(In)Stability

[Notts78]

I think the club has never been more stable. I feel we are in a good place to keep building. I know some want success yesterday.

I won?t make any wild predictions about the forthcoming season as we have an important rebuild.

I?m excited to see who comes through the door.

[ThaiPie]

Well said jackal2. The owners haven't played their cards yet. Let's see how things look in August.

[bule1]

People are bound to feel down right now with what has happened in 25 so far. Firstly we missed an open goal with not getting promoted from a weak league. We have lost some key players and those who came in during Jan window did not shine as we would have liked (insert blame on manager and/or calbre of player here), however that does fit into the Bros strategy of not throwing bags of cash at hopeful quickfit replacement(s).

Will wait and see who comes in over the next month or so, don't think the league will be much better next season (franchise FC will probably get their act togther soon though) so there is no need to panic yet.

[jackal2]

Football bereft of emotion is meaningless. The lack of passion is now seeping into every crevice of the club. Between managers, people used be excited on here and full of optimism that things were about to change, but there seems to be a pervasive sense of resignation that it's going be yet another uninspiring clone.

I agree that under Stuart Maynard our football was bereft of emotion and passion and simply boring to watch, but that's mostly on him as a coach. There was nothing emotionless or passionless about the way we played under Luke Williams with the same owners, indeed the entertainment value was some of the best I've seen in 35 years. With the right Head Coach appointment there's no reason why we can't rediscover that joie de vivre. The club off the pitch is being run very well, and the disappointment on the pitch over the last six months doesn't negate the progress we've made overall (bearing in mind we still finished in our best position for years despite the Maynard malaise).

Hate to say it, but as unhinged as he is, I'd love to have Fword's owner. Wouldn't be unreasonable for somebody to respond to that with "Why don't you go and support them then", but that's not how it works unfortunately

Forest's owner has proven to be more reliable than I thought he might, albeit in his own madcap way, but the time to truly judge the Marinakis era will be when and how it ends.

I'm perfectly happy with our owners even if their way is much calmer and more considered. They've done a tremendous job bringing this football club back from the brink of oblivion, and the best illustration of that is probably the fact that Notts fans only have to concern themselves with matters on the pitch these days.

I think the club has never been more stable. I feel we are in a good place to keep building. I know some want success yesterday.

In the past I've got frustrated with the 'jam today (or yesterday) football fan mentality, but over the years I've realised it's the nature of the beast and it will never change. The key difference between these owners and previous owners is that the Reedtz Bros don't get drawn into the emotion and hyperbole that will always be spouted on Notts MAD and X, and they certainly don't base their decision-making on it. Ray Trew, Alan Hardy and a few others didn't master that separation.

[since41]

Head Coach appointment there's no reason why we can't rediscover that joie de vivre.
I thought for a minute we had a new signing from France.

[The_Pie_Man]

I think fans have every right to feel aggrieved at the minute.

We wasted a fantastic opportunity to go up in a weak division - the squad has been roundly asset stripped and the replacements (on the whole) have not been of the same quality.

Adding to that a sub-standard former manager and a largely rotten quality of football, we limped to the biggest damp-squib of a playoff campaign any of us have ever experienced. Nobody expected us to actually do the job, and, in the end, we got what we deserved. Nothing

Yesterday saw the departure of one of our top scorers (and fan of the club), whilst it is rumoured the other may also be on the way out. The squad has precious little quality and the silence from the club is deafening. Is it any wonder people are miffed?

This season will be key to our future prospects - consistent gates of 10,000+ will not be achieved with mid-table dross. Our *new* fans will not stick around forever unless they get value for money.

The owners have to decide - do they actually want to get promoted, or not? Words are simple, actions are not - they need to invest properly in the squad and new manager. Of course, I am obviously absolutely in favour of the owners investing in the clubs infrastructure, however it is ultimately a football club and what happens on the pitch needs to be priority 1. The fans deserve more than lip service.

[matt_magpie]

I think fans have every right to feel aggrieved at the minute.

We wasted a fantastic opportunity to go up in a weak division - the squad has been roundly asset stripped and the replacements (on the whole) have not been of the same quality.

Adding to that a sub-standard former manager and a largely rotten quality of football, we limped to the biggest damp-squib of a playoff campaign any of us have ever experienced. Nobody expected us to actually do the job, and, in the end, we got what we deserved. Nothing

Yesterday saw the departure of one of our top scorers (and fan of the club), whilst it is rumoured the other may also be on the way out. The squad has precious little quality and the silence from the club is deafening. Is it any wonder people are miffed?

This season will be key to our future prospects - consistent gates of 10,000+ will not be achieved with mid-table dross. Our *new* fans will not stick around forever unless they get value for money.

The owners have to decide - do they actually want to get promoted, or not? Words are simple, actions are not - they need to invest properly in the squad and new manager. Of course, I am obviously absolutely in favour of the owners investing in the clubs infrastructure, however it is ultimately a football club and what happens on the pitch needs to be priority 1. The fans deserve more than lip service.

I agree with a lot of that, a better Jan Window and we?d have probably gone up, we needed players ready for action not ones more for next season.
That said we have had steady improvement the last few years and we had steady decline since the Munto era before.
It is steady and yes feels frustrating in someways when you see other teams like Stockport, Mansfield splashing cash but it?s just not going to happen under these guys.
Does feel like their under a bit of pressure to get this window right and HC, let?s give them a chance as on the whole they haven?t disappointed us.

[upthemaggies]

The three stages of being a lifelong Notts County supporter.

1. Birth
2. "WTF ARe THEY PLAYING AT?!?!?!"
3. Death

[Old_pie]

I won?t make any wild predictions about the forthcoming season as we have an important rebuild.

Why are we yet having another rebuild? What's been happening the past 6 seasons?

[Carlton_Pie]

Here's where I think we are:
A very good keeper and decent defenders in place
Whoever comes in as manager (and I suspect it's already sorted but not announced for whatever reason) needs to abandon playing our two most threatening players in positions where they're miles from the goal when they get the ball
And knackered from chasing back defending

It's likely that AJ will be sold if we get an offer we can't refuse so there should be funds available

So what do we need:
Legs, energy and power in the middle of the park
And a couple of decent forwards - possibly young prospects from PL or Championship clubs

All is not lost

Exactly this.

1. Switch to a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3
2. Recruit some legs, energy, pace and aggression to the midfield
3. A couple more options up the top end

We'll be in the mix again next season.