@Chris You Don't Mean You Think @super_ram Is A Robot from the Future Do You ?  Destined to Bring the Glory Days Back to Derby? Promotion to the Championship being his First Step?????

@Wheelbarrow repair man I have to say, I have my suspious.  

Frightening.

Tiangong, China’s Open-Source Humanoid Robot, Is Ready to Take Over the World - Jason Deegan

JASONDEEGAN.COM

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China has unveiled Tiangong, a full-sized, open-source humanoid robot that’s...

Thanks @Piethagoram.Could have done with him today.

Is Steve Bloomer, the player you have a book on @super_ram? About him being Football's first superstar?? This exact book here - 

Steve Bloomer: The Story of Football's First Superstar by Peter J. Seddon (Hardcover, 1999) for sale online | eBay

WWW.EBAY.CO.UK

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Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Steve Bloomer: The Story of Football's First Superstar by Peter J. Seddon (Hardcover, 1999) at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for...

14 hours ago, Chris said:

Is Steve Bloomer, the player you have a book on @super_ram? About him being Football's first superstar?? This exact book here - 

Steve Bloomer: The Story of Football's First Superstar by Peter J. Seddon (Hardcover, 1999) for sale online | eBay

WWW.EBAY.CO.UK

---

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Steve Bloomer: The Story of Football's First Superstar by Peter J. Seddon (Hardcover, 1999) at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for...

 

Yes , @Chris,it should be somewhere on my shelves.A very good read.

Barrow are certainly underachieving this season. It was almost a foregone conclusion that Barrow would be looking for another manager, sooner rather than later, so this news s not surprising.

They will certainly have to up their game considerably if they are going to have any chance of sneaking into the playoffs this season.

Frankly, I think it will be very hard for them, but we saw with Doncaster last season that a team can go on a good run.

They basically lost the best thing they had when Pete Wild left them. I suspect they might look at coaches/managers from the National League again, they aren't afraid of going for a younger up coming coach over a older 'been there done it' type so I'll be interested to see who ends up in the hot-seat.

Another American President, Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated for his second term in office tomorrow, has links to the Island of Lewis in Scotland.

 His mother was born in 1912 in Tong, about three miles from Stornoway, the main town on the isle of Lewis.

Donald Trump still has three cousins on Lewis, including two who live in the ancestral home, which has been rebuilt since Mary Anne MacLeod's time.

Donald Trump's mother: From a Scottish island to New York's elite

WWW.BBC.COM

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Donald Trump's mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up on the Hebridean island of Lewis.

Agree with many on here that he wasn't up to it. He just didn't click at Notts & unfortunately, that often happens with players.

He never really seemed to get started, but I hope he's found a club where he can make a difference.

These days, all sites commonly use email and a password, so I am fine with that. I have been guilty of forgetting my username on other sites, especially in the past. That's why I joined PON as BromPie; I threw two things together and it's stuck. Thanks for providing these updates. I do agree with everyone that it would be nice to know what's going on when the site is offline.

I'm happy for my email to be added to the list, and I'll add both emails to my contact list. The update and the change to the site login method sound like positive steps forward. I agree that communication is important, and people just need to be engaged.

A simple and secure Google form has been created to enable me to gather emails.

Important: Potential Downtime Notifications

FORMS.GLE

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We hope this message finds you well. We are reaching out to inform you about potential downtime or issues that may affect our services. To ensure you are promptly notified, we kindly request you to add the...

Please don't confuse this with newsletters; that will be a separate thing and this is solely to let you know of issues. Primarily concerning downtime, site complications, or equally significant matters.

Guy Branston was a rock in my Notts team on Football Manager. He captained the team to promotion and was one of the first names on the team sheet.

So I was thrilled when we signed him in real life. Finally the no-nonsense defender we needed. He spent 45 minutes losing his man and kicking the ball into the air, got subbed off at half time and spent the rest of his loan "injured", thus going down in Notts folklore in a different way.

He was a decent player in his prime though, who made hundreds of League appearances and played in the Championship. We've had many other players who played far more games for us but were never close to League standard.

I’ll never forget that 45 minutes Branston played what a disaster. As @Robbie says to compare him to a donkey is unkind to donkeys.

