@Wheelbarrow repair man

Franz is a very good choice too who could easily be named as the GOAT

In my list I didn't include Banks, Masopust, Maradona Cruyff, Ronaldo (Portugal), Ronaldo (Brazil), Stanley Mathews, or Best in my final 10.

If you added those players to the 10 that I selected as my short list, all those players would be a fantastic team to watch with all those substitutes to come on too if needed. 

That team with all those players at their best, could easily beat any team in history put before it 

Unless anyone can name an alternative squad of players to challenge them?

Maybe the current Real Madrid or Man City teams could give them a game.

Incidentally Jozef Masopust was a big player in the 60s that played in midfield for Dukla Prague & Czechoslovakia. He was influential in getting Czechoslovakia to the 1962 final against Brazil

@Robbie

I suppose we could assemble a whole Squad of players worth a shot at the title of the G.O.A.T in  different ways. There is also a Case for a guy called Steve Bloomer who played for Derby County ( @super_ram could probably tell us more about him) I believe he played for the Rams in the 1890's or Early 1900's. And Notts own Tommy Lawton may be worth a mention. Basically the Guys I have named are Players I have seen, not all in the Flesh as it were, but on TV film and such like. Puskas was before my time  I remember seeing him on film when he was part of the Hungarian team which beat England 6-3 at Wembley  and Di Sefano is a name I have heard of. Stanley Mathews is of course a name I also know due to the epic Mathews Final  when Stan Finally won an FA Cup Winners Medal. And didn't he play his final Professional Match aged 50? Then of course a Great Player I almost forgot Eusebio, how could I forget him Star man in many a Portugal and Benfica Team.

I Don't think even the current Manchester City team would get anywhere near a team made up of the Super Stars we've named on here, when they were all at their peak. Wouldn't it be Great to get a Computerised match featuring the current City Team and an Elite XI from our suggestions? Not unlike the Rocky Marciano vs Muhammed Ali boxing match from the 1970's remember that?

@Wheelbarrow repair man

I saw all those players I mentioned too, either in the flesh or on the telly. My Dad took me to see Masopust & Dukla Prague when they played at Forest in a friendly in Nov 1966.

Watched the 1966 World Cup on the telly too.

The 1970 World Cup was the best World Cup in my opinion. That Brazil side was something else.

Sorry to go off topic.

Well it's all Well and Good the Championship and Leagues 1 & 2 attempting to Cut Costs or attempting to cut loses but what about the Premier League? The Cost to compete in that Division is Crazy anywhere from  £20 million to £100million plus Transfer Deals, players being paid anything from a £100k to £500k a week is disgusting, until the Premier League Costs and Payments are bought under Control how are teams further down the Football Pyramid going to compete? They'll need to spend money (which they probably have Not Got) to be on Par with other Richer Clubs.

Take Notts as an Example should they gain Promotion next Season how much Extra cost will the Owners have to pay out to enable them to put together  a side capable performing and competing in League 1? And how much of that cost will be passed on to the Fans?

Absolutely @Wheelbarrow repair man

I think the TV companies are selling the EFL clubs short for the televising of matches by just paying them £935 million over five years yet the PL are getting £6.7 billion over a 4 year period.

In my opinion the EFL should be getting much more plus advertising revenue too.

The Club  I follow service was sacrificed so that the EFL could get 50% more revenue from the TV companies but I believe that was a big mistake.

So Very True @Robbie here's yet another reason why the EFL should break away from the F.A and let the Premiership go it's own way has I have said before. Every Club outside of the Premier League is on a loser and with Championship Clubs trying desperately to get their share of the Prem Gravy train are spending well above their means in order to do so. It seems that Leicester City will already start at a disadvantage next season with a points deduction before a ball has even been kicked. And despite Promotion and the money injected into  Clubs who get to the Premier League last season all clubs who got Promoted have been Relegated back to the Championship this season.

And as you have stated those Clubs will have a huge advantage over all the other Clubs in the Championship due to the Parachute  Payments System. It just gets worse and it will remain so until the people who run the EFL are replaced by others who have the Lower League Clubs and their Fans interests at Heart.

