Supporting Notts County this season has been a bit like watching an episode of Jeremy Kyle with a big mug of tea and copious amounts of Morrisons Value Bourbon biscuits. Immense fun, but deep down very, very wrong and you should probably go and get a job and become a normal member of society again.
It's fair to say this season the Magpies have been anything but a normal member of League Two society. Whilst other sides were trying to negotiate loan deals for the dregs of Hartlepool United reserves, Notts were signing Sol Campbell and appointing Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football. Now, while the rest of the division fight to tie down their moderately impressive loanees, we find ourselves with a hefty tax bill to pay off and a transfer embargo. Hey, you've got to take the rough with the smooth.
Since Jared Wilson last did this column in October (he cites being "confused and depressed with football" as a reason for the hiatus - as if it was a barrell of laughs before this season) quite a lot has happened, lots of it good and equal amounts of it not quite so good. Manager Hans Backe has left the club and subsequently joined MLS side Red Bull New York where he can watch a standard of football even less interesting than that found at Accrington Stanley on your average Saturday afternoon. He resigned after the club's first home league defeat of the season (to Stanley in fact), citing 'broken promises' relating to a signing that didn't happen on loan deadline day. A reason spookily similar to that given by Sol Campbell when he left in September, which has left me to wonder whether Hans thought we could pull off a late swoop for Roberto Carlos.
 Peter Taylor |
 Jim Gannon |
 Craig Short |
We are yet to appoint a successor for Backe and Dave Kevan remains in temporary charge of the club as he was earlier in the season. He remains unbeaten in his post although has been on the touchline for just one game in this spell - a 4-1 win at Burton Albion. Before that, Notts had been on a fairly impressive run having picked up wins over sorry Darlington at Meadow Lane and Hereford United at Edgar Street. Lee Hughes is now well ahead in the race for the League Two golden boot, with Rotherham's Adam Le Fondre trailing him by three goals. We also knocked AFC Bournemouth out of the FA Cup at Dean Court and face a third round tie against non-league side Forest Green Rovers for a shot at Premier League minnows Wigan Athletic at Meadow Lane in the fourth round. That was possibly the first ever FA Cup draw against a Premiership side that caused audible groans across a whole city.
The discussion over who the club's new manager is going to be has taken a back seat with constant stories relating to the club's off-the-field issues surfacing almost hourly although some strong contenders have emerged for the position. Peter Taylor of England fame threw his hat into the ring early on and would appear a solid choice, having guided Wycombe Wanderers to promotion from this division last season. Steve Cotterill who has tasted promotion with Cheltenham Town in League Two has also been mentioned as has Jim Gannon, who has led Stockport County out of the basement. One of the more leftfield candidates is former Notts centre back Craig Short, who is currently manager of Hungarian side Ferencváros and doing a fair job, despite his first game being abandoned due to a riot.
Anyway, on to the slightly less cheerful and unbelievably complicated subject of the boardroom situation at Meadow Lane. Since last time out our 'Middle Eastern' owners Munto Finance have been rumbled by the Formula One authorities after trying to get a foothold in that sport, been hounded so much by the Guardian that they've had to put barbed wire around head office and promptly disappeared, handing the club over to chairman Peter Trembling for £1. Fittingly their final purchase at Meadow Lane appears to be a gadget with absolutely no practical use other than growing industrial strength cannabis; some portable lights that 'grow the pitch' and cost half a million pounds. They certainly didn't come with a defrost setting as the last three matches at Meadow Lane have been called off due to someone accidentally leaving the whole of NG2 in the freezer.
Since Trembling took charge him and Sven have been flying around all over the place trying to persuade someone to invest £25,000,000 in a football club which lists Delroy Facey amongst it's most prized assets, all for a shot at keep 'the dream' alive. This has become much more of an urgent matter with the recent revelations that the club owe £600,000 to the tax man (a matter of weeks after paying back £400,000 - just who has been left in charge doing our tax returns) and a further £900,000 to other creditors. Trembling remains confident that the situation can be resolved in the near future but he has admitted that Eriksson will be leaving the club if significant investment cannot be secured and we have to 'make do' with being sustainable!
Due to the unpaid tax bill, the Magpies have also been placed under a transfer embargo, which isn't exactly an ideal circumstance considering that our three loanees have gone back to their parent clubs and we now have a squad with just three fit defenders, one of whom is John Thompson who doesn't count. Going back home are Brendan Moloney, who has been forced to pay his own bus fare back over Trent Bridge due to the precarious financial situation. He'll genuinely be missed having impressed hugely in his time here although the club remain confident he'll return once things off the field are sorted. Daniel Jones has returned to Wolves after we politely declined following through with an agreement to sign him permanently and Matt Ritchie has returned to Portsmouth and, in doing so, become the first player ever to leave Meadow Lane and miss the financial security.