Tough one, sadly there lots of candidates to pick from. 2004-2008 the League 1 relegation season and the League 2 relegation season are peak times for really bad players for me. I’ll go for Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, felt like he got sent off almost every time he played and in his few, winless, appearances.

Great video! The break from the back around the 3 minute and 9-second mark is a joy to see from an above angle. I do think we, as a team, need to be more aware of how the space is opening up. To the left, it was clear to me just how much space had become available to play into. It might be harder to see at ground level, but that's where drilling in to glance around the pitch helps.

Very good, I guess they were going to show it before the Grimsby game on Sky. I think they film some training sessions in house as well now, just so they can review it and see how to improve. I'm sure they've mentioned they use the drone for this too.

There's also a training video on the club website from earlier this week too, a chance to look at some of the new signings in action. I noticed Jevani Brown was missing from it though 🤔

@menzinho i think notts records all training sessions as part of their data analysis.

notts did this exact type of video last season when we struggled, when stuart maynard first arrived. probably not as good as sky, but it is a good video.

I don't think you offer contracts like this if you believe you will face demotion or other penalties that could affect your income. 

I think he is aiming to become the world's highest transfer because players like him want to win leagues. Seeing a club fall into chaos is usually the first step that makes them want to leave. 

Could it be that Man City hopes a huge transfer fee will help them recover some of their overspending? It's a huge contract, and I'm not entirely sure if it's good for football.

I have no insider knowledge but given how they are currently trying to sign a load of new players as well it suggests to me something like a possible transfer ban and fine as the more likely worst case scenario from the current case. Their lawyers will know the most likely outcome and will have been advising them. No way they tie Haaland down if they think they are playing in the National League next season… I just can’t see them getting kicked out of the league anyway, City would fight the verdict, it would go back to court the whole thing would just drag on for years.

could man city be mocking the fa with this? a pr statement to say they dont care about their investigation and that they can do things like this.

imagine if more clubs signed players for almost 10 years in one go.

I have spoken before about where signing young players in a good established team which can give the foundation for all players to thrive is a beneficial part to squad building. He will have plenty of potential, reading comments and having browsed Everton fan sites a lot of their fans seem surprised he's not joined a League One team. I know this is quite common, just look at Josh Martin for intense, but the signing does come with a large amount of prospect.

Fans just need to be mindful he might require time to settle, and he most likely won't be a ready replacement for Dan Crowley. Yet for the future, there's no reason why he couldn't, and we just need to provide him with the platform to flourish.

The majority of fans will welcome him, and even better, we have a mixture of experience where he can further learn from within a first-team environment. George Abbott could very well help him early on, due to them being near the same age. Signing sensible, good prospects like this is what teams at our level must do to be more competitive.

Very good interview on the NCFC website. Confident, assured young man. Still can't understand the 6 month contract though. 

Any ideas?

Good signing! He must have a good pedigree of skill, being with Everton for so long. I am encouraged by the signing, as he can be moulded and encouraged to use his natural ability to help us progress.

He appears to be a confident young man & I'm sure he is going to be a threat for Notts down the flanks. Notts even might play him just behind Jatta alongside Didzy or Crowley.

I'm very excited about this Notts signing. He may just give us some potency upfront with his trickery and pace.

Good interview, not the best talker - quick and simple answers. Yet you can see he's a nice lad, there's signs of sincerity in his speech.

I do feel the arrival of Will Jarvis shows we are trying to strengthen wisely, but I am sure he will find League Two a joy to play in. The Irish league is hit and miss, but there's good players and it's a brilliant league to give good players their chance to shine. It's a better signing for us, than Will Patching to Carlisle United at least on paper.

There's also a feeling that I get, that he's more into speaking with his ability and performances rather than his words.

Very routine comments, nonetheless it's good to be welcoming Will Jarvis to Notts.

I suspect it's one way to reduce the wage bill, but I wonder if it will be more at Walsall's expense? I am torn, as to me, it looks like owners trying to shuffle money around and use one club to help the other. I really have a lot of time for Walsall, and the amazing fans of theirs that I have met. They don't need distractions, or things off-field to distract from the amazing season they are having.

So, I just hope it's positive.

Of course we need extra bodies in defence after the injuries we've had. This one sounds promising and I hope he does well.

