@Piethagoram that's what I've been saying consistently on here since I joined

but he's earned the right to stake his claim thru Nov/Dec...January will probably be a pivot point for our attacking midfielders.

For now, he's trying his best and giving us much more than last season and is ahead of other contenders for those shirts for the time being I think

I hear what you are saying @theAnticlough but the reality is, if we want automatic promotion, we cant carry a player in that position that doesn't deliver goals.

I've said that countless times myself @Piethagoram ! You must have missed the umpteen times I've made exactly that point

For now though, I'm happy to support him as we look to gather enough points to put us in a good spot come January.

Obviously Hall is ahead of all AMs, but in the absence of Luker, Grant is worth one of the AM shirts, bearing in mind that Iorpenda hasn't notched a single senior goal yet, and looks better playing deeper.

I think that it is a big opportunity for Notts to consolidate their position in the top three on Saturday against Harrogate.

Notts have won their last three league matches against Harrogate so they will be keen to extend that record against them.

Harrogate are a possession based side who like to build from the back, but I would expect them to be very defensive minded & employ a high press & wait for the Magpies to make a mistake defensively. It's a similar tactics that all opponents tend to resort to at Meadow Lane.

I expect Paterson will pick his strongest side available, but he will be pleased that the replacements played so well last Monday against Cheltenham.

Martin may even decide to pick the starting eleven that faced Cheltenham. I think that Notts will get the win. I'm looking at a 2:0 win with Jatta & Hall the goalscorers

Top of the form table v bottom of the form table and the possibility of Martin Paterson and Jatta being announced as manager and player of the month. Talk about tempting all the fate here!

That said, by the sounds of it Harrogate will do well to put 11 players out for Saturday. From reading an article about them and the build up for this match they have a number of injured players I think about 8 as 3 players limped off in their trophy match this week. 2 players are on international duty one being their top scorer Duke-Mckenna (you need 3 to postpone) and Jack Evans who played all 15 matches previously has 5 yellow cards so is suspended for them.

We could well be in a situation where we can make 5 subs and don't really lose any quality and Harrogate are bringing on academy players. That's the way it goes sometimes but it looks like there's not really a better time to play Harrogate right now.

50 minutes ago, menzinho said:

Top of the form table v bottom of the form table and the possibility of Martin Paterson and Jatta being announced as manager and player of the month. Talk about tempting all the fate here!

That said, by the sounds of it Harrogate will do well to put 11 players out for Saturday. From reading an article about them and the build up for this match they have a number of injured players I think about 8 as 3 players limped off in their trophy match this week. 2 players are on international duty one being their top scorer Duke-Mckenna (you need 3 to postpone) and Jack Evans who played all 15 matches previously has 5 yellow cards so is suspended for them.

We could well be in a situation where we can make 5 subs and don't really lose any quality and Harrogate are bringing on academy players. That's the way it goes sometimes but it looks like there's not really a better time to play Harrogate right now.

What could possibly go wrong.

It's a "meh" from me. I don't really see the point of it, but if people like it, good for them.

I like the idea of using the single magpie as a motif, it's just a shame we didn't do it for the away shirt so it could actually be seen during matches.

Yeah I’m not overly fussed about it, I like the navy trim matching the sponsor and pattern but the outline of the old magpie badge just looks too basic considering it’s a special fan shirt.

It just looks like an away kit to me, the sponsors and current badge don’t really give it a special one-off feel. I’d have just used the old magpie crest in place of the current crest so it wouldn’t be so prominent and then designed a retro patterned shirt with a one-off unique sponsor.

But it's selling and clearly quite popular so what do I know?!

1 hour ago, menzinho said:

But it's selling and clearly quite popular so what do I know?!

Indeed, it’s selling and I guess that’s the name of the game, over 700 sold at £50 a pop, I guess I shouldn’t be negative about it but I really don’t see the point.

So I was examined and they can’t be sure whether it’s cancerous or not so they’ve got to do a biopsy which involves punching a hole and extracting 4 mm of tissue which is sent to a lab for analysis. Should be early December, so that’s something to look forward to……NOT!

