My own preference is for sweet potatoes nowadays. Although succumbed to a chip cob whilst waiting for trains at Lancaster yesterday

My mum would always cook fish and chips on a Friday. I didn't like fish as a boy because of the bones, but my mum would bake a steak pie, so I would have my chips, pie & mushy peas ( home made mushy peas), every Friday or alternatively fish fingers

@Robbie as a boy did you call your mother mum or mam, mine was always mam, I thought mam was common locally or perhaps it was just me.

It seems to have gone out of favour now.

Preston North End 1-3 Leicester City

Swansea City 1-2 Sheffield United 🃏

Leyton Orient 2-2 Stockport County

Reading 1-0 AFC Wimbledon

Barnet 3-2 Walsall

Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Gillingham

Aldershot 0-0 Boston United

Hartlepool United 2-0 Braintree Town

Thanks for playing everyone, I'll post the points tomorrow.

A heads-up - there will be another round on Tuesday evening, so I'll post the next batch of fixtures tomorrow morning!

The results:

Preston North End 2-1 Leicester City
Swansea City 1-0 Sheffield United
Leyton Orient 2-2 Stockport County
Reading 1-2 AFC Wimbledon
Barnet 1-2 Walsall
Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Gillingham
Aldershot 2-3 Boston United
Hartlepool United 2-0 Braintree Town

@Blake , @Countyman , @Dan , @OoooooTommy and @theAnticlough share the honours this week, congrats to all of you!

Overall, @magpiejue reclaims top spot from @JustLikeJuve whie @Blake joins the top three...

If you can't wait to get your crystal ball out again, you're in luck - there's another round on Tuesday night and the fixtures are online now. See you over there and good luck!

Update

Update

Update

Penalty to Peterborough

Update

Notts fall to defeat against Peterborough after leading at half time.

Another fine goal for Didzy for Barnsley on Saturday.

I really wish Didzy would stop rubbing it in by scoring great goals and showing what a huge mistake it was to let him go.

He’ll keep scoring while he can still run and perform well enough. But once his legs go, and they will, he’ll realise that age catches up with all of us. You can’t rely on willpower alone to keep going.

He’s a good player, and I’m glad he’s doing well at Barnsley. I did wish he was still here, but he’s not, so that’s the end of that discussion.

The only thing I want to say is, if David McGoldrick is taking shots at Notts with comments about the game being simple, or saying things about stats and being too focused on data, it doesn’t look great. Even if I agree with him that football is simple at heart, it’s not a good look to say those things publicly.

He seems to have aged quickly at Barnsley too. Does anyone else think that? His face makes him look a few years older than he actually is.

A couple of things:

I think it's not felt right since Jason Turner passed away. The club has felt more robotic and operational since then, which isn't a bad thing, but makes despondancy seem larger when it's somewhat faceless.

Secondly, even though a large portion of the pre-season comms were about "the final say is gonna be made by the head coach", given that he was obviously third/fourth choice, I doubt they even consulted him when say Bass left nor when Roos came in.

It's slightly overwhelming for MP is my guess that there was/is a sign of structure/ways of working, but it's not working, or if it does, we won't know because it needs time to gel (just like half of our team).

I'm not completely crestfallen, but I felt let down by Maynards appointment and his lull at the beginning and end of his tenure was only qualmed because he has amazing talents in McGoldrick and Jatta. This time around, MP has Jatta to effectively put all his hope into and prays that it works out, because mate, you're 4 into that 10 games that most people are giving you and you ain't painting anything in glitter apart from a day old ****.

MP knew what the system was before he took over but it's clearly not working. He's got 1 hand tied behind his back. Give him the same role as SM and see what he can do. The technical group is a nonsense idea IMO. It immediately limited us in terms of who would be willing to join us. The owners need to bit the bullet and end the nonsense. Let MP manage and then we'll see what he can do.

Some people outside this site are acting like we’re already 15 games into the season. I do understand the disappointment and concern, but it’s still very early days. There are a few who seem to enjoy being negative, and it shows in how they talk about things. It’s good to see some sensible suggestions being shared, though. I don’t mind reading thoughts like the ones in this thread because they’re fair and make sense.

