Eighteen goals in 52 appearances for two different clubs since he left Notts is a reasonable haul.

Looks like Eli Sam is enjoying his football post Notts. Good for him.

It's a decent haul, but is it even a professional club? They're currently sitting second bottom of the Cypriot first division. It's a shame really, with the right breaks he could have played on a bigger stage.

Yeah I thought he was a talented player, he had the physicality to compete in the lower level English leagues but he was a lot more skilful than the average player. I think he was just not very confident when he first arrived and when he did depart it sounded like he never really settled here which was a shame.

That scorpion kick goal is arguably one of the the best Notts' goals, he was robbed by not evening getting nominated for the puskas awards! 

Still disillusioned as to why Abbott hasn't made the list. 

Just a polite reminder.

Poll closes at 9 pm Tuesday guys.

The poll has now closed.

Thanks to all of you that voted.

I am absolutely delighted that by a narrow margin, on his return to the Notts team, Dan Crowley has been voted as the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match against Salford.

Well Done to Dan and welcome back to the Notts team.

He wouldn't come down two divisions to manage Notts. Notts couldn't afford his wage demands.

I don't want a manager who was sacked anyway when we have a perfectly good Head Coach right now who's been doing an excellent job.This anti Maynard hysteria really has to stop. 

Des Buckingham: Oxford United fans react to head coach sacking

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

---

The sacking of Oxford United head coach Des Buckingham has been met with shock and sadness.

I would still take him at Notts 

It's a bit daft, he could have helped them bounce back. I don't see the sense in firing a manager who is good enough to see a side return or at least continue to compete at the upper end of a division they were previously dominant in. If they hope it will be enough to stay up, then they should have shown more faith in Des Buckingham.

I don't think you can expect them to always have better form than they currently do, the Championship is a difficult league and even League One is becoming very competitive with teams that could easily be in the league above. I would have felt more at ease, if I were an Oxford fan knowing that we had a manager who could navigate the league below or continue to build them as an established Championship team.

That's what he seemed to be doing: he has done well with making Oxford fit in amongst much bigger named teams.

These days we can't really say where managers will, or won't go. A managerial job is what pays wages, and I think it's more likely with our current setup that we could attract a manager who has done well at League One level (plus in the Championship) based on the club's ambition. Although, it's beside the point currently because we have Stuart Maynard in charge. The discussion of his replacement only really comes when the club announces his departure, which despite losing my faith in Maynard I really hope he can ride out the storm.

What a ridiculous story, fans are always wanting a manager sacked, it looks like the Sun have read a few comments on message boards and made up a non story.

Don't worry, @Piethagoram. I'll rescind your red card.

It's not like you mentioned the person who should not be named at the recent live event.

Curious. Now I'm tempted to check out the recording @Chris 

12 hours ago, DangerousSausage said:

Off to the naughty step you go @Piethagoram!

That's funny 

I'm not bothered who takes over to be honest. Too much pundit talk and too little action for my liking.

Never heard of her but after reading the article and seeing her picture I think I may have seen her.

I gave up on MOTD years ago, it’s now 70% waffle and 30% football. Much preferred the days when Jimmy Hill was a sole presenter so all we got was extended match highlights of two or three games. Same with the Big Match on ITV, football coverage was a lot simpler and so much better, now it’s a case of just listening to analysis and watching a few very brief highlights.

Well done @Fan of Big Tone,

2 minutes ago, DangerousSausage said:

The PON elders won out this week - congrats to this round's winner @Fan of Big Tone, closely followed by @super_ram!

Whoop, whoop, ee-aye, ee-aye, ee -aye-oh up the table here I go. 

Just now, super_ram said:

Well done @Fan of Big Tone,

And to you my friend.

2 minutes ago, Robbie said:

At least I'm safe from relegation. That's a positive.

Depends. Maybe I'll relegate everyone but me

I'm always sceptical when there's talk of a big club having a "crisis". However, the longer this goes on, the weirder it feels. And on top of it all, Pep Guardiola is clearly at his wits' end and his statements and behaviour are becoming ever more bizarre. He doesn't seem to know how to stop the slide. It's Sheridan-esque.

They'll pick up eventually, but they'll be a long way adrift by then. Liverpool have a great chance to bag the title this season.

I have no idea as to how to answer the question.

However, I'm loving their current situation - long may it continue!

