On 09/06/2026 at 14:31, theAnticlough said:

Ruben would've walked straight into the troublesome AM slots, no?

I don't think so, he's a good player but we have changed a lot since he was last here. His style of play would probably mean tweaks to how we build up, as a means to get him the ball. He wasn't the type to drop back for it; he would drift somewhat but unlike Connor Grant and others, there's no way he would play deeper just to get the ball. That's just my opinion; it would have presented too much at a time when we needed consistency.

Whilst I rate Ruben Rodrigues, and acknowledge his incredible talent. I don't quite think he's the Championship or higher quality that some think he is. That's fiar, everyone sees players differently but I think he will be quite average for Bolton next season.

I hope not, as I like seeing ex-players doing well.

Well, the challenge is right there ahead of him @Chris and he'll get another crack at the championship soon enough.

Oxford struggled, but switching from Des Buckingham to Gary Rowett was bad news for Ruben.

Two goals in the play-off final gives him a platform, and it's a bigger club with a better chance of establishing themselves. He must have a very high level of motivation, and I think it's going to stick this time. He'll have improved since he was with us and that elite, specialist talent of his doesn't grow on trees.

54 goals (from midfield!) and god knows how many assists, (plus those many 'hockey assists' when he's the one to put the likes of Nemane thru to cross) in just 3 seasons, and he missed almost half of the first one due to Ardley. He was an absolute machine of goal contributions for us. And 3 Wembley final wins in 4 years! 4 goals, 2 assists (at least)...an amazing record (Grant can't hold a candle to him IMO)

There used a to be discussions on what level he could reach. Well he already played Championship under Buckingham, and he's back there again. I think you have to say that's the level he reached.

i hope we can see that some times slow seasons build and the win at wembley has been one of the proudest moments as a notts fan. to hear some talk notts were going to get relegated and i think martin paterson won people over through hard work. there are some who dont seem to like when notts are doing well, i find it hard to believe they are notts fans. the battle was really against us at times with form and injuries, but we crossed the line.

i would rather notts builds for life as an established leag

Thank you @Piethagoram for the pictures once again, I have always wondered what the way posts indicated.

This marker is on the Camino de Santiago route that starts in Hirtshals, Denmark. Hirtshals is one of the northern starting points for pilgrims travelling through Denmark and Germany before eventually reaching Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

It is right what is said, you learn something new every day and that is a bonus.

Thank you also @Fan of Big Tone for your contribution to photo of the Year. Mother and cygnets enjoying calm waters, how wonderful nature is at times. So sad the father didn't make it, I'm sure he would be proud of them all.

Rather a dull start to the day today and much cooler, I have completed my chores down at the stables and had a lovely walk back home. Just bitting and bobbing for me today, might run the mower over the grass (what's left of it) and tidy everywhere up, then prepare for the game this evening 🤔 Come on England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

hope everyone is getting ready for tomorrow and for the new season, i am looking forward to it. it should be good. it will be nice to have a routine outside of work as its all i do right now. not complaining, i love my job and feel lucky to have it.

1 hour ago, Fan of Big Tone said:

I was only 14 when we won the World Cup and I wonder if we’ll ever win it again in my lifetime.

At least you were witness to one of the best finals, and our greatest achievement. When I was 14, David Beckham got sent off for tripping Diego Simeone. Then the "Golden Generation" that let us all down, at least we are doing better even when we are not exactly brilliant.

I am also sick of all this complaining about Jordan Pickford, he kept us well within touch of staying in the game making several very good saves. Their winning goal, defensively we just closed down and whilst his positioning was the best. Jude Bellingham should have done better for the first, and then the whole defence except for Djed Spence should have been more swithced on.

Lucky @Fan of Big Tone and @Chris. When I was 14 we hadn't even qualified!

On 07/07/2026 at 21:01, Robbie said:

Why is it then with every Argentina match there is controversy with VAR along with the Refereeing? VAR should be abolished. It's killing the game.

lowest cards given per fous

I think the Newport supporter quite likes him 🤔

he looks a good addition, i like that we are signing reputable players from teams that have voted or given them senior roles in their teams because they should have the right character we need.

