ARLukomski

Birmingham City 2-1 Watford Plymouth Argyle 1-2 Preston North End Derby County 1-0 Bolton Wanderers Peterborough United 1-1 Portsmouth (Joker) Forest Green Rovers 1-1 Sutton United Swindon Town 2-2 Doncaster Rovers AFC Fylde 2-1 Wealdstone Eastleigh 2-1 Rochdale

There's a lot to get through here. A lot to pick apart from a season that promised so much but has delivered very little. Our aim, in my opinion, should have been the play-offs, if we recruited well in the summer that is. However that didn't happen and our season has faded into a feeling of emptiness. Let's start with contract decisions. In the summer we renewed the deals of Kyle Cameron, Connell Rawlinson, Sam Slocombe, Aaron Nemane and Jim O'Brien. As KC was club captain, I can understand his 2 year deal, same with Aaron. Jim was offered a 1 year deal which was the correct thing to do. However, more thought was needed when it came to Rawlinson and Slocombe. Whilst both were rewarded for their loyalty, their promotion success and their longevity with us, neither are getting any younger. Both should've been handled the same as O'Brien with 1 year deals. Even the decision in March to give Chicksen a deal till 2025 was made a bit too much with the heart. Last season was his only good season for us. It won't be the first time I mention this, but Stockport were ruthless in the summer of 2022, after they got promoted. Liam Hogan left, Ash Palmer was gone after 2 months of the season. Jordan Keane left and a few months later Mark Kitching and Ryan Johnson left as well. They ended the 2022-23 season with a back 3 made up entirely of new signings: Chris Hussey, Fraser Horsfall and Akil Wright, with January signing Neill Byrne on the bench. This was a team that kept 23 clean sheets out of 44 in their title winning season and they still made changes. This season (especially January seeing as we gave some players the time to prove they were good enough for League 2) was about progression over loyalty and we chose the latter. Now our biggest problem this season. Recruitment. Something that has been more positive than negative in the Reedtz Bros era. However, this is the most we've got it wrong since summer 2020 (bar Ruben). A neglection of the defence, loyalty to players who we needed to bring in upgrades for, not covering for the injuries of Bajrami and Scott and sat doing nothing for over a month. Now the players we signed. I'm going to go through every single one. Firstly, Jodi Jones. This one we got right. He had a good loan spell with us and his record assists this season have shown what a good acquisition he's been. Next up, Will Randall. Where is he? He said in his interview that this deal was done before the end of last season. However, he's barely been available and he's been in and out of the squad this season through injuries, lack of fitness and not being selected for a matchday squad. Next, Didzy. We were very excited by his return at the time and he has produced moments of magic this season, but he's not been the same player as he was at Derby in 2022-23. His signing has also meant we've lost part of our front press, which made us so effective last season. I'm hoping he can drag some of the players together in these last 2 months and show them what it means to play for Notts. Fourth signing, Dan Crowley. He started brilliantly and his return has been really good with assists and goals. However, of recent, his standards have dropped and his problems from spells at previous clubs look like they are appearing again. Sutton at home when he cupped his ears, then giving away a penalty in the same game. Ruben had off days but he dragged us through games and his late runs into the box and his pressing mean he was far more effective. Our fifth signing was Aidan Stone. He didn't have a good start at Sutton and he made a few mistakes, but then he had his best game against Barrow (A) and then we dropped him. Why? Why did we drop him? Just because Slocombe played well against Derby. He made mistakes in various games after that and his confidence dropped. After Gillingham (H), he was dropped from the starting x1 and we haven't seem him in the squad since. Overall, not an upgrade on Slocombe. There is a keeper in there but it just hasn't worked. Then, we sat on our backsides doing nothing for over a month. We signed Aidan Stone on June 23rd. Our next signing was Ollie Tipton who was signed on July 28th. We spent over a month doing nothing when key areas of the squad, like the defence and cover in midfield, needed strengthening. We started our opening day game with Rawlo, Cameron and Brindley. Baldwin came back unfit. It was so clear we needed reinforcements in defence and here we were doing the square root of jack. Tipton made less than 5 appearances in all competitions and barely ever saw the matchday squad. He may do well elsewhere, but we never saw it. Lewis Macari was signed on loan on deadline day and permanently in December. He's been one of the big positives of this season and he's been our best defender by a huge distance. Feel bad for him because one of the few players who look cut out for League football. Dan Gosling. Brilliant. He hadn't played since November 2022 and we gave him a 2 month deal and with that amount of time, he was never going to get fit. I understand the deal from a financial side, but it just seemed a waste of a signing. Makes you wonder why we didn't bring in a centre midfielder in the summer. When Bajrami got injured we should have acted instantly. Then Palmer got injured and it left us with Bostock and O'Brien. Then January. Scott