rather than as a philosophy. English club football had it's peak in the late 70s early 80s but the writing was on the wall before that. I watched decades of football where European teams full of 'technical players' dominated the ball and British players gave it away. It was always painful watching seeing England or English clubs chasing round the opposition unable to get the ball. Giving the ball away cheaply became the thing I hated most, even watching Notts, which could be torture over the years but you do it out of commitment and loyalty. Saturday was a masterclass in giving the ball way cheaply, by both sides, and it was an awful watch. Over the decades, good technical play became embedded in the English game and trickled down the leagues to even reach the NL. I think that thuggish, physical teams only succeed down in L2 because of the way the game's officiated - it wouldn't wash in other countries. Generally though I don't think there's any going back with the direction of the game and we shouldn't deviate from trying to mirror the type of football played in the premiership. Sure it's got faster as @McPie said, but it's still based on great technical players able to keep the ball and find a man. I think that's what were trying to pull off at the moment. Good luck!

I don't think there's been a conscious effort to forge a new identity or go in a very different direction. More likely we've lurched from one point to another, and then another, based on the obvious failings before our own eyes. Suddenly losing our midfield under LW meant we could no longer control games, exposing our otherwise ok defence to pressures they just couldn't withstand. It was a downward spiral after that defensively (and the squad didn't get over losing LW anyway). So in came SM, withdrew the WBs further back, put constraints on defenders and CMs to always cover. Those changes, allied to his passionless, technical approach made for a boring product and a gutless team. So in came MP to reinject the passion, pace and purpose - to put the ball at risk more in the cause of being more positive. That allied to a poor year of recruitment - high quality going out, lesser quality coming in - has lead us to where we are now. All of which is, accidentally, far far away from how we strutted into the league with the ultra possession, ultra-attacking record goals / points team of LW's undeniable heroes, plus Didzy plus Crowley etc. In short, we've botched it, we've blown it. But that doesn't help us deal with where we are now. We appointed MP and, up to a point, we have to let him have a shot at success, doing things his way. Hopefully he can survive long enough for a new Head Of Recruitment to come in and give him some better tools to do the job with in the second half of the season. Staying in touch with the play-offs til then is the realistic goal.

I think that's the idea, but can't be sure! We were right to move on from the negativity and defeatism under SM. Don't want to be cruel and wish him well, but football matches aren't telecom call-outs where all you've got to do is find the right technical solution. 8 league games of trying to be more positive and aggressive under MP....maybe away at the league leaders isn't a fair one-off game to evaluate, but we are coming up to the 10 game mark that was mentioned. We need to put a couple of good performances in.

We are playing faster and with more intent though - that's a big change in itself

I'd go for this reading of it @McPie rather than transitioning to a different style. We pass it around at the back almost as much, Palmer shows, so do the WBs. But they're a lot deeper, and it seems a lifetime ago that Ruben or Crowley played in Nemane around the back between 5 to 10 times a game. With deeper WBs and 2 up top, we just don't have the patterns of play that inside forwards like Ruben, Crowley, Didzy gave us to build up thru the lines. That's why we see the speculative long balls to nowhere. It seems Norburn is there to compensate for MP not being all that strong defensively, so there's a duplication and a waste of a man in itself. Gillingham were very strong off the ball and in pressing, but apart from that I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe this year's Wimbledon, especially with a good coach who's done it all before.

Good summary @Robbie. Too many of those mistakes have come from one player and this is the second away game we've seen him have an absolute mare, apart from the mistake. Projected over a full season, that's going to be very costly indeed. Where's Ness? He looked handy the short time we saw him last season. Sorry, but I've lost trust in Aljofree. Nice to see Jodi come on, but I couldn't help notice that Jatta was wanting the ball both times JJ shot it. I'm not saying it was necessarily the wrong option, but I don't think he even saw him to consider slipping him in.

That hit me watching the stream when Hassell spoke about that. Never spoke to her, but saw her on so many away days over the years. Too sad. RIP

When most others fall short, the player maintaining his good form wins by default - Rod McDonald again for me

I keep thinking what is Jane Jackson doing in their technical area - then I realise it's Gareth Ainsworth

Unchanged, as most thought. Bennetts and Traore stand down on the bench for Cotter and Jones. Both are unlucky to be out of the matchday squad, I'm sure MP has had some consoling words.

Stoke City 1-0 Birmingham City Wrexham 2-0 QPR Joker AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Rotherham United Leyton Orient 0-1 Bolton Wanderers Bristol Rovers 2-0 Barrow Fleetwood Town 0-2 Walsall Hartlepool United 2-0 Brackley Town Wealdstone 1-1 Gateshead

That's right up my street @True Magpie, but dropping a defensive mid for JJ for away at the league leaders would be a very bold move. I can't see MP doing that and I've always liked not changing a winning team (and conversely, changing a losing team).

Interesting points @True Magpie, who specifically would you drop to accommodate JJ?

Physically, he's reminiscent of one of Nottingham's great football heroes - Lenton's Andy Cole. Dennis is only 23 so how good can he be, what level can he reach?

Great for him, great for the club. Where would we be without his goals?

I hope this happens Dripsey. When the Bros got Burchnall and then Williams maybe we thought they had a conveyor belt of talent across all roles lined up to fit their philosophy and project. We've since learned, from the appointments of Maynard, Gag, and maybe MP too that this isn't the case and recruitment for them is challenging. Lord Montague of Beaulieu driving back from Swansea in one of his vintage cars would be an easy and reliable solution. Gagliardi was obviously a mistake and we couldn't afford another

Good questions@Robbie. With the Director of Football gone and unlikely to be replaced quickly, there might be a case for freezing this and doing something more informal, but still effective, for a while (let everyone concentrate on their jobs, and defuse potentially divisive questioning as we go thru a run of v.difficult fixtures). Then bring it back as the new DoF / HoR prepares for the transfer window. Just my hunches as usual, on a level of info somewhere between Jack **** and SFA :)

I think go with the same XI, JJ on the bench for this one. A very difficult fixture, but hope lies with how well the front three played last week. We'll have to play excellent team defence, and all 4 or 5 subs that come on for tired players will need to be on it.