A much needed win last night with a clean sheet.

That win probably makes them safe but it has been a struggle for them since the beginning of the year.

A comfortable win in the end for Luke Williams side, however the Swans still haven't moved either up or down in the League standings 15th and they may well end up in that position at the Season's end, it will be interesting to see if LW is given money to spend on New Players and turn Swansea into a team to challenge for a playoff spot next season. It also seems he's starting to  form a relationship with the Swans Fans very much like he did at the Lane.

Where's the Man himself? I don't see him.

Love the picture, but you can't make them crouch like that at their age

Craig Short looking like he just walked straight in from the on-pitch "discussion" at Peterborough in 2010.

Don O’ looks younger now than when he was playing! 
Shame there’s no Drapes or Yates in the photo, and I wouldn’t have swapped any of them for today’s side, style was very different but really effective. Some great players there and Phil Turner was a brilliant skipper who was massively underrated by some fans.

Forgot to reply to your comment @Robbie. I've been to Kaiserslautern a couple of times. The town itself is a little smaller than Mansfield and is uninteresting. The only interesting thing about that place is its football club. They play in a HUGE ground (nearly 50,000 capacity) on top of a massive hill behind the railway station, and they make a decent fist of filling it too. The town itself is far too small to sustain a club like that - they draw fans from all over a large region stretching from Saarbrücken in the west to Ludwigshafen in the east. They were part of the furniture in the Bundesliga until recently, but have fallen victim to mismanagement and only returned to Bundesliga 2 last season.

My own team in Germany, Waldhof Mannheim, have a major rivalry with them. There's a lot of bad blood between the clubs due to the teams' time in the Bundesliga in the 80s (to cut a long story short) and they drew 1-1 in the last game I attended before the season was stopped due to covid. Some impressions are in the link, if you're interested!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7R2bqkjmlU

@DangerousSausageWatched the video thanks, looks like there's lots of passionate fans over there. Not sure the authorities here would tolerate all the flares though.

I noticed that there seems to be a lots of fans standing,  I've always thought that standing fans do increase the atmosphere at matches.

I googled it about German standing areas and  Borussia Dortmund have 25,000 standing in one stand.

Seems the Germans are much more advanced in having safe standing areas at their top grounds  than UK do.

That game was at Waldhof's ground, which holds 26,000, so a little bigger than Meadow Lane (albeit with only 15,000 seats). And there's no safe standing there! The home end is actually seated, but has been used as a standing area for years. The corners are terraced, but old-style with normal crush barriers. The away end is three quarters seated, part standing, but no one sits down for a derby It might need a bit of an upgrade if they ever make it back to Bundesliga 2. Kaiserslautern's ground was partially rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup and they've got safe standing.

Your typical Bundesliga ground has a big standing area (possibly the whole stand) behind a goal, and an area in the corner for away fans too. There are exceptions though - Darmstadt's fans traditionally stand along the side of the pitch, and they integrated a terrace into their new stand which opened last year. They've got a terrace behind the goal too, but it's one of those tin pot temporary stands so doesn't hold that many.

I have to fully agree with you Robbie those three Players would also be my choice as well Not very original I know agreeing with you, but let's be honest despite the Ups and Downs of this Current season these Gentlemen have knuckled down and got on with their jobs. My only hope they'll all be in the Running for this Award at the end of Next season. However Jodi just shades Macca just.

1, Slocombe

2. Stone

3. Brindley

They are misunderstood.

36 minutes ago, Ohh Tommy Johnson said:

1, Slocombe

2. Stone

3. Brindley

They are misunderstood.

I could have included Tiernan Brooks for his performances for Rochdale this season. Hopefully he'll be playing for us next season.

There's an awful Lot Clubs starting to Struggle  surely it's time for the FA/EFL to take their Blinkers off and get the money from the Premiership passed down through all Tiers of Football. The sooner the Government put an Independent  Person in Charge of Football Finances the Better. But they must be Someone who won't be swayed ( which sounds much nicer than Bribed) by the top brass in the FA/EFL and Things Don't Change but Remain the Same.

