Notts 3-2 Shrewsbury

[Lenny]

Well played Noooots. Probably deserved that by the sound of it, although Lee Hughes scoring will make me feel more inclined to be bitter. I'll switch off the highlights as soon as the Jermainator's goal has been shown I think!

Not really sure who to vote for as MotM - Hazell was sounding good but the third goal was his fault, Wright and Parry were peripheral, Gornell poor, Grandison poor but scored a very good goal, Purdie didn't seem to play too well, and Summerfield and Richards I think will both be annoyed. Hall struggled to make an impact (remember, this is just based on the radio and texts off people who are there). I'd say overall only Gornell was poor, but only Morgan (although he missed ANOTHER SITTER!), Weale and Jones can really be happy.

Feel free to correct me though.

 

[greenhousmeadowman]

An entertaining game which could have gone either way but even though the winner was very late we can have few complaints. We were really poor the first half hour and could easily have conceded a couple of goals. We got more into it as an attacking threat after that only to shoot ourselves in the foot by giving away a ridiculous goal. We should not be playing tippy tappy football across our own box with no cover. That did seem to wake us up though and I thought the ref was very brave (and of course right) in awarding the penalty as the defender was pulling Marvin all over the place for most of the game. I Think GT was right to take Gornell off at half-time, he clearly neeeds a goal to get his confidence back and his first touch was often poor. Hall offered a lot more support for Marvin.The Grandison goal was the highlight of the season so far for me - coming through three challenges and a cool finish rolled into the corner (eat your heart out John Barnes!).
However we never looked remotely like closing the game out - they were bossing the midfield and both our full backs were very exposed with both Wright and Parry offering very little effective cover. Having said that the second goal was again poor defensively as they won two headers in the box. We were at least trying to win the game late on and they caught us on the break with quality down the wing (how did he keep that ball in!) and there was only one man on the pitch who can finisih like that and his name is Lee Hughes. The fact that we can be competitive with a team in contention at the top away is encouraging but for me we are a long way off even a play-off bid. We need two strikers rather than one in my opinion as I doubt if Bradshaw or Gornell can hack it in this league. I would also say that Summerfield is tidy without ever threatening to take a hold of the game - I think Hall is better. As for left back Purdie was repeatedly beaten today and we need Joe back - he never let us down last year.
My man of the match would have to be Marvin - tireless and often a threat with one very good second half effort which forced a good save and won a penalty. Some County fans were asking me about him on the train back so he clearly impressed them as well.

 

[cliftonmugpie]

An entertaining game which could have gone either way but even though the winner was very late we can have few complaints. We were really poor the first half hour and could easily have conceded a couple of goals. We got more into it as an attacking threat after that only to shoot ourselves in the foot by giving away a ridiculous goal. We should not be playing tippy tappy football across our own box with no cover. That did seem to wake us up though and I thought the ref was very brave (and of course right) in awarding the penalty as the defender was pulling Marvin all over the place for most of the game. I Think GT was right to take Gornell off at half-time, he clearly neeeds a goal to get his confidence back and his first touch was often poor. Hall offered a lot more support for Marvin.The Grandison goal was the highlight of the season so far for me - coming through three challenges and a cool finish rolled into the corner (eat your heart out John Barnes!).
However we never looked remotely like closing the game out - they were bossing the midfield and both our full backs were very exposed with both Wright and Parry offering very little effective cover. Having said that the second goal was again poor defensively as they won two headers in the box. We were at least trying to win the game late on and they caught us on the break with quality down the wing (how did he keep that ball in!) and there was only one man on the pitch who can finisih like that and his name is Lee Hughes. The fact that we can be competitive with a team in contention at the top away is encouraging but for me we are a long way off even a play-off bid. We need two strikers rather than one in my opinion as I doubt if Bradshaw or Gornell can hack it in this league. I would also say that Summerfield is tidy without ever threatening to take a hold of the game - I think Hall is better. As for left back Purdie was repeatedly beaten today and we need Joe back - he never let us down last year.
My man of the match would have to be Marvin - tireless and often a threat with one very good second half effort which forced a good save and won a penalty. Some County fans were asking me about him on the train back so he clearly impressed them as well.

the only thing i disagree with is the penalty only because both players had each others shirt and it was a division one tussle for the ball nothing more, the rest of your summing up i agree with.

