DangerousSausage

This is devastating news, my thoughts are with Sven and everyone close to him.

According to the OS, Brooks is being loaned out in Ireland again. I've no idea whether this bloke will start on Saturday. If LW were in charge he might have, but the interim management team might be more reluctant to rock the boat too much. Does anyone remember him playing for Aldershot or Crawley? Some of Crawley's fans don't seem to rate him too highly, but we shall see. Hope he's given a fair chance!

13 January is the anniversary of the death of Æthelwulf, king of Wessex in the ninth century and father of Alfred the Great. If Æthelwulf were alive today, he'd almost certainly play the PON prediction league; however, he's dead. This is where you lot come in: predict these matches by 3pm on Saturday, and you might win some points. And remember your jokers! Huddersfield Town v Plymouth Argyle Millwall v Middlesbrough Northampton Town v Wigan Athletic Reading v Port Vale Wycombe Wanderers v Lincoln City Accrington Stanley v Gillingham Doncaster Rovers v Newport County Eastleigh v Southend United

I remember Matty Gill, Gary Mills played him out of position, transfer listed him and he quickly became a target for the boo boys. He didn't have a good time with us, but went on to have a decent career. However, both of our appointments under the brothers have had experience as the number one, so I can't see it happening. As for Stendel, he led Barnsley to promotion but didn't pull up many trees after that. He's currently managing the B team of Hannover 96, who are top of the Regionalliga Nord, Germany's regional fourth division. Not sure how I'd feel about that. But the owners tend to look at coaching credentials rather than the managerial track record, otherwise Luke Williams wouldn't have got the job.

We tried to get Altrincham's Phil Parkinson before we appointed Williams, so the board clearly rate him. I wonder if we'll have another go? We're a division higher now, so might be a more tempting proposition. He signed a new two-year contract in the summer, so there would be compensation (which we could pay with the compensation we received from Swansea). But does he want to leave?

Is there any indication when he'll be back? He definitely shouldn't rush but his return will give us such a boost.

You aren't condemned to the Vanarama Prediction Conference quite yet! ????

The results: Burton Albion 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers Exeter City 2-1 Carlisle United Bradford City 2-4 Crawley Town Salford City 2-2 Forest Green Rovers Swindon Town 2-2 Colchester United Altrincham 3-2 Barnet Dorking Wanderers 0-1 Oldham Athletic Southend United 3-0 Halifax Town --- Congrats to @Robbie, who is this week's winner! All of the top three got top points for their jokers this week. @Robbie - 10 @Fan of Big Tone, @gtownjohnno - 9 @magpiejue - 6 @ARLukomski, @william1984 - 5 @4everapie, @Megan_Elizax - 4 @Dan - 3 @cheeky~k8, @DangerousSausage, @super_ram - 2 @liampie - 1 --- @gtownjohnno has @ARLukomski within shooting distance, @Fan of Big Tone and @4everapie jump up the table and @Robbie moves up a position. All to play for! ARLukomski - 146 gtownjohnno - 141 4everapie - 124 cheeky~k8 - 123 Fan of Big Tone - 120 william1984 - 119 DangerousSausage - 117 magpiejue - 115 super_ram - 113 nottsnutter - 112 Dan - 110 Megan_Elizax - 102 liampie - 98 Chris - 96 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 80 DonnyNotts - 79 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 58 CliftonMagpie - 49 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 Robbie - 16 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- The next fixtures are on Saturday and should be posted on Wednesday. Have a good week, keep warm and dry and try not to outscore me next time

I don't think that's the best result for us to be honest - Mansfield are going up this season and we won't catch them. So it's better for us if they keep winning and deprive our rivals - like Barrow - of points.

He's not in their squad, I'm guessing he's cup tied as he was a regular starter at Gateshead. But good luck to him at Morecambe!

I don't know what's better, them catching ready-tinned salmon or the fact that they're called the Flourmen!

True. Not to mention the fact that Sam resigned to force his move. Then you have the different personalities involved (Derek Pavis v the brothers). OK, maybe not the best comparison then! I do think fans have become more understanding of this in general though. Maybe it's because the era of one-club men is fading into the dim and distant past. And outside of football too, people change their jobs much more often than in the past, so maybe they can empathise with players and managers more. Ultimately, we'll probably relieve another club of its head coach or a key employee. It's how the game is now.

These fixtures kick off on Saturday at 3pm - don't miss out! @allardyces tash, @AmericanPie, @ARLukomski, @Canadian, @Chris, @CliftonMagpie, @DonnyNotts, @George L, @JIMBO, @jimbob, @Joshua, @KB1862, @KingWilliams, @liampie, @Nocturnal-Magpie, @NottsCountyKev, @nottsnutter, @OoooooTommy, @TheSkipper, @thommo, @upthepies

There are some really good shouts here. Maynard would be interesting as he's had Wealdstone punching well above their weight. We might have beat them comfortably last season, but their budget was a world away from ours. Whoever we get, we can be pretty sure that we won't be getting a celebrity appointment. It may well come from leftfield, as the board does tend to look at their track record as a coach rather than as a manager.

