Magpies vs Robins battle of the birds

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

After two home wins against relatively weak opposition in Chesterfield and Morecambe and a draw against a very good Accrington I think Swindon will be an equally tough challenge following their impressive win at Luton.

Nolan and Hardy are doing an amazing job of transforming our club and a draw or win to keep momentum going would be great. It's only points on the board at this stage. I've seen Notts six points clear top of the league at this stage and stay up on the final day of the season so I'm definitely not getting carried away. Dan Jones has gone from a calamity at Coventry to man of the match the past few games.

Swindon fans what do you put the home results down to?

 

[Indian Dan]

We are set up to play on the break - having very pacy forwards. At home we press too much too soon and we get done on the break by the opposition.

If we were to go a goal up at home we'd be fine, but usually a defensive cock up hands the opposition a goal so we chase the game even more leaving even more gaps at the back and teams run through us.

Seems a relatively simple issue to address, but . . .

 

[jacobncfc]

I'd probably take a draw here with the start we've now had, to be honest. Swindon look as erratic as anything, but our home form since Nolan took over is now looking pretty spectacular (W9 D4 L1), particularly considering that we'd won three home games in twelve months before that.

Ameobi is out injured for us which is a blow, he's a big part of the way that we play, but it does at least mean that Forte will start. We just look a better team when he's on the pitch for me, actually offers a threat in behind and a proper out ball.

Not sure where Tootle's got to since his red card against Accrington, but i'd also hope to see him back in the side if he's fit and available. Nicky Hunt has done fine defensively but Toots is much more of a threat on the overlap.

 

[Optipez]

This will be a big test for us. We are not quick at the back and do tend to play quite a high line.
If as Indian Dan says Swindon are pacey up front and play on the break that will pose us problems.
Always like a night match, and I'm expecting this to be quite keenly fought.

 

[Youpies]

Pace will definitely cause us problems. Only Dan Jones has genuine pace in our back line. Midfield relies on Grant to provide it. Upfront only Forte stretches the back line.

I'd be happy with a point and I think we will set up for one. It wouldn't surprise me if we went 451 for this game.

 

[Big Bird]

Tough one to predict. Probably say the draw is most likely and would happily return from Luton and Notts County away with 4 points.

 

[Conker]

After two home wins against relatively weak opposition in Chesterfield and Morecambe and a draw against a very good Accrington I think Swindon will be an equally tough challenge following their impressive win at Luton.

Nolan and Hardy are doing an amazing job of transforming our club and a draw or win to keep momentum going would be great. It's only points on the board at this stage. I've seen Notts six points clear top of the league at this stage and stay up on the final day of the season so I'm definitely not getting carried away. Dan Jones has gone from a calamity at Coventry to man of the match the past few games.

Swindon fans what do you put the home results down to?

I'm not on the windup but I think your going very OTT regarding Nolan and Hardy.

 

[LongEatonPie]

Yeah, I'd be happy with a point, with Forte starting it could be a right end to end game with Swindon hitting on the break.

Interesting to see how they are against set pieces as we finally seem to be better at them now.

Either way it will be a real test to see how far our defence has come on from last season.

 

[Agombar stool]

Real shame this is midweek as I've never been to Nottingham and would have loved a trip to ML.

 

[Agombar stool]

As for the game, I'm going for a narrow Town victory, but it should be a tough game against 2 decent sides.

 

[jacobncfc]

I'm not on the windup but I think your going very OTT regarding Nolan and Hardy.

I don't think it's over the top to say that they've transformed us from the position that we were in, to be honest. When they took over we'd just lost a club record 10 games in a row, weren't paying our players, had winding up orders all over the place and crowds had plummeted. We were not a happy club.

We've now got a manager, team, owner and fanbase that actually seem to be pulling in the same direction, for the first time that I can remember.

Nolan has now won as many in his 27 games in charge as we had in our previous 60, we're steadily averaging towards 6,000, Hardy seems to have us looking financially stable and he's putting a huge amount of energy and resources into connecting with the local community, lower prices a bit, making it more exciting for kids etc etc

There's still a bloody long way to go - we're at a level where our resources should really produce a good team anyway - but it's hard to criticise anything that they've done so far.

 

[Conker]

I genuinely have a feeling it's not going to go well for you lot with either Hardy and Nolan.

