TheSkipper

Valid points being shared, I do think we dropped the two points we would have gained had we made sure we were balanced in the changes that the subs coming on made. It's disappointing but at the same time promising, as I felt nervous going into the game and thought we looked a lot more like ourselves, at least in the first half. The goals we conceded are another disappointment, but their equaliser wasn't something we could have done much about. I just wished the players showed a bit more urgency to try to get a third goal, as I felt we had it, but we weren't quick enough. Performance does seem to be getting better, but the stray passes and lack of defensive decisions, such as clearing headers, need to be worked on.

Norwich City 2-2 Middlesbrough Sheffield United 0-1 Millwall Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Lincoln City Mansfield Town 1-1 Leyton Orient Fleetwood Town 0-0 Oldham Athletic Gillingham 0-2 Crewe Alexandra Joker Halifax Town 2-2 Forest Green Rovers Sutton United 0-2 Scunthorpe United

At 2-1, especially given the way we conceded, I genuinely feared the worst. It's not a feeling I have often felt during the Reedtz era, but a few times under both Luke Williams and Stuart Maynard. Perhaps more the latter, but you can take faith in the way we tend to be good at attacking. I did feel like Shrewsbury could get back into the game. Roos, to his credit, did make a very important save to keep us in it. I don't feel as confident in him, but I will give credit when it's due. Notts showed a good amount of fight, which is part of the reason why we managed to keep our momentum. I am not a fan of the media teams hyping of the game, "We blew Shrewsbury away with a dominant performance." Notts did very well, but it wasn't quite as dominant as they make it sound. Shrewsbury did show some fighting spirit, although you can see they are down on their luck. It makes me concerned about it backfiring; I mean, they take caution when we lose, but this is our first win in five games, including the League Cup. It's a good win, so I am not dismissing it, but I always think about how the club could handle disappointment, expectations, and lead a more healthy stance. Rather than using overly enthusiastic and catchy titles. In the wake of recent weeks, you just have to be mindful. At 2-1. Shrewsbury almost got back into it. Blew, and dominant might appease people at home, but it does remind me of glossing over things.

Bromley are not without faults, and this is why having good players and depth in the squad comes in handy. They have beaten Barnet and Cheltenham, who aren't exactly the best teams in League Two, at the same time as we have struggled ourselves against teams that Bromley may be better organised against. They did well against Ipswich in the FA Cup, so they can be tightly organised and quick to attack. Fleetwood gave them a good game, and I think that's a match they showed resilience not to lose, and both sides earned a good draw. I see the game as being a marker more toward seeing if our performances are improving, and just how far off we might be against those more organised teams that have a good level of chemistry within their squad. Alassana Jatta will be back for this game, right? It was five games, which included the League Cup. So, hopefully, he will be back and ready to prove himself. I would think we can defend our goal well; we have the quality to score at the other end. I am more nervous about how we tend to concede what look like fairly easy goals, and making sure Kelle Roos is switched on.

The PON gaffer (@Chris) has mentioned a few times so far this season, and last year about how much movement is important and I would agree that this is something we are guilty of. Some players can become a little static, and I would say it continues to the actual shape especially when defending. I don't think when teams break us we are all the structured, and it's a disapline that once was drilled into our squad. It's another thing that can be sorted within training and then putting to practice in games. I hope one of the many eyes on the tactical board will have seen this, so that Martin Paterson can effectively correct or tweak these crucial areas of our game.

The thing about the Premier League and the Championship is that there's a lot more time on the ball, and if you have good players who like to have space, then they will always be able to exploit weak teams. I don't think the best coaches are from overseas; I think the top leagues focus on having names and reputations. Obviously, they will have a higher quality of experience to pass on, but I don't think that can dismiss English coaches or good upcoming ones who just need a chance. People mention how the defending is better higher up, but it can be just as poor. The real difference is the quality on the ball and the different types of players who can punish teams in various ways. A modern thing that has become popular in the last 5 years is having someone who can do a long throw, but I don't think this is an attribute that is really all that important unless the delivery is superb. I am more keen to see free-kick specialists and corner set-piece experts. I love Matt Palmer, but I just don't think he's the best person for us to have on the corner routine. He can deliver good corners, but under Luke Williams it always felt like we gave them to the player least expected to score. There are quite a few players who have a good delivery, and I wouldn't mind seeing Nick Tsaroulla or Kellan Gordon given a chance, as this could get more out of them. Do we really always have to have the same person taking them? I echo the comments about how the Reedtz are making changes now to save us for when promotion does come knocking, and when it does, we should be more prepared to face up against teams who have higher transfer budgets, more wages, etc. Even at League Two level, it's only a matter of time before it makes us one of the best in terms of what we can spend. With the focus on sustainability and working towards making sure the squad has quality, it should help whoever is assigned as the head coach to move us forward. The main thing we need to tackle at this level is adaptability, and leveling up our performances to the point where it's natural once Notts takes to the pitch. Routine and consistency are a vital part of success in any league, but in ours, it's what makes the next level.