@DangerousSausage good luck with your fourth doctor I hope they can sort you out. I’ve had a doctor sit and search my symptoms too, I remember thinking I could have done that myself! I guess they can’t know everything though.

Just got back from a nice walk in the sunshine, it’s clouded over now so I think we’ve had the best of the day. I was going to see my pal in hospital but he’s been discharged which is great news he’s been in for a month.

Here’s a picture I took in the local park, a lovely golden carpet of leaves.

Oh, apparently it’s too big so not allowed, I’ll describe it, imagine an Avenue of trees a path running between trees on each side, the trees still have some lovely golden coloured leaves on and the path is covered with a carpet of leaves. (Not quite the same as a picture is it. )

@Fan of Big Tone and @DangerousSausage the best of luck to you both with your medical issues.The waiting for appoinments and results is very stressful .I hope Notts performances and results help keep your spirits up.

My choice is Jon Stead who played for Notts from 2015 to 2019, he made 162 appearances for Notts & scored 42 goals. He then transferred to Harrogate & played for them from 2019 to 2021 making 46 appearances & scoring 8 goals.

I’m going to go for the obvious one; Rod McDonald. Probably the best small fee signing for years. This is tricky, genuinely can’t think of many players here. The only other I can think of (here’s a little clue for someone who is maybe scratching their head) currently plays in League One…

Burton Albion 1-1 Blackpool

Luton Town 2-1 Rotherham United

Accrington Stanley 1-1 Bristol Rovers

Cambridge United 1-2 Barnet

Grimsby Town 2-2 Chesterfield

Braintree Town 0-0 Truro City

Hartlepool United 1-0 Wealdstone

Woking 1-2 Boston United Joker

Burton Albion 2 v 1 Blackpool (Joker)

Luton Town 2 v 0 Rotherham United

Accrington Stanley 1 v 1 Bristol Rovers

Cambridge United 1 v 2 Barnet

Grimsby Town 3 v 1 Chesterfield

Braintree Town 2 v 0 Truro City

Hartlepool United 0 v 1 Wealdstone

Woking 1 v 2 Boston United

Burton Albion 2 - 0 Blackpool

Luton Town 2 - 0 Rotherham United

Accrington Stanley 2 - 2 Bristol Rovers

Cambridge United 1 - 1 Barnet

Grimsby Town 3 - 1 Chesterfield

Braintree Town 1 - 1 Truro City

Hartlepool United 3 - 2 Wealdstone

Woking 3 - 0 Boston United(Joker)

Strands #620
“Out, damned spot!”
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Strands #620
“Out, damned spot!”
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🔵🔵🔵🔵 Very good had to think about this one.

Strands #620
“Out, damned spot!”
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The spangram words jumped out at me ,which was a great help

Connections
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#waffle1392 3/5

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Wordle 1,608 3/6

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

I'm pleased to announce that the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match against Cheltenham is Scott Robertson.

Any one of a number of players could have won the award, it was a great team performance, congratulations Scott Robertson.

It was a close vote for the Top spot between Nick & Scott. Scott has been putting in some great performances of late so I'm pleased that he won. It was richly deserved.

Notts are the form team in the League so both have an excellent chance of getting these coveted award's. Good luck to both of them.

Just now, Robbie said:

Notts are the form team in the League so both have an excellent chance of getting these coveted award's. Good luck to both of them.

I just hope it doesn’t put a curse on us as these awards often do, how many times have we seen manager of the month lost the next few games.

Weather 4cast for Tuesday.

Your Wednesday Weather 4cast.

Your Thursday Weather 4cast.

You can’t beat a good Sunday roast my favourite has to be lamb, Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes, brocolli, garden peas and of course mint sauce made fresh from the mint growing in the garden. My mouths watering writing this.

I picked up a copy of Left Lion at the Fleetwood game and it felt like the paper version is going downhill fast. I know it's free, but it used to shine a light on everything going on in the city. The Notts content was stronger when the previous writer was involved. It felt easier to connect with and had more of a local voice. Now it seems a bit distant and not quite as engaging.

7 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

A great read. 👏

Our form is even more impressive when you consider how poorly we started the season, with one point from our first three games and MP not having a clue what his best team was. The quality of football we play is still up and down at times, but the new additions look integrated in the team now and the results speak for themselves.

