DangerousSausage

I totally agree. I'm really frustrated by the lack of solidarity shown by the anti-vaccine crowd, but making vaccinations compulsory is pure political stupidity and will likely be counterproductive. There seems to be a fair chance that such a mandate will breach the German constitution and be overturned again. If not, how will it be enforced? They've already ruled out physically taking people for their jabs (what a thought...), so we're left with fines. It's not hard to foresee a coordinated non-payment campaign. And then what? Instead of patiently explaining why having the jab is a good idea (the stats back this up convincingly), the powers that be have switched to punishment mode, and this has contributed to two camps forming. People now feel a tribal loyalty to their camp. It's no longer just a question of convincing people that the jabs work - they now have to switch sides. The government has helped make this happen. Also, we seem to be heading towards a situation where we'll be needing boosters every few months until something longer lasting appears. There's a real risk that the number of people having the booster will drop off over time, and the government surrendering its moral authority won't help.

Fans of both clubs were talking about the possibility of this being called off beforehand due to the awful weather forecast and the state of the pitch. If Dover were so surprised, that shows a lack of foresight. The way a couple of clubs in this league are run is shambolic. Most clubs in the Northern Counties East league put them to shame.

I tuned in on the radio, didn't sound too bad really. I did fear the worst when we went behind, but the sending off for deliberate handball changed the game. Even so, you still have to beat what's in front of you and Wrexham are a strong side. This puts us a point behind them with two games fewer played, and keeps the pressure on Furlough and Boredom Wood.

With the news that several Notts players and staff have COVID-19, the first question is whether we'll play this one at all, or even if it's advisable. If we field a decimated first 11, we're putting ourselves at a needless disadvantage against a promotion rival. Hopefully that won't be the case. Wrexham have won their last three, are now third and are just a point off the top; however, they have also played two or three games more than most teams around them, so the table is heavily distorted. We might be more rested (this will be our first league game in three weeks if it goes ahead), but Wrexham will feel they have the wind under their sails and momentum counts for a lot.

Tempting as it is to criticise the "interesting" way King's Lynn seem to go about their business, why on earth was a pitch inspection scheduled for an hour before kick-off? It makes no sense and is really ignorant of the fans.

The German Thatcher doesn't really have any say over this. In Germany, the powers that be want to do it - get vaccinated or get fined. Not sure what would happen if people didn't pay their fines - there won't be any forced vaccinations, so how many people can you drag through court at the same time? Apart from the logistics of it I'm not overly keen on the idea, but during a pandemic the choices you make are not just your own - they affect a LOT of other people. It would be easiest if people just got jabbed, as unvaccinated people make up the thumping majority of ICU patients right now. Unfortunately, here in Germany there is a pronounced tendency for people to think they know better than the experts. I got boostered at the weekend. Felt slightly hungover the next day but it was worth it.

That's a real let-down after the last few weeks. We seem to slip up against average but well-organised teams far too often, and you only afford to make very few mistakes in this league if you're serious about automatic - it's like like L2 where you can fluke third place on 70 points. Boredom Wood next. They are where they are for a reason, but we can't afford to drop points two games in a row.

Sounds like a close game that unfortunately went against us. At the same time I'm encouraged that we could give one of the better League Two sides a good and even game. Personally I'd have found it very sobering if they'd blown us out of the water. Wipe your mouth and carry on, as they say here.

Brilliant crowd, brilliant result! That win was anything but routine - Solihull might not be a "name", but they had conceded one goal in 12 hours of football before yesterday. And it's great news that Kairo has found his shooting boots too. Definitely! But as long as the fans keep the faith, we'll make it eventually. The tickets might have been cheap, but 12,000 people still cared enough about the club to buy those tickets and make their way to Meadow Lane, even for a NL match. That counts for a lot. Going off on a slight tangent now, but we're currently on course for three consecutive top-five finishes for only the second time in our entire history. Yes, it's only the NL, but we're turning into a club that expects to win more often than not. Don't underestimate the impact that can have on a club and its culture.

Another tricky opponent - 2 defeats out of 14 speaks for itself. But if we want to win the league, we should be aiming to win at home, whoever the visitors are. I'll go for a nail-biting 2-1 win. But it's just as likely we'll end up "respecting the point". I think Neal Ardley will get a good reception, but he can leave the points in Nottingham!

One all and a replay, just as I predicted on Facebook. Surely that's got to be worth points in the prediction league?? Not a shabby result, was hoping we'd match them and it appears we've done just that. Just a shame we didn't finish them off.

