ARLukomski

Notts County were humbled in front of the television cameras as League Two strugglers Chesterfield ran out 3-1 winners in Sunday's encounter at the Proact Stadium. The hosts took the lead on 16 minutes Andy Kellett's corner was touched on by Drew Talbot and Sid Nelson chested the ball past Magpies goalkeeper Adam Collin from point-blank range. Elliott Hewitt then missed a sitter before the Spireites doubled their lead through a poor clearance that was rifled home by Zavon Hines. Notts huffed and puffed and laboured throughout the early afternoon but they put themselves within a goal of getting something from the game thanks to Dan Jones's free kick. Nine minutes of stoppage time seemed to herald a potential comeback for the Magpies but all that happened was Chesterfield restoring their two-goal lead after Matt Tootle gave away a penalty and Kristian Dennis converted. Pride of Nottingham vlogger ARLukomski recorded his matchday experience in Derbyshire and shared his thoughts before, during and after the terrible match. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County came so close to claiming a first league victory against Mansfield Town since 2005 but ultimately they fell just short in heartbreaking circumstances. The big League Two derby, which kicked off at 1pm, saw the Magpies take the lead midway through the first half. Terry Hawkridge was the man who scored the opener, a scrappy goal bundled home from close range after Conrad Logan had palmed Shola Ameobi's header back out into danger. The Stags improved in the second half but Notts had appeared to have done enough when the clock ticked past the seven minutes of added time. But the game continued and, in the eighth minute, Lewis Alessandra's handball in the box - though even that is contentious - led to a penalty, which Kane Hemmings converted for a final score of 1-1. Pride of Nottingham writer and vlogger ARLukomski was at the Lane for the big game and gives his pre-match, mid-match and post-match thoughts. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

So the big match is upon us. Notts County against Mansfield Town. And you know what, I’m sick of losing to these lot. It really is getting annoying. It’s fair to say our record against Mansfield really isn’t the best. This century, in the league, we’ve played them 14 times, winning once, drawing five and losing eight times. Notts haven’t beaten Mansfield in the league since September 2005, a 3-2 win at Field Mill with a late winner courtesy of Glynn Hurst. However, after seven years apart in different divisions, both of these two returned to playing each other in 2015-16. It was not a good season for Notts. The first home game of the season saw us lose the Nottinghamshire derby 2-0. However, it’s the reverse fixture that makes the headlines for all the wrong reasons for Notts. A 5-0 defeat. A defeat, which summed up the Ray Trew era. A lack of fight, effort and passion. Notts were 1-0 down at half time and in the second half went to 3-5-2 and went for it in hope of getting back into the game. Sadly, it didn’t work and once the second went in, Notts gave up. A lot changed that summer. Players, manager, board members. Notts returned to Field Mill on October 8th and lost again. A 3-1 defeat in a game, which I summed up as being an absolute joke. John Sheridan said it how it was ‘we lost to two deflections and a penalty.’ A lot of things still annoy me about that game. We should have been 3-0 up at half time. Jonathan Forte missed a one-on-one chance, Jon Stead hit the post, and also had another good chance. Alex Rodman equalised in the 82nd minute but I knew something controversial was coming. You could just sense it. It was. Mansfield were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute for what most would call ‘a 50-50’ but Matt Tootle took so long to clear the ball. They scored a 3rd in the 93rd minute as well. In the reverse fixture on January 14th, Notts halted a run of 10 successive losses in Kevin Nolan’s first game in charge, with the game finishing 0-0. Mansfield were in good form coming into that game but Notts held firm. = In fairness, nothing much really happened in that game. Ben Whiteman came close to scoring with a deflected effort, which was well saved by Adam Collin. Michael O’Connor came close for Notts in the second half. In the 90th minute, a shot by Mansfield was saved by Collin and cleared by Carl Dickinson in a moment where my heart skipped a beat. The 3-1 defeat earlier this season again showed a lack of fight in which we crumbled under the pressure. Stead missed an easy chance from close range and Danny Rose starred as Mansfield ran out winners yet again. Form coming into this game has never been important. The four games in which Notts have lost against them, they have had the better form coming into each one. The 0-0 draw in January was the only time in which Mansfield had the better form coming into the derby. There is a slight theory behind this game too, as every time there has been a Tuesday night fixture preceding the derby, Mansfield have won. 2015/16 (0-2) Huddersfield 1-2 Notts, Sheff Wed 4-1 Mansfield – Notts lost the derby 2015/16 (5-0) Notts 1-0 Hartlepool - Notts lost the derby 2016/17 (3-1) Rochdale 2-1 Notts, Port Vale 0-1 Mansfield - Notts lost the derby 2017/18 (3-1) Exeter 0-3 Notts, Cheltenham 3-0 Mansfield - Notts lost the derby Notts have looked brilliant recently and I have the feeling this could the game in which we end the derby curse. Richard Duffy has said about how the players had a talk during the rot they were going through on how to turn it around. He also said they are now doing what they were doing when they were doing at the start of the season. I’ve also had friends who are Mansfield fans messaging me saying that the style of play since David Flitcroft came in has got worse. Danny Rose and Alex MacDonald have been two players who played well under Steve Evans but haven’t done so far under Flitcroft. This game is also massive for the promotion race. A Notts win and promotion is in their own hands with 8 games to go. A Mansfield win and they are right back in it with a game in hand. A draw is no good for either team and only hands the advantage to Wycombe and a recently resurgent Coventry. Notts must win to retain their advantage in the promotion race and finally end our awful record in this fixture. A last word to the fans. We cannot be outsung like last time. Players thrive off the support and it could make all the difference come Saturday. We cannot be outsung. Share your thoughts about this opinion article on Football Manics by signing up for FREE to the website, visiting the forum and joining the chat with fellow football fans.

