Chris

Credit to Forest Green Rovers, they are so far the best team to have played at Meadow Lane this season. Whilst I don't think they deserved anything from the game, they made Notts work hard and Notts made themselves work even harder thereafter. I think we aided them in pushing us back, but Notts were relentless and good at creating goal-scoring chances. Tobi had a moment where he should have shot, selfishly he passed, but it seemed the wrong call for me. It was such a good position, I feel, it would have been harder to miss than to score. Notts looked good at 2-0, we were firmly in control in the first half and FGR pressed and tried, but I thought we could end the game 5-0, or maybe concede one or two goals. They started the second half much stronger than us, pushing and when they did manage to score - it had that knock-on effect we have seen in previous seasons where we crumble, then struggle to get a grip back of the game. This would have been one of those games where we lost, but felt cheated. Forest Green Rovers did well to get back in the game, had it ended here I think a draw would have been quite fair. Had the game continued with them threatening, maybe they could feel unlucky not to have got something? I think the fact that we manage to get into a higher gear and make it 4-2, I think that's enough for me to say we deserved the win. As I said earlier, Tobi had a clear chance, as did other players. Yes, they hit the bar late on but aside from that, it was just flashes. We caused the Forest Green Rovers keeper to make some great saves. Macaulay Langstaff managed to hold onto the ball, he passed on, and it ended up being struck goalwards by David McGoldrick and their keeper pulled off a remarkable save. To be honest, I think we worked for our goals and in comparison we allowed them to score. I think at times Aidan Stone could have done better, most certainly we shouldn't have given the penalty away. That said, we showed great spirit and character to seal the win. Jodi Jones was very unlucky at times, but I am not overly concerned about the goals we conceded. It was just one of those crazy games, where thankfully both teams really made a game of it. I think if Forest Green Rovers had played better in the first half, maybe they would deserve something or even more, but not based on their first 45 minutes. Second half, they were dangerously on it.

From what I have seen of Forest Green Rovers, they have been incredibly poor and are clearly still being effected by their chairman Dale Vince's decisions. The good thing for us, is that their morale is extremely low and if we can get off to a good start, they should only drop their heads further. Even if this game were away from home, I would feel confident as FGR could potentially be the worst team we have faced. Worse than Doncaster Rovers and Salford City combined. Our midfield will always be the key in getting a front foot on the game. Holding the ball and making space, especially if we can make the FGR players chase the game should lead to chances. I am hoping we can achieve this without going all the way back to Aidan Stone, which I do understand why we do it - yet for the most part it just breaks our attacks, allowing the opposition to have a breather. When Stone resorts to kicking the ball long, usually it's to one player [David McGoldrick] and he's usually heavily marked. I think we should exploit the centre of the park, whilst allowing the wider channels to draw their players out and in turn open the space in their penalty box. It should be a good game; hopefully, they can rise to the challenge themselves and make a game of it.

Hello, welcome to the Pride of Nottingham @Morten Johansen. I hope you enjoy being a part of our Notts County community. I am super interested to learn about your background.

@Piethagoram I might have a look at managers who have been at the club for two or more years, reflecting on the budget. Naturally, if I did, I would give credit to the FLW for the idea (plus yourself). It's a very in depth and interesting article. Personally, I wished Kevin Nolan and Ian Burchnall weren't in there but considering they both had a decent season each it does make sense. The awful distortion and excessive stretching of certain images are a bugbear of mine. However, the subpar treatment of Jimmy Sirrel is nothing short of sacrilegious to me. Something so simple, is very annoying to see. Before, anyone thinks I am being fussy. Many places do this, including NEP and many newspapers. I believe they are worse, since they are supposed professionals, but it does annoy me when they can't leave the image size - yet choose to stretch and alter the ratio in such an ugly way.

Notts has played quite well, we've been very route one at times but at the same time we have attacked via the flanks/middle. Their keeper is keeping them in this, we've had a number of good efforts where he's been outstanding. Otherwise they've been incredibly poor. Also, I critiised Doncaster fans for not singing but these Salford fans are poor.