17 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

Though perhaps Notts get the paperwork muddled again(perhaps like the wrong Traore) , and we are signing Matt Baker from BBC Countryfile🤣

my dad actually joked about us signing him, but referred to him as being a blue peter presenter.

He looks physically stronger than Conor Grant and if he has similar technical skills, we could be onto a really good signing.

I think he's a no risk signing for Notts. He has potential & there is plenty of room for improvement. If he can't get into the first team squad, he will be loaned out possibly to a League 2 club.

if we play him and dont expect unrealistic expectations, i think he should grow in the role and prove to be a good signing. he seems level headed, he looks to have the ability but settling down is important. he needs to make notts his home, and we need to support him. i think its great that we have the depth in midfield. we will need it in league one.

Details here

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1QB2wszokR/

Ah, according to Viborg FF it's being shown on their official YouTube channel. Great day of football coming up on Saturday then!

I checked the Randers website but couldn't find any mention of a stream. We don't play them until the week after though.

i hope next season we lineup more local friendlies, and drop the overseas games to once every two years. i thought about trying to book time off from work to watch them, but decided against it.

Some cricketer. He once refused to give me his autograph, but it was a Notts County programme I thrust in front of him so I think I can forgive him. (got in free to a Nottinghamshire game after a Saturday match and saw a Derek Randall masterclass).

i am not that much into cricket but i know his name, and remember hearing it. its a shame to learn that he has passed on. i send my condolences to his family.

I don't like the front, the back or the sleeves. The stripes look horrible. The rest of it is fine. I'll spend my money at the Nest.

Can we at least have white socks?

It reminds me of a Sheffield Wednesday shirt from the 90s with a big white panel on the front.

Next season, let's go back to good old fashioned black and white stripes.

its okay, i can understand that the club is trying to do something different. i dont dislike or love it, i think the kit is pretty average. i dont like the training wear, it looks awful and low quality. puma seem to be focusing on more on the weird designs than the quality that they had previously.

I agree @Sheffield Pie Martin fully understands we are light both in squad numbers and quality. I'm pretty confident the club know what we need to competitive in League 1. His call for patient from the fans was particularly noted. I hope his words help us all to keep calm and excited about what lies ahead.

Thought some of the youngsters advanced their cause, namely Reynolds for his shooting ability and Hazard

Good to have a friendly against Randers. Maybe we'll get Celdic next season.

17 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

Thought some of the youngsters advanced their cause, namely Reynolds for his shooting ability and Hazard

Do you reckon Reynolds will feature this season? I'm starting to feel quite sorry for him, he only plays for us in pre-season yet he must have some potential.

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I guessed all the words (23 out of 23) in today's Combinations puzzle.
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Can you guess this puzzle?
https://combinations.org/

Connections
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45 minutes ago, Graham said:

When the time eventually comes to say goodbye to Jatta - and who knows when that will be, I think Paterson will be looking for a replacement whose skills and strengths match Paterson in his playing day rather than a Jatta mark two. So, a clever and quick striker who works exceptionally hard, makes good runs and who presses well and has a physical presence. Langstaff would have been perfect but that ship has sailed of course. Whoever it is you can guarantee that very few of us will have heard of them. Acquah was signed as more of a hold up/link striker - more akin to Ndlovu. The Jatta replacement will, I believe, be a very different kettle of fish.

I don't think Langstaff would be a Patto player. Sure he's intelligent, but he's more of a poacher, more akin to the likes of Inzaghi etc but Patto has a reliance on strong players. I'd guess that Acquah is more of the striker that Patto wants to start.

I think it'll be quite telling if he's not involved against Forest. He's behind the rest in terms of fitness so he'll need to get minutes on the pitch. I've always thought Jatta was pretty happy here though, especially considering we've turned down bids in the past I'm sure he could've pushed for a move if he wanted one.

