Match Thread vs.Grimsby 23.05.22

[durhampie]

Some really good recent posts on the match thread.

I don't think he's good enough either due to lack of mobility, saying that many thought he wouldn't reach 20 goals. As for Ruben, if he goes I want big ££££ because his stats and productivity (goals/assists) have been superb this season especially away from Meadow Lane.

The radar clearly worked with those two, but big shoes to fill if it wants to do it again.

The thing is, Roberts and Rodrigues both have one year remaining on there contracts. Meaning they can both leave on a free at the end of next season. So to recoup our investment in them, we need to sell for as much as possible and invest in a couple decent players who can get us out of this league.....

[laddo]

Agreed its either big money this summer (ideally for one of them only) and reinvest. Or if a sizeable offer doesn't come in then we need to invest in additional players to support these two who are both too good for this level and should be playing in the EFL to give us the best chance of promotion.

I am a big fan of Rodriques (as I am sure most Notts fans are) it will be extremely difficult to find as an effective replacement for him, less so Roberts, who clearly has the ability but comes with more negatives IMO.

[countygump]

Notts County winger Callum Roberts has set the record straight on his night of play-off agony as he explained his early substitution in the defeat to Grimsby.

The former Newcastle winger had to be replaced by Eli Sam after just 20 minutes in the quarter-final clash as Ian Burchnall's side lost 2-1 after extra time.

Roberts punched the ground in frustration at having to go off which many had presumed was the result of a knock he sustained earlier in the game. But he has now addressed the situation in a social media post on Twitter had said he wanted to respond to fans who were calling him "injury prone."

"A real cruel and sad way to play my final game of the season," he wrote. "I am gutted for everyone associated with the club that we fell short again but these things happen in football and we now have to come back even stronger.

"I'd just like to address some of the fans who are now calling me injury prone again. Before the game I took an injection to get me through 120 minutes of football. Unfortunately, this didn't go to plan and numbed my whole leg and foot which meant I wasn't able to run and kick properly.

"But to end on a positive note I'd like to thank the fans for their continued support all season. It's been amazing."

Notts had looked on course to seal victory over the Mariners having taken the lead through Ruben Rodrigues' penalty with 20 minutes remaining.

But with the last kick of normal time, Gavin Holohan scrambled in the equaliser after Jayden Richardson conceded a needless free-kick.

Mani Dieseruvwe then broke Notts' hearts with two minutes remaining of extra time as the Magpies were consigned to another season in the National League. Reflecting on a disappointing night, Burchnall said: "It's a cruel way to lose a game. For 90 minutes I thought we were great.

"There was nothing between the two teams. Both played their part in a very entertaining game. They equalised with the very last kick of the game, they throw everyone forward and it's chaos. I actually thought we handled it well and it could have gone either way.

"I thought the boys were fantastic. We lost Callum early on and had to adapt quickly and I thought we did that well. I've seen the last goal and it looks offside which is frustrating and maybe it was going to be something like that which decided the game."

https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport...oberts-7120977

[Mark_Ross]

Another traumatic night for all at NCFC. I'm sorry for my ranting posts last night.

I think (as some have alluded to) last night neatly summed up all the repeated weaknesses & frustrations of the season.

How IB can say he thought Notts were good is beyond me. We were clearly second best all night. Grimsby were nothing special, but credit to them, they battled / chased / pressured relentlessly and in the end got their just reward. Notts seemed ponderous. They won all the loose balls and 50 /50s. Notts created remarkably little. In fact, did their keeper have a single save to make - apart from the penalty? After having said that we could still have "stolen" a win - if we had had enough steel and just a bit of tactical nous. But it was painfully obvious how things were developing after we were gifted the penalty. Rather than deflate Grimsby it moved them up a gear, and Notts duly wilted under the pressure. Sam old, same old all season & nothing learned. When the pressure is on we wilt. No change in tactics. No counter attack. Just a submission to the inevitable.

See you all next season. Perhaps we will get lucky with new players (manager?). I fear we are going to need all the luck we can get.

[MarcusCole]

So I have slept on what I saw last night and spent some time at work thinking about it and here are my thoughts on the subject.

I have never seen a football team that passes back to the goalie so often. I can understand doing it in certain circumstances but with us it seems to be a standard move just because we can't find a way to pass forward. Have we set some sort of record for this?

The manager seems to prefer playing out from the back, but that is not what we do, we play it around at the back without any real idea what to do with it and with nothing more than a general hope that something comes along.

We don't seem to have a defence, oh we have players sort of doing that role but when it come to the bread and butter of the role they are really lacking in the skills to do the role. I think we rather have a line of defensive midfielders rather than defenders.

