Chris

It would really signify issues at West Ham had they bought Traore from us. Part of me hopes he can come in and start to show signs of improvements, but that is very slim now. I accepted awhile ago that he seems destined to be a flop, but I hope we can get some of the transfer fee back that we paid without him going on a free.

I tried to explain the situation I find myself in, which I have hidden behind the spoiler below. I will try to get on a bit more even if it's hardly noticable but I can't make promises. I have spent the majority of today fast asleep, again explained below. It's good to see the community holding the torch, I know it's gone quiet but there is a lot of quality from what I have seen in my fleeting visit. I will be at the game tomorrow, I have promised my friend who does try to drag me to games but unfortunately I haven't been well. It's a mixture of things, but nothing Notts related. All health and outside problems which I can't seem to get past right now. Saturday was the first game I have made in quite some time. It doesn't help with the postponed games as some of those I might have been able to get too. It's not just pain, although it's highly likely the cause as to what is making me sleep a lot. It's a mixture of those two, and my condition in general. The good thing is I feel happy, Christmas was somewhat difficult but that will always be the case. I haven't had a chance to fix my laptop's keyboard, it's not something I fancy doing myself. It's too far into the machine, involving the motherboard to be removed and every other component underneath the keyboard. There's a large black spot to the right side now, which makes typing very frustrating. This isn't an excuse, but part of everything. I am using the Windows virtual keyboard to type this message. There's some issues this retains from coding, which means bug fixing is complicated and I have also lost access to every site since Chrome updated and decided to corrupt. I am slowly getting back access, and yes this included me being locked out of PON. I couldn't remember what I changed my password, as I don't tend to rely on writing them down, but I will be from here. The password manager hasn't synced either between my desktop/laptop. I haven't intended to make anyone worry, or be absent. I don't like being AWOL from the site, but I promised myself that my health does need taking more seriously and for the most part November to now has been extremely hard. There's a lot of positives, despite this and I am hoping to get on my computer since my eldest daughter gave me her chair. I find it supports my back, and had looked to get one for Christmas but she decided that I could have it - as she went to get a different style. Sitting upright is difficult though; even at games I tend to want to stand up a lot. I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this, and please continue to do as you are. I appreciate the support, thought and fact nobody has given up because I just disappeared. You are all what makes PON special!

Portsmouth 1-2 Blackburn Rovers Wrexham 0-1 Watford Burton Albion 0-2 Wycombe Wanderers Peterborough United 1-1 Northampton Town Stockport County 3-0 Stevenage Cheltenham Town 0-1 Harrogate Town Chesterfield 2-2 Barnet Crawley Town 0-1 Oldham Athletic Joker

Leyton Orient 2-2 Luton Town Lincoln City 1-2 Barnsley Northampton Town 0-1 Huddersfield Town Stevenage 1-3 Cardiff City Barrow 0-1 Tranmere Rovers Cambridge United 0-2 Chesterfield Fleetwood Town 0-0 Salford City Harrogate Town 1-0 Accrington Stanley Joker

Millwall 1-2 Southampton West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Swansea City Burton Albion 0-0 Leyton Orient Huddersfield Town 3-1 AFC Wimbledon Chesterfield 1-0 Swindon Town Walsall 2-0 Bromley Joker Forest Green Rovers 0-1 Southend United Yeovil Town 3-1 Boston United

Derby County 1-0 Watford Ipswich Town 2-1 Wrexham Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Bradford City Mansfield Town 1-1 Huddersfield Town Crawley Town 1-0 Accrington Stanley Joker Crewe Alexandra 2-2 Chesterfield Eastleigh 0-1 Hartlepool United Morecambe 0-0 Yeovil Town

Ideally, we would be getting youngsters involved in first team football earlier, but I suppose that relies on interest and people actively trying to network our young talent. It's a good move for both; any exposure early on is an insight. I hope they come back and are able to see what their careers might hold, even if it does end up away from us.

In 2014, Kwesi Appiah arrived on loan from Crystal Palace, a promising talent who came from the Non-League only to end up playing back in the Non-League, mostly due to his lack of application. A very, very talented player, but stubborn as a striker and never pushed his true potential. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwesi_Appiah

My focus is turning to the engagement side; things have gone too quiet, and I don't like it, but I am not worried. I know that when content goes out, that is a big attraction, and I noticed a nice submission, which I am going to push today. That said, I will be sending out weekly newsletters as I am in the process of building the template. It will be good to have that communication out there, but it won't be all links and hoping people click to read; I will be sharing my thoughts and having guests join in. It should be something members enjoy and, in time, look forward to reading. So, despite things being fairly quiet, I am making the best of the situation. My keyboard is so far behaving, but there are a few broken buttons, and I am not sure why. I have looked; it seems they have died at the keyboard level. My youngest daughter is currently referring to me as the "wind," as we fell out over her stabbing me with her hands in my neck and pretending to cut my head off. 🤣 It's a Henry VIII thing. She'll come round in time, but it does hurt when she catches me where my neck skin is very flexible.

