Promotion... You're having a laugh...

[laddo]

I would imagine he has been sedated in some secure unit.. Those places only let you out during daylight hours..

Got experience in "those places" durham? I bet you are cheery visitor lol

Add another one....maybe two to the list.

Have a nice day and speak Saturday

[ncfcog]

Second half (when Ches scored three) was when the glaring inadequacies in our one and only plan ("A") were exploited by a more canny manager. A high agressive press and a push and shove in midfield inevitababbly leads to our goals against tally, and Ardley couldn't teach the players or find a tactic to combat it either.

Maybe if we could introduce Knight on one wing opposite Nemane on the other it might stop the enemy midfield advancing and supply us with daring crosses to Big Sam and Wooters - we could call it Plan "B"!

I think you're right. 4-2-3-1 is great against lesser teams where you are always on the offensive. When we play it our full backs are often higher up the pitch than when we play a 3-5-2. Leaves a lot of space in behind for the opposition to exploit and exposes your two CB's who end up being stretched.

I like the 4-2-3-1 but only at home against weaker teams. In the tougher games we could probably go with a 5-4-1 which can easily transition to a 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3 depending on whether we are in or out of possession. I'm sure we've all discussed this numerous times on previous threads though.

Either way, I still think we'll be in the play-off's and for some weird reason believe that we will be promoted as well.

[countygump]

The interesting thing will be how the owners react when they realise their Plan A isn't delivering promotion. So I would like to see two changes.
1. The style of play is adjusted to be more physical against the bigger teams, requiring adjustments in the recruitment process.
2. Recruitment should also focus a little more on the season ahead. If the club takes too many players with potential rather than immediate impact, then the chances of promotion reduce due to the inconsistent players with potential.
I've liked most of what the new owners/manager have done, but I was surprised when we took the two players from our rivals, Chesterfield. I haven't seen either of them play, so I can't comment on them, but when we get beaten by Chesterfield, who were missing eight players, and we have our strongest team out, we need to learn something.

This^^^

[Notts78]

Welcome back mate. This season has seen us once again fail to address our frailties. We have been crying out for a Bishop type midfielder, but what do we get ? some 5ft 6in on loan from Sheff Und. Also, although Wootton has scored a few goals he very seldom appears in the box when crosses come in. If its not on a plate he doesn't want to know...We need a striker who can anticipate where to be at certain times and Wootton is no that one.
Rodrigues is another of those who flatters to deceive, i would get rid of both of them in the morning summer.. Has for Burchnall, pretty football does not win you promotion. If by October we are still underachieving then get rid...

Ahhh Durham. The font of all footballing knowledge. Although football is about opinions facts are not. The lad on loan from Sheff Utd. is 5ft 9in. Not the 5ft 6in you claim.
It’s all well and good getting rid of players, but they need replacing. If as you suggest we lose Wootton and Rodders, and we replace them with worse, then what? Notts are not the club who will go out and splash 300k on a player. Anyone who thinks we will are deluded.
We have continually got rid of players and in the main replaced them with worse players. That is why we are where we are. There are a lot of players plying a trade in leagues above us. Many were deemed not good enough.
Though I do agree we need a fox in the box type of striker, I would have him in partnership with Wootton rather than replace him. That decision is likely to be taken away from Notts and the man deemed crap by you will (unlike Notts) be back in the EFL.

[upthemaggies]

Ardley could well turn out to be one of those Notts managers who ends up being remembered as being far better than he actually was due to who he was replaced with. I'm still clinging to the hope that Ardley will go down as the all time low point.

Looks like Solihull away on Tuesday will take on a great deal more significance than just the three points, one way or the other.

[Mapperleypie]

Ardley could well turn out to be one of those Notts managers who ends up being remembered as being far better than he actually was due to who he was replaced with. I'm still clinging to the hope that Ardley will go down as the all time low point.

Looks like Solihull away on Tuesday will take on a great deal more significance than just the three points, one way or the other.

