Match Thread vs. Chesterfield 21.11.20 [NL]

[nw6pie]

Well, I paid a tenner and really enjoyed about 30 minutes of our performance - the first 20 and the last 10 minutes. The rest of the game was hard work, but I thought a point would have been a fair result. Football, bloody hell and all that.

We’re our own worst enemies generally, with some dreadfully sloppy passes giving the opposition some great chances. We’re crying out for a midfielder who can get their foot in and get up and down the pitch. We won’t go anywhere with a midfield three of Doyle, O’Brien and Reeves, who were taking it in turns to give the ball away.

Couple of great things from today:

1 Three set piece goals.
2 Sam and Rodrigues came off the bench and made a difference. That’s encouraging, at least.

[for*sttown63]

At last....an intelligent and rational comment on an afternoon of irrational posts!
God bless you sir!

[for*sttown63]

....that was meant for the Sidders post!! 👍

[Mark_Ross]

Of course we're all celebrating an incredible win!

But it's yet another underwhelming performance against unfancied opposition, and how have we ended up with so old & pedestrian a midfield?

[magpie_mania]

Only watched the second-half, for a lot of it we had most of the ball but weren't going anywhere. But if you are a Notts fan, can you really not celebrate winning like that?

I am hoping that it will get us going again, not totally convinced but this is what supporting Notts has been like for nearly 30 years.

Hopefully there will be a few smiles on the players faces at training this week and some positivity. The midfield needs changing though.

[optipez]

Can we run a poll how many on here are celebrating the injury time 3-2 away victory and how many aren't?

I think it's safe to say Biker isn't.

Irish I bet you were spitting feathers when we rudely scored the equaliser and winner in injury time. Hope the cats ok?

I'm delighted. We're not playing well but Ardley made two good substitutions that improved us. Turner was at fault for the second, losing Denton and leaving him mismatched with DKE and we should always be starting with two up top, we looked lost pre season playing one up and did today, it completely wastes Wootton.

[matt_magpie]

I see the positives, we’re not at the races yet but we’ve still won half our games. Sam and Rodriguez seem to be finally getting up to speed. I’m still pro Ardley, don’t buy any of this rubbish he’s not motivating the team, as any good pro will tell you they never needed the manager to motivate them.

[CheltenhamPie]

The next 45 minutes will show whether Ardley is able to manage Notts or not. Failure to win this game will leave so many question marks against the ability of the present management being able to achieve the promotion that we so desperately need.

Let us hope the tide is finally turning and better days are ahead. Goodness knows, as supporters we deserve them.

[jackal2]

Just popped in to see how we did as my interest in Notts is in decline. I would much rather that a decent bloke (Ardley) found his form then that we go through the rigmarole of changing managers and crossing our fingers that the right decision was made.

Broadly speaking I agree. I don't want Neal Ardley to fail, partly because I do think he's a decent guy, but mainly because I think we desperately need stability in the manager's office and the club in general. As you say, if Ardley was sacked there is no guarantee that the successor will do better.

The frustration is that - so far - the manager doesn't seem to be learning the pretty stark and obvious lesson that his current tactics are making his team too vulnerable. We're too reliant on playing one way and the opposition know we're there to be got at. Only a last minute "Hail Mary" effort got us out of a sticky situation today.

Think about the successful Notts managers like Sirrel, Warnock and Allardyce and their tactics were designed to play to the strengths of their players and disguise their weaknesses. I fear that Ardley's tactics too often do the precise opposite, giving our opponents more of a shot at beating us than they should have.

Hopefully, we will emerge from today's game with the best possible outcome - three points AND a recognition by the manager that he has to change things up. If that's the case and we start winning more games with what is undoubtedly a very strong squad for this level, then everyone should be happy.

[laddo]

I seem to be liking jackal2 and optipez's posts more and more and I've always thought they both speak sense and they've nailed it once again here.

One thing we can surely all agree on is overall we aren't playing well this season, regardless of whether we win, lose or draw.

Perhaps we can start a 'I'm delighted Notts won club' ? To add some much needed positivity to the board.

Just a thought