There's been a lot of calls on social media for his departure, if you've read Twitter at all - there's fans with their handle as BurchnallOut (hash tagging it too).

Its a bit more self-destruction if anything.

The Reedtz brothers won't sack him this early, I don't think he should either (despite his appointment/start bring very underwhelming).

My personal thoughts so far, he's desperate to have a few of his own signings in the squad. He hasn't really influenced the players and performances haven't been great either.

Hopefully, the win over Sutton can be a turning point.

Yet the departure of Ross, I had hoped someone experienced with assisting Burchnall would come in.

I think the squad has suffered poor form due to pressure, it's a confidence thing for me. It wasn't Ardley, Burchnall might be okay in the next campaign but the signs so far don't look promising.

Some fans have stated facts about the amount of wins, compared to defeats, but we need to face it that this season is out of our hands. We can only hope we can make the most of the chance of reaching the play-offs, knowing Notts - we'll still do it or miss out after losing to Weymouth.

Give Burchnall time, Ardley haters got him out but at what cost?

Maurice Ross..... GONE.... No explanation....... My thought is the wrong 1 as gone!!!!! 

Game 43 - The Bees (A)

Team: Barnet

Date: 08/05/2021

Where: The Hive Stadium

What line-up should Neal Ardley 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.

Game 42 - The U's (H)

Team: Sutton United

Date: 03/05/2021

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Neal Ardley 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.

Slocombe - 7 - We miss him everytime he's injured. Excellent shot stopping and command of his area.
 

DKE - 4.5 - Love the blood and thunder of DKE, but it's daft to make that challenge in the situation. 
Rawlinson - 5.5 - First goal isn't his fault as he is isolated against the fastest man on the pitch. Still looks uncomfortable on the right of the back 3.
Ellis - 6 - Collectively need to defend their 2nd better. Won his fare share in the air and gets the penno.
Chicksen - 6 - His good touch and ability to pass help as part of this back 3.
Miller - 6 - He was actually pretty decent going forward. Typically naiive at the back to get the yellow.

Doyle - 5 - Not his finest game. Some key passes, but he's at fault for the first where he just stands on the ball. His lack of legs to get back quick enough exposes us at times.
Reeves - 6 - Looked a lot better going forward and being positive. Gives DKE a hospital pass for the second off.
Rodrigues - 10 - What a player. They didn't know what to do with him, absolutely immense performance.

Wootton - 6.5 - Anonymous in the first half, improved thereafter. Very happy (and relieved) he gets his goal. Got absolutely nothing from the ref and probably unlucky not to have a second (ref again!).
Knowles - 2 - A boy playing a mans game. 

Subs:

Sam - 6 - Not polished, but put himself about and helped in freeing up Wootton. Marginal call for the offside goal.
Brindley - 6 Got forward well. 
Turner - N/A


 

Apologise for the members who have tried to post since yesterday, but wasn't able.

The cache system had corrupted and, required clearing.

Thanks to @DangerousSausage for bringing this to my attention, the issue should be resolved for everyone. If you can't post, please clear your browsers cache as this may affect parts of the site which requires JavaScript to work.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/notts-county-tylor-golden-salford-5353331

Game 41 - The Robins (A)

Team: Altrincham

Date: 01/05/2021

Where: Moss Lane

What line-up should Neal Ardley 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.

Steele 5

Rawlinson 5 More confortable in a back 4. One horrendous loss of possession could have cost a goal

Ellis 5 More comfortable on the ball

Turner 3 Thank you and goodnight. A mistake in possession waiting to happen

Brindley 5 better 1st half than 2nd

Barnett 4 Loses concentration at the back

Enzio 4.5 For all his talent, just mentally not up for the fight. One scuffed shot in a promising position

Ruben 6 Great free kick over the wall. Only player capable of ghosting by his man

Reeves 4 Swuare ball square ball repeat...

Doyle 4 legs have gone and so has his influence on the game

Wootton 5 Holds up the ball, yet another good chance missed

Subs

4 Chicksen...even when space ahead he just checks inside. Mistake at the back nearly cost us again

4 Knight ..little evidence to see where all his goals for BPA came from

4 Knowles First touch as bad as Eli's

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56869497

Just check the BBC published formation?