That just about sums up three months at Notts County in a nutshell although by the time you read this we may be extremely rich again and finally plotting a swoop for Roberto Carlos, this column may have been solemnly renamed 'AFC Left Pie-on' or we may have been invited back into normal League Two society. There really is no telling what will happen next…
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Left Pie-On: January
Write Commentby Jared Jan 08, 2010, 10:05:20 amBig up to Jacob for taking over the reigns from me on this column! And what a great start he's made to it as well...
by Nish of the Lion Jan 08, 2010, 03:10:40 pm'reins'
Sorry, but it's the spelling mistake that pisses me off most.
by Jared Jan 13, 2010, 10:02:26 amThe Guardian reckon Sven will be gone by the end of the month (bottom paragraph) http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/13/manchester-united-finances-tax
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
by it's alan Jan 13, 2010, 12:29:43 pmThere's some rumours floating around that him and his old mate Tord have already made the decision to leave.
by Jared Jan 13, 2010, 10:56:53 pmYeah. Realistically it's only a matter of time before Sven leaves us.
On the plus side apparantly we're the 23rd most popular team in the world on FIFA10. Take that Argentina and all the other teams below us: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Notts-County-23rd-popular-team-world/article-1702547-detail/article.html?
by Jared Jan 20, 2010, 10:37:38 amSo, after a teeth-clenchingly close game against Forest Green Rovers last night (bear in mind that we've been knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league opposition in each of the past 2 seasons) Notts now play Premiership Wigan at the lane on Saturday.
I slightly fancy our chances against them. Not that I expect us to win or anything, but I think we've got a chance. Especially if players like McCarthy, Kirkland, Figeroa and Scotland are rested.
I look forward to watching the Lee Hughes - Titus Bramble battle in particular.
by Jared Jan 20, 2010, 02:16:01 pmIt seems a Forest Green Rovers fan died after the game last night - from a suspected heart attack. A sad day.
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Fan-dies-Meadow-Lane/article-1730394-detail/article.html
by Jared Jan 23, 2010, 06:27:27 pmBrilliant game against Wigan today. We were 2-0 up by half-time. Hughes was running their defence ragged (and their fans with his usual pantomime villain performance) and Davies scored with a sweeeet free kick that's been all over the national sports news since. We also had a bit of luck as Wigan hit the post.
But we realised at half-time that the team were lacking in match fitness after having 7 of the 8-9 games since December postponed. So it wasn't a big surprise when the Premiership boys clawed their way back to a draw at the end.
A bit disappointed as they were there for the taking, but our lads did themselves proud. The most exciting game of football i've seen all season!
by Jared Jan 24, 2010, 11:16:09 amNew manager and (hopefully) new investment look likely to be announced on Monday. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/8477129.stm
by it's alan Jan 26, 2010, 10:41:03 amNew manager and (hopefully) new investment look likely to be announced on Monday. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/8477129.stm
Yesterday, I read that at 4:50pm Colin Slater was going to report some news from Meadow Lane live on the radio.
His news was "there should be an announcement tomorrow"... so, let's see what today brings.
by Jared Jan 26, 2010, 11:37:40 amYeah. It's been dragging on a fair bit this one. But hopefully for good, rather than bad, reasons. I guess multi-million � deals are not that easy to sort quickly. Millionaires aren't the type of people who don't investigate what they're buying into properly.
by Stillman Jan 26, 2010, 05:52:33 pmany news yet? evening post not saying much
by Jared Jan 26, 2010, 11:03:16 pmIt appears to be sorted. But will take another 28 days for all the details to come out. But HMRC are said to be "satisfied" so fingers crossed we won't be going into admin anytime soon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/8476737.stm
Cracking result away to Daggers tonight by the way. 3-0. YOU PIES!!
by Lord of the Nish Jan 27, 2010, 12:03:53 amWhat, they've found someone with two pounds?
by Jared Jan 27, 2010, 10:44:52 amHopefully a bit more than that Nish. Some people on our messageboards are saying �25million. But we'll just have to see what comes out in a month or so.
