What a lovely fresh and inspiring day today, as @Fan of Big Tone says, looking forward to being able to watch live for the first time in weeks (feels like forever) due to illness. Me and my boy (not so much a boy at 44) will be attending, hoping for an exhilarating performance from our team after Tuesday's disappointment. Hope you all enjoy the game and the boys do us proud.

You will enjoy your pint @Fan of Big Tone I'm sure. 🍺🥳

What a lovely morning it is today. I hope that you had that pint yesterday evening @Fan of Big Tone to celebrate such an emphatic win. A totally different team performance from Tuesday evening 👏

@Michael D Pie. I certainly did, it slipped down lovely. It felt so good to celebrate a 5 goal win, fantastic.

I’m off in a minute for my lung cancer check, I’m not anticipating any problems 🤞 as I haven’t smoked for 50 odd years but the check is free so might as well do it.

Yes, Platt for me too. Not many other candidates but noble effort from Grant & Macari again. Belshaw’s saves were notable and Bedeau put a decent shift in, as usual.

Disappointed by Jones, he got credit for his contribution at Bromley but he looked tentative and ineffective last night. Iorpenda faded after a lovely start, as did Tsaroulla. Overall, too timid, too slow to get the ball forward and not enough support for Dennis.

Unbeaten run had to end somewhere - pity it was due to a limp display.

I've voted for Matty Platt.

The Poll has closed. Thanks to all who voted.

Matty Platt has been voted the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match v Shrewsbury.

Disappointing night yesterday. Shrewsbury looked far better than they did early in the season - they barely strung two passes all night, but they had a clear game plan and executed it well. They sat deep, but the moment we lost possession they were onto us fast and attacked quickly with numbers. They still produced few real chances, but it looked difficult to play against.

We struggled to get behind them and seldom looked really dangerous. Platt came closest to scoring, but early in the second half I thought the game looked like a 0-0. We need someone who can take the initiative and isn't afraid to have a shot. Tangen could yer be that player, but he looked lost yesterday. Prior to joinign us he hasn't played since about October, and in hindsight it was too soon to give him his first start.

I'm not surprised to hear that it was the referee's first league match, all the contentious decisions went Shrewsbury's way. One of them was the foul on Jones, which led to a dangerous break (and, a couple of minutes later, the goal), and I think we should have had a penalty at the end.

Disappointing but we move on. Everything isn't all bad overnight, let's not forget that we've picked up 18 points in our last eight games. Let's take it out on Tranmere on Saturday.

As disappointing as it was to lose to Shrewsbury, it was only 1-0. Any team team can lose 1-0 to an inferior team especially when they approach the game with a low block and a 'survival' game plan. As @DangerousSausage says we move on, these kind of games happen in a season. A good result on Saturday and this will all be forgotten. COYP!

A point at Bromley is a point gained given their home form. Notts still have momentum. That's vital at this stage in the season.

The Bromley "kick off" sums up their style of play. Just lob it into the corner for a Notts throw in close to the corner flag. Notts made sure that the opportunities for Bromley long throws in advanced positions were limited

1 hour ago, Piethagoram said:

The Bromley "kick off" sums up their style of play. Just lob it into the corner for a Notts throw in close to the corner flag.

Yes, ever since I was a nipper I've looked to professional football for skill on the ball, technique, touch, imagination, great passing and team play. If I pay admission, that's what I want to see - or at least an attempt at it.

If I wanted to see big bruisers lump it long, I'd go down the park and see a pub side for free.

Jodi was excellent, but I went for Platt. Just thought he defended really well especially against a team that played so direct and with such a big physical forwards.

Jodi Jones, ... Dennis should have scored with one sublime ball in from Jodi

The Poll has closed.

I'm pleased to announce that Jodi Jones is the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match V Bromley. Well done Jodi.

I thought we might sign him when we were promoted as he'd impressed against us for Halifax.

We had a glaring hole at RCB, which we had confirmed for us that season. Don't know if Monty was in for him, but it was Port Vale that got him.

I think it's a bad sign that they let him out on loan when they go up. He obviously played a big role in their promotion and is on track to contribute to another this season. But we should be interested in 'upside' as they say over the pond, and Vale sending him back to L2 suggests this might be his ceiling.

As far as I know he still is @Blake. At that level, managers typically have a day job, and training will be a couple of evenings after work.

He played yesterday, so he hasn't quite finished playing altogether. They lost 7-1 though. 

It’s a shame how his career went downhill. I thought he looked promising. I rated both him and Curtis Thompson. The thing with Greg Tempest is that his grandfather’s connection to Notts was always mentioned, which put a shadow over his career. I believe it was his grandfather or great-grandfather.