Robertson (other than Crawley) has been a good addition. He always puts his bundle of energy into every game and does the ugly side of the game well. Him and Palmer could be really nice next season. There is a player in Jaden Warner and I don't think we've seen it yet. I can see him going on loan to another club and having a good loan spell. His height and athleticism is the type of thing our recruitment team should be looking at more. He hasn't a great loan spell so far though, bar a solid performance against Wrexham. Luca Ashby-Hammond was a questionable one. He didn't have the best game for Crawley when they played us at the Lane and he didn't feel like a big upgrade on Stone and Slocombe. He had a good first two games against Newport and Wrexham, but hasn't been the same after that. Whoever conceived the idea of signing Charlie Colkett needs to own up immediately. Why did we think signing a player who's played 15 times for Crewe in a season and a half, was a good idea. The guy had injury setbacks during that time as well. At the time we only had Robertson, Bostock and O'Brien. With Palmer and Bajrami out injured, we needed a centre midfielder who could come in and make an instant impact. Colkett was unfit and had barley played and we were signing him on loan from a team in the same division as us. The guy still hasn't looked fit in his sub appearances. Finally, Alassana Jatta. Another player who couldn't make an instant impact due to issues out of his control. We haven't seen him enough to make judgement yet and I don't think we should be judging him on three substitute appearances. Whilst I've seen people complain about signing a striker and not improving the defence, we did need a striker. Yes, we definitely needed defnders, but we only had Langstaff, Didzy and Morias. With Didzy playing attacking midfield, that leaves us with Macca and Morias, who has had injury troubles and times when he's fallen out of favour or just not been match fit, like Will Randall. We have gone away from our recruitment strategy a little. The type of player that made us successful was signing younger hungry players, with energy and pressing abilities and players who are good on the ball. We started going towards a model of signing players who hadn't made it at top level academies and have since fallen down the leagues or players who've had injury troubles and are wanting to rebuild their career. It's worked for Jodi, it worked for Bostock up until about December 2023. It worked for Crowley until Luke left and it just hasn't worked for Colkett because signing him was just a complete waste of time. So when you go through a tough run of form like we are now, will them players get in the trenches and fight and drag us through games and get us points from nothing? I'm not sure other than Jodi. We also don't have the required height, physicality and athleticism required at this level. It's why so many teams, even with lesser quality on paper, have just beaten us up physically. This league, as shown by last seasons promoted teams, is built on a good defence. The proof is in the stats, we may have the 2nd best attack in the league but we also have the joint worst defence. Gillingham have scored the least amount of goals in the league, but up until last night, they were in the play-offs. They, do however have the 6th best defence and whilst I don't want to give up our attacking play, not by a long stretch, a huge focus is needed on the defence in the summer. Like I mentioned earlier, Stockport were ruthless. The defence that got them promoted are now not at Edgeley Park at all. The players that are still there from the promotion winning season are: Ben Hinchliffe, Macaulay Southam-Hales, Ryan Rydel, Myles Hippolyte, Antoni Sarcevic, Ryan Croasdale, Paddy Madden and Will Collar. Ethan Pye was there but wasn't a regular member of the matchday squad like he is now. The final thing is Stuart Maynard. Was he my first choice of head coach? No. Do I want him to succeed? Absolutely. Is it working? No. Whilst our recruitment is the number one driving factor behind our fall, SM has made questionable calls. The poor subs against Crawley, to tactical tweaks that end up putting Jodi and Nemane on the same wing and some of his pressers, pre and post match being a bit puzzling. He's correct in his judgement to drop Brindley and Stone and he's correct that we've had defensive issues all season and we don't have the personnel and height required to defend our penalty area well enough. He's also not helped by our poor squad depth, which has been an issue all season, impacting who he can drop and who he can bring into the side. However his record since he's come in has been terrible. One win, one draw and seven defeats. Whilst I get the focus has been trying to make us better defensively, it has meant taking the focus off the attack and we haven't been anywhere near as energetic or fluid going forward as we once were. Our defensive performances haven't been sustainable all season, but our goal difference has gone from +8 to 0, with 10 goals scored and 18 conceded. We've been average at best and absolutely horrendously shockingly terribly inept, dire and woeful at our worst. We still haven't won at home and our away performances are still not wielding points. I am thankful for what Chris and Alex have done so far, but they need to dig deep into their pockets in the summer because the squad needs a change and as it stands, the person in the dugout will to. I am also not sure about Richard Montague as well. He leads recruitment and the signings made have not been good enough.

