Our odds at the bookies have come in a lot, about evens now and I'm pretty sure you could get 5/1 after our last bad run. We're 7/1 for the title, tempting ...

I hope to believe that another 4 wins will see Notts assured of a playoff place, which I think should be the first priority.

Once a place in the playoffs are assured a further four wins giving us 85 points in total should be enough for a promotion place

I think Cambridge & MK Dons will be promoted. Hopefully we will get the third place. I think Bromley will be in the playoffs.

Last 4 years 3rd place were:

Bradford 78pts

Mansfield 86pts

Northampton 83pts

Bristol Rovers 80pts

So yes 85 points should do it, maybe 83 as this year is very competitive unlike the run away year of Stockport, Wrexham and Mansfield.

Is a further 22 points achievable?

6 wins, maybe.

4 draws, fingers very crossed.

Only 3 defeats.

It's squeaky time 😝

I do think that loans deals can work in a positive way when it is used to see if the player can do a job for the club, especially when they have come from abroad, & the club has taken a bit of a gamble with the signing.

Notts gambled on Traoré by signing him on a full contract, they did the same with Morias & Jarvis. So signing Tangen on loan with a view to offer a full time contract in the summer if he delivers, is a good move.

Fascinated by this one, especially since we lost Luker to the injury earlier in the season. Can never have enough options!

His debut I thought he did well, a little slow coming on and he appears to have a different approach to watching things unfold. At times his reading of the game seemed questionable, but once became comfortable he did impress. Even this past Saturday, I thought he did well with his cameo.

His reaction to the tug on him, matched the reaction of the Tranmere Rovers player - a very puzzled look of disbelief. What was the opposition player thinking? 😂

Isn't Luker injured and hoping to come back?

It so that makes 8 out and 8 stay. 50%.

Is that good, bad or indifferent?

5 hours ago, Mapperley Pie said:

Isn't Luker injured and hoping to come back?

It so that makes 8 out and 8 stay. 50%.

Is that good, bad or indifferent?

Yes they said they were keeping in touch with him, but it's getting pretty late in the season now to make a difference.

I think in terms of success or failure, the owners would want 16 signings to include at least 1 that ends up going for a decent fee. Not much scope left for that, Dennis maybe.

Pity he didn't make the grade for us. Martin prefers a type of player that can give quality but also graft & show lots of commitment on the training ground. Hopefully he will see success at his new club.

I'm a little bit concerned that Enoru has only seen about 20 minutes of first team action since he came to Notts. He has only been used in the one game. I do hope he's given another opportunity soon.

11 hours ago, Fan of Big Tone said:

Today I have 40 pints of home brew beer in my brewing bucket which is ready to transfer to the barrel so that’s the first job today.

Don't drink it all at once when it is ready. 😂

7 hours ago, theAnticlough said:

My week started with a fire in the ground floor of the building I live in. Evacuated in the middle of the night, we spent hours outside while chaos ensued. To cut a long story short, nobody was seriously hurt it seems.

I am glad you are okay. It sounds very scary to be woken up in the middle of the night and to learn that there's a fire. It's good to know that everyone was safe, these things can quickly lose control, so thankful it wasn't the case.

5 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

Unexpected text message from GP this morning, so new appointment booked in. Blood test, blood pressure tests seem never ending.

I hope you get good news once the test comes back. 🤞🙏

Today's been a good day for myself, virtually little 'bad' pain but my hands still feel it. Every time I type, it's like a screw is being driven into my finger tips. I assure you, I'm not exaggerating.

Usually my knuckles are what hurt the most, as is the cracking my waists do far too frequently.

But more of the positive side of things, I have done a lot of catching up server side. This has been maintained during my absence, but sometimes it has been a few days between. I did some new exercises that a friend has encouraged me to do, based on my knees and aimed at ruducing my weight. I regularly try, but I wasn't feeling tired after them today. I am mindful not to overdo things, I know my body quite well.

Despite the rainy day, it's been slinging it down where I am. It's been a much better day, and I am hopeful tomorrow will be too.

I hope everyone who reads this is well, I have missed you all.

5 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

Unexpected text message from GP this morning, so new appointment booked in. Blood test, blood pressure tests seem never ending.