Just two more rounds to go! Kick-off is 3pm on Saturday, and remember your jokers!

Luton Town v Middlesbrough

Brentford v Watford

Peterborough United v Lincoln City

Accrington Stanley v Charlton Athletic

Forest Green Rovers v Tranmere Rovers

Newport County v Cheltenham Town

Halifax Town v Stockport County

Torquay United v Eastleigh

Eastleigh came to ML 2 games ago, hardly broke a sweat, and left with the 3 points. That was one of the poorest performances by Notts this season. There was signs of improvement last Saturday, ruined by the conceding of a late goal against 10 men which cost us 2 points. Eastleigh are level on points with us but we have 2 games in hand. A win for Notts would be a big blow to Eastleigh's playoff hopes. I expect this will be a cagey affair but I have a feeling that Notts will sneak it. 2-1 to Notts for me. 

Steele - 3.5 - Should be saving the second. Comes right across him at distance.
DKE - 5 - OK enough.
Rawlinson - 4 - Only mistake of the game really, and unfortunately his keeper couldn't bail him out. Bit unlucky.
Ellis - 4 - Bit of a salmon at times defending balls into the box.
Turner - 3 - Accident waiting to happen. Lets Griffiths mark one of their tallest players and stands there with his arm in the air. Donkey.
Chicksen - 5 - he was OK.

Reeves - 2 - Thought he played well first half. Reverted to type in the second. ******* terrible.
Doyle - 7 - Player.
Griffiths - 5 - Goal not his fault. There's 3 of them that palm that tall Eastleigh player onto him. 

Knight - 5.5 - Wasn't terrible, tried to make things happen, still a bit raw.
Wootton - 1 - The one is for hold-up play. Jesus christ... what is he doing. He actually made me laugh out loud with some of his finishing attempts. You even know that it was him who headed a ball from a corner even if you didn't see who headed it, purely based on how far it ended up away from the goal.

Subs - N/A.

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/news/2021/april/torquay-goal-260421/

Welcome to round 44 of the prediction league! If I had $2 billion of funding I could rename it the Super Prediction League, but unfortunately JP Morgan aren't returning my calls The matches kick off at 3pm on Saturday, don't forget your jokers and good luck!

Blackburn Rovers v Huddersfield Town

Coventry City v Preston North End

Lincoln City v Hull City

Ipswich Town v AFC Wimbledon

Carlisle United v Harrogate Town

Exeter City v Newport County

Halifax Town v Bromley

Solihull Moors v Yeovil Town

Game 40 - The Gulls (A)

Team: Torquay United

Date: 24/04/2021

Where: Plainmoor

What line-up should Neal Ardley 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.

As any of you not living under a rock will know by now, 12 "elite" clubs have pulled off an unparalleled show of arrogance, greed and hubris by announcing a breakaway European Super League.

You probably don't need me to tell you that the format is rubbish. The idea of having 15 founder teams that are always present spits in the face of sporting merit, especially when you consider that several of these clubs don't even quality for the Champions League regularly. And if they have 38 Money League fixtures plus the Premier League, the inevitable result is that they'll send what is basically a B team into the Premier League. It'd make a total mockery of the competition.

Of course, the American owners of Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool don't care about any of that. They want to secure a place at the top table forever, no matter what.

Now is the time to show backbone. UEFA and the Premier League do at least have the clout to kiss this scheme dead, and the government also seems willing to take action. It is so important - right now we don't really know how many people are going to be returning to the stadiums, and grotesque nonsense like this could motivate many to turn their back on the game completely. But I think and hope the dozen have overplayed their hand - maybe the time has come to finally roll back the tide of corporate influence in football and give fans a real say, maybe roughly in line with the ownership model in Germany.

From a Notts perspective, I can't help wondering how many promotion places would be up for grabs if the dirty dozen are expelled from the PL. And why didn't we think of the "founder members can't be relegated" wheeze back in 1888?

Another Slocombe injury.

Notts sign 36 year-old Luke Steele.

