In no way was Norman culpable for the goal!  Burge is in command of the penalty box and if he comes for the ball (which he did) then it’s up to him to make it.  Communication with the defender in that situation is down to the goalkeeper.  The error that led to the goal was Burge’s

Seems to me most are pretty split on it. I watched the video on the clubs YT of the game from the different angle. Thought that Norman hesitated and allowed the ball to bounce instead of just getting some contact on it. No doubt Burge could have done more but thought Norman should have dealt with it if he was unsure (this occurred on a few occasions IMO).

Still we got the win so in the end it matters not. A bit like the Mansfield game when Dyche made a mistake and Burge ended up making the save. With these defenders who are less experienced you know they are going to make errors, you just hope that they do not lead directly to a goal to avoid knocking their confidence completely.

Leonard for me who looked a class above everyone in my opinion, think he will play championship football next season. Massive shoutout to Guthrie as well for marshalling a defence that is on life support.

We have been crying for someone to break 20+ goals in a season and when we do... they were all easy goals, he shoots too much, we dont get enough points when he plays, and f*** knows what other stupid f***ing reason to be miserable.

Im fairly sure if I could be bothered I could find old posts saying he doesnt shoot enough and we always try to pass it into the net. People have long said his final though lets him down, and in part I agree, but now it feels like his final touch ends up in the back of the net.

If we signed him in the summer then everyone would be raving about him but we are finally seeing what endless managers have seen he is capable and people are f***ing whinging.

Absolutely f***ing embarrassing.

Not sure if i was included in this but i am far from moaning in my post. I am delighted with his form this seasons, should be POTS and I hope he keeps shooting as much as he does, without his goals we would not be where we are. Just posting some facts as he has clearly made a fundamental change to his approach this season.

I saw a comment from a Queen of the South fan saying they were impressed with Norman when he played for them in the Scottish Championship. Not sure how reliable that comment is but JB has signed him knowing he may have to play him at some point so he must have something about him.

I am not expecting too much from Norman, I believe I read that Thursday was the deadline of signing out of contract players (happy to be corrected there). Norman was due to have a trial elsewhere and it fell through leaving him in the lurch. Think it was a case of why not have a look at him and an extra body is very much needed.

If he is remotely capable then it will be an added bonus but not expecting a lots, just need him to stay fit also!

Few additional stats and facts relating to Super Sam this season. No player has taken more shots in the league than Sam this year.

Very much matches up with what my eyes tell me, mostly that he shoots on sight, which sometimes is to the detriment of the the team, but in general is understandable.

Sam has taken 117 shots this season, next closest is Omar Bogle of Newport with 87. so he leads the way by some margin.
Interestingly he has taken nearly as many as the next 3 most prolific shooters in the squad Sam 117, Pinnock 54, Bowie 34, Appere 32.

Sam leads the league with goals from outside the box, no other player has surpassed or matched his 5 goals from outside the area.

Seems like he has been given the green light from Brady this season just to let fly as often as possible.

Im assuming that you mean Lee Martin, as apposed to James Martin, but I dont recall him being very effective. Indeed, I had completely forgot about him until you mentioned it.

 Lee Martin played 687 minutes of football for us that season, he had 5 assists and 0 goals. Think he had a bit of a falling out with Wilder if memory serves as he did not feature after March.

I think Jon has been extremely loyal to a lot of the players that got us this high in the league, he admitted as much. Its admirable in one capacity but also could potentially be his downfall if this is something he always proceeds with.

I am very much a square pegs in square holes kind of fan. I dont like to see players shoehorned in simply to ensure they are included. As has been mentioned, when Magloire is fit it feels like we do whatever we can to ensure he, Sherring and Guthrie all play, regardless of how it effects the balance of play. The same goes for Pinnock and McGowan.

I feel like JB know needs to show that same faith in those that have come in and performed so well. Also one thing we need to do more of is develop potential saleable assets. As much as I want to see players stay with us for a long time if we want to be able to move forward we need to be able to generate funds with big fees for players. Hondemarck and Lintott hold potential to develop beyond us and generate money for the club. Not only that, they deserve to be starting based on their recent performances.

Also if you look at the stats on say McGowan v Lintott they are very similar. The biggest difference being that McGowan is more of a potential target from Goal Kicks (although Lintott is good in the air) and Lintott is far more likely to burst forward wit the ball like Brendan Moloney used to do.

I definitely think going with the best team is the way forward. Let the others make an impact off the bench but lets reward those that come in and make an impact. I do think there is the odd exception, but I hope we get to see some of these keep their place in the starting XI.

Hey Siri, play the most boring half of football in terrible weather conditions in a completely flat atmosphere. "playing Harrogate v Northampton Town".

They look absolutely dreadful and shot of confidence but we looking equally poor at the moment. One goal should win this game either way, with Harrogate having the best chance so far. Appere simply has to hold the ball up better and offer more physical presence. Hoskins has tried to shoot on sight regardless of balance. Hondemarck has shown the odd flash and has done ok enough considering its his first start. Outside of that nothing happened.

Lintott comfortably.