Either way we're not going into admin. WOO!
by Lord of the Nish Jan 27, 2010, 10:56:52 amBut it's the lack of transparency thing again, isn't it? Seeing as one of the main reasons anyone buys a football club is for the publicity, the fact that another consortium have not revealed themselves causes the hand to rise to the chin. Would anyone say, 'yeah, I'll get Portsmouth out of the shit, but please don't tell anyone'?
by Jared Jan 27, 2010, 04:58:47 pmI think it's a bit too early to criticise them for that just yet. They've only just agreed a deal within the last 24hours - and there is still plenty of paperwork to be done to finalise it. I'm sure after the circus caused last time that the new owners will make themselves known when the deal is all finally through - in fact Trembling has said so on Radio Nottm himself.
by Jared Jan 30, 2010, 06:12:13 pmDecent performance by us against Barnet today - but a dull game. They were awful in the first half and we should have been 5 - 0 up really - Hughes missed a couple of sitters. They got better in the second half and we subbed a few important players (Ravenhill, Hughes and Hawley) in preparation for the Wigan game on Tuesday. So I was pleased with the result in the end.
Edit - The ref we had was really poor today. The refs always get criticised by fans - often unfairly. But this guy kept booking our players for complaining about being kicked around. At one point their centre-forward karate-kicked Steven Hunt in the back and he booked our midfielder for complaining about it.
by Jared Feb 02, 2010, 04:17:55 pmWell fookin' hell! After all the rumours of Arabs and Swedes, it looks like our new owners might be from much closer to home.
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/football/Notts-County-s-future-secured-today-takeover-deal-nears-completion/article-1797534-detail/article.html
by Stillman Feb 02, 2010, 04:53:32 pmTime to smash wigan in the replay. 5th round against Fulham, onwards and upwards
YOU PIES
by Jared Feb 02, 2010, 09:20:02 pmWE'VE JUST GONE 1-0 UP AGAINST WIGAN! FOOK ME I'M TINGLING WITH EXCITEMENT!!!!!
by Jared Feb 02, 2010, 09:22:47 pm2-0! I BLOODY LOVE FOOTBALL RIGHT NOW!!
by Jared Feb 02, 2010, 09:47:06 pm2-0 final score. George Formby, The Verve, Kajagoogoo and Roberto Martinez - your boys took a hell of a beating!
by it's alan Feb 03, 2010, 10:07:38 amGreat result! Wigan got shown up.
Is the 5th Round at Fulham, or at Meadow Lane? It'll be a cracking day for you if it's away.
by Jared Feb 03, 2010, 01:02:03 pmIt's away in London. On valentines day I think...
by Stillman Feb 03, 2010, 09:22:36 pmthe octavian deal is dead. let's hope PT has got a PLAN B.
shite
by Jared Feb 03, 2010, 10:00:59 pmI'm pretty shocked about this deal falling through.
We go from the sublime to the ridiculous in a matter of 24hours once again. Getting annoyed with Trembling now. Don't really trust him much anymore. Hope he proves me wrong, but I sense he might be gambling on our cup run to get bigger fish in. It's okay if they bite, but if not then we're fooked!
Here's his statement anyway: http://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10426~1954570,00.html
But the 'there's been no formal offer' stance isn't something the investors seem to agree on: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Frustration-Magpies-takeover-deal-collapses/article-1800637-detail/article.html
by Jared Feb 03, 2010, 10:24:42 pmOn a more positive note Juventus fans seem to be celebrating last night's win against Wigan too: http://www.vecchiasignora.com/index.php?showtopic=135065
by it's alan Feb 04, 2010, 12:05:55 pmI genuinely don't understand what's going on at County.
Last week, when Notts appeared in court, the club couldn't pay the full amount owed, but was granted an extension of 28 days. I thought this extension was granted because Trembling could prove that an offer of investment had been made, and that everything was sorted, and that it was just a case of going through due dilligence.
Now, Trembling has said that there has been no formal offer.
As a genuine question, what is actually going on there??
On the subject of Trembling, well, It's obvious he is a snake in the grass. He came out with some absolute whoppers during the Munto period.
by Jared Feb 04, 2010, 12:20:40 pmI'm being told by someone else now that we have received interest from another consortium (potentially Scandinavian-based) who are further down the process than the Octavian-East-Midlands crew were.
And this new statement seems to hint at that - as they were the ones who he's going through due dilligence with: http://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10426~1954841,00.html
But it's still a complete ballache to follow! Fingers crossed from me right now.
by Jared Feb 09, 2010, 09:54:40 amI'm going to London this weekend to an old mates leaving do - and also handily Notts County are playing at Craven Cottage on the same weekend.
I slightly fancied our chances of a win after beating Wigan, but then I read up on their home form and it's incredible. In all competitions Fulham have only lost 3 games at home - against Arsenal, Chelsea and Villa. No lower positioned side has managed to beat them.
But it doesn�t end there. As well as hardly ever losing, they have also had some great results. They have beaten Everton (2-1), Liverpool (3-1), and Man-U (3-0).
