Collin - 7 - generally good, one cracking save second half, maybe a bit slow to react to their second.
Tootle - 5.5 - not sure whether he was poor or left exposed, but all of their threat (and goals) came down our right.
Hollis - 6 - fairly solid against a potent attack.
Duffy - 5 - loses a mark for gifting them the penalty. Not one of his better games.
Bola - 6.5 - didn't get the chance to get forward too often, but pretty sound defensively.
Hewitt - 6.5 - competed well, better in the wide role than moving more central to replace O'Connor.
O'Connor - 5.5 - needs to use his brain a bit more. I love his competitive attitude, but there are limits.
Campbell 6.5 - tracked back well, goal saving tackle early on, needs to do more in a creative sense.
Milsom - 6 - stuck at it, but struggled to maintain his recent standard.
Grant - 7* - our only real attacking threat. Another class finish for his goal.
Stead - 5.5 - tried hard, but his touch was mostly poor and needed Ameobi to take the pressure off.

Subs :

Yeates - 6 - got into a few good wide positions but didn't have a lot to aim at.
T. Campbell - 5 - ineffective.

KN - 6 - I think we started with a formation that was far too negative and handed them the initiative. The tactical changes at half time improved things and opened the game up a bit. Good summary of things after the game in his interview with Colin, it's a refreshing change to have a manager who watched the same game I did.

Easter Monday Fixtures:
Birmingham City v Burton Albion
Blackburn Rovers v Bristol City
Charlton Athletic v Gillingham
Fleetwood Town v Millwall
Mansfield Town v Luton Town
Plymouth Argyle v Newport County

Who was your man of the match for Notts County against Portsmouth today?

We had this topic aaaages ago, but as we've had a lot of new users in the meantime, it's worth asking again: who is your favourite "other" team and why? Who do you have a soft spot for?

Mine are my local team Waldhof Mannheim (see the European Leagues forum for more evidence) in the German Regionalliga Südwest and Retford United in the Northern Counties East League. Plus I have a soft spot for Coventry City as I used to live very close to Highfield Road and have fond memories of the place. That's a set of fans that deserves success.

From HITC:

Nottingham Forest’s young Danish defender Frederik Fisker recently confirmed he will be leaving the club this summer.

The Danish youth international joined the club from Viborg in September 2014 but has failed to make the first-team at the City Ground.

He told Viborg Folkeblad, last week that he would be leaving Forest and had designs on remaining in English football.

So should Notts County give him a chance?

The recent form of loanee Jorge Grant at Meadow Lane will undoubtedly suggest to Notts County that those who cannot make the first-team at Forest regularly, might be good enough for League Two.

Fisker is a strong and athletic defensive option who can also add some culture to the Notts County defence.

The Magpies are 16th in League Two and look set for another season in the fourth tier. Signing a player of Fisker’s quality could give them hope of moving up the ladder yet again.

Anybody had a look at Fisker? Is it a reasonable idea for Notts to consider signing him in the close season?

Welcome to the Pride of Nottingham @PD 1862, hope you enjoy the site and find time to join in. You Pies!

Game 41 - The Alex

Team: Crewe Alexandra

Date: 14/04/17

Where: Gresty Road

What line-up should Kevin Nolan 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 another season coming to an end, there will always be an eye cast to the upcoming campaign, and discounting all the crucial stuff, there's always the light-hearted topic of new kits, which sees everyone speculate on what design, colours, kitmaker, sponsoring etc they would like to see.

Jason Morphus has produced a set of concept shirts, and I must say, they look fantastic. I would love to get my hands on these.

Have a look for yourselves! What do you think?

Let's see how close I am.... Quite a fan of the yellow one #notts pic.twitter.com/RbfttdFkRD

— Jason Morphus (@JasonMorphus) 11 April 2017

I kept a keen eye on other scorelines last night. Leyton Orient look out of reach now - I wouldn't bet on them catching us even if we lost all our remaining games. But Newport have now won two games in four days and are now 8 points behind us with a game in hand. In a week's time they could potentially be within shooting distance of us. That said, they've beaten Crewe and Morecambe - but they now have two matches against promotion-chasing opposition coming up with Blackpool and Luton (their game in hand).

If we keep doing what we're doing and picking up points they can do what they want anyway. But I wouldn't mind us being able to relax a bit in the last weeks of the season. Or am I getting old and boring?

I think two more wins will see us over the line now. In 2013-14, 50 points were needed, but by this point that season the team in 23rd, Northampton, already had 6 points more than Newport have now (38).

Good Friday Fixtures:
Norwich City v Fulham
Nottingham Forest v Blackburn Rovers
Gillingham v Bristol Rovers
Port Vale v Sheffield United
Hartlepool United v Carlisle United
Newport County v Yeovil Town

Who was your man of the match for Notts County at Crewe Alexandra?

Name: Kevin Nolan: "Yeates looks like a new signing"
Category: Official Notts Videos
Date Added: 2017-04-13
Submitter: Chris

The manager discusses Mark Yeates' return to the squad after his three-game ban.

Kevin Nolan: "Yeates looks like a new signing"

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I have recently moved from London to the East Midlands & started following Notts County. Originally a West Ham fan and the move to bring in Super Kev as manager caught my attention & has gained my following. Really excited to attend my 2nd home game of the season against Pompey (sure its another 3 points in the bag). i Would love to purchase a home shirt and take advantage of the 50% sale for the next game on the 17th April, but in order to make this happen would mean either sacrificing a ticket to the game or my beer money in the broken wheel barrow. Fancy helping a new County fan come & cheer us through the end of the season by reffereing me as a friend as to get in to the match? i would be more than happy to buy you a few beers before or after the game. I know its a bold question to ask but the fearless approach County have taken towards the end of this campaign has inspired me to take my chances & believe in positive outcome. P.S. Regardless of your response, I look forward to following County all the way with a season ticket in the Kop next season! UP THE MAGPIES!!!

