It looks like a lot of lower-league and non-league clubs will be struggling to survive, with no fans allowed through the gates for the foreseeable future. And even when they are, loads will stay away while the pandemic is still headline news. I saw on another thread a link to a story about Dover Athletic, whose entire squad is available for free transfer. Surely a few others will be in a similar situation.

This got me thinking: what's the situation like at Notts? We know that we have what must be an expensively assembled squad for this level, and that our parachute payments will be cut in half. But do we have any idea about the backing that our owners can provide? I remember they said in an official statement that their commitment to the club was unwavering, despite the current crisis, and that they are here for the long term (thank god), but I wonder how careful we'll have to be with money over the next season or two.

It's clear that the owners want to run the club in a sustainable way in order to achieve long-term success and avoid the boom-and-bust approach that Hardy went for, and I'm all for that. But what's not clear is whether that long-term plan will be severely impacted by current events, or whether we can in fact capitalise on the situation.

For clubs that can afford it, now is the time to double down and invest. So many clubs will be forced to let go of their best players this summer, so there will be loads of talent available. Come the start of the season, it will be interesting to see how strong our squad will be compared to the current one.