📝 Tobi Adebayo-Rowling Signs

[jackal2]

On the face of it, we are getting worse (league position/play off round exits)

Marginally, but not by a distance that has any great meaning. Such small differences in points and position can come down to the randomness of football and variables like an injury here or there and whether a couple of shots hit the bar or the post or go in the net, plus the form of the team you happen to get in the play-offs. If we'd finished, say, 3rd, 8th and then 12th in the last three seasons then it probably would be fair to say we're getting significantly worse, but 3rd, 5th and 5th are basically play-off finishes. If we're splitting hairs to such a degree then, as others have pointed out, we actually scored more points in a stronger league this season than last. Essentially, we've been pretty much stable on and off the park for the past three years, which doesn't require panic from anyone. It just means we need to tweak things a bit this summer, hopefully with some good value rather than big money signings, to see if we can push on.

[uysapie]

Marginally, but not by a distance that has any great meaning. Such small differences in points and position can come down to the randomness of football and variables like an injury here or there and whether a couple of shots hit the bar or the post or go in the net, plus the form of the team you happen to get in the play-offs. If we'd finished, say, 3rd, 8th and then 12th in the last three seasons then it probably would be fair to say we're getting significantly worse, but 3rd, 5th and 5th are basically play-off finishes. If we're splitting hairs to such a degree then, as others have pointed out, we actually scored more points in a stronger league this season than last. Essentially, we've been pretty much stable on and off the park for the past three years, which doesn't require panic from anyone. It just means we need to tweak things a bit this summer, hopefully with some good value rather than big money signings, to see if we can push on.

Stable but no progress.

[upthemaggies]

Marginally, but not by a distance that has any great meaning. Such small differences in points and position can come down to the randomness of football and variables like an injury here or there and whether a couple of shots hit the bar or the post or go in the net, plus the form of the team you happen to get in the play-offs. If we'd finished, say, 3rd, 8th and then 12th in the last three seasons then it probably would be fair to say we're getting significantly worse, but 3rd, 5th and 5th are basically play-off finishes. If we're splitting hairs to such a degree then, as others have pointed out, we actually scored more points in a stronger league this season than last. Essentially, we've been pretty much stable on and off the park for the past three years, which doesn't require panic from anyone. It just means we need to tweak things a bit this summer, hopefully with some good value rather than big money signings, to see if we can push on.

If the goal is top spot we've finished.....

2019/20 - 7 pts adrift
2020/21 - 14 pts adrift
2021/22 - 12 pts adrift

We're miles off.

I feel a bit sorry for Tobi Rowling if he discovers this site tonight/tomorrow and sees 11 pages devoted to him, thinking his joining the club has sent us into a frenzy of excitement, only to click on it and find a bunch of old gits chewing over what's gone wrong with Notts over the past 30 years.

[uysapie]

If the goal is top spot we've finished.....

2019/20 - 7 pts adrift
2020/21 - 14 pts adrift
2021/22 - 12 pts adrift

We're miles off.

I feel a bit sorry for Tobi Rowling if he discovers this site tonight/tomorrow and sees 11 pages devoted to him, thinking his joining the club has sent us into a frenzy of excitement, only to click on it and find a bunch of old gits chewing over what's gone wrong with Notts over the past 30 years.

More than 30 years makes you half empty glass type, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best every season. Doesn't stop me getting ready to pay for a hospitality season ticket though.

[durhampie]

I've been saying that for ages. If you set the bar at Fullarton as manager, Branston as head of recruitment, and (insert your own name) as owner, it's easy to make things look better. To me saying that we are at better than our many lowest points is accepting mediocrity and failure.

I agree we need a solid base to build on, but do we have it? There's been a few moans about negativity on here today, but there are also those who think that we are now a well run club with great owners so success automatically has to follow. I sincerely hope they are right, but I would have liked to see a few more signs that we are moving in the right direction.

We have moved in the right direction since the chuckle bros went to Forest Green...

[uysapie]

We have moved in the right direction since the chuckle bros went to Forest Green...

Certainly hope so.

[jackal2]

The context that's forgotten now is that it was pretty much the last roll of the dice to attract decent support for the level we'd climbed up to. Promotions and Wembley finals hadn't brought the crowds in and I think it was widely thought at the time (certainly by Pavis) that the embarrassing state of the ground by then was putting people off and if Notts offered better facilities and the impression of being a more modern club, people would turn up.
Sadly they didn't. It was an awful sight looking across from County Road at a mostly empty Pavis stand on the day it first opened v Wolves.

Like Swale I'm beginning to struggle to see the point you're ultimately trying to make and what you want to happen from an ownership viewpoint.

You almost seem to be making the case that the club is doomed to be insolvent and to gradually decline no matter what it does, and to be honest, a number of business people from outside the football sector would probably look at Notts County FC dispassionately and agree!