I can't see him staying, and I would hope he is picked up by one of the Championship teams.  I think we would get a fair price for him (the Reedz brothers are, by all accounts, really tough negotiators). Whether we can replace him is another issue. I wonder if Randall was the plan in case he moved on last summer (or we didn't get his signature on a permanent deal). If that's the case, he really needs to step up and his luck needs to change.

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

I'm not sure that he is likely to go.

Notts gave him a great opportunity when he arrived here on loan having such problems with his fitness in the past.

Notts rewarded him with a 2 year contract and Jodi has played so well for us since he became a regular in the side, and he has also featured so well playing in international matches for his Country too.

As I've said previously on other threads, other clubs may still be a little hesitant to take him on due to his past fitness record, so I'm hopeful that he would stay at Notts at least till Xmas to see if Notts are challenging for promotion.

Notts may even offer him an extension to his contract to tempt him to stay a while.

Even if he doesn't stay he will have left some great memories for us.

We may offer him an extension, but at his age and having lost so many years to injury I can see him wanting to move as far up as possible.  He knows more than most how important it is to grab chances whilst they are there,  This season should have put doubts over his injury history to bed.  With a year on his contract we could cash in.  I don't think loyalty should come into his thinking.  His is a good news story for all involved - he has his career back on track, Notts did that for him and so it reflects well on our set up... making us more attractive to others. The one thing that works for us is that we don't have to sell, and have shown in the past we are happy to let a contract run out and lose any fees if it is best for us (and the player is happy enough), which means we can extract the best price.

I get what you mean @Fan of Big Tone as I also had no idea why people were clapping so didn’t participate. It wasn’t till I got home that I found out it was for a very young girl who never reached her 8th birthday because of her condition, guess how bad I felt! 
I do think though that any clapping for someone should go through official channels so it can be properly organised and all fans notified.

5 minutes ago, Fozzy said:

I do think though that any clapping for someone should go through official channels so it can be properly organised and all fans notified.

Yes exactly that, I think it’s a bit pointless clapping if you don’t know what for, I guess it would give the little girls family some comfort though.

Nice One. I'm Pleased for the Lad. I think he didn't really get a Fair Crack of the Whip at Notts and I could understand him wanting to move away from the Lane. But do you remember that over the head goal he scored for Notts, that seemed like everybody on Social Media was talking about? I t was even put forward for the Puskas Award but didn't even get a Mention. After all how could a player representing a Club like Notts County be even considered for the Award? TOTAL FOOTBALL SNOBERY . Now if Eli had scored the goal playing for oh say Man City Liverpool or Arsenal he would have probably Won the damn Award.

@Wheelbarrow repair man man, I agree with you about Football snobbery, if it had been Haarland or Salah scored that goal, all the football pundits would have raved about it.

I was sorry to see Eli leave because I believe he still could have had a roll to play at Notts as a squad player.

Eli probably wanted more first team football time. Pleased that he is getting some success in Belgium.

I think they'll still be here at the start of next season. Our board has shown no inclination to sell players before their contracts have expired in the past - think Ruben Rodrigues and Kyle Wootton, who both ended up leaving on free transfers at the end of their contracts. On the other hand, Macca and Jodi would command much higher fees.

There's more of a question mark over Langstaff in my opinion, as his scoring record has been stunning and he's bound to have a release clause. However, his age might limit his price - his next contract will take him beyond his 30th birthday, so any buyer would not be bringing in a player they could develop hugely or sell on for big money. In addition, the market is awash with out-of-contract strikers in the summer. I wouldn't blame him for taking a once-in-a-career offer, but so far there's been a lot of paper talk and no actual offers, and there's no reason to assume that the summer transfer window will be any different.

Macca and Jones both need to move on for their own good.  We need to make sure we can get enough money to adequately replace them (attack wise I think with Crowley, Austin and McGoldrick with Scott and Jatta.. and Morias?? we are fine). Randall needs to come on next season, and going forward we should be OK  and we can use the money on defenders, defensive midfielders and a wingback or two for squad depth... and a goalkeeper, depending on where Brooks is in terms of development.

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

Langstaff has three years left on his contract, Jones has one year left, he only got 2 years in the beginning primarily,I suspect, because of Jodi's passed fitness record.