I don't think Notts would accept a bid of £500.000, only to make a little profit on him. I am sure there will be clubs interested in paying more. I also think the Reedtz might not want to see him competing against their own Danish club.

Personally, I can see the club holding onto him until January.

We have a tendency of reaching agreements with players, that once we can replace them the club will accept incoming bids that reach the evaluation we place on him. We have this every season since regaining promotion to League Two, and whilst I do feel Alassana Jatta does want to move on. I think, at last I hope he will see that we are in a position where he could attract bigger interest if we prove he's ready for League One or higher.

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@Chris Some players "have it" in front of goal... Dennis looked a complete shadow from January onwards...Ndlovu is like a Tony Agana...holds the ball up well but cannot score.

It puts enormous responsibility on the other forward players to score.. and if you play Grant...it makes it even harder

i dont think there is much value in didzys wages, he does not score the goals by himself and its a team game. i am not saying he is not worth what he asks for, that is his decision but i do not see the value for a player of his age. his goal tally is more from dropping down a level and being an exceptional player at l1 and l2 level. i would rather pay an upcoming striker that has resale value, than a player who could retire at any stage.

i am not saying he is not a good player, i just dont think the money reflects good business.

If you're still not over this, you're near Retford and you fancy watching Matt Tootle kicking him all over the pitch for 90 minutes, you could do worse than to call by at Retford United this evening.

"Regarding the merger of ITV and Sky I’m not sure whether it’s a good or bad thing really but I guess it’s inevitable."

The real danger is that the ultimate shareholders (American) insist that more American content is put on to British tv, at the expense of local UK tv production companies.

That’s a good point @Piethagoram that would be a bad thing, I much prefer British made programmes than some of the American rubbish I’ve seen on other programmes.

https://bsky.app/profile/piethagoram.bsky.social/post/3mqlca3oois2u

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

Only time will tell 🤔⚽️

I felt a little surprised and dubious of his existing stats, but I reminded myself that we have taken players who haven't had a strong previous goalscoring record but have managed to score. Some players don't have the strength in depth from team mates in terms of quality, and the style we play does make it a lot easier for a striker just to finish chances.

Sometimes it's unfair to pass judgement before allowing a player to settle, and I am more inclined to trust the recritment because we have done far better with finding strikers under the Reedtz era.

Personally, I can't write him off and I won't. I am nervous that if he doesn't settle or do well, that we might end up struggling in this area rather than adding to the problem. I will only try to encourage him, and give my fullest support in the hope that he does prove to be a great signing. Some players thrive in the right environment, and I would hope that we can help with making him feel at home, instead of feeling like he needs to win us over.

If he works hard, puts the effort in and contributes towards keeping us in League One or pushing forward that is all I can ask.

I just hope all the negativity surrounding him doesn’t affect his confidence before he has had time show what he can do.

@menzinho The finances refer to 2024/2025 season. Port Vale had been an EFL1 club.

A reminder to all that Morecambe, FGR and Carlisle have slipped quickly from EFL1 to National League status very quickly.

There's no way on earth Salford should be spending as much money as they have been, compared to other clubs their spenditure is a lot more alarming. Whilst I don't like seeing how much the likes of MK Don's spend, they have a bigger fan base and better infrastructure overall.

Fleetwood's figure has my jaw on the floor, no wonder they have been getting a lot of scrutiny.

2 hours ago, Pies79 said:

Now sure anyone seemed to have a stand out performance but it is early days, I thought Palmer looked good and quite involved throughout.

Is Jones in Denmark?

He should be, he's been ill so didn't travel with the rest of the squad but was due to fly out today.

I agree no-one really had a stand out performance. In terms of the new boys Gibbons looked pretty solid in at RCB and I thought Lipsuic was lively going forward, a tad suspect defending at times, but not bad for someone playing out of position. It was a bit tougher for Cal, I think he's more suited to being on the ball than chasing it!

It's difficult to draw too many conclusions from this given the opposition and the players we were missing. We looked a bit more cohesive than during last year's tour as we had fewer trialists in the squad. I find pre-season friendlies a tough watch a lot of the time, but if MP is happy we should be happy. Looked like a decent mob of Notts fans too, maybe a hundred? It's hard to tell as they were quite spaced out.

