Notts County Vs Swindon Town FC Official Match Day Thread

[THE FLASH]

Hughes goal...

Lets all do the Hughesy!

Lets kill some old duffer!

La la la la la!

Shit goal to concede!! bah!

[The Professor]

Right, after 24 hours to ponder & consider last night's game I offer the following.
Firstly we were in contention for most of the first half (dominating the closing stages of the half) and contrary to what some have said I though Ritchie played OK seeming to be the main source of our attacking options. Austin was very tightly shackled with 2 sometimes 3 defenders in close proximity to him and at virtually every dead ball situation he was hustled & prevented from getting any contact.  Dossevi ran but offered little threat and was quickly neutralised.  I was not surprised when he was replaced.  I thought Timlin was solid, hardworking but unspectacular although I do think he has been a positive for the team since his return from the seaside. Douglas looked OK and he and Prutton were the most creative midfield players on the pitch.  Prutton endeavoured to create chances for most of the game and was, for me, the MOM.  In defence Smith was solid although I'd ask, like others, what is all this kicking to one side of the pitch all about?  It was routinely used again last night and on at least two occasions the ball went straight out giving Notts County the throw-in. Please vary it - it wasn't working & was very predictable.  In terms of his shot stopping & taking crosses there were no obvious scares or concerns.  Cuthbert was solid although he's undoubtedly a better central defender than a full back.  Having said that didn't he play full back whilst on loan from Celtic at St Mirren (?) or wherever?  Caddis, despite all the concerns about being too short, looked competent when he came on and I think deserves a run in the team.  JP also improved the shape of the team when he was on although this season he's yet (in my opinion) to reach the dazzling form he showed last season. Still an acceptable display on balance from him. Rose was adequate defensively, no better or worse than anyone else in the defence although I had hoped for a free kick 'special' towards the end but alas he missed the goal with his effort.
And so to the central defensive pairing!  Morrison & Jean Francois didn't lose too many in the air last night and we weren't obviously greatly threatened by Westcarr or Miller. Jean Francois is something of a ball playing defender and can be a liability. His booking last night was harsh - the player he was alleged to have 'fouled' had run across the face of the town defence, Jean Francois went to tackle him & he went down. According to my Notts County supporting friends, this is a feature of his play, inviting a tackle, spectacularly falling and winning a free kick.  My major complaint with Jean Francois is why can't he stay upright & on his feet?  He seems to get turned, becomes unbalanced & falls far too easily and we concede goals as a consequence. His substitution was because of this booking as a few minutes later he committed what for me was a worse & more obvious foul and the referee seemed loathe to book him again & get a red card out - referee's creating their own problems because a sending off would have been farcical. Morrison was not as dominant as I've seen him or as I'd have liked to have seen him.  I did fear the worst when Hughes came on as he's an experienced streetwise striker and I'm sure Morrison's inexperience in giving him too much room was the main reason for the goal.  I also wondered if Hughes didn't use his arm to help control the ball before shooting although that could be my red & white bias coming through.
So, in conclusion we were in contention for most of the match, little to choose between the teams until the introduction of Hughes. We seemed to be far too passive, not enough imposing ourselves on the game and I was surprised to see the BBC match stats afterwards that suggested how little there was between the teams.
As a Town fan living in Nottingham I've had to take some good natured banter today but I'd rather have been the one in the driving seat.  Not the best game I've seen at Meadow Lane but reports that our season has imploded are exaggerated

[r0b_ncfc]

Smith - Made some decent saves when one on one, kicks like a rubgy player - straight to touch. 5

Rose - Shit defensively, theres was always the other three in a line and then him out of position when defending. Corners were the worst ive ever seen. Always plays the same ball up the line, or runs across field = again out of position. 4

Cuthbert -Not a right back. 5

Morrison - Hahahahahahahahaahahahahaha.0

LJF - dodgy and class. Some shit decisions, some awful touches. Some fucking ace last ditch tackles saving morrisons backside. 5.5

Ritchie - What's the fuss about? None existant first half, bit more into it second half. But not amazing. 4

Timlin - Short fat, ran about without trioubling anybody. 3

Douglas - cant really remember noticing anything about him.

Prutton - don't like all the passing backwards but he won the ball well broke up play. did a lot of work ok. 5

Austin - Didn't look bothered. Got a knock and didn't recover. they always had two men on im for the throws and ball down the line, didn't really get much service.  didn't really win an awful lot, or win it and it came to something other than possesion for them.4

Dosevvi - runs runs runs looks at their player and lets him win the ball in the air. Trys hard but now i see why wilson chooses pericard - cause at least he tries to win the ball in the air. 4

Subs: JPM - 4
Caddis - 3
Ball - 4

All scores out of 100, it was that shit.

