Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham @SteGee, I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community.

Some members might already know Ste, he's very active with representing Notts and assisting fans. He's kindly joined to help me out with something I have big hopes for. ????????????????

Thanks mate!

If Notts did well in the pre-season everyone would be hyped up about the season, but this year people are writing off the friendlies as if Notts have been dreadful throughout. Is there really a genuine concern?

I thought the York game Notts played poor, the one before wasn't that bad.

Against Alfreton Notts looked decent and able to match a side which wanted to press or get in their face.

I will wait until 10 games into the season before judging any of the players, a goal always lifts sides and losing to York isn't a major defeat. The lack of football in a league match would be but perhaps Neal Ardley wanted to see Notts play the game out of possession?

i know it wont be the same as we rely on updates online, the radio and games which are streamed. at least we have a club, players and owners who want to move the club forward. the history is always being written, after the upset of losing in the playoff final, it would be nice if we can be stronger over the course of this season.

i am eager, ready and excited about the upcoming season.

IT STARTS TOMORROW. not long now!!  

Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham @CurtisNCFC,

Thank you for joining to help me out, I appreciate it. Soon quite a few other members will be saying hello and, welcoming you too. Good to have you on board.

Let's pretend that we can judge based on pre-season games and a FA trophy loss to Harrogate Town....

Round 1: Rose v. Reeves

- Reeves started very well, but against Harrogate and York today, he was average/poor. Having said that, he could just have the edge on Rose for me at the minute, just...

Verdict: Reeves

Round 2: Crawford v Sloth

- We've hardly seen anything of Sloth. What we did see he was largely OK.

Verdict: Unknown.

Round 3: Sam/Knowles v  Dennis

- Sam looks a very worrying signing. Absolute garbage today and hasn't been inspiring any other game either. Looks like a basketballer trying to play football. Knowles is raw. Can't see these 2 replacing Dennis' goals. The combination of signing an unknown foreign player and an untested 18 y/o from the bottom end of L2 is looking like a terrible decision. 

Verdict: Dennis. By a country mile.

Round 4: Pilling v Fitz

- Fitz was a great shot stopper but couldn't catch a cross or control his area to save his life. I'm seeing some similar traits from Pilling.

Verdict: Unknown

Round 5: Booty v Rodrigues

- Booty showed a lot of promise. I heard he was still training / trailing with us, not sure what happened to that. The injuries he suffered really put the brakes on his Notts career though.

Rodrigues has shown plenty of glimpses that he can really play. At times when the tempo is increased, he looks a bit shocked and uncomfortable, but that's something he will adapt to. Has all the basic ingredients to be a success here.

Verdict: Rodrigues

It's currently HT. 0-2 York.

I can't remember the last time we were so poor. As has  been common in this pre-season, we are again in a diamond and again it isn't working. The build up play is sooooooo sloooooooow, I think a pub teams over 35s will manage to get 11 players back behind the ball before we even get out our own half.

The quality of our passing is shocking. We have not troubled them once, have we even been inside their box?

Get a ******* grip Notts!

26 September was the day on which William II was crowned king of England (in 1087) and on which Albert Einstein introduced his theory of relativity. More importantly, however, it's the day of round 3 of the PON prediction league.

So, as usual, simply post your predictions to the following carefully selected fixtures no later than 3pm on Saturday, 26 September. You have one joker each. Good luck!

Cardiff City v Reading

Derby County v Blackburn Rovers

Fleetwood Town v AFC Wimbledon

Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic

Swindon Town v Burton Albion

Cheltenham Town v Grimsby Town

Salford City v Forest Green Rovers

Southend United v Morecambe

Very simple, who do you consider to be the best player from the following positions - plus who is the most hardworking.

Keeper:

Best - 
Most Hardworking -

Centre Back:

Best - 
Most Hardworking -

Wing Back:

Best - 
Most Hardworking -

Midfielder:

Best - 
Most Hardworking -

Winger

Best - 
Most Hardworking -

Striker

Best - 
Most Hardworking -

Perhaps, this will lead to an healthy discussion on the depth of the Notts squad. Along with some appreciation for players who do their utmost to represent the club. 

