That must have taken a lot of patience..

Lets be honest. Notts was just a stepping stone for Ruben, a player of his calibre wasn't going to be left in the Footballing basement of the National League or League 2 . The biggest Regret for the Owners must have been he went on a Free Transfer. I think he was offered a new contract before Transfer Window of 2022/2023 and he refused to sign it. That being the case he should have been Transfer Listed that January and Notts would have benefitted financially from his Sale.

@Wheelbarrow repair man it's a pity that he didn't sign a new contract but I think Notts were right to keep him up to the end of his contract.

It paid dividends when he was in the right place at the right time to score our equaliser in the playoff final, that gave us the chance to win on penalties,  which we did.

I think Notts got their monies worth out of him, but it is a lesson for Notts for the future which I believe they have learnt from.

Macaulay was given a long contract last summer, so that this time, Notts can cash in if he goes. Now Notts need to get Jodi to sign a nice long contract too.

@Robbie

I agree with some of your points, however it always struck me that Ruben didn't really want to be at Notts,  he only wanted to use the Club as a window so he could show off his Footballing Skills and hope another club higher up the Footballing Pyramid would come in for him. As I understand it he was ready to leave the Lane before Ian Burchanell  left and it was  Luke Williams who convinced him to stay. And you really don't want a player who's all Me Me Me in the dressing room. Football after all is a Team Game. 

A few Years ago my eldest Son actually visited the Auschwitz Camp. He declared it is something that will stay with him for the Rest Of His Life. Even now after all the years that have past since the Camp's Liberation, there is a feeling of Evil in the atmosphere. After he told me about it, he said Dad everybody alive today and future Generations  must make sure a thing like this, Never Happens Again.

7 minutes ago, DangerousSausage said:

 @Robbie, 

About the Champions League, I think UEFA have managed to turn their premier competition into a version of the UEFA Cup, and the next changes will make it even more bloated. It's all about guaranteeing that the biggest clubs don't miss out and get as many games as possible. 

I totally agree on this..

I don't know why they didn't keep the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners Cup & European Cup in their original format. Lots of money would still have been generated.

But of course UEFA want to ward off more talk of a Super League breakaway.

That's why they have increased the number of clubs in the Champions League.

@Robbie

You're so right Mate, 36 teams in the Champions League, will devalue the competition in fact really they'll have to rename it. How about the European Super League? That's what UEFA is trying to do, bring in the Super League via the Back Door. As you've stated before UEFA aren't going to give up this money spinning idea , the Super League will come about one way or another and the 36 team Champions League is just another attempt to get it up and running.

And what will happen? We'll get the moaning and groaning from the Premiership, The season's to long our players are tired playing all these extra games it means more chance of injuries to our players.  And of course the FA with bend over backwards to accommodate the whining winging Premier League Prima Donna's and the rest of the English game will suffer.

Until the 72 clubs of the EFL have effective equal voting rights with the 20 in the PL league, nothing will change regarding the steady unstoppable path to an eventual Euro Super League.

There has even been talk about the Championship morphing into a PL 2 league, that would split the football league power base even more firmly into the FA Premier League's corner. 

The Bears are all out for 149 after 19.3 overs.

The Outlaws need 150 to win.

A disappointing result for the Outlaws as they are bowled out for 127 from 19.2 overs and the Bears win by 22 runs.

Notts have now lost both their first two matches and remain at the bottom of their league.

In five years time Notts will hopefully be in league 1, in a good financial state, resolutely sticking to their long term financial principles.

Hopefully Notts will be challenging in the top half of the table, playing attractive open football that will continue to attract a good following.

I would hope to have seen the Club invest in the ground improvements needed to get the ground capacity back to 20,000 with more refreshment kiosks and additional toilets.

I think the Club need to install additional turnstiles and improve the present ones too.

This coming season, we need to aim for the top 3, then 4 years consolidation in EFL1

New toilets, decent electric hand driers, automatic self scan turnstiles...a bonus

At Best midtable to lower reaches of League 1. Worst case fighting to get back into the EFL.  

I just hope that Notts stay on a Firm Financial Footing. Fans Match Day Comfort is Improved.

Five years is a long time in Life let alone Football many things can and will happen, lets just wait and see.

In the Sky news article @Wheelbarrow repair man a football club coach described one single SNUS pouch ss equivalent to smoking 4 cigarettes at once.

