Yes @gtownjohnno Notts were coasting then lost four wickets for no runs to Smith, who took 3 wickets in an over, They need to try to grind another 50 runs in the morning if they are going to have a chance.

Day 4 has been delayed by rain overnight unfortunately.

There was an inspection due at 11am but the rain came again.

The weather forecast is sunshine and blustery showers.

After another bout of rain the Umpires have decided that no play will be possible today.

The Match ends in a draw.

Lets Enjoy yesterday's Win. I'm pretty sure Stuart Maynard is well aware of Notts short comings (and his own) and will be working on improving the playing system and his own performance in becoming a Full Time Coach, lets hope that things are starting to Fall into place and with an Excellent Recruitment strategy Notts will be able to push on. 

It's interesting to Note how many times the Recruitment team have been mentioned over the months since the appalling January window , therefore Richard Montague needs to get his Act together and sign Players that can do the job in League 2 and potentially League 1. And lets also hope Stuart Maynard will have a say in which players are signed, because it comes across as that he doesn't it seems the Recruitment team look at the data of a certain player and if he fits the Notts system then he's signed and Stuart Maynard can Like it or Lump it. Having a say in who's signed will also help Stuart Maynard Grow into his Role as Notts Head Coach.

This off season may be one of the Most Important down at the Lane in Recent Years and could map out the Magpies future as to weather Notts are going to be a Team that will be one of mid table obscurity or  one that can push on into playoff contention or even Automatic Promotion.

Delighted for the team, the fans and Mr Maynard. It's important for us as a club to have a positive end to the season and instill the belief that we can be looking upwards next season. And so what if it was a bit jammy? Luck tends to even itself out.

Notts started very brightly, looked comfortable on the ball and moved it around well. Defensively, we seemed organised and ready to cover wherever needed. Luca Ashby-Hammond did very well, as did Kyle Cameron and Aden Baldwin. Baldwin being the ball-playing defender, he looked very calm even when pressured and his decision-making when passing the ball was very good.

Dan Crowley is just a touch of magic, never worried about where he can go but will turn the opposition players inside out in order to make a good pass himself.

It was good to see us look for the forward pass, as when we did go backwards it wasn't frustrating or at the cost of being creative. Some of the long balls straight up to Alassana Jatta was a thing of beauty and almost worked, putting him straight through on at least two occasions.

There are a lot of comments about the players now wanting to perform better due to their contracts, I think this is weak excuses by those who can't give credit where it's due and simply a means to undermine the club - especially Stuart Maynard. Besides, if this was the case then all the fault on the defeats should fall down to the players instead of the manager, if they can turn it on and off. I fully disagree with these statements, as I feel it's hard work and finally things are working out better. You don't train and suddenly become better; it takes time. Walsall were very poor in the first half, and we simply outplayed them. Some of our fans need to learn to see the positives, it's a shame that we didn't get some of these results earlier, but it's football for you.

The biggest plus I saw, was hearing more fans sing at the end of the game to Stuart Maynard. Jodi Jones and Dan Crowley loved hearing their songs, but Maynard looked very emotional like it meant the world to him.

@Piethagoram I was sat right at the back of you, judging your pictures.

On the way to Walsall, Cal was watching the Newcastle vs Spurs game and when people say only we make howlers. The first two goals actually took some beating considering the level.

Aidan Baldwin will be glad to see the first goal. ????

We're always good for goals, we have been for a few seasons now. I've seen Notts teams where you wonder where a goal is coming from, so enjoy it while it lasts!

I'm glad Langstaff has proven himself at this level too. To be honest I was expecting a little more from McGoldrick, especially given how well he did last season. He's been dropped into the Rodders role and it's an awkward fit for him. I'd like to see us get Scott under contract for next season, I think he has what it takes at this level and our faith will be repaid.

I don’t think goals will be a problem, even if we lose Macca and JJ. It may even give us the chance to sign some proper wingbacks, rather than converted wingers.

Brindley isn’t good enough to be kept on, his positioning is awful, not physically big enough and never gets tight to his man. It should be a case of thank you for your years of service but we need better.  Defender wise, Cameron has another year as well as Chicksen so they will be kept on with Macari. Love Rawlo, but he is too old, too slow and not good enough, got to offload. Mahovo will also be here I think, so that’s four, bring in another four as first choice and we’re good to go.

