2018/2019 Season: Half Time Thoughts

19 points from the first 23 games and 23 to go. We need to average around 1.5 points per game from here on to be safe. It would be a considerable improvement on the 0.83 per game up to this point.

It's clear (to me at least) that the key issue is still our shambolic defence and some midfield muscle/aggression. If we can manage to get Tootle firing on all cylinders and get a left back in worthy of the name defensively then I reckon we could be defending a lot less juicy crosses. With that in mind, we could 'maybe' manage in central defence. Find a Yates or a Bishop for midfield and give that back four some protection and I don't think we'd be far off.

I know it hurts to get stuffed by the Mighty Cod after last week's apparent corner-turning game against Tranmere but I still have faith in Messrs. Ardley and Cox to turn this around.

This transfer window will be possibly the most important in our long and not-particularly illustrious history.

We are in serious bother & those that think we will be ok need to wake up & smell the coffee.We haven't made good use of the last 2 transfer windows,why should this be different plus we need to many players to come in & gel quickly.FFP will also be a factor

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Originally Posted by irishpete

We are in serious bother & those that think we will be ok need to wake up & smell the coffee.We haven't made good use of the last 2 transfer windows,why should this be different plus we need to many players to come in & gel quickly.FFP will also be a factor

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This should be different in that...

a) we have a different manager, who has much, much more experience of the transfer world and

b) we are not trying to build an attacking team that's easy on the eye...we're trying to stop it conceding 49 more goals. Do that and we have an attack capable of scoring plenty, especially if we get Alessandra and Boldewijn back in the new year.

Given that the 22nd-placed team only has 20 points, I’d be amazed if we needed more than 50 points to survive this season, maybe even as little as 45 - although we’d still need a better second half of the season to reach that pathetic tally.

If we get a new Shola, a new Yates, a new Grant, a dominant centre half and a full back or two in January, and they gel immediately, I’ll fancy our chances of survival. Otherwise, with this squad, it’s hello Harrogate and major cutbacks in the summer.

My thoughts ?

I won't be going again this season until the players show they care or can be bothered.

Really couldn't give a monkeys this season.

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Originally Posted by Scanlon's Hatrick

My thoughts ?

I won't be going again this season until the players show they care or can be bothered.

Really couldn't give a monkeys this season.

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That’s going to help the club.

19 points and 49 goals conceded at Christmas in the fourth tier of English Football is a complete and utter joke and an embarrassment for a football club with such a long rich history and tradition in the football league as Notts County. However we have no devine right to automatically have a place in the football league.

It really beggars belief how poor we have been overall in the first half of this season.

There is a level of rot within the squad that just does not seem to go away. It doesn’t matter who the manager is either.

Thankfully the saving grace is Neal Ardley is here and now knows how bad we are (if he didn’t already know) and we have the January transfer window in which to operate and do business. These two are our only hope.

We’ve got to get players in its as simple as that. The problem is with nobody being out of contract means fringe players leave on loan until the end of the season.

We need to tighten up at the back very quickly in order for us to stand any chance of survival. Last week we had to take the lead three times in order to win. The goals are there but we will never win football matches and confidence will evaporate if we keep scoring and then conceding. It’s worse when we concede first like today after three minutes because there is no meaningful response. Almost a shrug of the shoulders. That’s the most alarming and worrying aspect of this team.

We simply cannot carry on gifting goals and being so lightweight defensively. This team does not work as a unit and has not worked apart from four times this season where we’ve won.

Start conceding less than two goals a game and get some clean sheets and we might start climbing the table.

Good luck Neal Ardley and Co.

Help the club ?
I am a customer of the club, they aren't my friends or family.
I have done more than my bit over the last 50 years, spending a large percentage of my salary following the team.
The sooner some fans realise that players don't give a damn about them the better for them.
It's a job for them nothing else.
This romantic notion that it's anything else needs to be forgotten about.
If the club provides a poor service I won't buy it - pretty simple.

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Originally Posted by Scanlon's Hatrick

Help the club? I am a customer of the club, they aren't my friends or family.

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Not the way I see it. I am a customer of many places, but I don't get the emotional attachment to them that I get with Notts. I see myself as a supporter rather than a customer, and Notts have given me so many high points among the heartache in the last 48 years that I will never become a customer simply judging a product.

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Originally Posted by Scanlon's Hatrick

This romantic notion that it's anything else needs to be forgotten about. If the club provides a poor service I won't buy it - pretty simple.

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It may be pretty simple for you, but it isn't for me. I don't doubt that the current bunch of wasters are mostly a disgrace to the shirt, but I won't let them destroy decades of affection for Notts County. I prefer to stick with romantic notions like Jimmy Sirrel, Jack Wheeler, Don Masson, Les Bradd etc. It's entirely your choice if you've had enough, but I will be back next season whatever division we play in. Hopefully there will be enough similar types to keep the club going so you can return if the good times ever make a comeback.

There just seems to be a problem of lack of fight and poor morale amongst these players. Only once this season have Notts taken anything from a game after being behind. That was at Port Vale when we fought back from 0-1 to lead 2-1 - and still managed to concede a late equaliser. There’s also been a distinct lack of goals (for) in the final minutes of our matches- in contrast to a year ago when we were scoring quite a few late winners. It’s indicative of a side that doesn’t keep on battling right up to the final whistle.

Ardley has two main tasks - to fix this morale problem and to get the defence organised in such a way that the number of goals conceded drops to an acceptable level.