Sounds awful @Michael D Pie. thats one diet I don’t fancy trying.

No i totally agree @Fan of Big Tone there were not any takers once advertised. Cannot imagine why? ☹️☠️

Spent Sunday morning looking at the Sunday talk shows

6 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

I have seen lots of comments on Norburn yesterday, he is marmite, you either love him or hate him.

He has that midfield nous to wind people up but I find him frustrating is that he is always looking backwards rather than forwards most of the time

Some comments blow my mind, are we talking about park football or something? If 'winding people up' can get a starting shirt then we're going nowhere.

You're right, Norburn made very little positive contribution to our play yesterday. I think he was there for extra insurance as it was Palmer's first game back. Otherwise, there's duplication between the two and we need either Robbo or Iorpenda there to add athleticism and cover more ground

@theAnticlough I've seen some social media speculation that Shrewsbury are interested in Norburn.

It wouldn't be a big surprise if he was in the same category as Gordon - we have to streamline our wage bill i guess to bring in new blood.

Look at the first game of the season.....Gagliardi's work is being cancelled out

In that first game we had Roos, Aljofree, Gordon, Cotter all getting starts, Norburn came off the bench. So did Bennetts, who wasn't in the 18 man squad yesterday and got no mention in interviews.

Norburn though is decent back-up for Palmer at this level. And consideing MP and Robbo are injury-proned we need that back-up. As a regular starter though? I wouldn't say so.

Two important early kick off matches affecting sides that could challenge Notts at the top of League 2. Full Time.

Notts are now in third place behind Walsall & Swindon.

Bristol R 0-3 Swindon

Salford 4-3 Colchester

There were only two games possible today in League 2 due to the Weather.

MK Dons 2 - 2 Chesterfield.

Cheltenham 3 - 0 Crawley.

Chesterfield go above Notts in the table & Notts drop to 8th place out of the playoff places.

Up to date table

Saturday 17th January

Two big early matches in League two. Results.

Chesterfield 0-0 Bromley

Tranmere 1-3 Walsall

Considering that even once Gordon was fit Tsaroulla was still in favour down the right-hand side is quite telling for me.

We’ve somehow got ourselves into a scenario where all our best wing-backs are left-footed, which isn't ideal. Tsaroulla, to use the classic football cliché, has done a job playing on the right hand side but he’s much better on the left because he’s not constantly put in positions where he has to use his weaker foot. He hasn’t put a cross in with his right foot that has created a goal.

Given that Cotter is not going to be involved and with Gordon moving on we are now short of a proper right-footed wingback.

Sadly, Kell never really nailed down a place in the team - he seemed a “nearly” player to me. I expected pace, dynamism & sharpness - which he provided but only in short bursts. His crosses were inconsistent too.

I think overall, he was a slight disappointment tbh but I wish him well. Always tried and came across as a good bloke in interviews etc.

We still don't know how the new players are going to perform. They may be a success, but they may not. The club has released players that were used to the system & were up to speed with knowledge of their colleagues and how they play,

It's going to take a little time for the new players to become acclimatised & up to speed. I do hope that the supporters won't expect instant results from those new players. If it happens that will be great, but if it doesn't, I hope the fans don't get on to them, before they've even settled.

Replacing Bass with Roos was a major mistake of the summer so I'm glad we've taken steps to correct it. Roos showed some good reaction saves, but too often he didn't do the basics in commanding his area and catching and punching the ball. I hope we've now got a calm presence between the sticks, and of course I hope Roos does well in Scotland.

I do like to root for an under dog and think some of the stuff said about Roos elsewhere on the internet has been a bit unfair.

He did OK but never great with crosses and left most feeling a little uneasy, so it is for the best that he has now been replaced but I wish him the best of luck in Scotland

Going from playing Newport and Harrogate to playing against Celtic and Rangers softens the blow a bit I guess. Kilmarnock are struggling. They will probably end up in the relegation playoff spot. I don't see KR playing in the Championship in Scotland so hopefully they stay up and Roos signs permanently.

Welcome! Sounds a promising signing to me - maybe someone who can play behind the striker(s). A Hall replacement?

It also looks like a return to the policy of signing promising young players on their way up.

He's an aggressive fast in your face type of player, hope Notts don't coach this out of him, he needs the ball and just go at players.

Pleased with this, he clearly backs himself to be able to make the step up to League 2, I really hope he's great for us. He's been listed on our website as an attacker which hopefully means he's not going to play at wing-back and suffer the same fate as Jarvis.

