Hello and welcome @Sid James can you get the rest of the Carry On crew to join then we could do a film “Carry On County”.

Welcome to PoN @Sid James

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

On 01/09/2026 at 09:04, Piethagoram said:

I hadn't realised that David Attenborough had open the nature reserve! ( and that his forebears were from the area)

Yes, there's a plaque mentioning it.

If you walk around it, there are parts that mention things about him and how he's donated money to the nature reserve over the years to keep it operational. One of the funniest places I have walked around in recent years with my family; it was nice to see various animals. Well worth visiting.

Interesting, although contradictory, contributions from @theAnticlough and @Graham here. In a way I agree with both.

JJ is a player who gets you out of your seat and has contributed to countless goals. Without him, it's quite possible we wouldn't be where we are today. I'm also in no doubt that he's good enough for L1. He's one of the last players I wanted to see leave, let alone to a potential rival.

Yet the club shouldn't be sentimental. After winning promotion back to the league, we held on to players we, with hindsight, should have parted ways with. I believe it cost us back-to-back promotions. JJ offers flair and creativity, but isn't very strong defensively and perhaps the club thought it could get an upgrade. Hence him possibly being offered new terms as a squad player rather than the automatic starter he wanted to be.

We've let go of quality players before and emerged stronger overall. If the new LWBs are a worthy replacement and the squad as a whole is improved and can compete at L1 level, we might have done the right thing here, as sad as it feels right now.

I'm just glad that the uncertainty and the rumours have ended.

58 minutes ago, StarkMallard said:

Yet the club shouldn't be sentimental. After winning promotion back to the league, we held on to players we, with hindsight, should have parted ways with. I believe it cost us back-to-back promotions.

I actually think that's become something of a myth. And back-to-back promotions would've had us plummeting back down anyway, we were nowhere near ready.

The team/squad including Cameron, Baldwin, Brindley, Rawlinson, Slocombe, Palmer, Scott etc. was bombing away at the top of L2 and still right up there in December. Then LW's wheels fell off with the sudden loss of our CM Palmer/Bostock...we could no longer control games, which his entire system was based on. He left. Maynard came in, and that was that, 1st to 14th. It wasn't giving those guys a chance that cost a promotion chance IMO

I'm happy the club gave those players a chance to prove themselves at the higher level. They had their shot, some made it (Palmer, Jones, Baldwin (elsewhere). Some didn't, and quickly fell back down the pyramid, but at least they'd had their shot at it.

Fans stay forever, we are the club, everyone else is temporary. But I don't want to side with the employers, I want to side with the employees and see them treated well. If respecting achievements for the club and rewarding success is sentimental, then so be it, call me sentimental. The day we're ALL hard-nosed businessman will be a world I don't want to live in.

Jones' case though is not just about rewarding success, he's got a rare creative talent and that's what I want to pay to watch. If I wanted to watch energy, there are pylons not too far from me and I could stare at the national grid for a few hours. I've always wanted to pay to watch skill, creativity, flair, touch, imagination - stuff with the ball us everyday mortals can't get anywhere near doing.

I've had my say on JJ, and there will be a fair few that agree with me. I'm not going to stop thinking the club got this wrong from a football philosophy, fans relations standpoint.

There were big clues in MP's post-match interview though...'the club being able to see them play to prevent them from going'. There was obviously a stand-off "I deserve a contract extension' v 'show us again that you deserve it'... and the rest is now history.

5 hours ago, StarkMallard said:

JJ is a player who gets you out of your seat and has contributed to countless goals. Without him, it's quite possible we wouldn't be where we are today. I'm also in no doubt that he's good enough for L1. He's one of the last players I wanted to see leave, let alone to a potential rival.

Two things for me.

One, I don't think Jodi was always worth the start. I preferred him to come on as a sub. He's lost a bit of pace, but will always have that quality and I just felt last season that moving forward we would have to balance his game time. I would much rather start him in important games, or against weaker teams where he's clearly a class above.

Yet when I said this to fans last season it became a very unpopular opinion but I do stand by it.