The Reedtz brothers can't afford to think like that though, and I don't think they do. Their business model seems to be to invest a significant amount of money to cover our losses and to fund a competitive - but not excessive - playing budget so those losses don't get beyond their control, whilst aiming to recruit young talent (players and managers) who can grow with us and in some cases attract a fee. They're seeking to control the costs of running the club but still working to give us a chance of success. To me, this seems to be the only realistic way to square a very difficult financial circle that has severely challenged Notts County owners pretty much since WW2. Virtually all of our owners in the modern era have bemoaned attendances at some point, and we've been in and out of financial trouble more times than a lifelong gambling addict.

The only real alternative to the Reedtz approach (other than the already failed Hardy and Trew approaches) is that some big, moneybags owner comes out of nowhere and is genuine, rather than a fraud like Munto. It's not impossible this could happen (as shown by Wrexham's experience) but it's improbable, and moreover, continuing/future changes to financial fair play rules in the National league and the higher leagues are making it progressively more difficult for such sugar daddies to spend outlandishly anyway.

If such a wealthy owner does want to take over Notts County then they would obviously have no problem making the Reedtz brothers an offer they couldn't refuse, and the brothers would probably accept it in their own interests and that of the club. However, until something like that materialises, I'll stick with the current ownership thanks, because they seem to be the most-level headed stewards of the club we've seen in a long time. That doesn't mean they can guarantee success though. No-one can.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

On the face of it, we are getting worse (league position/play off round exits)

Financially, nobody knows for sure how they manage the debts, it will be complicated. Previous owners admitted they hadn't anticipated the weight of the iron ball they'd chained themselves to and, seeing that the list of clubs we can't compete with at this level seems to be growing, despite our gates being three times higher in one case, I suspect the Reedtz era is just going to be yet another chapter in the volume that deals with Notts County's decline following the completion of the rebuilding of the stadium that closed the previous volume.

Similarly to Swale and Jackal2 I don’t understand what the current custodians have done (or maybe not done?) to make you so pessimistic and negative towards them. Unless I’m misinterpreting your recent posts that’s the impression I’m left with. We all have different views and opinions which I respect so I guess I’m asking what do you want to see from the custodians of the club?

For me I really do have trust and faith that given time and patience the current regime will ultimately leave the club in a better place than when they found it. That’s all we can ask of any custodian. They are young men firstly which I like and they’ve made the club seem modern and attractive to a younger generation and demographic. For years people used to berate us for being an “old man’s club” so having young owners changes that image. They will have learned a lot in the past three years and are clearly intelligent people.

They know what they want which I see as a positive as they’ve set a model and philosophy that helps the club to be self supporting as much as possible. Likewise if a player or head coach leaves the whole pack of cards does not come crashing down like in the past.

On the pitch we now have players who have been at the club three or four seasons like JOB, Brindley and Rawlinson. That never happened before. Some players you would be lucky if they were here for three or four months. They’ve implemented a modern football philosophy. Hoofball is dead. If you want to develop and sell players in this day and age at any level they’ve got to be able to play football. That’s where we fell behind as a country to the likes of Spain and Germany so as a nation we have had to up our game over the past 12 years since the 2010 World Cup.

Likewise we are clearly looking like a modern forward thinking club that wants to go about doing things the correct and proper way. It may seem boring or “nerdy” but I don’t want drama and crisis coming from the club all the time. The previous twenty years was not normal.

I also feel that the current owners maybe being the target of frustration from some fans because of our three failed playoff attempts, but I think that’s born more from the fact that we are in this league nobody wants to be here and fans are hurting. But it’s so hard to get out of here. What we have to ultimately remember is they did not put us here, the previous regime did but they are not around for peoples ultimate frustrations to be directed at.

Maybe we will get promoted under these owners, maybe we won’t as nobody has a crystal ball, but what the past three years tells me is that the slide has been halted and the rot stopped which was the first priority. If hypothetically speaking they sold the club tomorrow their legacy for me would be the ones who stopped our decline and brought some class, professionalism pride and respect back to the club. Let’s face it we left the Football league as a laughing stock.

As Laddo has summed up we can’t expect 20 years of decline to be reversed over night. It takes time to rebuild.

Let’s keep the faith and I really do hope we get promoted under this regime as there will be not a single person connected to the club be it fan or employee, or owner that anyone will be able to say they don’t deserve it.

[slack_pie]

Why can't a coach be a good leader? Depends what you define as leadership? I think the 1970's want a few of the Notts fans back

They can be. I never said they couldn't.

My point was that a manager HAS to be a good leader. It's part of the job description. Managing and leading are very much the same thing. A head coach should be, but those qualities are secondary to their ability in coaching and tactics.

[magpie_mania]

They can be. I never said they couldn't.

My point was that a manager HAS to be a good leader. It's part of the job description. Managing and leading are very much the same thing. A head coach should be, but those qualities are secondary to their ability in coaching and tactics.

Forest have a head coach. Worked out OK for them.

Head coach must to be a good leader too imo.