I don't think I will end up winning, as certain players may not like my ratings 

Game 33 - The Glovers (H)

Team: Yeovil Town

Date: 20/03/2021

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 - 5.5 - Great tip onto the bar from a freekick. Tried to gift them a goal near the end. Averages out.

Enzio - 6 - Thought he was probably our most dangerous player and did a good job defensively.
Rawlinson - 5.5 - Didn't cope particularly well with strong strikers.
Ellis - 6 - Pick of the back 3.
Lacey - 5 - Needs to toughen up at times.
Miller -  6 - Scrapped and he wasn't terrible.

Reeves - 1 - Crap. He gets 1 for a good block. Too slow and always back and sideways.  Not good enough.
Doyle - 1 - So slow and cumbersome. Take a look at their second goal and look at Doyle. When runners get beyond our midfield, there's no way these pair will track them.
Rodrigues - 2 - Only gets a 2 because he was slightly better than the chuckle brothers.

Sam - 4 - Started off brightly, tried to put himself about but completely ineffective. He has a crap first touch so we decide to play into him in dangerous position, absolutely genius. Ardley slagging him off all game is an embarrassment, bet he didn't have the same harsh words for the muppets in the centre of the park.

Wootton - 3 - Didn't win anything.

Effiong - 6.5 - Came on and put himself about. Actually scored a penalty (!!).

Knowles - 4 - Rubbish as expected.

O'Brien - N/A


Ref was also terrible. Stream crap and assistant commentator (a player) was a complete muppet.


Overall - not good enough. Again. 

Sonny Carey

https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/sport/ex-norwich-city-academy-product-cant-wait-to-start-with-linnets-9075729/

Slocombe 5 - Didn't have much to do but did give me the panics when he didn't come for the ball when the defenders left it for him

Lacey 6 - Solid and got forward on occasions which was good to see

Ellis 7 - Excellent debut. Very good defensively and channeled his inner Jack O'Connell from Sheffield United, getting forward and supporting attacks which resulted in a goal

Rawlinson 6 - Solid as per

Kelly-Evans 6 - Strong in the tackle and was resilient. Was ok going forward despite the lack of end product

Doyle 6 - Not a great first half but was better in the second when he got further forward with O'Brien and won the ball. Assist

O'Brien 6 - Got forward numerous times and whilst he sometimes did give it away, he was willing to take risks and run with the ball

Miller 6 - Was always looking to support the attack but gave the ball away when he got into the final third. Should've scored late on

Boldewijn 6 - Received the ball quite a few times but didn't do much with it. Held it up ok

Wootton 6 - Should have done better with a chance in the first half when he didn't connect with it properly but battled away

Effiong 5 - Not a great first half by any means but improved after the break when he constantly pressed the Wealdstone defence

Sam 6 - Helped us close the game out and almost had an assist

i have only spoken to a few notts players, all have been very friendly but i am curious if anyone has met a footballer or ex player that has left you wishing you had not met them.

feel free to leave off their names if you wish, hints would be welcomed tho.  

It's prediction league time again - kick-off is Saturday at 3pm, you know what to do!

A  couple of you have told me that the reminders aren't working. I've no clue why, but maybe the migration messed up the following function. If you want to follow the prediction league forum, just click on this link and click the "Follow" button in the top right. If that doesn't work, the good news is that the remaining rounds are easy to remember - every Saturday up to 8 May, plus Easter Monday (5 April) and just one more midweek round on 20 April.

Middlesbrough v Stoke City

AFC Bournemouth v Barnsley

Blackpool v Fleetwood Town

Bristol Rovers v AFC Wimbledon

Carlisle United v Bradford City

Morecambe v Newport County

Aldershot v Altrincham

Yeovil Town v Woking

We beat them 3-0 at home in November. That was one of our best performances this season. 2-0 up inside 20 minutes. Wealdstone are 19th in the table. They consider an average of 2 goals per game.  They beat King's Lynn 3-1 at home in their last game. They lost to Torquay at home and drew with Sutton. They have had 3 7 goal thrillers at home so no one can describe them as boring. This is a game Notts should be winning but we are on a poor run of form. I think it will be a nail biter but Notts to prevail. 3-2 to Notts is my prediction. 

