there was once a point where i did not think it would be possible for notts to draw to manchester united, but these days @Piethagoram i think we would win them.  it shows how extra special that draw was. i hope to see notts in the top flight in my life time bossing the big clubs.

This was one of my favourite matches

https://www.mufcinfo.com/manupag/match_data/match_sql.php?my_match_date=1983-05-14

I would love Notts to draw Man Utd away in the FA Cup, as the financial distribution to Notts would be so great to set us up for the next step

It didn't click with me until a moment ago, who he is exactly but having read his Wiki I now know who he is.

Being from Oxford and having that connection might help him, it seems his career in coaching and management is an interesting one. A lot of good managers are coming across from New Zealand and Australia. Good luck to him.

i have no idea who he is but its not luke williams and therefore i dont care. oxford will have a hard enough time moving forward, if they are able to maintain their good position in league one all the more credit to them.

I gather they are really well funded, so I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do a Luton or Bournemouth and reach the Prem in a few years. 

i cant think of any before they reformed, i am not sure there is any others but are we counting the club before mk dons were established and afc wimbledon started as a phoenix club?

2 hours ago, liampie said:

i cant think of any before they reformed, i am not sure there is any others but are we counting the club before mk dons were established and afc wimbledon started as a phoenix club?

Yes I think players from the original Wimbledon could be included @liampie go for it lad. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Sam

i wonder if gibraltar tried to park the bus and end up regretting it. 14-0 even for them is very embarrassing.

It’s embarrassing but I feel for their players, it’s tough for smaller nations to play against the likes of France etc. 14-0 sounds like something you’d see in a practice match.

Lewis Macari appears to be a promising talent, but rushing to sign him after only a few appearances seems hasty. I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t consider it, as that would be equally short-sighted. It would be prudent to observe his performance over time. Statistics can be manipulated to fit a narrative, and they only tell half the story of what makes the current Notts team successful.

I think we should sign him. If the club can agree on terms that suit both parties, he would be a great addition. I wouldn’t worry about his current game time, as he will naturally improve. He shows a lot of potential. The most important thing for me is his age; he can develop further into the player we need. Having a good set of defenders around him will aid his development. However, I would still welcome an experienced player in January.

He appears to be a player who’s made the most of his playing time, I’d like to see him more in the league. It seems that Richard Brindley and Connell Rawlinson are ahead of him, but that said, I believe young talent is worth investing in. Now that fans have seen what Lewis Macari can do, I reckon he’d be a great addition to the squad and a future star who should settle in nicely within a season or two.

That's a great interview! He comes across as such an engaging and interesting man. Can't wait to see him on the guitar

@DangerousSausage do you remember him in that video with jake bugg? i would be curious to hear him sing properly.

its a brilliant read.

Another good assessment @menzinho

@menzinho very spot on, will randall was very disappointing to me.

he did not track back much, rather waited out wide for the ball to come to him. he never ran at the players, just played a very safe and average game. i hope he comes into it more because when his contract is up, so far i would not be fussed if he left.

I can't disagree too much with the posters above me. Crowley is a ridiculous player to have at this level, he's got no business in League Two at all. Gosling is a strange one, as you might expect he looked extremely rusty, but by the time he's up to speed his contract will be up.

the cultural asset makes it sound like we or football in general is struggling to attract fans, we are in a blossom period right now where more interest in being shown.

The player seems like someone Notts might be interested in, but it all depends on the reliability of the original source. I usually don’t pay much attention to rumours, not even those shared by Tom. It’s always best to wait and see what unfolds. It would be intriguing to see if any reports on this matter emerge.

1 goal and 7 yellow cards?

if he were to sign for us, he could become the new liam noble. i would be curious to know more useful stats like his assists and average minutes on the pitch. he does not sound like an amazing find. rather a player that could develop further with experience.

i think derek adams boring and predictable but there is not much difference from the lower english league and ross county. i cant see him being there for long, its a tough place to get the results needed to have a long term spell unless you are well in with the club.

sutton, newport, forest green, tranmere and grimsby could all be in the frame for relegation this season.

i dont even think colchester or doncaster are out of the threat but i think forest green and tranmere should have enough about them to float out of the drop zone. sutton will have found this season hard due to all the players they lost in the summer. staying up does seem a task for them. i would prefer grimsby and newport to go down.

i like curtis thompson i wish him all the best at cheltenham, hes the type of player who has suffered a lot with injuries but you still want to see him do well just because hes an ex notts lad.

he posts about the print a lot in the pon facebook group, its nice but its not my preference. its bright and the clouds takes away from the beauty of meadow lane.