 

[Hounded Out By Morons]

Morgan MOM for me also, although he missed the best chance of the first half heading wide when he had scored in an identical position against Tranmere. I felt for Grandison with the winner. If he hadn't already been booked he would have fouled the Notts player but, to counterbalance that, the referee had been lenient with a Notts defender when Parry was fouled in a similar position in the first half.

 

[greenhousmeadowman]

Kasule,
I agree about Grandison - the problem was caused by the ridiculous first booking for handball when the ball brushed his arm as he was putting it out of play. How that could be a yellow card and the player who pulled Parry down when he was going clear could escape with no card is beyond me.

 

[greenhousmeadowman]

Cliftonmugpie,
I am surprised and pleased that we agree on so much. There is a general point about the penalty and that is those sorts of decisions can go either way and defenders should know better than to pull at attackers in the box - in most of those tussles the decision went against Morgan, mainly because he is tall and a bit ungainly looking (Peter Crouch also suffers from this!).

 

[tinned hats]

Cliftonmugpie,
I am surprised and pleased that we agree on so much. There is a general point about the penalty and that is those sorts of decisions can go either way and defenders should know better than to pull at attackers in the box - in most of those tussles the decision went against Morgan, mainly because he is tall and a bit ungainly looking (Peter Crouch also suffers from this!).

Only Crouch manages to score more goals!!.......im getting a bit fed up of discussing Marvins MISSED chances!!.....

 

[goaerial]

The penalty was an absolute joke and the highlights show this.

Morgan had no chance of scoring from the position he was in and was pulling on the last defender all game - naivety from the referee - he will obviously award several penalties in every game he presides over.

Still it sparked action from both sides and made a great spectacle on a glorious September afternoon.

 

[Matster]

I didn't go to the match but am just surpised we got a penalty, what's that now three in three seasons?

 

[greenhousmeadowman]

Goaerial,
We will have to agree to disagree on the penalty and it does not matter whether he was in a scoring position or not - a foul like that in the box is a penalty even if the player being fouled is not in possession or near the ball - you should learn the rules of football before giving us the benefit of your wisdom.

 

[greenhousmeadowman]

Tinned Hats,
If Marvin did not miss a few he would not be playing in League 1 but a higher division. He does unsettle defences and has a fantastic work rate for the team and the time to get really worried about a striker is when he is never in the right position to get a chance - as is sadly the case for all our strikers except Marvin this season. WE do need an experienced partner to gel with marvin quickly - someone like Benson would do nicely even if we have to splash a bit of cash on a player with no resale value.

 

[tinned hats]

Tinned Hats,
If Marvin did not miss a few he would not be playing in League 1 but a higher division. He does unsettle defences and has a fantastic work rate for the team and the time to get really worried about a striker is when he is never in the right position to get a chance - as is sadly the case for all our strikers except Marvin this season. WE do need an experienced partner to gel with Marvin quickly - someone like Benson would do nicely even if we have to splash a bit of cash on a player with no resale value.

Rowland splash the cash!!..... how dare you, you will give AJ palpitations!!, no its funny how nobody blames Morgan for not scoring enough goals, but are quite happy to blame the guy who we havent bought yet for Morgan not scoring more goals....if you see what i mean!!

 

[atcham jack]

we cannot splash any cash until january, by then it may not be necessary. i would prefer gt experiments within his squad. aj recommends parry moves alongside our marv, and grandison moves to a midfield position with an other filling germaine's position. if we tried this against scunny and cuvvy, it would make an old man in deepest devon very happy and might ensure a few goals.

it is pointless gt bringing young tom on in the 90th minute, he might as well bring a bath and showers on with him.

come on gt please experiment, and hopefully el tel may regain some form later. fs, aab, coys and ctrab.!

 

[greenhousmeadowman]

Atcham,
You make another good point about Bradshaw = it is no secret that I do not rate him highly but I cannot see the point of constantly bringing him on for a few minutes - has anyone an idea of GT's reasoning behind this? Surely Bradshaw needs to go out on loan to get some decent game time in.

 

[Matster]

We have enough cover for midfield and would help out a few players

----------------Weale

---Grandison Jones Hazell Purdie/Jacobson

Wildig/Taylor Hall/Summerfield Richards Purdie/Wright

-------------Morgan Parry

 

[Lenny]

I agree with AJ in that I'd be interested to see Grandison in a central midfield role, like our very own lower league Yaya Toure.