Stone

[Mapperleypie]

I personally think it’s best to get views from his previous club if he’s hardly played for us. If we judged Slocombe on his last game we would say he’s absolutely calamity and to not touch him with a barge pole. The guys played a lot of league football, had a promotion at a young age for a keeper, so my gut says he’s gonna be decent for us.

I can't see how he won't become a decent keeper for us. It's really difficult to judge a keeper when they have just shipped 5 to a way better side. Especially given what we have all been served up for some time against mostly crap opposition. There are going to be times this season, especially in cup competitions, where it is going to feel very different at Notts compared to the last few seasons.

[Elite_Pie]

It's really difficult to judge a keeper when they have just shipped 5 to a way better side.

I suppose at least that sets a benchmark for Saturday, we can claim a moral victory if Forest beat us by less than 5 goals! Stone is likely to be in for another busy afternoon, I just hope he gets a bit more protection from those in front of him.

[BigFatPie]

The mixed reviews from Vale fans concern me more than what happened in a PSF, I’m more than happy to see what happens when the league starts though. I’d rather we had someone better than Slocombe to come in tbh.

Friendlies aren’t a total waste when it comes to judging players though, Macca’s performance against Forest last year was a decent guide to the season to come.

[Mapperleypie]

The mixed reviews from Vale fans concern me more than what happened in a PSF, I’m more than happy to see what happens when the league starts though. I’d rather we had someone better than Slocombe to come in tbh.

Friendlies aren’t a total waste when it comes to judging players though, Macca’s performance against Forest last year was a decent guide to the season to come.

I dunno, I went to a pre-season game against West Ham where we beat them and our front 3 of Stallard, Hackworth and Allsopp looked unplayable.

We got relegated that season.

[kill_the_drum]

I dunno, I went to a pre-season game against West Ham where we beat them and our front 3 of Stallard, Hackworth and Allsopp looked unplayable.

We got relegated that season.

I use that game as a reminder that you can’t tell much from preseason games.
We beat a West Ham team that featured Di Canio, Joe Cole, Kanoute, Sinclair.
I was absolutely sure we were going to win the league after that.
What ensued was a diabolical season.

[slack_pie]

Pre-season games - my least favourite part of the football calendar.

Pre-season is only about arriving at Game 1 of the season in optimum shape. It's important because we never want to be like the Nolan team again - not ready to do yourself justice.
But the pre-season games themselves and the results don't matter at all and you should never draw conclusions from meaningless games with players just off the beach and the managers trying out all sorts of different stuff.

I somewhat disagree. Yes, the most important thing is to get physically up to speed for the new season. But performances aren't irrelevant, especially in the bigger friendlies at home.

Last season we played very well against Leicester and Forest, and those performances and results were an indication of what was to come throughout the season. If we name a strong squad and they are all over the place, it's not exactly a good sign.

[laddo]

I use that game as a reminder that you can’t tell much from preseason games.
We beat a West Ham team that featured Di Canio, Joe Cole, Kanoute, Sinclair.
I was absolutely sure we were going to win the league after that.
What ensued was a diabolical season.

A seemingly wise yet clearly inebriated man in a rural Oxford pub in 1994 once told a young group of footballs fans including myself that the better Oxford United performed in preseason the worse they were in the actual season. And if they underperformed and lost in these friendlies then a good season was to follow.

This old boy sat at the bar on his own daytime drinking clearly knew his stuff.

Performances aren't irrelevant but every single year too much emphasis is put on the performances and scorelines IMO.

As they say "friendly spemndly"

[Notts78]

I somewhat disagree. Yes, the most important thing is to get physically up to speed for the new season. But performances aren't irrelevant, especially in the bigger friendlies at home.

Last season we played very well against Leicester and Forest, and those performances and results were an indication of what was to come throughout the season. If we name a strong squad and they are all over the place, it's not exactly a good sign.

We played Leicester and Forest in name. Neither were anywhere near full strength, in fact I’d argue both those sides had players getting experience in men’s football. I don’t read anything in to friendlies. We have had pre seasons where we dominated and had a cack season, and the opposite. I just hope we don’t pick up any injuries to key players, which I am sure the players are told, hence not being 100% committed.
The other thing about the Stoke game last week was the starting 11 won’t be the starting 11 v Sutton. I still think Slocombe is first choice for starters. Bostock defo starts. JJ is about 90% to start. I still don’t know how LW gets the best from Didzy. All we become clearer as we move through the coming weeks.
In respect of performance being irrelevant, I agree, however, it’s more about individual performance at this stage rather than the collective. As I stated in a previous post, the players won’t be getting loads of information about the opposition. There won’t be loads of tactical work on the opposition. The Stoke game will highlight to LW our weakness when we lose the ball. How we transition from attack to defence. I also hope it highlights the need for a plan B in terms of shape.
In summary PSF aren’t irrelevant. However, they are also no barometer for how the season ahead will look.

[TSANHO]

Stone looks ok to me so far. Had literally nothing to do against Nuneaton but looked tidy with what he did do and he was left totally and utterly exposed against Stoke. He did play us into trouble once or twice trying to play ‘the Notts way’ but he’s only just started to learn our way. He went long and predictable for a while in the first half but got control of it again in the second. He made some really good saves too.

The pool of keepers that Notts are picking from must be minuscule as they will either be at higher clubs or under contract and would cost a lot of money…..I think he’ll turn out to be a radar success.

[countygump]

Stone looks ok to me so far. Had literally nothing to do against Nuneaton but looked tidy with what he did do and he was left totally and utterly exposed against Stoke. He did play us into trouble once or twice trying to play ‘the Notts way’ but he’s only just started to learn our way. He went long and predictable for a while in the first half but got control of it again in the second. He made some really good saves too.

The pool of keepers that Notts are picking from must be minuscule as they will either be at higher clubs or under contract and would cost a lot of money…..I think he’ll turn out to be a radar success.

I thought Stone looked very average against Stoke, but then again so did the back 4. We trust in Radar, they've had more hits than misses and hopefully he will improve. He's one of ours now and we've had one or two loan keepers recently who have had dodgy starts but come good in the end. So here's hoping...........