No wonder we lost though when out fans were chanting their players names for the enitre second half. Congratufucking lations.

Let's all do the hughesy.

Fortunately for us that seems to be very often the case, teams' supporters spend more time abusing Lee hughes than supporting their own team, and when he plays, often replies in the way he did last night.

[bassett boy]

Right, after 24 hours to ponder & consider last night's game I offer the following.
Firstly we were in contention for most of the first half (dominating the closing stages of the half) and contrary to what some have said I though Ritchie played OK seeming to be the main source of our attacking options. Austin was very tightly shackled with 2 sometimes 3 defenders in close proximity to him and at virtually every dead ball situation he was hustled & prevented from getting any contact.  Dossevi ran but offered little threat and was quickly neutralised.  I was not surprised when he was replaced.  I thought Timlin was solid, hardworking but unspectacular although I do think he has been a positive for the team since his return from the seaside. Douglas looked OK and he and Prutton were the most creative midfield players on the pitch.  Prutton endeavoured to create chances for most of the game and was, for me, the MOM.  In defence Smith was solid although I'd ask, like others, what is all this kicking to one side of the pitch all about?  It was routinely used again last night and on at least two occasions the ball went straight out giving Notts County the throw-in. Please vary it - it wasn't working & was very predictable.  In terms of his shot stopping & taking crosses there were no obvious scares or concerns.  Cuthbert was solid although he's undoubtedly a better central defender than a full back.  Having said that didn't he play full back whilst on loan from Celtic at St Mirren (?) or wherever?  Caddis, despite all the concerns about being too short, looked competent when he came on and I think deserves a run in the team.  JP also improved the shape of the team when he was on although this season he's yet (in my opinion) to reach the dazzling form he showed last season. Still an acceptable display on balance from him. Rose was adequate defensively, no better or worse than anyone else in the defence although I had hoped for a free kick 'special' towards the end but alas he missed the goal with his effort.
And so to the central defensive pairing!  Morrison & Jean Francois didn't lose too many in the air last night and we weren't obviously greatly threatened by Westcarr or Miller. Jean Francois is something of a ball playing defender and can be a liability. His booking last night was harsh - the player he was alleged to have 'fouled' had run across the face of the town defence, Jean Francois went to tackle him & he went down. According to my Notts County supporting friends, this is a feature of his play, inviting a tackle, spectacularly falling and winning a free kick.  My major complaint with Jean Francois is why can't he stay upright & on his feet?  He seems to get turned, becomes unbalanced & falls far too easily and we concede goals as a consequence. His substitution was because of this booking as a few minutes later he committed what for me was a worse & more obvious foul and the referee seemed loathe to book him again & get a red card out - referee's creating their own problems because a sending off would have been farcical. Morrison was not as dominant as I've seen him or as I'd have liked to have seen him.  I did fear the worst when Hughes came on as he's an experienced streetwise striker and I'm sure Morrison's inexperience in giving him too much room was the main reason for the goal.  I also wondered if Hughes didn't use his arm to help control the ball before shooting although that could be my red & white bias coming through.
So, in conclusion we were in contention for most of the match, little to choose between the teams until the introduction of Hughes. We seemed to be far too passive, not enough imposing ourselves on the game and I was surprised to see the BBC match stats afterwards that suggested how little there was between the teams.
As a Town fan living in Nottingham I've had to take some good natured banter today but I'd rather have been the one in the driving seat.  Not the best game I've seen at Meadow Lane but reports that our season has imploded are exaggerated

This is better then reading the match report in the adver you could make a career out of this

[suttonred]

Tis good. I liked my mate's post match text after the final whistle. Shit game, played by two shit teams. Summed it up almost as well for me.

[chalkies_shorts]

Fortunately for us that seems to be very often the case, teams' supporters spend more time abusing Lee hughes than supporting their own team, and when he plays, often replies in the way he did last night.

Yes, but he is steaming festering pile of human excrement who most teams would be embarassed to have disgrace their shirt. 

[Sippo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/9225601.stm

Morrison at fault. You can't give a striker that much room or space.

[joteddyred]

Interesting...If he is 100% fit he should be in contention for right back with Sheehan/Rose.

As for why the defence hasn't been sorted, who knows. Have you asked Dave why we didn't replace Greer

Where is Dave, I don't think he's posted all week?  Not like him, I hope he's okay?   

[jayohaitchenn]

I hope he's dead.

[Barry Scott]

I hope he's dead.