I think Notts should be able to perform well against Salford, I think MK Dons are a better team on paper and if we can just pass the ball into space we should create chances. I am sure Salford won't make it easy, but I am hoping an early goal for us would settle the game down. This is my first visit to their ground. I am surprised they haven't put more effort into upgrading at least two of the stands, but I suppose seeing what others have said about them not having many of their own fans comes into it. It'll be interesting to see what those attending for Salford are like, if they're laid back and just there due to the hype or are passionate just as much as we are. I don't know. If they're lacking support, this may play into our hands and with our own support it could really lift Notts. I am hoping we can keep a clean sheet here. @Piethagoram Are you in the seated area?

The game will be interesting to see for a few points, but I will openly state as I always do that I hope we focus more on the league. I do want to see a good cup run, but the League and FA Cup have more priority in my eyes. It disappointed me when Notts pulled out of the FA stating that they wanted to focus on the league, yet took this far too seriously. Who will feature in the starting Notts XI How they will perform against Wolves under 21s How good so far unseen players do, such as Will Randall, Junior Morias, Ollie Tipton etc. What the attendance will be like considering a large number of fans still don't care about this cup I fully expect Sam Slocombe to go into the team, along with all the unseen signings fo far. If we don't give Junior Morias a run out here, I really will wonder what the point of signing him is considering we've seen him warm up for two games now, yet not to come on.

@Joshua: I do wish we had a few more tries but managed to hit the target, whilst he may save ones straight to him. Higher up, or into the corners of the goal, he would have struggled a lot more. He's not a keeper I would hope to see between our sticks, yes he can save close up shots and is fairly okay in the air. Distance is a weakness, I know some don't think Sam Slocombe is good with corners, but those are areas you should expect better from your defenders.

Great goal by the Skipper, I don't mean Lewis. I mean KYLE CAMERON!!! 1-1 MK Dons are doing everything in their power to slow the game down, including violent conduct where for no reason - I believe it was Aden Baldwin who was grabbed. Just their way of trying to regroup but from what I saw and in the reply, he should have been sent off (or at least a yellow). It looked like he hit out.

I'm watching the game here at mine with @super_ram, our stream is buffering every 5 seconds. I hope it's not the same for everyone else, although I have tried everything to make the connection stable - Ethernet is connected, really should be fine. Now I see flashing numbers in various locations, as if someone is testing something. It's a bit jarring but Notts seems to be doing okay. MK Dons' attacking prowess is truly impressive as well. Just lacking in the final third. 0-0, so far.

MK Dons will be a tough team to play against, as they are much better at home. I don't think they will leave as much space open as they did against Crewe. The thing is, MK Don's started off brightly, but I think they massively started to underestimate Crewe who pushed them back. MK Dons for the most part of that game did leave much to explore, but that's away from home. Having seen all of their highlights so far this season, plus watching some extra footage of extended games, I can safely say that they should be much more positive within their play. They have a tendency to play long balls from the back, whilst they are feeling the team out and attack with more speed when the game opens up. If they can control the game, we'll see less of them lumping the ball forward and more of them trying to pass with a real turn of pace. When defending, MK Dons will adopt a compact and organized strategy. This creates an opportunity for us to exploit the gaps in their defence through clever passes or powerful shots from outside the penalty area. Teams like Doncaster had their better chances from distance, with Craig MacGillivray not looking particularly good from these types of strikes. I hope we can play in such a calm way, that we use our ability to play in narrow space and pace to and around, making MK Dons have to pay attention. This would make the pressure more intense for them and less likely something they would cope well with. If we just run at them and put crosses into their penalty box, 90% I believe will be collected by either their keeper or by a defender who will just clear it.