I hope the tests go well @Piethagoram

39 minutes ago, Chris said:

Don't drink it all at once when it is ready. 😂

I’ll try not to. 😂

40 minutes ago, Chris said:

I hope everyone who reads this is well, I have missed you all.

We’ve missed you gaffer, believe me! It’s great to have you back, don’t overdo it though.

16 hours ago, Chris said:

Today's been a good day for myself, virtually little 'bad' pain but my hands still feel it. Every time I type, it's like a screw is being driven into my finger tips. I assure you, I'm not exaggerating.

Usually my knuckles are what hurt the most, as is the cracking my waists do far too frequently.

But more of the positive side of things, I have done a lot of catching up server side. This has been maintained during my absence, but sometimes it has been a few days between. I did some new exercises that a friend has encouraged me to do, based on my knees and aimed at ruducing my weight. I regularly try, but I wasn't feeling tired after them today. I am mindful not to overdo things, I know my body quite well.

Despite the rainy day, it's been slinging it down where I am. It's been a much better day, and I am hopeful tomorrow will be too.

I hope everyone who reads this is well, I have missed you all.

Praying that you can get better and find relief from this, Chris. You're a hero for anything you do on the site.

Hope each day is better one. Keep up the fight.

Yesterdays result and performance puts the Shrewsbury game into perspective. Those defeats happen to the best of teams and as has been said before it's how you respond and wow did we respond. I just hope Ollie Norburn's injury isn't too serious he is very important for us. Having said that it was 1-0 when he went off and 5-0 by the end. What a great squad we have at the moment and great to Rod McDonald back in contention. We're going to need everyone for the run in!

1 hour ago, McPie said:

Yesterdays result and performance puts the Shrewsbury game into perspective. Those defeats happen to the best of teams and as has been said before it's how you respond and wow did we respond. I just hope Ollie Norburn's injury isn't too serious he is very important for us. Having said that it was 1-0 when he went off and 5-0 by the end. What a great squad we have at the moment and great to Rod McDonald back in contention. We're going to need everyone for the run in!

Agree @McPie that Norburn was having an excellent game as you said in other posts. His improvement over the season was impressive and he's been a key contributor to our 22pts out of 27pt run.

If he misses time I hope he's available again for our trip to Walsall in two weeks time, along with Palmer - all midfield options available.

For next week v Grimsby though I'm excited to see Robbo + Iorpenda again in CM. I don't think we'd have got 5 with our first half line up. We still get all the great stuff from Tom when he plays deeper. I'd say we get even more, without him being pressured to score and assist. SR and TI both on form makes for a super-dynamic CM which most L2 teams can't hope to match.

It looked to be an interesting call by Martin Paterson to change the starting lineup, but I did feel going into the game he would try to freshen things up but I didn't expect Matthew Dennis to be rested. The result is a credit to the squad's depth, and will hopefully put an end to the "weaker than last season's squad" because we are more a team now than we have ever been since the 09-10 season.

I felt Tranmere's biggest issue was playing Charlie Whitaker as some sort of target man, he tried and I thought he did well in spells but the mistakes he made came from a lack of support rather than ability.

Defensively, they crumbled and the second goal really sunk them. I critised their keeper a lot during the game, but his defence was extremely bad. I don't think the thuggish antics they tried pulling off worked and I do think previous seasons we would have handled this situation differently. Tom Iorpenda played very well, him and Scott Robertson really allowed us to get into Tranmere and they struggled to cope with Iorpenda's desire to get the ball into attacking positions.

Jodi Jones seemed to have a fairly quiet game. I don't know if it was designed on purpose because of Tranmere being physical but seeing him crop up with a goal felt pleasing. It wasn't the typical JJ performance, and I am not suggesting he played bad but he was quiet compared to what we know he can be.

Notts displayed impressive defensive skills, and I attribute Jacob Bedeau's surge in confidence to the outstanding performance of James Belshaw.

This might seem like I am discrediting Bedeau, but he looked a far different player when we had Kelle Roos, and nothing like he did in his first season where he was easily one of the best performers throughout the season. At times during this campaign he has seemed lost, lacking confidence and struggling for consistancy. Also, being given the captaincy in Matt Palmer's absence may play a part in it as it reinforces his value to our team.