Crowley also has one year left having signed a two year deal last summer.

If Langstaff wishes to go, Notts need to hold out for as much as they can.

I'm not convinced that Jodi will go though primarily because of those fitness issues 

Not sure about Crowley, He may want to go back to playing in a higher league, if so, Notts need to cash in if they can.

Three of our best players leaving Notts would be a big blow, but funds received could allow Notts to strengthen in areas that have already been identified such as Goalkeeper, defence and midfield.

So I am hopeful for next season, even if they do go.

Good analysis  from @ARLukomski

Proof if any is needed the Notts Defence isn't up to League 2 Standard.

On 26/03/2024 at 15:40, Robbie said:

I see your point @Ohh Tommy Johnson but It seems that we are led back to the play it out from the back at all times philosophy even when under pressure. This philosophy must be coming from the coaches or maybe what the owners want.

I believe Maynard has tinkered by trying to get the midfield to support the defense much more, but this change has been to the detriment of us not scoring as freely as before.

It's a fine balance to be had, but I do agree that the defence should play more cautiously, and if in doubt, kick it out or upfield, where we now have Jatta to try to keep possession when the defence play long.

 

Exactly - I think our game was perfectly set up for the NL, where we could control the game through better players and wear the opposition out.  In L2 it needs to evolve to be more pragmatic where we need to be.  I don't thin we have done that yet, but hopefully this is what they are looking at over the summer... or getting in a shed load of Championship and L1 players so we can do the same as we did in the NL!!

Clarke is dismissed.

Notts are 39/4

Notts are 50/4 at Lunch.

Unfortunately we have seen a quick Notts collapse after lunch.

The last six wickets going down for just 30 runs this afternoon.

Notts bowled out for 80, losing by 254 runs.

Very poor from Notts after such a competitive 3 days of cricket.

Sunderland 2-1 Bristol City

Watford 1-1 Preston North End

Burton Albion 0-3 Oxford United (joker)

Charlton Athletic 1-1 Barnsley

Bradford City 1-1 Gillingham

Tranmere Rovers 1-2 Walsall

Boreham Wood 1-1 Wealdstone

York City 2-0 Eastleigh

The results:

Sunderland 0-0 Bristol City
Watford 0-0 Preston North End
Burton Albion 0-4 Oxford United
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Barnsley
Bradford City 1-0 Gillingham
Tranmere Rovers 1-3 Walsall
Boreham Wood 4-0 Wealdstone
York City 0-1 Eastleigh

---

@ARLukomski will be feeling like a number one this week!

@ARLukomski - 8
@Dan, @liampie - 7
@gtownjohnno - 6
@Robbie, @william1984 - 5
@DangerousSausage, @Joshua - 4
@4everapie, @Harry Buckley, @super_ram - 3
@cheeky~k8, @Fan of Big Tone, @magpiejue, @nottsnutter - 2
@Megan_Elizax - 1

---

@ARLukomski adds to his lead, but @gtownjohnno still has a dream. As for my own title ambitions, I just have to face it this time I'm through.

ARLukomski - 206
gtownjohnno - 200
william1984 - 191
super_ram - 183
cheeky~k8 - 181
Fan of Big Tone - 181
4everapie - 177
magpiejue - 177
DangerousSausage - 174
Dan - 169
Megan_Elizax - 157
DonnyNotts - 136
liampie - 133
nottsnutter - 133
Chris - 123
Joshua - 90
upthepies - 90
Robbie - 78
allardyces tash - 70
TheSkipper - 67
KingWilliams - 66
Harry Buckley - 63
CliftonMagpie - 55
thommo - 49
OoooooTommy - 45
NottsCountyKev - 41
JIMBO - 40
jimbob - 38
Nocturnal-Magpie - 38
AmericanPie - 36
KB1862 - 22
George L - 6
Canadian - 4

---

So I say thank you for the predictions, the scores you're giving. The next round will be on Saturday, so keep your eyes peeled for the fixtures on Wednesday!