Northampton Town 1-1 Blackpool Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Wigan Athletic (Joker) AFC Wimbledon 0-0 Gillingham Newport County 1-2 Morecambe Walsall 2-1 Barrow Halifax Town P-P Oldham Athletic Maidenhead United P-P Hartlepool United

Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Plymouth Argyle (Joker) Millwall 1-2 Birmingham City Port Vale 1-1 Shrewsbury Town Reading 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers Accrington Stanley 0-2 Bradford City Sutton United 1-1 Grimsby Town Aldershot Town 2-2 Oldham Athletic Kidderminster Harriers 2-0 York City

Its anyone's game as to who gets 6th and 7th. With the way our form and performances have been since November, we won't be there. They just aren't sustainable enough to go on a good run of form. Player injuries, neglection of the defence in both transfer windows, players downing tools and Luke leaving (meaning we probably had to reassess our transfer window as certain targets may have been off the table. I said after the Mansfield game, to a mate of mine, it would probably be better if we don't finish inside the play-offs, because we are just simply not ready for that next step yet. A few too many squad players who have got another year on their contract are still here and investment is needed in the defence and more squad depth. The problems were here before SM got here. Our record since November is PLD 18, W 5, D 2, L 11, GF 36, GA 38. 17 points taken from a possible 51. When you have one thing that is good (the attack) and one thing that isn't (the defence), you need to focus on the one thing that isn't good (the defence) which may mean taking some focus off of the attack for a bit. That balance will be struck over time

Preston North End 1-2 Hull City Swansea City 1-1 Blackburn Rovers (Joker) Cheltenham Town 2-1 Burton Albion Leyton Orient 2-1 Bristol Rovers Crawley Town P-P Barrow Grimsby Town 2-2 Forest Green Rovers AFC Fylde 1-2 Maidenhead United Woking 0-1 Kidderminster Harriers

Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Norwich City Cardiff City 0-0 Stoke City Barnsley 2-2 Derby County Blackpool 1-1 Bolton Wanderers (Joker) Accrington Stanley 2-1 Crawley Town Barrow 1-1 Bradford City Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0 Halifax Town Southend United 1-2 Aldershot Town

Scott Robertson, Nicky Hunt, Mark Ellis, Thierry Audel

Bristol City 2-1 Queens Park Rangers Huddersfield Town 2-2 Hull City Lincoln City 1-1 Exeter City Peterborough United 2-1 Blackpool Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Harrogate Town (Joker) Grimsby Town 2-2 Doncaster Rovers Hartlepool United 2-1 Boreham Wood Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 Dorking Wanderers

Birmingham City 1-1 Blackburn Rovers Norwich City 2-0 Watford (Joker) Charlton Athletic 1-1 Lincoln City Leyton Orient 2-1 Northampton Town Accrington Stanley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Colchester United 2-1 Grimsby Town Halifax Town 0-1 Maidenhead United York City 2-1 Dorking Wanderers