It's a stretch now mathematically. Four points is easy to claw back when you're at the bottom, but at the top, over only half a season, you need a fantastic run of form. You can't afford a bad month. Yes, Bradford did it last year so there's hope, but we don't quite have the players, the ruthlessness, or the luck with injuries. And the first two signings in this window have been 'ones for the future'.

We're now 7/1 at the bookies i.e. a 12.5% chance.

More realistic to hope MP can find the right formula in time to put up a good fight in the play-offs.

I tend to agree with @Sheffield Pie with his summing up of Notts's chances of automatic promotion. A couple of good additional signings might give an opportunity of making the playoffs at least.

There are up to 16 teams above and below Notts that will be challenging for either a automatic promotion place or a place in the playoffs. Half a dozen of those teams could go on a decent run. One of those teams has to be Notts which at the moment is a bit of a stretch.

Promotion is definitely achievable, but it’ll come down to a few key things. Consistency is the big one — cutting out the dropped points against teams in the bottom half and turning draws into wins.

Keeping the defence tight while maintaining our attacking style is crucial, especially away from home. Squad depth will also matter as the season wears on, so smart rotation and avoiding injuries could make the difference.

If we stay in touch with the top seven, build momentum at the right time, and hit form going into the run-in, there’s no reason we can’t push for the play-offs — and once you’re in them, anything can happen. Come on you Pies 🖤🤍

Is he really the best we can do, a reserve old man

In January? Probably is not a bad call. Less risky than a young keeper on loan for 6 months

Belshaw is in the building- my old man has just seen him at ML

I’m sure I’d agree with every word if I could read Polish.

On 07/01/2026 at 22:49, DangerousSausage said:

Saturday is FA Cup third round day, but luckily there's also a league programme for teams that don't go in for all that cup nonsense (mentioning no names). As usual, get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday and remember your joker!

Leyton Orient v Cardiff City..1:3

Peterborough United v Bolton Wanderers2;2

Accrington Stanley v Barnet - POSTPONED

Chesterfield v Colchester United - POSTPONED

Tranmere Rovers v Bromley1;2

Aldershot v So<lihull Moors2:0]

Sutton United v York C>ity1 :3 joker

Woking v Hartlepool United1:2

Leyton Orient 1-2 Cardiff City

Peterborough United 2-1 Bolton Wanderers

Accrington Stanley v Barnet - POSTPONED

Chesterfield v Colchester United - POSTPONED

Tranmere Rovers 1-2 Bromley (Joker)

Aldershot Town 1-2 Solihull Moors

Sutton United 2-2 York City

Woking 1-1 Hartlepool United

The results:

Leyton Orient 1-1 Cardiff City
Peterborough United 3-1 Bolton Wanderers
Accrington Stanley v Barnet - POSTPONED
Chesterfield v Colchester United - POSTPONED
Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Bromley
Aldershot 1-5 Solihull Moors
Sutton United 1-2 York City
Woking 4-0 Hartlepool United

Drum roll for this round's winner @Megan_Elizax! And also a mention to @4everapie, who got 8 points despite only predicting five games, which is frankly showboating.

No change in the top ten this week, @magpiejue still leads the way with @Dan banging on the door in second.

The next round is on Saturday, so the prediction league pixies will post the fixtures on Wednesday. Thanks for playing!

Absolutely brilliant result, all the palace players should be ashamed of themselves. But they probably won't be.

I'm so pleased that they have made their mark in history after having to start all over again as a phoenix club after Macclesfield Town were liquidated and expelled from the National League in 2020 because of huge debts.

Macclesfield have recorded three promotions in the four subsequent seasons & are now in the National League North, currently in 14th place.

I watched the game it was certainly no fluke result they thoroughly deserved their win, absolutely brilliant. I’m so pleased for the fans, who says the FA Cup has lost its magic.

I don't wish to sound harsh, but Luke Williams is still riding off the success he had with us. His stint at Swansea City isn't something that would overly appeal to clubs in my opinion, whilst he did a modest job. There were a lot of articles circulating about how he was staying away from the players and how he had caused a division among the squad.

Swansea captain Matt Grimes also left the club, stating Williams as the cause.

There are two ways of looking at this: either Williams was weeding out the bad eggs/underperformers, or he was contributing to the problem holding Swansea back.

Wales Online

BBC Sport

EFL Analysis

Since he arrived at the club, it's his first major appointment after having success. Alienating a struggling squad isn't exactly the way to go; I would have thought it would be best to adjust slowly and find replacements. I thought he had made a jump that was too big, but I understood the reasons, as he would be closer to his family.

Peterborough United, to me, seems like a poor move because they have spent money and massively underperformed as a result.