Keeper situation is what worries me most, as we’ve got to try and offload Sam and Stone. That is not going to be easy and makes me wonder if they are trying to force Stone’s hand by making him 3rd choice.

We could be losing Macca and Jodi in the summer, I don't want them to go, and Notts need to offer Jodi a good 2 year extension on his contract.

But if they both decide that they want to play in a higher league, Jodi winning the league 2 player of the year award and him and Macca being included in the league 2 team of the season will have helped to increase both their values even more.

So it's a win win for Notts no matter what they both decide.

If I understood it correctly, all matches that fall outside the Saturday 3pm blackout (i.e. that would have been available in the UK on iFollow) will be broadcast live, so you should be able to watch the team as before. The question is whether there will be a match pass similar to iFollow, or whether Sky will gouge you for about 30 quid a month for it. Rupert Murdoch is not a philanthropist, all that money is coming from somewhere...

As for us exiles, things should stay broadly the same. But I wonder if we'll have Sky's commentators inflicted on us?

@DangerousSausage As I read it the club streaming service provided through Ifollow is being discontinued, but there needs to be clearer clarification of this.

Sky are pushing a non contract sky sports streaming service for £26 a month on a 6 month minimum term, but following live streaming of each club on a matchday for example, Notts matches, isn't mentioned.

Yes @Robbie thanks for the correction, I misread the sentence the 248 games will be broadcast over a period of 5 years! I thought they'd have done well to show to 248 games in one season!

Tuesday 12th March.

After tonight's round of matches Notts are now 10 points behind a possible playoff place with 10 games to go, so it is safe to say we won't make the playoffs this season.

Now it is all about finished the season as high up the league as they can.

Stockport and Wrexham have been promoted to League 1

Mansfield just need a point from their last three matches to gain automatic promotion too, because they have a vastly superior goal difference over MK Dons in fourth place.

Notts match Stockport for goals scored  so far and remain joint top scorers with Stockport with 86 goals,

How different things could have been this season for Notts, with just a little more luck in defence.

Congrats to Stockport and Wrexham, it’s probably better for us that they’ve gone up as they are the two biggest spenders in the league. And Mansfield’s promotion like you say is pretty much inevitable, again probably good for us as we always lose against them!

I still find it really strange to see the celebrations from people in North America that until about 3 years ago had never heard of Wrexham…

Wealdsone have games in hand of most of those at the bottom, but they are running out of time to complete them so, it will be tough for them.

Two of those games are Chesterfield at home and Oldham away, they have to play Eastleigh at home  and the only team near the bottom that they meet is Dorking at home and they are playing them tonight.

Three of their remaining four games are at home so it gives them at fighting chance.

Wealdsone were 0:2 down to Dorking early in the second half, but then scored 4 goals without reply winning 4:2.

Wealdsone were staring relegation in the face but they turned it round for a vital win.

Dorking are all but relegated now 

What a win by Wealdstone.

They are now just about safe from relegation.

You know the old saying @Wheelbarrow repair man, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.It's not the first time an idea or comment has been 'pinched' from. PoN and used elsewhere without acknowledgement .I don't suppose it will be the last time either.

The most annoying thing about it super_ram is these people can't come up with own articles and have to pinch them from others and on Top of That they Get Paid for it.

@Wheelbarrow repair man

It's sad that people & some professionals have to resort to plagiarise material from others.

It appears that it is plagiarism is rife on social media and it has been happening for as long as social media has existed.

We have great material here on PON with great articles &:posts mixed with great debate. Long may it continue.

If the professionals have to resort to getting ideas from us amateurs.

Who are really the amateurs?

Ohh Tommy Johnson my comment was made with tongue in cheek. And before Robots wouldn't Cybernetics come first ? Footballers with Cybernetic legs, Goalkeepers with telescopic arms. Defenders with telescopic necks  despite all the Cybernetic  Footballers will still have human brains, so Mistakes will be made.

I can see why they're using that information - a game can turn because of a poor refereeing decision or individual mistakes by players. How many managers have been sacked prematurely by panicked boards because of things they have absolutely no control over?

All the same, it's often forgotten that data and AI are tools and need people to manage and interpret them. I'm positive that our owners do this as well. If they only looked at statistics, Luke Williams - who at that time had a win percentage of 26% - would never have been appointed. Spotting players with unrealised potential is also a less exact science, for that you need know-how and contacts in addition to stats.

