⚽ Match Thread vs. Lincoln City 08.08.23 [EFLC R1]

[nw6pie]

We’ve had four years out of the league and aren’t used to (most) opposition teams being any good, so perhaps Lincoln’s performance last night stood out more than it might have done in days of yore. They had pace all over the pitch and pressed intelligently, but the moment that stood out for me was when their left wing back (Brown) went on a long run from his own half, gave Brindley a couple of yards and still whizzed past him. We’re not in the National League anymore, Dorothy.

[Elite_Pie]

What we could have won in Round 2 - Sheff Utd (away)

[ForeignLegion]

What we could have won in Round 2 - Sheff Utd (away)

Probably saved themselves a demoralising flogging.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Good post. People aren't drama queens and also no one thought we were great in defence last season and didn't need any additional players. We have always been scared looking at the back for years now. When did we last have a commanding centre back apart from Elliott on loan, Richardson? Redmile? It's been a long time. Also posters are right about JOB, the people who think he's poor have no clue that he's the only one who actually tries to make runs, offers himself or puts a strong foot in. To be relying still on him for this is ridiculous.

There's alot to be said as well for the style of play changing from high pressing to slow possesion build up. Without Ruben, the only real outlet up front we have is Nemane and his final ball is unreliable. LW and the team have alot of goodwill in the bank but this doesn't mean anything on the pitch. I have been guilty of underestimating L2 before the start of the season but as others have said we can still play good football in this league and do well. To do this though we do need 2 defenders in and a centre mid who presses and is a leader on the pitch.

This is Notts so the fans are worried as 5 years ago we were tipped to go up and got relegated. Now is the time the team needs to make us feel reassured that they have more grit and hard work in them.

Some of the comments in this thread are quite negative and it's a shame that after what was achieved last season it does seem like the lid has been lifted on the bottle of negativity that has laid dormant for a year. One game in the league and a game against a team a league above that normally nobody would expect to win the game against a higher league team, and the credits ran out already for some fans it seems.

I'm not dismissing peoples genuine concerns about the defensive aspects of our game in the past two games in particular, and there is good debate and discussion to be had. The same for the service to the front men. Naturally there will be anxiety and fear amongst fans because of what happened five years ago. It would be naïve to suggest that from the first couple of games there are not issues in terms of defending set pieces such as corners and dealing with high balls into our area as we saw on Saturday. Likewise playing within ourselves which can come down to lack of confidence when you have 60-70% possession but nothing to show for it in terms of goal scoring opportunities, shots on target or goals.

Now is not the time to be undoing and ripping up all that has gone before because of this. The club has been loyal to the players who got us to this league and rightly so the way I see it. It's their chance and opportunity to prove themselves capable at this level. Plus this squad have largely been playing together for a year or more and that counts for a lot in football. Even more so when you've been part of a team that has had a record breaking season.

This group of players and manager are good enough to compete in this league. I'm not going to say challenge for the playoffs or promotion or anything at this point in time because the first job is to get to 50 points. Perhaps we've got caught up in the hype and I include myself in that and lost sight of that. We need to be a bit patient here and see what happens over the next nine league games first and foremost to gauge better where we are at.

For me we don't need to change our game. What we need to do to is play it better and improve compared to the level we are playing at. That may take weeks or a few months for us to find our feet. We may have to accept between now and Christmas it could be a transitional period and therefore be a slow burner.

[uysapie]

Some of the comments in this thread are quite negative and it's a shame that after what was achieved last season it does seem like the lid has been lifted on the bottle of negativity that has laid dormant for a year. One game in the league and a game against a team a league above that normally nobody would expect to win the game against a higher league team, and the credits ran out already for some fans it seems.

I'm not dismissing peoples genuine concerns about the defensive aspects of our game in the past two games in particular, and there is good debate and discussion to be had. The same for the service to the front men. Naturally there will be anxiety and fear amongst fans because of what happened five years ago. It would be naïve to suggest that from the first couple of games there are not issues in terms of defending set pieces such as corners and dealing with high balls into our area as we saw on Saturday. Likewise playing within ourselves which can come down to lack of confidence when you have 60-70% possession but nothing to show for it in terms of goal scoring opportunities, shots on target or goals.

Now is not the time to be undoing and ripping up all that has gone before because of this. The club has been loyal to the players who got us to this league and rightly so the way I see it. It's their chance and opportunity to prove themselves capable at this level. Plus this squad have largely been playing together for a year or more and that counts for a lot in football. Even more so when you've been part of a team that has had a record breaking season.

This group of players and manager are good enough to compete in this league. I'm not going to say challenge for the playoffs or promotion or anything at this point in time because the first job is to get to 50 points. Perhaps we've got caught up in the hype and I include myself in that and lost sight of that. We need to be a bit patient here and see what happens over the next nine league games first and foremost to gauge better where we are at.

For me we don't need to change our game. What we need to do to is play it better and improve compared to the level we are playing at. That may take weeks or a few months for us to find our feet. We may have to accept between now and Christmas it could be a transitional period and therefore be a slow burner.

We will not have months to find our feet, that will be a relegation battle.

[Proactive not Reactive]

Some of the comments in this thread are quite negative and it's a shame that after what was achieved last season it does seem like the lid has been lifted on the bottle of negativity that has laid dormant for a year. One game in the league and a game against a team a league above that normally nobody would expect to win the game against a higher league team, and the credits ran out already for some fans it seems.

