interesting to see the programme/ notes from that game. it must be a rare sight and hopefully its something the club will look at having in the museum they spoke about even if its a replica.

@liampie

It must have been such an exciting time for the fans when Meadow Lane was opened for the first time with 28,000 in the ground to see the local derby.

It was such a massive day for the club when they finally had a home that they could call their own.

@Robbie I see your point about sudden death, they've adapted the Carabao Cup to that. Removed extra time in favour of a straight penalty shootout. 

Problem is PL clubs will then complain that entering competitions earlier would mean more fixture congestion which I find bizarre considering there are teams who play more league and cup games with lesser squad depth. 

It could make it more exciting as there's more of a chance at a cupset. I just think the FA Cup is such a historical competition and a pride of our game that it should remain untouched to preserve it rather than adapting it another way.

Clubs fielding weaker teams does devalue the competition and it's not fair on fans of say a lesser team having their team drawn against a PL team with stars only for the game to arrive and they've not got any of the stars on the pitch they were hoping to see. 

@KB1862 Your right with the fielding of weaker teams and cheating fans of lesser clubs from seeing them in action, also the price to watch remains the same or even increased, so fans suffer both ways.

When it comes down to it, every football match is a test of strength, guile, determination, staying power, and skill. If Clubs field weakened teams then it's not a true test of those values.

So Blackburn beat Wrexham tonight 4:1 after being one down after a few minutes.

So now we have 5 replays to decide who will compete in the 5th round.

Tues 6th Feb

Southampton v Watford

Coventry v Sheff Weds

Plymouth v Leeds

Weds 7th Feb

Forest v Bristol C

A Villa v Chelsea.

Can anyone explain what the Pontins League actually was? I have never heard of it.

was this a development league for reserve players? the pontins league sounds weird.

On 27/01/2024 at 09:01, Fan of Big Tone said:

That Notts team doesn’t really roll off the tongue there’s only a few I remember, Martindale, Redmile, Arkins and Pollitt.

I thought I recognised Michael Forsyth and googled to check that it was the same Michael Forsyth that played for my team. -it was,325 appearances 1986-1995 but only 7 for Notts.

Tony Dorigo (also played for Rams)and Gary Speed in the Leeds team

It should have been a red card. When you’re a skilled player like Jodi Jones, referees don’t provide enough protection to prevent risky challenges. This is also true for Jack Grealish and other players who often get fouled. It’s not fair, but that’s how it is. Jon Stead was often fouled but rarely won a challenge. There’s no doubt, it should have been a red card, even in Sunday league football.

I felt then and still believe that it should have been a red card. I don’t understand how the referee could have given a yellow card considering the risk involved. No one can deny it was reckless. He went straight through Jodi Jones, and it would have been safer to use a large pair of sharp scissors.

@themightymagpies The referees are supposed to know the rules but many referees still interpret the rules differently and it is the same when it comes to VAR. No wonder that the fans get confused and frustrated with refereeing decisions.

Yes, I think the signs are very encouraging. I will be forever grateful to Luke for getting Notts out of the national league. He will forever be a hero for doing it, however, Luke never got to grips with the fact that we were leaking goals from the start of the season, 26 matches in and there was no sign of change.

Now Stuart has come in and it appears he is trying to address the leaking goals issue, and that can only be good for Notts chances of making the playoffs.

@TheSkipper has written a fantastic piece on Stuart Maynard which I will be publishing later. It's good to see the Football League paper doing a piece on Notts. I really enjoyed the National League paper, so I must try to support this.

There’s a nice piece about Notts in the Football League paper. It’s clear that the board sees Stuart Maynard as a great fit, which is reflected in this article. It’s a good read nonetheless.

6 minutes ago, Chris said:

Absolutely, @Ohh Tommy Johnson.

There was a difference in the first half; it's just how Barrow came flying out at us that made things difficult to begin with. Once we calmed down, defensively we were a lot better. I think Aidan Stone deserve a lot of credit for us taking a point, they could have easily scored more than one with the chances they had - despite the better defending.

