DangerousSausage

It's often been hard to say to what extent our troubles have been down to SM - it's clear to see that our poor results have been down to a combination of factors, some of them going right back to the reign of the PE teacher. The squad has quality, but is also unbalanced and has obvious weaknesses. All the same, earlier in the season we were swatting teams away that we're now struggling to deal with, and it's becoming increasingly clear that SM is not helping matters with some of his decisions. Teams that win promotion often have to reinvent themselves to compete at the higher level and I could accept us going through a transition period to get there. However, I don't really see what we're aiming towards right now. If there isn't a big improvement in performances and results, I think it's quite likely we'll be looking for another head coach soon. I don't agree. Imagine we hire a manager who's out of his depth, who then fills the squad with sub-standard players on 2- or 3-year contracts before getting sacked. It's happened plenty of times before. I'm happy with the head coach not having the sole say on which players we bring in (which the manager didn't really either in the past).

When I'm watching on iFollow, there tends to be a goal when I leave the room. So around the 85th minute, and with us still looking the likelier team to score, I went for a toilet break. Soon after I hear Dave Bracegirdle raise his voice - it's a goal! I do a little fist pump, finish up, wash my hands and go back to my computer. Oh. Sorry about costing us the point, but I doubt it'll count for much now anyway. I don't think we were as good as SM described (if we were playing so well, why change the formation at half time?), but nor were we terrible. We looked very purposeful at the start of the second half, but missed a few chances to take the lead and instead let ourselves down thanks to a moment of utter naivety at the end (coupled with the mystical powers of my toilet breaks). I'm not going to mention the defence because I'm just bored of it now. Going forwards, Jones has been excellent but we've become over-reliant on him now, which makes us predictable. And once again we get a changed selection and a different formation even coming off the back of a win, with Jatta and Langstaff evidently confused about who should be standing where. How can our players play as a fluid unit when they don't know what they're supposed to be doing? There's no wonder we can't build any momentum. Five home defeats on the bounce is the worst since the implosion of John Sheridan's tenure (have we ever lost six?). I'm finding it increasingly difficult to envisage Maynard leading us into next season. We badly need some leadership and organisation at the back next season if we're to avoid getting dragged into the mire and potentially doing a Hartlepool next season.

Burton Albion 1-1 Port Vale Barrow 2-0 Newport County Crewe Alexandra 0-2 AFC Wimbledon Morecambe 1-2 Gillingham Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Crawley Town Aldershot 0-2 Solihull Moors Altrincham 2-0 Gateshead (joker) Dagenham & Redbridge 1-1 Oldham Athletic

23 March is Mo Farah's birthday. Like his event, the prediction is 10,000 metres and not a sprint, and the finishing line is in view. Get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday if you fancy a go, and remember your joker! Burton Albion v Port Vale Barrow v Newport County Crewe Alexandra v AFC Wimbledon Morecambe v Gillingham Tranmere Rovers v Crawley Town Aldershot v Solihull Moors Altrincham v Gateshead Dagenham & Redbridge v Oldham Athletic

What a relief that was! You can see how much that meant from the celebrations at the end of the match. I feel chuffed for Stuart Maynard in particular. But now a lot will depend on the manner in which we follow it up - whether we grow in confidence or fall back into the same pattern as before. Saturday could go a long way to telling us where the journey will take us. I'm not getting carried away about the play-offs though. I'd be happy with a top ten position and something to build on for next season.

If we take the game to them like we did in the first half of the home fixture, we'll win. If we let them come at us like we did in the second half that day, we'll lose. Right now we're a bag of nerves and the manager still hasn't found his best team, but I've got my optimistic hat on so I'll go for a narrow 7-5 win, the goals coming from Randall (3), Slocombe, Palmer, Bajner and Stallard.

The results: Birmingham City 0-1 Watford Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Preston North End Derby County 1-0 Bolton Wanderers Peterborough United 0-1 Portsmouth Forest Green Rovers 0-1 Sutton United Swindon Town 1-2 Doncaster Rovers AFC Fylde 1-2 Wealdstone Eastleigh 1-4 Rochdale --- @Megan_Elizax leads the pack this round! @Megan_Elizax - 8 @Fan of Big Tone, @Harry Buckley, @william1984 - 7 @magpiejue - 5 @ARLukomski, @liampie, @Robbie - 4 @4everapie, @DangerousSausage - 3 @Dan, @gtownjohnno, @nottsnutter - 2 @cheeky~k8, @super_ram - 1 --- @william1984 moves third and is now 13 points off top spot having cut @ARLukomski's lead by 17 points in the last six rounds. Could there be a late challenge to the top two? ARLukomski - 185 gtownjohnno - 182 william1984 - 172 cheeky~k8 - 169 super_ram - 166 Fan of Big Tone - 165 magpiejue - 163 DangerousSausage - 159 4everapie - 158 Dan - 153 Megan_Elizax - 142 nottsnutter - 129 DonnyNotts - 125 Chris - 123 liampie - 119 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 86 allardyces tash - 70 TheSkipper - 67 KingWilliams - 66 Robbie - 60 CliftonMagpie - 55 Harry Buckley - 51 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- And that's our lot for another week. Feel free to check by from Wednesday onwards, which is when I'll be posting Saturday's fixtures. Congratulations/commiserations and hopefully I'll see you next time!