Re Jatta, he's got a Gambian passport so he's going to have these issues wherever he goes. I don't think it's a surprise, it's probably the reason why he was given more time with his family in Gambia.

I obviously don't know how competitive Viborg played, as I didn't watch the stream but I think the final score doesn't leave any concerns. It's a run around, and the players are still getting their fitness levels back. To be honest, I thought they might score more as we tend to see how we do out of possession and I can imagine they do have a fair bit of quality in their team.

From the comments I have seen from those who managed to go over, Notts gave a decent account of themselves.

@Piethagoram enjoy the game, give them a cheer for us.

I’m off to do a park run soon, hopefully before it gets too hot, I’ll be checking Notts score later and later still watching England of course.

COME ON YOU PIES!

COME ON E-N-G-E-R-L-A-N-D!

Thank you @Piethagoram for the array of beautiful pictures from Viborg Cathedral, looks like it's definitely worth a visit.

2 hours ago, McPie said:

Regarding Emile Acquah, the comment below from the site that's leading the rumour puts the situation into proper perspective. He would not be coming in as a main striker more to fill the squad with depth with the hope Martin Paterson can improve him. As it says a low risk signing. I would fully expect someone like Michael Mellon to be sign to gives a real goal threat.

The Verdict: Acquah signing is a low-cost risk for Notts County

With Acquah’s minimal experience in League One, combined with his poor form over the last couple of years, this signing is uninspiring for Notts County.

The things that work about it are simple: cost and depth. The Magpies lack depth up top that can match the profile of what they already have, Acquah does that, and does it for minimal cost. It is more than likely that this is a signing for bodies and profile, rather than immediate goals.

The upside of signing Acquah is still there, aside from his profile. The forward is 25, still has room to grow and will no doubt see this as a big opportunity, something he should relish, hopefully bringing his performances up a level.

It’s a risk, but a calculated and relatively cost effective one. Notts County need bodies that make sense to the way they play, Acquah is exactly that.

Unless Jatta or Ndlovu are sold, I doubt we'd need four strikers unless we're shifting our formation. I'd hope for Mellon personally over Acquah. If we sign Acquah, it kind of guarantee's that Jatta is staying and Ndlovu is back up.

2 hours ago, piedestrian said:

Unless Jatta or Ndlovu are sold, I doubt we'd need four strikers unless we're shifting our formation. I'd hope for Mellon personally over Acquah. If we sign Acquah, it kind of guarantee's that Jatta is staying and Ndlovu is back up.

There is Traore to factor in as well. So there could possibly some outgoings. I think there would have to be if we are chasing Mellon. Also taking into consideration injuries, loss of form and suspension, not withstanding playing at a higher level. 4 strikers might be needed.

Yeah a trio of low scoring strikers behind Jatta doesn't fill me with confidence going into next season right now, but hopefully that will all change by the first match.

For whatever reason Traore hasn't worked out and it's a massive gamble (probably not a good one) to expect him to come good in an even tougher division than last season. I still think we need another striker that can genuinely push Jatta for a starting spot.

Patto mentioned after the Alfreton game, we effectively could not compete for signing Langstaff back. We missed out on Didzy seemingly over wages. We look likely to have a bottom 4 budget at this rate and also we have the conundrum of Jatta with a year left on his contract. Loan market to #Notts will be crucial come August

21 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

Patto mentioned after the Alfreton game, we effectively could not compete for signing Langstaff back. We missed out on Didzy seemingly over wages. We look likely to have a bottom 4 budget at this rate and also we have the conundrum of Jatta with a year left on his contract. Loan market to #Notts will be crucial come August

If the gossip is true, those two would have set us back 20,000 pounds a week. They were out of reach for most other clubs too. All the same, I expect our budget to be one of the smallest next season, and a chunk of that is being eaten up by Roos and Traore as well.

agents wage expectations likely to drop only at beginning of August, as season fast approaches