Contenders for goal of the season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Mingi

Really good and strong performance

You've hopefully worked out what to do by now - predict the following fixtures by 3pm on Saturday, and remember your joker. Good luck!

Preston North End v Norwich City

Sheffield Wednesday v Stoke City

Bolton Wanderers v Portsmouth

Oxford United v Peterborough United

Harrogate Town v Sutton United

Newport County v Tranmere Rovers

Bromley v Solihull Moors

York City v Woking

I would presume that player contract decisions will have already been made and communicated

Game 29 - The Hatters (H)

Team: Stockport County

Date: 20/01/2024

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Notts 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.

Jatta totally deserving to be nominated by the PFA for March's player of the month award.

What an impact he has made 

Dear all,

Leading up to the Euro tournament in June this year, I am conducting some research looking at fans’ views towards the role of football in response to military conflict. For those interested in this topic, I have created a short survey that should not take up too much of your time: https://doit.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zZmrJfShOSBDDw 

Participation is completely voluntary, but I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this topic.

On this day 136 years ago, the Football league was formed and Notts County was one of the 12 founding Clubs.

Vote for your Notts County player of the season, link below ????

LAH - 6 - Conceded 5. Not sure if any were his fault.

Brindley - 5 - Thought he was OK, surprisingly. 
Baldwin - 2 - Slippy mc slipperson. Gaffe a minute.
Cameron - 3 - He's poor. Can't defend.

Nemane - 6 
Jones - 5 - Nothing really worked. He's useless on the right, not sure why Maynard likes him and Nemane out there.

Bostock - 2 - Completely overrun. Can't do the basics defensively and useless under pressure. 
Austin - 4 - Anonymous
Crowley - 7 - Only bright spark.

Langstaff - 3 - First touch of a serial killer and that miss, jesus wept.
McGoldrick - 3 - Didn't bring anything. 

Scott Roberson - 6 - Someone who actually put a foot in and got to grips with their midfield.
JOB - 5 
Randall - 3 - Are we sure this lad is a pro footballer?

It's Matchday 

Notts v Stockport 

Updates on the match will follow 

Who remembers this watering hole?

Good morning everyone, it’s a lovely start to the day and looking to be a fine dry weekend, what plans have you got or what have you been doing this weekend?

We are going for a walk this morning with Grandson George while his brother is at YMCA holiday club. We plan to have lunch somewhere, no doubt George will choose the most expensive thing on the menu, he usually does.

Tomorrow we are walking the streets of Nottingham with the whole family on a treasure trail, which involves working out clues as you go. Plus another pub lunch. It’s all go! I’ll be keeping one eye on the phone to see how Notts are doing.

Sunday will be a day of rest.

Have a great weekend and let us know what you are doing/have done this weekend.

Fully deserved to be named in the League 2 team of the season, Macaulay & Jodi.

End of the Statement from the Board 

"We ask you to continue your brilliant support of Stuart and the team between now and the end of the campaign".

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. 

Matchday.11am start, Day one.

Notts v Worcestershire 

Notts have won the toss and will bat first.

Team below.

Game 44 - The Saddlers (A)

Team: Walsall

Date: 13/04/2024

Where: Bescot Stadium

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.

What a fantastic season it has been for our Notts County strike force. We can safely say that we have the best in the League.

We have seen goals from every angle, whether we pass through the middle, go down the flanks or go long, our strike force has been so deadly.

What can you say about Macaulay Langstaff. Record goal scorer last season and likely to be the league's top scorer this season.

Jodi Jones who seems to get better and better each match he plays, with a record assist total in the top 5 leagues, it has been a phenomenal season for him.

Dan Crowley where everything  good seems to come through his creativity in midfield .

David McGoldrick, who came back to his boyhood club, but hasn't disappointed, forming a great partnership with Macaulay.

Aaron Nemane who is dangerous on the right and has seemed to get even better under Stuart Maynard 

Alassana Jatta, who came to Notts  in January and is now a regular in the team, partnering Macaulay, and gives Notts a new dimension up front.

A whopping 70 goals & 47 assists have come from this strike force this season, a phenomenal achievement and Notts still have 3 matches to go.

And we have Cedwyn Scott just waiting in the wings to contribute to that strike force next season.

Let's hope that we can keep this strike force together for next season but even if we lose Macaulay and Jodi we will still have a very potent strike force next season.