And if you�re wondering why they�re so good at home, you need to have a look at the �goals against� column. Fulham have conceded only 8 league goals at home this season - only Villa can beat that.
So yeah, I might not be racing to the bookies anytime soon to bet on us.
PS - I'm on the lookout for a lift back from London on Sunday after the game. The return trains are expensive, so if anyone off here is going and has a spare seat then let me know. I will be happy to contribute towards petrol.
by it's alan Feb 09, 2010, 10:36:50 amHave you tried looking at National Expess... it takes about 3 hours but you can usually do the journey for somewhere between �5 and �15, depending on what FunFares are available.
by it's alan Feb 09, 2010, 02:30:48 pmThis latest development has made me a lot less sympathetic towards Notts County FC.
BURTON Albion Football Club are owed �14,000 in unpaid gate receipts by crisis club Notts County, the Mail can reveal.
"Notts pointed out to us that under the rules, they have five days after the game to make payment � but they did categorically assure us that we would be paid within that time. We still haven�t received the money"
That's a disgusting way to conduct business, in my opinion. For the sake of a fair division, I hope Notts are forced to pay this immediatelty, or deducted points.
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=482615
by Jared Feb 09, 2010, 05:17:34 pmYeah, it's a weird one. Particularly as we recently gifted Bournemouth �10,000 of our TV money that we didn't have to because of their financial problems.
It would be a tad harsh if we were deducted points for it tho. After all loads of clubs take liberties with money to their own financial advantage (eg Forest taking a very low interest loan from our council tax - even though Doughty has the money to cover it - that's the one Notts fans usually harp on about).
But obviously I hope we pay the brewers up asap. They're a lovely club with really good fans and they deserve what they're due!
by it's alan Feb 10, 2010, 12:55:24 amI think it's come to a point now where the financial situation means that County are gaining an unfair advantage over other clubs - and the league should be sorting it out.
How can the club justify paying certain key players �x thousand every week, when they refuse to pay the money they owe to other clubs (other clubs who may be suffering as a result)
Anyway. Shit results for Forest and County tonight. I had a miserable time at Coventry. Bleurghhhh.
by Jared Feb 10, 2010, 10:29:25 amI know what you're saying it's alan, but I don't reckon we're there quite yet. Obviously we're worried about money as Notts fans right now, but owing Burton �14k hardly amounts to much of an unfair advantage - that's not really a lot of money even for League Two teams. Probably wouldn't even cover a weeks wages for the Burton XI.
I hope we pay this asap, but i'm guessing that we're paying all our bills slowly at the moment in the hope we can store up enough money to pay of the HMRC debt later this month. If we can't do that then we are fookered!
And stuff like this just happens in football. Notts waited 9months to be paid about 20 times this amount from Southampton for McGoldrick and Leon Best last season.
Yeah, crap results for both of us late night. Although Bournemouth are just a very good side at our level and as long as we bounce back i'm not too gutted. Kaspar wasn't happy though: http://www.thisisdorset.net/sport/4997907.Cherries__Schmeichel__smashed_changing_room_door_/?ref=rss - that's another �50 on the debt then.
by Jared Feb 10, 2010, 10:33:46 amPS - That story linked below also confirms that Notts have offered Bournemouth a bigger share of the Sky TV money for the game on Sky next month than they are entitled to (�10k more I believe - as mentioned earlier in the thread). Which is nice as Bournemouth are a brilliant example of how to prosper against serious financial advertisty. So business-wise Notts can't be all bad...
by Stillman Feb 10, 2010, 01:03:08 pmI know what you're saying it's alan, but I don't reckon we're there quite yet. Obviously we're worried about money as Notts fans right now, but owing Burton �14k hardly amounts to much of an unfair advantage - that's not really a lot of money even for League Two teams. Probably wouldn't even cover a weeks wages for the Burton XI.
I hope we pay this asap, but i'm guessing that we're paying all our bills slowly at the moment in the hope we can store up enough money to pay of the HMRC debt later this month. If we can't do that then we are fookered!
And stuff like this just happens in football. Notts waited 9months to be paid about 20 times this amount from Southampton for McGoldrick and Leon Best last season.
Yeah, crap results for both of us late night. Although Bournemouth are just a very good side at our level and as long as we bounce back i'm not too gutted. Kaspar wasn't happy though: http://www.thisisdorset.net/sport/4997907.Cherries__Schmeichel__smashed_changing_room_door_/?ref=rss - that's another �50 on the debt then.
