theAnticlough

Very poor showing. Hardly created a chance in that 2nd half. Montague bought Tangen to play No.10 cos the likes of Iorpenda have had little attacking impact in 33 games. That was a mistake by MP. This insistence on playing non-scoring No.10s all season long could cost us promotion. I know they were poor, especially JJ, but he could have switched Jones and Tsaroulla to No.10s and taken off Grant and Iorpenda - it was all about creating chances. Subs were very poor too .

We're doing OK. But how to create chances? The narrow pitch is cramping Jones and Tsaroulla. I think we need to take more risks down the middle. Who can surge forward, beat a man and open things up?

Yes @Robbie love it. No enforced changes (with possible exception of Ness, or maybe that's just to accommodate someone else) Iorpenda back to CM with Norburn and Tangen in at No.10. Excellent. Let's see how it goes. COYP!

Yes, ever since I was a nipper I've looked to professional football for skill on the ball, technique, touch, imagination, great passing and team play. If I pay admission, that's what I want to see - or at least an attempt at it. If I wanted to see big bruisers lump it long, I'd go down the park and see a pub side for free.

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I thought we might sign him when we were promoted as he'd impressed against us for Halifax. We had a glaring hole at RCB, which we had confirmed for us that season. Don't know if Monty was in for him, but it was Port Vale that got him. I think it's a bad sign that they let him out on loan when they go up. He obviously played a big role in their promotion and is on track to contribute to another this season. But we should be interested in 'upside' as they say over the pond, and Vale sending him back to L2 suggests this might be his ceiling.

I’ll go a bit further - why are managers like Woodman constantly focusing on refs and decisions? Because playing at the edge of the rules, and pressurising the officials not to implement the rules is at the centre of their strategy. If refs really implemented the rules of the game, teams like that wouldn’t get very far

So true. Even if they do lump their way to promotion, they're likely to come straight back down playing that way - that'll be an embarrassing level of unwatchable.

Easy one, Jodi Jones - superb

Second half was night and day - so much better. Pity about Robbo, we were on course to win it.

That half proves you can't be without your 2 best players for a top-of-table clash. Jatta and Palmer are our best I'd say and it's the players coming in for them that have struggled the most in the first half - Norburn and Dennis. The game has really passed both of them by so far and they can hardly do anything right. It's fantastic to see JJ back to his best. As Stall and Hassell said though, it puts to shame the meagre contributions of our other attackers. If MP wants to be brave he can bring Tangan on for Norburn and move Iorpenda back.

Yeah, a real bonus. For once i don't mind there being only 4 goals this season sitting behind Dennis. Grant and Iorpenda work hard and we can bring on Tangan for Grant after 60, who might be on shorter minutes following his injury. COYP!

Add Hall and Iorpenda to that to make 22? Cotter's situation can be explained by just football reasons I think. He really didn't fit our style, by bringing in a high degree of chaos and raggedness to our build up play. A decent player for sure, but the kind we usually play against, not field ourselves. Agree with @MrWillowTiger that keeping our CMs fit and healthy will be key. If ever 2 of Iorpenda, Robertson, Norburn and Palmer are out at the same time, it becomes scary. Hinchy is an OK insurance option, but there's a drop off there. AM is still the big conundrum IMO. We've scraped through so far with a burst from Hall (that seems a long time ago), Grant and Iorpenda with 2 goals each, Dennis dropping back for a few games. Jones starting there. We're in an auto spot despite never completely solving it. My feeling is that we will have to solve it to keep a top 3 place. Hall might have hit the 'rookie wall' I brought up recently - feeling the effects of his first full season in men's football. It's also Iorpenda's first season. I think he could still do a job in CM over the next 16 to 19 games. But is it wise or fair to depend on him to create in the final third? Everyone on here seemed to identify AM (as well as Goalie) as the main area to address in the Jan window. That stiil applies and is why we can't afford Harald to be 'one for the future' he has to be a key player for us this season, as we all wanted when the window opened.

Kind of a compliment really. What's happened to Wrexham since shows what we were truly up against, in terms of resources, and what a miracle it was to push them so close.