Derby County 2-1 Swansea City

Portsmouth 1-2 Sheffield United

Barnsley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Blackpool 0-2 Plymouth Argyle

Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Gillingham 🃏

Oldham Athletic 2-1 Fleetwood Town

Tamworth 2-0 Aldershot

Woking 3-1 Altrincham

Derby County 1-1 Swansea City

Portsmouth 0-2 Sheffield United

Barnsley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Blackpool 1-2 Plymouth Argyle joker

Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Gillingham

Oldham Athletic 2-2 Fleetwood Town

Tamworth 2-1 Aldershot

Woking 1-0 Altrincham

Saturday's results:

Derby County 2-0 Swansea City
Portsmouth 0-1 Sheffield United
Barnsley 3-3 AFC Wimbledon
Blackpool 0-4 Plymouth Argyle
Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Gillingham
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Fleetwood Town
Tamworth 1-1 Aldershot
Woking P-P Altrincham

And for the second round running, @william1984 wins on 13 points! It's getting a little spooky now.

After three banging rounds in a row, @william1984 replaces @super_ram at the top, and with a healthy lead to boot.

That's our lot for this round. We've got another round coming up on Tuesday night, so I've already posted the fixtures for it (click here). Thanks for playing everyone!

Great Interview.

Highlights from his interview. His "beloved club," Notts County. A special time in his life, he loves the City & he loves our football club. The people are special, the players, the staff & the fans.

Luke Williams is a special Leader who got Notts back to where they belong in the football league.

Special memories for me & I'm sure they are for every other Notts supporter. I wish him all the best at Peterborough. Hope he can get them into the League 1 playoffs or even better.

What a lovely interview with a lovely man, he’ll always have a special place in the hearts of all Notts fans and in hindsight I agree with him that it was the right time for him to go it would have been a shame if things had gone downhill and our memories had been tarnished.

Good luck at Peterborough Luke.

I think Iorpenda & Norburn are our best central midfield pairing at the moment, so I back Martin to choose them in the first 11 against Bromley.

Alternatively, Martin could go for Norburn & Robbo together & Iorpenda at number 10 . Hopefully, they will all be available on Saturday.

I think that it is important for Jatta to play. Hopefully he'll be fit, because he's improved his defensive play & is good around the penalty area for Notts against corners and free kicks.

To beat Bromley in the English football league, you need a patient approach. They often set up in a 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 shape, so you can exploit the wings with wide players and overload the final third. Also, focus on set pieces, since they tend to concede from them, and press early and late to take advantage of their structure. From this our team choice is paramount and the inclusion of players such as Robertson and Iorpenda central with Jodie and Tsaroulla playing wingback, and Norburn in the number 10 role. However the defence is also key and Macari, Platt and Bedeau need to keep playing with the gusto and determination they have over the past six games especially.

You do not win matches by being scared of the other team, and you cannot go into a game afraid to play your own way. At the same time, you cannot simply try to copy their pace. Teams that run too much often fade, so it becomes a matter of control and the chances you create.

Under Martin Paterson we look more polished and less tied to the old habit of trying to control every match in the same routine way. Notts are taking risks that we would not have seen before, when the focus was mainly on staying tight. It is good to see us adapt so well, but the key will still be game management and marking.

Bromley can cause problems in the areas where we are usually weak, which is why I am glad we have James Belshaw. The defence looks more alert and ready to deal with danger. Kelle Roos always seemed to want the team to depend on him, which felt risky.

I hope the match does not turn into an end to end contest, and that fans stay patient. If Notts want to do well, they will need to test Bromley's defence, and working that out during the match is not always pretty. Even so, there is no reason to fear them. We just need to play to our strengths, avoid being soft in 50 50s, and stay physical without picking up needless cards.

I expect Bromley to be physical and to keep the ball in the air in our half rather than on the ground. If we manage their approach, we should be fine.

Such a strong, mature squad now. Usually in any squad there are a few weak links where you're thinking they should be loaned out or released. Getting ahead of myself now, but if we got promoted, it's difficult to think who the lcub would ship out to make room for some L1 level signings.

Add Hall and Iorpenda to that to make 22?

Cotter's situation can be explained by just football reasons I think. He really didn't fit our style, by bringing in a high degree of chaos and raggedness to our build up play. A decent player for sure, but the kind we usually play against, not field ourselves.

Agree with @MrWillowTiger that keeping our CMs fit and healthy will be key. If ever 2 of Iorpenda, Robertson, Norburn and Palmer are out at the same time, it becomes scary. Hinchy is an OK insurance option, but there's a drop off there.

