When I wrote this column last month I tried to explain some of the strange goings on behind the scenes at Meadow Lane. Unfortunately since then much of it remains as clear as mud, despite a seemingly endless barrage of press releases being thrown about from all sides. From what I, as an average Notts supporter, can gauge:
1) The Notts County Supporters Trust (NCST), which is the democratic organisation that once saved the club, is in a seemingly terminal decline.
2) They are no longer supplying minutes of their meetings to Trust members or offering explanations for their actions, despite their job descriptions and elected status.
3) Many senior members of the NCST (including at least 3 ex-NCST Chairman) have branched off and set up a new group called Care About Notts (CAN) to put pressure on the current regime to leave
4) Accusations have been made by one of the NCST board members who quit that they are ‘concerned’ by the number of freemasons on the current NCST board.
To be honest I don’t know enough about freemasons in Nottingham to cast a wide judgement on them. But one thing I thought I knew was that they give each other work and hence have a bit of money behind them. So we’ve particularly lucked out by getting several of the skint ones into our boardroom to run things haven’t we?
More worryingly we have had some financial problems due to rather over-optimistic budgeting at the start of the season. We budgeted for home crowds of 5000 and yet most home games we’ve been lucky to scrape 4000. We're told investors are interested in the club, but that has yet to surface several months after the initial announcement. Add to that a delay in payments from Southampton for former players and we're a bit stretched right now.
As much as I admire the motives of the likes of CAN and some of the former Trust members, it’s clear to me that what the club needs most of all is a sugar daddy to come in and take over the whole sorry mess as quickly as possible. So in case any local sugar daddies are reading this PLEASE BUY NOTTS COUNTY! Or alternatively come back Derek Pavis, all is forgiven!!
On the pitch:
Okay, let’s make no bones about it.: since I last wrote this column we have been absolutely appalling! On current form we are actually the worst team in the football league and were it not for the points deductions at the start of the season we would be in a serious relegation battle right now.
Starting from mid-march, we lost 0-2 at home to the now relegated Luton. Then we drew 1-1 with those infamous milk abstainers Accrington Stanley in what was one of the most dreadful games I have ever witnessed. Then we lost 0-1 to Gillingham as Delroy Facey faced off against his former club with a distinct lack of passion... much like the rest of the team then.
Then, to break the pattern, we actually won a game, 0-1 away to Bournemouth courtesy of a rare goal by tricky winger Myles Weston. Then we drew the next game 1-1 away against Lincoln courtesy of the aforementioned Delroy (we were actually ahead for thirty whole seconds in this game).
Unfortunately that’s as good as it gets. We then lost 1-2 at home to an incredibly poor Chester side who hadn’t won in 18 games – with our rare (consolation) goal from centre-half Mike Edwards two minutes from time! This was followed by a 2-1 away defeat against Rotherham (Forte this time with the consolation).
Then relegation threatened Grimsby came and turned us over 0-2 at home. Then relative football league newcomers Morecambe beat us 0-1 at home. Aaaaargh!
We’ve now lost at home to the bottom three teams in the football league. We’ve scored seven goals in our last eleven games and picked up just five points out of the last 33.
On the bench:
When you’re going through a bad patch as a player you need to look to the bench for inspiration. Unfortunately it seems that our management due of Chas (Ian McParland) and Dave (David Kevan) have little idea of how to motivate the players either. As a supporter I have always wanted them to succeed, but the following things stick in my throat about them right now:
We have one way of playing football and teams clock it in the first half and always manage to beat us in the second. I’m not saying this after a couple of games – I’m talking about the trend of the whole season.
Our management duo consistently make little or no use of substitutes at games, which you’d hope could freshen things up a little. Also the chance to bleed our less experienced players (albeit in a slightly demoralising team) is right now. But the likes of Sean Canham, Ben Fairclough and recent signing Matt Richards still just warm the bench every week!
Their post-match interviews, with the much-loved Colin Slater are shameful. We’re not asking for a Frost vs Nixon level of reportage, but for the last month they might as well have recorded the same interview and played the same excuses over and over again: “We were the better team,” “We were unfortunate to lose” etc. No we bloody weren’t! If your attack can’t score goals you won’t win. If you also concede sloppy goals you will definitely lose. Even my mam understands that much and she hates football!
Anything at all to smile about then?
Well, it’s the last home game of the season this Saturday against Dagenham and Redbridge. I’d expect them to beat us (when we met at their place earlier in the season they turned us over 6-1) as I do pretty much every team who plays us right now. But after that it will almost all be over.
In my opinion, literally the only two things worth going to that game for are to see off Michael Johnson (who is retiring at the end of the season) and has been a great servant to the club and to applaud Matty Hamshaw who should walk the player of the season awards for us, being the only one who regularly even resembles a professional footballer.
Another smirk is directed towards Field Mill, where Mansfield Town have taken the tally of Notts rejects on their books this season to eight (Jason Lee, Mark Stallard, Gary Silk, Stefan Frost, Neil Mackenzie, Paul Mayo, Spencer Weir-Daley and Jay Smith). However the grin is soon retracted because I know that if we played them tomorrow they would beat us!
We have managed to secure shirt sponsorship for the next few seasons through shirt-makers Vandanel in a deal worth five figures, which is good news however you look at it. We have also agreed in principle to friendly games at the start of next season with Forest, Derby and a Liverpool XI.
Aside from all that we also have a summer to rebuild a squad that desperately needs an injection of energetic players with a will to win. Charlie will most likely still be at the helm, despite his truly appalling record as manager. So as always he’ll get my support, but to be honest my faith in his ability to prove me wrong is at an all-time low.
YOU PIES!!
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