Saturdays opponents Wealdstone have new manager and assistant in place... They have been in charge for a while but now its official.....Just what we didn't want...... 

As expected, we've dipped into the transfer market to sign two loanees - centre back Mark Ellis and right back Kenton Richardson - and one permanent signing, Lewis Knight from Bradford Park Avenue.

We definitely needed cover at centre back, and Richardson's signing indicates that Golden's injury will be longer term. But the Knight signing is most interesting of all - a young, up-and-coming and mobile striker who is already in double figures for the season, so a welcome change from the thirtysomethings we tend to rely on. Hopefully he has what it takes to make the step up (and gets the service he needs).

845k views so far

Game 30 - The Shaymen (H)

Team: FC Halifax Town

Date: 09/03/2021

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.

With the relentless fixture schedule, it's time to dig out those worn-out crystal balls again. These matches all kick of at 7.00 pm (not 7.45), and remember your jokers!

Peterborough United v Hull City

Rochdale v Shrewsbury Town

Plymouth Argyle v Wigan Athletic

Crawley Town v Salford City

Leyton Orient v Stevenage

Port Vale v Oldham Athletic

Dagenham & Redbridge v Maidenhead United

Solihull Moors v Stockport County

Slocombe - 4 - Think he could've done better with their 2nd goal. Otherwise fine.

Whoever that RB was - 0 - Absolutely terrible. Every time we sign yet another fullback, they seem to be worse than the one they are replacing. Ardley is wasting the owner's money with these loan signings.

Rawlinson - 6 - Only player with consistency. 
Lacey - 3 - He wasn't great.
Barnett - 0 - Not fit to wear the shirt. Embarrassingly poor footballer.

Enzio - 4 - Wonder goal.
Doyle - 0 - Gives the ball away. Too slow in distribution, too slow in chasing their players down.

Reeves - 0 - Slows everything down to a snail pace. Absolute crab that goes either sideways or back. Kills off so many attacks by being so slow and negative. Needed time off weeks ago, but we've got nobody else. Summed himself up when it was the last chance to get the ball in the box and he slowed the play down and played the ball back to Lacey, just as the ref blew the final whistle. Clown.

Rodrigues - 1 - Rubbish. Looked a dive for the penalty. 

Wootton - 4 - Didn't do a lot wrong, but couldn't do much right with the oxygen thieves he shared the pitch with. 
Knowles - 0 - Did he win anything? Can't do simple things right, can only run in behind. Send him back.
Sam - 3 - Was better than Knowles. Even with the **** penalty.

Ardley - 0 - 0 for tactics. 0 for motivational skills. 0 for signings. I don't know how much longer I'd be willing to give him, if at all.


I won't be tuning in on Saturday. 



 

Roll up for more prediction-related fun - Saturday 3pm is the deadline, you have a joker each. Good luck!

Bristol City v QPR

Millwall v Blackburn Rovers

Oxford United v Charlton Athletic

Shrewsbury Town v Fleetwood Town

Bradford City v Bolton Wanderers

Stevenage v Harrogate Town

Chesterfield v Yeovil Town

Torquay United v Hartlepool United

Elisa Sam and even Jimmy Knowles seem to have been written off way too early, both offer something different but I can see Sam becoming a powerhouse for us. He looks match fit now, something which has made a difference with his performances on the pitch.

A few more goals from him and I would like to see him start more often with Kyle Wootton.

Thoughts?

If Kyle Wootton gets injured, that could kill our season. 

The reason for this article is with alot of games coming thick and fast the chance of our main goalscorer scorer getting injured becomes inevitable and looking at the options and facts it's quite worrying.

He has 12 league goals the next highest is 3.

Jimmy Knowles - great player but needs someone to play off - can Effiong/Sam do this in the league? 

Eli Sam - mixed bag - some games pass him by other games he's a handful capable of magic. Reliability the question mark here? 

Inih Effiong - so far not delivering much of anything at the moment. Somewhere in there is a good player unfortunately for Notts that player hasn't turned up in a notts shirt yet. 

