I'm stilll extremely miffed

[IluvNotts]

about the unjust way we were knocked out of the playoffs.
I've been following Notts for nearly 60 years and I'm still seething even though it's a week since the greatest travesty I've ever witnessed watching the Mighty Pies.
I know this post risks bringing the founder members of The Coventry Windup & Goading Society Special Needs Section back on here but I rather suspect they have now turned their attention to the Exeter board.
Why am I still feeling so aggrieved I wonder?
Well forgetting for a moment the penalty that never was at The Ricoh, you know the stadium where CCFC squat. Nothing will ever convince me that had Jonathon Fortes "equaliser" been allowed to stand that in the words of John Coleman "there would only be one winner"
As a regular at Meadow Lane during the season just ended I have seen Notts simply overwhelm opponents when they've tasted blood. Who can forget the 3-3 draw with Cambridge and the 4-2 FA Cup victory over L1 Bristol Rovers? Their defences just imploded when Notts woke up and there's no doubt Cov were going exactly the same way. It was almost as if they were stunned into capitulation because they couldn't believe they were playing the same team that they had dominated so easily in the first half.
A major part of feeling so gutted relates to the Sky TV coverage which showed absolutely that Forte was onside. It was not marginal, it was clear and the lino should hang his head in shame. Coventry's third goal which from the TV footage was offside twice was much harder to call especially as the excuse for a linesman was a yard behind the play. He was simply unfit literally for purpose.
IMHO both linos should stick to their day jobs for their own safety because if they keep on performing like that some inebriated fan is going to take a swing at either or both of them one day.
I should also say that Drysdale was nowhere near as bad as both sets of supporters feared.
I'm old enough (68) to realise that moaning won't change the fact that Coventry are at Wembley rather than Notts but my shrinks says that expressing your feelings is the first step to healing a troubled mind.
Like many Notts supporters I'm really really hoping that justice will be done at Wembley on Monday and that Exeter will beat Coventry fair and square with no assistance from the officials. It's tempting to say I hope Coventry are victims of bad officiating but that would give them an excuse to say they were cheated. I just want Exeter to simply outplay them which they are more than capable of doing. Coventry have had much much more than their share of luck in these playoffs.
Who believes the Coventry fans posting on here when they say they will take a defeat at Wembley in their stride? I don't think they can be true passionate fans when they come out with that. Their board (https://www.skybluestalk.co.uk/forum...eneral-chat.7/) will make interesting reading if Exeter spoil their day out at Wembley.
Finally a response to those who say Notts weren't good enough to compete in L1. Do they really think King Kev is that thick that he hadn't recognised that his squad needed a makeover had they been promoted.
His retained list speaks volumes.
I think Notts will be promoted automatically with ease next season and my shrink says that being optimistic about the future is the next step in the healing process.
COYP

[karl wheatly]

We're all still hurting. You clearly are hurting more than some.

I don't buy this hard luck story though. Cov had a very good shout for a penalty at a pivotal point in the match, when Stead handled the ball and it wasn't given. Brisley should have been sent off - certainly a worse offence than some of the sendings off we've seen given at Measdow Lane this season.

If football stresses you this much, take up something like curling or basket-weaving instead.

[jackal2]

It angers me in general that the game is still run in such an unprofessional way that multiple officiating errors can still and not be quickly rectified. However, aside from that, over the second half of the season I thought it became evident that we were not quite ready yet for promotion to League One, despite a dramatic improvement from the previous year. Even without the bad decisions I think the play-off games were another illustration of that, exposing the weaknesses in our attack and defence.

So, in that sense I'm philosophical, as I was even before the games with Coventry. I think we've got a real opportunity this summer to build on the progress we made last season and address the weaknesses that remain, with a view to pushing into the top three places this season. Obviously nothing is ever guaranteed in football, because there are so many variables involved, but I would be looking for the squad to be stronger again in the coming season, and perhaps a little bit better to watch as well.

[pravda_plc]

It angers me in general that the game is still run in such an unprofessional way that multiple officiating errors can still and not be quickly rectified. However, aside from that, over the second half of the season I thought it became evident that we were not quite ready yet for promotion to League One, despite a dramatic improvement from the previous year. Even without the bad decisions I think the play-off games were another illustration of that, exposing the weaknesses in our attack and defence.

So, in that sense I'm philosophical, as I was even before the games with Coventry. I think we've got a real opportunity this summer to build on the progress we made last season and address the weaknesses that remain, with a view to pushing into the top three places this season. Obviously nothing is ever guaranteed in football, because there are so many variables involved, but I would be looking for the squad to be stronger again in the coming season, and perhaps a little bit better to watch as well.

Good post Jackal.

I really hope we can continue to make progress.