Aden Baldwin I thought was very good, @super_pie said he would have been his Man of the Match.

He would have been close for m too.  The trouble with the MoM award is it tends to go to the one that catches the eye.  It is undeniable that this was Jones, but without Baldwin there would have been at least one more goal against.  A header cleared a shot in the first half.  We were directly behind the shot and no way was Stone getting to it. He made several other telling blocks and tackles.  On the other hand Jones seemed to open them up at will, and was our main creative outlet, so I can see why he was given it.

Despite the criticism I thought Robertson ad Bostock also tightened up the defence after Maynard made that teak at half time.  They weren't perfect, but it was good to see the change working.  I was fully expecting a drop off after the break which has happened a lot in the past few months, but this time we had a positive response.  From that point of view I would say Maynard had a good first game and had a positive influence. I suspect in previous weeks we would have lost that.

There has also been a lot said about showboating and trying to be too clever (not so much here).  I didn't see it that way.  There may have been an element of trying to show the new head coach what they could do, but I got the feeling that these flicks etc were for players that weren't where they expected them to be.  Maybe this is due to a change in the system which hasn't bedded in yet. There were a couple where I could see what Didzy (in particular) was trying to do, and if they had come off would have put Jones, Macca or Crowley through - they were just a second behind, ahead or going a different direction.  The same to Bostock, he seemed to slow things down a lot, but it seemed to me that his first intention wasn't on, so he took another touch and played it safe.

I don't go to enough games to know how we 'normally' play, but I felt we did OK and should feel pretty positive about the future under Maynard. 

Notts showed significant improvement in their defence. Expecting rapid changes is unrealistic as it’s challenging for a new manager like Stuart Maynard to completely transform the team instantly. In my view, Maynard’s approach is commendable. I don’t foresee any of the loaned players joining the team soon. It seems Maynard prefers to rely on the players who are permanently at the club. His squad selection made a lot of sense, although I was hoping to see Jaden Warner start. I believe we will, but it might take a few games into Maynard’s tenure.

There was a lot of curiosity about who Stuart Maynard would pick, but I can see why he started with Aidan Stone and Richard Brindley. The rest of the players are automatic choices for our team, and no one on the bench has shown they should be starting based on their form in games. I watched our new loan goalkeeper warm up, and he seemed very capable during shooting practice. I believe Jaden Warner could strengthen the defence, but he might have to wait his turn.

the family stand from the picture looks like an old fashioned school building. plus its nice to see the houses that were stood behind the kop and pavis stand. its a brilliant photo.

My grandparents once lived 5 minutes from the ground. I wish I knew if @GrannyPie lived somewhere in that photo. Obviously beyond 1927, but it does always make me interested.

It's probably one of the earliest pictures I have seen of our ground.

It’s a lovely picture of Meadow Lane from the past, which looks very different now. You can spot the standing areas that are now the KOP. The ground is still recognisable, and it’s interesting to see how the area has changed.

He's played 32 games for Mansfield when they just missed out on the playoffs, 11 appearances for Wealdsone. Stuart of course would know him.

Whether he's any better than what we have looking at the amount of appearances he has is negligible. By the age of 23 you would have thought he would have established himself in a side or just moved on from Hibernian, where he cannot establish himself at present.

I’m not too familiar with him, but his connection to Notts is interesting. Having been part of Forest’s academy, he’s likely received high-quality coaching. I wish him the best of luck with his loan.

It’s rare for Notts to have success with relatives of former players, both in management and on the pitch. It’s similar to the relatives of more famous players - it’s one of those odd things.

Our history is fascinating. I read about this in the late 90s. My grandad bought me a book from ASDA about the history of Notts. This was one of the snippets which I remember reading.