AM is still the big conundrum IMO. We've scraped through so far with a burst from Hall (that seems a long time ago), Grant and Iorpenda with 2 goals each, Dennis dropping back for a few games. Jones starting there. We're in an auto spot despite never completely solving it. My feeling is that we will have to solve it to keep a top 3 place.

Hall might have hit the 'rookie wall' I brought up recently - feeling the effects of his first full season in men's football. It's also Iorpenda's first season. I think he could still do a job in CM over the next 16 to 19 games. But is it wise or fair to depend on him to create in the final third?

Everyone on here seemed to identify AM (as well as Goalie) as the main area to address in the Jan window. That stiil applies and is why we can't afford Harald to be 'one for the future' he has to be a key player for us this season, as we all wanted when the window opened.

I think so, we have a number of players who can play in more than just the one position. With Cotter excluded and Gordon sold the right wingback spot is now one where we don’t have a naturally right-footed player. I know Kouhyar has played at wingback but it’s not exactly his natural position, a bit like Sam Austin last season he’s just a player that seems to fill in where needed.

Aside from that I think the squad is in better place now than it was before January. Belshaw is a big plus, Ndlovu adds some much needed depth upfront, Beck-Ray is like a wildcard signing but his speed really excites me and I've got a good feeling that Tangen could be the player that really looks the part in the No.10 role.

On 11/02/2026 at 12:52, Fan of Big Tone said:

Glad to hear your chest is getting better, I hope Mrs. P gets over her vertigo, I’ve had that it’s horrible.

Thank you @Fan of Big Tone for your kind words from me and Mrs P, she is on temporary tablets for the short term but if it persists a long term version is available. Nice one regarding the lung CT Scan, never had a sniff of that, must be new, is it. Good news with the roof man hopefully sorting things out.

Good afternoon, what a horrible soggy day, it hasn’t stopped raining all day here. The good news is though that the roofing man came to fix the roof in the rain and he says it should be ok now, we’ll see. The best thing is he didn’t charge us because he said it was under warranty. Bonus.

On 12/02/2026 at 13:59, Michael D Pie. said:

. Nice one regarding the lung CT Scan, never had a sniff of that, must be new, is it.

Yes I think it’s fairly new @Michael D Pie. see this link.

https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/lung-cancer-screening/

@Fan of Big Tone thank you for the link, much appreciated. Looks like you have to wait for the written invitation, apparently you have to wait until it's the turn of your surgery to get one. 🥴👍

😂 😂 brilliant.

Yes, great day. Even better, and funnier, to note that the Scum have sacked Dyche today.

I remember leaping in to orbit in the Pavis, then later, hearing the immortal words from Colin Slater, “….. of all people, Charlie Palmer. Meadow Lane is alive….”.

Have a great SCP day.

What a day that was Happy CP Day everyone.

And it's Charlie Palmer day too.

When I saw the title I thought it was a topic about Will Jarvis. 😂

Yeah, we’ve done a will too, I think it’s important then if and when something happens to you the people left behind have less hassle sorting things out.

@Piethagoram i hope you are recovered now and it’ll be a long while before anyone has to read that will.

In this game of locking horns with a stubborn Barrow side, having a definite disrupt at all cost attitude, I thought Bedeau was an example to his team mates, Leading from the front. I agree with @YoopEyes Matty Platt is now firing on all cylinders and was a contender. My vote goes to Nick Tsaroulla, like @Fan of Big Tone says he was superb all over the pitch, giving and making options for himself and others.

Lots of really good performances again, particularly in the second half. I went for Macari, I agree with @McPie he’s actually been really good for a few weeks and yesterday he got forward really well and made a number of important last-ditch interventions.

The Poll has closed.

We have a draw for the Pride of Nottingham's Man of the Match this week between Nick Tsaroulla & Jacob Bedeau. Well done to both.

Birmingham 2-0 Leicester🤡

Wrexham 2-1 Millwall

Wimbledon 1-1 Reading

Mansfield 2-1 Exeter

Gillingham 1-0 Tranmere

Walsall 0-1 Barnet

Altrincham 2-1 Yeovil

York 2-1 Forest Green

Birmingham 2-1 Leicester

Wrexham 2-0 Millwall

Wimbledon 0-2 Reading

Mansfield 2-0 Exeter

Gillingham 2-0 Tranmere Joker

Walsall 1-0 Barnet

Altrincham 1-1 Yeovil

York 2-1 Forest Green

The results:

Birmingham City 2-1 Leicester City
Wrexham 0-2 Millwall
AFC Wimbledon 3-2 Reading
Mansfield Town 0-0 Exeter City
Gillingham 2-1 Tranmere Rovers
Walsall 1-3 Barnet
Altrincham 0-1 Yeovil Town
York City 2-1 Forest Green Rovers

Well done to @william1984, who wins this round!