As much of a quality player Jodi is, he never seemed consistent enough and his connection with fans meant his downturns would often be overlooked. Now, some of them may see things for what they are now.

Secondly, I couldn't imagine us having Cal Roberts and Jodi Jones in the same lineup. I think Roberts is a clear candidate for being a more consistent performer who is able to assist but also score. Those two would keep out players like Nick Tsaroula, but on paper it would have been one hell of a choice to have. I just don't see it as being practical, when it sounds like Jodi wanted more money and I don't blame him for that.

He's given countless top performances, plenty of things to remember and at this stage I don't feel anyone should blame him.

thank you for introducing yourself, @scottdench-smith. welcome to pon! its going to be nice seeing you join in, enjoy the site and community.

Sorry to be another late welcome, but better that than never at all! One of my son's old science teachers at Ellis Guilford (Basford/Aspley) used to be a Notts fan; it would be another strange coincidence if it happened to be you before finding work in Mansfield. We won't hold that against you; if anything, you might be doing some good there! 😉

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

6 minutes ago, Chris said:

Sorry to be another late welcome, but better that than never at all! One of my son's old science teachers at Ellis Guilford (Basford/Aspley) used to be a Notts fan; it would be another strange coincidence if it happened to be you before finding work in Mansfield. We won't hold that against you; if anything, you might be doing some good there! 😉

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

No, not me. I did work at Holgate in Hucknall for a while with plenty of fans. Made break time duty a joy to do

@Project Pie please feel free to enjoy, interact and do your thing on here. Welcome to the pleasuredome. 🤠

Welcome @Project Pie

Hello, @Project Pie.

You have a good display name! Welcome to Pride of Nottingham, I hope you enjoy being part of our Notts County community. A big 'you pies!' to you.

I think the most encouraging thing so far is that the new team has more than held its own in terms of balance of play.

Established L1 sides have not been able to dominate us at all. We spent long spells away at Doncaster looking like the best team, just like we did against Leicester for example.

It looks like we're going to be OK, but grim spells lie ahead that we haven't seen for 7 years. In Pato, we have someone who can snap us out of those and prevent a bad run spiralling out of control. For now though, we should enjoy this first positive run.

Good signings. I am happy with the transfer window, but I would have liked serious competition for James Belshaw. He is a good keeper, but sometimes a little slow and prone to focusing on the wrong part of the game.

I am happy with him as our number one, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think Harry Griffiths is going to challenge him.

Just caught up with the fact that Tom Iorpenda has gone to Swansea for a package worth up to £1m. He's a great prospect but that just shows how difficult the market is and how well Notts do to attract (and replace) talent.

Another big strong man. I think there is a trend emerging in these signings.

A comparison of average weight and height of this squad compared to last season would be interesting 🤔

I like this signing. I haven't seen that much of him but you could see his potential at Wembley despite him having a quiet game. He looks like a Martin Paterson type player. Strong. Clever. Committed team player. A skillful solid performer. I'm hoping he's another Nick Tsaroulla type player. He started as a forward apparently and was no stranger to the scoresheet when at Accrington Stanley. He also has plenty of League One experience. Thumbs up from me.

I am prepared to see how he does in a team that is built to succeed together, rather than individual stars aimed at pushing a team like Salford City closer to their highest position in the EFL. He looked a real handful, so I just hope he can help keep us in League One and, in time, push us further.

On a positive note, if most of these except Macari and Platt are back by Xmas that will give MP some selection issues.

Platt was sat behind me in Pavis yesterday and looks to be in good condition. From what I understand he's in rehabilitation training now which is nearish the end of his injury process.

Players that are currently Injured

Wednesday 2nd Sept

1. Matty Platt..... Defender

2. Lewis Macari.....Defender

3. Rod McDonald.....Defender

4. Max Sanders.....Central Midfield

5. Beck Ray Enoru...... Forward

6. Emile Acquah..... Forward

7. Dean Campbell..... Central Midfield

8. Matt Palmer..... Central Midfield

9. Scott Robertson..... Central Midfield

10. Luke Browne..... Defender

A good, well-earned point from quite a forgetable match. They are a very ordinary, forgetable side.