17 hours ago, Wheelbarrow repair man said:

Ohh Tommy Johnson my comment was made with tongue in cheek. And before Robots wouldn't Cybernetics come first ? Footballers with Cybernetic legs, Goalkeepers with telescopic arms. Defenders with telescopic necks  despite all the Cybernetic  Footballers will still have human brains, so Mistakes will be made.

I realised it was tongue in cheek, but it got me thinking that we are probably closer than we think to it. .. and that it would be very boring.

I agree @Wheelbarrow repair man 

There needs to be another way of sanctioning a club, a fine based on total turnover and a transfer embargo for at least a season or upwards depending on the amount of charges or the seriousness of the charges.

Fining the clubs and stopping their transfers would affect the points accumulation in time anyway.

If Man City were fined half a billion plus and the money distributed down the Football  pyramid, that would go down a treat with the smaller clubs.

Docking points just punishes the fans and the players when it is the Club administrators at fault.

Trouble is, I don't see it happening because in the Premier league, money talks and I don't think it would ever be passed by at least 14 of the PL clubs needed to change the rules. 

The issue here, talking in general terms, a team can overspend on its squad and therefore stay up...and a club that sticks by the rules gets relegated. 

Points deductions is the only fair way. 

Unless of course your Owners have an awful lot of Money to shall we say , offer "gifts" to the Football higher ups so they turn a blind eye on your over spending while not so rich Premier League Clubs suffer with  a points deduction and possible Relegation.

I hope you're right regarding the Brothers hold on the Purse Strings Robbie ( I'm sure you are) it's just  that I've seen to many of these Ideas men come into a business with all these promises of a Big Money Return for such and such investment only for the idea to  fail, and to many failures would see the Business Crumble. I'm Not saying Joe Palmer is one of these Wide Boys it's just I Personally  don't like the idea of to many projects going off all at once. Regarding the Nest his he hoping that Forest fans will also attend? Because personally I can't see the Fan Zone being supported financially by Notts fans alone. Will visiting fans be encouraged  to visit the Fan Zone? If so Security will have to be tight especially if Alcohol is being served. The Nest can hold up to 1,500 Fans but how many will have to attend regularly to make it a success? 500 a 1,000 or the full quota of 1,500?  I can't be the only Magpies Fan with worries hopefully the Club can be transparent with it's spending or give some idea and reassure Fans that Money is available and will cover the costs that will be required for all the Projects being presented. I for one wouldn't want to be throwing my loose change into a plastic bucket outside the ground or watch another Notts vs Forest match to help boost the Funds of the Club. 

I get what you are saying @Wheelbarrow repair man I think that all these improvements would have been costed and approved months ago, before they were announced.

I am sure there may be lots of questions for Palmer and Montague regarding all these projects and things may be much clearer to all of us afterwards.

I can't think that visiting supporters will be allowed in on Match Days because that could cause a security issue.

I'm really pleased about the plans for the ground improvements, and knowing that Notts won't have future problems with waterlogged and frozen pitches.

It's good to see some new investment in the infrastructure. I wouldnt be surprised if the club shop relocates within the Nest area. The Meadow Lane Sports bar then opens for away supporters only? 

A much needed win last night with a clean sheet.

That win probably makes them safe but it has been a struggle for them since the beginning of the year.

A comfortable win in the end for Luke Williams side, however the Swans still haven't moved either up or down in the League standings 15th and they may well end up in that position at the Season's end, it will be interesting to see if LW is given money to spend on New Players and turn Swansea into a team to challenge for a playoff spot next season. It also seems he's starting to  form a relationship with the Swans Fans very much like he did at the Lane.

Where's the Man himself? I don't see him.

Love the picture, but you can't make them crouch like that at their age

Craig Short looking like he just walked straight in from the on-pitch "discussion" at Peterborough in 2010.

Don O’ looks younger now than when he was playing! 
Shame there’s no Drapes or Yates in the photo, and I wouldn’t have swapped any of them for today’s side, style was very different but really effective. Some great players there and Phil Turner was a brilliant skipper who was massively underrated by some fans.

