Ex Goalkeeper Adam Collin says Alan Hardy's biggest mistake was sacking Kevin Nolan

[Davy500]

Speaking to the Eastwood Advertiser, Collin said: “It’s very sad to see the state of the club right now.

“At the end of the play-off season the club, squad etc was in a fantastic position, but the chairman got involved and wanted to take the club in a different direction.

“Ultimately, himself, the club and its fans have paid a huge price, and it’s going to take a huge effort to turn it all around in my opinion.

“I was a little bit shocked by their relegation, but when you have a team who narrowly missed out in the play-offs and then you rip the squad apart and bring in a lot of young players with a severe lack of experience, you always run the risk of that sort of thing happening.”

Collin said the decision to fire Nolan so early on last season proved a pivotal moment in the club’s season with the ex-Newcastle player fired at the end of August.

It came months after Nolan had guided the Magpies to the League Two play-offs before they were beaten by Coventry City in the semi-final, missing out on a day out at Wembley.

Collin was a key figure for Notts under Nolan but was surprisingly released along with several other senior squad members.

And the goalkeeper said he was in no doubt that the decision to part company with the popular ex-Magpies boss was significant.

He said: “For me, getting rid of Kevin Nolan was one of Alan Hardy’s biggest mistakes.

“But I have some great memories of Notts County.


“My second season there under Kevin Nolan was fantastic apart from getting injured.

“I have a huge amount of respect for Kevin Nolan.

“He is a fantastic manager and created the best dressing room environment I have ever been involved in.”

[BanjoPie]

And in other news;

[ncfcog]

And in other news;

Who cares . . .

[SwalePie]

This fascinating in-depth article was regurgitated by the NEP earlier in the week Davy, hence the comments. I don't think they're getting at you

[the_anticlough]

Hindsight's a wonderful thing for sure, but I would've had no problem with Hardy saying 'KN saved us from non-league in one half season and got us to play-offs the next, he deserves the chance to sort out the mess from the first half dozen games'

A lot of what Collin says is right. Where I am, I see a lot of Gray and Keys and they were appalled when KN was sacked.

The form was terrible, the style poor, selection unfair and maybe a boozy in-crowd had too much influence. Fans weren't wrong to complain, but he had earned the right to try to clear up his own mess.

[Elite_Pie]

The form was terrible, the style poor, selection unfair and maybe a boozy in-crowd had too much influence. Fans weren't wrong to complain, but he had earned the right to try to clear up his own mess.

Agree. In my opinion Nolan had enough credit in the bank from the previous season and a bit to deserve longer. The rumours of his drink problems may be true, but one thing is absolutely certain - if we gave him longer he couldn't have done worse than get us relegated.

[queenslandpie]

Agree. In my opinion Nolan had enough credit in the bank from the previous season and a bit to deserve longer. The rumours of his drink problems may be true, but one thing is absolutely certain - if we gave him longer he couldn't have done worse than get us relegated.

If we had stayed with Nolan we'd have been relegated by Christmas he'd lost it completely. Alan Hardys biggest mistake was massively over extending his financial commitments and putting a CEO in at Paragon who was incompetent. If Nolan had done well last season we wouldnt be in the Vanarama but we would still be in massive poo now.

[Elite_Pie]

If we had stayed with Nolan we'd have been relegated by Christmas he'd lost it completely.

That's just your guess. Nobody knows for certain what would have happened if Hardy had stuck with him longer and even if your worst case scenario was true (it's actually bollox because it's mathematically impossible to be relegated by Christmas), in real terms it's no worse than being relegated on the last day of the season. Relegation is relegation whenever it happens.

[MagpieMike]

If we had stayed with Nolan we'd have been relegated by Christmas he'd lost it completely. Alan Hardys biggest mistake was massively over extending his financial commitments and putting a CEO in at Paragon who was incompetent. If Nolan had done well last season we wouldnt be in the Vanarama but we would still be in massive poo now.

This is exactly right. A club losing 2-3 million a year needs an owner with deep pockets. Hardy could have amazing plans for us now, but it would still be meaningless without the financial clout to make things happen.

[caj85]

That's just your guess. Nobody knows for certain what would have happened if Hardy had stuck with him longer and even if your worst case scenario was true (it's actually bollox because it's mathematically impossible to be relegated by Christmas), in real terms it's no worse than being relegated on the last day of the season. Relegation is relegation whenever it happens.

Being relegated before the last day is worse surly.

I don't think nolan had enough credit either, the last half of the season we got to the play offs was awful. It was only the fact we got screwed in the playoffs that he kept any sort of self esteem and respect from the fans.

If the rumours of hardy interfering and trying to get the age of players down is true then that's a major problem.

We need to get away from the last 18 months and build a togetherness. Hopefully the players and staff are still getting paid