I'm not dismissing peoples genuine concerns about the defensive aspects of our game in the past two games in particular, and there is good debate and discussion to be had. The same for the service to the front men. Naturally there will be anxiety and fear amongst fans because of what happened five years ago. It would be naïve to suggest that from the first couple of games there are not issues in terms of defending set pieces such as corners and dealing with high balls into our area as we saw on Saturday. Likewise playing within ourselves which can come down to lack of confidence when you have 60-70% possession but nothing to show for it in terms of goal scoring opportunities, shots on target or goals.

Now is not the time to be undoing and ripping up all that has gone before because of this. The club has been loyal to the players who got us to this league and rightly so the way I see it. It's their chance and opportunity to prove themselves capable at this level. Plus this squad have largely been playing together for a year or more and that counts for a lot in football. Even more so when you've been part of a team that has had a record breaking season.

This group of players and manager are good enough to compete in this league. I'm not going to say challenge for the playoffs or promotion or anything at this point in time because the first job is to get to 50 points. Perhaps we've got caught up in the hype and I include myself in that and lost sight of that. We need to be a bit patient here and see what happens over the next nine league games first and foremost to gauge better where we are at.

For me we don't need to change our game. What we need to do to is play it better and improve compared to the level we are playing at. That may take weeks or a few months for us to find our feet. We may have to accept between now and Christmas it could be a transitional period and therefore be a slow burner.

Excellent post and exactly what LW will be doing, the worst thing we can be doing is panicking and ripping up the sheets that have got us back into the football league.
Unfortunately the majority of Notts fans aren't as calm and tbh didn't like the tippy tappy but couldn't really complain last season as it produced results ... but the two defeats have opened the door and we could even get a few 'gerrit forwards' on Saturday.
We need to do what we are doing better without a doubt as showed v Lincoln they anticipated our passes and got us to turn the ball over a lot more than any team in the NL
I'm not surprised by the negativity of the Notts fans(disappointed as I thought LW and the squad had bought more credit from last season) but hopefully we can all get behind the lads on Saturday as it won't do us any good what so ever if we turn on them and will show fickle at its worst.

[matt_magpie]

Some of the comments in this thread are quite negative and it's a shame that after what was achieved last season it does seem like the lid has been lifted on the bottle of negativity that has laid dormant for a year. One game in the league and a game against a team a league above that normally nobody would expect to win the game against a higher league team, and the credits ran out already for some fans it seems.

I'm not dismissing peoples genuine concerns about the defensive aspects of our game in the past two games in particular, and there is good debate and discussion to be had. The same for the service to the front men. Naturally there will be anxiety and fear amongst fans because of what happened five years ago. It would be naïve to suggest that from the first couple of games there are not issues in terms of defending set pieces such as corners and dealing with high balls into our area as we saw on Saturday. Likewise playing within ourselves which can come down to lack of confidence when you have 60-70% possession but nothing to show for it in terms of goal scoring opportunities, shots on target or goals.

Now is not the time to be undoing and ripping up all that has gone before because of this. The club has been loyal to the players who got us to this league and rightly so the way I see it. It's their chance and opportunity to prove themselves capable at this level. Plus this squad have largely been playing together for a year or more and that counts for a lot in football. Even more so when you've been part of a team that has had a record breaking season.

This group of players and manager are good enough to compete in this league. I'm not going to say challenge for the playoffs or promotion or anything at this point in time because the first job is to get to 50 points. Perhaps we've got caught up in the hype and I include myself in that and lost sight of that. We need to be a bit patient here and see what happens over the next nine league games first and foremost to gauge better where we are at.

For me we don't need to change our game. What we need to do to is play it better and improve compared to the level we are playing at. That may take weeks or a few months for us to find our feet. We may have to accept between now and Christmas it could be a transitional period and therefore be a slow burner.

Great post. I’ve never heard anything like it and genuinely shocked even on here. Yes we need at least another defender, I’m 99% sure the owners believe that too, yes we need to work out the best formation for this league and LW will work that out.
We weren’t lucky get 107 points last season, doesn’t that tell people regardless of the league, the owners, management and players all know what they’re doing, yes we need to adapt, it’s one game, but a jump to league 2 not the Prem, the club will sort.

[ajojones]

Great post. I’ve never heard anything like it and genuinely shocked even on here. Yes we need at least another defender, I’m 99% sure the owners believe that too, yes we need to work out the best formation for this league and LW will work that out.
We weren’t lucky get 107 points last season, doesn’t that tell people regardless of the league, the owners, management and players all know what they’re doing, yes we need to adapt, it’s one game, but a jump to league 2 not the Prem, the club will sort.

This.

[countygump]

What we could have won in Round 2 - Sheff Utd (away)

It's a good job we lost then as the thrashing they'd have handed out to us would not have helped.

[durhampie]

Baj didn’t get injured he got dropped,he was excellent for 2-3 games and then for some unknown reason he totally lost his form.
Once again you couldn’t resist having a pop at Bostock - get over it we wouldn’t have been promoted without him - fact

I shall have a pop at whoever i think warrants one, and not for you tell me otherwise. So get back in your ivory tower.. Its rose tinted people like you that stood waving us off when we got relegated.