Slocombe 7 Solid, looks an EFL keeper

Brindley 4 Never confident in defending, to be able to read the game

Chicksen 4 Too many misplaced passes, hurried

Rawlinson 6 Top Man

Graham 6 King Pin at the back

Doyle 5 Tried to instigate things

Reeves 6 Good but midfield look like strangers

Roddy 7 Some good glimpses of things to come

Thomas 4 Just not sure, whether another year is catching him up

Wootton 5 One feels he should be doing better, needs to up the work rate

Roberts 6 Marked man and dispatched with a cynical tackle

It's time for round two! The rules are the same - simply add in your predicted scores, nominating one joker, by 3pm on Saturday. It's only the second round, so there's still plenty of time to get involved if you missed the first one. Good luck!

Middlesbrough v AFC Bournemouth

Rotherham United v Millwall

Charlton Athletic v Doncaster Rovers

Shrewsbury Town v Northampton Town

Oxford United v Sunderland

Crawley Town v Scunthorpe United

Exeter City v Port Vale

Newport County v Barrow

Due to rising Corona cases, is the current news circulating. The argument is that NL clubs can't survive without crowds.

This really is beginning to frustrate me now. What have the authorities been doing since March?! A rise in cases is expected, we have to learn that we must continue with life and live with this virus. If you look at the sheer density of fixtures, a delay of even 2 weeks will cause havoc. A delay of more than a month, you can forget about finishing the season in its present format. 

I know that BT Sport have some arrangement with rights to broadcasting etc..., but surely some deal could be made where clubs can stream live to their fans for a price, with a small percentage going to BT if needed?  This revenue from streaming won't replace matchday revenue, but it will allow the season to progress even when the cases of the virus are high.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/portsmouth-fc/former-portsmouth-and-notts-county-man-lines-local-non-league-side-2977340

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/news/2020/september/away-kit-launch-160920/

Glad to see that Jake Bugg is back on board. For me it's decent, I prefer the home kit, but that is usual. Could see it being a bit bright for some?

A fantastic interview with Paul Mace:

https://writeupkb.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/same-old-england/

Many happy returns to @ARLukomski, hope you and @meg_walshx have a great day.

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/news/2020/september/adam-chicksen-signs-100920/

Not a massive surprise, but nice to get it over the line and really gives us depth across that back line:

RB:
Brindley
(Kelly-Evans)

CB:
Rawlinson
(Graham)
Lacey
(Turner)

LB:
McCrory
(Chicksen)

That depth will obviously help with the well publicised Saturday-Tuesday schedule that we are faced with for the majority of this season. Bolton fans (at least on their forum) were surprised to see him released and thought he was a decent player, despite their own tricky season. Bradford fans (again on their forum) thought he was dreadful, probably partly due to him being part of the season they finished dead last in L1. Again, this is still two steps above where we are at the minute, so even a poorer L1 LB will be better than most of what you will find in the NL. 

 

Foden and Greenwood have been sent home from the England camp and will not feature in the game against Denmark tomorrow night.

Both lads were deemed to have broken protocol by meeting girls at the hotel.

There's a video doing the rounds supposedly the girls on the phone to them arranging the meet. 

Now I understand that boys will be boys and these lads have a lot to learn. But, there is this 'Pandemic' going on so they should be remaining in their 'Bubble' anyway. Secondly, they're on England duty and have a responsibilty to conduct themselves in a specific way having been given the chance. They may not be given another chance based on this and there future could be hampered by this. 

Southgate & Harry Kane should of done more as Manager and Captain, they should have been roomed up with experienced players as opposed to eachother for guidance. 

Was just checking the Notts site for the fixtures and lo and behold a new signing!

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/news/2020/september/knowles-signs-100920/

A young striker on loan from our second-dearest neighbours (not sure how I feel about that). Very young and little first team experience, but you could say the same about last season's loanees and they did pretty well.

A proper old school name too...

Does anyone know much about him?

Can't say he impressed me overly against Ilkeston at LB, but apparently he is a CB? He played again against Alfreton, seemed to do OK.

Does anyone know much about him? Is he close to pushing for a place in the first team squad? 

I've done some googling, and it seems that he was at Chesterfield's youth team, and played against Knowles a year or so ago:
https://the66pow.blogspot.com/2019/08/mansfield-town-2-v-chesterfield-2-efl.html

Maybe somebody that pays closer attention to the YT knows a bit more about him?