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

[Proactive not Reactive]

What worries me is that LW doesn't seem to have a solid grasp of what is required to be successful at this level. He's a bit of a maverick when it comes to tactics and approach, and that makes the whole thing feel a bit like a giant experiment. It could go spectacularly well or it could blow up in our faces.

Other clubs have managers who understand exactly what is needed - relative dinosaurs like Parkinson, Clough, and Hughes. They understand that you need to be well drilled, solid at the back, and physical first, and once you've got that solid foundation in place, you can then start to think about playing fancy attacking football.

Fans of other clubs have called out their astonishment at our high line and kamikaze defending just as much as they have our attacking prowess, and every team we play will be looking to exploit our obvious weaknesses. What are we doing to counter that threat?

We'll know a lot more after Saturday, but it already looks like a pivotal game. I'm not confident because I know those issues that have been plain as day for months now will still be there.

We're playing in a higher division now. What worked in the NL won't necessarily work in L2. Possession football means nothing if the opposition has three times as many chances are we do.

That is so insulting to LW he's a top coach who last season moved a number of players into new positions including turning Macca into a centre forward who scored 42 goals plus improved the playing style and made it our best season as regards entertainment and league position for 13 years

Did other relative dinosaurs like Cox,Johnson,Devonshire etc in the NL know all the above things when we comfortably finished 2nd against them all.

All those other club fans were jealous of us including Wrexham because we were playing exciting football and playing it successfully.
Obviously all these things that LW introduced starting from double training sessions,individual and team meetings from Day 1 was all lucky and all the hours he spent planning and coaching the players wasn't building a solid foundation - do me a favour !

If we hadn't played this possession style of football do you think we would have enticed the likes of Bostock,Jones and McGoldrick to the club
Wrexham enticed that quality of player with money we don't have that level of finance so have done it with our brand of football.
Granted it appears to be a better standard in League 2 and we might have believed the bookies and pundits that we would walk this league but I trust LW more than Parkinson,Clough & Hughes to get to grips with it with a few tweeks to make sure we are in Division 2 next season and between him and the owners lead us to better things.

The best thing we can do now is get behind and encourage the players with as much noise as possible Saturday

[slack_pie]

That is so insulting to LW he's a top coach who last season moved a number of players into new positions including turning Macca into a centre forward who scored 42 goals plus improved the playing style and made it our best season as regards entertainment and league position for 13 years

Did other relative dinosaurs like Cox,Johnson,Devonshire etc in the NL know all the above things when we comfortably finished 2nd against them all.

All those other club fans were jealous of us including Wrexham because we were playing exciting football and playing it successfully.
Obviously all these things that LW introduced starting from double training sessions,individual and team meetings from Day 1 was all lucky and all the hours he spent planning and coaching the players wasn't building a solid foundation - do me a favour !

If we hadn't played this possession style of football do you think we would have enticed the likes of Bostock,Jones and McGoldrick to the club
Wrexham enticed that quality of player with money we don't have that level of finance so have done it with our brand of football.
Granted it appears to be a better standard in League 2 and we might have believed the bookies and pundits that we would walk this league but I trust LW more than Parkinson,Clough & Hughes to get to grips with it with a few tweeks to make sure we are in Division 2 next season and between him and the owners lead us to better things.

The best thing we can do now is get behind and encourage the players with as much noise as possible Saturday

I didn't mean it to be insulting towards him. I'm a big fan of LW. He's done a wonderful job so far at Notts, and he's a cracking guy as well.

What I'm saying is his approach is so far removed from what's considered 'normal' at this level that it sometimes feels like a big experiment playing out in real-time. Last season it worked spectacularly, and we managed to keep pace with big-spending Wrexham through our innovative approach. But there were cracks in the system last season, and they haven't been addressed. Better teams will exploit our weaknesses, which are clear for everyone to see.