Forgot to reply to your comment @Robbie. I've been to Kaiserslautern a couple of times. The town itself is a little smaller than Mansfield and is uninteresting. The only interesting thing about that place is its football club. They play in a HUGE ground (nearly 50,000 capacity) on top of a massive hill behind the railway station, and they make a decent fist of filling it too. The town itself is far too small to sustain a club like that - they draw fans from all over a large region stretching from Saarbrücken in the west to Ludwigshafen in the east. They were part of the furniture in the Bundesliga until recently, but have fallen victim to mismanagement and only returned to Bundesliga 2 last season.

My own team in Germany, Waldhof Mannheim, have a major rivalry with them. There's a lot of bad blood between the clubs due to the teams' time in the Bundesliga in the 80s (to cut a long story short) and they drew 1-1 in the last game I attended before the season was stopped due to covid. Some impressions are in the link, if you're interested!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7R2bqkjmlU

@DangerousSausageWatched the video thanks, looks like there's lots of passionate fans over there. Not sure the authorities here would tolerate all the flares though.

I noticed that there seems to be a lots of fans standing,  I've always thought that standing fans do increase the atmosphere at matches.

I googled it about German standing areas and  Borussia Dortmund have 25,000 standing in one stand.

Seems the Germans are much more advanced in having safe standing areas at their top grounds  than UK do.

That game was at Waldhof's ground, which holds 26,000, so a little bigger than Meadow Lane (albeit with only 15,000 seats). And there's no safe standing there! The home end is actually seated, but has been used as a standing area for years. The corners are terraced, but old-style with normal crush barriers. The away end is three quarters seated, part standing, but no one sits down for a derby It might need a bit of an upgrade if they ever make it back to Bundesliga 2. Kaiserslautern's ground was partially rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup and they've got safe standing.

Your typical Bundesliga ground has a big standing area (possibly the whole stand) behind a goal, and an area in the corner for away fans too. There are exceptions though - Darmstadt's fans traditionally stand along the side of the pitch, and they integrated a terrace into their new stand which opened last year. They've got a terrace behind the goal too, but it's one of those tin pot temporary stands so doesn't hold that many.

I have to fully agree with you Robbie those three Players would also be my choice as well Not very original I know agreeing with you, but let's be honest despite the Ups and Downs of this Current season these Gentlemen have knuckled down and got on with their jobs. My only hope they'll all be in the Running for this Award at the end of Next season. However Jodi just shades Macca just.

1, Slocombe

2. Stone

3. Brindley

They are misunderstood.

36 minutes ago, Ohh Tommy Johnson said:

1, Slocombe

2. Stone

3. Brindley

They are misunderstood.

I could have included Tiernan Brooks for his performances for Rochdale this season. Hopefully he'll be playing for us next season.????

There's an awful Lot Clubs starting to Struggle  surely it's time for the FA/EFL to take their Blinkers off and get the money from the Premiership passed down through all Tiers of Football. The sooner the Government put an Independent  Person in Charge of Football Finances the Better. But they must be Someone who won't be swayed ( which sounds much nicer than Bribed) by the top brass in the FA/EFL and Things Don't Change but Remain the Same.

I can't see him staying, and I would hope he is picked up by one of the Championship teams.  I think we would get a fair price for him (the Reedz brothers are, by all accounts, really tough negotiators). Whether we can replace him is another issue. I wonder if Randall was the plan in case he moved on last summer (or we didn't get his signature on a permanent deal). If that's the case, he really needs to step up and his luck needs to change.

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

I'm not sure that he is likely to go.

Notts gave him a great opportunity when he arrived here on loan having such problems with his fitness in the past.

Notts rewarded him with a 2 year contract and Jodi has played so well for us since he became a regular in the side, and he has also featured so well playing in international matches for his Country too.

As I've said previously on other threads, other clubs may still be a little hesitant to take him on due to his past fitness record, so I'm hopeful that he would stay at Notts at least till Xmas to see if Notts are challenging for promotion.

Notts may even offer him an extension to his contract to tempt him to stay a while.

Even if he doesn't stay he will have left some great memories for us.

We may offer him an extension, but at his age and having lost so many years to injury I can see him wanting to move as far up as possible.  He knows more than most how important it is to grab chances whilst they are there,  This season should have put doubts over his injury history to bed.  With a year on his contract we could cash in.  I don't think loyalty should come into his thinking.  His is a good news story for all involved - he has his career back on track, Notts did that for him and so it reflects well on our set up... making us more attractive to others. The one thing that works for us is that we don't have to sell, and have shown in the past we are happy to let a contract run out and lose any fees if it is best for us (and the player is happy enough), which means we can extract the best price.