Notts County have claimed a much-needed three points in a 2-0 win over Stevenage in Saturday's League Two encounter at Meadow Lane. The Magpies were made to sweat for the opener, with came 13 minutes from the end as Jorge Grant struck a superb volley into the bottom corner of the net after the visitors had struggled to deal with Richard Duffy's ball into the box. However, the second goal was soon forthcoming - just minutes later came the clincher as Shola Ameobi bravely prodded in a header from Ben Hall, getting a knock for his troubles although he was fine to continue. The result sees the Magpies climb to fourth in the table and narrow the gap between themselves and third-placed Wycombe Wanderers to one point. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

We have some very winnable fixtures coming up against a Newport County side fresh off a cup run and a 5-0 dismantling at the hands of Mansfield Town. We play a Cambridge United side who are in a period of transition after a change in ownership and the resignation of Shaun Derry. We also have a home game against Stevenage to finish off the month, in which Boro have one of the worst away records in the division. We then face trips to Cheltenham Town and Forest Green, but after that the run-in gets very tricky. We have games against promotion rivals Mansfield, Wycombe Wanderers, Coventry City, Accrington Stanley and Luton Town, plus a difficult game away at Colchester United As I said, the fixtures coming up have to be won as we have some massive games later on and the points picked up now could prove the difference between automatic promotion and playoffs. Notts have to beat their promotion rivals and have to pick up their away form, which has only seen five away wins all season. Nine wins from the last fourteen should be enough to see us over the line. But there are other things to consider. A lot of the other promotion contenders have still got to play each other. Exeter City play Mansfield this Saturday. Coventry have to play Mansfield and Wycombe this month still. Then the Sky Blues host Lincoln City at the start of March. On the same day we face Wycombe (30th March), Accrington play Mansfield in which is sure to be a big day in the race for automatic promotion. Both sides still have to go to Kenilworth Road. Accrington also still have Exeter to face. Lincoln still have to face Exeter, Mansfield, Wycombe and Accrington. Swindon are still not out of it and have a trip to Exeter soon, along with a final day clash with Accrington at the County Ground. The big promotion race though, could come down to four teams in around a month’s time. The two points between Mansfield and Swindon might not be big, but it could be big enough for Accrington, Wycombe, us and Mansfield who have looked like they are going to pull away from the rest. But as of yet, no amounts of teams have threatened to break away. With 9 teams now involved (after Colchester moved level on points with Coventry last night) then it’s fair to say, the League Two promotion race has never been tighter. You can predict what the League Two table will look like come the end of season here. Leave comments below on who you have finishing where. Share your thoughts about this feature article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County have bounced back from their horror week with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Carlisle United on Tuesday night. Jon Stead put the Magpies ahead in the 19th minute when he collected a pass from Lewis Alessandra and fired a goalward effort which hit Cumbrians goalkeeper Jack Bonham and looped into the net. The veteran striker then doubled County's lead in the 35th minute when he reacted quickest during an almighty goalmouth scramble. Carlisle went on to make it a nervy finish through a deflected Jamie Devitt strike after the break and an inexplicable seven minutes of injury time. The result keeps Notts fourth in the League Two table and snapping at the heels of the top three while keeping the chasing pack at bay. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County put in one of their best performances of the season in front of the biggest Meadow Lane crowd of the 21st century in Saturday's 4-1 win over Crewe Alexandra. The Magpies endured a wobbly start as Shaun Miller drilled home on the rebound after just eight minutes for the breakthrough. However, Noor Husin struck back on the quarter-hour mark with a ferocious long-range effort before Elliott Hewitt put the hosts ahead just before half time. Hewitt then got his second of the game and County's third by finishing off a great team move on the hour mark and Derby County loanee Mason Bennett added the cherry on top late on. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County have earned a place in the hat for the fifth round of the FA Cup after holding Premier League side Swansea City to a 1-1 draw in Saturday's fourth-round match at Meadow Lane. The Magpies began brightly but their opponents soon stepped up a gear and had the hosts under the coash before finding the net on the stroke of half time through Luciano Narsingh. Kevin Nolan's charges were much improved in the second half, however, as Jorge Grant spurned three gilt-edged chances in quick succession. Eventually, County's pressure was rewarded as veteran striker Jon Stead turned home on the hour to draw the Magpies level and ultimately clinch a replay at the Liberty Stadium. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Why have we changed formation? If someone could tell me why, it would be great. But why? Why have we done this? In the last two recent games, Kevin Nolan has experimented a bit and changed to a new formation, switching from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 with three central midfielders including Noor Husin, Matty Virtue and Liam Noble. This means Jon Stead is up front on his own with Jorge Grant and Lewis Alessandra on the wings. However, this recent change hasn’t worked as shown by successive 2-1 losses at home to Exeter and Crawley. Notts’ amazing home record has been worsened by this change in formation and the results that have followed. By all means, this formation can work if you have the right players but this Notts team doesn’t. First you need to have a pacey striker up front - Aguero for Man City for example and Conor Chaplin at Portsmouth. Notts cannot play this formation with Jon Stead up front. He is too slow and too isolated. We have next to no threat up top when we play one striker. Defenders are quick to get the ball off him before he ever has a chance to bring the wingers into play. Next, you need to have a good attacking midfielder to play behind the striker. Someone like Luke Berry. Notts have this in Liam Noble but refuse him to play instead placing Matty Virtue into the role of the No.10 when we can clearly see that he has the same properties of Ryan Yates. We have rushed three new midfielders into the side who have not played with each other before and if we continue to play this formation, they will have to have time to gel. You can’t take that risk in a promotion race especially when Notts have only taken 26 points from their last 19 games. Notts have dropped so many points, that the gap to 4th is now minimal. In both games, when we reverted back to 4-4-2, we immediately looked more of a threat going forward. Virtue showed in the short time he had in the 4-4-2 formation against Crawley and his performance at Lincoln, that he can easily slot into Yates’ role. Just because of Yates’ recall, doesn’t mean we have to introduce a whole new system. It really isn’t needed. You have got to play Hewitt alongside him in midfield because he is the legs of the team. Even when Notts are out on their feet, Hewitt is still running around causing the opposition problems. He doesn’t stop running. These two in a 4-4-2 formation would be fine. Noor Husin looked a lot better suited to our normal formation at the weekend. He became the man pulling the strings when we went 4-4-2 against Exeter, only for him to be replaced. I would like to see Liam Walker start a few games because every time he has come off the bench, he has been quality. We have abandoned tactics that have worked so well for us all season. Why abandon them now? It makes no sense whatsoever. 4-4-2 gave us structure and stability. It gave us a Notts side that scored goals and gave us a Notts side that stood in second place. A striker, a centre back and a backup winger was all that was (and still is) needed and Notts would have been fine. But no, this is Notts and we love to bottle every good opportunity that comes our way. I salute Charlie Slater for his questioning of Nolan’s tactics last night on the radio. I love Nolan for what he has done for this football club so far but we’ve got to go back to basics otherwise we won’t even finish in the play-offs, never mind the automatic promotion places. I am begging that Nolan returns to the formation and the tactics that bought us so much success all season. Look at Brentford. We played 4-4-2 and beat a Championship team. A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM. Seriously, we have got to go back to 4-4-2 otherwise we can kiss goodbye to promotion. Share your thoughts about this feature article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County have fallen to a second League Two home defeat in a row after Crawley Town won 2-1 at Meadow Lane on Tuesday night. Jimmy Smith scored in the 25th minute to give the Red Devils the lead but Jon Stead levelled from the penalty spot 13 minutes in the second half. It looked as though the Magpies would claim a point but late drama saw Matty Virtue sent off before Ross Fitzsimons also saw red - and conceded a penalty - for kicking out at an opposition player. Josh Payne went on to convert his stoppage-time spot kick for their first ever win at Meadow Lane. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County's superb unbeaten league home run has come to an end as Exeter City ran out 2-1 winners in Saturday's encounter at Meadow Lane. The high-flying Grecians, who are in the promotion mix, took the lead after just seven minutes through Jake Taylor. Jayden Stockley then doubled the visitors' lead just before half time as the Magpies struggled to click with several new players in the XI and in the absence of Matt Tootle and Richard Duffy. Jon Stead pulled a goal back for the hosts with a second-half penalty, won after Shola Ameobi was hauled down in the box, but sadly Notts could not go on to find an equaliser. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County kept up the pressure on League Two leaders Luton Town with a 1-0 win over Port Vale at Meadow Lane on New Year's Day. The encounter was settled by Jon Stead's penalty, awarded after the veteran striker was fouled in the box by defender Marcus Harness. Prior to their late spot kick, Kevin Nolan's side found themselves denied several key refereeing decisions, while Vale's Ryan Boot was the busier of the two goalkeepers. County's win over the Valiants puts them on 50 points, four behind table toppers Luton Town - who beat Lincoln City 4-2 - and seven clear of fourth place. Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor ARLukomski discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle. Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here. Share your thoughts about this vlog on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.