The Dark Arts

Our defending has obviously been the talk of the town both last night and all through the season. Less mentioned is our naivety when it comes to the darker side of the game.

Last night at 4-2 and having them slightly on the ropes Jodi was clear just outside the box before being scythed down by a challenge which really should be a red card but under current laws isn’t. The defender took the yellow and the free kick led to nothing. This was the same ref who didn’t red card an even worse challenge on Jodi against Barrow.

Shortly after they broke on a counter and we had 3 players in position to commit the foul in their half and possibly take a yellow. None did, the attack carried on, eventually leading to their 5th and game over. Another example was Baldwin kicking the ball out when Wootton went down injured.

Challinor Clough and Parkinson are no doubt past masters at getting their players to be streetwise and hammering home the need to take one for the team where necessary and manage the game wherever possible. Is the setup at Notts prepare to do the same because we’ve been absolute amateurs at that side of the game for years.

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Originally Posted by BigFatPie

Our defending has obviously been the talk of the town both last night and all through the season. Less mentioned is our naivety when it comes to the darker side of the game.

Last night at 4-2 and having them slightly on the ropes Jodi was clear just outside the box before being scythed down by a challenge which really should be a red card but under current laws isn’t. The defender took the yellow and the free kick led to nothing. This was the same ref who didn’t red card an even worse challenge on Jodi against Barrow.

Shortly after they broke on a counter and we had 3 players in position to commit the foul in their half and possibly take a yellow. None did, the attack carried on, eventually leading to their 5th and game over. Another example was Baldwin kicking the ball out when Wootton went down injured.

Challinor Clough and Parkinson are no doubt past masters at getting their players to be streetwise and hammering home the need to take one for the team where necessary and manage the game wherever possible. Is the setup at Notts prepare to do the same because we’ve been absolute amateurs at that side of the game for years.

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The issue being a bunch of our players were booked for calling out the appalling referees performance. Not one of their players got booked when doing the same or even kicking the ball after the whistle had gone or kicking the ball away

We lack nastiness in general. We're just too nice to play against.

It's been covered many times before on here, but one has to wonder how things like passion, desire, nastiness, aggression, mental strength and other unquantifiable characteristics fit into a data-driven recruitment model.

Coaches like Williams, Birchnall, and Maynard may be able to set up decent training sessions and get the team playing with nice patterns (sometimes at least), but the dark arts are a huge part of football at this level. When you play a team managed by Pete Wild or the Cowley bros, you can see just how much time they must spend preparing their team to be nasty, disruptive, and difficult - often to great success.

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Originally Posted by slack_pie

We lack nastiness in general. We're just too nice to play against.

It's been covered many times before on here, but one has to wonder how things like passion, desire, nastiness, aggression, mental strength and other unquantifiable characteristics fit into a data-driven recruitment model.

Coaches like Williams, Birchnall, and Maynard may be able to set up decent training sessions and get the team playing with nice patterns (sometimes at least), but the dark arts are a huge part of football at this level. When you play a team managed by Pete Wild or the Cowley bros, you can see just how much time they must spend preparing their team to be nasty, disruptive, and difficult - often to great success.

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I agree with us being too nice, Wootton went down with an "injury" and we kicked the ball out. Should have carried on, they did when Bostock went down

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Originally Posted by BigFatPie

Our defending has obviously been the talk of the town both last night and all through the season. Less mentioned is our naivety when it comes to the darker side of the game.

Last night at 4-2 and having them slightly on the ropes Jodi was clear just outside the box before being scythed down by a challenge which really should be a red card but under current laws isn’t. The defender took the yellow and the free kick led to nothing. This was the same ref who didn’t red card an even worse challenge on Jodi against Barrow.

Shortly after they broke on a counter and we had 3 players in position to commit the foul in their half and possibly take a yellow. None did, the attack carried on, eventually leading to their 5th and game over. Another example was Baldwin kicking the ball out when Wootton went down injured.

Challinor Clough and Parkinson are no doubt past masters at getting their players to be streetwise and hammering home the need to take one for the team where necessary and manage the game wherever possible. Is the setup at Notts prepare to do the same because we’ve been absolute amateurs at that side of the game for years.

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Totally agree. All successful teams do the nasty stuff well. They might not steam into tackles and smash people everywhere, but they break up the game when they need to. Commit those cynical fouls. Take one for the team.

We have a team of good footballers. No needle. Perfect example last night. 4-2, on top, JOB goes in for a 50-50 and tried to scoop the ball over the tackle and gets dispossessed. Just bang into it. Clear everything out.

I watched the game last night with the Stockport commentary and although they were very generous in their praise of our attacking players they simply could not believe how bad we were at the back... as their Co commentator said "their back line is so bad its baffeling" unfortunately I couldn't agree more...big summer ahead for the recruitment team... a grizzled veteran at the back like Flint would work for me... if we can hold on to our attacking options which is unlikely there's not too much wrong that 3/4 decent players won't cure