My ambitions are now just to finish higher than @super_ram 

Well I'm Happy to be Proven Wrong. I thought at Best Notts would get a Draw. But the 3-0 victory will give everyone a Boost. But it might have been a totally different game if Harrogate had taken a couple of their chances and had scored their Penalty. But they didn't and it seemed Luck was with Notts for a change. Young Ashby-Hammond had an excellent game and should have been MOTM, it strange but a Keeper never seems to get that honour. There are still glaring problems with the defence which hopefully will be sorted over the Summer. It was nice to see Macca back on the score sheet, with a well taken Penalty and he's now only 4 goals shy of the 30 goal mark. Jodi's mazy run and goal was a joy to watch and it's clear to see why Clubs higher up the Football Pyramid will be looking at him. Jim also proved that like AJ he too can score with his head. But lets not get carried away after past victories Notts have failed to build on their Win and have Lost their following match lets hope they can get a result at Walsall.

I'm still Not Convinced about Stuart Maynard but the Guy seemed more Relaxed in his after match interview and he's starting to hopefully settle into his role. If the Magpies can go undefeated till the end of the season, not only will it give the Team confidence for next season but will bring dissatisfied Fans back on side and make Maynard's Task a lot more easier.

A great result and deserved too. With the penalty and Harogate's period of pressure at the start of the second half, the game could easily have slipped away from us again, so it was great for us to get that second goal and decide it in our favour.

I only saw some of the game on video (I heard the rest on the radio), but I thought Crowley made a decent fist of the Palmer-esque tidying-up role a little deeper in midfield.

Let's have more days like this please!

Based on the statement issued by the board, SM is here to stay. It seems the computer says Yes Seriously though, I understand the brother's use of metrics, it has served them well, but I would advise watching what's going on on the pitch as well......

We, the Notts fans will all have our opinions on whether Start Maynard should stay or go, but the only people who count at this stage, are the Reedtz brothers who have made it clear that Stuart will stay as the side is rebuilt and he will begin the next season in charge.

On social media there has been mixed reaction to the news that Maynard has the confidence bof the Notts board.

It will be interesting to see if the "Maynard out" placards are seen after the end of the game against Harrogate if Notts lose that match today.

Whatever we think on the matter, the update from the board has at least given us clarity and confirmed that SM will still be here until the summer at least, and almost certainly at the start of next season too. That has the positive effect that it draws a line under the circus surrounding SM for the time being at least and will help focus everyone's attention towards what's happening on the pitch.

What worries lots of people around the Country is the prospect of a new Labour government proposing a similar law in England, and Wales, which could cause havoc in English and Welsh football too.

With Labour, the Libdems, Scottish Nationalists & the Greens on course to be the biggest block of MPs in Westminster after the election, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that such a law could be passed at some point during the Labour administration.

A useful overview. It's a difficult topic as I feel the mantra of "freedom of speech" should remain paramount in all democracies

This sounds a bit harsh. Is it compulsory to hate the Scottish now? I can't always understand what they're saying, but there's no ill will. One of them once asked me for a fight in an airport terminal, but he asked politely and I declined, so it was all amicable. I'm looking forward to a few days in Scotland this month, hopefully with no fighting.

Being serious, I haven't read the law (and I suspect the other people commenting here haven't either), so it's a little bit over my head. I'm not going to take anti-trans hate groups' word for it thank you. On the other hand, language is a highly subjective thing, and that means laws like this are difficult to put into practice and could potentially be turned against the people they were originally designed to protect. Some of the most effective and prolific hatemongers use insinuations rather than outright abusive language.

A Remarkable Achievement Indeed Robbie. Lets hope the Magpies can keep up their Goal Scoring Antics next season, but lets hope they don't Concede has many Eh?

I did some research on Google and found out the following.

From the 1888/89 season when  records began Notts have only scored 100 goals in a season 3 times in their recorded history.

The 200 goals we have scored in two consecutive seasons during the last two seasons is a record.

Closest two consecutive seasons to get near this are

1948/49,102 goals,  1949/50,95 goals, Total 197

1959/60,107goals  1960/61,82 goals, Total 189

Record consecutive season

2022/23,117goals, 2023/24,83goals,  Total 200

That’s weird for some reason I thought we were away on Saturday so actually I’ll be going to Meadow Lane.

