kevs after match comments

[jackal2]

Bit of a straw man there Elite. I don’t think anyone would promote Forte as the saviour of anything, but Callum Saunders would have been an improvement on our feeble attempts at attacking yesterday.

Our build up play was pretty much non existent as well but at least Forte may have been able to chase some of the hoofs, the two we had were about as mobile as the Slab Square lions. He’s a better finisher than Shola as well.

The odd thing is how few times Nolan has paired Shola and Forte together, compared with the other combinations. If Forte is ever going to show any consistent form (and to be fair his career history suggests he won't) then I would think Shola is the more natural target man and possibly the best option for Forte to play off. Stead is tall, but much weaker against a big centre half. He tends to rely on winning fouls in good positions for the team, rather than winning the sort of flick-ons or playing the sort of quality lay-offs Jon Forte could thrive on.

[slack_pie]

I think the reason is that he's not very good. He seems to be being promoted as some sort of saviour of our season on the basis that he can run fast and can't be any worse than Stead and Ameobi, rather than anything he's shown when he has been given a start. In my opinion he is a definite third choice (out of three) in the striking department.

But the very fact he can run faster makes him worth using as an alternative to the endless long balls to Stead and Shola. Playing two strikers who constantly play with their backs to goal is a waste of time. It's surely worth a try, at least for part of a game. His record isn't great, but it suggests he'll weigh in with the odd goal here and there. He's certainly more likely to score than Shola.

[ncfcog]

But the very fact he can run faster makes him worth using as an alternative to the endless long balls to Stead and Shola. Playing two strikers who constantly play with their backs to goal is a waste of time. It's surely worth a try, at least for part of a game. His record isn't great, but it suggests he'll weigh in with the odd goal here and there. He's certainly more likely to score than Shola.

Problem is, when he has played he is made to run the channels and not play off the likes of stead or Shola. Bizarre really.

[The-Mac pie]

The odd thing is how few times Nolan has paired Shola and Forte together, compared with the other combinations. If Forte is ever going to show any consistent form (and to be fair his career history suggests he won't) then I would think Shola is the more natural target man and possibly the best option for Forte to play off. Stead is tall, but much weaker against a big centre half. He tends to rely on winning fouls in good positions for the team, rather than winning the sort of flick-ons or playing the sort of quality lay-offs Jon Forte could thrive on.

Agreed jackal

[LaxtonLad]

Problem is, when he has played he is made to run the channels and not play off the likes of stead or Shola. Bizarre really.

I've noticed that that is where he is expected to play. If he is paired with either Shola or Stead then they get the central role leaving Forte to feed off them, it's not quite the central role he may be better at. Besides, with a more efficient midfield he may get better chances, otherwise if the same old "tactic" of hoofball are used his chances diminish in direct proportion to the the height of the lobbed ball.

[The-Mac pie]

I would like to think he was a more cultured player than Kevin Bartlett
Having said that I would love a Kevin Bartlett atm

[SwalePie]

I'd guess the problem with recruitment would be inexperience in dealing with agents and how to negotiate deals. That's a process we're going to have to go through, but are we going to allow it?

There isn't one Notts fan here under the age of 50 plus who would recognize steady progress, if that's what we're seeing, because we have no reference points for it.

Warnock wasn't steady progress, I remember going to Chesterfield's old ground in February 1989 and coming back home worrying that I'd soon be watching Notts in the basement division for the first time. Just over two years later I was watching us kick off the new season at Old Trafford having witnessed us win at Wembley not once, but twice! That's instant success beyond your wildest dreams. Munto was surreal, the Allardyce season smashed club as well as national records.

We don't know what a realistic process of improving the club feels like. I think that's why there's this sense of panic. What's going on? At Notts we're either smashing it or being smashed. How can there possibly be anything inbetween? If we miss out on promotion, we must be doomed, right? And to be honest, that's how I feel too, because it's Notts bloody County.

Great post!

[durhampie]

Great post!

Yes and the wheel has fallen off to such a degree that we are now playing worse than we we did last season..

[Bohinen]

Warnock wasn't steady progress, I remember going to Chesterfield's old ground in February 1989 and coming back home worrying that I'd soon be watching Notts in the basement division for the first time. Just over two years later I was watching us kick off the new season at Old Trafford having witnessed us win at Wembley not once, but twice! That's instant success beyond your wildest dreams. Munto was surreal, the Allardyce season smashed club as well as national records.

We don't know what a realistic process of improving the club feels like. I think that's why there's this sense of panic. What's going on? At Notts we're either smashing it or being smashed. How can there possibly be anything inbetween? If we miss out on promotion, we must be doomed, right? And to be honest, that's how I feel too, because it's Notts bloody County.

Yeah that's a great post but maybe it shows so called steady progress isn't actual progress. Going back to the Chesterfield result and using your own excellent website, you will find this:

Sat 11 Feb Chesterfield L 0-3 4 943 18 Mills(og), Waller, Yates(og)

Mick Leonard 29 27 Left for Chesterfield in February
Steve Cherry 28 18 Joined from Chesterfield in February

In other words, corrective action could not have been more quick and decisive. Our transfer policy was what drove us on. But now, we have (let's be kind) a slightly less than adequate goalkeeper who doesn't dominate his area, and he stays in the team. We know we need a new forward, but unlike Warnock with Bartlett, we don't recruit one. Progress involves not just higher positions in the league but improvements in the squad if it's going to lead anywhere. My problem is this is not happening.

http://carousel.royalwebhosting.net/utm/ncfc8889.html

[upthemaggies]

Yeah that's a great post but maybe it shows so called steady progress isn't actual progress. Going back to the Chesterfield result and using your own excellent website, you will find this:

Sat 11 Feb Chesterfield L 0-3 4 943 18 Mills(og), Waller, Yates(og)

Mick Leonard 29 27 Left for Chesterfield in February
Steve Cherry 28 18 Joined from Chesterfield in February

In other words, corrective action could not have been more quick and decisive. Our transfer policy was what drove us on. But now, we have (let's be kind) a slightly less than adequate goalkeeper who doesn't dominate his area, and he stays in the team. We know we need a new forward, but unlike Warnock with Bartlett, we don't recruit one. Progress involves not just higher positions in the league but improvements in the squad if it's going to lead anywhere. My problem is this is not happening.

http://carousel.royalwebhosting.net/utm/ncfc8889.html

We didn't have the transfer windows back then though. The Cherry and Bartlett signings would have had to wait until the end of the season under today's restrictions, whereas - if the window had remained open until March today - I'd like to think that action would have been taken. There's no denying that they made poor use of the January window. Unlucky with Bennett, but the others haven't had an effect in terms of improving the results.