Rather than prioritising the strengthening of our defence over the summer, we added more attacking players and continued with the players and system who were starting to get found out last season. It's possible to love LW but still see that we have issues that need addressing, and that those issues would already have been addressed as a priority by most 'dinosaur' managers at this level.

I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth. Last season, playing the way did allowed us to score over a hundred goals, and the price of that was being more open at the back than some other teams. But this season, playing against better opposition, that approach might not work. Or maybe it will. Know knows? Like I said, it's like a giant experiment that could go either way.

[durhampie]

Of course you will as long as its Bostock,Nemane,McGoldrick or Stone
No I was encouraging and supporting them when we won leagues and promotions and suffered relegations.
Having played football and managed football teams as well as managing people in a workplace I have found its better to encourage and try to help them rather than abuse and boo them and yields better results
Got to go now to fetch my rose tinted specs, the suns getting in my eyes

As i have said, i will have a pop at anyone who i think is not the right fit for our team. In this instance it just happens to be those guys. I have nothing against any of them, they are both talented footballers. but in my opinion they are not suited to our style of play. If you dont agree then fine, just dont keep preaching on like some religious convert...

[PedroTheFisherman66]

Let's not forget you cannot get promoted out of the National league playing football .!!!🤭👊

[SongBird]

Let's not forget you cannot get promoted out of the National league playing football .!!!🤭👊

Good point and also, you can't get relegated from League Two by losing in the EFL Cup.

[magpie_mania]

The thing is no one is saying rip anything up. I said we can still play good football in this league but we need two defenders and to work out how to create chances. That's true, the defence wasn't great last season but we only played around 5 good teams in the league and against those we had mixed results. We have bad goals away all year but most glossed over it and probably forgot that it's a big step up against hungry teams.

We do need to press from the front, as we have seen in our two games so far, Sutton and Lincoln pressed us hard and won the ball back leading to goals. We do need to stop panicking when they cross the ball but we have done this for years. We also need to work out how to create chances against better defences who don't give us time on the ball. Ruben had what 16 assists last season. He's gone so where are they coming from? Nemane can't do it all. Also Jim is still the only midfielder we have in the style he plays.

All posts have said they have confidence in LW to get it right so no one is being dramatic. At the same time confidence is massive in football, can make the same players good or bad. If we lose some more in a row then it'll be a struggle to get rid of that. No one is saying we need to rip up anything and all our players are crap but at the same time we need a stronger defence that doesn't panic, to be more dynamic on the ball before it gets taken off us and to find a way to get Macca more chances. To say otherwise would be wrong.

Those mixed results, against the other teams in the top 7, including play-off games were:

W7 D6 L1

I'm more than happy with that.

[BJPIE]

As usual and rightly so, for this is a forum for us as fans and we all have differing opinions.
I would simply ask is there anyone out there who really understands why the club didn't address the defence in the close season?
It's a serious question because for all our success last season, we struggled to defend when out of possession.
I honestly have found that baffling.

[durhampie]

As usual and rightly so, for this is a forum for us as fans and we all have differing opinions.
I would simply ask is there anyone out there who really understands why the club didn't address the defence in the close season?
It's a serious question because for all our success last season, we struggled to defend when out of possession.
I honestly have found that baffling.

You need to ask Mr proactive, he knows everything

[SmiffyPie]

This close season or the numerous other close seasons when it have been blatantly obvious that we need to do it.

[1955pie]

As usual and rightly so, for this is a forum for us as fans and we all have differing opinions.
I would simply ask is there anyone out there who really understands why the club didn't address the defence in the close season?
It's a serious question because for all our success last season, we struggled to defend when out of possession.
I honestly have found that baffling.

Interesting question.
Maybe it is because you can't find a bargain when it comes to a defender - they can either defend or they can't.
OK they have to be able to play the position and you want them to be able to pass reliably and carry it out and head the ball etc but that info is there for all to see.
I suspect defenders have their price and you either pay it or you don't - and Notts are looking for bargains.

Or maybe Radars' system isn't too smart on defenders?