IB the story so far ......

[laddo]

Agree VAR should be in all play off games due to the importance of those games.

We've been very unlucky with refereeing decisions in both games mentioned but these were effectively semi finals we can't assume we would have gone on to beat Exeter or Hartlepool but it would have been nice to have had the chance.

As for the officiating in a playoff semi final "destroying" a manager and a chairman of a club!?!? I'm not having that lol.

Where's your testicular fortitude as the Yanks would say? Or grow a pair as us Brits would.

Maybe as KK implies Hardy knew all his eggs were in one basket was expecting promotion that season and when we lost in the playoffs he knew his cover was blown and the short term gamble hadn't paid off. Big time!

[Davy500]

Agree VAR should be in all play off games due to the importance of those games.

We've been very unlucky with refereeing decisions in both games mentioned but these were effectively semi finals we can't assume we would have gone on to beat Exeter or Hartlepool but it would have been nice to have had the chance.

As for the officiating in a playoff semi final "destroying" a manager and a chairman of a club!?!? I'm not having that lol.

Where's your testicular fortitude as the Yanks would say? Or grow a pair as us Brits would.

Maybe as KK implies Hardy knew all his eggs were in one basket was expecting promotion that season and when we lost in the playoffs he knew his cover was blown and the short term gamble hadn't paid off. Big time!

What i meant by destroying nolan and hardy was up until that point they both had made reasonably sensible decisions, this was the turning point , hardy and notts demise started there
There was a lot of talk after the Coventry match that they outplayed us, and deserved to win, this was completely wrong, they finished below us in the league, and apart from the first 30 mins in the home match where they did play better, we were the better side over both of the games , and in fact going into the second half, we should have been 3-2 up on aggregate.
I think Hardy self destructed, it was only after this point, he started spending lots of money over the summer , then sacking nolan and kewell , and spending even more, to get back what he thought he had lost
The fact is things could have turned out very differently if we had won that match, we could have quite easily been in the championship today like Coventry, obviously not guaranteed but is is possible

[Davy500]

The Coventry games are ones I often look back on. Of course to lose due to horrendous officiating is a bitter pill to swallow. But, another aspect I consider, did the defeat begin the revealing of Nolan and Hardy’s true capabilities?

Hardy lost it after this point, started spending big over the summer, sacked Nolan and Kewell and spent even more that he could not afford

All he had to do was stick with Nolan,and be a little more patient, but he was determined after the play off defeat, that notts were going to get promoted, no matter what, threw all his money at players and managers that sadly did not work out, till basically he ran out of cash

Shame Hardy never invested some of that money in the January transfer window, when we were in the top 3, then promotion would have been his, but the loss of yates( Grants goals dried up ) and bennett injured ( later played in the championship) was the real reason notts results tapered off in the second half of the season,

[upthemaggies]

What i meant by destroying nolan and hardy was up until that point they both had made reasonably sensible decisions, this was the turning point , hardy and notts demise started there
There was a lot of talk after the Coventry match that they outplayed us, and deserved to win, this was completely wrong, they finished below us in the league, and apart from the first 30 mins in the home match where they did play better, we were the better side over both of the games , and in fact going into the second half, we should have been 3-2 up on aggregate.
I think Hardy self destructed, it was only after this point, he started spending lots of money over the summer , then sacking nolan and kewell , and spending even more, to get back what he thought he had lost
The fact is things could have turned out very differently if we had won that match, we could have quite easily been in the championship today like Coventry, obviously not guaranteed but is is possible

What happened to Paragon Interiors would apparently rule that possibility out. It could be that an average gate threshold would have made all of the difference in tier 3 to avoid a similar meltdown, but I would imagine that would have been unrealistically high, so you'd then be looking at outside investment or a buyer prepared to pay a much higher price with everything ticking along smoothly in the meantime.
Only Hardy could give us any real insight as to what might have happened had we gone up, but I wouldn't be confident he'd give an honest answer.

[Killerkline]

Hardy lost it after this point, started spending big over the summer, sacked Nolan and Kewell and spent even more that he could not afford

All he had to do was stick with Nolan,and be a little more patient, but he was determined after the play off defeat, that notts were going to get promoted, no matter what, threw all his money at players and managers that sadly did not work out, till basically he ran out of cash

Shame Hardy never invested some of that money in the January transfer window, when we were in the top 3, then promotion would have been his, but the loss of yates( Grants goals dried up ) and bennett injured ( later played in the championship) was the real reason notts results tapered off in the second half of the season,

Agree re Hardy. He demonstrated he was completely out of his depth. Not just financially, but his inability to manage a football club.

In terms of Nolan. I would have given him time to turn the situation around. However, he contributed to our demise with a very poor preseason and the way he conducted himself.

With both individuals, more so Hardy, promotion with these pair in charge could have been even worse than what actually happened.

Anyway, I’m slipping down that path that has been covered many times already.