I do worry that with a new head coach, changes in staff, lots of new players, many of them on loan, and not much time for the squad to settle, it’s going to take extra effort to get things right.

There’s no excuse, though. We need a win, and that has to come in the home games. Martin Paterson will be an easy target for criticism, but I think the delay in recruitment and appointing him hasn’t helped at all. The club needs to work harder to fix this and show the fans who like stirring things up that progress can be made through teamwork.

it a shame we did not extend his stay, but i wish him well at newport county. i think if they give him the time he will prove to be a great signing.

Glad he's found another League club, this could be a good signing for them. Hope he gets the regular games he needs and scores some goals against our rivals!

I'm all for the Technical Board, throughout my Notts supporting life, I sometimes cringed when a manager brought in his best mate to assist. A "yes man" that would not threaten the top job

If Notts get promoted, the Technical Board will be a resounding success. If Notts don't get promoted, many will question it's usefulness. Let's see what happens at season's end.

There is an old adage in business, and football is a business when all said and done, 'if two directors agree, then you have one director too many''.

So the Technical Board, or whatever you call it is an essential part of a clubs structure. Robust discussion is essential for success.

Prefer the Great British banger myself..

The best ones are fresh from the butcher's, but even their supermarket sausages have much more meat than our version.

Sorry, but sausages are one area where they're far superior to us. But on the other hand, we've got sausage rolls and pork pies. They've no idea what they're missing out on.

I confess I’ve never visited Germany and never eaten their sausages, we are considering a cruise that visits Germany in 2027 so I’ll try them then.

They were a very imposing sight, visible for miles around. You could also see West Burton (which is still standing) in the distance. I remember watching coal being sent there by train back in the day.

It's sad to see industrial heritage being lost, but there's not a lot of point maintaining disused cooling towers in a field somewhere. In the end, the power station was used for 20 years longer than intended and has been earmarked as a site for a nuclear fusion test plant.

Shout-out to the folk who turned up to watch the towers at Ratcliffe not being demolished yesterday!

"keep stress to a minimum"...one more dodgy pass from the keeper may finish me off😉

Fear Not Death,

For The Hour Of Your Doom Is Sealed,

And None, May Escape It.

Viking Saying.

It Doesn't Matter What You Do In This Life, Once Your Time Is Up Your Time Is Up.

53 minutes ago, Wheelbarrow repair man said:

It Doesn't Matter What You Do In This Life, Once Your Time Is Up Your Time Is Up.

I don’t think that is true, my brother used to say that so he drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney but sadly died of a massive stroke aged 55.

I agree with @Robbie we can make life style choices that give us a better chance of living longer.

It's pretty harsh to blame Maynard for not taking Jatta off, as far as I remember he wasn't even on a yellow. And can you imagine the outrage if he'd subbed him?

As for the other point, too much is made of our data-driven approach sometimes. If we only looked at data, we'd never have appointed Paterson or Williams. I would hope someone is scouting our new players too!

At the end of the day what is done is done. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it is time to move on. Didzy has his opinions & everyone should respect that. I thought he spoke a lot of sense,

Whether all the data available plus the technical board can get Notts promoted in May, we will find out in May. If we don't get promoted there will no doubt be changes at the club.

If things are going well up to Xmas, the fans will be happy & hopeful of success, if things aren't going well, plenty of fans will be unhappy & will be calling for changes before the end of the season.

I'm Not Blaming Maynard For Not Taking Jatta Off Simply Stating His Lack Of Experience. Being Moaned At And Criticized By The Fans Is Part Of The Job. . But What I'm Trying To Get Across Is The Fact Data Can't Predict, Human Emotions Or Reactions, The Jatta Sending Off Was Just An Example Of This.

sorry, @Robbie. i could not make the game due to work and i did not listen to it either. that is why i have not voted. 😥

I voted for Tom Iorpenda. I think he's going to be a good acquisition for Notts

The Poll has now closed. I'm pleased to announce that Tom Iorpenda has been voted the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match against Wigan.

Perhaps one for @Dry Nelson Ray to write

1 hour ago, DangerousSausage said:

Everton move into their new stadium this year, they have a competent manager and are not short of a bob or two. This season will mark a fresh start for them, and Grealish is an exciting signing.