I am not worried that they beat Walsall, 2-0, despite them having been away at the Bescot Stadium. It was a good result for them, and I am sure that they will be one of the better teams we will have faced so far at Meadow Lane, but our atmosphere can be a lot more impressive. We are in good form at home, and all it takes is one of the chances to kick-start us, so I am hopeful we will be direct and straight to the offensive in order to put the U's on the back foot. This might sound controversial, but we are not the same without Matt Palmer, whereas people tend to go on about Jodi Jones, who is a brilliant player when he is playing well and focused. However, we have learned to cope without him, and this isn't something we have shown many signs of with regard to Matt Palmer. Ollie Norburn is okay, but he hasn't established himself yet; however, he can do well. Tom Iorpenda is a decent talent and can unlock play, but neither of those are what Palmer brings. He's calm, focused, and, most of all, great at setting the temp. With him in the team and us playing well, we can control and dictate play, whereas without him we tend to struggle. I think the game will be close, but I am thinking we will pick up the points. My prediction would be 2-1.

Introducing PON's Lightweight Fluid theme. This is designed to help members, with the navigation moving from the top to the left side. The theme will see some tweaks to improve the UI as we go along, but I am pleased to say all members have the option to choose it. With the side navigation, it gives a clearer look into the pages that the Pride of Nottingham has to offer. To accompany the alternative means of finding content, such as our dashboard, topicfeed, all activity, and various content streams, which you can even customise to your desire. The community index page becomes a beautiful, fluid design, which brings all the content into a single location. Much like the dashboard, items are spotlighted and featured, but in the right sidebar, you have the power to toggle off various forums. This means you can personalise your experience and focus on what really gets you communicating. However, I strongly encourage members to browse and go outside of their habits; please don't cut off a section, never to read the topics inside, because you never know what they might miss. We are a community that thrives when people feel at home to share things, and despite us being a Notts County fan site, we are foremost a community. How do you use the fluid theme? Scroll to the bottom, look for "Theme" in the footer, and press it. Now, please get posting. I mean, enjoy!

The issue is that it's becoming almost as fictional as "Catch Me If You Can" and the whole Frank Abagnale, Jr, story. I watched Panorama ages ago where they tracked down Russell King, but most of the stories on Munto are becoming quite fictional, and people are taking liberties to embellish what actually happened. I can't say Sky's is, but this is my general thought.

It was a very frustrating game, but that said, I don't think either team played badly. Harrogate might have been fortunate to capitalise on some horrific defending, and to concede from trying to defend is both ironic for us and a highlight of just how much more aware we should be in key stages of games. You can say it was a fluke deflection, or just that Notts were unlucky, but who was paying attention? Kelle Roos couldn't do much more, considering it put Harrogate clean through, and all this, "Alex Bass" would have saved it. I am sorry, we need to move on and accept Roos is a totally different keeper. Notts had chances to win the game, and I won't mention the number of appeals for a penalty. I think Tyrese Hall had a good effort and should have done better in the first half, but shot straight at James Belshaw. We had 13 shots; only 3 of those were on target, and maybe on a different day we would have scored more, but we have to make the chances count for something. Harrogate wasn't all that great defensively; their time-wasting antics were as blatant as day is long. Even Belshaw became a wind-up merchant, but that will be overlooked because he supports Notts.

It's hard to imagine Notts without Scott Robertson in the team, since he joined he really has become a permanent fixture in the squad, and although he has had spells out of the squad through injury and occasionally being rested or dropped. There is no denying how important it is to get a player like him committed to the club for a longer period of time. Obviously, it doesn't mean he will see out the contract as a Notts player, but it shows the importance the club sees in him to extend the deal beyond a year or two. The deal will give Robertson peace of mind and allow him to focus on his football.

I think we may see Macaulay Langstaff back at Notts, but I think he will still have a few seasons trying to establish himself at Championship/League One level. It might be worth it for him to find the right League One team to achieve this, as gaining promotion with a team would make it easier for him to settle back into the challenge of playing at his highest level. However, I don't think Peterborough United are the right team. I don't think Luke Williams will have it all that easy, and his position may quickly come under fire. Swansea fans didn't really rate him, and when this type of success comes from a manager who only has experience with a team like us, well, it quickly becomes a case of "he's not good enough." I wish Williams well; Peterborough are massively underachieving, but they have some major issues which are embedded deep within the team. I don't think Williams will be able to do it alone; he will need the fans support too.