I get what you mean @Fan of Big Tone as I also had no idea why people were clapping so didn’t participate. It wasn’t till I got home that I found out it was for a very young girl who never reached her 8th birthday because of her condition, guess how bad I felt! 
I do think though that any clapping for someone should go through official channels so it can be properly organised and all fans notified.

5 minutes ago, Fozzy said:

I do think though that any clapping for someone should go through official channels so it can be properly organised and all fans notified.

Yes exactly that, I think it’s a bit pointless clapping if you don’t know what for, I guess it would give the little girls family some comfort though.

Nice One. I'm Pleased for the Lad. I think he didn't really get a Fair Crack of the Whip at Notts and I could understand him wanting to move away from the Lane. But do you remember that over the head goal he scored for Notts, that seemed like everybody on Social Media was talking about? I t was even put forward for the Puskas Award but didn't even get a Mention. After all how could a player representing a Club like Notts County be even considered for the Award? TOTAL FOOTBALL SNOBERY . Now if Eli had scored the goal playing for oh say Man City Liverpool or Arsenal he would have probably Won the damn Award.

@Wheelbarrow repair man man, I agree with you about Football snobbery, if it had been Haarland or Salah scored that goal, all the football pundits would have raved about it.

I was sorry to see Eli leave because I believe he still could have had a roll to play at Notts as a squad player.

Eli probably wanted more first team football time. Pleased that he is getting some success in Belgium.

I think they'll still be here at the start of next season. Our board has shown no inclination to sell players before their contracts have expired in the past - think Ruben Rodrigues and Kyle Wootton, who both ended up leaving on free transfers at the end of their contracts. On the other hand, Macca and Jodi would command much higher fees.

There's more of a question mark over Langstaff in my opinion, as his scoring record has been stunning and he's bound to have a release clause. However, his age might limit his price - his next contract will take him beyond his 30th birthday, so any buyer would not be bringing in a player they could develop hugely or sell on for big money. In addition, the market is awash with out-of-contract strikers in the summer. I wouldn't blame him for taking a once-in-a-career offer, but so far there's been a lot of paper talk and no actual offers, and there's no reason to assume that the summer transfer window will be any different.

Macca and Jones both need to move on for their own good.  We need to make sure we can get enough money to adequately replace them (attack wise I think with Crowley, Austin and McGoldrick with Scott and Jatta.. and Morias?? we are fine). Randall needs to come on next season, and going forward we should be OK  and we can use the money on defenders, defensive midfielders and a wingback or two for squad depth... and a goalkeeper, depending on where Brooks is in terms of development.

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

Langstaff has three years left on his contract, Jones has one year left, he only got 2 years in the beginning primarily,I suspect, because of Jodi's passed fitness record.

Crowley also has one year left having signed a two year deal last summer.

If Langstaff wishes to go, Notts need to hold out for as much as they can.

I'm not convinced that Jodi will go though primarily because of those fitness issues 

Not sure about Crowley, He may want to go back to playing in a higher league, if so, Notts need to cash in if they can.

Three of our best players leaving Notts would be a big blow, but funds received could allow Notts to strengthen in areas that have already been identified such as Goalkeeper, defence and midfield.

So I am hopeful for next season, even if they do go.

Good analysis  from @ARLukomski

Proof if any is needed the Notts Defence isn't up to League 2 Standard.

On 26/03/2024 at 15:40, Robbie said:

I see your point @Ohh Tommy Johnson but It seems that we are led back to the play it out from the back at all times philosophy even when under pressure. This philosophy must be coming from the coaches or maybe what the owners want.

I believe Maynard has tinkered by trying to get the midfield to support the defense much more, but this change has been to the detriment of us not scoring as freely as before.

It's a fine balance to be had, but I do agree that the defence should play more cautiously, and if in doubt, kick it out or upfield, where we now have Jatta to try to keep possession when the defence play long.

 

Exactly - I think our game was perfectly set up for the NL, where we could control the game through better players and wear the opposition out.  In L2 it needs to evolve to be more pragmatic where we need to be.  I don't thin we have done that yet, but hopefully this is what they are looking at over the summer... or getting in a shed load of Championship and L1 players so we can do the same as we did in the NL!!