Tyreace Palmer - young, untried, lightweight, hungry to make a name for himself but lack of any first team experience. 

So should Wootton get injured who do you choose to go up front and why? Is it a partnership or lone striker?

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/news/2021/february/golden-signs-220221/

Slocombe - 7 - Good saves.

DKE - 4.5 - Not one of his crosses caused any problems and that's not only this game.
Rawlinson - 3 - Looked knackered.
Lacey - 3 - Tired
Barnett - 2.5 - Turned inside out, positioning all over the place. Shambles of a performance. Got an assist.

Enzio - 4.5 - Doesn't offer a lot. Slows things down too much.
Reeves - 5 - Was OK.
Doyle - 5 - Overrun
Rodrigues - 4.5 - Not great. Nothing he tried came off.

Knowles - 7 - Positive and gives us width. Always takes risks when his teammates rarely do.
Wootton - 8 - Great double header. Held the ball up well.

Effiong - 0 - Absolute donkey. Why does Ardley keep bringing him on in these situations? He offers nothing apart from giving away needless fouls. 

Ardley - 1 - It's absolute gash and has been for weeks. Trying to hang on to a lucky 2-1 win against Kings Lynn from about the 60th minute - absolutely embarrassing. Let's make no bones about it, these performances are not good enough and the tactics are negative. He will come out no doubt and say his players are knackered and they've played a lot of football etc.... bore off. All teams are in the same boat and I doubt many have the squad size we have. Lots of quantity, **** all quality. 

 

The proof is in the pudding - and in this case, the pudding is a football. In that vein, the proof would be your predictions for these fixtures. These matches all kick off at 7pm on Tuesday, so that's the deadline, and don't forget your jokers. Good luck!

Huddersfield Town v Birmingham City

Millwall v Preston North End

Burton Albion v Bristol Rovers

Doncaster Rovers v Portsmouth

Tranmere Rovers v Newport County

Bradford City v Mansfield Town

Solihull Moors v Dagenham & Redbridge

Altrincham v Woking

Assuming King's Lynn actually turn up.......that's a cheap shot, but they deserve it.........

KL were a bit unlucky to lose to Notts at home and they have responded well with a win and a draw in their last 2. They hammered Barnet 5-1, but Barnet are a shambles so make of that what you will and drew 2-2 at home to Weymouth. KL have nothing to play for. They may not even finish the season. It's bizarre to say the least. It looks they are making an effort so Notts won't walk all over them I'd imagine. I think it will be a high scoring game as KL are throwing caution to the wind based on their last 2 performances. 4-2 to Notts is my prediction. 

Standing between us and a second Wembley appearance in a year are Hornchurch FC from the Isthmian League. The current club is actually a phoenix club, having reformed as AFC Hornchurch in 2005. Neither incarnation has ever played at Wembley, nor do they appear to have crossed paths with Notts before.

I don't think anyone can deny we're the favourites here, as they're the lowest-ranking club left in the competition. They also have the added disadvantage that their season has been stopped, so they'll be a little ring-rusty by the time the semi-final comes around - although that didn't stop them knocking King's Lynn, Maidstone and Darlo out. But let's not start the talk about Wembley and possible ticket allocations yet - they'll still make it difficult for us and will have nothing to lose.

Here are their goals from their quarter-final win over Darlington:

The votes are in, and while the NLN and NLS have voted to void their season, most NL clubs voted to carry on. So carry on we will, at least for the time being.

Dark clouds are looming though. Dover have already taken their ball home with them and declared that they're not going to play any more games. I have the feeling that a clutch of other clubs are waiting to see how the National League deals with them before acting. King's Lynn have only committed to playing until the end of February. The NL have the right to turf Dover out for refusing to play. If they don't, there's no incentive for half the clubs in the league to carry on, what with there being no relegation and no punishment. If several clubs are allowed to mothball their season, it could make the season difficult to finish and would dramatically alter the table.

With no fans and no relegation, some clubs could also field a youth team. It could render some games a farce.

We live in chaotic times...