I really don't know, it can't just be Rodri getting injured, even though he is a fantastic footballer, City have a whole squad of great players.

Clearly the players aren’t very confident, I only watched the second half of the Manchester Derby and I was amazed at how little they actually passed the ball forward, or took a player on and just avoiding doing anything with an element of risk. They were slow and made the wrong choices on the ball a lot – it was nothing like the Man City that have been so dominate.

Pep is probably just knackered now, he had a break after managing Barca but then he’s done 11 straight seasons with Bayern and City. And at the top level where it’s been high pressure to constantly win titles & European trophies. Klopp left Liverpool because he needed a break, I think Pep probably needs one too.

14 points from the past 13 games, scoring  only 11 goals, sorry to say that we are not in a good position.

Inverted wingbacks do not work with league 2 standard players. Jatta is being starved of service because we are obsessed with keeping the ball but doing nothing with it and Notts fans are basically pinning all our hopes now on JJ coming back and hitting the ground running.
Crowley comes back and is played out of position, Abbott is moved out of position to accommodate a player playing out of position That’s four players played out of position in the game, when they could have all been played in position and been more effective, that is sheer madness!

We started well enough against Salford, but we allowed them to pin us back and for some reason Notts started to play more long balls. I thought we wanted to keep on the floor and play pretty football? If this was the players going against the tactics, someone from the coaching team should have pointed it out that it wasn't working. Very early in the game our passing wasn't great, we gave them too much space and that forced us to start playing the wrong passes out of the back.

I believe Dan Crowley was fouled for the first goal, even seeing the highlights I feel this way, and it's clear that our players stopped playing.

Alex Bass didn't completely stop, but his reaction was clear that even he felt it was a foul and the referee in my opinion should have stopped the game. Later in the game, a Salford player clashed into one of ours and that broke a moment in the game where Notts looked lively. So, I don't think the decision from the officials seemed balanced. The foul on Bass, where Conor McAleny pulled his shirt and forced him to drop the ball, should have seen him punished with a yellow card.

Even without the poor officiating, Notts didn't help themselves, and it was a very sluggish performance overall.

The amount of times Jatta could have controlled the ball better, but his first touch or control let him down, gifting the ball back. This isn't necessarily his fault, as it should have been a clear signal not to play in this manner. Yet his pace wasn't effective either; times when he could have got the ball he made poor runs or positioned himself in a harder way to make something happen. This for me, is a form and performance issue, but I would have taken him off - keeping David McGoldrick up top.

Salford weren't brilliant, but they looked good for the three goals they scored.

If you play as a team, work hard and persist with positive play, then the rewards are clear. That is why Salford made the game work for them, whilst our lads were extremely poor, they resembled a team that had never played together before. This was one of the worst performances I've seen since our relegation to the National League. I'm sorry, but Stuart Maynard should have addressed the situation before we fell behind 2-0.

On 15/12/2024 at 11:11, Robbie said:

Crowley is a talented midfielder. Are you saying he can't play defensive midfield?

Stuart wouldn't have played him there if Dan wasn't comfortable in that position.

I would have played Abbott & Palmer together & had Crowley on the bench coming back from injury.

Dan Crowley's best position is in an attacking role. Being talented isn't enough to play defensive when you have better options. George Abbott hasn't been bad lately. I thought he played well against Salford, but he's a totally different player alongside Matt Palmer in a defensive position. It doesn't stop him going forward, he can break up the play and offer solid protection for the defence.

Take Crowley out of the Salford game, we would have been very limited as only David McGoldrick looked like he could make something happen.

I don't think it was the wrong call to play Crowley, I think it was the incorrect call to allow the team to focus on lumping the ball to Jatta when he wasn't doing all that well. His touches and control weren't brilliant, and his performance was pretty average to that of what we know he can do.

We needed pace, which was a very early sign and something I said to my friend before Salford had even scored. Josh Martin contributed positively, even though he faced many negative comments during the game. I think he performed well. 

On 15/12/2024 at 14:56, Robbie said:

So Stuart put George in that role. Are you saying @Piethagoram that he made a good choice putting him there?

I don't think that George was as influential has he has been of late 

To be fair, there's not been much wrong with George Abbott. We missed him against Walsall, that was very clear and prior to that he consistently stood out as one of our better players.