New deals Cedwyn Scott - 2 year deal. See tweet below. Aden Baldwin - 2 year deal. I know he has mistakes in him but he is a real big reason we can play out from the back, Mistakes will come with that role in the middle of the back 3. Geraldo Bajrami - 1 year deal with an option of an extra year. I think Baj still has a part to play. His future is in central midfield. He just needs his passing game to go with his physical side of the game, then we've got a player. His physique since he got his injury is incredible. John Bostock - 1 year deal. Not the same player since Matty got injured. Still an experienced head to lean on, but maybe not a regular starter anymore Luther Munakandafa - 1 year deal. This must be his year for progression. He was excellent against Derby. Must find a good National League loan. There's a player in there. We've got to find room for him. Jim O'Brien - Offer coaching role. Let him continue on his coaching journey but like with Michael Doyle, sometimes you have to move on from the playing side. He's gave his all to this club and we should honor that Tobi Adebayo-Rowling - Release. It's hard to release players that you have such loyalty to because of their achievements with the club. However, it's now about progression over loyalty and we need upgrades in the squad. His infectious personality is amazing. He's had some good cameos this season. I thought he was excellent at MK linking up with Crowley Richard Brindley - Release. Thank you for your efforts and being part of the squad that took us back to the Football League. I truly appreciate how Brinds stayed with us through all four seasons in the National League. Whilst he had an extended spell in the team this term, due to his move to a central role in the back 3, he's been found out at this level.

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Stoke City Middlesbrough 1-2 Bristol City Blackpool 2-1 Oxford United (Joker) Reading 2-0 Charlton Athletic Swindon Town 2-2 Salford City Walsall 1-1 Newport County Altrincham 2-1 Rochdale Boreham Wood 1-1 Maidenhead United

Cedwyn Scott, Cody Rhodes, Charles Leclerc and a photo of Cedwyn Scott The awe inspiring collection of style, aura, beauty, skill and talent. Then whatever I am (none of those)

It's obviously frustrating to lose another derby, especially as there was a chance to get something from the game. However, there are definitely positives to take. We battled and competed but ran out of ideas and legs in the end. Should've taken one of the chances we had in the first half. Robertson looked good and battled well, making it tough for Maris and Reed to build attacks from deep, winning the ball in good areas. Maynard explained in his post match why Jones and Nemane were on opposite wings and I understood. It was a good way of breaking their press. I thought Warner slotted in well and looked more comfortable than Brindley. Baldwin had a good game, helping us play out from the back, heading away plenty of crosses and making his fair share of last ditch blocks and tackles. However, we still lack strength in depth. It's the biggest difference between League 2 and the National League. Hence, again, why Austin was the only viable substitute. Nemane was knackered from about 65 mins onwards, as was Bostock. We're not ready to go up and we need to realise it. We can still make a fight of it this season, but if we don't go up it's not the end of the world.

Norwich City 1-2 Coventry City Swansea City 1-1 Plymouth Argyle (Joker) Burton Albion 1-0 Lincoln City Exeter City 2-1 Bristol Rovers Crawley Town 2-0 Morecambe Sutton United 2-1 Doncaster Rovers Halifax Town 1-1 Aldershot Town Solihull Moors 1-2 Altrincham

One thing we must stop doing in this fixture, is capitulating. It is a horrible trait of Notts teams over the years in this very fixture. 2015-16 - Lost 5-0 and conceded 3 in 10 minutes, that took the score from 1-0 to 4-0. 2016-17 - Lost 3-1 and conceded 2 goals in added time (the first in the 90th and the second in the 93rd) that took the score from 1-1 to 3-1. 2017-18 - Lost 3-1 and conceded 3 goals in 16 minutes, including 2 in 4 minutes. That took the score from 0-0 to 3-0. 2023-24 - Lost 4-1 and conceded 3 in 11 minutes that took the score from 1-1 to 4-1.