Blimey @Robbie I well remember that mission and watching the Splash down and the Apollo Crew being brought on Board the Pick Up Ship along with my Dear Old Dad (well he wasn't Old then). There were many legendry films from the Apollo missions that remain in the memory from the Triumph of the Moon Landing and the Tragic Capsule fire which killed all the Crew. I believe that was the year before the Apollo 8 mission. And the Apollo 13 Mission and the Houston We Have A Problem line, which I Believe was Misquoted, not sure of the proper quote.

@Wheelbarrow repair man 

Can you remember James Burke who worked on these marathon programmes of the Apollo missions?

He worked on Tomorrow's World for many years. He's still going strong at 87.

The 3 Astronauts that died in the fire that engulfed their Command Module were working on Apollo 1 at the time.

When Apollo 13 had the explosion on the side of its Command Module,  Astronaut Swigert contacted mission control and said , "Okay Houston, we've had a problem here"

@Robbie

Yeah I remember James Burke well glad to know he's still alive and kicking. There was also a certain piece of music played to introduce the Apollo missions which was Presented by James, and during an interview James stated every time his wife  heard that piece of Music, she would say Listen Darling they're playing Our Tune.

The Fire in which the Astronauts died happened not long after 3 Russian Cosmonauts had died after the parachute on their Command Module failed to open, and as all Russian Rockets unlike the Americans   touched down on land instead of in the sea the 3 Guys perished, when their module crashed to Earth. (I think I'm right if memory serves).

Thanks for the correct message update regarding what was said on Apollo 13 to the Command Centre. You might like to know there's a very Funny Skit by Phil Jupitus on You Tube telling a the Story if Apollo 13 had been piloted by a crew of British Astronauts. He does all the different voices and it's well worth watching. If you haven't seen it already.

I can’t imagine that knowing some fans wanted them to lose would affect how the Spurs players would perform, they are professional footballers and as such should go into every game trying to win, at least you’d hope so. I can’t imagine the players view the rivalry between Arsenal and Spurs the same as the fans do.

@Fan of Big Tone Just imagine if a team was playing at home and the fans were so quiet and the team could see their manager arguing with Spurs fans on the touchline.

That actually happened during the Spurs v Man City match.

Psychologically this must have had an effect on the Spurs players and would have had a detrimental affect on their performance during the match, that would have only helped Man City.

On 21/05/2024 at 08:34, KB1862 said:

@DonnyNotts everyone has an opinion. No opinion can be wrong but in my opinion, I find it strange to see fans wanting their team to lose to stop a rival even when they have chance at gaining something from a win. Look how the results played out afterwards, had they won they'd be looking forward to champions league football next season. 

Guess they didn't have much faith that they could have made it. 

In all honesty will there ever be a day when Humanoid Robot's actually take over from real Human Players ? Could Artificial Life forms out think and out play Human opposition?  At the moment this seems to be in the realms of Science Fiction, but maybe one day. Already Robotic Engineers have built Robots which can help in Factories, around the home and even in combat. There are many types of Humanoid Robot's already built who can perform certain tasks to view on You tube and who's to say how long will it be before Robotics enters the World of Sport ? Who knows your Great (or Great Great Grandkids) may be watching a Robotic Team of Magpie players down the Lane on a Saturday. Just Imagine a Android likeness of Macca playing along side an Android Les Brad in attack. While a Killer Kilcline  and a Michael Doyle Robot would boost the Notts Defence.

The only real expense a Club would have would be up dating it's Soft Ware. No injuries, No Medical Bills, No special diets. No Player fatigue No Subs just a Small Squad of maybe 15 Androids, a First team 11 and 4 Robots on Standby in case of any Damages or Power Failures in the First 11 during a Match. All the Android Players would be programmed with all match tactics. Could it happen ? Who knows? But Don't Discount it.

At the end of the day, having artificial intelligence, such as fully automated Robots playing sport without emotion, motivation, passion, or without the ability to have a relationship with the fans, or without the ability to celebrate a goal or feel sad when they lose wouldn't be entertaining at all.

AI should only be there to help and assist, the human race, not to be used to replace the human race or to attempt to entertain the human race.