Just a general point from me. Last season I was calling for Crowley to play deeper as I thought he was ideal to cover for the missing Palmer. However, this season Palmer is back and we've got a lot more choice in that position. Right now we need him further forward as we've been so pedestrian and predictable the last few weeks. I hope SM draws the right conclusions.

15 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

It's always a pity Pedro left #Notts on 399 appearances!

@Chris "Pedro paved the way, and whilst there might have been some in the fan base back then less accepting, the majority took to the players for their ability and personality."

The following season, there was a player Lloyd Richards hailing from Jamaica, who played for Notts. A descendant from him was in the Notts youth team not so long ago, also named Jordan or Jordon ?

A squad photo from 1976 can be found here:

Notts County FC - Season 1976/77

NOTTINGHAMSHIREFOOTBALL.COM

 

I wasn't aware of Lloyd Richards, at least his name didn't jump out at me.

His son did play for us, you are right about that. 

To avoid confusion @Chris, I was particularly referring to, I think a descendent from Lloyd Richards, also named Jordon or Jordan...He was in the Notts youth team maybe 6 or 7 years ago... Anyone remember him?

On 11/12/2024 at 21:43, Piethagoram said:

To avoid confusion @Chris, I was particularly referring to, I think a descendent from Lloyd Richards, also named Jordon or Jordan...He was in the Notts youth team maybe 6 or 7 years ago... Anyone remember him?

Oh, sorry.  

Agreed @Robbie let’s all get behind the team and manager and leave the negativity behind, the very word “supporter” means we support the club, if anyone is going to the match to hurl abuse at the players and Maynard or unfurl banners then I’d rather they stay at home,

Seen lots of negativity on social media especially the Facebook boards. I think it's totally uncalled for. Nothing will be achieved by being negative. 

I think everyone will behind the team come Saturday against Bradford and whilst we are still in a good position I can’t lie and say I don’t find our recent form worrying.

We are falling into some bad habits now, like the slow starts, kamikaze passing from the back and just general hopeless to put the opposition’s defence under pressure. Even earlier in the season before we lost most of our attackers, we had games against Port Vale and Gillingham where we really struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

Yes we have been better defensively, but for me it is coming at a cost to our attacking play. I understand we’ve had injuries to key attackers but we've still had a large amount of possession and we should be able to do so much more with the ball. We've provided Jatta with very few chances in the last batch of matches, the inverted wingbacks don't really cause teams any issues and I don't understand what our attacking midfielders are supposed to be doing at times now.

Of course, Dan and Jodi will improve us, but we can’t just rely on these two all the time. I mentioned the lack of assists from every other player bar McGoldrick in another post. Is everyone else awful or has the coaching not adapted well enough to get the best out of our other players?

Dan Crowley played for around 65 minutes on Saturday against Salford before being substituted. To be honest I would have preferred that he would have been on the bench & come on for 30 minutes in the second half to manage his fitness.

Morning all, it’s park run day and match day, in that order for me. I’m heading off to the Park Run after I’ve had breakfast and later I’ll be watching Notts on Sky+.

@Piethagoram enjoy the duck breast, one of my favourite meats.

Morning all, it’s a cloudy but warmer start to the day today. How are we all feeling this morning? I hope no one is too depressed about yesterdays game, don’t forget it’s only football and contrary to what Bill Shankly said it’s not more important than life and death.

Well today will be a relaxing one here, we’ll have a walk to deliver a few cards but that’s all, we put the Christmas tree up yesterday so that’s done. I think this year will be the last one for that particular tree, it’s seen much better days and needs to go. We’ll get a new one next year.

Have a great Sunday.

Good afternoon. A damp and dreary day here. Goes with the current mood doesn't it.

In times like this it is always fascinating to see how Notts fans deal with a very bad result. 

It is usually divided by those who see a glass half empty or a glass half full.

I try to look at the positives rather than the negatives when it comes to sport because sport, especially football can be an up and down thing with one's emotions.

So I suppose I'm in the glass half full camp, but there again, I can't say that's always been 100% the case.

@gegen-den-strich.bsky.social on Bluesky

BSKY.APP

---

Er pfeift auf Fußball. (Cartoon von 2013) . . . #fußballliebe #fussball #deutschebahn #cartoon #comics #humor #gegendenstrich

"I didn't mean it"..   I think

@Piethagoram he's saying "I didn't mean you" - they stopped playing because he whistled! 