When I think it over we are causing so many of the problems we encounter, we have the "Defenders" passing the ball around at the back hoping a space becomes available that they can exploit but what we are doing is splitting the pitch into two sections while doing so. We have the "Defenders" passing the ball around between them, so with them and the goalie we have 5 of the team slitp off from the others while the other 6 are trying to make something happen. The opposition only need to send 2 players to try and break this up and so make it that our 6 players are up against their 9 remaining players so ours are completely outnumbered and will have problems finding space to do anything.

We are also massively adverse to try a counter attack, when the opposition's attack breaks down we never try to get them on the break but rather wait for them to get all their players back in position before trying to start anything and then find ourselves back in the position mentioned above.

There is a lack of pace in the team. I sometimes wonder if the opposition are just allowing us to attack as they know when it breaks down, and it often will as we seem to try to overplay the ball way too often, they can get us on the break before we can get back into position.

Wootton. I really get the impression this guy has already agreed terms with another club and has just been going through the motions and making sure he doesn't get injured. Most of the time he just doesn't look as if he is trying.

Cal. Sell him asap. He has a certain level of skill but he is just so overrated. He is just too one footed so a good defender only needs to keep him on his off foot and he is just a make weight at that point. He is unable to cross the ball without cutting in and so play grinds to a halt while he tries to get on his good foot. It would be better to have him play so he can cross the ball in just a moment but that is not how he is played.

The pace we try to play the game at is far too slow for this league, we get cut to pieces by teams that can play at pace. we are the masters of turning attack into passing the ball back to the keeper. I don't think IB understands that it isn't keeping possession that wins games but scoring goals. Too many times we have tried the possesion game lost the ball when out of position and had the opposition break with pace and score.

IB. The guy is clueless, doesn't even seem to have a working plan A let alone an idea that he needs to have a Plan B. I often listen to his interview after the match and wonder it I was at a different match.

[BigFatPie]

Another traumatic night for all at NCFC. I'm sorry for my ranting posts last night.

I think (as some have alluded to) last night neatly summed up all the repeated weaknesses & frustrations of the season.

How IB can say he thought Notts were good is beyond me. We were clearly second best all night. Grimsby were nothing special, but credit to them, they battled / chased / pressured relentlessly and in the end got their just reward. Notts seemed ponderous. They won all the loose balls and 50 /50s. Notts created remarkably little. In fact, did their keeper have a single save to make - apart from the penalty? After having said that we could still have "stolen" a win - if we had had enough steel and just a bit of tactical nous. But it was painfully obvious how things were developing after we were gifted the penalty. Rather than deflate Grimsby it moved them up a gear, and Notts duly wilted under the pressure. Sam old, same old all season & nothing learned. When the pressure is on we wilt. No change in tactics. No counter attack. Just a submission to the inevitable.

See you all next season. Perhaps we will get lucky with new players (manager?). I fear we are going to need all the luck we can get.

Grimsby went up a gear after our goal?? No they didn’t, we actually managed the game really well until Richardson’s brainfart.

[Elite_Pie]

How IB can say he thought Notts were good is beyond me.

If the NP article is correct, for 90 minutes he didn't think we were good, he thought we were great! For most of the season Burchnall has been honest and talked a lot of sense in his post-match interviews, but for the last few games he's mainly talked bollox. I'm a bit curious to find out whether he would have learned a few lessons if he stays, but my gut feeling is that it's in the best interest for him and us if he goes.

[jackal2]

If the NP article is correct, for 90 minutes he didn't think we were good, he thought we were great! For most of the season Burchnall has been honest and talked a lot of sense in his post-match interviews, but for the last few games he's mainly talked bollox.

Fair comment. He sounds like a man on the defensive or in outright denial at the moment. That worries me a little, because if the gaffer can't be honest with himself about the weaknesses in his team and his philosophy, then how can he know what needs improving?

It could be that he's far more aware of the team's shortcomings than he lets on, but he doesn't believe in criticising players or discussing tactical weaknesses outside the dressing room. If that's the case then I can tolerate some of his more baffling comments recently, so long as he demonstrates his true learning this summer in the signings he makes and a less complicated playing style next year.

Of course, this may well be academic if he goes to Forest Green Rovers, but the lessons he needs to learn are the same, because the weaknesses seen in his teams at this level would be far more ruthlessly and consistently exposed in League One.

[Mark_Ross]

Marcus

I agree with nearly all you say. In particular, the lack of pace / urgency in attack and the obsession with pointless (& hazardous) possession at the very rear are chronic.

[Mark_Ross]

BFP
"We actually managed the game really well until Richardson’s brainfart."

Really? I thought it was all one way traffic! Why didn't we counter attack to relieve the pressure &/or finish the game off?