It's almost identical to Swansea City, who needed someone able to get the best out of the squad that was there without a massive overhaul. Posh will probably spend more money come January, but they need someone who can work with their existing players and fairly quickly improve their situation.

Holding the position at the bottom of League One comes with immense pressure, and although I genuinely wish Williams success, the challenges ahead are significant. I can see it failing; he would have done better to wait for a team that wasn't in any sort of crisis but just needed a steady leader.

Looks like we have a Luke Williams bounce today

Peterborough 5 Wimbledon 0

Even more recovery time now. Hoping the next time Notts get a run out we will be stronger to the tune of two or three players in key positions.

On 08/01/2026 at 23:41, Sheffield Pie said:

Even more recovery time now. Hoping the next time Notts get a run out we will be stronger to the tune of two or three players in key positions.

Yes, this 2nd postponement is a much needed chance to reset and address the issues which have been building up

Why is our passing out from the back so poor

Why aren't we building through midfield

Why are our only wide players, the WBs always trapped, tightly marked around the halfway line

The no.10 weakness we know about

Why are our excellent 2 top goal scorers prone to following good games with really poor ones

Sort some of these out, add some new blood and hopefully we can drive on and get back up the table again.

I think Notts are persisting with the long ball to counteract the opponents high press & our opponents just sitting back and basically challenging Notts to break them down.

Notts just don't have the playmaker(s) to open defenses, so it's the long hoof. Problem with the long hoof both Jatta & Dennis are not the type of players that can take a long ball, shield it and distribute the ball to other Notts players consistently.

When Palmer & Robertson are in the side Notts are much better at breaking defenses down. If Notts did have a good playmaker to feed off those two, I think Jatta & Dennis would be much more consistent with their performances.

Being an old codger I like to sit down so I can’t answer your question @DangerousSausage but I have wondered myself how it works, hopefully someone on here will be able to tell us.

I would always sit-down at my age , but I think safe standing is a good idea for the youngsters. I am a bit confused why it's not cheaper to stand rather than sit. . I think the Club should look at that maybe next season.

Sorry I can't answer you question though @DangerousSausage but I'm sure there are some PON members who can.

I do think that sustainability is important to keep a reign on the purse strings, but I would like to see the owners consider inviting further investment into the club by a third party.

I would prefer Notts present owners to retain a majority shareholding, but to get out of League 2 & maintain a place in League 1, more finance is going to be needed to compete with other clubs in this day and age.

Happy to see him in. Obviously doesn't count towards the senior team registration places and with Rodders and Platt expiring in the summer, gives us time (like Jatta) to bed him in and get him up to speed.

Can't say I know anything about him, I'm very intrigued to see how he gets on and I've no idea what to expect really. The fact he was signed by Palace from Shelbourne after impressing them tells me he must have something about him though.

Hope he does well with us! The defence is the area where I see the least need to improve (we've got five really solid options for the back three, and hopefully six now), but this is hopefully a player we can develop and who can maybe step in and play a bigger role next season.

I think it's a weaker league this season, and now is surely a good time to really go for it. It's fairly obvious what we need to really solidify and build on what's obviously a weaker (more technical and creative debt) team this time around, but with a more motivational manager. I'd argue that MP isn't any better than SM as I'm really looking for consistancy and good, prolific attacking play and not the dross I've witnessed vs Accrington.

They have different strengths and MP can talk the talk and change the game a bit with his game management, but I'm yet to be enamoured by his style of play.

SM played a more attractive style of play, but became very easy to read and the style of play was monotonous when we weren't winning.

I think the one that will be the deciding factor is a consistant approach from RM again. Gagliardi effectively has hampered any effect from MP on getting them to play attractive football, but hopefully, we'll see a new few faces and say bye to a couple of ones who've yet to make the grade.

Despite the changes of coaching and playing staff and playing style you could argue that many of our unsolved problems remain the same. The biggest of these is inconsistency. In my opinion this can only be addressed if we sign three or four experienced players who are good enough to start matches.

Realistically we are just an above average League 2 team....mainly because we have no flair players...we haven't repaced Macca Rueben Didzy Crowley etc We appointed MP an old school footballer who would have zero experience of playing a possession type team . Perhaps we could tempt George Abbott back to bring some flair back into the team...