Well, it wasn't like the Barrow game, where Matt Palmer was the main candidate amongst a squad of individually weak performances. It was much better than that, which goes to show just how much Nick Tsaroulla deserves the vote from us all. I am glad he's back and I hope he can win many more over the course of this season. He did win a few last season off the top of my head.

Good performance from kickoff to finish; there will be things that can be improved on, but the focus on the win needs to be the main thing. When the players head into training next, they will hopefully have some pressure off their shoulders and a focus on enjoying playing can return. The first win is always a challenge; now that we have it, they have to focus on passing and continue creating chances. I think Jodi is worth persisting with in his role; he looked good, and we need to make sure we have that type of quality out wide, as it will free him up. It needs to move forward so that we have players causing problems with their movement, but I left happy.

@Wheelbarrow repair man, Nick Tsaroulla had complications from what ruled him out last season; this has meant he needed time to recover, and I believe he had surgery.

I think it's a fair discussion, and it is interesting to see the different thoughts. The club seems to react a little slow to the obvious things, which make the biggest difference, only trying to correct them after the fact. With Alassana Jatta being out, surely it would have made sense that we had someone in addition to Matthew Dennis? Mai Traore is being thrown in attacking midfield, and as a striker last season he struggled, so it is clear that he needs time. When Matt Palmer got injured in our first season back in the Football League, we tried to address it with the signing of Dan Gosling, which on paper looked good, but it became apparent why no other club had signed him before we did. Stuart Maynard losing his assistant and coach is a big blow to what fans call for him to have: an assistant. But the club promotes within, and that ends up seeing Joao Alves leave when Maynard is sacked and replaced. So, the club brings in more support and changes the coaching focus. Hire a doctor to help with injuries and prevention, but there is so much dissension going on. Among any signings in midfield, which wasn't the issue in the previous season but now requires them all to settle within a team that already had a good spine, the new players have a higher preference for being played. It seems bound to hinder a newly appointed head coach who mostly has experience as an assistant. Who is appointed beyond 4 weeks of the sacking of Maynard and then has to get to grips with a pre-season tour in Germany, where Notts are obviously going to be the whipping boys to two very good second-division teams? It's going to take time; we need to be supportive and patient.

Hello, @Davy500. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham!! It's brilliant to be welcoming you, I hope you visit regularly and get involved. The PON community flourishes with fans sharing their thoughts.

Hello, @Rexhootza. That's one hell of a username! Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham. We are pleased to have you with us, and I hope you join in. Why not tell us about yourself to start things off?

Hello, @Terence Terry. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham! Don't be a stranger, please do let us know a little about yourself and I hope you do join in with discussions which are of value to you. We are a friendly bunch, we love to discuss Notts amongst other things.

Huddersfield Town 2-0 Doncaster Rovers Luton Town 0-2 Wigan Athletic Stockport County 2-1 Bradford City Colchester United 0-1 Cambridge United Gillingham 0-0 Chesterfield Harrogate Town 2-0 Barrow Altrincham 1-2 Hartlepool United Joker Woking 3-1 Wealdstone

I was going to reply to Stephen Mills’ comment, but I know you’ve advised us to let things slide sometimes, especially when certain fans get mardy if you challenge what they say. If he thinks we picked a Notts player over a Barrow one, then he's missing the point. Praising Barrow doesn’t mean we ignore the effort some of our own lads put in. That’s not what supporting your team looks like. We lost the game, fair enough. But does that mean no one from Notts deserves to be named Man of the Match from our side? Of course not. The performance was poor, no doubt. But do we really need to tear into individual players? Some of the comments on Facebook are just as bad. People saying Matt Palmer isn’t good enough and should be dropped seem to forget how important he’s been. I wonder if they were the same fans who missed him when he was injured in our first season back in the Football League. It’s easy to write players off when things aren’t going well. But that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped being valuable to the club. A slow start doesn’t erase everything they’ve done.