The thing that worries me is the memory of what happened last time in the Play Offs. We didn't recover from the defeat at Wembley to Bradford. It left us with an enormous hangover and the following season we were relegated. We must learn from the mistakes of last season. We need to add goals, pace and qualty to the squad and I hope we show a little bit more creativity in our game plan.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

about the unjust way we were knocked out of the playoffs.
I've been following Notts for nearly 60 years and I'm still seething even though it's a week since the greatest travesty I've ever witnessed watching the Mighty Pies.
I know this post risks bringing the founder members of The Coventry Windup & Goading Society Special Needs Section back on here but I rather suspect they have now turned their attention to the Exeter board.
Why am I still feeling so aggrieved I wonder?
Well forgetting for a moment the penalty that never was at The Ricoh, you know the stadium where CCFC squat. Nothing will ever convince me that had Jonathon Fortes "equaliser" been allowed to stand that in the words of John Coleman "there would only be one winner"
As a regular at Meadow Lane during the season just ended I have seen Notts simply overwhelm opponents when they've tasted blood. Who can forget the 3-3 draw with Cambridge and the 4-2 FA Cup victory over L1 Bristol Rovers? Their defences just imploded when Notts woke up and there's no doubt Cov were going exactly the same way. It was almost as if they were stunned into capitulation because they couldn't believe they were playing the same team that they had dominated so easily in the first half.
A major part of feeling so gutted relates to the Sky TV coverage which showed absolutely that Forte was onside. It was not marginal, it was clear and the lino should hang his head in shame. Coventry's third goal which from the TV footage was offside twice was much harder to call especially as the excuse for a linesman was a yard behind the play. He was simply unfit literally for purpose.
IMHO both linos should stick to their day jobs for their own safety because if they keep on performing like that some inebriated fan is going to take a swing at either or both of them one day.
I should also say that Drysdale was nowhere near as bad as both sets of supporters feared.
I'm old enough (68) to realise that moaning won't change the fact that Coventry are at Wembley rather than Notts but my shrinks says that expressing your feelings is the first step to healing a troubled mind.
Like many Notts supporters I'm really really hoping that justice will be done at Wembley on Monday and that Exeter will beat Coventry fair and square with no assistance from the officials. It's tempting to say I hope Coventry are victims of bad officiating but that would give them an excuse to say they were cheated. I just want Exeter to simply outplay them which they are more than capable of doing. Coventry have had much much more than their share of luck in these playoffs.
Who believes the Coventry fans posting on here when they say they will take a defeat at Wembley in their stride? I don't think they can be true passionate fans when they come out with that. Their board (https://www.skybluestalk.co.uk/forum...eneral-chat.7/) will make interesting reading if Exeter spoil their day out at Wembley.
Finally a response to those who say Notts weren't good enough to compete in L1. Do they really think King Kev is that thick that he hadn't recognised that his squad needed a makeover had they been promoted.
His retained list speaks volumes.
I think Notts will be promoted automatically with ease next season and my shrink says that being optimistic about the future is the next step in the healing process.
COYP

Everyone is going to be downbeat and it's a hard thing to take. There was an article in the NEP which said KN had taken it hard because he is a winner. There will probably be nobody hurting more than KN and AH.

We were extremely close to getting promoted and automatically as well. Two wins and a draw short means a few more goals scored and a few less conceded and we'd have done it.

I'm not going to repeat but if you read my comments on the Good Luck, Bad Luck & the Percentages Game thread about referees and officials it's clear change and improvements are needed in that department.

For us as a club I don't want it to affect us next season, and I think once we have got over the disappointment and new players come in and they get back into pre-season training then we can look towards the new season with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. AH and KN are a year more experienced in their roles and will know where the shortfalls were and will do their best to address these.

If anything I believe we will be stronger and better for it and can now build a squad that can really make it's mark on League Two next season. For the first summer in a long time every player that takes to the field on the first day of the season will have been brought to the club by AH and KN or had their contract renewed or extended under their reign. It's been a long time since a Notts manager could say a squad really was their own.

Keep the faith.

[jackal2]

Good post Jackal.

I really hope we can continue to make progress.

The thing that worries me is the memory of what happened last time in the Play Offs. We didn't recover from the defeat at Wembley to Bradford. It left us with an enormous hangover and the following season we were relegated. We must learn from the mistakes of last season. We need to add goals, pace and qualty to the squad and I hope we show a little bit more creativity in our game plan.

I think the team that lost the play-off final to Bradford was already on the wane before that, due to the proven inept management of Steve Thompson. Throughout that season we had been gradually stripping the side of players like Gary McSwegan and Paul Devlin and replacing them with players like Tony Battersby and Vinny Arkins. We rode the momentum of the early season through to the play-offs, but the following season we struggled as a result of the drastic changes.

Having said that, it still took a pretty spectacularly crap manager to take a team containing Darren Ward, Steve Finnan, Peter Kennedy, Sean Farrell and Gary Jones (to name just a few very good players) down from League one in last place! What a clown he was!

