Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th August

[valefan16]

not much in our game and draw probably fair. ref was atrocious, how he didnt send sang off ill never know and then paton gets dragged down by their last man and doesnt get a foul.

i think we had two very good 20 minute spells at the beginning of each half but tranmeres subs changed the game in their favour, got some pace on and started getting in behind down the flanks.

Yeah the Paton one was certainly him evening it up, on a side note great to see him and Curtis getting the crowd going after last seasons squad looked uninterested!

Chuffed to see over 8000 there with 7000 Valiants, a sign we haven’t lost those fans we captured over the past couple of seasons and if they see a team battle and fight like yesterday regardless of the result on the day they will stick with the side.

As I said a real decent contest, we played some decent stuff first half as did they but both mixed up it and got direct quickly at times but both back lines largely was solid… Debrah with his 50p head hitting his own cross bar would of gone in last season! Didn’t realise how good of a save their keeper makes through bodies from Chissy second half either but chances did come at a premium.

We dominated the majority of the first half and had our best chances but credit to Adkins who changed their system to counter and match up our shape and that worked for them and we probably didn’t have the available bodies up front to tweak it further at this stage.

Both sides largely lacked any pace and it was tough to get in behind either defence.

Positive start, 4 points and a good performance in the cup with our reserves and kids and have some real quality players to come back still, no Tolaj, BBB (who we probably needed today to give us some pace), Smith, Byers or Clark but great to get 15 in Stockley, ideally would love to see Paton playing off Stockley as think that partnership could work well.

Good luck to Tranmere for the rest of the season, solid side there very organised and look like they’ll be a tough nut to crack certainly when they are away based on that.

Finally nice to have decent toilets in the paddock too, very impressed! And we’ve joined the 21st century with a built in sprinkler system! Pitch looked cracking to be fair.

 

[Crewelad87]

That was about as bad a performance I've ever seen. Just simply didn't compete in every department and in the end 5-0 flattered us, it could have been 10.

Next week vs Swindon who are equally struggling, looks massive. Lose that and Bells position might well become untenable. It sounds like madness given 3 games ago we were in the play off final at Wembley. But since about mid February we've been awful. We haven't even scored a goal at home since mid March, losing 3-0 to Wrexham, Forest Green and Grimsby and now 5-0 vs Chesterfield.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

We were poor yesterday, more so first half and second half we did perk up especially when the under used Pointon came on. As LS has proven though we were robbed thanks to another shocking officiating decision, down there with the Chesterfield penalty or lack of last week. They really kill the game for fans at this level, PL fans don’t know how luck they are.

 

[Bone Idle]

View attachment 20620
We had the same linesman Frank Lampard had Vs Germany in 2010.

Seen that on the FL show! last night, jesus christ you dont need goal line technology for that stevie wonder could see that was at least 2ft over the line.

 

[Carver]

At least one consolation Crewe can take from yesterday is just how terrible the camera quality at their match was which made it almost impossible to even see all the 5 goals they conceded.

 

[dannyc5]

I said our recruitment was underwhelming and I've been proven wrong. It was actually disastrous.

Needed an experienced GK after issues with Harvey Davies and the injuries to Tom Booth. If the recruitment team actually scouted rather than relied on analytics, they'd realise Marschall wasn't the answer just watching his performances for MK Dons. If your average football fan watching YouTube highlights can see he was bad last season, then Kennard with his greater access to data and scouting material genuinely has no excuses. He was one of the last keepers we should've signed. But we judge keepers on how they pass the ball and virtually nothing else because we're idiots.

I'm not sure about Connolly at all, we needed someone more experienced and commanding. He just seems to be a vanilla CB not good enough for League One and with no strengths.

Don't get me started on Max Sanders. He will go into our all time worst Alex XIs. If you're retaining Conor Thomas on a 2 year deal (lunacy in the first place given he offers nothing), then why not sign another crock that doesn't have any strengths to his game? Better still, let's play them together! We needed an experienced ball winning midfielder in the Paul Green mould. Instead, we signed a Conor Thomas clone with less EFL appearances than Oli Finney for a fee!

Cambridge have been one of the lowest scoring sides in the 92 the past 2 years. We've signed two wingers from them in two seasons that have very little end product. We've given a 3 year deal to Lankester who looks like Ainley 2.0 already. No pace, no strength, no end product.

Needed a striker that didn't have fitness issues. Instead we retain sick note Long, sign another sick note with attitude problems at previous clubs in Bogle and now expect the ageing Kane Hemmings to lead the line on his own in sheer isolation.

