Would it be negative?

[Woodypie]

Getting back to OP, the answer is no, we don't have the squad for it. Need to find a new Warnock, Draper, Tommy, DonO, Bartlett, Harding, Deano and Short. Shouldn't be too difficult.

[jackal2]

The problem with our current style of play is that when all the players are buzzing it can look great, but it only takes a couple of the team to be off the pace and the whole thing breaks down very quickly. And that's before you factor in the tactics the opposition employ to disrupt our fluency.

Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce employed more pragmatic tactics based on keeping the ball out of our half of the pitch for as long as possible, and playing football in bursts in the opponent's half. And even when that broke down, we played for free-kicks and set-pieces for which we prepared really well.

The Warnock/Allardyce teams and tactics could scrape ugly wins even when a few players were individually below par, but I'm not sure that Ardley's tactics can grind out those results as often.

[laddo]

Totally agree with jackal2. My biggest worry is I doubt we can grind out victories when our pleasing on the eye passing style isn't working. The Sutton away victory was so pleasing as on that occasion it showed we can but like last season I am concerned it will let us down too many times this season.

Saying all that, the two successful examples rightly chosen go back over 20 and over 30 years. That says it all.

Many, and I mean many managers since these two Notts legendary managers have tried to emulate their successful direct approach. As we all know countless have tried and failed miserably. When that style of play doesn't work , it is ugly to watch.

So ugly#hoooffff

[jackal2]

Totally agree with jackal2. My biggest worry is I doubt we can grind out victories when our pleasing on the eye passing style isn't working. The Sutton away victory was so pleasing as on that occasion it showed we can but like last season I am concerned it will let us down too many times this season.

Saying all that, the two successful examples rightly chosen go back over 20 and over 30 years. That says it all.

Many, and I mean many managers since these two Notts legendary managers have tried to emulate their successful direct approach. As we all know countless have tried and failed miserably. When that style of play doesn't work , it is ugly to watch.

So ugly#hoooffff

True. And ultimately it boils down to the quality of the players. The teams of Warnock and Allardyce were direct, but both had some very good quality players within them, whereas Steve Thompson (for instance) assembled a bunch of very limited 'cloggers' who would have struggled whatever tactics they used. Even the Wimbledon team that became synonymous with direct football had some very talented and effective players like Dennis Wise and John Fashanu.

There's no substitute for a bit of quality, and to be fair, I think there is some quality in our current group of players, certainly for the level we're playing at.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

There was enough in 30 minutes of the first half against Barnet to prove to me that we have got the players with the capability to play football the right way, properly and for it to be very entertaining and successful. That 30 minutes convinced me if that's the clubs new philosophy that when it works it really works.

What needs to happen is to make this work on a consistent basis and against all different types of teams. As we have seen where it comes unstuck is when teams adopt a high press, or if the games are very physical and scrappy, or most importantly as Jackal says just a couple of players are below par.

Some supporters are looking for the plan B when our style is not working for us and naturally will become impatient especially towards the end of games when points can be won or lost.

That is where the the manager and players will need to find ways to make the style of football effective football in all different types of scenarios and against all different types of conditions. It may take time we will have to see. What we must do going forward is learn from games like Dover and Maidenhead.

[durhampie]

There was enough in 30 minutes of the first half against Barnet to prove to me that we have got the players with the capability to play football the right way, properly and for it to be very entertaining and successful. That 30 minutes convinced me if that's the clubs new philosophy that when it works it really works.

What needs to happen is to make this work on a consistent basis and against all different types of teams. As we have seen where it comes unstuck is when teams adopt a high press, or if the games are very physical and scrappy, or most importantly as Jackal says just a couple of players are below par.

Some supporters are looking for the plan B when our style is not working for us and naturally will become impatient especially towards the end of games when points can be won or lost.

That is where the the manager and players will need to find ways to make the style of football effective football in all different types of scenarios and against all different types of conditions. It may take time we will have to see. What we must do going forward is learn from games like Dover and Maidenhead.

Unfortunately we wont learn from those defeats, because according to NA we shouldnt have lost either..So its a case of carry on what you are doing..

[ncfcog]

Unfortunately we wont learn from those defeats, because according to NA we shouldnt have lost either..So its a case of carry on what you are doing..

Maidenhead on the verge of winning their 4th game on the trot after a terrible start. We lost to them with 5 key players missing and sickness within the squad, all we missed was a right back and I reckon we wouldn’t have lost that game. We should never have played it and considering the run they are on I don’t think that defeat under the circumstances looks as bad now as it did back then. No excuse for Dover though.

[ncfcog]

Maidenhead on the verge of winning their 4th game on the trot after a terrible start. We lost to them with 5 key players missing and sickness within the squad, all we missed was a right back and I reckon we wouldn’t have lost that game. We should never have played it and considering the run they are on I don’t think that defeat under the circumstances looks as bad now as it did back then. No excuse for Dover though.

3-1 win for Maidenhead against Solihull. Sam Barrett with a hat trick.

[Davy500]

There was enough in 30 minutes of the first half against Barnet to prove to me that we have got the players with the capability to play football the right way, properly and for it to be very entertaining and successful. That 30 minutes convinced me if that's the clubs new philosophy that when it works it really works.

What needs to happen is to make this work on a consistent basis and against all different types of teams. As we have seen where it comes unstuck is when teams adopt a high press, or if the games are very physical and scrappy, or most importantly as Jackal says just a couple of players are below par.

Some supporters are looking for the plan B when our style is not working for us and naturally will become impatient especially towards the end of games when points can be won or lost.

That is where the the manager and players will need to find ways to make the style of football effective football in all different types of scenarios and against all different types of conditions. It may take time we will have to see. What we must do going forward is learn from games like Dover and Maidenhead.

It may take time we will have to see ?? How much time he has had 2 years already,

[Davy500]

Maidenhead on the verge of winning their 4th game on the trot after a terrible start. We lost to them with 5 key players missing and sickness within the squad, all we missed was a right back and I reckon we wouldn’t have lost that game. We should never have played it and considering the run they are on I don’t think that defeat under the circumstances looks as bad now as it did back then. No excuse for Dover though.

What a surprise- another excuse - now Covid i was waiting for this one, well we would have won if 4 players were not out
No sympathy Notts should not have played the game if they did,nt think they could win, to be fair to Neal -he never used that as an excuse , just the pro Ardley brigade - still i would expect nothing less