It's partly about availability. At the start of the season Jatta was suspended, Robertson, Tsaroulla and Ness recovering from injury (I think), and Macari and Hall not considered match ready. So basically MP has been doing a brilliant job since he's had key players available.

@Robbie you make a good point about the missing players against Cheltenham, when I saw the team I feared we might suffer but the first half performance in particular was very good so it shows that we can rely on the players who come in to give a good account of themselves when we have injuries and suspensions, at the moment the future looks bright, long May it continue.

Can't see the opening post.

In jest, did Gagliardi get Roos and Roefs mixed up😉

36 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

That’s a shame I thought he was doing a half decent job there.

Alan Sheehan's overall managerial record at Swansea City across all competitions was 17 wins, 10 draws, & 12 defeats from 39 matches, a win percentage of approximately 43.6%. He served in two spells as caretaker manager and then as the permanent head coach. (Source Google)

Seems even a decent record doesn't save a Head Coach nowadays.

I'm sure it won't be long before he's snapped up by another league club.

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@NottsTastic you’ve got 2 followers now. 👍

We’ve played with a variation of a 3-5-2 (3-4-2-1) for years now and it’s worked for us so far. Also when you look at the teams that were promoted last season Bradford, Port Vale and Wimbledon all played some variation of a 3-5-2 as well.

Every formation has its strengths and weaknesses, I think the 4-4-2 covers the pitch well but you can be overrun in midfield if you face a team that plays with 3 centre mids or a box midfield. With the 3-4-2-1 we are very solid in central areas but it demands a lot of the wing-backs because they almost have to do the job of two players and they sometimes get pinned in if facing a full back and a winger.

I’m not overly concerned with the formation, I think it works well for how we want to play, the two attacking midfielders and two central midfielders mean we should be able to get a lot of control in the middle of the pitch and dominate. Sometimes I just wish the wing-backs play a tad higher, they were really deep under Stuart and that seems to have followed on with Martin. Maybe Luke Williams has warped my mind as to how wing-backs should play (because under him they were basically wingers!)

I think the approach to how you play is probably more important to us and that is to be brave (not sit too deep) play forward and be relentless with the press to pin-teams in. We’ve done it in phases and stages this season, just in the last two matches the intent and bravery hasn’t quite been there for me but there's no reason to suggest we can't get back into a positive approach.

Top post @menzinho 

These days I think a radical change of formation is a summer thing or an act of a struggling, desperate team. Our squad has been assembled and prepared for 3-4-2-1 this season. As you said it's served us well since 2021. The variations can come from 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2, the height of the wingbacks and many other subtle moves the coach can make.

And there's the thing that always seems to happen on the rare occasions we've played with a back 4 or something different, the players look really unfamiliar with it and the impression given is that they think the formation is being evaluated and not them.

I think there are times when we should try to stick to our main formation, but I would like to see Martin Paterson be braver to change things when it's not working. I give Paterson credit, as he does appear to read games well and will make changes that do make a positive impact, and compared to Stuart Maynard, it doesn't lead to the feeling we are to salvage a point from a game we were winning easily at one stage.

Personally, I think there are times when we should be looking at the opposition and thinking of formations that will give us the ability to hold the ball and press. There have been away games where Notts have stuck to their formation, and you just know nothing is going to change.

Barrow away earlier in the season was one of the worst games I have ever seen. 5-10 minutes in, you could tell Barrow would pressure us. I think there was some hope from our managerial team that they would tire or Notts would get to grips with it. However, nothing changed, and that a game switching formations going into the game could have put Barrow on the back foot.

We tend to rely on quality, and even when playing well, we can be very predictable to the point that teams can sniff out an opening. Persisting to think one style will succeed and that there's a one-size-fits-all formation for every team isn't the way to play. I acknowledge we do at times switch things up, but not enough, and I don't think we are consistent.

That is one major issue with switching formations, because if a routine doesn't get the best out of individuals, mixing things up could lead to further complications. In general, I do think it would be worth trying. The Matt Dennis and Alasanna Jatta duo looked promising at Tranmere Rovers, but a few games later, along with the absence of Dennis, it was dropped.