I think the catchment area is very important, look at FGR... hence their ambition is just a 5,000 all seater... The Girona story is reviving a club in a city 96k population but province population is around 800k... The key to success is using the City Groups analytics to find the gems

I think the key to football success is simply finance. Just look at Wrexham. Languishing in the National League, then look what happens. 

They'll probably be in the Championship next season, & who would bet against them being a PL club a year after that.

@Robbie  "I think the key to football success is simply finance."... Yes, but it's how you spend it. Nolan was arguably given one of the biggest budgets and we got relegated that season

George is destined to be a big player for one of the PL Clubs. Just thankful that Notts have been a part of his development, & that experience, will serve him well for his future in football.

Great little interview this, well done to the lads on Notts County Talk for getting him on, it was a very enjoyable listen. Glad to hear how settled he feels here, we know how important that can be in football so I hope that might put Spurs off from potentially recalling him to send him to a higher league...

Given the club said they were looking at players in the National League at the club forum I’m pretty confident we’ll have been tracking Jack Stevens. As the article says he has played upfront before but this season he has played more on the wing, as an inverted winger and really excelled there. Whilst he's clearly a talented player he’d either be played as an attacking midfielder or a wingback for us. So the club would need to be confident he can be just as effective in a central attacking role or be able to take on more defensive responsibility to play as a wing-back.

His stats have jumped considerably this season so lots of clubs will now know about him. His contract is up in the summer but I think the wiser move would be to get him before (if we really wanted him).

Well we are three months down the line from when this thread was started & it looks like Stuart has had to rely greatly on his squad players to keep in touch with the leaders in league 2.

Losing Edwards, Grant, Jones,  Crowley, Robertson & waiting for McDonald & Ness to get match fit has really tested the strength of the Notts squad over the last few months.

Players who were not expecting to feature so much in the first team have had  to show their worth & the vast majority of them have. Players like Abbott, Hinchy, & Austin have stepped up to the plate.

Abbott has established himself in the centre of midfield with Palmer. Hinchy is a good young prospect, & Austin has been as steady as ever in a variety of positions.

And players like McGoldrick, who maybe wasn't expecting to feature in the first team so much this season, has featured in 15 out of the 18 league games played.

A strong squad does pay dividends, when a Club is unlucky to have many of their first teamers out.

But I'm sure Stuart will delve into the transfer market in January to strengthen the squad even further, & we might see some players leave too.

@Robbie    But I'm sure Stuart will delve into the transfer market in January to strengthen the squad even further, & we might see some players leave too.

I would say Josh Martin will leave in January, Sanderson maybe too on loan if they can find a suitable club. I would also loan out Slocombe if Stone's loan isnt extended?

Maybe Cundy would also be loaned out as he isnt getting the game time?

Brown is in a season long loan but he needs to step up, these last few games before the new year otherwise, I don't see him being in Maynard's plans

I wonder why Managers don't try to convert defenders into attackers? Maynard has used Cundy up front on a few occasions. Why not us him up front again? He's tall and he could be useful.

I think Pep was one of the leading figures who pushed to get FA Cup replays abolished from the first round onwards.

And you may be right @Wheelbarrow repair man who says the best Head Coaches are in the PL?

I think only the footballing establishment think that.

7 defeats out of 10 for Pep now.

Weston McKennie laughs at Man City 'crisis' question as he makes Micah Richards joke over Kyle Walker position | talkSPORT

TALKSPORT.COM

---

Weston McKennie fired a cheeky joke at Manchester City moments after scoring...

Dale Vince's FGR project I believe only happened when he failed to buy in at Cheltenham ( stand to be corrected). 

@DangerousSausage Car parks yes, but like at The New Lawn, their current stadium, buses are provided to "bus" supporters in. I think there are still plans to reopen a Stonehouse station on the Bristol main railway line too.

I agree that the new stadium is just a soul less shell. I wonder if they will be able to fill it?

Nailed it @DangerousSausage, why replace a perfectly good and hardly used stadium with something completely new, unless you’re feeding your own ego. Government subsidies are obviously paying him well.

No matter how many steak bakes you offer me, I’ll not be going to it.

As this game is now a part of Notts County history Id love to play it again.

Modern Football just follows the pot of gold wherever it rears it's ugly head.

As long as Saudi Arabia are willing to write the cheques, Football will be willing to give Saudi whatever they want. Money talks