theAnticlough

I rewatched the first 57mins of the Chesterfield defeat this morning. There were some interesting details to check out and this is what I saw. 1) The formation Adam and Stall are top notch but they were wrong about a back 4 Tsaroulla's positioning was never that of a Right Back. He was too far forward and sometimes inside. It was an Asymmetric set up with Tsaroulla as Right midfield. Jones was further forward. It was a back three but sliding over to the left slightly compared to normal. You can still say Platt was RCB, Rodmac CB and Bedeau LCB. Instead of picking Macari and Iorpenda in CM, MP opted for the extra insurnace of Platt's height and a double pivot of Palmer and Norburn. Two defensive-mided changes that would come back to bite us hard.... 2) Norburn With Palmer doing his normal holding job. Norburn thought he had to run around everywhere. That was why he was at the touchline going through Dobra for the first yellow. He shouldn't have been asked to do that, it isn't his game. He's said himself that he's not a No.8. And he was clearly wound up about Dobra from the off. It's a specific Notts thing I think so this must have come from others winding him up. Dobra probably embeliished the contact but Norburn went through him with his studs up. So he could have no complaints about either 3) Platt If you study the injury he was doing Macari's job of surging up the right then quickly turning back sprinting into the box and turning again. As a 6 ft 2 CB whose game is face-forward head, block and tackle everything, he should never have been asked to play RCB, a totally different position. We saw this before with Rawlo At Accy we went back to playing a ball-playing mobile RCB and a marauding whole-pitch box-to-box CM. The coaches really screwed up by making these defensive changes for a home game we should have set out to dominate. Taking out all that extra insurance cost us dearly IMO. If we go for it, being brave and positive, I think we can live with whatever the outcome is in May.

That's quite a quiet year by recent standards. There are 10 expirations in 2027 for example, before we add any loanees. Of those 7, 4 are no-brainer contract offers IMO. The other 3 are interesting - I'd say Bennetts, Kouhyar and maybe controversially Norburn have to prove their worth more during this run-in. We got an assist from Kouhyar at Walsall and a goal from Bennetts at Accy. More of that, please. Norburn is 33 and his last game was Chesterfield....we need to see a return to only positive contributions from here on in, I'd say

As the Spencer Kelly story was in Barcelona, I'll share an experience I had in that city. I was staying in a Hostal/Pension a few blocks away from Las Ramblas. I got talking to another traveller there and we decided to spend the day exploring the Funicular train and the views to the north. Normal enough day and chat with this man, about the same age as I was then. Following day, early evening I was walking down the Ramblas on the west side. I looked across and at the same level as me going up on the east side was this guy. So about 30m across. I saw him glancing over at me with his head half turned. I would've been the same but as we were walking in opposite directions, the distance increased quickly. A few steps on....something wasn't right....he was going back in the direction of the Hostal. I turned around and went back up on the East side, pretty quickly When I got back to the Hostal I asked for my key. The reception turned around and confirmed what I could see for myself - it wasn't there. They were just saying they had given the key to someone else, but I was already flying up the stairs. When I got up to the top (maybe 4 floors) I pushed opened my door, and lo and behold there he was searching the room. 'Trust your instincts' was confirmed for me thru this experience and I don't hesitate in following them.

Terrible news. What bad luck for him and for us. Hoping for a full and speedy recovery. We're relying a lot on Rod McDonald now, but if he can play the next 9 games like the dozen before he was injured we'll be fine. Ness is good and Browne looked handy at Accy. (Two emergency CBs? It'd be interesting to see Iorpenda there, and maybe even Jatta!)

I'd like to see the team below. Grant and Bennetts rewarded for playing well and scoring. Ndlovu, Tangan and Hall ready to come off the bench .........................Belshaw.......................... ..........Macari...McDonald.....Bedeau....... .................Palmer.....Iorpenda................. Tsaroulla......Bennetts...Grant.......Jones... ..........................Jatta..................................

I watched the game @Sheffield Pie. What struck me is that they have a fortress at home. It's such a perfect, big pitch...spoiling teams don't have much of a chance. They look like strong title favourites to me Bromley have got a head start and a nice run in. Our 9-game run-in though looks better than Cambridge's so if we're to go up it looks like we'll have to go toe-to-toe with them. It could be a bit like the game-by-game battle with Wrexham, with an away game deep into the run-in.