@super_ram is now two points clear overall, @william1984 moves into second and @menzinho is in the top half!

And that's all for this round. Saturday's fixtures are coming up on Wednesday - until then, thanks for playing and have a good week!

22 minutes ago, DangerousSausage said:

I don't think Barrow were a bad side at all. The last few minutes aside we always looked likelier to score IMO, but they played some good football and didn't look like relegation fodder.

I agree, after a pretty even first half we had a really good spell second half and played some really slick football at times and dominated up until the last 5/10 minutes when we basically had a make-shift midfield. We had the chances to give ourselves more than just the 1 goal lead, one team is going to suffer a 3 goal defeat soon surely!

I was impressed with the first outing of Tangen too, probably not even match-fit but looks to have the ability to play in the tight spaces.

Given that Roos got so much stick, it’s only fair to now give a bit to Belshaw because his attempt at a 1 handed punch almost cost us a goal, luckily, he was bailed out by Bedeau (and lack of goal-line technology).

6 from 6, all in the space of 3 weeks is mightily impressive though, thank god we’ve got a free week now and hopefully no new injuries.

4 minutes ago, menzinho said:

Given that Roos got so much stick, it’s only fair to now give a bit to Belshaw because his attempt at a 1 handed punch almost cost us a goal, luckily, he was bailed out by Bedeau (and lack of goal-line technology).

Good point, if you rush out to punch the ball you've got to make sure you get decent contact on it. It was hard to tell on PiesPlayer, but it looked to me as though Bedeau was slightly behind the goal line. Having said that, we should have had a penalty a few minutes earlier when Bedeau was held back, so maybe things evened themselves out.

Enjoyed the game on Saturday, it made a change for it not to be completely freezing!

Regarding the actual football, I can't say I was ever especially worried that Barrow would score an equaliser. When you take the emotion out of watching the game and look objectively at how the match unfolded then Notts were in control. There were tired legs and there was some of the natural back and forth of League Two football but only one counter attack actually hurt Notts. The data from the game backup how much control Notts were in throughout even after all the changes MP had to make.

Really liked the look of Tangen, excited to see his progress.

COYP!

Have they specified the direction of the stripes though? Am I going to have to try and fit my head through a sleeve to get the horizontal stripes! 😄

I think it’s a sign that the recruitment is going in a slightly different direction. We have tended to sign young talented players with technical skills that have a sell on value. While that is still the case in some instances, they realize that to get out of league 2 more is needed. While we have signed Luke Browne our defensive options are strong so he has time to bed in. Whereas Lee Ndlovu and James Belshaw are ready to make an impact. Beck-Ray Enoru is probably somewhere in the middle.

Totally agree @McPie . I feel MP has shown he has significant influence on the technical board. The signings of Ndlovu and Belshaw are clearly designed for the now in Division 4, while the others are a nod to the near future. In the case of Enoru and Tangen perhaps the not too distant future.

Shame it didn't work out for him here, he was clearly a very talented player who sometimes did eye-catching things, but too often a passenger with little impact on games. Hope things work out better at his new club.

4 hours ago, Fan of Big Tone said:

heard whilst away that a dear friend passed away after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in October, that’s 3 friends in the last few weeks that have passed two with prostate cancer. I sat and cried in the hotel bar when I heard of the latest one, so very sad, I’ll miss my catch up pint with him putting the world to rights RIP Jim.

I think I’m going to ask at the docs about a test, according to my medical records that I’ve checked online I had one a few years ago but I think they recommend every two years, I’ll see what the doc says.

My condolences @Fan of Big Tone it's never easy losing anyone especially a close friend. Prostate cancer is a silent killer and takes no prisoners. My father (God bless him) insisted that from the age of 50 i should approach the doctor regarding a PSA test, as my Grandad and Uncle had it and passed away. In March 2017 I was diagnosed with the Cancer, what a shock. In November that same year it was removed, in and out again in 3 days. Unfortunately I fell ill after being home for one night (SEPSIS) blue lighted back in and 17 days later returned home, the rest is history. I cannot reiterate enough how important it is to get tested.

Sounds awful @Michael D Pie. i hope you are recovered now.

Still bubbling after the Notts win yesterday. Barrow played well & it certainly looks like their current league position doesn't represent how good a team they are.