Yes, a splendid bit of history kept alive. I’m grateful for such tweets, they’re good to read. I enjoy this part of Twitter, supporters chatting about Notts and reminiscing.

its a great piece of history, hope we can get to playing bigger clubs like liverpool more frequently than we have at least some point.

not a delivery person on a bike to be seen, people carefree and what watching where they are going. everyone smartly dressed and looking happy. this looks like a magical world lost on people my age and under.

the video is incredibly fascinating, i did notice that people did not mind the camera and just walked on mind their own business.

these days there would be more than dont telling them not to film people. ????

I'm a bit disappointed as no matter what I do, the video just won't play for.

I love the nostalgia of seeing Nottingham from way back; it reminds me of my grandparents and how things used to be far more relaxed. I was also interested to see the bicycle clip as the Twitter account shares some brilliant things with Ron.

The video clip still works @Chris

It is haunting when you see the footage of how German soldiers separate families, what is worse is when you learn about Klaus Barbie and Reinhard Heydrich. I hate how their names live on for the crimes they committed, when little is known about those lives that were taken. It's such a saddening event in human history, and personally I find it hard to forgive such actions.

Any germans involved in the war, I could never see as decent.

I know someone will say to me, but they had no choice and that it would have been the same for them. Yet, they're all directly involved with the worst aspects of humanity and once they are gone. Maybe, then things can be settled. Yet, whilst some have managed to flee and live perfectly normal lives - my sentiments remain the same.

I wished more was done to honour those taken by such horrific circumstances.

@Chris I agree with what you have said.

There is a X account called  Auschwitz Memorial (@Auschwitzmuseum) that gives faces and names to the victims. The account posts each day with information about victims of the holocaust.

Not to their credit, but the fact that the Germans kept maticulous records, it is known who the victims are and where and when they were murdered.

12 minutes ago, Robbie said:

Not to their credit, but the fact that the Germans kept maticulous records, it is known who the victims are and where and when they were murdered.

At least they didn't rob them of this right.

I will look into the Twitter account you mentioned Robbie. I have seen YouTube videos where they talk about victims and their backgrounds, some including having found existing family members. I wished I remembered what the channel was called. I don't usually sub to channels but it's moments like this when you regret it. 

good goal, funny commentary. overseas commentators always tend to have vocal heart attacks when they see goals. this you can enjoy, but when they do it even for the less exciting goals it makes laughable.

I can't stand the style of commentary, not even when it's comically applied to other things such as Tennis, Wrestling or Rugby. I may chuckle or laugh, but I really can't stand it.

There's no value in screaming or shouting the obvious; it just becomes annoying.

great moment for english football and for maidstone, but i think we would be better off working with what we have. fair play to him because he is very much a cult hero for maidstone.

He's a good keeper but not someone I can see fitting into our style, I really hope Aidan Stone can prove himself because there's a good keeper there. He just needs confidence and better defending.

As for Lucas Covolan he clearly rises to the occasion of big games, and has cemented his name with Maidstone.

No. One good game against Ipswich doesn't mean he's League 2 standard. The guy is a loose cannon, as proven by his sending off against Dorking on the opening day of last season. Would spend more time on the sidelines due to suspension 

Politics and football shouldn't mix. I agree with @Robbie too much politics in the game is killing it. 

There are some views that people, in the game of football, may have but it should be as part of a separate conversation. 

On 26/01/2024 at 20:27, Robbie said:

But now it's different, the top sides have the best players because  they have the money and the rest cannot compete. For me, the managers that I've mentioned are the best.

leicester city went downhill when they started paying their players far more money than they deserved after winning the league. money ruins football, i think they should have sold vardy to arsenal and cash in. claudio ranieri transformed them and deserved longer if they had, he might have kept them up instead of them falling down.

likewise, jurgen klopp has done well without throwing money at players. i know they have spent a bit in the last two seasons but its balanced by who they have sold.

teams these days will want the best players in the world, that almost guarantees success. everton had a spell where they looked highly likely of finishing in the top six, they got praised but it was due to spending. unfortunately this is modern football.

our own success is down to spending money wisely and competing competitively against other teams. we are not one of those teams who are fortunate enough to be able to replicate accrington stanley or barrow. we have a great attendance record and good squad, because we have used our resources well.

