Crowd 19,978 and me!

Occasionally, circumstances may prevent members from frequently posting on the forum, or they might leave for various reasons. The recent increase in former members and the sad news regarding Who r ya?? You Pies!! has triggered some personal reflections.

Which PON members have you been missing lately? For instance, I have noticed that our invaluable contributor @Super_Danny_Allsopp hadn't posted for quite some time. I enjoyed reading his views on games, as he offered valuable insights, made common-sense arguments, and demonstrated a thorough understanding of how Notts played and how they could improve. I also recollect a young lad by the username @weymouthPIE. I found pleasure in reading his tales of football and, certainly, his thoughts on Notts.

What about you? Just in case they may be lurking, who do you miss?

Coronavirus do you think it will spread further into the UK? Every 5-10 years, something like this happens but it's the first thing the media here has me concerned about.

Some Shrewsbury supporting friends were saying Cotterill doesn't much like the new director of football club structures

Well, the weekend is here again. Now as you regular readers will know Friday is curry night in the BigTone household, well we are breaking with tradition because my tummy is still a bit delicate from a Norovirus bug, so we’ve got a nice bit of braising steak which has been sitting in the slow cooker all day with some onions, we are having it with celeriac mash. If you want a healthy non fattening alternative to mash potato try celeriac it’s an ugly looking thing but tastes lovely, available from Morrisons.

Tomorrow I’ll be listening to the match, I don’t feel fit enough yet for a park run so I’m giving that a miss.

Not sure what’s happening on Sunday yet.

So what are you up to this weekend? Travelling to Wrexham? Shopping? Time with family? Let us know in this topic. Let’s chat.

One of the few rumours I heard on Friday is that. Charlie Colkett the player we signed on loan from Crewe, has become injured. Has anyone else heard this?

He hasn't seemed to play much football for Crewe, so I am more inclined to believe he's not quite ready for football due to his match fitness. I haven't really heard much else about him and I have trawled through online to see if this has been mentioned on social media - if it has, I haven't seen it.

As I'm sure you all know, 17 February is Ed Sheeran's birthday. But anyway, these intros are a bad habit that'll probably give you the shivers. Enter your predictions by 3pm on Saturday - not forgetting your joker - and see if you can multiply your score and make the A team!

Bristol City v Queens Park Rangers

Huddersfield Town v Hull City

Lincoln City v Exeter City

Peterborough United v Blackpool

Crewe Alexandra v Harrogate Town

Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers

Hartlepool United v Boreham Wood

Kidderminster Harriers v Dorking Wanderers

Apologies for not doing this for a while what with holiday and illness I’ve been very lax. A bit later than normal but still time to get plenty of links posted.

So for any new members the idea is we try to think of any links between Notts and Wrexham, whether it’s players, management, owners or tea ladies.

I seem to remember a player with the nickname “Rooster” who played for us and Wrexham, can anyone jog my memory?

How many more links can we find?

We’ve had a horrible few days, I think we picked up Norovirus on the plane back from Lanzarote.

Mrs. T started first in the early hours of Saturday night, sitting on the toilet with a bowl on her knee for three hours, then on Monday night it was my turn, believe me I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. It’s lasting longer for me, the vomiting has stopped but I’ve still got diarrhoea just less frequently.

Sorry for all the detail I hope you aren’t having you tea reading this.

It cheered me up when I heard last nights results though. 

Game 33 - The Exiles (A)

Team: Newport County

Date: 13/02/2024

Where: Rodney Parade

What line-up should Stuart Maynard opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

After the dissapointing result at home to Gillingham yesterday, I just want to remind everyone that we are not out of the playoff picture just yet.

Yes, we might have dropped out of the playoff places, but I believe we can still be optimistic about Notts making the playoffs. 

We have 16 games left. 
If we can win 10 or 11 games of those 16, with a draw or two mixed in, 75 or 76 points could be enough to scrape into 6th or 7th place. We could still lose up to 5 more games & still make it. Teams around us are dropping points too, so that target of 76 points could decrease. It may be too much of a tall order, but it is still possible.

We have an attacking force that everyone in this division fears. 

Gillingham set up the way they did because they feared is. We conceded goals in the same old way again, but I'm confident Stuart can turn things around. 

We played Mansfield off the park in the first half and we should have won that match.

Newport away next, time to reset and try to get a positive result there. They too will be afraid of us and will set up accordingly.

We only need a couple of wins & they'll be a different atmosphere around Meadow Lane again.

Can we make 7576 points? Yes, it's still possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for another midweek prediction league round. Get your predictions in by 7.45pm on Tuesday night, don't forget your joker and try not to get more points than me as it makes me mardy. Cheers!

Birmingham City v Blackburn Rovers

Norwich City v Watford

Charlton Athletic v Lincoln City

Leyton Orient v Northampton Town

Accrington Stanley v AFC Wimbledon

Colchester United v Grimsby Town

Halifax Town v Maidenhead United

York City v Dorking Wanderers

Game 32 - The Gills (H)

Team: Gillingham

Date: 09/02/2024

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Stuart Maynard opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

The final matches of the Africa Cup of Nations for 2024 will be completed this weekend.

Saturday 10th February

3rd & 4th place playoff.

South Africa v D R Congo

Sunday 11th February 

Final

Nigeria v Ivory Coast 

The host nation, Ivory Coast are the surprise team of the Africa Cup Nations tournament this year.

They go into the final against Nigeria as clear underdogs, but they will be spured on by their fanatical home crowd.

It's been on my list to watch since it came out months ago but I finally got round to watching the David Beckham documentary on Netflix and last night I finished the final episode. 

If you haven't already watched it, I urge you to watch it. It's definitely one of the best documentaries I have ever watched. There's a reason why they split it in to 4 episodes. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

I already had the utmost respect for Beckham but after watching this documentary my respect for him just grew and grew with each episode.

People forget just how good David Beckham was back in the day. People, mostly the younger generation, see him as a player that was just a great set piece taker. He was far more than that, he was a key to both England and Manchester United and this documentary fully highlights just how important of a player he was and why he was/is still so highly rated.

Most of you might remember the 98 World Cup but after hearing some of the things Glenn Hoddle said about Beckham before, during and after that World Cup you'll have a slight dislike to Hoddle and the way he "handled" the situation. As for Simeone, well lets just say you'll really hate him with his comments on the incident.