@Piethagoram He comes across as a bit of a wally there. It looks like someone slapped him before with a wet fish. Wouldn't you agree @super_ram? John Coleman looks like he's been given a few facial chops with a wet fishy. ???? At least he felt professional enough to take off those tinted red glasses. It's difficult to take the man serious, when he's complaining about aspects of a game, where his own side did far worse. I went back to watch the Jodi Jones incident, it wasn't dangerous play. Their lad threw himself into the ball. Jodi did well to limit the danger by quickly retracting his foot, not that the Accrington player did try to milk his theatrics. Jodi was kicked, tripped, taken out throughout the game. In the first half, I remember three challenges which should have seen an Accrington player carded but didn't. However, I would rather say that Accrington did well for the most part. Their game plan just massively lacked any creative ideas. They played well, just very routine and predictable, but I can see why they do well in general.

I thought it took us a little time to really get the flow going, that's perfectly normal, and I felt impressed with how we played around the 7th to 10 minute mark. That speed, is how we needed to keep it. We weren't too slow or rushing the play. Things just happened naturally, and it left Accrington chasing the game. Taking the lead, Notts had so much pressure on them that a second looked quite promising. However, I felt we slowed the game down too much, which led to a nervous spell and we became somewhat sloppy. Accrington swiftly regained their footing and appeared to be a formidable team. Their equaliser, it really annoyed me how we failed to keep with the movement, but I hold no blame on Aidan Stone. It seemed a difficult angle and, David McGoldrick tried to prevent it, but it was in. Accrington got away with a bit of the dark arts, the referee didn't help either. Josh Andrews looked a lively threat, shooting wide and using his size as an advantage. Few of their players stood out as being very good players, but they did perform well as a team. This was the first real test for Notts, as they were in good form and would always give us a game. I think Notts were superb, how we tailed off before the end of the first half, I could see it coming, and I think these moments are when Luke Williams needs to shout out instructions. Second half, very bright start and the build-up to chances became very swift. Quick passes into space, then Macaulay Langstaff gets through on goal. This is precisely what I had in mind earlier when I suggested ways to involve Langstaff in games, even before he began scoring. McGoldrick masterfully delivered passes to create scoring opportunities. It might sound harsh, but I don't think Accrington deserved their goal, I find myself feeling Aidan Stone deserved a clean sheet. It was a sloppy play from us, which led to them taking control. Thankfully in the final 45 minutes, despite it being end to end. Langstaff scored two truly exceptional goals that silenced them completely. He could have had 5 goals today, two of his efforts catching well-timed deflections. It was a superb team performance by us; Accington should be happy with the defeat as they did show amazing spirit and effort.

I think when you feel critical of what's happening, it can impact the enjoyment. It's hard for me to pick at faults and keep doing so, because I am not that critical of things because I feel that usually the better things that happen out weigh the negatives. We all have the potential to lose the enjoyment of a game by overthinking things, that's just football within itself and human nature. As I say, I try to be very positive and rather look on the bright side. I wished I could make a difference by printing this discussion off and giving it to some of the new annoying fans that sit near to me. When Dan Crowley missed, f-bombs and he's f****** useless cried out. The moment Connell Rawlinson scored, one of the mentioned fans shouted "how long to score a second, these are easy." I won't go any further, as the comments shouted to Cedwyn Scott did anger me. I didn't say anything this time, but I found myself stirring and being told off by @super_pie. With the encouragement of "just ignore him, dad." muttered to me.

I would say very near the logo in the corner @Fan of Big Tone. 5 or so rows up.

They're a good team; they have a decent midfield with two very good creative outlets that work well for them in Shaun Whalley and Sean McConville. Whilst they might not have the true quality that others may process (like us), they have a real grit and strong understanding of what makes them work. I would highly recommend fans give this a read, at least the bottom part mentioning who we have next - @TheSkipper has written about them superbly. I think it's all about how the game starts, if we are confident and play as we did against Tranmere Rovers, I think Accrington Stanley will struggle. Yet either way the game may go, I believe they'll be the best opposition that we have faced at Meadow Lane. Defensively, we need to be calm and composed, with the players thinking about how each ball they play needs to be the perfect decision. Accington are a team that could pounce on our mistakes. Whilst some would say they are an underdog of this league, with the team spirit of fighters. Notts will know exactly what is needed, we need to match them with our intensity and control the game just by making neat passes. We'll get space, as will they. Notts just needs to make sure Aidan Stone is well protected and that we take any chances which fall our way. It should be a very entertaining game.

