Football Radar

[BigFatPie]

UTM is very consistent with this view on the owners, it has varied little since the first couple of seasons.

Of course he is fully entitled to his opinion but it should be noted that there are also some strong assumptions contained within. You have to when predicting the future.

If they do manage to get us into tier 3 I'm very confident in predicting that will be in far better shape than both the circumstances when we last managed it and when we were just two games at from achieving it.

If the brick ball prediction does indeed occur and it happens with us 10th in L1, then happy to judge the owners in glowing terms at that point. No argument about progress or whether the owners were good or not in that scenario.

Not sure whether brick ball is a sport or a medical condition.

[upthemaggies]

If the game began to shrink with clubs falling into difficulty, then perhaps we'd come through that better than a lot of our competitors. If it continues to expand however and the clubs coming down from tier 2 to tier 3 become ever stronger then it's only going to get harder to close that gap. So the way things are going at present, I can't see Notts doing any better than where our gates say we should be (around upper mid-table tier 3 if we got there) without big money being spent.

Luton did it by playing ugly AFAIA with a ground to go with it, opposition who take modern standards for granted must hate going there. Brentford's owner took them over when they were already in a decent position and immediately catapulted them into the highest position they'd been in since the 1950s.

I'm sure many would say "Well, I'd be happy for Notts to be mid-table tier 3", but when it comes to it, frustration soon begins to creep in after 2/3 seasons' stagnation and the high turnover at that level means you're usually going to exit one way or the other sooner rather than later.
Ultimately Notts either go up to tier 2 or crash back down into tier 4.

[Old_pie]

It's been self evident for some time that they haven't got the money some people thought they had, or at least they're not prepared to spend the money some thought they would, but as we're still in tier 4 - so long as they can keep things ticking over - there's a decent chance they can get us into tier 3, based on how previous owners have faired (Hardy was two games away from achieving it).

They will hit a brick wall eventually, or become disillusioned. I'd anticipate that will happen in tier 3 once they realise they can't do any better than outside the play offs, then I suppose it depends what the market is like for buying football clubs and how far down those with ambition are prepared to look - which will dictate whether it's to be a smooth transition to new ownership with the necessary clout to progress further or falling back into tier 4 as we become desperate to find a buyer, similar to the Trew scenario.

Well none of us here know. At least they are not throwing money at marquee signings, empty promises and a rollercoaster of sacked managers which has been the norm for a decade or three now.

I don't see them selling the club under the threat of administration as per Trew and Hardy. They are building a quite desirable asset and infrastructure which I'm sure will attract sensible buyers if the situation arises. All the signs are that they have more ambition than you are crediting them for, just that they don't wave it around in the bath tub and on Twitter.

[laddo]

It's been a long time since we stagnated for 2-3 seasons in tier 3, so personally I would welcome that frustration. That would be some serious levelling up.

If we had got up in the 2017/18 season I seriously doubt we would have even achieved mid table stagnation.

[upthemaggies]

They are building a quite desirable asset and infrastructure which I'm sure will attract sensible buyers if the situation arises.

I suspect that is the plan for most lower league owners these days, get into tier 3, have one freak season where you get promoted into tier 2, then sell up to some super rich owner desperate to land a club that's only one step away from the PL rather than having to waste time working your way up from the bottom.

[Jampie]

I'm highly sceptical of glassdoor reviews. I've worked at places that had mostly bad reviews but were mostly good to work at. People who get fired / miss the promotion they felt entitled to, leave revenge reviews.

I can completely understand people who've had their pay cut writing a bad review for the company, but they still work there... If your pay was cut and you're worth more, why did you accept the pay cut? Get what you're worth elsewhere.

[magpie_mania]

It's been self evident for some time that they haven't got the money some people thought they had, or at least they're not prepared to spend the money some thought they would, but as we're still in tier 4 - so long as they can keep things ticking over - there's a decent chance they can get us into tier 3, based on how previous owners have faired (Hardy was two games away from achieving it).

They will hit a brick wall eventually, or become disillusioned. I'd anticipate that will happen in tier 3 once they realise they can't do any better than outside the play offs, then I suppose it depends what the market is like for buying football clubs and how far down those with ambition are prepared to look - which will dictate whether it's to be a smooth transition to new ownership with the necessary clout to progress further or falling back into tier 4 as we become desperate to find a buyer, similar to the Trew scenario.

What evidence is there that they either haven't got the money or won't spend it?

[BigFatPie]

Footballing success is a bit about context though. When we were briefly floating around in mid table in league 1 ten years ago we were playing boring football with a boring manager and a boring chairman who employed his wife as CEO. The club had no direction and no real culture.

Notwithstanding speculation about our current owners, the club now have a clear philosophy with a playing style to match. We’d all gladly take a few years of mid table league 1 under that scenario.

[laddo]

Good point BFP, that period you mention is well worth people remembering both the good and bad.

[queenslandpie]

I will never understand reactionary posts like this. So many people feed on negativity. We just got promoted with record points best striker we have had for years great manager best crowds since I can remember when and back in ELF. But obviously we have bad owners. What a load of tripe!