Times have changed, unfortunately, and there's not much we can do but accept it for what it is. The thing I respect the most about Jürgen Klopp is how down-to-earth he is; there's no hint of arrogance or self-importance. He laughs and smiles, treats people well, and is a very good manager for this reason. His achievements at Liverpool should be celebrated and appreciated. He's made a one-team title race a lot more enjoyable; Spurs, Arsenal, and Chelsea would love to have the stability he has built at Liverpool.

Notts do have a Youtube channel. They should be putting extended highlights on there up to 10 minutes say.

Their highlights of the Barrow game was just under 2 minutes, That's not enough really.

I'm sure it can't be down to cost, and Notts have a good media team in place too, that could produce a really good highlights show that would get more views.

There are lots of Notts fans, that can't attend matches for whatever reason, and can't watch the live stream either, due to cost or other reasons, and would welcome extended highlights from the club.

I only usually watch the highlights if I don't see the match (on iFollow). Funnily enough, if I watch at the Lane, I can't wait to see the highlights!

I watched the extended highlights from yesterday and was also wondering where the tackle on Jones was. I think the main highlights are put together centrally and not by the clubs - there's also a neutral commentator. I doubt the club can do much about it.

2 hours ago, Robbie said:

Notts do have a Youtube channel. They should be putting extended highlights on there for up to 10 minutes, say.

I disagree; I think the iFollow service is vastly underused. It could be an area where the club brought in some much-needed extra revenue. 

Notts are probably monetised on YouTube, but that's not much of a service.

The iFollow service should be packaged with the extended highlights; anything beyond 9–10 minutes should be something fans should subscribe to via the service. The issue is, everything of value is available for free on YouTube. The club in my opinion should balance this more and produce things for the iFollow to give value to that, encouraging fans to pay a reasonable subscription fee.

There are plenty of teams that take this feature of their OS seriously and make a reasonable amount of things which barely take much time to film and edit. Usually, I am against paywalls but once I used to subscribe to the iFollow service because I found the content to be worth it. I quickly became annoyed when the old media team left, and everything was being uploaded for free to YouTube. I have never done it since, but if the club refrained from this and produced quality content it would be far more beneficial than YouTube and Google's AdSense.

They could even get fans on board to help, however, this would need to be open and not biased towards certain areas. As this type of behaviour is very discouraging for fans trying to make a difference, plus it shows a greater sense of a community of fans. 

52 minutes ago, DangerousSausage said:

I think the main highlights are put together centrally and not by the clubs - there's also a neutral commentator. I doubt the club can do much about it.

The highlights are handled by the Football League's media now.

I know when Jamie Dixon, Ralph and Dane were at the club, Ralph would ask fans if there was any footage they wanted to see. The thing is, the club controls the match streaming and has access to that footage; however, it takes a considerable amount of time to produce the highlights. The club probably can't release single clips of incidents, due to rules within the EFL. I don't think it would stop them from allowing members of the ifollow or whatever it's called these days to have access to the full match footage.

Yet I do think clubs are mindful about the footage being leaked out to social media, which will always happen, including fan captured footage.

Personally, I think it would be best for the club to do their own extended highlights which go beyond the 9–10 minutes because even this tends to be heavily diluted. Sometimes games where nothing happens can look far better, other times I can imagine it's difficult to even produce a 4-minute video of them. Thankfully, these days we are far more entertaining but I strong doubt the club would release any footage that would make people question the officials or incidents within the game - despite the fact that I would strongly support this because fans should be seeing the tackle to Jodi Jones via the official channels.