Name: Kevin Nolan: "The players have surprised me"
Category: Official Notts Videos
Date Added: 2017-04-08
Submitter: Chris

The manager speaks to Leigh Curtis of the Nottingham Post after the 2-1 win at Brunton Park against Carlisle United.

Kevin Nolan: "The players have surprised me"

Why not subscribe to PrideofNottinghamTV?

Shola Ameobi is only contracted to the end of the season, he still lives in Newcastle and he told a fan at our last home game that he is unsure about his plans - stating that 'pre season' would allow him to decide. Jon Stead is also up for a contract renewal and there's heavy rumours that he is already making plans to move to the United States.

Would allowing both to leave be a major problem for Notts?

They have a good understanding, whilst I think there experience is a major part in our turn around. I do feel we could sign players good enough to get goals in this division, however I am hopeful we can retain at the very least Jon Stead.

If we managed to retain them both, I think a younger, more direct striker would do very well in support of them and the squad would only really require additional quality which would reduce time on having to sign a bulk load of players. What do you think?

Saturday's Fixxtures:
Leeds United v Preston North End
Norwich City v Reading
Charlton Athletic v Southend United
Scunthorpe United v Bolton Wanderers
Barnet v Luton Town
Colchester United v Stevenage

Four wins on the trot for Notts County, a 13-point gap between themselves and 23rd-placed Newport County (who are themselves doing well in all fairness, having won their last two), 10 points behind the top seven with 15 points yet to play for...

I previously thought it would be too far-fetched to even think of a playoff tilt as much as a fortnight ago, but given how well Notts are playing, a little inkling in the back of my head is saying "well, stranger things have happened in football" (Leicester winning the title much)...

Granted, the following five fixtures are quite tricky. Crewe are below us in the table but it's an away game, then just three days later, a home game with Portsmouth, who are hoping to seal automatic promotion, then Luton (both away and tricky as they're harbouring outside hopes of third place), then a home game with Blackpool, who themselves are hoping to make the playoffs, and finally a resurgent Newport who may or may not be banking on a win for FL survival.

So not the best round of fixtures - the only team we would be eliminating in terms of hopeful playoff contenders is Blackpool, and they're all quite difficult, so I'm not going to get my hopes up too much - I'd be happy with a top-half finish, which is incredible considering the previous objective, from about 2-3 months ago, was "battle bravely against what appears to be certain relegation".

But what is football without a bit of hope and drama? I'm certainly going to be enjoying the next few weeks - it's nice to have a little positive anxiety/drama as a Notts fan for once!

Guy Branston has discussed his time at Notts in an interview with the Derbyshire Times.

Now the head of recruitment and development at Chesterfield, he described his time at Meadow Lane as "a learning curve".

He came under a fair bit of criticism during his time at Meadow Lane, but he said he wasn’t the man responsible for actually signing players, and even had some kind words of support for the club...

“I didn’t bring players in, I provided information for managers to bring players in,” he said.

“Fans perceive people as different from what happens behind the scenes.

“I provided information for managers and the football club brings in the players.

“It’s a fantastic football club, I’m so happy with the situation they are in at the moment.”

Thoughts on him and what he's had to say?

Carlisle United are a tough team to defeat on their turf, a few years back I watched Notts totally outplay them in every aspect and yet it was them who won. Can things be different under Kevin Nolan?

I think we'll have to match their direct approach and work rate, however it should be a very entertaining game.

Two teams who's midfields will be key to pulling the strings.

I'm going for a 2-2 prediction.

What a beauty! I felt very disappointed for Jon Stead to see this ruled out. It was classy finish!

Name: Adam Collin: "I want three points"
Category: Official Notts Videos
Date Added: 2017-04-08
Submitter: Chris

The Notts goalkeeper discusses his return to his former club in Sky Bet League Two.

Adam Collin: "I want three points"

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Who was your man of the match for Notts County at Carlisle United?

I would like to see what fans general opinions are of the following, so if you could kindly answer each of the questions - I'll see if JJ can work his magic and turn this into a feature after a few days.

Please do join in! #COYP

Q: How important will next seasons budget be for Notts and do you feel the announcement re-debt being cleared by 2022 will effect things?

Q: What would you say is Kevin Nolan's best attribute to management and why?

Q: Where do you see Notts County finishing next season and what is more important, a promotion push or stability? (if you had to choose one)

Q: Do you feel our own fans can make a further impact? If so, how? If no, why?

Q: Has the current form beaten you hopes and expectations, how did you think the season would end after Alan Hardy takeover and appointment of Kevin Nolan?

What social network do you prefer to use? I am on Facebook and Twitter, both I find bewildering.

Twitter is useful for looking up news and real time updates, compared to Facebook which seems more complexed and targeted towards youngsters. I am not the biggest user of either networks, when I come online I mostly browse news related websites.

There has been a lot of positives since the arrival of Kevin Nolan, so I thought I would list the things I have learned in the chance that other members here may share their own points.

• Notts County can turn poor form into something outstanding, when effort is matched throughout the squad.
• Goal ratios and age mean little, if the player applies themselves and the team performs - it can/should work.
• A rookie manager isn't something to fear if the chairman supports them and allows him full control of building his staff.
• Team spirit can breed into the stands even when fears of relegation are looming.
• Meadow Lane is a fantastic venue that enhances match days.
• Takeovers can heal issues if all those involved try to repair the damages (rather than papering over cracks).
• Honesty is the best policy, thank god the club now has this.

I could have added others, along with some more common views but I'll leave it to this.

What about you?