⚽Match thread v Tranmere Rovers 01.01.24 [EFL L2]

[SmiffyPie]

Out of interest, who are the 5 L1 players? Who’s non-league out of Langstaff, Crowley, McGoldrick, Jones, Bostock, Baldwin, Nemane, Cameron?

You have answered your own question. The first five are the L1, your last three are the start of the less able (I wouldn't label them NL but some of them are close!). Although saying that, if Baldwin had someone to take control along side him he would be a L1 squad player.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

I can't help feeling there is going to be a fair amount of disappointment around over the next few weeks.

A lot of faith is being placed in January and our 'obvious' needs. Lots of calls for recruitment of defenders. We 'need' a new GK. We also need more strength in depth in midfield. And all these players need to be able to slot straight into the Notts way.

I'll be happy to be proved wrong but it isn't going to happen. As someone's already said, 4 GKs on the books is excessive. And for a new GK to have all the qualities that are apparently required, it seems like we need Jordan Pickford. Good luck with that.

We need another defender with decent pace and strength who can go with a runner. Oh, not forgetting they also need to be confident carrying the ball into the opposite half. In short we need another Baldwin. That won't be easy.

The biggest issue with the defence is not the players. We play a back 3. Of course this doesn't give us the solidity of a back 4. Those 3 seem reluctant to get pulled any wider than the width of the goal. Nemane and Jones are asked to do the jobs of full backs, neither of them are, they're wingers.

This is the system we play. It is a gamble, we are lightweight defensively because we are so loaded with attacking players. This isn't supposed to matter because we're supposed to control the game. LW is always talking about it. We control the play at all times and then it doesn't matter if you are lightweight defensively because you can't concede if you have the ball.

I thought we looked tired second half. Same XI for all 4 Xmas games is a big ask in a high energy football model. I also thought Tranny looked decent and well prepared. They managed to survive our high energy counter press when we lost the ball, which we did too often, so we use a lot of energy for nothing, and they had clearly targeted our right as a weakness. Too many people didn't go with runners. No, actually too many people didn't STAY with runners, they got left behind, I think our legs had gone.

The break should do us good but I would not be expecting miracles from the recruitment team, or for our defensive frailty to improve massively. The way we keep clean sheets is by totally dominating the play as we have recently at home. And that just isn't going to happen every game.

I also don’t think we can expect January to be a magic bullet and the we are instantly going to go out and pay overinflated prices for players and neither should we in my opinion.

If we can find some players who are not getting games as the likes of lower championship sides like Rotherham and upper league one sides who may be out of contract in the summer they might suffice. What we have to remember as well is it’s asking a lot expecting players to come in and make and instant impact. It takes time for players to adapt to how we play. This is why there needs to be patience.

It might seem premature for some fans or unpalatable for others but for me our chances of top three have somewhat diminished in the past six weeks now we have lost ten games. We are currently seven points behind Wrexham and Mansfield and both have a game in hand of us, and Mansfield have two games in hand. We will know more after we have played Stockport, Barrow and Mansfield. The only way we can close that gap realistically is by taking points off those three as we are playing catch up.

I’d be thinking about trying to finish in the playoffs and for me this is more realistic based on where we are at and gives any new players a few months to prepare and bed in ready for such an event. So in that respect we would be an attractive proposition. If they do well then we could sign them in the summer as well.

If someone had offered playoffs at the start of the season I would have been happy with that.

The summer is when the best deals can be done and a lot of good players become available (Ruben Rodrigues and Kyle Wootton for example when their contracts ended) and we might be able to pick up the odd National League star as well.

[upthemaggies]

Valid points about the Jan window. Problem with giving up on automatic though is that the air of resignation can ultimately drain the life out of the push for the play offs as well. This season is beginning to remind me of that Allardyce-Brazil campaign where we were top 2 into November and ended up finishing 8th.

[i961pie]

Valid points about the Jan window. Problem with giving up on automatic though is that the air of resignation can ultimately drain the life out of the push for the play offs as well. This season is beginning to remind me of that Allardyce-Brazil campaign where we were top 2 into November and ended up finishing 8th.

If the teams below us win their games in hand we will be 8th.

[ThePieWhoCameIn]

I don’t think anyone’s expecting a League 2 Beckenbauer or a 2024 Maldini to turn up in Jan and transform us overnight.,Maintaining an attacking threat AND not having a worse defensive record than the league’s bottom club isn’t too much to ask though is it?

No, shouldn't be too much to ask. It would be interesting to know how many goals against have been from individual clangers though. Not even bad defending, just the complete brain fart ones.

As for Robertson signing, that is a definite wait and see for me. Just checked his record this season and it's not very inspiring. Hardly started a game and when he has he's been hooked at HT. And for a team bottom of L1. Hopefully the radar saw something his managers didn't.

[the_anticlough]

I can't help feeling there is going to be a fair amount of disappointment around over the next few weeks.

A lot of faith is being placed in January and our 'obvious' needs. Lots of calls for recruitment of defenders. We 'need' a new GK. We also need more strength in depth in midfield. And all these players need to be able to slot straight into the Notts way.

I'll be happy to be proved wrong but it isn't going to happen. As someone's already said, 4 GKs on the books is excessive. And for a new GK to have all the qualities that are apparently required, it seems like we need Jordan Pickford. Good luck with that.

We need another defender with decent pace and strength who can go with a runner. Oh, not forgetting they also need to be confident carrying the ball into the opposite half. In short we need another Baldwin. That won't be easy.