So it's official and we can all move on. As disappointed as I am that Luke Williams has chosen not to build on his fantastic achievements with us over the last season and a half, it is an understandable move for him in some ways. His stock is high and he knows he's only ever a few bad results from the sack, at Swansea certainly but at Notts too. There's no loyalty in football any more, but that's the case in both directions. I'm also impressed at the stiff upper lips Notts fans are largely showing, especially when compared with the velocity with which toys are propelled from the pram when we lose a game. It's a world away from the uproar when Sam Allardyce left under not dissimilar circumstances. He did a wonderful job for us and will forever be remembered as the manager who restored us to the Football League. But maybe it's a blessing in disguise too - maybe a new head coach can bring fresh ideas and new impetus so we can mount a serious and sustained bid for promotion to League One.

Statement: I can neither confirm or deny that Pride of Swansea has made an approach for me. I remain fully committed to the project and am flattered by the interest. Anyway, my predictions: Burton Albion 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers Exeter City 1-1 Carlisle United Bradford City 3-1 Crawley Town Salford City 0-0 Forest Green Rovers Swindon Town 0-2 Colchester United Altrincham 0-2 Barnet (joker) Dorking Wanderers 1-2 Oldham Athletic Southend United 1-2 Halifax Town

Didn't he play darts or something?

It could be a little awkward if the deal falls through now - then we'll have a head coach who's been discussing terms with another club, demanding loyalty and commitment from his players at Notts. Not sure that's such a great look.

The current Manchester United Manager will have a lot more free time soon and would do well at a proper club! Is Agent Trev a decent source @Piethagoram? A lot of rumours sites just regurgitate message board speculation.

I hope I'm jumping the gun and will be able to delete this thread, but the signs aren't good. So ... who would you like to succeed LW if he goes and who do you think the owners would go for? Ian Burchnall has been seen at the Lane against Donny, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's in the frame - he's assistant manager at Wolves and might have been keeping tabs on Ollie Tipton, who played that day. Any other ideas or names?

In terms of points, we definitely can. 80 points will pretty much always get you a playoff spot. We're currently on target for 74, which might be enough too but isn't always. However, we've got a lot of work to do. We need more quality at the back and more competition everywhere. If LW leaves that'll be a hammer blow as the players clearly love working with him and we'll need to find a worthy successor. And that raises the chances of us losing important players this month. Ideally you'll have one or two areas for improvement during the transfer window. This season hasn't gone as smoothly as hoped and I think we've got a bit too much to do to fix the issues we have.

Game 27 - The Mariners (A) Team: Grimsby Town Date: 13/01/2024 Where: Blundell Park What line-up should we opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be? Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

Oh dear, this looks nailed on doesn't it? It felt on the cards after LW's non-committal response to the last round of rumours. Apparently Ian Burchnall has been seen at the Lane as well. If he does go, I hope he doesn't take our players with him. Several of them joined the club specifically because they like his methods.

In some German states, 6 January is a bank holiday to celebrate the three kings who visited baby Jesus. As we all know, they gave him gold, frankincense and prediction league points. Which brings us onto this round: send in your predictions by 3pm on Saturday, remembering your joker, and see how high you can score! Burton Albion v Wycombe Wanderers Exeter City v Carlisle United Bradford City v Crawley Town Salford City v Forest Green Rovers Swindon Town v Colchester United Altrincham v Barnet Dorking Wanderers v Oldham Athletic Southend United v Halifax Town

Bristol City 0-1 Millwall Middlesbrough 1-3 Coventry City Cambridge United 0-2 Leyton Orient Derby County 2-3 Peterborough United Crawley Town 3-1 Swindon Town Stockport County 0-2 Mansfield Town Oxford City 1-2 Dorking Wanderers Wealdstone P-P Maidenhead United --- Six of the seven games that went ahead were away wins. And that means it was one of the lowest-scoring rounds ever - but congratulations to this week's winners @magpiejue and @Megan_Elizax! @magpiejue, @Megan_Elizax - 5 @4everapie - 4 @DangerousSausage, @super_ram - 3 @Robbie - 2 @ARLukomski, @cheeky~k8, @Dan, @DonnyNotts, @Fan of Big Tone, @gtownjohnno, @william1984 - nul points --- Not a lot of change this week, but I'M IN THE TOP FIVE and our two winners both gained positions. And @Robbie is off the bottom! Can he escape the relegation zone? ARLukomski - 141 gtownjohnno - 132 cheeky~k8 - 121 4everapie - 120 DangerousSausage - 115 william1984 - 114 nottsnutter - 112 Fan of Big Tone - 111 super_ram - 111 magpiejue - 109 Dan - 107 Megan_Elizax - 98 liampie - 97 Chris - 96 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 80 DonnyNotts - 79 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 58 CliftonMagpie - 49 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Robbie - 6 Canadian - 4 --- The next round is coming up on Saturday, so the fixtures are already online! Thanks for playing and see you then!