Notts let their standards drop in the 2nd half. Bradford took advantage. Another 3 points is all that really matters so job done. 

Disappointing 2nd half but what a first half they had. Crowley played a blinder.

Well, it was entertaining, you can’t argue you don’t get your money’s worth at Meadow Lane this season! I’ll get the second half out the way first because I don’t want to be too negative after a win, I’d have taken a 4-2 before kick off 100%!

Bradford had nothing to lose at 4-0 and came out with no pressure and a desire to put right their awful first half performance. But we didn’t react to it. We needed to be quicker on the ball and take fewer touches given Bradford were actually being pro-active and pressing us. We did such a terrific job first half it was a shame we struggled to adapt to the opposition’s changes in the second. Lessons to be learnt there. And one other minor gripe is the silly yellow cards we’re picking up, I think Baldwin will miss the next game now after needlessly kicking the ball away with 2 minutes to go and Adebayo got his custom yellow too. He must have the best yellow to minutes ratio in the league…

On the positive side that first half was probably the best I’ve seen this season. Bradford did what any team should do if they want a tough time against us and that’s sit back and just let us have the ball under no pressure. Some really great goals and Crowley was just so on it, his goal with the little drag back was fantastic. And given our mini injury crisis it was great to see Bostock, Randall, Morias, Brindley and Cameron all back. Gosling definitely looks like someone who hasn’t played for a while, but given time hopefully he’ll get up to speed. Back into the autos as well, all in all a pretty good day.

delroy facey  

@Fan of Big Tone Paul Bolland is another player we plucked from Bradford City after he did well against us.

It’s a stupid rule that didn’t need changing! I’ve seen images that also suggest it hit his chest, but I think that is taken a split second later. If you advance it one frame at a time, it looks to hit a raised arm first but it’s a natural jumping reaction so very harsh.

More questions need answering around how the striker was able to get so much space and why Slocombe didn’t just head it clear. He might have got a boot in the face but at least he would have got a foul!

seeing the highlights, it looks like its his arm not under his arm pit. if this happened against us we would want the same outcome. it needs to be accepted and moved on from

@Fozzy Until it does, it's a penalty all day. Under the arm (arm pit) or directly - we need to be mindful about jumping like this. Jodi Jones doesn't deserve any fault, but he should know better than to jump up in the manner that he did. I don't think the ball would have gone in but considering he might have actually seen red. Surely it would have been better to just let it safely pass over his head or block it with his back by turning away quicker.

Turning his back might have been It sounds simple, but it's much more challenging in practice, but if it had gone in without being blocked then it wouldn't have had the same impact the penalty had.

Then again, play shouldn't have been allowed to temporarily continue.

It's a nightmare of a way to lose a game, but the only thing you can do is accept it. It's not worthy dwelling on because it's the sort of defeat which can linger and turn our good start into a downward free fall if we are not careful.

I also like the uniqueness of our team, but I wish we had a song to sing when the players enter the field, like many top teams do.

On 09/11/2023 at 22:44, Joshua said:

I also like the uniqueness of our team, but I wish we had a song to sing when the players enter the field, like many top teams do.

We do have "County's the Team for Me" by Jimmy Willan, which is very naff but we have played it in the past. It depends what you want to do - do you want to build the atmosphere or lead with a traditional song?

Here in Germany, Waldhof Mannheim do both. They play "Rofo's Theme" while the teams are being read out, and when the players are just entering the pitch they switch to the club song (which their fans now sing along to).

@DangerousSausage The season we got relegated, things can only get better played before and after every game, not sure who's bright idea that was but it wasn't a good fit. It wasn't the entrance music mind.

We need a fun remix of the black and white army, with our fans singing it.

16 minutes ago, Ohh Tommy Johnson said:

trying to keep my partner's spirits up as she is undergoing chemo at the moment and it is getting her down.

Sorry to hear that @Ohh Tommy Johnson well done for supporting your partner I hope the chemo helps her and isn’t too arduous.

19 minutes ago, Fan of Big Tone said:

Sorry to hear that @Ohh Tommy Johnson well done for supporting your partner I hope the chemo helps her and isn’t too arduous.

Luckily it is 'bels and braces' so the prognosis is really quite good... it's just really tough on her.  She is hoping to get to the Wimbledon game though.  For someone who doesn't like football she has been to Sutton, Gillingham and the FGR match already this season.