Dropping down seems to have given him the confidence he lost, which is excellent. I hope he's mentally okay now, it's a difficult thing to overcome or even manage but the fact he's doing well is a good sign.

I hope he continues to enjoy his career.

Strands #721
“Olympics wrap-up”
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#waffle1494 3/5

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🔥 streak: 17
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#waffle1494 2/5

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#waffle1495 4/5

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🔥 streak: 18
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wafflegame.net

Wordle 1,710 4/6

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Phew Phew Barney McGrew! Cuthbert! Dibble! Grubb!"

Wordle 1,711 5/6

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I thought it was a very organised and excellent team performance, where everyone who played put a shift in and nothing was lacking, however Tom Iorpenda I thought was excellent. Winning the ball back, pressing forward and taking on players skillfully - it was a real joy to watch him.

Much of the control gained by us and the tempo towards securing the victory came from Iorpenda's drive.

Tranmere played very poorly, and I heard some comments during and after the game suggesting we only won because of that. Even from our own fans, some suggested we were poor ourselves and "boring" in the first half. The second goal killed the game, the third spiralled Tranmere into chaos and we thrived playing excellent passing football.

My Man of the Match is Lee Ndlovu.

He made all the difference.

The Poll has now closed. Thanks to all who voted.

I'm pleased to announce that Lee Ndlovu has been voted the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match v Tranmere. Well done Lee.

You are right @Chris My memory is fading!

Dunnett voted through that clubs could keep 100% of home receipts

Has to be L1 in my opinion. We will do well to make the automatics this year given some really tough fixtures remaining. And then it will be the playoff lottery. So anything could happen. I just hope that the Brothers keep the faith with MP as I feel he has the attributes to be a successful manager at this level.

If he can't make it this year then, maybe next or even the year after. It won't be easy as some wild investors will come in again to another club and try to do a Wrexham or MK.

I’m pleased to hear he’s found a club, good luck Curtis.

I wish him.luck at Gateshead. I think he will feature well at that level. I'll keep an eye on him this season.

Norwich City 2-1 Birmingham City

Wrexham 1-0 Ipswich Town (Joker)

Northampton Town 1-0 Leyton Orient

Peterborough United 0-0 Exeter City

Colchester United 0-0 Barnet

Gillingham 1-1 Oldham Athletic

Boreham Wood 2-0 Forest Green Rovers

Solihull Moors 0-0 Hartlepool United

Well that went about as well as Tranmere playing out from the back

The results:

Norwich City 1-2 Birmingham City
Wrexham 5-3 Ipswich Town
Northampton Town 1-2 Leyton Orient
Peterborough United 3-3 Exeter City
Colchester United 4-1 Barnet
Gillingham 0-3 Oldham Athletic
Boreham Wood 1-1 Forest Green Rovers
Solihull Moors 3-4 Hartlepool United

Some crazily high-scoring games this week and pretty tricky to predict, so we have no scoring records this time. But congrats to our winner this week @cheeky~k8!

@william1984 still leads, while @magpiejue sneaks back into the top three...

Stay tuned on Wednesday for Saturday's fixtures and maybe more points than today? Until then, have a good start to the week!

Barnsley 2 v Peterborough 2

Bradford 1 v Stockport 1

Exeter 1 v Wycombe 0

Barnet 1 v Swindon 2 jkr

Oldham 2 v Bristol Rvrs 1

Tranmere 1 v Accrington 0

Wealdstone 1 v Hartlepool 2

Yeovil 2 v Aldershot 1

I've had a busy week so I haven't managed to get out my abacus and count your points yet. I'll catch up at the weekend and lock this thread in the meantime.

The results for Tuesday:

Barnsley 2-1 Peterborough United
Bradford City 1-0 Stockport County
Exeter City 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers
Barnet 1-2 Swindon Town
Oldham Athletic 2-0 Bristol Rovers
Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Accrington Stanley
Wealdstone P-P Hartlepool United
Yeovil Town 1-2 Aldershot

Congratulations to this round's winner, who is once again @william1984 with a superb 15 points! Is your nickname Biff by any chance? He's followed by @Robbie and @Michael D Pie. (who may want to consider sending the ferret to the glue factory - he's dragging you down).

