YoopEyes

Impressive display - we improved in areas where deal last season. Out of possession we were dynamic and resolute. We’d have conceded 2 or 3 last season because the midfield players were not as quick or tenacious. Evans is a terrier, he’ll start as many games as possible! Cooper & Gibbons are very high quality for this league, make no mistake about that. I doubt we’ll see much, if anything, of Palmer & Jones. Neither are good enough to cope with the pace of today’s game. Ndluurv is another, based on today’s showing there are 3 miles ahead of him. Anyone who doubted that Grant had class last season might start changing their mind. He’s made for this division, absolutely delightful footballer. His skill, vision, touch and awareness will be hugely important this season. Ness was immense today btw. Great start, time to be optimistic for my money. We’ll do ok.

Very impressive display. Last season we looked suspect and frail, at times, out of possession. This team is full of dynamic, energetic grafters. We won the ball back and covered brilliantly - best example was Gibbons challenge on their breakaway which led to Tsaroulla clearing from 2 yards out. That would have been a goal last season, no danger. Cooper is a class above but Campbell & Evans were superb today. Always rated Tsaroulla higher than a lot of fans, he looked more agile & sharper today too. I’d just picked him as my MOTM when he was announced as the sponsor’s choice. Absolutely no passengers today, anyone moaning about Smyth must have a serious eyesight deficiency tbh! Mobile, grafted, got stuck in - needs time to bed in and settle with Roberts but he’s an asset. Aquaman & Mustapha both look a handful too.

Roberts is quality - have no fears about him at this level. He’ll deliver.

Me too! I have genuine concerns that he won’t cut it in L1 anyway. He isn’t robust enough, will be a target and he’s lost a yard of pace…… I’d hope Roberts has the agility and direct, attacking instincts to do well for us tbh. He is a highly talented footballer and he’ll grow into L1. I’d probably back him over Jones for the next couple of years tbh.

Sorry to see him go and I wish him well for the future. Norburn was an integral part of our promotion campaign, he provided the necessary grit, subtlety and composure - with the odd exception, of course. I liked him and Robbo together but look forward to Sanders replacing Ollie tbh.

StarkM - interesting pic of Sid Owen. We’ve signed Rickaaaaay Butcher!

Sanders looked impressive for Crewe when we played them - but they looked pretty shambolic generally to be fair. His pedigree is decent, solid, battling midfielder who moves the ball sharply. Similar, not identical, to Norburn. Would expect him to start ahead of Palmer tbh.

Very impressive stuff.

Cambs were poor at our place but this bloke was their stand out player that day. Then he popped up and scored 2 at their gaff. He is predominantly a full back (right sided mainly), not sure about this “…..anywhere across the back…” . He moved into midfield briefly in both games. He is gritty & robust. Perfect replacement/cover for the injured Macari & able to “do a Norburn” too. Excellent acquisition, look forward to seeing him in a Notts shirt. Welcome aboard.

Delighted to see Cal back. He’s proved his fitness and resilience at Aberdeen & now Scunny. Absolute class act, cultured footballer, easily good enough for L1. He is more robust and tougher than Jones, capable of playing as an attacking midfielder - what’s not to like. He was cut above before, a game changing player who scores goals out of nothing. This is a quality signing, make no mistake about that.

I’d let Kouhyar & Bennett’s go, cash in on Dennis, as he appears to be “out of favour” and Roos. I’d take a long, hard look at Palmer and if we get a serious offer, Jatta might fund other signings tbh. I doubt Ndlovu will be influential in L1 but suspect we’ll keep him anyway, just to see if he can. The rest of the squads re, at least, adequate or better. I reckon we need more pace in every department and a clinical finisher. 3 or 4 decent quality signings make us into a solid L1 unit.

Hard to single anybody out - outstanding team performance. It is the case that Jones stood out, great display, 2 assists and a goal. It is stating the blooming obvious to say, he doesn’t do that if the defence are wobbly and hacking it anywhere, Robbo & Norburn aren’t dictating the tempo and spreading the ball around and Grant isn’t aware, sharp and putting the ball into his path, intentionally or otherwise. They couldn’t cope with Jones, but they couldn’t cope with the others either. I’m not his biggest fan but that was a truly remarkable performance from him - so, if I had to pick someone, I’d go for him, marginally above McDonald, Robertson & Ness - the rest are less than a 1/4 of a point behind!

Fantastic stuff! One of the great Wembley days tbh. Felt confident from the start and that pitch, in those conditions, was always going to be too much for the physical, “squeeze the opposition” style of play that Salford use on their own patch. If you give Norburn & Robertson room & time on the ball, they’ll punish you. If you have a rejuvenated and confident Jones running at you and having time to float passes around, you’ll struggle. Defensively Salford were all over the show and simply couldn’t cope. Anyway, L1 is a different proposition with some quality teams in it. We need to look at strengthening the squad and trying to find a bit more genuine pace in the ranks. I’m not sure that all of yesterday’s match 16 are up to L1 and we may lose the 2 loanees, for starters, of course. Still, onwards & upwards. We are promoted with momentum and confidence and the coaching staff appear to be learning, quickly, on the job. Yoop Eyes.

Well, I guess you are likely to get more votes for having 2 outstanding games than 36 “steady” ones - and I vaguely recall Aljofree having a “stormer” early season but genuinely can’t remember the game itself. I agree that Macari has been a stalwart and has frequently been a contender but he’s been eclipsed because one of Iorpenda, Mc Donald, Platt, Jatta and Tsaroulla have usually attracted the bulk of the votes. Same applies to Palmer, tho’, quite frankly, that is astonishing. I voted fir him once only. The number of votes for Palmer does actually surprise me greatly, given that there are generally only between c 7 - 15 votes for MOTM on here. He just hasn’t been all that good for most of the season, indeed he’s missed c 35% of it.

Salford have Oluwu, Cesay and Graydon who are a cut above. Yes, they also have some big blokes at the back and some physical presence in midfield. Nmai is a useful prospect. Overall, they are highly organised and effective team who seem very difficult to beat - they completely outplayed Grimsby twice, despite the close scoreline and they beat us when we should have salvaged the draw we’d fought for. This is a far bigger challenge than Chesterfield tbh - they are a far better side than them. Until the Chessie games, I had little confidence of us beating anyone other than Grimsby in the play offs. Now we’ve given ourselves a shot at it - and we have better creative players than they do, plus we have Norburn & Robertson who will compete with their “engine room”. However, the most significant factor for me is that we have found a defence resilience and balance and we are robust enough to compete all over the field. We are a team who move the ball at pace (without Palmer!), like they do. They will struggle to cope with that and they get in all sorts of trouble when opponents run at them, like Luker and Iorpenda will. This could be cracker - unless the temperature affects it. Yesterday’s game was a terrible advert for the C’ship, 2 very ordinary teams, and I guess the weather may have played a part. Still, I think we have more to worry them they have to worry us. Consistency, organisation & confidence are the main weapons tbh.