In the sky article it mentions that players taking it have ignored club bans, so it looks like individual clubs have tried to ban it's use but without success.

If it is not illegal to take, I suppose it will be hard to ban, but surely they could ban it's use in the confines of the workplace, just like cigarettes are. 

And what about the junior section of clubs. What are the clubs doing to prevent it's use by academy and junior players?

It appears by all accounts that SNUS usage is going to be a growing problem in football.

@Robbie

I've read the Sky report and it's says more or less what the BBC article said. It would appear that Snus should be Banned outright by the FA and any player should run the risk of also being Banned for using it. 50% players using it want to stop so an outright Ban can only be the way Forward, you'd think wouldn't you? Those players affected should then be given all the necessary  Help in combating their Addiction.

Agree @Wheelbarrow repair man

Snus should be banned for a variety of reasons. 

1. To protect junior players full stop.

2. To protect senior players from the harmful & long term effects.

3. To stop the use of Cnus from spreading throughout sport in general 

4. To stop the use spreading to the general population any more than it has.

So I believe it should be banned full stop by the government, or at the very least, to ban all sports persons from using it.

15 hours ago, Robbie said:

A goalkeeper who a good all rounder, can command his box, is a good distributer, good at dealing with crosses, & a good shot stopper.

You missed out good organiser and communicator. Goalkeeper’s see danger before any other player on the pitch, a good organiser can cut out some of it before it’s too late.

I'm sceptical about rumours like this. Is the club genuinely interested or is his agent trying to drum up some bids?

I'd prefer a keeper in the twilight of his career, who's played higher, can organise the defence and give it composure. That doesn't mean a young keeper can't be our man, but as Super Dan says our success rate hasn't been brilliant in that area.

Why? Notts don't need to take  a young keeper on Loan.  Tiernan Brookes should be in the Squad next season. our head of Recruitment kept banging on about how Notts need to bring their own Talent through, and sending young Brookes out on Loan, only to have him replaced by an on loan Keeper of the same age is farcical, and isn't going to help Tiernan's development in any way, now is it?

Steady Eddy, I hope he does well.

My wife once saved him a lot of money, we were at a Lifeline “do” and he was on the next table, he got up and a wad of money dropped on the floor, she spotted it and told him, he was very grateful but he didn’t even buy her a drink. 

Good luck to him! He'll be linking up with Neil Warnock as well then.

A Good Strong Player for the Magpies. Good Luck and All The Best Mike.

Two years today Notts signed Macaulay from Gateshead.

The rest is history.

That's just crazy, but I do recall a similar thing happening in the UK. I hope the judge throws a stricter punishment.

When I was a child my mam and dad always used to take me and my two brothers to Mablethorpe which is just down the coast from Skeggy and a smaller town.

Mam would hire a chalet for a week and we’d play on the beach all day while mam sat making tea and sandwiches, dad would be off on his bike somewhere, he used to cycle all the way from Nottingham to Mablethorpe while we took the train. Happy days.

On 30/05/2024 at 12:27, Robbie said:

My mum had a Static Caravan at Winthorpe for many years  Skeggy was a second home to our family during the Summer months in the 80s & 90s

My gran had a caravan there too, maybe they were neighbours! Great memories of the slot machines and arcades.

Surveys like this often say more about the people taking them. Skeggy is a fun little seaside resort that has become fashionable to sneer at. If you want peace a quiet, just don't go to the busy areas. The worst thing about it is that it feels like it takes forever to get there - the next government should pledge to move Skeggy closer to civilisation.

I grew up staying in and around Winthorpe, I loved the Dunnes Pub until it burned down and the Smiths arcade. The walks along the seafront are some of my favourite memories come wind, sunshine or rain.

Skegness is fine, there's plenty to do and things are improving.

My early memories are of a run downed area needing financial reinvestments and to be fair that's happened. The beach has always been wonderful, even now with the ugly grass (it's part of the sea defence). Biggest issue is the types of people it can attract, they might not always be the most thoughtful or smartest. Those who act like thugs, play loud music aren't in the spirit of what there is.

Single people and couples, they might be best elsewhere but for families it's a great place to escape to.

News about Bayer Leverkusen 

Leverkusen lost their unbeaten record this season when they lost in the final of the Europa League to Italian side Atalanta 3:0 last Wednesday.