@Robbie

Agreed with what you say regarding emotionless and relationship with the Fans and the Rest of your points.  But if Android players make the Powers that be Money then you can Guarantee, pretty much like top Premier League Clubs nowadays, Fans feelings will Count for Nothing. 

2 hours ago, Wheelbarrow repair man said:

I think that Programme is Aptly Named it is POINTLESS.

Well I like it anyway.

Nev and his mate got to the head to head but we’re knocked out so they come back again on the next one I watch I hope he talks about Notts again.

@Fan of Big Tone

Each to their own imagine what a Boring World it would be if we all liked the same thing. Hope you enjoy it and Nev and his Forest mate do well.

I know you’re all dying to know how Nev and his Forest mate got on in the latest episode of Pointless.

Well sadly they failed in the second round mainly due to Nev’s Forest supporting mate who gave answers with high points meaning Nev had to get a low points answer to get through, he managed it for the first round but not the second.

This leaves them with one more appearance to try and win the trophy and the prize pot.

Come on Nev you can do it, ditch the Forest supporter.

A challenging totally set for Notts by the Falcons, who finish on 198 for 6 from their 20 overs.

Another defeat incoming.. Hales as gone just now.... Anyone know any 2nd 11 players that are ready to step up to the 1st 11!!?!!!!!!! 

Another defeat Notts 102 all out lose to the Falcons by 96 runs.

I think it is a good squad. 

The team will most likely be  built around Bellingham with the standout players being Foden, Walker, Rice, Saka, Palmer,  Kane & Stones

Disappointing not to see Jack Grealish in the squad.

I think we are good enough to get to the Semis, but I always worry about Southgate's negativity when it gets to the latter stages of a competition.

@Robbie

Must admit I was surprised by the omission of Notts Old Boy Grealish.  Thought he had a decent Cameo against Bosnia, That assist he did was amazing.  I mean why play the Guy if you're not going to pick him? Even if he didn't Start a match he could have certainly play the part of a Super Sub, how many times have you seen a player come off the bench and have a match winning effect on a Game? Mind you I think he's in Pep's Bad Books because he hasn't been playing for City in their Big Games. And if I'm Honest it wouldn't really surprise me to see him leave the Etihad.

It would seem while a good selection of Fans are happy with Southgate's Squad there is still a Big Worry from Fans that the England Defence doesn't have enough Experience. Well time will tell  if Southgate's gamble will payoff or Not.

Well the the Crowd seemed to Enjoy it from watching this snippet. I still think he'd have been a Good appointment as Director of Football at Notts.

Thanks for the Upload @Piethagoram.

I'm so glad for what Neil did for Notts during his tenure here and he will always be a Notts legend, but time has moved on and bringing him back to Notts now would be a backward step in my opinion.

On #Notts, replayed videos on stage of Play Off finals and talked a bit about them.

Video of Council House reception too... see what we missed on our recent promotion

Talked of Scarborough pre season trip... Drapes and Tommy complaining that despite being picked for England U21, they were given the room with bunk beds

Also video shown of FA Cup QF at White Hart Lane. It contained crystal clear view of Gazza's elbow on Harding. Warnock said he was ****ing annoyed, it was a straight red but then talked about refs seemingly protecting the big clubs

On first meeting Pavis, they knew on both sides, they wanted each other... Pavis would come along on scouting trips... like watching Dean Thomas at Northampton.

On other clubs, I hadn't realised Warnock was at Burton Albion with the likes of F*rest old boys Ian Storey Moore, Sammy Chapman, Paul Winfield?

Derbyshire Telegraph had rung up Warnock for comments on his release from Chesterfield as a player. The unfortunate part, was that Chesterfield hadnt yet told him!

What was obvious, he relied on good coaches, never seemed to take a coaching session... he would wander around and then just pull players aside to tell them...what you have just done in training, do that on Saturday! Warnock admitted he was all about man management.

In audience were Ben Robinson, now former owner of Burton Albion. Ian Storey Moore too.

Half way through the innings & the Worcestershire Rapids are 69 for 6, after 10 overs. Ollie Stone has two of those wickets

Rapids finish on 154 for 8 after their 30 overs.

Notts Outlaws need 155 to win.

Can they get their first win of the campaign.