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Hopefully both. I wouldn't like to see Palmer back for this one unless we have nobody else - there would be better games for him to ease himself back in. At least there's a clear pecking order in CM. AM remains a crap shoot. Iorpenda will be very handy for this one. I'd like to see Tangan start with him.

We're waiting on Norburn, Robertson and Jatta? Palmer already out... This could be a big handicap away at the league leaders. If we're honest, I think a lot of fans feel a loss coming up in this one. Our recent form has been all about getting wins from close games in which we haven't played all that great at times. That could catch up with us at a place like Bromley. Having said that, they're not to be feared and we could all be delightfully surprised with a win. They'll be used to your typical L2 bruisers - the key to beating them will be precision and quality - the likes of Jones, Tsaroulla (and Tangen I hope) to make chances and for Dennis to be at his most clinical to finish them.

Robertson and Iorpenda have proven that they can be a dynamic CM partnership - with mobility and physicality in spades. I think away to Swindon was one such game, but they had a run of a few. If it comes to that, MP should show them a video of their best game together and say play like that.

It's L1 with a bullet. So much has changed since we seemed naturals for the second tier in the 1970s. In the intervening decades so many other clubs that were considered below us at the time have got their acts together - Brentford, Bournemouth, Swansea, Blackburn, Fulham, etc etc. Other sleeping giants now more regularly punch their weight. In England, football is just about the only thing that has kept on progressing, while everything else has gone to ****. Just look at the NL, all those historic football league clubs battling it out. Clubs like Salford, Bromley muscling into the EFL and staying there. All boats have lifted, including Notts. Who would've thought in those top flight years with only 8K, or those trust years on 4K that we'd bounce back and regularly get close to 10K? And being based in the 'much bigger than people realise' Nottingham metropolitan area, we have the potential for even greater growth. But 10K is a struggle at Tier 2 these days and its made up of a formidable list of big 1-club cities. And don't forget every decade a number of towns turn into cities because of growth - including Colchester, Doncaster, Milton Keynes, and Wrexham in 2022. As things stand our natural position could be around 9th in L1. In fact we'd be good candidates to be that club that stays in the same tier for the longest time, and that tier would be L1. Momentum can take teams up straight from L2 to Championship. But have you seen that league recently? I wouldn't want that if it meant a crushing relegation soon afterwards. The bros model of a consolidating might be the better long-term strategy and over time we might become that big city club that can mix it in the top two levels eventually.

A bit on personnel - it's time to give Tyrese Hall a rest. His performances have been fading badly and this congested game on their dodgy pitch won't be one for rediscovering your form. Tangen is new and fresh enough not to realise that Bromley is a tough place to go and he might play with a lot of freedom and beginner's confidence. I'd also like to see Enoru come on. Their big strong defenders are very much at home battling with traditional centre-forwards. They might not be at home dealing with raw pace coming at them from deep.

I’ll read that thoroughly later. But not the ideas I heard on Magpie Circle please. Bromley would love it if we were so scared we stopped doing what we’ve been doing all season by playing a back 4 or dropping Macari for Ness. Didn’t we do something similar with Cundy and it was horrible.? And the great relationship between Tsaroulla and Macari is an asset not something to jettison because we’re scared. I hope MP and co are working under the assumption that they are just as scared of us and pass on positive vibes to the players. Let’s go there to win

Best goal differences is often a useful clue....that's why I'd agree with MK and Bromley, although I'd love to see both or either of them fade away. The third spot would probably go to that team which can maintain form down the run-in. If that's to be us, I think we'd need to keep clear of injuries. We have depth, but we need the likes of Jatta, Jones and a good CM pairing to play and hit top form to have the best chance.

I didn't think anyone was better than a 7/10 today. Tsaroulla and Iorpenda have claims I think, but I voted for Platt who has quietly returned to his best form. He hardly put a foot wrong today.

The players were nowhere their best today but we did enough to win. Another day with poor finishing. Not just the Dennis miss but the times we have a player running in on goal wide but can only find the keeper or a defender. Tangen looks to be an upgrade on Hall, who looks more and more lost each game. Kouhyar is such a great sub to bring on

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