Retained list

[optipez]

No he isn't. He gets forwards and too often there's no-one in the box to cross to or Wootoon double marked so he turns back inside to retain posession.

[pjace]

Chicksen is a good left back, he's the least of our worries.

I would agree 100% there mate he is a little lightweight though but could play at a higher level than this reads the game well and makes good runs and can cross a decent ball

[JulesGouls72]

He is part of the problem. Instead of bombing forward when half a chance he will stop check back or sideways so the move loses tempo. Admittedly did a few forward runs last night, we also played long the odd time, but there were plenty more where he went into his normal mode. We need a Chris Withe, Nicky Platanuer, solid & not feared to take the man on down the wing when over lapping.

Can he be classed as part of the problem if he's simply following his managers orders? Footballers might not like the tactics but if they follow them, they are less likely to be dropped.

[jackal2]

Link below shows our current squad and contract lengths. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/nott...er/verein/1045

I'd try to sign up Sam and Lacey. Not sure about the others. As we already have Cameron and Rawlinson under contract how many CBs do we need?

I'd offer new contracts to Lacey, Sam, Chicksen, Brindley and Kelly-Evans. They're all very capable players at this level and if we don't re-sign them I think they would be of interest to our competitors. I think the weakest links in our squad are Kairo Mitchell (who I suspect was a Burchnall pick rather than a Radar signing, going back to their Leicester links) and Ed Francis, but they are contracted for another year.

In truth, there aren't many players in our squad who could be described as write-offs. The likes of Nemane and Taylor have been inconsistent, but it would be churlish to say they haven't had good games during the season. Early in the season Taylor was playing really well. For me, the problem with this squad is not particularly the players we've signed, but the ones we haven't signed.

We seriously lack height, power and dominant personalities in the midfield area. Aside from replacing Kyle Wootton, the big task this summer is to target and sign big, strong, aggressive midfielders who can give more protection and support to the defence, especially at set-pieces, and maximise the amount of ball we can win and provide to our attacking players.

[Elite_Pie]

We seriously lack height, power and dominant personalities in the midfield area. Aside from replacing Kyle Wootton, the big task this summer is to target and sign big, strong, aggressive midfielders who can give more protection and support to the defence, especially at set-pieces, and maximise the amount of ball we can win and provide to our attacking players.

I agree, but my concern is that "big, strong, aggressive midfielders" aren't on our owner's wishlist.

It just doesn't seem to fit their approach.

[jackal2]

I agree, but my concern is that "big, strong, aggressive midfielders" aren't on our owner's wishlist.

It just doesn't seem to fit their approach.

I don't totally buy this narrative that the owners are dictatorial football purists who only want to sign neat little footballers. It might be truer to say they haven't got the balance quite right yet between the talented ball players and the enforcers, but that's where I'm looking for them/the manager this summer to demonstrate the lessons learned. Kyle Cameron was a good signing last summer and he's no five-foot-five tippy-tapper (even though he is a good ball player). We just need more of his ilk, but this time in midfield. I don't think our defenders are bad for this level, but they haven't had enough protection and support this season, including at set pieces.

[matt_magpie]

I don't totally buy this narrative that the owners are dictatorial football purists who only want to sign neat little footballers. It might be truer to say they haven't got the balance quite right yet between the talented ball players and the enforcers, but that's where I'm looking for them/the manager this summer to demonstrate the lessons learned. Kyle Cameron was a good signing last summer and he's no five-foot-five tippy-tapper (even though he is a good ball player). We just need more of his ilk, but this time in midfield. I don't think our defenders are bad for this level, but they haven't had enough protection and support this season, including at set pieces.

Agree with both your posts Jackal. I’m sure we offered Ellis a contract but he turned us down to stay in the league. The owners and IB are intelligent, I’m 100%, well 99% confident that the whole season will be evaluated game by game and they will know where we need to improve. We have to remember this season hasn’t been a total sh1tshow and neither the 2 before, they wanted stability firstly, they gave us that and they were realist in that it’s no easy feat to get out of this league. They have a strategy, I don’t think we’re a million miles off but we obviously need to reshape the squad a bit, but not wholesale changes.

[jackal2]

I'm fine with the owners, especially in view of the (repeated) chaos that went before. Off the pitch they've done an outstanding job and you can see it in the general mood and positivity around the club. On the pitch, we've fallen short of the promotion ambition but we've never been out of contention, and the quality of signings overall by Football Radar has been far better than previous regimes. We're not a million miles off, but there are definitely some firm lessons that need to be learnt from this season (on the pitch) by owners and manager alike. I'm interested to see how they respond, but still very supportive of the brothers. We could do far, far worse, and have done in the past!

[Notts78]

I agree, but my concern is that "big, strong, aggressive midfielders" aren't on our owner's wishlist.

It just doesn't seem to fit their approach.

I agree. My biggest issue with the radar approach is that every player seems to be ‘one to develop’. I’d be more than happy if the squad was 50-50 in that respect and we simply get players that are built for this league.

[irishpete]

Wouldn't be surprised if somebody or a group were watching Notts to be honest