They are still very much strapped for cash due to overspending previous seasons, though that doesn't stop Premier League teams from accumilating debt and spending more money.

Their new chairman should be able to invest, but Everton won't improve all that much.

They need to invest too much to compete with the upper table, and I doubt they'll even make it past mid-table. Which is a shame, because Everton have some talented young players, that could prove themselves.

Personally, for Jack Grealish this will be a loan to other clubs to say "come get me".

His price tag and potential current wages might lose bidders, but if he does well for Everton even though I don't fancy them to do well in the league table standings. It could be his way to attract a german club to come in for him. Dortmund reportedly expressed interest in him; however, his salary became a significant hurdle. I guess Everton might be willing to contribute more to Man City as a means to get a good player.

It's a better move for Everton, than it would appear to me for Jack himself. Though, I wish and hope he does well because he's too good for them.

i would have thought one of the top six teams would have thought about trying to make it a loan to buy move, he could do well with somewhere like spurs or chelsea. though i do agree with @Chris, that a return to aston villa would be magical. maybe when his contract runs out? i dont know how long is left on his city deal.

imagine moving for 100 mil and then resigning to your former team on a free, that would be the ultimate way to stick it to pep.

plus the experience gained whilst away could further help villa with their ambitions.

though its a big signing for everton and i just hope they look after him, because he has the magic to produce goods for any team.

@liampie, I'm Fairly Certain that David Moyes knows he has a Talent on his hands, and being from the Old School of Managers, will know how to look after Jack and get the Best Out of Him. Moyes is a No Nonsense kind of Coach, so he'll make sure Jack concentrates on his Football and Not partying, but I think in that Regard Jack has (hopefully) Grown up and put all that behind him. He'll know this is a Chance for him, to Force his way back into the England reckoning, and erase the Hurt he felt after being left out of the England Euro's Squad.

@Chris .The Victorians were a Pretty Morbid Lot and seemed to have a Fascination with Death. It's a well known fact that Queen Victoria wore Widows Tweeds for the Rest of her Life, after the Death of her husband the Prince Consort, Prince Albert. She also commanded her Lady's in waiting to lay out a Clean Shirt and Albert Shaving equipment as if he was still alive. Death Jewelry was also a Big Thing in the Victorian Era, this was usually in the form of a Brooch or Pendant with a Lock of the Deceased Hair was placed.

53 minutes ago, Wheelbarrow repair man said:

Death Jewelry was also a Big Thing in the Victorian Era, this was usually in the form of a Brooch or Pendant with a Lock of the Deceased Hair was placed.

This I can understand, as it's very common for parents to keep a lock of their babies hair when it's first cut.

Though much of the other stuff is very morbid, which explains why they had a fasincation with Jack the Ripper and all those type of things. Re: Death card, a fortune teller once spoke at my school and they said that the tarot card for it wasn't always a bad sign. Not that many believed her, but I have heard it spoken in films and TV.

Queen Victoria wearing all black is probably the saddest anyone could look for the rest of their life.

I Do enjoy writing about Other Subjects has I think it brings a different perspective and hopefully Interest to the Site. And I also learn things.. @Robbie for instance I didn't know about the Ace Of Spades also having some Positive vibes. Going through my collections of Books (remember them?) the Ace Of Spades always seems to have Negative stories associated to it. And I Certainly didn't know about Football Mourning Cards, so Thanks for that @DangerousSausage

@Chris I remember my Eldest Son used to have a blonde Curl in his hair when he was a little Un. His Mum cut it off and Still keeps it Safe. Some Parents also keep their Child's first tooth, Not sure if the Missus did that, but I'm sure my Sister did when her First Kid lost their first tooth. Another thing New Parents do is keep a News Paper from the Day they were Born. My Youngest Son was Born the day after the Bocastle flooding, you may not remember that, because it was 21 years ago tomorrow. All the National Papers carried the story the following Day the Day He was Born. We also have a copy of the Nottingham Evening Post from the Day of His Birth.

There we've added a Little Bit of Light heartedness, to my Thread of Morbid (but hopefully Informative and Entertaining) story of the Ace Of Spades.