I think we'd have won if it wasn't for the rookie blunder in the first half.

LWB position looks problematic tonight. JJ gone, neither Lipiuc nor Kouyhar look like the answer, so banking on ISS taking his chance when he gets it.

We’ll take a point away, in the end I thought it was a fair result and we remain unbeaten. Our goal was a great cross from Roberts who literally only just come on, he found Cooper who confidently stuck it in the net. A good goal.

We now move on to Huddersfield. YOUPIES!

A point was probably a fair result. Both sides couldn't hit the target. About 4 shots on target between the 2 sides?

@KingofCounty If that's the case and he is recruited by Notts, Martin Paterson will soon change that. It's his way or the highway.

Looks like he's not started this season. Is that why Salford have started the season so badly??

Straight swap for Jodi?

Rory Finneran got my vote; he was superb from start to finish and very composed throughout the game, well beyond his age. James Gibbons played very well at the back, and I think prior to Cal Roberts going off he would have been in the running. Luka Smyth did brilliantly, but his goals are what I feel are earning him the praise.

He was unlucky at times and certainly still didn't look match-fit, but he gave his all. Without him we wouldn't have won, but that, for me, doesn't match his whole performance compared to others.

1–0 down we could have easily fizzled and allowed the game to get out of our hands; James Belshaw turned into a mardy Roy Carroll.

While I like a commanding keeper, he's not without fault for the goal we conceded, and his slow reaction to a header I feel should have been saved. It wasn't direct like Smyths; it was actually very poor defending and goalkeeping. Hindolo Mustapha just didn't work as a striker, but he dropped back into midfield after we allowed Smyth to come on.

Also, there is no calmness without Conor Grant, who massively helped us to take a more practical stance at attacking Burton. How many times did we rush our play prior to him coming on? Solid team performance, but credit where it's due, I feel.

Very hard to pick a MoM in this one but I've gone for Finneran. His vision, strength, control, and stamina were phenomenal. This was a difficult game, not because Burton looked like a good side, but because of their spoiling tactics. They were very physical - plenty of holding, off the ball stuff and other dirty tricks. Our newest and youngest recruit looked totally unphased and let his football do the talking. It is very early days, but he looks like an absolute gem. Yesterday had everything - a comeback after a poor start, a late winner, an opposition player deservedly red carded, the first goals from one new recruit, and a stunning debut from another. All in all, a very satisfying day out.

The poll has now closed. Thanks to all of you who voted.

We have a tie for the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match award.

Congratulations to Rory Finneran & Luka Smyth. Well done to both of them.

Heard some comments that thought he was rubbish, I have to fully disagree. I think it’s one of the best debut I’ve ever seen in Notts shirt, he was two or three passes ahead of the game, the way he glides in and out both left and right past players was a joy to watch, his vision to find that pass was on another planet, fully justified playing the full 94 minutes, we’ve got to make sure we get the best of what we can with him because we won’t have him more than a season. He will be in the team of the season 100%.

I seem to remember Jonathon Forte scoring a hat-trick on his debut and I thought we'd got prime Ronaldo in League 2!

Back to Finneran, it was really impressive debut. I think the biggest compliment you can give him is he doesn't play like an 18 y/o, he looked like he'd been playing for years! He seems to be really highly rated at Newcastle and he's already played for Ireland that tells me a lot.

Really pleased he's here for the season, especially with our injury prone midfielders, he's probably going to have a big part to play.

Another important point about Rory Finneran. I think he will be comfortable either as a central midfielder or an attacking midfielder. I think that Notts will possibly use him in those two stress of the pitch when required.

Watching him on Saturday he seemed to be comfortable all over the pitch and his long balls and short passing was very accurate. I think that Martin Paterson will use him just as he did with Tom Iorpenda.