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Charlton Athletic

Hull City 0-2 Watford

Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Burton Albion (joker)

Reading 1-0 Stockport County

Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Barnet 1-0 Crewe Alexandra

Barrow 0-2 Bristol Rovers

Walsall 1-1 Fleetwood Town

Blackburn 2-1 Charlton

Hull City 1-2 Watford

Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Burton

Reading 1-1 Stockport County Joker

Wycombe 1-0 Wimbledon

Barnet P-P Crewe Alexandra

Barrow P-P Bristol Rovers

Walsall P-P Fleetwood

The results:

Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Charlton Athletic
Hull City P-P Watford
Plymouth Argyle 3-0 Burton Albion
Reading 1-0 Stockport County
Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 AFC Wimbledon
Barnet P-P Crewe Alexandra
Barrow P-P Bristol Rovers
Walsall P-P Fleetwood Town

And this round's winner is... me! Come on people, put some effort in. But everyone did manage to score despite only four of our matches actually going ahead this time.

@magpiejue consolidates her position at the top somewhat, but a big-scoring round from one of the chasing pack could still change everything. Elsewhere, @cheeky~k8 and @Megan_Elizax join @Garry Lee in notching up a hundred points.

And that's how things look now the festive fixtures are complete and the Christmas chocolates are finished! I'll post Saturday's fixtures on Wednesday and hopefully there will be more points, thrills and spills. Thanks for playing everyone!

Once again into the breach of another New Year, how many resolutions have been made and how long will they last? As the days get longer and reality returns are we looking for some guidance or maybe a touch of inspiration to move forwards into the days ahead 🤔

Whatever it is, I really do hope your wishes and plans come to fruition for one and all.

My pockets of enthusiasm are full to the brim. 🤠🖖

Just got back home, after having no snow for the whole week it decided to chuck it down as we packed the cars to come home, so we had todo it in blizzard conditions. By the time we’d packed the cars and were ready to go it had settled quite a lot. Thankfully the main roads were clear.

Hope that you made a snowman or two before leaving @Fan of Big Tone 😂

Back safe and sound eh?

Walked to work this morning and it was absolutely freezing 🥶 This was me trying to do my steps and get a little fitter this year. So cold, I even walked back, silly me or not i made it mine. Might even try again tomorrow. Happy days 😃

Sheffield United, Rotherham and Doncaster all off and they are close in terms of location to us, looks like even if we'd left it to a late pitch inspection it would've been off and that just makes it unfair for travelling fans.

You just know right now there will be fans that are travelling to a match today and will inevitably get the news to say it's been called off.

MK Dons have a Hybrid pitch but they also have installed undersoil heating whereas Notts decided not to connect their undersoil heating.

So the MK Dons match is on today whereas the Notts match isn't.

I think both clubs will be happy that it has been postponed. Both teams are on the ropes. A reset is required.

Southampton 2-1 Millwall

Swansea 1-1 West Brom

Orient 2-1 Wimbledon

Reading 1-0 Burton

Wigan 1-0 Barnsley 

Fleetwood 1-1 Grimsby Joker

Shrews 0-1 Bristol R

Swindon 2-1 Gillingham

On 30/12/2025 at 23:13, 4everapie said:

I'm doing what Notts are doing, stay off the pace, then when I get reinforcements in January, then see me climb up the table

I'm doing the same, but I'm staying even further off the pace. It's all a brilliant tactical plan.

The results for 1 January:

Southampton 0-0 Millwall
Swansea City 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
Leyton Orient 1-3 AFC Wimbledon
Reading 2-0 Burton Albion
Wigan Athletic 1-1 Barnsley
Fleetwood Town 0-1 Grimsby Town
Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Bristol Rovers
Swindon Town 2-0 Gillingham

This round's winners are the mighty, triumphant @DangerousSausage and @william1984.

Overall, @magpiejue holds on to top spot while @Dan is right back in the mix. As the (joint) best player of the year so far, I have surged from tenth to ninth; my ultimate triumph is surely just a matter of time and this defnitely hasn't gone to my head.

There's a round up and running for today's fixtures; you've still got two hurs to predict so head on over there if you haven't already. After that, we're back to our usual Saturday round, with round 26 to be posted on Wednesday. Thanks for playing!

Tricky, because we needed someone to do something, I thought of the subs Bennetts was the only player who came on and tried to actually do something.

I think it's a low bar but the picks for me are Bedeau or Dennis. Purely for being the only defensive player not at fault for the goal, I'll go for Bedeau. Had Dennis scored one of his headers it would've been him.

I've gone for Dennis because with a little more luck he could have scored w goal or two. He did get into some good positions but just failed to finish.

The Poll has closed. Thanks to all who voted. I'm delighted to announce that Matt Dennis has been voted the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match v Accrington Stanley.

Welcome to our Pride of Nottingham Community @Gloucester Pie . Great to have you on board

Hi @Gloucester Pie thanks for introducing yourself, it’s great to hear your back story, thank you for choosing the oldest professional football club in the world. Enjoy the ride.

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