Working today, watching Notts on Saturday, and Sunday I have a real highlight….. I have to fit two new bath panels at home!!! I don’t think I can contain my excitement!

yeah home tomorrow, sunday i dont have any plans. my mums with my aunt, so no need to fetch shopping. it would be nice if the weather was good as i might go out for a walk or bike ride.

@Wheelbarrow repair man

Very sad news to see that Torquay has been put into administration. Unfortunately it is happening to regularly now,  and there are many clubs on the brink too, meanwhile, the top six clubs in the PL get richer.

I know they've already been deducted 10 points a few weeks ago that puts them in danger of another relegation. 

Any further sanction could depend upon a new owner being accepted by the administrators or not, or if a new owner is found.

I hope things work out for them because we don't want to see another phoenix club in the 9th or 10th tier again.

Robbie

You're Bang on with your remarks about the Top Six PL clubs and to think if a player say Haarland at Man City donated one weeks wages it would probably pay off  Torquay's debts. The Financial  Structure within English Football is so very very wrong.

22 minutes ago, Robbie said:

@Wheelbarrow repair man

We keep saying it and everyone knows it but things will only get worse before it gets better if ever.

other teams do make mistakes, if you watch the efl show you will see it. we tend to score good goals, which are build from good attacking play. there is little room for defenders to gift us goals when we play like this. to say that we are the only team making these mistakes is a bit odd. it happens even in the premier league.

@liampie you are right.

In the recent home match, the MK Dons goalie passed the ball straight to Chicksen on the left, who then ran down the line & crossed for Jatta to score our 2nd goal.

@Robbie 

the goalkeeper was put under pressure and distributed a poor ball for suttons first goal.

defensively everyone stood ball watching in the swindon defence, with some players hoping it was offside. not much defending here.

their second what was the swindon keeper doing again?

the third goal for sutton comes from a lack of defending too.

if we needed further proof of defences just standing still when they are needed, this 100% proves that.

10 hours ago, Robbie said:

@liampie I don't have a problem with teams spending money but transfer fees and wages  should be capped to a maximum amount for each league, to stop two or three clubs with massive turnovers spending much more than the rest.

 

Any wage cap would be measured against turnover rather than an absolute figure. The wage cap in Leagues One and Two used to specify that a club can spend 65% of its turnover on wages, and last season Wrexham seemed to be in line with that. It's obvious that a club getting crowds of 10,000 with a load of merchandising revenue on top is going to have more money to burn than one that is barely managing four-figure crowds.

The idea of an absolute top limit on spending is interesting, but probably not feasible - a club that goes straight down from the PL to L1 will automatically be spending much more than other L1 clubs simply because of the PL-era players it still has under contract.

2 minutes ago, DangerousSausage said:

Any wage cap would be measured against turnover rather than an absolute figure. The wage cap in Leagues One and Two used to specify that a club can spend 65% of its turnover on wages, and last season Wrexham seemed to be in line with that. It's obvious that a club getting crowds of 10,000 with a load of merchandising revenue on top is going to have more money to burn than one that is barely managing four-figure crowds.

The idea of an absolute top limit on spending is interesting, but probably not feasible - a club that goes straight down from the PL to L1 will automatically be spending much more than other L1 clubs simply because of the PL-era players it still has under contract.

That's the problem with the present cap on turnover, it benefits the richer clubs and also protects, for instance the top six clubs in the PL and allows them to continue to play in Europe, thus making them richer year on year. Wrexham, for example, are up there solely because of the finance they are receiving and I believe it is grossly unfair to other clubs in league 2.

On 01/04/2024 at 23:44, Robbie said:

@liampie I don't have a problem with teams spending money but transfer fees and wages  should be capped to a maximum amount for each league, to stop two or three clubs with massive turnovers spending much more than the rest.

 

no dig at anyone here robbie, i do agree with you that expenditure should be capped.

37 minutes ago, Ohh Tommy Johnson said:

 

Then up front I think we will be good with Crowley, Austin, Scott and Jatta, with Didzy providing experience and impact off the bench.

You didn't mention Macaulay, I assume then you believe he's moving on?

