Still waiting for the best news of all. . . .

[Iremongersrighthand]

Yeah, Bostock is class. Was a bit slow to get going, but by the end of season he was our best player - especially in the playoff final when it really mattered. He'll be a cracking player for a few years to come.

Absolutely agree with this ⬆️ . He was the MOTM in the playoff final and it was a real pity he missed the penalty to win the game, he really deserved it.

[laddo]

I haven't seen anyone claim we were brilliant tbh, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if so that's just laughably wrong!

It's rare any team performs as well in a final as it does during a whole season for the obvious reasons. Look at Man City in Champions league final, where they were big favourites like us. I'm sure that was the hope of every Notts fan pre kickoff but would be unrealistic to think it would happen.

What was a surprise was how far our levels dropped, how many players who started played really well? 2. How many performed to or close to their normal levels?

Saying all that I do agree with people who said that we looked noticeably better on TV compared to in these stadium itself. Even playing sub-par we got better as the game went on and were the better side in extra time. A period of the game we would have never got to without Bostock not just because of the wonderful goal but his MOTM performance throughout. Pure class. Grimes was their MOTM imo.

Not to hear Stall and Charlie say we were dire (a little over the top) and frustrated, I imagine that's based purely on the fact they've watched all those games where we've been so impressive , so good and we weren't on the day. And of course the enormity of the playoff final that's going to make every fan frustrated it certainly did for me in block 113.

[upthemaggies]

Not to hear Stall and Charlie say we were dire (a little over the top) and frustrated,.

They didn't use the word "dire" to be fair, I probably should have said "agreed that Notts hadn't turned up", the frustration in Charlie's voice was palpable however, directing his anger at a player who was trying to gee up the Notts crowd "Give them something to get behind!!!!!" he was retorting, or words to that effect.

Notts and Wrexham were way out in front in the 800 meters, Notts pulled up with a hamstring, then limped, fell over and crawled over the line with Chesterfield forcing a photo finish decision. How that bodes for next season may be an irrelevance, but I did grimace when seeing people on here predicting top 3 next season.

We've earned the right to play in tier 4 and it's certainly a possibility, given the relative size of our club, that we will go straight up auto, though the probability of three out of MKD, Swindon, Stags, Stockport, Tranmere, Salford NOT finishing above us next season seems a bit more remote having seen how we performed in the play offs.

[durhampie]

Watched the playoff final back yesterday for the first time. Bostock was great, but god we were generally awful. I’m surprised Oxford didn’t have second thoughts about Ruben on the strength of that performance. What with Slocombe being a liability and Macca not being really in it we were playing with 8 men until Jodi and Scott improved things.

Nemane was fantastic, still hope he signs but I think he’s probably gone.

To be honest i thought we were fortunate to get through the semi final. Those last two games were the worst that we had performed all season. But we won, and at the end of the day thats all that mattered..

[countygump]

To be honest i thought we were fortunate to get through the semi final. Those last two games were the worst that we had performed all season. But we won, and at the end of the day thats all that mattered..

P/O finals , semi finals, are pretty much all notoriously tight, (boring) games that are often won or lost by a moment of magic, or an unfortunate Oops, moment. It's just the nature of football these days.

[laddo]

I thought we were unfortunate in the semi final and fortunate in the final.

Obviously the Notts semi final was anything but boring , but too tight for comfort.

Predicting where we will finish (especially in a new league) is a brave move whether your are OTT positive or negative. At this stage I ain't taking 8/11 on a top 7 finish that's for sure.

[optipez]

We were a tired team by the season's end. Staying in touch with Wrexham was a massive achievement with the resources they threw at it.
To get through both the semi and the final after being behind for so much of it showed tremendous character, men of steel. They had the burden of being strong favourites and the fear of blowing it, to come through against all that and to still be driving forward when Chesterfield had players cramping up in extra time was something to be proud of.
How we do next season is up in the air but I suspect we'll make another four signings, ( keeper, two centre halves / full backs, centre midfield ) and if they're first team ready there's no reason we can't make top seven if they're good enough and we have a bit of luck with injuries.

[Mark_Ross]

Watched the playoff final back yesterday for the first time. Bostock was great, but god we were generally awful. I’m surprised Oxford didn’t have second thoughts about Ruben on the strength of that performance. What with Slocombe being a liability and Macca not being really in it we were playing with 8 men until Jodi and Scott improved things.

Nemane was fantastic, still hope he signs but I think he’s probably gone.

We can but hope!

I think Nemane was our most improved player. Outstanding really, which alas would not have gone un-noticed.

Bostock gradually became Midfield General. Would make an excellent foundation if he stays.

Re: that penalty - if it was a millimetre or two lower it'd probably have gone in off the crossbar and we would all be calling him the "GOAT" (and would have been spared those last few seconds of torture).

Last words on the playoffs:
Don't think anybody would disagree that we were far from our best, but what did people expect after 46 gruelling games? The players were cream crackered but found a way through sheer will to overcome all the odds and win. Would have loved to have seen a mid-season Notts smash'em to smithereens, but could not be more proud of what actually happened.

[BigFatPie]

We were a tired team by the season's end. Staying in touch with Wrexham was a massive achievement with the resources they threw at it.
To get through both the semi and the final after being behind for so much of it showed tremendous character, men of steel. They had the burden of being strong favourites and the fear of blowing it, to come through against all that and to still be driving forward when Chesterfield had players cramping up in extra time was something to be proud of.
How we do next season is up in the air but I suspect we'll make another four signings, ( keeper, two centre halves / full backs, centre midfield ) and if they're first team ready there's no reason we can't make top seven if they're good enough and we have a bit of luck with injuries.

That’s the thing, for all our much praised tactical nous, it was our better fitness that got us through both games. Chesterfield were dead on their feet, presumably from the effort of preventing us getting into our passing game. Let’s be right though, had they made better decisions on the numerous occasions they got behind us, they would have been out of sight.

I don’t believe in fate or karma, but the universe was definitely behind us in both those games.

[laddo]

I believe in karma and we got it in the final.

If Chesterfield should have been out of sight in the final with better decision making, we should have been out of sight against Borehamwood if Ruben had usual his shooting boots on.

Agree why we took over because of them being dead on their feet. We've seen it all season long , teams expend so much energy trying to get the ball off us, pressure and press us that they run out of steam and we take advantage.