Having gone top for the first time last week, @william1984 now has a very healthy lead. Just about clinging on to his coat tails are @super_ram and @Robbie.

So they were Tuesday's points. Stay tuned for Saturday's points (they'll be coming tomorrow or Tuesday night). We've got our usual Saturday fixtures coming up, which I'll post on Wednesday. Thanks for playing and see you then!

What a lovely fresh and inspiring day today, as @Fan of Big Tone says, looking forward to being able to watch live for the first time in weeks (feels like forever) due to illness. Me and my boy (not so much a boy at 44) will be attending, hoping for an exhilarating performance from our team after Tuesday's disappointment. Hope you all enjoy the game and the boys do us proud.

You will enjoy your pint @Fan of Big Tone I'm sure. 🍺🥳

What a lovely morning it is today. I hope that you had that pint yesterday evening @Fan of Big Tone to celebrate such an emphatic win. A totally different team performance from Tuesday evening 👏

@Michael D Pie. I certainly did, it slipped down lovely. It felt so good to celebrate a 5 goal win, fantastic.

I’m off in a minute for my lung cancer check, I’m not anticipating any problems 🤞 as I haven’t smoked for 50 odd years but the check is free so might as well do it.

If you had to sum up the season so far you might say: a lot of industry, but not quite enough end product. It will be interesting to see if MP can find a formula that works from the resources available. And interesting to see what part Enoru and Tangen (and perhaps Luker) play in opening up defences during the run in. You live in hope ...

I've looked into my crystal ball (although it is slightly defective from overuse). It says we'll have a stronger run-in than last season, but an over-reliance on our front men to score goals will prove our undoing and we'll finish fourth. With Grimsby, Walsall, Chesterfield, Cambridge and Salford still to come, there will be plenty of twists and turns to come.

Tom Iorpenda has been a great signing, but an attacking player he is not. Hall looked like a real prospect at the start of the season but hasn't impressed me for some time now, and Grant is a good player who offers too little in terms of goals and assists. That means we're putting a lot of faith in Enoru and Tangen, a big ask of two players new to this level (and in Tangen's case lacking match practice).

I think that Notts are in a good position to clinch a playoff place, but I'm not sure that we have quite enough to get an automatic place.

In this league I just don't think that you can get an automatic place by playing a purely passing game. We've seen Notts get results recently by working hard, matching other teams for physicality, staying organised, grinding out results. & producing a few moments of quality upfront.

Take the game against Shrewsbury as an example. If Notts had gone more direct & roughed the Shrewsbury players up a bit, they might have been more successful. Notts have shown that they can play direct when it's necessary. They should continue to keep that as an option.

Yes, Platt for me too. Not many other candidates but noble effort from Grant & Macari again. Belshaw’s saves were notable and Bedeau put a decent shift in, as usual.

Disappointed by Jones, he got credit for his contribution at Bromley but he looked tentative and ineffective last night. Iorpenda faded after a lovely start, as did Tsaroulla. Overall, too timid, too slow to get the ball forward and not enough support for Dennis.

Unbeaten run had to end somewhere - pity it was due to a limp display.

I've voted for Matty Platt.

The Poll has closed. Thanks to all who voted.

Matty Platt has been voted the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match v Shrewsbury.

Disappointing night yesterday. Shrewsbury looked far better than they did early in the season - they barely strung two passes all night, but they had a clear game plan and executed it well. They sat deep, but the moment we lost possession they were onto us fast and attacked quickly with numbers. They still produced few real chances, but it looked difficult to play against.

We struggled to get behind them and seldom looked really dangerous. Platt came closest to scoring, but early in the second half I thought the game looked like a 0-0. We need someone who can take the initiative and isn't afraid to have a shot. Tangen could yer be that player, but he looked lost yesterday. Prior to joinign us he hasn't played since about October, and in hindsight it was too soon to give him his first start.

I'm not surprised to hear that it was the referee's first league match, all the contentious decisions went Shrewsbury's way. One of them was the foul on Jones, which led to a dangerous break (and, a couple of minutes later, the goal), and I think we should have had a penalty at the end.

