Aspirations for the future

[ncfcog]

What would your aspirations be for the future of our club?

Survival? Championship in 5 years? PL? Champions League?

I was discussing this with my mate at the match on saturday and for me it would be quite simple. In the short term I just want to see us achieve some stability. Success for me would be survival this season and promotion out of this league and establishing ourselves in L1 within the next couple of seasons.

I would be happy to see us there, occasionally challenging for promotion, a decent cup run each season and happy in the knowledge that the club has built an infrastructure based on sustainability instead of unrealistic unsustainable targets which would again threaten the fabric and stability of the club.

Once the right infrastructure is in place there will be a solid platform to build on and maybe then we can raise our aspirations just a little higher?

This doesn't mean I have no ambition for the long term future of the club but football landscape is constantly changing and until someone has a reality check and grabs the bull by the horns we as a club will continue to spiral in never ending circles.

[Trickytreesreds]

Without a doubt staying in the FL.
Should Notts lose their league status, there may be no coming back from it, locally.
I know Notts would always have a hardcore of fans, but in reality would 5000 be showing up to watch non league football?
Crowds of around 2000 would become the norm and financially, that is suicide paying your bills.
Its hard enough having my club on your step, but our crowds have gone through the roof this season which never does Notts any favors.
Scary thoughts if I'm honest and I'm not that evil to wish it on anyone.

[Notts78]

I agree.

Too many Notts fans think we are bigger than we really are.
Players that come to the club, managers that come to the club, all day the same thing. Bla bla sleeping giant, bla bla should be a Championship club etc...
The only thing that is Championship standard is the stadium... 20k all seater. That is it. Nothing else. We don’t have the attendances, the finances, the players, the youth set up to be considered anything other than League 2. We may even compete in League 1. But competing and hoping to stay in it is not enough for some fans, even on this forum, who would challenge the clubs ‘ambition’.
It’s not as though AH and RT before him have queues of businessmen and consortiums wanting to invest heavily.
We are what we are, and we are in the League we deserve to be in (for now).

[forwardmagpie]

Mid table

[Bridg4d_Pie_]

Currently to hopefully select the Right Man for the Managers post who can sort out this Rag Tag Bunch of could not Give A Flying F 00 k players out it would appear from their performances, before they can take us to the National League.

[countygump]

Decent experienced manager.

Stay in the league.

Improve next season.

[Dunce]

Over the next 5 years, Id be delighted if we were a mid table Div 1 team, with a decent home record.

[sidders]

Without a doubt staying in the FL.
Should Notts lose their league status, there may be no coming back from it, locally.
I know Notts would always have a hardcore of fans, but in reality would 5000 be showing up to watch non league football?
Crowds of around 2000 would become the norm and financially, that is suicide paying your bills.
Its hard enough having my club on your step, but our crowds have gone through the roof this season which never does Notts any favors.
Scary thoughts if I'm honest and I'm not that evil to wish it on anyone.

Thanks for this, Tricky. You are always fair about Notts. Also I didn't realise Forest's crowds had increased significantly. I have a ticket for Hull v Forest this Sat.
I agree that falling out of the EFL would be a frightening prospect and there might be no way back. I'm afraid too many Notts fans think the cavalry will come over the hill when we need them. Signs are that the club is in terminal decline unless serious structural changes are put in place.

[SmiffyPie]

I agree.

Too many Notts fans think we are bigger than we really are.
Players that come to the club, managers that come to the club, all day the same thing. Bla bla sleeping giant, bla bla should be a Championship club etc...
The only thing that is Championship standard is the stadium... 20k all seater. That is it. Nothing else. We don’t have the attendances, the finances, the players, the youth set up to be considered anything other than League 2. We may even compete in League 1. But competing and hoping to stay in it is not enough for some fans, even on this forum, who would challenge the clubs ‘ambition’.
It’s not as though AH and RT before him have queues of businessmen and consortiums wanting to invest heavily.
We are what we are, and we are in the League we deserve to be in (for now).

I must admit I haven't come across anyone who thinks we are a big club and should be in a higher division by right. The majority of supporters just want some sort of positivity and hope of future success to hang their love of the club on.

[centenarypie]

What would your aspirations be for the future of our club?

Survival? Championship in 5 years? PL? Champions League?

I was discussing this with my mate at the match on saturday and for me it would be quite simple. In the short term I just want to see us achieve some stability. Success for me would be survival this season and promotion out of this league and establishing ourselves in L1 within the next couple of seasons.

I would be happy to see us there, occasionally challenging for promotion, a decent cup run each season and happy in the knowledge that the club has built an infrastructure based on sustainability instead of unrealistic unsustainable targets which would again threaten the fabric and stability of the club.

Once the right infrastructure is in place there will be a solid platform to build on and maybe then we can raise our aspirations just a little higher?

This doesn't mean I have no ambition for the long term future of the club but football landscape is constantly changing and until someone has a reality check and grabs the bull by the horns we as a club will continue to spiral in never ending circles.

y honest view after taking a step back and considering the realistic potential for all 92 clubs is that we should sit towards the top end of Div One. That should be our mean position. From there an occasional appearance in the Championship becomes possible, as should a 4th / 5th round FA Cup appearance every now and again. With that would come struggles with relegation and early cup exits. I would never expect attendances to average above 10,000 if based on people paying full price throughout a season, not that i am against any offers and endeavours to increase our fanbase.
We must remember (how can we forget) we have a bigger and more successful club in our city.
In truth after all the turmoil of the last few years I am amazed how resilient Notts fans are.
The immediate future is dependent on how deep the pockets are of Mr Hardy/Paragon Interiors/Paragon Leisure and if he wants to keep reaching into those pockets. Unless the new manager has a magic wand the evolution of this squad is likely to take time and continue to test the resilience of fans. It never fails to amaze me when I see professional footballers not trying. To think they have worked so hard to get there, so few who try actually make it. Perhaps someone like Turley is giving his all beacause he knows how close he was to losing it.
He is far from perfect but we need 11 Turley's on the pitch, I would prefer 11 Iain McCulloch's ,we can all dream.