Part of the fun : ) Simple rule - you choose. Don't let people choose you - especially things like taxis, accommodation I think you can even extend that to speaking. You're under no obligation to respond to strangers. I will sometimes, but my attenae is already alerted

Sad story. I've done quite a lot of travelling and paranoia is second nature to me now. At the moment the man spoke to me I know that my legs would've tightened around those bags if they were at my feet. The small bag would've been on my lap anyway and I wouldn't have anything like a passport or cards in a bag. They'd be about my person, inside pockets or a pouch on my limbs. These instincts have been earned the hard way. I fell for at least two distraction techniques when I was younger. The worst? Sitting in a busy restaurant. Two of us, opposite each other, a bag on one of the side chairs on this small table. Kind of under our noses. I finished, but my companion was very busy, head down, very busy cutting some meat into tiny pieces. A tap on the window a few yards away. A man with a piece of paper imploring me to come over and take a look. Big mistake, I did. I couldn't read what was written on it. But almost instantly he disappeared into the very dark street outside. In those few seconds, someone inside the restaurant had plucked way the bag right under my friend's nose, who didn't know anything about it, still cutting the meat into small pieces. Nobody ever got me on the buses in the same place when someone drops a bunch of coins then tries to get people to help pick them up. I was always alive to that, but I have to admit they got me in the restaurant that time.

I think it'd be fair to describe it as 3-2-5-0. I saw Grant as a No.10 rather than filling in for the striker. Whatever it was, Accy couldn't live with it and they went to pieces. As you say@Robbie, an interesting option rather than something to repeat in any of the 9 Cup Finals we have left. One thing I would like to see kept though is the Palmer-Iorpenda CM partnership. What do you and others think? Norburn's red card let others players in, they took the chance, looked great, and now he has to take a seat on the bench. I'd like to see Grant and Bennetts given another go v Cheltenham. With Iorpenda next to Palmer again. I thought Palmer sprayed it around at Accy in a way Norburn can't.

True @menzinho , the team selected, the formation and the approach meant we played the game to our strengths and on our terms. So many of these teams want to drag the game down to their level, make it scrappy and physical. We often fall into this trap, but having no option we went out there with a winning strategy - outpass them, outmove and generally outplay them. Rawson and Co's worst fears. We should always concentrate on our football. As for this particular set up, MP should keep it in our locker to surprise another team in the same way. Although if Jatta stays fit we shouldn't need to.

Fond memories of my driving lessons and driving instructors... One was an oldish bloke called Barry from Trowell. No instruction, he just let you drive all around Notts for a hour. The only things I can remember him saying 'one of you mad bastards is going to kill me one day' 'WTF are you doing? Overtaking on a blind bend before a hump-back bridge!!!' I was to be fair...

So many candidates tonight. Mention must go to Bedeau, Palmer and Grant for great performances. Also Hall - his best showing for a while. Special mention to Macari. We missed him against Chesterfield. I'm glad he reacted so well to getting dropped for that game. Just edging all those out though, by my reckoning, was Jodi Jones. He terrorised them. He gets my vote.

Lovely night for Notts fans, you don't often win 0-4 away. So many positives...I'll pick Palmer. He put in a tremendous 70+ minutes, and bossed the midfield. He didn't put a foot wrong in the first half.

Wow, maybe the most enjoyable half of the season - so much good football played. We've approached this game in exactly the right way - outplay them with passing and movement and the ball on the deck. Maybe it's a good thing MP didn't have his extra height or defensive mid options available tonight

I think Bennetts will try to give his best Lee Ndlovu impersonation @menzinho Enough good footballers there who have been training together all season to outplay Accy tonight. If it works it could be too fluid for their defenders to cope with, they won't know who to pick up and where

Watford 1-2 Wrexham Luton Town 2-1 Exeter City Plymouth 2-0 Stevenage Bristol Rovers 2-1 Shrewsbury Tranmere 1-1 Harrogate Walsall 0-2 Cambridge United (Joker) Southend 1-1 Rochdale Woking 3-1 Yeovil Town

My MoMs have been... 5 - Iorpenda, McDonald 4 - Platt 3 - Robertson, Dennis 2 - Bedeau, Jones, Norburn, Tsaroulla, Jatta 1 - Roos, Grant, Bennetts, Macari, Belshaw, Ndlovu But look forward to seeing the PON members totals at the end of the season @Robbie for the real picture.

Agree with all of that, Chris. Especially the point about RodMac...he was so good in those first few months. Tsaroulla just missed my cut for the top 5 up til now, but he's had a fine season so far. And a lot can change in 10 games and the final list might look quite different. Potential play-off games too. It's such a close race with so many candidates so I look forward to debating it on here at the end of the season.

@Robbie thanks for doing that...I think that says a lot about Iorpenda's season. Plattand RodMac too from limited games I actually have a note of all of my MoMs. I'll tot them up and post to compare.