It really is a similar comparison to not choosing a backup keeper on your bench, it's one of those things which you can't predict. The moment Cedwyn Scott went down, I knew he wasn't going to be able to play. I think it was @menzinho who compared Scott's to Baj's, Scott hobbled but managed to walk, so hopefully it's not as serious. He will be back stronger, as that's his attitude and I wish him a speedy recovery. I do wonder what caused the injury.

I thought the game was very pleasing. Notts started very brightly and passed the ball around well. Very early on, Notts pressed and made chances which showed signs that we would score, hitting the post and Macaulay Langstaff getting close were two very close moments. David McGoldrick's strike for his opening goal was superb. The way he picked his place and controlled the ball, it shows he's a threat within those positions. I believed he worked relentlessly to propel us forward. While it was pleasing to witness Notts playing the ball with more forward and sideways passes, I think the occasions we played it back instilled confidence throughout the entire squad. When we can move the ball around promptly, it makes the opposition chase the game and that leads to things opening up. Although none of the occurrences were detrimental or hindered our progress, I believe that Notts sometimes resorts to playing those backward passes simply because it is the most convenient option available. The way we moved and made Tranmere look extremely average, they didn't really cause much trouble and their defence didn't look like it could hold. Very poor in that regard, but they were quick on the break and at times looked very lively. I am sure their performances will pick up, thankfully for us Notts dominated from start to finish. The second half really became routine, with the game being in our hands, and really we should have pushed for a 3rd goal. So many good chances, it's difficult to say that I feel we should have made sure a third went in when the level of creativity made it very much possible, but we just lacked that luck to make it anything more. I am not bothered about their goal, it was a very good finish and again, I feel Aidan Stone deserved a clean sheet.

I can see the game unfolding with Notts taking the lead, only for Tranmere Rovers to equalise. However, in the second half I can see two more goals being scored for us. My prediction is: 3-1. Macaualay Langstaff, Sam Austin, and David McGoldrick are all expected to find the back of the net. Connor Jennings will secure the sole goal for them. ????????

Kristian Dennis and Kane Hemmings return to Meadow Lane. I don't know if both of them are available, but we most certainly know they are a threat. When we had the pair, neither really played together and that always seemed like a wasted opportunity to me. For some reason, Hemmings wouldn't always be played as striker, which was even more baffling. Dennis went in and out of favour at the club, quicker than Harry Kewell's departure. Yet, I always felt they had potential as a pairing. Tranmere Rovers can't be underestimated, but I feel happier knowing that we are at Meadow Lane. Yet there's that potential threat that they may play us in such a way, where they want to start their season and change how it has begun. They started off very much identical to us, but we have picked up, and their time isn't going to be far away. So, I would like to see us play the ball out calmly from the back. Notts needs to be defensive minded that they have players who can force mistakes, so we shouldn't make it easier for them by making poor decisions when we pass. Our strengths have to be used and that for me is the quality we have in midfield. If we can pass the ball around productively, taking any sting out of Tranmere's play. I think we should be fine to create chances which could lead to goals, as I say being at Meadow Lane for me is a positive. I would feel a lot more nervous if this were an away game, thankfully for us and Luke Williams we are at Meadow Lane. Our support could be vital in making this a three pointer.

There's been some very good articles put out, old features have returned, and it's a case of adjusting to fit others in. I don't know how many members actively read them, well, aside from the comments and interactions. There are some regular faces I don't remember seeing at all in the area, which is something I would like to actively encourage. I get that it's not for everyone, but it's one way for improvements to come. Thank you to everyone who does comment, as it's one way lurkers are won over. It's an excellent recruitment area with the call to action and, I am trying my best to write them every time I do upload a new publication. Some are the same plug, but I will always try to word them differently.