On 05/09/2024 at 17:09, menzinho said:

When Greg returned to be Neal Ardley's new assistant I was pretty shocked to be honest as I always felt his style of coaching was the complete opposite to the Bros vision, no surprises they didn't last the season...

Totally agree @menzinho Never thought for once he fitted into the Bros "technical coach" category. Always thought he was a comic sidekick to Derry. 

he was a bit of experience and someone the players could get behind, with derry being the more techinical minded. its a shame it did not work out for shaun derry but i did like greg abbott. i am glad hes still involved in football.

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

A positive.....when we went down two nil, and we made a subsitution I said "Let's see if he can make a goal from a subsitution". Within ten minutes the sub had scored.

A question.... what is the Plan B when there is a high-press like Salford had on us on Saturday? Cloughie was the first to do it on the first season back back in League 2, when the stags beat us 4.1. since then, when a team emulates them with a high press, we have little options, and as evidendenced on saturday, team can conjure a goal by putting us under pressure, forcing errors from defence and goalkeepers alike.

what is Plan B in that scenario?

As I understand it Scotty, when the opposition play with a high press, they leave space behind which we need to exploit. The problem is when players in that situation panic and just hit the ball long aimlessly, you concede possession and usually the defenders use that space to start another attack. It would seem rather that just hit long balls aimlessly we need to find a way to pass forward through the lines to players who can received the ball on the half-turn and use the space to our advantage. Of course we are talking about league 2 quality players so this is not easy. That's why league two games are often a war of attrition. The survival of the fittest and strongest and not always pretty to watch.

@Scotty . I Don't Think Notts have a Plan B, and that's been obvious since Notts have returned to the EFL. However in past seasons the Magpies have had a Decent Strike Force, which have gotten Notts out of many a Sticky Situation. This Time Around Notts have No Credible Strike force and Teams have already started to work out the Notts system, because the Magpies still play Tippy Tappy Football, that's why the Owners should have appointed a Head Coach with Vast EFL Experience on his C.V. and left him to Run the Team his way, without Interference from the Director Of Football or any other members of the Notts Higher Ups.

Some may not see it this way. I think that Martin Paterson turned to a plan B in a subtle way when he substituted three players in the second half of the Wigan match.

When he replaced Jones, Cotter, & Grant with Gordon, Hall & Dennis, it gave the Notts side much more imputus, movement & intensity.

The team looked much more balanced & cohesive. The problem was, as I saw it, he should have made those changes half way in first half & the result might have been different.

Was it a plan B to change the shape or formation? No. Was it a plan B to go more direct? No. But it was a plan B to make Notts more effective going forward by giving them more movement, urgency, & making their attacks more effective.

Whether it was by accident or design, it nearly worked.

I have implemented scrolls into both of the themes.

Don't know how to change how the site looks?

At the very bottom of the site, you will find a footer with a row of links. "Theme" | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Cookies

Click on the theme and choose from there. In the future, a third option will be added.

Thanks @Chris . I've always preferred the lightweight theme for my mobile. I also use the dark screen mode as well as the default screen mode.

@Robbie, the lightweight theme does the scrolling thing in a different way. I made them transparent until pressed on both desktop and laptop. I also made it so that they don't interfere with the footer/copyright.

With the default/main theme, it is only transparent on mobiles because of the lack of space at the side. On a desktop, they show to the side.

These can be useful when you are scrolling long pages, something I missed from v4.

The results:

Oxford United 0-1 Portsmouth
Stoke City 3-1 Derby County
Exeter City 4-1 Blackpool
Mansfield Town 1-2 Doncaster Rovers
Gillingham 1-0 Walsall
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Colchester United
Tamworth 1-2 Scunthorpe United
Wealdstone 2-0 Truro City

Here are this round's scores - congrats to @JustLikeJuve and @Robbie for winning this round with 13 points each, with @super_ram just behind on 12 - no mean feat after wasting his joker on Derby!

Overall, @JustLikeJuve leapfrogs @magpiejue to go top, while defending champion @super_ram joints the top three. The blue numbers are last week's positions.