Millwall 1 v 2 Preston North End

Sunderland 2 v 0 Stoke City joker

Cambridge United 2 v 1 Burton Albion

Wigan Athletic 2 v 0 Stevenage

Grimsby Town 1 v 2 Tranmere Rovers

Swindon Town 2 v 1 Bradford City

Hartlepool United 1v 1 York City

Oxford City 0 v 1 Ebbsfleet United

Millwall 2-1 Preston North End

Sunderland 2-0 Stoke City (joker)

Cambridge United 1-1 Burton Albion

Wigan Athletic 1-0 Stevenage

Grimsby Town 1-2 Tranmere Rovers

Swindon Town 1-1 Bradford City

Hartlepool United 2-0 York City

Oxford City 0-2 Ebbsfleet United

The results:

Millwall 1-1 Preston North End
Sunderland 3-1 Stoke City
Cambridge United 0-0 Burton Albion
Wigan Athletic 2-3 Stevenage
Grimsby Town 1-2 Tranmere Rovers
Swindon Town 2-0 Bradford City
Hartlepool United 2-1 York City
Oxford City 1-0 Ebbsfleet United

---

This week's winner is @super_ram, with @cheeky~k8 close behind!

@super_ram - 10
@cheeky~k8 - 9
@DangerousSausage - 7
@gtownjohnno - 6
@DonnyNotts, @william1984 - 5
@Harry Buckley, @magpiejue - 4
@ARLukomski, @Megan_Elizax - 3
@4everapie, @Fan of Big Tone, @liampie - 2
@Dan, @nottsnutter, @Robbie - 1
@Chris - nul points

---

There's a fair bit of movement this week - @super_ram enters the top four, and look who's back in the top six

ARLukomski - 160
gtownjohnno - 152
cheeky~k8 - 139
super_ram - 132
4everapie - 131
DangerousSausage - 128
william1984 - 127
Fan of Big Tone - 126
magpiejue - 121
Dan - 118
nottsnutter - 113
Megan_Elizax - 106
Chris - 104
liampie - 101
DonnyNotts - 92
upthepies - 90
Joshua - 82
allardyces tash - 67
KingWilliams - 66
TheSkipper - 60
CliftonMagpie - 55
thommo - 49
OoooooTommy - 45
NottsCountyKev - 41
JIMBO - 40
jimbob - 38
Nocturnal-Magpie - 38
AmericanPie - 36
Robbie - 23
KB1862 - 22
George L - 6
Harry Buckley - 6
Canadian - 4

---

We'll be having our next round on Saturday, so keep an eye out for the fixtures on Wednesday. See you all then!

The wrong station was demolished, direct route to the south and the North, direct route to Mansfield and North Notts. Demolishing Victoria Station was an absolute sin.

Would have made a good #HS2 station for Nottingham by demolishing the Victoria Centre...win, win ????????

we have had some very good players over the years, tom keetley etched his name into our history books and thankfully the great season we had last season brought his name back into the minds of our fans with macaulay langstaff's record breaking season. i wished we had footage of keetleys time tho.

On 02/01/2024 at 23:23, liampie said:

we have had some very good players over the years, tom keetley etched his name into our history books and thankfully the great season we had last season brought his name back into the minds of our fans with macaulay langstaff's record breaking season. i wished we had footage of keetleys time tho.

Just imagine the adulation that Tom would have had in his day, just like Macaulay now. Tom must have been some player.

Can Jodi continue his outstanding form for Notts under our new Head Coach, in our next game against Barrow at Meadow lane. Will Stuart expect Jodi to concentrate more on his defensive duties as a wing back too?

Both our wing backs, Jodi & Aaron Nemane if selected, will probably have to be more defensive minded from now on. We will see on Saturday.

Thoughts?

He's an absolute quality player, the stats say it all. Even when we're having an off-day, one of his crosses can unlock a defence, it's like having Beckham in your team.

This season we look a bit unbalanced in general, and in Jones and Nemane we have two wing-backs that would be more suitable as out-and-out wingers. That's a problem for the new head coach to solve, but IMO Jones is undroppable.

Jodi will be a key player for us against Barrow today. Will Stuart expect him to track back & help the defense when we lose possession?