I'll be at Notts tomorrow, which will be the first game since I had the break with my family. I am looking forward to the game, I always tend to enjoy when we play against Bradford City as they are usually quite decent.

Sunday, I have no plans. I will probably be tired.  

Trust The Sun to sensationalise a non story.

I get that he didn’t want to carry on after having stuff thrown at him. But the way it’s being shown, it’s as if he was physically hit. In reality, it was just objects, which isn’t right, but this kind of behaviour might be usual. I reckon his choice to make a fuss and hold up the game was just him playing the victim. He should have been professional, letting the stewards and police do their work while he did his. Not doing his job is a bit daft, especially as there’s no photos or videos showing any real harm to him.

It's not a good light for us Notts fans, but I can understand the frustration, and it is very common for objects to be thrown. I think the way that it's being portrayed is almost like a player diving from minor contact, I don't mean to play down the assistant referee for having objects thrown at him.

I do think it is more down to him being cowardly in the face of having played on, only to flag late for the penalty after Crewe players pressured him.

However, we need to move forward from this because we are far better than this.

Oxford have appointed Des Buckingham now so that's that.

As for the press conference, I noticed he emphasised that he hadn't been contacted and stopped short of an unequivocal "I'm staying here". The impression I got is that he ignores speculation and would only think about the pros and cons of a potential move if an actual approach is made.

Donning my black and white glasses, I'd prefer an explicit pledge of loyalty. But being realistic, a manager (or head coach) is only ever a bad run away from the sack and has a career to think about.

Luke wasn't going anywhere, he's committed to Notts and he repeatedly shows this.

The title should be 'Luke isn't going anywhere, he's ours'.

I can understand the concern from fans, but really, we need to make sure we don't ever give certain misleading places the time of day. I am still seeing fans commenting angrily on pages on Facebook that spread false information. This is exactly what they want; it's a circle of never-ending giving, even if you think it makes them look bad to people outside the loop - it simply doesn't For them spreading false information, click-baiting is merely a shortcut instead of doing hard work.

I'm very much against all this nonsense. I may seem old-fashioned and hung with high principles, but I believe in reputations.

At some point, probably in the medium term, he is going to leave.  That is just football fact and I think we should embrace it. If Notts keep performing and improving then bigger and bigger clubs will be interested and one will be too good an opportunity to turn down.  The good thing is though, if that does happen we will be in a much better place than we were, and the longer it takes to happen, the better our position will be. As a result we should be able to attract more experienced managers and better players. I have every confidence that our recruitment team have contingencies for when he (or any of our key staff) leave, and we will be fine (and quite possibly kick on again). I would say that Williams is an improvement on Burchnall partly because of the foundation Burchnall had left, and I think the same will be true when Williams leaves. So, I am really pleased he is staying as I think he has unfinished business and is an excellent coach, but I wouldn't be too despondent when he does move on, as we will be fine and we will continue to progress.

That story is no more reliable than those pop-up football sites that bait fans into believing their nonsense. The Portsmouth News might be credible, but the journalists who write for them aren’t always the most trustworthy. The same goes for the Nottingham Post, Derbyshire Telegraph, etc. If it’s reported by the BBC, who despite their misleading National News, would be far more trustworthy because their local reporters do an excellent job of ensuring a story is worth covering. Luke Williams isn’t going anywhere, according to my friend’s dad, whose mate works at Notts.

In the press conference he repeatably puts the story to bed.  He must have been asked 4 or 5 times at least, in different ways.  It seems @TheSkipper that your friend's dad's mate was on the money... make sure you keep in touch just in case!! 

People are being daft towards Ruben Rodrigues. He clearly didn’t mean it the way it’s been twisted, and much of it continues to be taken out of context. We need to remember that he’s just a footballer and isn’t used to our media. I think it’s just an innocent comment made in the heat of the moment, just like Luke Williams says. Stop worrying and just enjoy Notts, and please be nice to people.

No

My head hurts.

For some reason I’ve stopped getting emails again. It goes from one extreme to the other. I used to get two emails the same time then all of a sudden they’ve completely stopped and I’ve missed rounds because I’m old and forget things easily! 

Did they stop when the site went down @Dan or more recently than that? Maybe it'd help if you unfollow and follow the forum again?

There are people here who remember Tony Hateley playing football, so being old is no excuse

1 hour ago, DangerousSausage said:

There are people here who remember Tony Hateley playing football, so being old is no excuse

I resemble that remark.