Given how difficult it is to get out of this division vs how much more straightforward it should be to save yourselves from League two relegation then the Ardley/Hardy combo should always be the low point (unless at some point we are not serious promotion challengers in this div).

People are comparing Ardleys record to Burchnall but I suspect the current incumbent has faced more sides with a higher playing budget than Ardley did given the strength of the league. In Ardleys 100 odd games in charge (including more than half a season in league 2 where he completely failed his brief - he took over in Nov FFS) there will only be a handful of matches where the opposition had a higher wage bill and the football he served up was chit too.

[DelroyFacey22]

Ardley could well turn out to be one of those Notts managers who ends up being remembered as being far better than he actually was due to who he was replaced with. I'm still clinging to the hope that Ardley will go down as the all time low point.

Looks like Solihull away on Tuesday will take on a great deal more significance than just the three points, one way or the other.

I think Ardley's a bit like McParland, people liked him much better after he'd left but not for what he did as our manager.

Ardley was a lovely bloke for sure, but his football was cr*p and despite the many opportunities he had he couldn't deliver what was asked of him, be that avoiding relegation or getting promoted.

Everyone knows this league is a nightmare to get out of and we have no divine right to claim that automatic spot, so if we're continuosly going to be in the playoffs, which I believe we will be, then give me Ian Burchnall and his style of football any day of the week. Anyone else coming in would be a very similar appointment as thats the way our board want to run the club.

There's still a lot of points to play for, imo we've been looking at the playoffs as our only chance to go up for a while, the players haven't but will be soon coming around to it, whatever Ardley does I couldn't care less about, Notts fans have always been really clinging to certain people and he seems to be another one that fans just won't let go.

[PedroTheFisherman66]

Ardley could well turn out to be one of those Notts managers who ends up being remembered as being far better than he actually was due to who he was replaced with. I'm still clinging to the hope that Ardley will go down as the all time low point.

Looks like Solihull away on Tuesday will take on a great deal more significance than just the three points, one way or the other.

Weve already embarrassed Ardley this season down at the lane , wasnt that enough to show who the better manager is.
Its reputed he has a top 4 budget which I believe is probably bigger than ours , so the theory hes at a smaller club with inferior funds doesn't stand up.
The mr nearly man who flatters to deceive will be revealed again at the end of the season..
He will do just enough to keep his job but not enough to deliver.

[jackal2]

Everyone knows this league is a nightmare to get out of and we have no divine right to claim that automatic spot, so if we're continuously going to be in the playoffs, which I believe we will be, then give me Ian Burchnall and his style of football any day of the week. Anyone else coming in would be a very similar appointment as thats the way our board want to run the club.

I certainly prefer Ian Burchnall's brand of the passing game to Neal Ardley's, but I don't think we should face a binary choice of passing football versus direct/physical football. The teams that have won the National League in recent years have all been able to play a bit, but they've also had that bit of edge to them as well, being able to get stuck in and compete when that was required. At present we're not showing enough ability to do the latter, but I'm sure it's possible to build that mentality into the side whilst still aiming to play an attractive game when we can. It's the old adage that you have to earn the right to play.

[durhampie]

Ahhh Durham. The font of all footballing knowledge. Although football is about opinions facts are not. The lad on loan from Sheff Utd. is 5ft 9in. Not the 5ft 6in you claim.
It’s all well and good getting rid of players, but they need replacing. If as you suggest we lose Wootton and Rodders, and we replace them with worse, then what? Notts are not the club who will go out and splash 300k on a player. Anyone who thinks we will are deluded.
We have continually got rid of players and in the main replaced them with worse players. That is why we are where we are. There are a lot of players plying a trade in leagues above us. Many were deemed not good enough.
Though I do agree we need a fox in the box type of striker, I would have him in partnership with Wootton rather than replace him. That decision is likely to be taken away from Notts and the man deemed crap by you will (unlike Notts) be back in the EFL.

Whilst Chesterfield were bringing on taller players, we were putting smaller ones on. That's why we lost the individual battles, and to cap it off we left Rawlinson on the bench...