The problem with this football club is we almost always sign external players on the decline. Players who are dropping from League One because they're not good enough to play there or players who are often injured. We shun the National League and non league markets where you can find players on the rise (like James Berry who was once at Macclesfield). What we do isn't a winning formula, it's disastrous recruitment.

The mess of having the likes of Oli Finney, Dave Richards, Regan Griffiths, Callum Ainley, Charlie Colkett, Billy Sass-Davies etc on ridiculous long term contracts was cured by Bell. But he's repeated this mistake again. Lankester until 2027 is potentially one of the worst contracts this club has ever given. What has he done in the game apart from show signs of sheer decline throughout his career?

Firmly in the Bell Out camp and never thought I'd be saying that 6 months ago. We're absolutely boring. Football is all about entertainment and we don't even score goals let alone win games. 27 of our last 34 halves have been goalless and the last 16 goals to go in at Gresty Road were all scored by the opposition. He's also 4 more home defeats from breaking an all time club record that Artell set only 3 seasons ago.

Time's up. But if the club dare appoint Ryan Dicker as his replacement then judging on his managerial performance vs Morecambe last season (the big turning point for us), then we're as good as down.

I can't understand why his hybrid 4231/352 doesn't work. It's genius, and I can't believe no other manager in the history of professional football has thought of it.

In all seriousness, we've seen enough football to know when the end is fast approaching for a manager. Very rarely are managers able to turn this around (I concede it's not impossible). It's not just 2 games, it's mid February onwards. It happened with Dario, Davis and Artell where no matter what they did, we would get thumped week in, week out. It's happening in front of our eyes once more, and it's horrible to watch.

Nobody wants a manager sacked. You want them to succeed, because you want your club to do well. A managerial merry go round is rarely successful. But this can't go on, and I've pretty much lost faith. I'm not calling for his head, because I CBA. It will happen at some point, though.

 

[Son of Cod]

Good game at BP yesterday. Thought it was quite interesting that a few years back an Artell vs Flynn match would have been tipping and tapping vs clogging and smashing but in recent times both managers have looked to add what the other has been known for into their sides. Having said that, I thought our attacking play was a bit easier on the eye than theirs and while a lot of our combinations and triangles don't come off, yesterday indicates that things are starting to click and that if this continues we'll be an exciting side. That's not to say Cheltenham's attacking play wasn't very good though, as they were effective and for the half an hour they were on top it really felt inevitable that they'd turnover that two goal deficit.

Davies' match winning freekick will rightly draw the plaudits but that Vernam goal was nothing short of sensational and it wouldn't surprise me if that's one of the best goals we see at Blundell Park this season.

One concern for us is that for the second week running we struggled once a side changed shape. We've gone from having a manager in Hurst who was all about reacting to the opposition to Artell who seemingly just doesn't care about that and wants us to go out and do our own thing. Hopefully we can find the right blend between the two as it feels like being a bit more savvy in terms of game management might mean we don't have to rely on 93rd minute bangers to bring home the points.

 

[JJ1990]

I said our recruitment was underwhelming and I've been proven wrong. It was actually disastrous.

Needed an experienced GK after issues with Harvey Davies and the injuries to Tom Booth. If the recruitment team actually scouted rather than relied on analytics, they'd realise Marschall wasn't the answer just watching his performances for MK Dons. If your average football fan watching YouTube highlights can see he was bad last season, then Kennard with his greater access to data and scouting material genuinely has no excuses. He was one of the last keepers we should've signed. But we judge keepers on how they pass the ball and virtually nothing else because we're idiots.

I'm not sure about Connolly at all, we needed someone more experienced and commanding. He just seems to be a vanilla CB not good enough for League One and with no strengths.

Don't get me started on Max Sanders. He will go into our all time worst Alex XIs. If you're retaining Conor Thomas on a 2 year deal (lunacy in the first place given he offers nothing), then why not sign another crock that doesn't have any strengths to his game? Better still, let's play them together! We needed an experienced ball winning midfielder in the Paul Green mould. Instead, we signed a Conor Thomas clone with less EFL appearances than Oli Finney for a fee!

Cambridge have been one of the lowest scoring sides in the 92 the past 2 years. We've signed two wingers from them in two seasons that have very little end product. We've given a 3 year deal to Lankester who looks like Ainley 2.0 already. No pace, no strength, no end product.

Needed a striker that didn't have fitness issues. Instead we retain sick note Long, sign another sick note with attitude problems at previous clubs in Bogle and now expect the ageing Kane Hemmings to lead the line on his own in sheer isolation.