On Saturday, Leverkusen got back to winning ways when they beat FC Kaiserslautern 1:0 in the German Cup final.

So it's the League and Cup double for Leverkusen in a remarkable season for them. Just one defeat all season is a great achievement for a side that has broken the Bayern Munich stranglehold on German Football.

I don't think anyone really had them down as contenders this season, so to do the double in such style is all the more amazing.

Sadly, they reserved their worst game for the Europa League final. They didn't deal with Atalanta's high pressing at all and were second to every ball. They were down to ten men for the majority of the cup final.

With Bayern appointing a manager untested at the highest level, next season may be a chance for Alonso to emulate Klopp and hold onto the title.

We shouldn't be afraid to hoof the ball at the right time, we have players further up the field that are capable of bringing the ball down and playing it across the floor. This is a very good signing, he looks physically strong and I can't comment further about his previous performances as I know very little about him. However, I was happy with his interview and comments from those who have seen him play (remember him playing) have spoken highly of him. Comments such as being surprised that he's not moved to a League One club is a good compliment.

@Chris we've got Jatta to receive those hoofs upfield & then shield the ball to keep possession????

This is a good start to the summer's business, and it's also interesting from the point of view that Bradford have replaced him with Baldwin! He sounds very promising, but many Bradford fans have remarked that passing is not his strong suit. I hope we don't expect him to play in a way he's not comfortable with.

This was genuinely bonkers - Düsseldorf won their away leg 3-0 and must have thought they were all but promoted, only to throw it away. Must be so bitter for them.

Hmmm... I wonder if they'll be following in FGR's footsteps?

Notts stated well and we're 104 for 1  after 10 overs but collapsed to 154 all out

So Notts Outlaws 154 all out, Northants Steelbacks need 155 to win.

brilliant show ????

50 minutes ago, Robbie said:

Kasper Schmeichel:  Denmark

Brian Stubbs: England

Andy Legg: Wales

Ruben Rodriguez: Portugal

Ian McCulloch: Scotland

 

@RobbieDon't know if I missed it, in a blink of an eye, but Leggy could never beat his man on the wing. Stubbs, mobile enough in a 5 a side team, no!!!.... maybe Yates / Short would be better options

30 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

@RobbieDon't know if I missed it, in a blink of an eye, but Leggy could never beat his man on the wing.

They are playing on a five a side pitch aren't they?

Not much room needed on a five aside pitch.

You don't need so much pace on a small five aside pitch either????

                         Białkowski ????????

                         Johnson ????????
Rodrigues ????????                             McGregor ????????????????????????????
                          Grealish ????????????????????????????

I've exploited the loan system! And what do you call a false 9 in 5 a-side team? A false 5? ????‍♂️????

Thank you for the welcome. I'm slowly working out the lay of the land. Definitely liking what I see.

45 minutes ago, Dnc69 said:

Thank you for the welcome. I'm slowly working out the lay of the land. Definitely liking what I see.

Your welcome @Dnc69

If you need any help navigating round the site or have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. There will always be someone on here willing to help.

A big warm PoN welcome from me too, @Dnc69, If you see an item you feel like adding a comment to, well, just dive in, we don't usually bite. A sense of humour comes in. handy too

I hope we put a sell on clause if we lose our best players.

@Fan of Big Tone One can see Jodi and Macca being on sold for mega bucks. We just need to be canny and get the millions, should an offer we receive, which we cannot turn down

I wonder if there is already a sell on clause written into Macca's contract where Gateshead will benefit to an extent if we sell him on?

I'm pleased this has been settled and wish them well.

Great news for the fans.

All Notts friendlies will be away apparently so that the pitch has time to settle before the season kicks off.

So Stuart Maynard clearly left on good terms to be welcomed back! We could do a tour and visit the clubs that some of our previous head coaches/managers are at now. Swansea, Wolves (Ian Burchnall & Shaun Derry), Yeovil (Mark Cooper), Oxford (Craig Short) and FGR (Steve Cotterill).

Not sure the budget would stretch to reach Yokohama Marinos (Harry Kewell) or Zurich for Ricardo Moniz!

Back in the real world, surely we’ll get some fixtures against teams that are pretty close to compensate for the fact there are no home games. Maybe we’ll even get another game against Forest, it’s pretty close even if it is out of the city…