Enjoy your cruise @Fan of Big Tone! I promise we won't run riot while you're gone ???? I've had a taxing week with a job interview and not a lot of sleep. I was planning on going to a medieval market (the first of the year), but I think I'll probably take it easy instead. Maybe I'll have a bike ride if the weather holds up.

This is a great post @ARLukomski, thanks for taking the time! A few of you have mentioned the extent to which we developed (or didn't develop) the squad during the summer. This is always a balancing act - ideally you want to take some of the momentum and team spirit into the following season. But it was also clear that we had a soft underbelly at times and we did need reinforcements at the back. For that reason, I was surprised to see us offer new contracts to Rawlinson and O'Brien despite their excellent service, as we needed to make room. A Flint could have made all the difference. We've made a bit of a habit of signing players with long injury records. This strategy has allowed us to sign players who wouldn't have even been on our radar otherwise and it worked well with Jones, but we've now got several players who never seem to be available. If you constantly sign players who are made of glass, you shouldn't be surprised when they're injured all the time. Gosling was never going to be one of the successful ones as his contract was too short. I don't agree with @Wheelbarrow repair man that Schmeichel should come back (he's Anderlecht's number one keeper so he wouldn't be interested anyway). He wasn't here out of sentiment, we offered him a lot of money. But we could really benefit from an experienced goalkeeper who can organise and compose his defence, and maybe a seasoned keeper from a higher level in the twilight of his career could fit the bill there. The back line having a nervous/inexperienced keeper behind them really hasn't helped. This season has been a different challenge to the last few seasons and I hope our recruitment team are drawing the right conclusions from it.

We had these well beaten in September but a lot has happened since then. Robertson has made himself indispensable and will be difficult to replace, we can only hope that Bostock will be available. Since he wasn't even in the squad on Tuesday, I'm not optimistic. Can only hope for a battling performance and some point at last. This is sacrilege. The wheelbarrow shall remain broken

Remember to get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday. BE THERE. Or be somewhere else. @allardyces tash, @AmericanPie, @ARLukomski, @Canadian, @cheeky~k8, @Chris, @CliftonMagpie, @DonnyNotts, @George L, @Harry Buckley, @JIMBO, @jimbob, @Joshua, @KB1862, @KingMaynard, @Nocturnal-Magpie, @NottsCountyKev, @OoooooTommy, @Robbie, @TheSkipper, @thommo, @upthepies

Tuesday's results: Northampton Town 0-1 Blackpool Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Wigan Athletic AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Gillingham Newport County 5-3 Morecambe Walsall 1-1 Barrow Halifax Town P-P Oldham Athletic Maidenhead United P-P Hartlepool United --- This round's winner is @super_ram, congrats! @super_ram - 7 @Harry Buckley - 5 @cheeky~k8, @Dan, @DonnyNotts, @william1984 - 4 @4everapie, @magpiejue, @Megan_Elizax - 3 @DangerousSausage, @gtownjohnno, @liampie - 2 @ARLukomski, @Fan of Big Tone, @nottsnutter, @Robbie - 1 --- There's just one point in it at the top! Or could one of the chasing pack get in on the act? ARLukomski - 181 gtownjohnno - 180 cheeky~k8 - 168 super_ram - 165 william1984 - 165 Fan of Big Tone - 158 magpiejue - 158 DangerousSausage - 156 4everapie - 155 Dan - 151 Megan_Elizax - 134 nottsnutter - 127 DonnyNotts - 125 Chris - 123 liampie - 115 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 86 allardyces tash - 70 TheSkipper - 67 KingWilliams - 66 Robbie - 56 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 Harry Buckley - 44 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- Saturday's round is up and running - don't miss out!

Birmingham City 0-2 Watford Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Preston North End Derby County 3-1 Bolton Wanderers Peterborough United 1-1 Portsmouth Forest Green Rovers 2-0 Sutton United (joker) Swindon Town 1-1 Doncaster Rovers AFC Fylde 2-0 Wealdstone Eastleigh 1-2 Rochdale

We are most definitely at the business end of the season now. Whatever you're aiming for, now's the chance to get some points! These all kick off at the traditional time of 3.00pm on Saturday, and don't forget your joker! Birmingham City v Watford Plymouth Argyle v Preston North End Derby County v Bolton Wanderers Peterborough United v Portsmouth Forest Green Rovers v Sutton United Swindon Town v Doncaster Rovers AFC Fylde v Wealdstone Eastleigh v Rochdale

Thanks for playing everyone (unless you beat me, in which case yah boo to you). I'm about to post Saturday's fixtures, but I'll try to get your points for this round counted in the next day or two.