The problem with this football club is we almost always sign external players on the decline. Players who are dropping from League One because they're not good enough to play there or players who are often injured. We shun the National League and non league markets where you can find players on the rise (like James Berry who was once at Macclesfield). What we do isn't a winning formula, it's disastrous recruitment.

The mess of having the likes of Oli Finney, Dave Richards, Regan Griffiths, Callum Ainley, Charlie Colkett, Billy Sass-Davies etc on ridiculous long term contracts was cured by Bell. But he's repeated this mistake again. Lankester until 2027 is potentially one of the worst contracts this club has ever given. What has he done in the game apart from show signs of sheer decline throughout his career?

Firmly in the Bell Out camp and never thought I'd be saying that 6 months ago. We're absolutely boring. Football is all about entertainment and we don't even score goals let alone win games. 27 of our last 34 halves have been goalless and the last 16 goals to go in at Gresty Road were all scored by the opposition. He's also 4 more home defeats from breaking an all time club record that Artell set only 3 seasons ago.

Time's up. But if the club dare appoint Ryan Dicker as his replacement then judging on his managerial performance vs Morecambe last season (the big turning point for us), then we're as good as down.

I'm not quite where you are in several of the signings, but the warning signs are there with a lot of them.

You didn't even go into the signings they made 12 months ago. Demetriou, White and Powell were decent, but Davies, Tracey and Cooney were disasters and I don't think Rowe was that good either. Austerfield and Leigh, very meh. Turns was ok.

The biggest headloss I have is when people praise the recruitment. It's been better by a little bit, but nowhere near as good as some make out.

 

[GEORGE]

I said our recruitment was underwhelming and I've been proven wrong. It was actually disastrous.

Needed an experienced GK after issues with Harvey Davies and the injuries to Tom Booth. If the recruitment team actually scouted rather than relied on analytics, they'd realise Marschall wasn't the answer just watching his performances for MK Dons. If your average football fan watching YouTube highlights can see he was bad last season, then Kennard with his greater access to data and scouting material genuinely has no excuses. He was one of the last keepers we should've signed. But we judge keepers on how they pass the ball and virtually nothing else because we're idiots.

I'm not sure about Connolly at all, we needed someone more experienced and commanding. He just seems to be a vanilla CB not good enough for League One and with no strengths.

Don't get me started on Max Sanders. He will go into our all time worst Alex XIs. If you're retaining Conor Thomas on a 2 year deal (lunacy in the first place given he offers nothing), then why not sign another crock that doesn't have any strengths to his game? Better still, let's play them together! We needed an experienced ball winning midfielder in the Paul Green mould. Instead, we signed a Conor Thomas clone with less EFL appearances than Oli Finney for a fee!

Cambridge have been one of the lowest scoring sides in the 92 the past 2 years. We've signed two wingers from them in two seasons that have very little end product. We've given a 3 year deal to Lankester who looks like Ainley 2.0 already. No pace, no strength, no end product.

Needed a striker that didn't have fitness issues. Instead we retain sick note Long, sign another sick note with attitude problems at previous clubs in Bogle and now expect the ageing Kane Hemmings to lead the line on his own in sheer isolation.

The problem with this football club is we almost always sign external players on the decline. Players who are dropping from League One because they're not good enough to play there or players who are often injured. We shun the National League and non league markets where you can find players on the rise (like James Berry who was once at Macclesfield). What we do isn't a winning formula, it's disastrous recruitment.

The mess of having the likes of Oli Finney, Dave Richards, Regan Griffiths, Callum Ainley, Charlie Colkett, Billy Sass-Davies etc on ridiculous long term contracts was cured by Bell. But he's repeated this mistake again. Lankester until 2027 is potentially one of the worst contracts this club has ever given. What has he done in the game apart from show signs of sheer decline throughout his career?

Firmly in the Bell Out camp and never thought I'd be saying that 6 months ago. We're absolutely boring. Football is all about entertainment and we don't even score goals let alone win games. 27 of our last 34 halves have been goalless and the last 16 goals to go in at Gresty Road were all scored by the opposition. He's also 4 more home defeats from breaking an all time club record that Artell set only 3 seasons ago.

Time's up. But if the club dare appoint Ryan Dicker as his replacement then judging on his managerial performance vs Morecambe last season (the big turning point for us), then we're as good as down.

Your certainly right about Connolly. I wonder how much you paid us ?

 

[Limerick Mariner]

Never fall in love with a loan player, never fall in love with a loan player……..

That song (unamended) was a Q on University Challenge - what year? I was humiliated in getting it wrong - I said 77, by the youth in Queens Belfast team who got it right - 78.