Disappointing but we move on. Everything isn't all bad overnight, let's not forget that we've picked up 18 points in our last eight games. Let's take it out on Tranmere on Saturday.

As disappointing as it was to lose to Shrewsbury, it was only 1-0. Any team team can lose 1-0 to an inferior team especially when they approach the game with a low block and a 'survival' game plan. As @DangerousSausage says we move on, these kind of games happen in a season. A good result on Saturday and this will all be forgotten. COYP!

A point at Bromley is a point gained given their home form. Notts still have momentum. That's vital at this stage in the season.

The Bromley "kick off" sums up their style of play. Just lob it into the corner for a Notts throw in close to the corner flag. Notts made sure that the opportunities for Bromley long throws in advanced positions were limited

1 hour ago, Piethagoram said:

The Bromley "kick off" sums up their style of play. Just lob it into the corner for a Notts throw in close to the corner flag.

Yes, ever since I was a nipper I've looked to professional football for skill on the ball, technique, touch, imagination, great passing and team play. If I pay admission, that's what I want to see - or at least an attempt at it.

If I wanted to see big bruisers lump it long, I'd go down the park and see a pub side for free.

Jodi was excellent, but I went for Platt. Just thought he defended really well especially against a team that played so direct and with such a big physical forwards.

Jodi Jones, ... Dennis should have scored with one sublime ball in from Jodi

The Poll has closed.

I'm pleased to announce that Jodi Jones is the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match V Bromley. Well done Jodi.

I thought we might sign him when we were promoted as he'd impressed against us for Halifax.

We had a glaring hole at RCB, which we had confirmed for us that season. Don't know if Monty was in for him, but it was Port Vale that got him.

I think it's a bad sign that they let him out on loan when they go up. He obviously played a big role in their promotion and is on track to contribute to another this season. But we should be interested in 'upside' as they say over the pond, and Vale sending him back to L2 suggests this might be his ceiling.

As far as I know he still is @Blake. At that level, managers typically have a day job, and training will be a couple of evenings after work.

He played yesterday, so he hasn't quite finished playing altogether. They lost 7-1 though. 

It’s a shame how his career went downhill. I thought he looked promising. I rated both him and Curtis Thompson. The thing with Greg Tempest is that his grandfather’s connection to Notts was always mentioned, which put a shadow over his career. I believe it was his grandfather or great-grandfather.

Derby County 2-1 Swansea City

Portsmouth 1-2 Sheffield United

Barnsley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Blackpool 0-2 Plymouth Argyle

Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Gillingham 🃏

Oldham Athletic 2-1 Fleetwood Town

Tamworth 2-0 Aldershot

Woking 3-1 Altrincham

Derby County 1-1 Swansea City

Portsmouth 0-2 Sheffield United

Barnsley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Blackpool 1-2 Plymouth Argyle joker

Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Gillingham

Oldham Athletic 2-2 Fleetwood Town

Tamworth 2-1 Aldershot

Woking 1-0 Altrincham

Saturday's results:

Derby County 2-0 Swansea City
Portsmouth 0-1 Sheffield United
Barnsley 3-3 AFC Wimbledon
Blackpool 0-4 Plymouth Argyle
Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Gillingham
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Fleetwood Town
Tamworth 1-1 Aldershot
Woking P-P Altrincham

And for the second round running, @william1984 wins on 13 points! It's getting a little spooky now.

After three banging rounds in a row, @william1984 replaces @super_ram at the top, and with a healthy lead to boot.

That's our lot for this round. We've got another round coming up on Tuesday night, so I've already posted the fixtures for it (click here). Thanks for playing everyone!

Great Interview.

Highlights from his interview. His "beloved club," Notts County. A special time in his life, he loves the City & he loves our football club. The people are special, the players, the staff & the fans.

Luke Williams is a special Leader who got Notts back to where they belong in the football league.

Special memories for me & I'm sure they are for every other Notts supporter. I wish him all the best at Peterborough. Hope he can get them into the League 1 playoffs or even better.

What a lovely interview with a lovely man, he’ll always have a special place in the hearts of all Notts fans and in hindsight I agree with him that it was the right time for him to go it would have been a shame if things had gone downhill and our memories had been tarnished.

Good luck at Peterborough Luke.