The 3/4 season mark passed last week, 10 games to go.... Who are your players of the season so far? It's an almost impossible task to choose this season. It's so close, there's going to be blanket finish at the post. Players who have played the most haven't played at the highest levels (Bedeau, Iorpenda). The best performers have all had long spells out (McDonald, Palmer, Robertson, Platt, Jatta). Players somewhere between in games played are also between in level of play (Tsaroulla, Macari). What to value more, quality or quantity? If pushed, I'd say the gap in games played is so great that I'll favour those who have played the most... and discount the players who have played less than half the games - McDonald, or only just over - Palmer (and Robbo). But If both play the last 10 to their previous form they could still win it. So my top five as it stands is 5) Lewis Macari (28 league apperances) He's been a model of consistency, defending solidly and using the ball really well. His partnership on the right with Tsaroulla is one of the strengths of the team. Their understanding has really thrived as the season's gone on. I don't know if he's as appreciated as he should be. IMO, he's actually the type of player clubs a bit higher up would look at. For Football Radar's model to work, we'd promote and then sell a player like Macari and we have replacements lining up (Ness and Browne). You have to believe in him and pick him first though. 4) Alessano Jatta (24 league appearances) Our best player. It's been a disaster that he's missed so many matches. When fit and on song, he stands out as just too good for L2. His MoM when we beat Cambridge at home 2-0 scoring both is the best individual performance of our season IMO. He has had bad games and poor spells, but we know it's not just his attacking play and goal scoring. On his day, he can hold it up and link the play exceptionally well. The same with his defensive work - on his day, he might be the best defensive CF in the league 3) Matty Platt (22 league appearances) His first 3 games were uncharacteristically poor but you have to say he's been outstanding since he came back on the 18 game mark. He's headed, intercepted and cleared everything. Nobody seems to really get the better of him. He's been decent on the ball too. 2) Tom Iorpenda (36 league appearances) The first of the ever-presents on the list. I'd call him 'the groundsman' because he covers every single blade of grass. Just noticed I wrote this last time in November. Being allowed to settle in CM, then getting his first senior goal has pushed him to a higher level. After a great start to the season, his form dipped but he's definitely shaken that off now. I don't see how the skipper and Robbo get straight back in. Maybe that's where we went wrong. We should've kept him there. 1) Jacob Bedeau (36 league appearances) An ever-present and another really consistent performer, especially defensively as a one-on-one defender. NGL, he's number one because nobody else can match his overall contribution and I agree with those that say he was better last season under Maynard. But for a game-in game-out reliable performer, who captained the side really well in MP's absence, maybe this is the season to value consistency and availability and give the POTs to him. Who do other PON members have on their lists?

Ryan Harley did quite a few (and invented the cure for insomnia). Before that Doyle did a lot. Mo Ross and Alex Rae are two others I remember, although the club didn't provide an interpreter. We know Slocs like to talk - he could filibuster 10mins no problem, and MP gets a rest to keep it fresh

Absolutely correct. Getting goals and assists from your No.10s in this formation is a non-negotiable 'must have' MP has dropped Grant multiple times now - he gets back in because nobody else can claim the shirt. The position has been a tremendous let down, verging on a disaster. We shouldn't speak about 'best' options there, but 'least worst' Having said that, where are we now? Hall's form has collapsed completely. It may be too late for Luker to come back. Kouhyar was given starts there and was terrible. Iorpenda should be playing deeper. Dennis and Ndlovu are suspended. It's not looking good with Tangan (did Montague mess up or has MP botched it - our only attempt to solve our biggest issue in the window?) So we'll have to get behind Conor Grant tonight and hope he does well. But he should know that getting a No.10 pick for a promotion-aspiring club does mean that goals and assists are expected and that's the main thing you'll be judged on.

The McGoldrick departure looks worse by the week

Matter of emphasis then @Robbie. You should be able to count on the players standing up and playing hard, but I think the best answer to any bully is to outplay and outclass them. Don't let it descend into a physical battle - play well, and win that way instead. Are we good enough to do that? We should be

Up to a point @Robbie but if we have to rely on that and play the game on their terms, then what chance have we anyway? I want to see the club's philosophies and strategies prove themselves in games like this. And the coaching. We should be able to beat that type of team with passing and movement. Passes that find our players, clinical play in the final third, shots on target that lead to us scoring more than them. If we can't do that, what are we playing at anyway? On Jatta, I'm optimistic. It must be tough to play when you're fasting. But this game kicks off a perfect few hours after his ifthar meal so he should be absolutely full of energy, exactly at the right time. Platt out means MP will have his best ball-playing defenders on the pitch - Macari, McDonald, Bedeau Norburn and Robbo out means that he might have to pair Palmer and Iorpenda finally We can hope for great games from Jones and Tsaroulla and better games from players like Tangen, Grant, Kouhyar. We should have what it takes to play them off the park. Let's see if we can COYPiiiiiiiiiiiiiiies!