Heard a rumour that we're after him (all though my source is not very reliable).

I was listening to Radio Nottingham on the way to the match last Saturday and they were interviewing Tom Lawton who is the son of the legendary Tommy Lawton, it was quite interesting to hear how Tommy (who was the England centre forward) came to sign for Notts who were in the equivalent to today's league 2.

If I can remember what he said he went something like this, Tommy was at Chelsea and he was a big friend of Arthur Stollery who was a physiotherapist at the club and promised him that if he ever got a job as a manager he would sign for him no matter where it was. So when Arthur was appointed manager of Notts Tommy shook the football world by signing for us for a record £20,000 fee. In today's terms it was like Wayne Rooney signing for Accrington Stanley, can you imagine what it would be like to be a Notts fan then? Lawton was at the peak of his career and signed for little old Notts County! In those days of course there was a maximum wage no matter who you played for, I think Tom mentioned £20 a week so Tommy was no worse off and Notts could afford his wages.

Another thing his son said was that the first thing he did when he joined Notts was insist that all the players were paid the same wage. As you can imagine Notts gates receipts went through the roof so they were well able to afford this and they even negotiated with the clubs they played away for a share of their gate if Tommy played because everywhere Notts played there was a bumper crowd turn up to see Tommy.

Very interesting story I thought.

It's interesting how far game consoles have come, especially since my childhood (Super Ram said the same thing). LOL

Does anyone here dabble in gaming at all?

I don't really have the time as much as used to, although when I am my laptop I do tend to play Football Manager 2013. I play Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and several other games on my phone (when bored). I have a PS3, which PES 2013 and Dead Island are among my favourite games.

Also, I enjoy playing board games but @super_pie tends to cheat!

What about you?

Our five year old Grandson George doesn't watch violent films or programmes, he never has toy guns, knives, swords or any other weapon bought him as a toy his parents don't believe in giving kids toy weapons.

However he makes pretend weapons out of almost anything, the other day he had been shopping with his mum and when they got home and were unpacking he pulled out a leek and promptly decided it was a sword and he was going to stab his mother! Out walking he will pick up a stick and decide it is a gun and play soldiers etc.,

What is it with boys and weapons, it seems to be something that is inbred and comes natural to them. Has anyone else noticed this?

Sad to hear that Roger Lloyd Pack (Trigger) from Only Fools and Horses has died.

Until the end of the season. :happy banana:

Hey guys,

Just a quick open query regarding if anyone knows how to get into the field of freelance journalism. It's something I am considering in the next year or two.

I currently have a LinkedIn and plenty of writing experience, including in the Nottingham Post, and currently work part-time in a sports reporter role, so I do have some pedigree.

Anybody able to give me some pointers?

Much appreciated :-)

JJ

I thought I would share some of the sites I've been looking at over the past few years that a good for those who love stats.

Match Story is great, it was started by some blogger who then joined forces with the Associated Press which gave him a few opportunities to

http://matchstory.co.uk

Attack Graph

http://matchstory.co.uk/england-league1-attack/

"Energetically wasteful" - Seems we are able to get lots of shots per game, but actual conversion from shots to goals isn't so great. Can imagine this stat being much worse without McGregor

Defense Graph

http://matchstory.co.uk/england-league1-defence/

"Competent but busy" - We seem to face an alarming number of shots per game, but are able to keep at least a few of them out

Player Churn Infograph

http://matchstory.co.uk/portfolio/player-churn-league-1/

Football 365 Stats is great, showing stats like how many points teams have managed to get after losing at HT, Home/Away tables, Times conceded more than once, etc..

http://stats.football365.co.uk/dom/ENG/D2/overview.html

Bootiful Game is along the lines of Match Story but with slightly more lighthearted stats, such as premiere league golden boot winners by hair http://www.bootifulgame.com/portfolio/premier-league-golden-boot-winners-by-hair/ and how accurate the papers were in the 2012 transfer window http://www.bootifulgame.com/portfolio/january-transfer-window-horseshit/

Post below if you have your own sites that you like looking at, or if you find out any interesting facts from the above stats.

As I'm always up for a game of FIFA, I thought I would see if anyone on this forum would be up for a game at some point

PS4: mCobby

PC: C0bby

Feel free to add your own usernames below for other users to add.

im pinching @notts-joes idea, it has not been done for a few days now.

what is everyone upto?

so far i have only been on here and nottingham job websites, very boring but i am going to visit the jc in town and have a look what their machines bring up. i might have a look around vic centre, i know some have said theres jobs on the notice board there. theres got to be something out there.

i will report back later, share what you have been upto.

So far this month, I've noticed more days where inside my home it feels like I am outside. Very, very cold! December was a weird month, quite sunny at times and although there was cold spells. None was like right now, nothing around my homes changed and even outside I am having to wrap up warmly because I feel like Frosty the Snowman.