 

[Limerick Mariner]

Ugh I’m gonna have to give our game a miss today, done the last 5 nights at work and thought I’d be fine for today but woke up about 15 minutes ago and I’m just fucked, dropping my lad off there then I’m off back to bed.
Should guarantee a good win and performance that though,

And the first home league win I’ve seen since Wimbledon, last match of 22/23, and I do circa 10 home league games a season. Can you stay in bed for Bradford in a couple of weeks please.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Tell you what, I enjoyed all 5 of those goals but that 3rd is a thing of beauty. The pass from Naylor to break Crewe’s midfield line, the turn and through ball from Murkanday, the timing of the run & movement/cross from Grigg to the volley from Berry into the back of the net… could watch that on repeat over and over, magic

https://twitter.com/x/status/1825087982732296290

 

[Youpies]

Real McParland Ball vibes here.

Left to right to back and side. Rinse repeatedly

 

[1862]

I wouldn't say Fleetwood deserve to be ahead but we've not done enough, that's for sure. Seems to be some sort of 4-1-4-1 going on but there's not enough (any?) threat down the left so everything is having to go through Jones.

 

[RavenBish]

When the coroner writes down my cause of death, it will be this Chicksen/Scott left hand side - I do not have a clue what Maynard thinks they will produce.

 

[Son of Cod]

I wouldn't say Fleetwood deserve to be ahead but we've not done enough, that's for sure. Seems to be some sort of 4-1-4-1 going on but there's not enough (any?) threat down the left so everything is having to go through Jones.

Not watching but that sounds just like our opener vs them. Fleetwood looking like they could be a tough nut to crack.

 

[RavenBish]

Seeing Langstaff sat in the stands watching us after getting 7 minutes for Millwall yesterday has not improved my mood

 

[Youpies]

Nailing the flag to the mast early this year. Maynard will be gone by October

 

[spireite]

It's going to be really interesting to see if the weird siblings are willing to admit a mistake in their data crunching super computer that decided Stuart Maynard was the one. Or do they continue to stand by him because that's what the laptop said.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Watching here in Tenerife with Notts/Maynard spoiling a good holiday.

The new coach will have so many easy fixes.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Just looking at stats of second half so far. Notts have had 78% of the ball yet fleetwood have still managed 7 shots. That’s ridiculous.

Judging by those stats they’re just passing round back for passings sake and losing the ball in dangerous positions for Fleetwood to attack from

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

I'm not quite where you are in several of the signings, but the warning signs are there with a lot of them.

You didn't even go into the signings they made 12 months ago. Demetriou, White and Powell were decent, but Davies, Tracey and Cooney were disasters and I don't think Rowe was that good either. Austerfield and Leigh, very meh. Turns was ok.

The biggest headloss I have is when people praise the recruitment. It's been better by a little bit, but nowhere near as good as some make out.

I can see why some people are saying I'm being quick in my scathing assessment of the signings but my criticism is more based on the fact there were gaping holes in the squad last season and we just haven't filled them with a supposedly bigger budget. Even worse, we've gone for similar players to what we already have which means we have a squad lacking in height, physicality and goals to name three of our deficiencies. Max Sanders for example was lauded as their top target in midfield and I'm scratching my head if that's true because he's been a bit part player at every club he's played at (when fit).

All of this is on the manager and recruitment team I'm afraid and Bell will unfortunately pay the price a lot sooner than previous managers. The board have backed him. He's spaffed a generous budget up the wall on bit part players on the decline expecting them to be top performers for 40+ games a season.

My only gripe with the board is that they appointed Bell based on the fact he understood the club's philosophy better than anyone else. But he's not exactly blooding through the next generation now is he? And his style of play is disastrous as far as our academy players are concerned. It's a mix of Gudjonball and Davisball all into one. I can't see likes of Agius, Robinson and Sant thriving under Bell at all...

 

[Youpies]

Undone by a pub team style long ball
Concede from a set piece
Predictable and slow for large parts

Crowley cannot be the league two Pirlo. He's much better in the final third

Same old Notts

We deserved a point but couldn't score when dominating the game. The stats are what has kept Maynard in a job so far, but we can't keep being this dominant and not win games.

Matty Palmer being back is a huge positive. He has been missed. Hopefully we can keep him fit

 

[RavenBish]

We are unparalleled in drawing and losing games anyone else would win 5-0. Dominated that but paid the price for having all that possession in the first 30 minutes but with no intent to score

positives are the reinforcements on their way back - Tsaroulla on for Chicksen made a ridiculous difference

 

[jacobncfc]

We were supposed to be boring and normal this year!