Just a hunch, especially Hardy, he's a tool.

 

[jacobncfc]

Fair, but I'm gonna stick with what I can see happening rather than a hunch atm.

Hardy clearly thinks the world of himself and could do with shutting his mouth every once in a while, but by all accounts he's also very good at what he does. He's already managed to achieve more and built more infrastructure wise than the Trews did in seven years, which is at least something if it does all go wrong.

Sorting a training ground is the big thing. Basford is fine temporarily but long term we really need something of our own.

 

[Droo]

I genuinely have a feeling it's not going to go well for you lot with either Hardy and Nolan.

Just a hunch, especially Hardy, he's a tool.

Coming from a supporter of a club with Steve Evans as manager, that's hilarious

 

[Conker]

Coming from a supporter of a club with Steve Evans as manager, that's hilarious

Evans is a proven manager at this level though, and I know he's a tool. I don't get why it's funny.

Training ground is very important, Radford is in the process of building a new complex just outside Mansfield.

 

[Youpies]

To be fair Nolan's managerial record is impressive so far. He's had just under a season but from what I can tell is the most competent manager we've had in years

Will it last? I'm not mystic meg so no bloody clue. If it does, it won't be long before Bolton come calling

 

[jacobncfc]

Evans is a proven manager at this level though, and I know he's a tool. I don't get why it's funny.

Training ground is very important, Radford is in the process of building a new complex just outside Mansfield.

I'd guess it's the track record of it all ending in tears for Evans' clubs.

 

[Conker]

I'd guess it's the track record of it all ending in tears for Evans' clubs.

Crawley didn't end in tears, and he did a good job there before the money came in.

I'm not going to defend his personality but he's a quality manager and definitely one of the best in the bottom two divisions of the football league.

He is a manager, not a chairman. This idea that he leaves clubs ruined is absolute shite.

 

[Indian Dan]

Any chance we can discuss County v Swindon and not The Slug

 

[LongEatonPie]

Crawley didn't end in tears, and he did a good job there before the money came in.

I'm not going to defend his personality but he's a quality manager and defiantly one of the best in the bottom two divisions of the football league.

He is a manager, not a chairman. This idea that he leaves clubs ruined is absolute shite.

He's definitely defiant!

 

[LongEatonPie]

Any chance we can discuss County v Swindon and not The Slug

Normally service will resume shortly.

 

[Indian Dan]

I had a greyhound once that I ran in the Long Eaton Derby - when the track was open, obviously.

 

[Big Bird]

County resting/rotating a few tonight?

 

[PiedPiper]

County resting/rotating a few tonight?

We have a few options that could strengthen or not have a negative effect on the team. Would imagine Tootle coming back at RB and seeing Milsom replacing Hewitt.

Got to imagine that it'll be Forte and Smith/Allesandra up front though which is my only worry. I like Forte and Allesandra but if Smith is on the pitch we are very much weakened

 

[Youpies]

Quite likely that Ameobi wont be fit.

Otherwise, I think we'll see no changes in defence, possibly Allesandra starting ahead of Hawkridge, Milsom, in for Hunt with Hewitt shoved to RB

 

[jacobncfc]

County resting/rotating a few tonight?

That's what Nolan said, but I'm pretty sure that he's said similar in the past and then not done it.

I'd expect two changes myself - Tootle and Forte for Hunt and Ameobi.

 

[Indian Dan]

Cant help think of this when Tootle is mentioned

 

[william death]

We have a few options that could strengthen or not have a negative effect on the team. Would imagine Tootle coming back at RB and seeing Milsom replacing Hewitt.

Got to imagine that it'll be Forte and Smith/Allesandra up front though which is my only worry. I like Forte and Allesandra but if Smith is on the pitch we are very much weakened

I'd be surprised if it's not Stead and Forte up top.

Looks like it's going to be played in pretty awful conditions, the amusingly named 'Storm Aileen'. For non-Notts fans, Aileen Trew is our ex-chairman's wife who, it is fair to say, divided opinion.

 

[jacobncfc]

I was wrong about the team, five changes. Grant and Jones, probably our two players of the season so far, on the bench.

Looks like we're setting up to make this a scrap and are relatively happy with keeping it 0-0, maybe with the likely conditions in mind or maybe with Swindon in mind, who knows.

 

[RavenBish]

ALAN SMITH SIGHTING