theAnticlough

I'll agree with the sponsors today and say Tsaroulla. MP has a selection headache ahead of Chesterfield. Attacking midfield as per usual, but now central I think. Of the central midfielders on show today, I thought the best was Norburn (unusual for me). Palmer was especially shaky. What to do? Jones had a very good first half. Ness continues to impress.

Yeah it was alright from that angle @Robbie Epic two leg battle coming up. Great rivalry we have with them from all the massive games in recent years. We've won the last two play-off encounters against them. Let's make it a hat-trick

Love this game. Gas leaving forwards up all the time means the game is really stretched and we don't get the usual sight of our defenders having most of the ball. With so much space, this should be the perfect game for Iorpenda running from deep. Would another booking mean Tsaroulla banned for a play-off 1st leg? I know he needs the pitch time, but let's bring on Kouhyar to be safe. As it stands, one goal for Crewe, any deflection or fluke of any kind, and we're up!

Yes, that is a surprise. I've been calling for Iorpenda to play midfield for most of the season, but I didn't expect it now. Kouhyar over Bennetts on the bench. I'm OK with that. Let's see how Luker and Grant do putting in their claims to start AM in the play-offs.

Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Luton Leyton Orient 2-1 Burton Albion Joker P'boro 2-2 Doncaster Rovers Reading 1-1 Blackpool Barrow 1-2 Newport County Cheltenham 1-2 Colchester Gillingham 1-2 Shrewsbury Swindon 2-3 Chesterfield

Yes, this York City season is a tremendous achievement and it proves he has abilities. So you're right @Robbie, but I just can't do the revisionism on how I feel about his Notts era......especially at this time as we're probably about to go into play-off games, ones in which we'll have to show some passion and competitiveness. So, I'm with Delicious Baguette on this I'd have him back before Burchnall, how about that? 😀

Happy May Day and Bank Holiday weekend everybody It's good to read thru this thread for all the honestly written personal commentaries and supportive interactions... Best wishes to all in their personal challenges and battles for better health. Not that much to report myself... the groin/hip area strain has been slowly improving. I think it's one of those RSI things that are far easier to pick when you reach a certain age...we have to watch more that we don't sit, stand or sleep too long in certain positions or go about activities in the wrong way, for too long. Easier said than done, I know. Match day tomorrow. Hopefully that'll add to really positive May Bank Holiday for all.

I like that team. I forgot to include Robertson in my list of players that need game time. It seems awkward timing for him, trying to hit top form 90mins away from a play-off campaign. We have many players that usually take a while to hit their stride. Luker and Iorpenda though, behind Jatta, is at last a reasonable solution to the season-long No.10 problem. Not necessarily goals and assists, but a physical and athletic challenge for the opposition.

What would your starting line-up be? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be? It'll be a similar team to the one at Colchester. Ness will come in of course. Many players need at least 65mins to build up their form and match sharpness - Ness, McDonald, Palmer, Jones, Tsaroulla, Luker, Jatta. Scoreline could be anything - it's a weird end-of-season scenario. I think i just want to see players in form and us play good stuff. 6%, or whatever it is, is too much of a long shot to pin any hopes on.

Oh my, that would take me back - I was up in that corner for the top flight in the early 80s and the years before and after that too

Totally agree @Robbie It takes very little to click that icon, but it tips the hat to the poster who has made the effort. I'm sure it's always noticed and appreciated. Conversely, no issues with those that don't. I'm too busy reading and thinking about the content to care about who's responded and who hasn't. The feature was on Mad for a few years and I seem to recall the site being more acrimonious and less fun before it was introduced and then again when it was removed.

I actually got these calculations wrong. Those %s work out to a 4.5% chance. And if you bump Crewe up to 20% you can get to 6%! So let's say they're 16 balls in the bag and one has Notts' name on it. This is heading in the right direction for me!

Macari goes thru to summer 2027 I think. Having 2 first choice defenders out for most/a lot of next season already seems like quite a handicap. What are the precedents for a player like Platt? Do clubs always or usually extend them - partly due to maintaining a positive reputation with potential signings and agents etc? Or are there cases of players like Platty being released as they go thru their rehab? Was his injury a full-on achilles tear so minimum 9 months?

I'll chip in as soon as the season's decided @NCFCGuy If one of those out-of-contract players hits a late winner in the play-off final to become a Notts legend then they're definitely on my retained list But the Platt/Macari situations probably means fewer gambles, more sure-things.

Well said. Combining that list with losing Montague for the best part of a year, spanning two seasons....the way it ended with SM, the time under Gagliardi....probably all really set us back. I think most fans get this. I don't get too angry or depressed after bad results. I've always enjoyed the whole project under the Bros. It's the clamour to throw the baby out with the bathwater that wears on me a bit.

It's all academic anyway, we're already up - the league still has a to give us the 12pts for the conversions scored by Bennetts and Jodi from our last 4 free kicks

I wonder what PONners make of these probabilities… Crewe win - 15% Crawley win or draw - 50% Notts win - 60% That works out at exactly 3% chance of automatic promotion. Or 33 balls in the bag and 1 of them has our name on it. How do you feel about that?

Lewis Macari - Not just a sentimental choice, I really thought he was playing great. The club will look after him and he'll come back better than ever. I thought Ness was fantastic too, as his replacement. And today every sub was really good - Bennetts did more good work in 15mins than he did as a starter last week.

Great news on the guaranteed play-off place Nobody had a bad game today, and many had really good ones - that's exactly what we needed.

Gutted about Macari - feel so sorry for him. Maybe my favourite player and he was having his usual great game with the ball. Let's hope he can come back as strong as ever at some point next season.

That might work! Some pleasant surprises there.

Tbh I'm still sore about last Saturday. I could forgive Cambridge - running into a very good team with a depleted squad, especially key defenders. But not the Barnet game - just so sick of losing games like that. Colchester away last season was around Game 41 or 42...and was another shocking perfromance in a crunch game (I think that was when autos slipped away). The way we went down so tamely was a real foreshadowing of the play-offs. Let's see if there's more determination to get something today. I think it's become more difficult for MP to pick the team . Attacking midfield has been a disaster all season, so it's amazing that it's got even worse! A lot of the squad are now unplayable - given so many chances, but they go further backwards if anything The players picked today need to take full personal responsibility for putting in a good performance.

QPR 1-2 Derby County Stoke City 1-1 Portsmouth Blackpool 2-1 Leyton Orient Bradford City 1-1 Bolton Burton Albion 1-1 Exeter City Chesterfield 2-0 Crewe Alexandra Joker Shrewsbury 1-1 Fleetwood Walsall 1-1 Harrogate

Me neither so far

I'm a bit more optimistic about this one than I was before Barnet. Wasn't a 1-2 defeat the most predicable result ever? As I wrote on that thread, all I wanted was to stop them winning - a draw, even if it damaged our auto chances. I just want to see us stop giving teams what they want. Colchester are a mid-table team with nothing to play for. But is this team the same as Maynard's? - One that just refuses to rise to the occasion? We'll see tomorrow. About the defence....I wouldn't mind unchanged to start this away game. And even Macari at RWB if Tsaroulla isn't fit. Then if we need to press after HT, everyone move over one Macari-Ness-McDonald. We have to recognise that Bedeau hasn't contributed anything going forward all season.