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/news/2021/april/luke-steele-signs-200421/



Sorry to be negative again, but what is the point of this? If Pilling isn't good enough, why have him on the books, especially that in the case that Slocombe is injured, we immediately bring in another keeper. Don't get me wrong - I don't think Pilling is up to standard on quite a few areas - but what message does it send to backup keepers? We don't even use them as bench warmers, essentially Doyle is our backup keeper!

I had exactly the same feelings when we brought in the 20 right backs, of whom none contributed in anyway. 

Even if Steele is a revelation it won't change my feelings - if we don't put a keeper on the bench and sign another player the moment our number 1 is out, there is no point of having Luke Pilling. 

First of all, I was Ardley in. I didn't want him to be sacked and whilst I was frustrated with performances, I didn't think he should've gone. He should have had till the end of the season at least. 

However, performances were becoming a concern. Since the start of 2021, we only played well against Dagenham and Yeovil and the last 20 against Solihull (h). I didn't think we'd win the league but probably would have slotted into 5th or 6th. He wanted us to take risks and gamble. He said it a lot in his pre-match and post match interviews that's what he wanted us to do but the team, more often than not, failed to step up. 

We needed to commit more players forward, find ways to defeat the high press and release out of our feet quicker. We needed to press the opposition back and give them more to think about as there is more players forward. This would've given us more options to pass to in the final third, which means a higher chance of putting a chance away. We needed to sign an upgrade on Rose to help us with this to allow the connection between the defence and attack but we recruited the wrong type of player in Reeves. We also never replaced Kristian Dennis. Knowles is raw and untested and instead of a 19 year old unproven talent from up the A60, we needed a goalscorer. Playing one up top has done nothing to help Wootton, as he thrived off playing with Dennis in a two man front line. In my opinion, the Ardley signings were Reeves, Chicksen, Pilling, Knowles and Wolfe and the Football Radar signings were Rodrigues and Sam (not counting Sloth cos he wasn't really here). There really should have been a more closer look into scouting methods. Let Ardley and his staff scout and let FR scout and then come together to compare to determine who we exactly is the best fit. 

Going back to carrying out instructions on the pitch. One word. MENTALITY. The thing that has been lacking at this club for what seems like an eternity. Ardley and Burchnall want us to take risks, get forward and press the opposition back, but we have this mentality of sitting back, inviting pressure and letting them come on to us when there is no need. It's like we're constantly worried that if we concede or make a mistake it's the end. There's no urge to have a go and take risks and take the game to the opposition and press them back into their penalty area. There's no mindset to rise above what the opposition will throw at us and come out with our just rewards. There's nothing there saying "no matter what happens, we will win." There's no mindset of we will win no matter if we play well or not and there's no belief. There's no standards and no motivation to keep on going and to run our socks off for the club. All this talk of "we want to go up cos it's a big club and we want to get the club back to where it belongs" is just talk. Show us you want to because in the last few games of Ardley's tenure and so far Burch's reign you haven't. 

I've stopped feeling angry about it tbh. It isn't even a numbness inside. I just don't feel anything. I don't feel attached. I love this club and I am never in it for the just the glory, but this is unacceptable. I may have not been there for the past eras but it's disrespectful to the past legends. It's disrespectful to the legacies of Sirrel, Warnock, Bradd and Masson and many others who helped build the history for this club. Show you care and sort it out because we can't carry on like this. 

I think you all deserve an apology from me.

Back in 2012, my then girlfriend (now wife) took up crocheting. She found that she enjoyed it, and one day she presented me with a crocheted magpie. It was nearly all black and to be honest looked more like a crow, but it's the thought that counts. It took pride of place on my work desk. We were in the top half of League One at the time and had players like Alan Judge and Lee Hughes in our team. Life was beautiful. My wife got bored with crocheting and never bothered to make a second one for me. One for sorrow.

Then bad things started to happen. We began to circle the drain in League One and eventually went down. Alan Hardy took the club over. I changed my job, took my now-dusty single magpie home, put it in a  drawer and forgot about it. The unthinkable happened - another relegation. We reached a play-off final, but ultimately couldn't overcome the power of my lone crocheted magpie. And now we lose against Solihull Moors.

Recently I found the sole magpie again and realised, to my horror, that it's all my fault. I have begged my wife to crochet a second magpie (two for joy). Then we will definitely turn the corner and climb the leagues again. What could possibly go wrong?