Stuart Maynard’s pre-match interview was insightful, giving fans plenty to ponder. His concise and detailed responses make it easy to understand his perspective. His appointment is indeed exciting.

24 minutes ago, themightymagpies said:

Stuart Maynard’s pre-match interview was insightful, giving fans plenty to ponder. His concise and detailed responses make it easy to understand his perspective. His appointment is indeed exciting.

Good one.????????

At last we've arrived at the day where Stuart Maynard will take his first match for Notts as Head Coach, against Barrow at Meadow Lane.

Good luck Stuart. We are all behind you and your team.

https://www.wokingfc.co.uk/news/article/8438/dion-kelly-evans-signs/

i agree with @Chris, dion seems to be unable to fight for his place in teams. i wish him well as i like him but his career is all over the place at the moment and i just feel hes one or two clubs from falling deeper down into insecurity.

@Chris that's what's been happening lately. The superstars given the mic cutting promos and doing shoots are the ones who can do it all whether it be good mic skills, having the crowd eating out of their hands or just a good all round vibe about them being in the Ring mic in hand. 

The matches that have been going on since HHH took charge have been brilliant. Not just the quality of the matches that is seeable through the eye but chemistry and the story that is being portrayed. 

Plus, GMs are more involved especially Nick Aldis on Smackdown. He's been fantastic, especially in recent weeks approaching the Rumble. 

There's some real stars coming through under HHHs creative control. 

i have not watched much wrestling for awhile, i used to watch the attitude era on dvds when i was younger. i was not very much into the ruthless aggression era. it felt a bit forced and some of the wrestlers being pushed just had nothing about them.

admittedly i also disliked the chav cena, it got him over but his persona after that was much better.

@liampie I don't think the ruthless aggression era gets the credit it deserves. The attitude era will always remain my favourite and it's the main reason why the ruthless aggression era doesn't get mentioned as much as it should because it followed the attitude era.

The ruthless aggression era was a tamed down version of the attitude era but only because of how times were moving. They couldn't do half the stuff they once did during the attitude era. They had to adapt it. But there were alot of stars born during the ruthless era. Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero. 

I liked Thuganomics John Cena tbf but I did prefer his stuff once he moved on from that.

Link to the Latest league table after Notts point against Sutton Coldfield.

Notts County LFC https://g.co/kgs/yLqXLTe

44 goals conceded!!! Why?!?!!?! ????

It's not just the men's team that are leaking goals, I hope the women's team does improve and manages to stir themselves away from the bottom. There's plenty they can build on, and I am sure they will with time. Adjusting to the league seems quite a big thing for them, but a draw isn't bad.

Match highlights against Sutton Coldfield WFC.

On 23/01/2024 at 22:03, Chris said:

44 goals conceded!!! Why?!?!!?! ????

It's not just the men's team that are leaking goals, I hope the women's team does improve and manages to stir themselves away from the bottom. There's plenty they can build on, and I am sure they will with time. Adjusting to the league seems quite a big thing for them, but a draw isn't bad.

The ladies are finding it difficult in this league, hopefully they can stay clear of the bottom.

Haydn Joseph Hollis has played for Barrow and Notts.

Inih Effiong was not able to perform well for our team due to a lack of suitability for our system. He did well the next time we encountered him, in a team where he was about their only threat.

Mark Cooper and Richard Dryden

I’m torn about Paddy’s situation. On one hand, I hope he’s innocent, but on the other hand, if he did what he’s accused of, I feel disgusted. Footballers need to have a life outside of football, but they also need to be careful. If he’s guilty, shame on him. If he’s innocent, I hope he can clear his name. I also hope the victim can move on with her life.

If guilty, he should be ashamed of it and admit that he did it. I think the chances are quite high that he may have done it, mainly as I see no point why he would not.

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2023/12/05/former-ni-footballer-paddy-mccourt-cleared-of-sexual-assault-conviction/