Notts were as bad as they were in some National League days in the first half, Sums Bunton Abraham’s up, As bad as Notts were they only had one real attempt and scored. Second half Notts destroyed them and BA were done and puffing out their fat backsides. Garbage from Bowyer and the reason he is a still on a slide down the leagues. With a Stiker or 2 Notts will enjoy another great season

I wanted to make a couple of comments before the match, but I didn't want to anger the football gods. With the three points safely in the bag, here they are:

• Notts have beaten all of the current 91 league clubs. Only Port Vale share this. Conversely, we have been beaten by 90 league clubs - the other one is Burton. Losing would have given us the unique record of having beaten and been beaten by every other league club. That's a record I can do without!

• I should have been there yesterday but changed my plans due to illness. As such, it was inevitable that we would win.

We were a distant second best in the first half, but for all that Burton bossed the first 45 minutes, they posed almost zero goal threat. But we were disjointed, painfully slow and second to every ball. What a dramatic turnaround in the second half and a much-needed win!

Finneran looks an outstanding signing to me, his touch, control and passing is fantastic. Mustapha did his best in an unfamiliar role in the first half but was much more comfortable in the second - he looks quite rough, but if he can shake his habit of overplaying (common in academy players) we could have a lot of fun with him. And of course Smyth gave us a focal point in the second half and finally unpacked the Burton lock.

i dont think notts was all that bad in the first half, not compared to what a normal xi would have looked like in the same situation. we had no real striker, and burton were good. they played some good football but i do agree paterson had set us up defensively, it might have worked if burton allowed us more time on the ball but we do seem to find it hard against other teams who like passing it around. had we started with smyth i think the score would have been in favour of burton.

I feel sorry for Jatta, but maybe if this doesn't work his silly agent will be given the push? It's going to be tough for Casa Pia, and hopefully not all games will see them so easily outplayed. They do have a young squad and some very good players, but that doesn't mean it transpires into a good team.

Not a good start to the season for them. They have lost their first four league matches and are at the bottom of the League. Jatta just received a 5.9 rating from flash score for their latest game against Morelrense, which they lost 0:1.

Saturday forecast for Notts.

Met Office

I hope they get this one sorted he sounds ideal.

I don't think he would want to come and sit on the bench, so that is a positive for me. He's a good prospect, who only has a year remaining on his current deal, I believe, and he looks to be the Lucas Ness/Lewis Macari type of player we bring in with the mindset of potentially striking a more permanent deal.

He did well for Walsall and is quite quick, so he would offer us something different during our injury concerns and worries over Luka Smyths match fitness.

I don't think he seems to be falling out of favour with Charlton as they stick him out on loan. I don't think it's them wanting to prove him, but rather not doing anything and releasing some of the wages. This is just my opinion, but I think League One is the level at which you want a player like Dan Kanu to be tested. This is why I felt surprised that he actually went to Walsall, who are a decent team but very Jekyll and Hyde.

There is a big rumour that he'll be signed by Notts in the next 24 hours. I won't believe it's true until we get an official announcement.

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 QPR

Watford 1-1 Wet Spam

Leyton Orient 1-0 Barnsley

Stevenage 2-0 Doncaster Rovers

Stockport County 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers (joker)

Colchester United 1-0 Rochdale

Grimsby Town 2-0 Fleetwood Town

Newport County 1-1 Tranmere Rovers

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 QPR

Watford 1-3 West Ham

Leyton Orient 1-0 Barnsley

Stevenage 1-1 Doncaster Rovers

Stockport County 3-2 Wycombe Wanderers

Colchester United 2-0 Rochdale 🃏

Grimsby Town 2-1 Fleetwood Town

Newport County 0-1 Tranmere Rovers

The results:

@Megan_Elizax wins Saturday's round with 13 points, congrats!

Overall, @4everapie stays top of the tree, with @Megan_Elizax making a big jump into second and @super_ram sneaking into the top three.

Thank you all (plus Diesel the horse) for playing!

Dates for your diary:

• Round 4: Tuesday 1 September (fixtures online now - click here!)