As the others said, those substitutions robbed us of our outlet and put us under more pressure. We did need to make a change after losing a defensive midfielder, and it's normal to sacrifice an attacking player, but losing Langstaff, Crowley and Jones was too much. And I still don't understand what the point of Jatta is. I thought we generally played well and it was a close game, but we had already started to ride our luck when the sending off occurred. Slocombe had a great game, but had far too much to do.

Don't forget! This round is on TUESDAY the 12th with all the games kicking off at 7.45pm. Don't miss out! @ARLukomski, @gtownjohnno, @cheeky~k8, @super_ram, @Fan of Big Tone, @Chris, @upthepies, @Joshua, @allardyces tash, @TheSkipper, @KingMaynard, @CliftonMagpie, @Robbie, @thommo, @OoooooTommy, @NottsCountyKev, @JIMBO, @Harry Buckley, @jimbob, @Nocturnal-Magpie, @AmericanPie, @KB1862, @George L, @Canadian

I'm afraid Stuart Maynard is doomed. How do I know? Because @KingMaynard is here. You are a jinx ???? We shouldn't sack him, but the current run is alarming and after four points in eight games it's only natural to ask if we've appointed the right man. The squad is unbalanced and we've been very unlucky at times, but does he have the man management skills to lift the players? If there isn't a significant upturn in form until the end of the season, I wouldn't be surprised if the owners look elsewhere. Ian Burchnall had a similarly dismal start to life as Notts boss. I know he's not popular here, but he did manage to turn that around, get us into the play-offs twice and build the foundations for our promotion under LW. So you never know.

I can only echo the above. I hope you have a speedy recovery @Piethagoram, take care and don't rush yourself. Fingers crossed you'll be back at the Lane again and on PON very soon

Northampton Town 1-1 Blackpool (joker) Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 Wigan Athletic AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Gillingham Newport County 1-2 Morecambe Walsall 2-3 Barrow Halifax Town 2-1 Oldham Athletic Maidenhead United 2-2 Hartlepool United

Your show of solidarity with the team is admirable!

The results: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Plymouth Argyle Millwall 1-0 Birmingham City Port Vale 1-2 Shrewsbury Town Reading 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers Accrington Stanley 0-3 Bradford City Sutton United 1-1 Grimsby Town Aldershot 2-0 Oldham Athletic Kidderminster Harriers 0-0 York City --- In terms of points (remember what points are?), this round's winner is @liampie - congratulations! @liampie - 9 @Chris, @DangerousSausage - 8 @Megan_Elizax - 7 @cheeky~k8, @Dan, @Fan of Big Tone, @super_ram - 6 @DonnyNotts - 5 @ARLukomski, @Harry Buckley, @Joshua, @Robbie - 4 @TheSkipper - 3 @magpiejue - 2 @4everapie, @gtownjohnno, @nottsnutter - 1 @william1984 - nul points --- After just a week away, @ARLukomski returns to the top spot! ARLukomski - 180 gtownjohnno - 178 cheeky~k8 - 164 william1984 - 161 super_ram - 158 Fan of Big Tone - 157 magpiejue - 155 DangerousSausage - 154 4everapie - 152 Dan - 147 Megan_Elizax - 131 nottsnutter - 126 Chris - 123 DonnyNotts - 121 liampie - 113 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 86 allardyces tash - 70 TheSkipper - 67 KingWilliams - 66 CliftonMagpie - 55 Robbie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 Harry Buckley - 39 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- You don't need to wait long for the next round - it's on Tuesday night and the fixtures are online now! Thanks for playing and see you all over there!

The points from yesterday's round aren't even counted yet, and it's already time for the last proper midweek round of the season! These matches all kick off at 7.45pm on Tuesday - good luck and don't forget your joker! Northampton Town v Blackpool Shrewsbury Town v Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic AFC Wimbledon v Gillingham Newport County v Morecambe Walsall v Barrow Halifax Town v Oldham Athletic Maidenhead United v Hartlepool United

I didn't realise until the news app of my preference sent me a push notification saying Facebook was down, as if it were major news or something. A reminder for us all to get away from social media!

Enjoy your fancy Sunday dinner! I bought a bicycle yesterday and took it on a maiden voyage home, then I had go go out and buy a suit (my other suit is six years old and has been worn precisely once, and appears to have shrunk in the wardrobe...).