How's the weather near you? I've noticed quite a few members with 'cold' set as their current mood.

It can't just be me who thinks it's colder this month, it's only 10 days in and I've noticed already.... LOL

Tonight I am going to watch my home town team Alfreton Town on BT Sport 2.I haven't seen them live for  over 40 years but I'm sure it will bring back a lot of memories.I remember them being re-formed in 1959 and going on their ground preseason with my mates dad and uncle who helped in preparing  fencing etc in preparation for the new season.They were in the Central Alliance then and the first match was against the previous seasons champions,Arnold St.Mary's.They won this match 6-2.Little did we imagine ,at the time,that Alfreton Town would progress to within touching distance of The Football League and be on the telly.Happy days.

Another prank video, this one is from Brazil, I hope the victims didn't have a weak heart.

>http://youtu.be/7N5OhNplEd4

It seems a weird one for me at least, I told @sadlad and some others that Brandy should have remained with them instead of joining Sheffield United. I felt his season prior to this year was somewhat lucky for him, another year would have help him progress as Walsall really gave him their backing.

Quite a promising player really, though he did nothing for us. He did seem effective, at least for a club who play like Walsall.

Good solid base, focusing on pretty football and good attacking play.

Yet all this said, I am surprised to see him join Walsall on loan (especially after the recent abuse upon his return). Thoughts?

This had me in stitches.

>http://youtu.be/PUKMUZ4tlJg

i think its brilliant! i never noticed it before, i thought it was just a normal message but i am impressed by it. i can use the full skin on my tablet that my mum got me for christmas.

hopefully it will encourage people to look around, pon keep moving forward.

I was wondering does anyone else suffer problems sleeping?

I have a history of it, but I'm currently not on any sort of tablets to help, as I'm trying to help myself. I have been using sleep aid apps I have found, but this has not been helping. I find the music more distracting than helpful. I have cut down sugary drinks in the evening to see if this isn't helping too. I just don't know what to do.

I'm currently taking anti-depressants as I'm extremely depressed, but I am taking myself off these as I feel the same as before I was on them. I am trying non-medicated ways of helping this as well, like taking up journaling again, art etc too.

So there we have it, Cristiano Ronaldo has won this year's Ballon D'Or award!
 

What do you guys make of it?

>http://youtu.be/7qj6a7GOVp8

I don't get why they don't cover other nations? Yes, we as a National have idiots. No surprise! So do many other nations, I recall looking at the stats FIFA shared regarding trouble in the last World Cup in South Africa and England barely featured.

So I went to the local retail park the other day and I noticed they already have Valentine's Day tat on sale.

Here is my candid view on Valentine's Day:

It's just yet another pathetic little excuse for a social festival whereby peer pressure and constant pushing of goods, services and general propaganda mean it's unavoidable. Now, I have a missus, I love her to bits, but one thing she always does is compare our relationship to all of her friends. So, leading up to Valentine's Day, she's going to be exposed to photos and messages from her friends detailing how their boyfriend or current guy-she's-seeing has gone full hog to do something super fancy and romantic... and whatever I do will pale in comparison to some guy who's probably been with their girl for just a few months and fancies going all out to impress her. I could take her to Paris for a weekend and it'll still be a failure because some other lothario has taken his girl to Paris for 5 days and to a fancier hotel. 

I like to show my Mrs love all year round by buying thoughtful things every now and then and treating her to things rather than have to comply to a little window whereby society says "you must show love starting...NOW!"

I will of course take her out somewhere on the day (possibly Annie's Burger Shack) and I've bought her a quirky little gift, I'll get her the obligatory bunch of decapitated flowers as well closer to the day - because nothing says "I Love You" like some dying colourful plants - but I just think it's a load of carp to be honest. Clearly the economy needs a bit of a boost around February, what with January being so miserable as a month, hence the whole razzmatazz relating to Valentine's Day.

Oh, and of course, if you're a single person, then Valentine's Day is just as bad, because you're constantly exposed to a giant nation-wide show-off display of LUUURRRVEEEEE. All the worse now that social media's essentially ensured that, come February 14th, my Facebook feed is just going to be post after post of sickly displays of love carried out by couples that most likely show each other no love throughout the rest of the year. Pass me the bucket.

Soooo... there's my two cents.

What are YOUR views on Valentine's Day, folks?

Much love

JJ

This Saturday's fixtures:

Brighton & Hove Albion v Birmingham City

Charlton Athletic v Barnsley

Swindon Town v Peterborough United

Wolves v Preston North End

Dagenham & Redbridge v Fleetwood Town

Plymouth Argyle v Southend United

We'll be travelling home from Nottingham Saturday evening so scores will go up slightly later than usual.

Good luck everyone

I've notice recently that a lot of members have a more than passing interest in photography.Do any members have any unusual hobby or interest.Perhaps members could let us all know, even if the hobby isn't all that unusual.