TheSkipper

Birmingham City 1-1 Hull City West Bromwich Albion 3-1 Preston North End Blackpool 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers Doncaster Rovers 0-0 Northampton Town Grimsby Town 2-0 Gillingham Newport County 2-1 Cheltenham Town Joker Altrincham 2-0 Woking Brackley Town 0-1 Gateshead

Wouldn't it be great to see them qualify and have a bloom in the sport, pushing further generations to improve and pick up their reputation, similar to Iceland, who often got overlooked by other Scanianavian countries.

Are they still being investigated for dodgy dealings? How does a League One team lose so much money? Burton might have a few more rough seasons ahead of them, and salvaging their place in L1 might not be their biggest battle. It's difficult to feel any sympathy when they broke their transfer record not long ago.

I am going to try to give a different perspective and not name a full squad. I would be a head coach who picked the squad based on who we were playing rather than who I felt should be in the starting eleven, and things would change per game, depending on who we are playing and on individual form. Kelle Roos, for the most part, is guaranteed a start. I would like to see Harry Griffiths pushed more, though I think Roos is the only "experienced" option we have. Rod McDonald is currently the best performing defender, and I would put him in the same bracket as Scott Robertson and Matt Palmer. Additionally, Jatta writes himself into the team, but Matthew Dennis's form does leave questions as to whether he should start or be on the bench. I think I would rotate between starting and bench, considering we lack options in the striker department. Tyrese Hall's form currently deserves him a start, though this could change, and it applies to the rest of the squad, which I haven't named. The bench could look mixed, defensive, or attack-based.

Mondays are always the worst day of the week; it's wet and cold. Nobody is in a good mood at work, and I can't wait to get home. Today does not seem to be a productive one, but it's what you make of it. Mid-week, I have an interview with a Stockport County player, which is something I am looking forward to. The rest of the writing I am doing is mostly covering club news; give me a transfer window or something I can stick my teeth into.

We are built to provide the forwards, and not so much other players, but there's no reason why players like Conor Grant can't improve their finishing. I think Matt Palmer is the more complete player at this stage, but there are positional and some techniques he could try in order to maximise any chances that come his way. He had a superb effort against Crewe saved; I had to double-check that it was Palmer who struck the shot. The difference between Palmer and Grant is the selflessness with which the skipper goes about applying his trade. He wants to win as part of the team, and I suspect assists and goals are just bonuses. Palmer is also a player that sees his worth; he's an established player and knows just how much Notts misses his absence. Grant has been discarded and hasn't found his place in teams; his confidence and age mean that he would need to settle in order to find form that would see him consecutively score goals. If he were scoring regularly, he would be in the team and showing that his form was good. While he works hard and is a very skillful player, the number of times he shines enough to be voted Man of the Match in games is very rare.

Burton Albion 2-2 Bolton Wanderers Exeter City 1-0 Reading Leyton Orient 1-0 Doncaster Rovers Wigan Athletic 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers Chesterfield 2-1 Salford City Crewe Alexandra 2-2 Bromley Fleetwood Town 1-1 Harrogate Town Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Barnet Joker

I have been trying to find time to write back at the apartment but have found work quite demanding. I had made a start to the fans forum, but as with my posting, I found myself bogged down with work. I do enjoy my job, so don't get me wrong, and it's much better covering sport-related articles than celeb gossip and people I wouldn't even consider famous. Manchester is still quite unpleasant to walk around, even during the day. There are gangs of certain people now looking to attack anyone who remotely looks proud to be British. I am actually considering moving back to Nottingham if I can find a similar job that pays well enough. Money isn't everything, but there are a lot of underpaid writing jobs going. It's a difficult time for writers, with all the shifts in the world.

It was somewhat of a culture shock to see Notts rely so heavily on loans; I can understand the concern and the risk. I am more balanced, although it did look like the recruitment hadn't succeeded so well. The argument that a lack of quality players who could be brought into the club for modest fees could have given us a bit more long-term stability, which could have helped ease the loan players in. There's always a risk that the loan players won't give their all; we have seen this in the past where they have been simply signed to top up the squad and aren't ready, but this isn't something we have seen during the Reedtz era. We might have invested too much into young loan players, so I do understand, but there needs to be a level of respect shown, not just patience. Hard work is seeing some good results, and I hope this continues.

Long overdue, a lot of clubs have been focusing on this sort of stuff for years. It's like the memory club with ex-players, though, and the Young Pies. If they don't commit and make sure it is done properly, it will lose focus and become a waste of time. I haven't seen any news about the memory club for some time, but I know the Young Pies are finally back on track. Preserving the clubs history and having a museum would be of benefit to all Notts fans.

Steady progress and improvements, which is encouraging to see, gaffer! 👍

Two on the list should be looked at seriously, but any would be good signings, I feel. We signed Tyler Miller last season, and that seems to be part of the reason why we won't explore a third keeper. It was a waste of money, but did we really need a keeper at that stage? Kelle Roos's need for appropriate competition is a valid point worth considering. I don't know how Notts can look beyond just having two out-and-out strikers, when in our National League years we were far more blessed. Both areas are vital for promotion, and if left unaddressed, could be cause for concern if something does happen. I am all for being careful, but we are so blessed in midfield at the expense of other areas that we do are unbalanced.

Rod McDonald earned my vote, he's been solid and proved it yet again against Oldham who were very hands on. Yet he dealt with them very well, I agree with Lewis Macari, he looks unfit too, He could very well be up there, I would think Jatta will score the most but then it's down to Matthew Dennis and Tyrese Hall. What I will add, it would be brilliant to see Scott Robertson and Jodi Jones both hitting double figures with goals. If Conor Grant took less touches and had more of a punt with his shooting, I think he would finish more chances.

Derby County 2-2 Southampton Joker Swansea City 0-2 Leicester City Huddersfield Town 1-3 Stockport County Port Vale 2-0 Northampton Town Bromley 2-1 Tranmere Rovers Salford City 1-3 Grimsby Town Braintree Town 1-0 Sutton United Wealdstone 1-1 Altrincham

I think it will be Altrincham who has decided on the length, he has done well for us at times but hasn't showed enough improvements. In all fairness, you look at him in the squad and think it's a position we could be better allocating to someone else. I also think there's better younger options that we could bring in, Hinchy is 22 and needs to be playing on a weekly basis to improve further. Wiki says, he's only got 37 league appearances, which is nothing for a player of his age. Good luck to him, I hope he flourishes and does gain confidence, but I think he will be one player highly likely to move on in the near future on a permanent basis.