Keith Hill's holier-than-thou whining was seriously annoying and made winning the championship ahead of them all the more sweet. In the present day, there isn't really any pressure on us. Rochdale seem to have hit form and will be feeling confident, but I'd still like to have a good go at them instead of giving them too much respect. For what it's worth, I think it'll be a tight game and ultimately a draw.

And that's why you never leave a match early.

Sounds like another solid performance, sadly not rewarded with all three points due to questionable defending. Very frustrating, but if we can win at Grimsby (OK, that's a huge if), it's been a good week. Bit frustrating that we're already playing catch-up so early in the season, but we are where we are.

Sounded great on the radio, looking forward to seeing the highlights! Some more performances like that and we'll start to close the gap. Also great to hear that Vincent has made a big impact, I think a few of us had quietly written him off as a Patching-type signing. It's good man management too, as squad players know that good performances will be rewarded instead of the manager always picking his favourites regardless.

That's a big relief! Hopefully Mitchell and Vincent in particular can benefit from the experience. The glamour of Rochdale it is then!

Just seen the highlights - ouch. To be fair he was looking to square it, but he squandered a promising break. Rodders was unlucky with that free kick (part of the ball looked to be over the line, but not quite all of it), and Roberts would have buried his chance if he'd thought about it a bit less. Other than that, far too little. No disrespect intended, but our strongest team bar Wootton MUST be beating Southern League opposition, however well they acquit themselves. Good to see the away end looking full. Shame they weren't rewarded.

Was out and about yesterday so didn't tune in this time, so my view isn't worth much. But in general, we've placed all our bets on Wootton and the two Rs. If they have a poor day or the opposition susses us out, we haven't got much else. And that would appear to be why we've got ourselves a bit of completely unnecessary fixture congestion, with a plum tie against Rochdale the reward.

There's a bit of a balancing act here. If we make too many changes, it looks like we're not taking the opposition seriously. We shouldn't be making 9 or 10 changes. On the other hand, a bit of rotation would give some of our squad players the chance to show what they can do and could even result in a better performance. Players like Vincent, Sam and Mitchell have a point to prove and were brought in to get us back into the League - they aren't raw youth team players. Vincent in particular needs match practice. But rotation works better when the players who are being brought in and grafted onto an established spine rather than throwing together 11 players who have never played together before, so I'd hope to see Cameron, JOB et al in there too.

Tamworth's glory days of the National League and Gary Mills are over, they play at the same level a Hornchurch now. Theoretically we should have too much for them, but we've been knocked out of our stride lately and will be nervous. Whoever we field will need to keep a cool head and let their quality show, otherwise it could be a long afternoon. As for the team, I expect some different names to be given some match practice, Vincent being a prime candidate.

I didn't get round to posting, but I thought a gritty, ugly 1-0 win would have done us a world of good, so I'm delighted with the result. It was just important to get back to winning ways and just get the basic things right again. Looking forward to seeing the highlights of this one!

The capitulation coming three days after the Woking game just makes it all the more shocking. If it were a one-off we could just write it off as one of those things that happens in football. But in the last 20 minutes of the last two games we've shipped seven goals and taken zero points when we should have gone away with four at the very least. I can't help but wonder if the team has a mentality problem. Have some of the players got the idea lodged in the back of their minds that they are too good for this league? They train in good conditions, play in a nice big ground in front of crowds of more than 5,000 and in many cases played a good chunk of their careers in the Proper Leagues and/or had offers from League Two clubs in the summer. Obviously the club signed them because the recruitment team think they are too good for this league (and can therefore take us out of it). But if they were, we wouldn't be tenth. Halifax and Woking's players, with all due respect, know they aren't too good for this league and have to fight for every single point. Perhaps that hasn't quite dawned on our players yet, at least in their subconscious. We have to accept the fight in order to win it. It doesn't matter how talented our squad is if it goes missing when the chips are down. Yeovil next. If you're reading, you have something to prove.

We're making it exciting aren't we? A win is great, we're still unbeaten too, but four goals conceded in two home games isn't great. There's so little room for error if you want to finish top, you need to stamp out bad habits like this.

A trip to the seaside early in the season is never bad. Hope we take a good following. I can't say I'm too familiar with Weymouth, but they're not cannon fodder and clearly know where the net is. The players need to take fixtures against less glamorous opposition just as seriously as the Wrexhams - then I'm sure we'll bring the points home with us.

I was out and about yesterday (and am not allowed to see the highlights until tomorrow, thanks BT), but it sounds like quite the thriller. Delighted we won obviously, and coming back from behind shows character, but I'd have found a clean sheet more encouraging. The main thing is that we won - beating the teams that aren't in the running for promotion needs to become a habit.