The prediction league doesn't cover these new-fangled cup competitions, so the next round will be this coming Saturday. So expect to see the fixtures in the usual place on Wednesday. Thanks for playing!

I hate this game. 😂

i think i need to start doing them for grannypie again, not for myself 😂

Today is meant to be warmer than yesterday, but so far, at least from where I am, this is not the case. Though my area does warm up between 1–4 pm, which I am hoping doesn't get too hot, because it is unbearable.

I have been saving some ice cream as a means to keep cool, which is helpful, but only for as long as it works.

It's ironic how much they are going to have taken out of them, and one day, when they achieve something the right way, someone else might come along to complain about Forest. What goes around, comes around. Karma and all that. 😄

Owning or being a major shareholder of two different football clubs at the same time should be a no no & should be prohibited. An issue such as what we saw at Palace, shouldn't be just an issue with UEFA, it should be an issue domestically too.

I don't recall seeing the houses that Granny Pie once told me about quite like that; it looks like houses were built on the cattle market land. If only we could go back in time and purchase much of this land up. How different could Meadow Lane really be?

Then again, the old stands were something nostalgic, and I like how we have a traditional ground now.

8 hours ago, Chris said:

I don't recall seeing the houses that Granny Pie once told me about quite like that; it looks like houses were built on the cattle market land. If only we could go back in time and purchase much of this land up. How different could Meadow Lane really be?

Then again, the old stands were something nostalgic, and I like how we have a traditional ground now.

The cattle market was established in 1886 the picture was taken in 1933 so the cattle market would have been there, I think the land to the right of the ground is the cattle market what you can see are the animal pens.

@theAnticlough said, "The point I'm trying to make is that our identity can be eroded in many different ways. One of those would be recruiting different types of midfielders, or for any key position".

The owners definitely believe in possession based football, there is no doubt about that, but I do see a subtle change in the programming for their football radar analysis system regarding the type of players Notts are looking for.

I think back to the difference of approach between Williams & Maynard. Luke being attack minded, Stuart more defence minded. Now Martin wants to be more physical.

There has to be a fine balance between attack, defence, now physicality. Martin has to get all three right now. I think Martin has enough players for him to decide who fits best across the side especially in midfield. I hope it doesn't take him too long.

Definitely @Robbie, I really like MP. Let's hope there's a winning formula somewhere in the squad for him to find.

Those adaptations though....

You could say 'a subtle change in the programming for their football radar analysis system'

or

the start of a kind of flip-flopping Trew did with his manager appointments, swinging from one side of the options to the other. We're supposed to have an attacking, ball-playing, possession-based approach. But let in a few goals - go more defensive. Get beat a few times by some bruisers - get tougher, recruit more physical players.

How the season plays out will provide the answers. Have the club been really smart in recalibrating their data model? Or have they just confused themselves? Hoping and praying for the former, obviously.

I think sometimes you can get hung-up on style of football, if you want to be possession-based or defensive and direct you can, you just have to have the coach and players that are capable of doing it. It’s more about how effective you put into practice your chosen style. If say under Paterson we have less possession and play more direct, but get results will anyone really care?

That said I still think the possession-based style is there, it was very evident against Newport, particularly first half. Salford just did really well to stifle us and our movement and general sloppiness on the ball didn’t help us.

On @theAnticlough point about Norburn I agree he’s not had a great start but he’s possibly been thrown in too early. He missed a lot of the pre-season and so perhaps he's not quite up to speed. Very early days but right now it’s got to be Palmer and Iorpenda in the middle and that will help us to play the progressive possession-based style. Norburn played under Steve Bruce at Blackpool and that definitely wasn’t possession based, by when he went to Wigan on loan he would've played a more possession-based style under Ryan Lowe.

I think adding a more physical and quick players benefits a possession-based side too, Dennis, Cotter, Iorpenda & Bennetts all look pacey. Possession based doesn’t always mean 5 yard tippy-tappy balls, you can still play direct balls and be possession based, you just need players actually making the runs so they can get onto the ball before the opposition!

I do think we’ve gone a bit wild with the recruitment though, that to me suggests we are not 100% sure about who or what we want. I wouldn’t have said at the end of last season we needed lots of changes, just some good replacements for the players we lost.