The biggest issue with the defence is not the players. We play a back 3. Of course this doesn't give us the solidity of a back 4. Those 3 seem reluctant to get pulled any wider than the width of the goal. Nemane and Jones are asked to do the jobs of full backs, neither of them are, they're wingers.

This is the system we play. It is a gamble, we are lightweight defensively because we are so loaded with attacking players. This isn't supposed to matter because we're supposed to control the game. LW is always talking about it. We control the play at all times and then it doesn't matter if you are lightweight defensively because you can't concede if you have the ball.

I thought we looked tired second half. Same XI for all 4 Xmas games is a big ask in a high energy football model. I also thought Tranny looked decent and well prepared. They managed to survive our high energy counter press when we lost the ball, which we did too often, so we use a lot of energy for nothing, and they had clearly targeted our right as a weakness. Too many people didn't go with runners. No, actually too many people didn't STAY with runners, they got left behind, I think our legs had gone.

The break should do us good but I would not be expecting miracles from the recruitment team, or for our defensive frailty to improve massively. The way we keep clean sheets is by totally dominating the play as we have recently at home. And that just isn't going to happen every game.

Agree with virtually all of that.

I don't mind conceding that there are 3 stand out teams in L2 this year. I think we all know which 3 teams are going up. Autos is out of reach not because we conceded goals and lost to Harrogate, Colchester, Tranmere. It's because there are 3 excellent teams above us. All 3 of the top teams have beaten us and proved it.

If we snag one of the 4 play-off places, nobody will fancy playing us and we'll have a shot whoever we face. We need about 33 points to achieve this in 20 games - W9 D6 L5 or W10 D3 L7, all to play for.

[jackal2]

The biggest issue with the defence is not the players. We play a back 3. Of course this doesn't give us the solidity of a back 4. Those 3 seem reluctant to get pulled any wider than the width of the goal. Nemane and Jones are asked to do the jobs of full backs, neither of them are, they're wingers.

This is the system we play. It is a gamble, we are lightweight defensively because we are so loaded with attacking players. This isn't supposed to matter because we're supposed to control the game. LW is always talking about it. We control the play at all times and then it doesn't matter if you are lightweight defensively because you can't concede if you have the ball.

True.

In the National League this worked in most games because our players were man-for-man considerably better than those of most of our opponents who had smaller resources, but now in League Two our superiority is far less pronounced, and against the top sides we're not superior at all. Mansfield and Wrexham for example over-powered us.

Moreover, it's less than realistic to expect to completely control play away from home against most League two opposition, because they have similar resources to us, and that's where our problems begin. When we're not in control, then out of possession we're actually quite a flimsy outfit with too many attacking/creative players and not enough defensive/ball-winning players.

The recruitment in January needs to focus on defensively-minded players who, whilst still being capable of passing a ball, are primarily equipped to destroy rather than create, because in some games you've got to win the battle before you're able to play your football.

At the moment our squad, and therefore our team, is top-heavy with creators and low on destroyers. We need the right balance of both, whatever formation we play.

[pjace]

True.

In the National League this worked in most games because our players were man-for-man considerably better than those of most of our opponents who had smaller resources, but now in League Two our superiority is far less pronounced, and against the top sides we're not superior at all. Mansfield and Wrexham for example over-powered us.

Moreover, it's less than realistic to expect to completely control play away from home against most League two opposition, because they have similar resources to us, and that's where our problems begin. When we're not in control, then out of possession we're actually quite a flimsy outfit with too many attacking/creative players and not enough defensive/ball-winning players.

The recruitment in January needs to focus on defensively-minded players who, whilst still being capable of passing a ball, are primarily equipped to destroy rather than create, because in some games you've got to win the battle before you're able to play your football.

At the moment our squad, and therefore our team, is top-heavy with creators and low on destroyers. We need the right balance of both, whatever formation we play.

Spot on Jackal agree 100%

[1955pie]

Agree with virtually all of that.

I don't mind conceding that there are 3 stand out teams in L2 this year. I think we all know which 3 teams are going up. Autos is out of reach not because we conceded goals and lost to Harrogate, Colchester, Tranmere. It's because there are 3 excellent teams above us. All 3 of the top teams have beaten us and proved it.

If we snag one of the 4 play-off places, nobody will fancy playing us and we'll have a shot whoever we face. We need about 33 points to achieve this in 20 games - W9 D6 L5 or W10 D3 L7, all to play for.

In essence I think you are right about who will probably go up automatically.
We cant escape the fact though, that the goals conceded to Harrogate, Colchester, Wlasall & Tranmere cost us badly. Just 6 points from those 4 games would have had us right in the mix for the autos.
About 33 points as you say from 20 games will probably give us a decent chance of a play off spot. However we have only achieved 12 points from the last 11 games so we will have to up our game significantly. I think without at least another 2 additions in defence that that chance will be a diminishing one.
Hopefully Scott Robertson will be able to provide support for the defence, take some of the load off JB and free up SA for what he does best.

[OP67]

WTF was Brindley doing for their 1st, a **** weak attempt to block the cross then just jogs around no mans land while the ball bounces around the penalty area, get him gone!!!

The 2nd the asme sh*te attempt from the other side to block the cross!!

The 3rd A typical Stone blunder, I'd love to know what quality he has that led us to signing him?

The 4th not a care in the world from Stone.

An all round piss poor defensive display yet AGAIN!!!!