Unfortunately, Notts Outlaws have fallen to their third successive defeat this term, this time against Worcestershire Rapids.

Notts could only muster 134 for 7 in their 20 overs & lost by 20 runs.

A big effort is needed in the next two matches at the weekend if Notts are going to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages, because they are falling behind the leading teams in this league.

I have no insight as to whether he's highly rated or not but I hope he can help to improve our keepers.

This is interesting at the end though; “We’re very happy with the backroom staff we have in place and we’re all really looking forward to pre-season.” And then it gives a full run down of the non-playing staff.

Ian Hutton hasn't been replaced, does that mean no strength and conditioning coach (fancy term for fitness coach I believe) for next season?

I think most Notts fans won't know much about Steve Collis, it seems that Stuart Maynard wanted at the club and perhaps at the cost of Tom Weal. I have found a lot of comments since Weal's departure to be very disrespectful.

However, I wish Collis well with his role and hope that we do see improvements within the keeping department.

When I first glanced  at this , I failed to see the word Coach. I need some New Glasses.

Excellent first post @Scotty ????

Excellent read @Scotty ????

1 hour ago, Robbie said:

I wonder if Notts CEO Joe Palmer has this function as part of his duties?

I would believe his involvement in the signings and recruitment is quite high.

It wouldn't surprise me if he's not the person handling much of the first contact with potential signings, I recall being told Jason Turner was very involved with this area. Richard Montague duties are a little unknown to me, he might be more active with this role.

I was sad to see Tobi go.

I'm sure he will do well at Rochdale. 

tobi did better last season when he played than he did our promotion year, issue is he was quite clueless at defending and could not head a ball. i liked him but we made the right decision to let him go. good luck to him at rochdale.

Spot on @liampie.

I didn't see anything in Tobi during his first season; his injury may have impacted that, and I do agree that he looked better last season. Yet, he looks more like a winger than he does a wing back. He provides no contribution in defence. I do think he does have the ability to put in a good cross and has a nice turn of speed, yet his control, passing, position play are majorly lacking.

Good luck to him at Rochdale, I hope he can kick on with his career.

When the smaller clubs in the Premier League are forced to sell their best players to remain on the right side of the FFP rules, they shouldn't sell to the top six PL clubs, they should sell to teams either in Europe or Worldwide. 

If the top six are starved of the best talent, the PL would slowly become more equal once again.

On the 'Two Pints Podcast with Will Mellor and Ralf Little', they mentioned the 115 charges hanging over Manchester City and I feel like they had it bang on the money. Ralf Little said that they won't ever be punished for these charges to which Will Mellor responded that it would be unfair for City to go unpunished while Everton and Forest have both faced punishment for breaching the rules. 

I'm in agreement with both points made and I think the only time City will finally be found guilty of their charges is when they introduce the luxury tax ruling meaning that all they'll have to do is a pay a fine and it'll be done rather than seeing them face a points deduction which would really affect them. In short, punishing the lower teams and allowing the elite to stay at the top. 

The thing that annoys me about these situations is the fact that they are so blatantly allowing the elite to run the show and get away with anything and everything and they aren't even hiding the "corruption" anymore. 

Update.

Aston Villa have proposed to increase the amount of money clubs can lose under PSR rules in the Premier League over a 3-year period from £105m to £135m. This is set to get the green light in today's meeting.

What some pundits are saying on social media, is that if City win this Court action, it will have big implications for the PL, because it will allow the rich clubs like City & United to become even richer, & the competitiveness of the rest of the PL clubs would be dealt another big blow.

"English football is close to collapse as Man City blow it up in a legal move as significant as the European Super League saga".

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13494529/Manchester-City-win-case-Premier-League-headquarters-Etihad-OLIVER-HOLT.html

The majority of Premier League clubs are behind the PL regarding the suing of the PL by Manchester City.

The PL say they are going to vigorously fight the challenge from Man City.

I think @Robbie that United will say Ratcliffe only has a certain percent of ownership and that the Glaziers are to proper owners of United, that could be a way they Wrangle it.

Hopefully that Scandinavian group doesn't include a Certain pair  of Danish Brothers?

Bewildering, I'd have thought facilities could be found closer. Obviously not?

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.