Found the game so frustrating today, more so than the other recent games. Just the same patterns of play we have seen in recent weeks and I blame Brady for that. I am still a big fan of his, but right now he needs to make some changes. His loyalty to certain players is clearly not paying off currently and its clear for all to see.

We seem so easy to play against at the moment, we got bullied in certain places today and the inability of our strikers to hold the ball up is a huge issue. Pinnock as a CAM does not work, why Brady does not see it is beyond me. There were times today when he just hooked the ball over his shoulder and you could see JB's exasperation, yet its a regular theme.

Pinnock was not the only one either, Koiki, Sherring and others use of the ball at times was appalling. We play two up top, one that cant win headers due to his diminutive stature and one that wont because he simply does not attempt them... yet we lob the ball up to them time after time. Both Hoskins and Appere can press well, but when teams are not playing out from the back that tactic becomes far less effective. Appere in particular lacks the physicality / striking instincts to justify his continual starting place IMO.

One thing I found startling about Appere is the most headers he has won this season is 3 (achieved once), he has won 2 headers 5 times all season, every other appearance was less than that. Either STOP lofting up to him as he is clearly uncapable of consistently holding the ball up aerially, or dont play him. Just lofting it up front and watching massive CB's dominate us is so frustrating. He also has not had a shot in his last 7 games, NOT ONE. One assist today does not change the fact he is simply not up to the task of leading the line for us currently.

If Guthrie was to pick an injury at any point I would really worry about our defence in general, he absolutely holds us together back there. Even with a back 5 we still looked ropey and there were several occasions that due to a lack of communication players were going for the same ball and making other really basic errors.

Something I have noticed for a while is the huge gaps that appear in the centre of the pitch when we have the ball. Leonard will come short or out wide to make an angle and then everyone stays static in a marked position right up against the opposition defenders, there is a HUGE gap in the middle of the pitch that we simply do not utilise because of our lack of fluidity, so we just end up going long. Either the players are not following Brady's plans, which means changes are needed, or its poor coaching, either way its not good.

As others have mentioned, once again our subs seemed to make us work and we just had no cohesion after their entrance. I also do not understand why we left it so long to make any changes at all. I didnt understand why we brought on Yengi at 2-1 down either, we needed a goal at 1-1 also, not just when we were 2-1 down.

Lintott I thought played well today, beat his man a fair few times and put in some good balls / cut backs, he is also proving effective as an out ball further forward. McGowan does not deserve to start again now he is fit.

It just seemed like we saw a game on repeat today and to me its not really clear what our plan is anymore. Moving forward I want to see Yengi play more as a start, we need to be able to have a more consistent out ball and even if he struggled against the Wombles he has a presence which we need. Pinnock needs dropping for a period of time, we have so many other options irrespective of the injuries we have.
Linott needs to retain his place and we need McWilliams and Fox back in the starting lineup ASAP.

Brady also needs to be careful not to get the fans going against him. I am still backing him and every time has tricky patches, I also admire his passion for the club and area in general. But going against the fans, even when frustrated seems like a slippery slope and is only going to result in people having a pop back when poor performances are viewed.

Its amazing we are still where we are in the league despite our continued woes, here's hoping that we can get 3 points next week.

Do you think there was any booing or was it Brady's way of geeing the fans up? I only ask as according to every person I've seen post on here, nobody seems to have heard it?

There was definitely a smatter of boos that I heard both at half time and full time. TBH I hear it most games that we don't win. I have moved about quite a lot around the west stand this season and do it hear it each time from a few. Nothing overly forceful, but noticeable. That being said, Brady has had a few run ins with some fans behind the dugout this season so it does not surprise me that it eventually carried over to a post match interview.

Desperately need to get back to winning ways, I fancy us to do it here. Injuries will mean the team is definitely going to need to be shuffled (again). Will be interesting to see how we shape up.

Would like to see DWP start as clearly hes absolutely rapid. Far more likely to see Pinnock, Hoskins and Appere continue to start but I think a change of personnel is very much warranted due to recent results. If he was fit enough I would like to see Harrop start who is a number 10 but no idea if he is fit or even in Brady's plans to be in the squad. Hope Lintott continues as think he does not deserve to lose his place (as he did not earlier this season either).

Going for a 2-0 home win on this one, Guthrie and Hoskins.

A frustrating night. I convinced 5 of my non Cobblers supporting mates to come along and fortunately I dont think we have fully scared them away.. yet. We started well but as the half wore on we clearly lost our way. It feels like there was so much room out wide but both Hoskins and Pinnock were drifting so far in field we were asking a huge amount from our full backs to get forward and then cover their pacy wide men on the counter attack.

It seems like whichever striker comes off the bench atm is an improvement on our starting striker, with neither sadly threatening the goal as it stands. It was always going to be low scoring and on another occasion could have bundled the ball over the line from one of the set pieces.

We are just struggling to create real clear cut chances and the screamers / unlikely goals we scored earlier in the season are no more. Just need to scramble a couple of 1-0's and get the confidence flowing again. Really hope Fox isnt out for long as second half he was really trying to drive us forward.