That's a quality article, Jared. Was it written by a budding dorset-born woodward or bernstein? You've got to be impressed by the level of detail "slight damage to the door frame, hinges hanging off" etc
by Jared Feb 11, 2010, 03:52:15 pmLooks like Notts might have a new owner!
http://www.sportsecho.co.uk/news/
(interesting that the Lincoln press has picked this up first - if it is true then the NEP sports dept are getting crapper and crapper with their coverage).
He doesn't sound minted, but as long as he saves us from admin i'll be happy. Would also like it if we could keep our better players - Kaspar, Hughes, Davies etc.
If this is true then i'm 99% sure Sven will go within a month of confirmation of this. Unless Trew is a lot richer than I think...
by Albert Herring Feb 11, 2010, 04:00:56 pmOn Radio Nottingham now, Trew at Meadow Lane now completing the transaction
by it's alan Feb 11, 2010, 11:43:27 pmTremblings gone!!
Hope he fucks off out of football for ever now...
Good luck against Fulham on the weekend. I've been very tempted to look into getting a ticket to go, but I simply can't afford it (and have no idea as to availability)
It's not the first time I've said it, but I hope things can get back to normal now.
by Albert Herring Feb 12, 2010, 12:59:29 amTickets at Fulham are always available, pretty much. There's a big "neutral" section for most games as well as the official away allocation. If you get rich suddenly I can contact my mates there and get the gen from them.
by Jared Feb 12, 2010, 09:09:10 amSven's gone now too. That was pretty swift.
Well, it seems everything at Notts might be about to get back to normal now. Or at least maybe a bit better than normal as it would be nice to keep winning a few games and have a few decent players in the squad.
by Daysleeper Feb 12, 2010, 10:46:19 amJust read this cracking article, which nicely sums up what has happened over the season:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/11/notts-county-finances
Through my work and old manager I've always heard rumours about Peter Trembling being a crook - but this cements it.
by Stillman Feb 12, 2010, 01:04:01 pmthe new article in the post has got me freaking out now. 4m debt? possibly more? this is looking bad.
by Jared Feb 12, 2010, 02:35:50 pmI think we'll have to sell/ give away Kaspar pretty quickly. As reported on here before, he's alleged to be the only player in the current squad on really silly wages. Which is a shame as he is ace!
Obviously, this is all a bit of a comedown after the last 6 months. But at the same time i'm glad it's happened as at least now we know we're not about to go under - and the uncertainty we have now still beats the uncertainty this time last season.
Wonder how it will affect the players for Sunday tho. I fear a potential battering from Fulham.
Funnily enough, you know what day today is? It's Sir Charlie Palmer day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Charlie_Palmer_Day
by Jared Feb 18, 2010, 10:49:19 amOh dear. Reports are suggesting today that Notts are going into admin. And the squad is starting to be ripped apart:
- Johnnie Jackson has left for Charlton on loan.
- Kasper Schmeichel is being heavily linked with Newcastle.
- Lee Hughes got sent off at the end last night and will now be suspended.
Personally i'd like to see us rid Hawley and Akinbiyi as they're both likely to be on a big wage and not guaranteed a start. But I guess other clubs will be after our wheat, not our chaff.
by Jared Feb 23, 2010, 12:50:47 pmGreat day for us today!!!
Looks like we're not going into admin (according to Sky Sports News Ray Trew has paid our debts off - what a fucking hero!)
We've also appointed Steve Cotterill as our new manager. A great choice imo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/8530392.stm
by Stillman Feb 23, 2010, 01:19:44 pmGreat day for us today!!!
Looks like we're not going into admin (according to Sky Sports News Ray Trew has paid our debts off - what a fucking hero!)
We've also appointed Steve Cotterill as our new manager. A great choice imo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/8530392.stm
this is great news... but what i don't understand is that when the debt stood at 2m, then 4m and now 6m at each point Ray said "might be able to cover it, unsure" or words to that effect
basically i'm very paranoid nowdays and have difficulty believing the suits
by Jared Feb 23, 2010, 01:22:31 pmthis is great news... but what i don't understand is that when the debt stood at 2m, then 4m and now 6m at each point Ray said "might be able to cover it, unsure" or words to that effect
basically i'm very paranoid nowdays and have difficulty believing the suits
You're right to be paranoid after what we've been through. But the way I interpret it is that we have a certain amount of money we owe right now (at a guess �1.5-3m) then more debt that will be accrued by the end of the season due to huge wages. Probably more debt if we get promoted or whatever as players like Kaspar and Hughes will be on decent promotion bonuses (Kasper's reported to be �200k in the Mail).
You know how clubs in our division are only supposed to spend 60% of their turnover on wages for players and football staff? Well Ray Trew said on the Notts County Mad forum that when he took over we were at more like 290%.