His stats from his loan spell at Dundalk in last year's League of Ireland

PLD 18

Accurate passes - 551

Accurate long balls - 79

Tackles won - 19

Clearances - 49

Headed clearances - 29

Recoveries - 83

Ground duels won - 33/65 (50.8%)

Aerial duels won - 42/61 (68.9%)

He's some more in-depth stats via Sofascore:

He's not someone I have come across much of, but it's always good to have cover and at this stage having another tall defender on our books wouldn't be a bad thing. I mean, it makes perfect sense in terms of his position and the fact he arrives to us on loan.

Nobody can complain we aren't treating this transfer window as a chance to get things right, although I do hope to see maybe one more signing.

I welcome Zak Johnson, and I eagerly await seeing him make his debut for us.

Good luck with your screening results @Piethagoram

11 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

🩸taken for the Myeloma screening yesterday. Hoping all is in check. 

Ticket for Accrington has arrived in the post. I was getting worried as it was purchased a week ago

Thinking of you, and wishing for the best!

Viva la Pineapple ✌🏻

@Chris I thought what the hell have you done with your avatar, it’s scary, then I realised what it was, very good. 

An interesting stat is that Moniz was often criticised by his open play re defence...but his XgA ( expected goals against) is the best of all the Notts managers / coaches.

So we were defensively stronger under Moniz

No, they don't.

Take a at their menu here: https://www.wagamama.com/menu?category=shareables

15 minutes ago, Chris said:

No, they don't.

Take a at their menu here: https://www.wagamama.com/menu?category=shareables

Oooh thanks @Chris I quite like the look of that. 🥘 

Love Wagamamas, food is freshly cooked and really tasty if you like Oriental cuisine. Personal favourite is the Beef Donburi and sticky rice but I also love the Katsu curries.

Not the cheapest but well worth it.

is he the guy that spent money on the stadium when he claimed he did not have it, but kept looking into ground improvements but never really did anything? i say spent money, i think the chairman i am thinking of skimmed it through false work.

I lost my pizza cutter so instead, I tried to use an old Rod Stewart CD instead.

It worked all right at first, but the edge got blunt right away. The first cut was the deepest.

43 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

I lost my pizza cutter so instead, I tried to use an old Rod Stewart CD instead.

It worked all right at first, but the edge got blunt right away. The first cut was the deepest.

Groan. 

6 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

I lost my pizza cutter so instead, I tried to use an old Rod Stewart CD instead.

It worked all right at first, but the edge got blunt right away. The first cut was the deepest.

"If you want my pineapple and you think it's tasty,
Come on, sugar, let me know!
If you like that sweet and tangy on your pizza, baby,
Just reach out and grab a slice!"

Speaking of Rod Stewart. 😇

I am debating this question in my head, and the answer isn't as clear, and so I will wait to see how the new signings do and how Stuart Maynard might be impacted with the departure of Dan Crowley.

Our team is highly competitive. I do have every faith in the ability and quality that remains.

Do we need to look for a replacement in the AM position? I really don't know. Conor Grant and Curtis Edwards look capable, but I just wonder if we have made ourselves a little limited in that area at the expense of strengthening elsewhere.

@ChrisThere are a few candidates for the number 10 position.

The most creative player that we know of is Jodi Jones. Would he be as influential as him being on the wings? Not sure about that.

We have the new player Whitaker who has played in an attacking Midfield role as well as attacker for Everton, but he will need time to bed in.

Abbott has been tried in that position but he is a loanee, so we need someone permanent in that role 

There is Grant, Brown & Edwards but I'm not sure that they are creative players, especially compared to Dan & Ruben. 

We will just have to see how Stuart solves this conundrum on Saturday when the team is picked.

Sourcing the right type of goal scoring midfielders is key for Notts. Hoping the new signings step up to the mark

I've changed my mind about Josh Martin since a few weeks ago when I thought he'd be released in January. 

Josh has put in some good performances against Chelmsford & Walsall so I believe it's worth keeping him to the end of the season.

I agree @Robbie but Chelmsford????

Have priorities changed for January

1. RCB as Macari, Ness unavailable

2. Striker to replace Jervani Brown ? ( maybe 2 strikers needed, if Cedwyn goes???)

Disappointed that Morias loan only seems extended by one month?

Good work from @ARLukomski