I assumed that both Macca and Jones will not be here next year.  If they are happy days, but I would hope that they are able to showcase their skills at a higher level as they deserve it.

i think when we look at defenders who come we need to make sure that they can self motivate themselves, show a good level of awareness and strong with dealing with issues. this is our main area provided that we dont lose any of our good attacking players.

it might be worth keeping an eye on some of the promoted teams to see if they release any defenders.

charlie raglan would have been a good option i feel, but he moved from cheltenham to oldham. hes a pretty non nonsense centre back who defensively copes well with pressure. upcoming mason o malley did well with scunthorpe. hes now at bradford park avenue but is young, which does not quite fit the need for experience but hes a good tackler. so in terms of experience, liam shephard could be a good call.

Can’t argue with that @ARLukomski, good post and I see it broadly the same.

See how Munakandafa goes at Truro, and unless he starts every game and gets good reviews then release him. He has not shown enough to warrant another year.

Baldwin I originally thought to keep, but he’s an accident waiting to happen as a centre back, could be better perhaps as a sweeper/ DM in front (a bit like Don O’ many years ago). But definitely release as a CB.

We need to get more physical presence and also pace in the side, but I can’t see us bringing in 9 players (only if Macca JJ and Dan go), more like 6 or 7. It’ll take us 3 or 4 seasons to be good enough to go up, but as long as we prioritise the defence and centre midfield then at least we will be a solid in and around the playoffs type of team.

Excellent analysis from @ARLukomski No room for sentiment in football.

I am exactly in sync with @ARLukomski bar Crowley. He is a lynchpin that comes and offers to collect the ball and can spin his man. 

Brooks and a new GK, Slocombe and Stone can go

i am only really bothered about retaining cedwyn scott and aden baldwin, i do think kyle cameron can prove himself with more defensive minds around him. having a good centre back that can go forward might be a luxury but hes a decent captain despite what some fans say.

I believe another big positive this first season in League 1 was our match attendances which could see the total reach close to £250K by the seasons end.

Of course there are several factors why the attendances have been good. Notts play attractive football and score plenty of goals, 80 goals scored already this season and spectators do like to be entertained, and we certainly get entertained at meadow lane.

Another reason is we have attracted many families that may have gone to watch Forest but cannot due to them being sold out every game. Personally, I hope Forest stay in the PL, because those families will most likely still come to watch Notts, and that good for Notts's revenue.

It will be interesting to see if Notts reward fans loyalty by giving discounts for renewal of season tickets for next season. I believe that would be a good move too.

I think it is far better to go into the close season looking at the positives, whilst being mindful of the negatives.  Momentum for 24 / 25 can start at the end of 23/24, so 5 good results and looking at the glass half full component of the season are important. The glass half empty component can be focussed on at the start of the close season going into pre-season. There are loads of positives both on and off the field. 

The investment in the Fans Zone, new bar, the pitch, Padel (?) courts suggest that the owners are here  for the long term. 

The Owners are steady and not reactive, but will take action when they think it is appropriate.  I think this will pay dividends in the long term.

Our attack is devastating when we get it going - and it appears to have depth such that losing Jones and Macca still leaves us very strong position

We have learned a lot about league football vs non-league which will give us a more stable base to develop from than going up and then struggling next year (better to be a top L2 side moving forwards, than a struggling L1 side moving backwards).  Our development  plan as a club sees to be the same as our on field tactics; slow, steady and methodical.

Having Matty Palmer back will be like a new signing!

Our defence has also been so bad, that it has clearly highlighted what needs to be done to improve!! We have a pretty good track record on recruiting attackers, now we know what's needed for defence it should be possible to replicate that.  I also get the feeling SM has a bigger input into what he wants.

So, lots of good... but let's not forget to work on the gaps.

2 hours ago, Ohh Tommy Johnson said:

Having Matty Palmer back will be like a new signing!

its very cliche but matt palmer really will make such a big difference when he returns.

our first goal was to remain in the efl, we had high hopes on the back of promotion but perhaps the fact chesterfield were the better team on the day and what issues they gave us could have been a sign of how this campaign might end.

going top showed we had the class and quality, unfortunately injuries meant and other things did not see it last but its  good achievement in its own.

the earlier part of our home form was special, it felt like meadow lane was a fortress and that made attending games exciting.