MrWillowTiger

It seems MP has discovered the art of mind games after he fooled everyone last week with Jodie Jones inclusion after saying it was weeks before he would be fit. Didn't give anything away in his pre match press conference which is a good thing for our chances of winning but a pain for us fans speculating on team selection! Completely agree that Bromley need to be just as worried with how they stop us as we should be about stopping them. Overall though I really don't expect MP to change much and nor should he. Keep it simple, focus on what we do well and let the rest take care of itself. Who ends up on that team sheet is going to be very interesting! COYPs!

Notts have confirmed the squad for the rest of the season. Notable absence is Barry Cotter. Very odd how he has quietly been totally forgotten about, no mention of him returning to Barnsley, starts the season then just disappears. Don't recall any mention of an injury and it seems awfully harsh to have made such a final decision on a player after just 419 minutes of competitive football. Without speculating too much I would assume it's something off the pitch that's behind his exclusion. Still think we could end up being a bit light in the midfield should Norburn or Robertson have injury issues, Hinchy isn't someone we know we rely on so it would mean others filling in such as Iorpenda who does a great job deeper. The other area is right wingback in the event of an issue with Tsaroulla, how we cope with any injury to him remains to be seen. Overall what are peoples thoughts on the players have to work with for this run in, do we have enough in the squad when compared with previous seasons?

The more I think about the game the more apparent the key is whether Norburn is fit or not, he's the domino that would change the team selection. If hypothetically he isn't fit then Iorpenda likely drops deeper to play alongside Robertson. This then presents the question of whom do you play as the attacking midfielders presuming we don't change shape. I agree with the general consensus that this perhaps isn't the game for Hall but who do you play instead? Tangen looked really good on Saturday but its 45 minutes, his first 45 minutes in some time given he's come from Norway. Do we really want to start someone in this game who isn't yet adapted to the speed and physicality of League Two football? Is Grant fit? Is it wise to play Enoru in this game, is it his sort of game or is he in the same bucket as Hall. That's before we address the question of his fitness levels given he is also adjusting to life in League Two. Lot's to ponder for MP, the key is Norburn for me.

League 1 is my prediction and staying there for an extended period of time. I would like to see a similar path as Lincoln. They are relatively well run, as well run as an EFL side can be given the costs involved and lack of revenue so you'd expect financial losses which Lincoln have had. But they have investors whom I see a lot of similarities with who don't throw good money after bad money. They are prepared to sell players when the time is right which shows mature owners that run the club like a business which is what we as fans need, our job is to be emotional and theirs to be sensible. We have done this just this past summer when selling Alex Bass. They also like to shop in the European markets which is something that Richard Montague talked about in his interview. I would argue with our stadium and potential fan base we have a theoretical higher ceiling than Lincoln but in terms of going from League Two to possible Championship theirs is the path I foresee for us. What will dictate how we do over the next 5 years will be how stable we are with managers, you only have to look around to see that clubs that stick with their managers (and DoF) have more success in the long run. Chopping and changing managers isn't the answer in my opinion. I wasn't a big fan of MP to start with, I even thought he would be gone by Halloween but I was wrong. He has done a wonderful job and we would do well to hold on to him as long as possible regardless of how this season pans out.

I actually don't think we need to win the game, we just need to not lose. Remember top 3 are automatic promotion so who comes 1st is largely irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. As is to be expected a lot of what the google's AI has said is standard generic stuff that could be applied to 99% of teams in 99% of games. We just need to stick to what we do well and focus on ourselves not them. Trying to adapt our game to counter them is a sure way to lose in my opinion, these are League Two players not elite ones so keep it simple.

Enjoyed the game on Saturday, it made a change for it not to be completely freezing! Regarding the actual football, I can't say I was ever especially worried that Barrow would score an equaliser. When you take the emotion out of watching the game and look objectively at how the match unfolded then Notts were in control. There were tired legs and there was some of the natural back and forth of League Two football but only one counter attack actually hurt Notts. The data from the game backup how much control Notts were in throughout even after all the changes MP had to make. Really liked the look of Tangen, excited to see his progress. COYP!

What on earth has happened to Cotter? No mention of injury, no mention of him going back to Barnsley and I find it hard to believe they would take him back given they have no plans for him. Surely Notts are paying at least some of his salary which I would imagine is not an insignificant amount. I found it interesting in the comments by Richard Montague during his review of January window that he said something to the effect of 'we have plenty of wingback options' when discussing Gordon moving on. Who exactly are these options now? We play Tsaroulla who is a left back at right back which is fine, he is doing a good job and that's a tactical decision. We play JJ who isn't a wingback at left wingback, we also use Kouhyar who is also not a wingback there. Finally there's Bennetts who is also a somewhat makeshift wingback. I am not saying we should be starting Cotter or anything but who exactly is going to play if Tsaroulla gets injured?

Unbelievable effort from both the fans and players in dreadful weather conditions. Those saves by Belshaw at the end could be the difference for us between playoffs and automatic, absolutely crucial saves at the end of another top performance by him. COYPs!!!

Fascinated by this one, especially since we lost Luker to the injury earlier in the season. Can never have enough options!

How we start this one will be the key for me, we don't want a come from behind win in what will be a physical game after a demanding period of matches. The big bonus is now with the January signings at least MP does have other options to call upon off the bench if we are in need of a goal.

I'm also wondering what the hell has happened to Cotter. Transfermarkt still has him with Notts and I don't recall an injury being reported. Given MP started him to begin the season to go from that to not even on the bench is remarkable. Like you say I can't see him playing for Notts again.

The whole thing sounds very suspicious. The way MP said Jatta had reported a spasm then later saying they are very hard to diagnose when asked about timelines

Exactly my thoughts

Watched the game on tv, the travelling fans were excellent and big respect for them. First half was poor, a dull watch. Lots of posession but not actually doing anything with it. JJ was receiving the ball far to deep to impact the game and as our main creative force that is never going to go well. Luker simply isn't a striker, have to hope he only played there to give Dennis a bit of a rest and not as a viable backup option should we not sign another striker to go with Jatta and Dennis. Second half was better but still felt the first 20 mins of the second half weren't especially good. I was left wondering why it took the team until the final 25 mins or so mins to have some urgency. But a better second half overall is something to build on. I do struggle to see what the game plan is with MP, I know early days, not all the players signed or available yet etc but the general plan I think isn't necessarily there and he may be lacking tactically.