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Undone by a pub team style long ball
Concede from a set piece
Predictable and slow for large parts

Crowley cannot be the league two Pirlo. He's much better in the final third

Same old Notts

We deserved a point but couldn't score when dominating the game. The stats are what has kept Maynard in a job so far, but we can't keep being this dominant and not win games.

Matty Palmer being back is a huge positive. He has been missed. Hopefully we can keep him fit

Didn't expect to see Tsaroulla , Robertson and Palmer all on the bench let alone playing a part. Big bonus that.

Yup standard Notts to concede from a Set piece (I'm looking at your Scott for letting your man go) and a punt up field.

Saying that Fleetwood produced some heroic defending, had a little bit of luck with blocks and deflections and the keeper pulled off a stunning save from Crowley. Created plenty of great opportunities in that second half but the final ball quality let us down.

Hoping for no more Chicksen playing it safe against Grimsby.

Overall would have been scandalous to lose that game based on chances , forget possession.

 

[jacobncfc]

Very clear set up in quality, intensity and pretty much everything from us as soon as we got Palmer, Robertson and Tsaroulla on. Going to try and hold off judging us too much until we’ve got those three and Gordon fully fit and starting, but we should’ve won that game.

 

[RavenBish]

Just looking at stats of second half so far. Notts have had 78% of the ball yet fleetwood have still managed 7 shots. That’s ridiculous.

Judging by those stats they’re just passing round back for passings sake and losing the ball in dangerous positions for Fleetwood to attack from

Afraid that didn’t happen at all, we didn’t really lose the ball or make mistakes/errors in possession - Fleetwood scored from a set piece and a ball over the top Bedeau misread the flight of (although I’m more annoyed their big calamitous centre back was afforded the worlds worst first touch before hoofing it)

 

[OneDecentLester]

Afraid that didn’t happen at all, we didn’t really lose the ball or make mistakes/errors in possession - Fleetwood scored from a set piece and a ball over the top Bedeau misread the flight of (although I’m more annoyed their big calamitous centre back was afforded the worlds worst first touch before hoofing it)

Fair play to them having 8 shots (2 more than you managed) in a second half where they had 22% possession then if that wasn’t happening.

 

[JJ1990]

I can see why some people are saying I'm being quick in my scathing assessment of the signings but my criticism is more based on the fact there were gaping holes in the squad last season and we just haven't filled them with a supposedly bigger budget. Even worse, we've gone for similar players to what we already have which means we have a squad lacking in height, physicality and goals to name three of our deficiencies. Max Sanders for example was lauded as their top target in midfield and I'm scratching my head if that's true because he's been a bit part player at every club he's played at (when fit).

All of this is on the manager and recruitment team I'm afraid and Bell will unfortunately pay the price a lot sooner than previous managers. The board have backed him. He's spaffed a generous budget up the wall on bit part players on the decline expecting them to be top performers for 40+ games a season.

My only gripe with the board is that they appointed Bell based on the fact he understood the club's philosophy better than anyone else. But he's not exactly blooding through the next generation now is he? And his style of play is disastrous as far as our academy players are concerned. It's a mix of Gudjonball and Davisball all into one. I can't see likes of Agius, Robinson and Sant thriving under Bell at all...

You're not alone in your sentiments as I'm sure you're aware. A few others feel Bell isn't valuing the youngsters, but I wholly disagree. Booth will start when fit. Billington(Started 1 of 2 league games), Holicek(1 of 2), Tabiner(2 of 2), Williams(2 of 2). He's starting or giving games to the graduates who could rightfully expect to start.

Yes, maybe Lunt and Finney should be on the bench, but Lunt started in the cup and Finney is clearly a way off fitness wise, else he'd have played in the friendlies. Agius is a strange one, but then, how many first year pros are in the squad from early on? He should be though, Bell needs to be asked why he isn't.

The issue is the academy has only graduated 16 players since 2020 into the first team and 5 of those have been released before ever appearing. 3 in 2023, 3 in 2024. It's not enough.

As for the signings, just because they drop from L1 into L2 doesn't mean they are the decline. My concern with Lankester is the same as yours, he was highly unproductive at Cambridge, a la Tracey, yet a 3 year deal? Sanders I think could be a good player in time as he's good decent technical ability, I don't think there is enough evidence to suggest he'll be terrible, he was fine at Barrow, he just got ripped to shreds yesterday as did the rest of them. My concern with him is his fitness record. He'll be better if he isn't paired with Thomas I think.

I do agree with other concerns, but I am hoping that yesterday was a one off. I don't think many teams will play better football than Chesterfield this season, they've got a lot of L1 calibre players even with some missing and the best manager in the league. If we look this shambolic against Swindon, then I'll start to really worry.