[51Magpie]

I agree with IluvNotts, and given that I'm 67 myself maybe that's no surprise. It will be a long time before I get over the feeling of having been robbed. Obviously, if you change one thing you change everything so you can never be sure what would have happened IF... However, if either the stamp on Duffy's leg had resulted in a first-half red card for Coventry, or Tootle's fair tackle in the box five minutes from time hadn't been adjudged a foul, then it's likely that Notts would have turned up for the second leg on their own ground with a goal in hand. In that case, their attitude, confidence, setup and tactics would have been different and - given their home record and the fact that it was 4th versus 7th - they would obviously have had a much better chance of going through.

I too hope that the Grecians win at Wembley. I don't care for the notion that Coventry's promotion would get them out of our way next year. Next year will look after itself. Aside from anything else, whenever I've been down to St James's Park the Exeter fans and staff have always made it a pleasant outing. As far as I'm concerned, a Coventry victory will just rub salt in the wound.

All of this speculation about our play-off fate does keep reminding me that we literally threw away more than a few points that would have seen us going up comfortably. I wonder if the players ever reflect at the end of the season on the number of games where they just "weren't at the races" or "had a bad day at the office"? Success depends on a combination of skill and application, because luck tends to even out over the season. On the days where the team just doesn't turn up, that's a lack of application and a matter of choice, and discipline.

I used to look at players like Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville and wonder why they were always so serious, so dour, so miserable and so po-faced. You would have thought that, as young men earning unlimited adulation and almost unlimited pay they would have been really happy and upbeat. The answer, of course, is that they knew that they had to stay focused at all times otherwise they would get knocked down a few pegs in short order. It seems to me that much of the job of a manager at L2 level is about getting as close as possible to that level of focus and commitment. Despite the disappointment of this year's denouement, I do remain confident that we have a harmonious manager-chairman relationship, and that we can thus look forward to an even better outcome next season.

[SwalePie]

I agree with IluvNotts, and given that I'm 67 myself maybe that's no surprise. It will be a long time before I get over the feeling of having been robbed. Obviously, if you change one thing you change everything so you can never be sure what would have happened IF... However, if either the stamp on Duffy's leg had resulted in a first-half red card for Coventry, or Tootle's fair tackle in the box five minutes from time hadn't been adjudged a foul, then it's likely that Notts would have turned up for the second leg on their own ground with a goal in hand. In that case, their attitude, confidence, setup and tactics would have been different and - given their home record and the fact that it was 4th versus 7th - they would obviously have had a much better chance of going through.

I too hope that the Grecians win at Wembley. I don't care for the notion that Coventry's promotion would get them out of our way next year. Next year will look after itself. Aside from anything else, whenever I've been down to St James's Park the Exeter fans and staff have always made it a pleasant outing. As far as I'm concerned, a Coventry victory will just rub salt in the wound.

All of this speculation about our play-off fate does keep reminding me that we literally threw away more than a few points that would have seen us going up comfortably. I wonder if the players ever reflect at the end of the season on the number of games where they just "weren't at the races" or "had a bad day at the office"? Success depends on a combination of skill and application, because luck tends to even out over the season. On the days where the team just doesn't turn up, that's a lack of application and a matter of choice, and discipline.

I used to look at players like Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville and wonder why they were always so serious, so dour, so miserable and so po-faced. You would have thought that, as young men earning unlimited adulation and almost unlimited pay they would have been really happy and upbeat. The answer, of course, is that they knew that they had to stay focused at all times otherwise they would get knocked down a few pegs in short order. It seems to me that much of the job of a manager at L2 level is about getting as close as possible to that level of focus and commitment. Despite the disappointment of this year's denouement, I do remain confident that we have a harmonious manager-chairman relationship, and that we can thus look forward to an even better outcome next season.

What an excellent post.

[The-Mac pie]

Some great post’s there gents.
Keep the faith

[jackal2]

I used to look at players like Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville and wonder why they were always so serious, so dour, so miserable and so po-faced. You would have thought that, as young men earning unlimited adulation and almost unlimited pay they would have been really happy and upbeat. The answer, of course, is that they knew that they had to stay focused at all times otherwise they would get knocked down a few pegs in short order.

Spot on!

Footballing ability is only one part of the equation. Another key factor which distinguishes between footballers at the top level, compared with those at our level, is that they simply have more focus, more application, more desire and more professionalism, and that's why they get the big bucks. Sir Alex Ferguson in a couple of his interviews a few years ago said he liked to see that "glazed" expression on players like Roy Keane and Gary Neville before games, where they were so intensely focused that nothing would distract them from the mission ahead, and woe betide any of their team-mates who didn't show the same level of intensity and desire. That's what separates elite performers from the rest, in many sports. We need a few English cricketers like that!