I find it strange how far some fans go to show their frustration, especially those who don’t attend games but still post constant negative comments. It’s fine to be upset, but letting it spill over into everything you write makes it seem like you’re just being bitter and unsupportive. There’s no pride in celebrating the good days if you can’t accept the bad ones too. Saying no one put in any effort just because the result didn’t go our way isn’t fair. Notts were poor against Barrow, no doubt about that, but not every player had a bad game. Some still tried to make things happen. Reading the replies to the Pride of Nottingham’s Man of the Match post made me wonder how these fans would feel if their own jobs were judged in the same way, based on how their company or colleagues perform. It’s not right to throw abuse around just because the team had a bad day.

Preston North End 1-2 Leicester City Swansea City 1-1 Sheffield United Leyton Orient 1-0 Stockport County Reading 1-0 AFC Wimbledon Barnet 1-1 Walsall Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Gillingham Aldershot 1-0 Boston United Hartlepool United 2-0 Braintree Town Joker

Hello, and welcome @Norman Butler! We are happy you have joined us here on the Pride of Nottingham. I hope you will take a moment to say hello and to tell us a little bit about yourself. It really helps to break the ice.

Hello, @Chrismabbs. Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham. Our members like to take the time to help newly arrived people settle, so I hope you enjoy the site and eventually get more involved as you get used to it.

It shows that in football you can cost £100,000,000, but you won't always be seen as a star player for a club willing to pay that sort of money. If I were Jack Grealish, I would have stayed with Aston Villa. I hope he manages to go back there, as they could do with him as they push to finish higher in the Premier League and have a good squad that could push beyond the top 6. Everton, for me, is a step backwards in his career; they are lucky to be hanging on to their Premier League status. 20-21 - 16th 21-22 - 17th 23-24 - 15th 24-25 - 13th The signing is a coup for them, but Jack should be playing for a much better team. I hope he can put in performances that remind clubs that he's a real talent and that he might be able to go back to Villa.

Hello, @John B. We are delighted to have you on board with PON. Feel free to jump in, or let us know a little about yourself. We like welcoming members, but when they introduce themselves it can be a real ice breaker. Any ways, Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham.

I am going largely on second-hand information, and what I have seen, as I didn't want the full game or attend live, but I have voted for Sonny Aljofree as he sounded very important in defence and going forward.

I really think that losing just 1-0 is actually a good sign, especially considering how strong Wigan is. It’s nice to hear folks talking about Notts having a better second half. I wasn’t there at the game, so I can’t say much about how they played, but it’s cool to see that we held our ground and the penalty was pretty much the only thing that made a difference, even if there was no contact. It just shows that when Notts gets into a groove, we're not as bad as Salford made us seem. Hopefully, it's encouraging to the team. I know we are still seeking that first win, but it's not as if we have been outplayed in every game. For now, we have to focus on the league, despite it would have been nice to have a good League Cup run.

That's awesome that the option is available! Honestly, I probably won't end up using it much because I’m pretty happy with everything I’ve got now. When I'm on Pride of Nottingham, I love just scrolling around and stumbling upon stuff I might've missed before. It’s nice to discover things in a more natural way! I totally get how that feature could be really handy for some people. It’s a great idea for those who want to make their time on PON more personal.

I don’t think there’s any need for fans to panic or spread fear. Yes, it was a poor start at Meadow Lane, but we should try to stay supportive. Some players aren’t fully match fit yet, others haven’t settled in, and we’ve got a new head coach who people seem to change their minds about very quickly. We’re Notts County, stress levels are always high and the football isn’t always perfect. Trust the players to put things right, and give Martin Paterson ten games before making a judgement. Salford beat us because we didn’t use the ball well, but that’s something we can fix. We’ve played two games and have one point. Worrying about losing now doesn’t help. Salford did well enough when they weren’t cheating or wasting time, and I agree that it got into our players’ heads. We need to be stronger mentally. The biggest thing missing against Salford was attacking intent. We didn’t create chances or take shots. There were no solo runs, no drifting wide, and we didn’t make use of the space through the middle. That has to change.