Regarding Brady I can see it from both sides. Im not the booing type, closest I have been to it was away at Posh a few years ago and away at Stourbridge, but I still didnt (just a preference). I agree that its not for a lack of trying that we are stuttering atm. Thing is there is the same people at Sixfields who you literally cannot make happy. The get it forward.... who was that to brigade. It comes with the territory though of football management. The football is better than under Curle, Page, JFH etc, but is that the yardstick we want to measure against?

I actually do understand what he is saying about if we dont get promoted then we will keep going again, about building the foundations of the club and everything up. The problem is that not everyone shares that vision, does the chairman, do the fans? If JB gets another offer from a big enough club im sure he would take it and then maybe the next manager does not share that vision.

We do have a young squad though, that is without question, the second youngest in the league so far this season.

Anyways, onto Saturday and a much needed 3 points hopefully.

I would be going for
                  King
Lintott Sherring Guthrie Koiki
                 Leonard
              Mcwilliams Fox
DWP                             Hoskins
                Yengi

As others have mentioned we need to be getting on the front foot far earlier and stop playing only when we are a goal down. Appere may press a lot but we need goals and he does not provide them so I would see Yengi start. Yes we played well in the games that Hoskins did not feature, but he is also our top scorer by an absolute mile. When it comes to fixing our goalscoring woes dropping our top scorer makes little sense. The focus needs to be on the others and their needing to score with frequency, its not down to Sam to score the vast majority and lay everything on a plate also for the others.

I could see DWP coming off the bench but we have the options now whereby I want to see JB trying something different, clearly the front 3/4 have not been firing as well as they could be.

How different our outlook would be with 2 home wins this week, come on town!

An extremely frustrating day at the office this one. One of my biggest gripes is why we persisted with aerial balls to Appere who not only does not win it in the air, but most of the time does not actually challenge for it. Personally I am not Appere's biggest fan. He has his positives which is mainly pressing and working hard. But with him in the team we are relying on goals coming from everywhere, not the striker which obviously causes problems. Brady was ripping into him and Odimayo at times, Odimayo largely because he was floating balls into the box from 30 yards out, where 3 massive CB's were waiting, instead of attempting to take on his man. I would much rather see us looking to beat a man and whip a ball in rather than just float a ball into the box, its one of those things where it makes you look like you are doing your job, but there is basically 0 chance of us scoring from it.

TBH I thought our discipline and bravery on the ball were both lacking on Saturday. The number of niggly fouls that were so obviously committed was infuriating, the ones where you can see the foul coming a mile away. I dont criticise JB for matching up formation wise, but just feel like our goal threat in general is lacking currently.

Thought Yengi showed some flashes of at least looking to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Also Sammy seems to have bought into his own hype in recent weeks, shooting when other options are in better positions, hes been fantastic this season but should not be beyond being rotated also.

Anyone fancy picking their best Cobblers matchday 18 now assuming everyone was fit?

Id go something along the lines of
                  Burge
Odimayo Sherring Guthrie Koiki
                Leonard
           McWilliams Fox
Wright-Phillips      Hoskins
                  Appere

Bench:
King
Mcgowan
Magloire
Sowerby
Pinnock
Bowie
Yengi


Few caveats to go with this. I have not seen the lads in the flesh so they may be better / worse than I expect. Of the starters I would hope Appere can up his goal return otherwise I would hope Yengi can bring more of a goal threat. Not seen the new CM but all the CM's in the squad so far have proven qualities at this level. Harsh on Eppiah, but of the regular players I feel like his actual output in terms of goals and assists is the lowes of them. Would mean Maxted, Dyche, Haynes, Harrop, Hondermarck, Hylton and Eppiah dont make the 18. We have some impressive depth now thats for sure!

It’s a full 10 people, a full 10

Those are the odds I like.

Never heard of Tete Yengi but I have seen his brother Kusini Yengi play for Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers in the A league and he's a decent player.

Anyway welcome young man. Hopefully he may win a few headers.

Has an aerial win rate of nearly 40% so far in his young career. Way higher than both Bowie and Appere. I mean it makes sense seeing as he is 6'5. Never seen him play but I am glad to have someone with more of a physical presence as an option. Obviously loanees are not always a success, but we have had some good ones in recent memory such as Morton, Etete, Calvert Lewin etc so lets hope he is more of that ilk.

I expect us to get in at least one more. Clearly Ipswich rate him as they just extended his contract for another 18 months and Orient were in for him also so assume that is a good sign.

Welcome aboard Tete!

Also, seems harsh to be suggesting that we have not provided the budget to sign players such as Matt Stevens who we may not even have had an interest in. If we had got him half the folks on here would be upset we have signed someone off the back of an ACL injury. Seems like you cant win either way unless we somehow get in a proven L1 striker which everyone at this level would love.

He's made 17 appearences for Stoke this year, so seems unlikely.

Only 125 mins of league football this season though, seems like a move is not unrealistic somewhere.

Have a suspicion a loan striker is either close or done…

Any clues to a name at all?