Welcome to the last midweek prediction league this season. The matches kick off on Tuesday at 7.00pm (with the exception of the Bananarama Conference Alliance matches, which kick off at 7.45pm). You know what to do by now. Good luck!

Preston North End v Derby County

Sheffield Wednesday v Blackburn Rovers

Accrington Stanley v Doncaster Rovers

Shrewsbury Town v Wigan Athletic

Colchester United v Southend United

Mansfield Town v Scunthorpe United

Chesterfield v Halifax Town

Wealdstone v Maidenhead United

We're also underway in Germany now - we've had the first round of the German Cup (DFB Pokal) and the Bundesliga started at the weekend, while the lower divisions have already been in action for a few weeks. Summer football feels strange, but this season feels a bit special to me.

The Bundesliga has long since turned into the dullest division in my opinion. Despite the lack of top-class transfers up to last week's capture of Philip Cotinho, Bayern Munich are the overwhelming favourites to win the league yet again. Only Dortmund have a serious chance of overtaking them. Eintracht Frankfurt just missed out on the Champions League last season, have been hit by the departures of Jovic and Sebastian Haller and Rebic and Gacinovic are also trying to engineer a move away. I doubt they'll trouble the top of the table due to the burden of a Europa League campaign, but they're good for a cup run (see below). Unfortunately the Bundesliga is blighted by a number of plastic clubs no-one really cares about (RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg) and which are likely to be in or around the European spots again. At least Cologne are back to bring a bit of colour and noise to the league.

Bundesliga 2 - with Hamburg, St. Pauli, Stuttgart, Hanover and Nuremberg, the second division has a number of real heavyweights more used to life at the top level. Will they monopolise the promotion spots or will Holstein Kiel or Heidenheim make a bid? Last year's promotion race was an incredibly tight race, with Paderborn ultimately winning a second successive promotion, so I'm not making any bets here. "Interesting" stadium experiences can be found at Darmstadt, with one stand under construction, Karlsruhe, whose ground currently consists of a pile of rubble and some temporary stands, and SV Wehen, who are likely to be outnumbered by away fans most weeks.

The 3. Liga is the one I'm really into as my favourites SV Waldhof Mannheim have finally won promotion into it after 16 years in "amateur" leagues. The season here is already a month old and Waldhof sit in fifth, unbeaten and with an average crowd in five figures - happy days! For the first time in 19 years, Waldhof have also moved above their rivals, the six-time German champions Kaiserslautern, who could be in for another difficult season. The league also boasts names such as 1860 Munich, Eintracht Braunschweig and European Cup Winners' Cup winners Magdeburg. Almost every opponent is an interesting one, even lesser supported ones such as Bayern Munich II (sigh) and KFC Uerdingen (an obnoxious little club back by a highly wealthy but highly volatile Russian owner who sacked their manager when they were third in the league, then sacked his successor as they slid towards the bottom of the table. Also employers of Kevin Großkreuz).

And of course there was the German Cup the weekend before last. This is seeded so that teams from the third division and below get a higher club at home. The first round passed without any major shocks, with the exception of fourth division side SC Verl's win over Augsburg As a reward for their efforts, they'll play the decidedly unglamorous Kiel in the next round. And Waldhof Mannheim played Eintracht Frankfurt in front of a sell-out crowd of 24,000, who brought their first team and very nearly got knocked out! Below I've shamelessly posted a couple of videos - the first shows the general atmosphere (whoever filmed it must have been standing close to me), the second the goals (plus loads of replays - it was the only one I found that enabled embedding). Enjoy!

Right then you lot. These matches kick off on Saturday, but at the earlier time of 12.30pm. So get your predictions in nice and early - they won't be counted if they're sent in too late Otherwise, the rules are the same as always. Good luck!

Middlesbrough v QPR

Stoke City v Preston North End

Burton Albion v Plymouth Argyle

Blackpool v Sunderland

Carlisle United v Port Vale

Newport County v Cambridge United

Chesterfield v Bromley

Dagenham & Redbridge v Solihull Moors

Game 39 - Spitfires (H)

Team: Eastleigh

Date: 17/04/2021

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Neal Ardley 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.