• Round 5: Saturday 5 September (fixtures posted on Wednesday)

• Round 6: Saturday 12 September (fixture posted the Wednesday prior)

its good to see them united together, but its a shame that they are leaving oxford. i hope craig gets more chance in management, i think he could do well. best of luck to them both.

Chris looks so much different from what he used to be, but what a great photo of two former great Notts men. I wish them both well with their careers, and if they choose to remain in football or hang up coaching.

3 hours ago, menzinho said:

It seems this morning some reports have been going round about us potentially signing Ishe Samuels-Smith, a left-wing back, on loan from Chelsea.

If he's a left wing-back it would make sense (whether Jones stays or not), but I read elsewhere that he plays in Bedeau's position. Let's wait and see what happens. I'm expecting the remaining loanees to be attacking midfielders or maybe a striker, depending on whether we fill the vacant number 9 shirt.

On 09/08/2026 at 16:28, StarkMallard said:

I'm expecting the remaining loanees to be attacking midfielders or maybe a striker, depending on whether we fill the vacant number 9 shirt.

Definitely, we've been waiting for these but most new arrivals have been defenders and deeper midfielders.

I think the club have deviated away from a balanced recruitment strategy, spooked by...

- going into the new season with 2 long-term injuries in defence

- having each season at L2 hit by losing our entire starting midfield at different times. Sanders' injury would have rung this alarm again

- needing options and depth in defence/midfield in case players get exposed like Rawlo, Brindley, Cameron and Baldwin were.

So insurance in these positions is seen as a must I think. Added to this, the hardest area of recruitment is strikers and other players who can put it in the onion bag.

Hopefully it's a case of using the entire window to get the right players in instead of being panicked into taking a punt against the data model. But as things stand you have to agree with the pundits, a season scoring profile of something like....Roberts 12, Smyth ?, Acquah 5, Ndlovu 5, Jones ? Cooper 4, Grant 3, Tsaroulla 3, plus defenders and mids is only going to go one way. As MP said a couple of interviews back, we absolutely need to do more to replace the goals lost from Jatta/Dennis/Hall/Luker/Iorpenda departures.

More rumouring in the mill - Donnell McNeilly and/or Grady McDonnell apparently linked from Forest.

Also Rory Finneran from Newcastle. Suggests that Robbo is out given the need for a DM in Finneran/McDonnell...

Welcome Paul, clearly you’ve made an excellent life choice in supporting Notts and now you've made the bold step to join the rest of us who spend far too much time talking about them!

I'm looking forward to seeing you around the forums and hearing your views, especially if you can explain why we seem do things the hard way every single season!

Welcome to Pon @Paul Reaney please dive in as the waters are calm pre season, things could get a little choppy as we progress, but never fear we have Martin at the helm. Enjoy the banter and camaraderie and feel free to give your all to the cause. 🤠

welcome to pon, @Paul Reaney. its nice to be welcoming you to the site and i hope you get involved. enjoy the site.

Welcome @Gloucester Pie to the world of wonderful we have here at Pon. COYP

@Gloucester Pie, welcome to PON! I am very sorry I missed this. I hope 2026 has been a great start for you. I also hope you enjoy being part of our Notts community and check in when you want to contribute. We'll always make you feel welcome and at home. COYP!

welcome to pon @Gloucester Pie, i hope you join in and get involved. its great to see you have introduced yourself, enjoy the site.

Iron giant? It's a bit of an ugly eyesore, but I do think the story is pretty cool.

It's a brilliant team goal; I don't know why there's no focus on attacking plays like this or even saves other than a social media post. Save of the Season, Best Team Goal of the Season.

Seeing Notts able to play this smoothly is a dream come true; it shows that we are making very good progress.

26 minutes ago, Chris said:

It's a brilliant team goal; I don't know why there's no focus on attacking plays like this or even saves other than a social media post. Save of the Season, Best Team Goal of the Season.

Seeing Notts able to play this smoothly is a dream come true; it shows that we are making very good progress.

We could do one of our own Chris a goal of the month & goal of the season