perhaps he let us go , more than we let him go ???
he's possibly got a club waiting in the wings for him.........??????!
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Collin was a decent keeper but I felt Fitz got us moving quicker. He would release the full backs by throwing the ball out early, something Collin was reluctant to do. Whether he was under orders to slow the game down I don't know, but when we were 2-0 down to Chesterfield he continued to do it which annoyed supporters.
His kicks from hand were so high they came down with snow on them, so all in all I'm not shocked or disappointed he is on the list.
Fitz has probably learnt his lesson after his stupid sending off.
Overall not surprised by the rest of the releases and it may get the age of the team down a good bit.
[QUOTE=hissingdwarf;38899274]TO be honest the wings worry me a little. Hawkridge and to a lesser extent, Allesandro, are weak links and neither are first teasers imo.
Couldn't agree more, at least one decent centre back, a creative midfielder and decent winger plus a couple of pacy strikers required imo.
Goalkeepers
Agree with most, make Fitz No.1 and bring in a young No.3.
Defenders
We probably need 3 more defenders to provide the right level of back up, one in each position (LB/RB/CB). As much as I have been frustrated by both Duffy and Brisley at times this season I still think they can do a job for us at this level. Would prefer to see another experienced CB though to add some competition. I'm also still not convinced by Jones, he's great going forward but at times has been dreadful at defending.
Midfielders
We need to build the midfield around O'Connor and Hewitt. As much as Hawk and Aless have frustrated this season they have also at times provided signs of their value in the squad. Unfortunately neither have the ability to take on a full back, we have only ever really hit the bylines with Jones and Toots on the overlap and that wasn't very often either. Two pacey wingers needed.
Most importantly we cannot look to Hewitt to fill in at RB or CB any more, he needs to build a partnership with O'Connor, Noble and Husin to provide the back up.
Forwards
We need at least four strikers all fighting for two places. Need a mixture of youth and experience, pace and strength. This is going to be the biggest challenge to face KN over the summer as unfortunately good strikers don't grow on trees and they are not cheap. Hopefully the scouts have a few gems up their sleeves, let's live in hope!
After 49 years of watching Notts, I'm seriously contemplating calling it a day. How on earth Duffy has been offered a contract is beyond belief. Captain Calamity has made so many gaffes this season he has probably cost us promotion on his own. Absolutely no ambition being shown by Nolan if he is prepared to offer him a contract. Whilst we had few choices last term but to play him there must be a 100 better defenders out there who lead by example, can withstand a physical challenge and not point accusatory fingers at everyone else when anything goes wrong. What sort of a message does that send.
Not only grossly unfair, but also grossly inaccurate. The reality is that Duffy has had a pretty good season overall. Let's look at a few facts - of the 23 other teams in our division only 3 conceded less goals than we did. Accrington and Luton conceded two less, Coventry conceded one less. Duffy was at the heart of that impressive defence for most of the season. Sure, he has made the odd error, but he's also put in some excellent performances where he's held us together against some challenging and physical attacks. His positional play has been very good, he's put in numerous last ditch tackles and blocks that have prevented goals, but I suppose if you don't want to see them you won't. The only thing I don't like about him is his theatrical screams and drops to the floor to try and win a free kick. If you really have watched Notts for 49 years, you must have a very short memory to single Duffy out.
Not meaning to disrespect anybody's right to their opinion, but this does sound like one of those melodramatic statements you hear from time to time on NCM!
I'm not his greatest fan, but after 28 years of watching Notts County, I have to say that I cannot see the offering of a new contract to Richard Duffy as the final straw that would lead to me "calling it a day"! XD
Far worse things have happened in my time watching Notts and I've bravely soldiered on. Amongst the lowest moments I can remember was the 0-5 home defeat to Macclesfield Town, or the whole Jamie Fullarton debacle.
In fact, in the grand scheme of things the first 18 months of the Hardy/Nolan era have been mildly uplifting compared with what has gone before in the past 3 or 4 years. The decision to give Duffy a new contract is surely just one of those football opinion things, a bit like with Adam Collin being released. There have been many retain/release decisions I've agreed or disagreed with over the years, and sometimes subsequent events have proved me right, other times I've been wrong. At no point have I felt like chucking the while thing in over one isolated decision.
Evidently Duffy is like marmite. Some love him and some hate him.
Personally, I find him OK. Like some have stated he is prone to the odd error. As are 99% of League 2 players. We can all point out players that played well in one or two games against Notts,but had we watched those same players over the course of a whole season, we would have seen errors, performances that were lacking. It’s why these players play in League 2. If these players were that good why would they be playing in League 2? The higher up players go the more consistent they are.
Do we not need some form of continuity? We simply can not and should not overhaul the squad every year, we have seen where that has got us. Look at this time last season when the retained list was announced, many were bracing themselves for a relegation scrap. Look how that turned out. We were probably 2 or 3 players short in the end. And that was not in the back 5 in my opinion.
We needed a firing Grant, which we got in the first half of the season.
We needed a winger who could go past players and create havoc, something that has already been mentioned as an area of transfer focus.
Obviously we needed a forward with pace, how oh how the season could have panned out had Mason Bennett not suffered that horrific injury.