illustration: Natalie Owen
We football fans are but simple creatures. Whatever the horrors of the previous campaign, August typically heralds a sense of unfounded optimism and an eagerness to throw money at bookmakers all too willing to profit from our fantasy that this could be our year.
This collective delusion is normally short lived and becomes shorter with age, the cumulative effect of years of self-abuse in choosing to spend our Saturdays repeatedly relearning the same painful lesson. Nevertheless the familiar black clouds darkening the summer skies over Meadow Lane appear to have returned sooner than usual, swept along by a wind of stuttering player recruitment, commercial fiasco, ownership uncertainty and disappointing early season results.
On the playing side John Sheridan did a credible job in the early part of the summer recruiting a host of solid looking professionals, each one an improvement on the shambolic squad assembled by former head of recruitment and pantomime villain Guy Branston. Yet since this initial batch of signings only target man Vadaine Oliver and defender Louis Laing, both on-loan until January, have supplemented the playing staff.
Vadaine Oliver's rather unfortunate club welcome photo
Noises coming out of the club suggest a willingness to offload talented yet troubled striker Izale McLeod, who finds himself in an identical position to this time last year when the club coughed up to entice him from sulking in the stands at Crawley Town. McLeod has had the hump since being turned on by his own fans away at Cambridge United, moping around the front line like a school boy being made to play in the rain, despite forgetting his PE kit. Several managers have tried and failed to re-engage him with the club and it appears John Sheridan has quickly seen enough to want him off the wage bill. Yet until another side can be seduced by his career stats, he will continue to suckle hungrily on the club teat.
Sticking with finances, replica shirt sales are unlikely to break any records this season. Ignoring the inability of our kit supplier to have shirts available for purchase prior to the holiday season, the astonishing decision was taken from within the club to approve an away kit in, what is most accurately described as off-red. As stated earlier, we football fans are simple creatures, set in our ways, and the sight of Notts running out appearing to wear red is a concept too challenging for many to comprehend, rather like the father of Billy Elliot at a ballet.
Wearing pinkish-red, Notts first travelled to Yeovil Town, where any summer optimism was shattered within the first 22 minutes by the sort of slapstick defensive howlers we had hoped had were consigned to the days of Civard Sprockel. Two readily preventable goals conceded to the Glovers saw Notts leave the south west empty handed, with few fans daring to daydream of success come May as a means of passing the hours sat in the M5 roadworks.
A credible 90 minute blank away to Scunthorpe United in the Milk / Littlewoods / Rumbelows Cup then offered signs of encouragement, despite going down 2-0 in extra time. The sight of Neal Bishop sat on the Iron’s bench as an unused substitute prompted much wishful thinking, a player who would add considerable steel to the midfield and allow some of the square pegs filling in to return to their natural positions.
So to Meadow Lane where, as with the replica shirts, the clank of the home turnstile appears unlikely to set the till ringing off its counter. It is unfair to compare our paltry attendance of 3,987 (182 away) for the opening home fixture with the numbers of spectators who endured last August’s limp derby defeat by Mansfield Town, however this figure falls worryingly short of our 4859 average gate last season (source EM Football). Attendances typically reflect the fortunes of the club and it is no surprise to see a decline over recent years where Notts have stagnated and then regressed back into the basement division, however it is pertinent to consider why this gate seems especially poor.
Early on in the slowest race to the finishing line since the Hare and the Tortoise, Ray Trew stated to the Nottingham Post that, were the club to remain unsold by the end of June, he would bravely soldier on as chairman. Many fans seemed willing to postpone renewing season tickets until the ownership situation was clarified, not unreasonably. As June ended without further comment this impasse was allowed to continue, seemingly into perpetuity as the existing regime chose to remain silent on the matter. Is the club still up for sale? Who knows, but as any economist will tell you; if there is one thing the market doesn’t like it is uncertainty and Ray Trew appears to be suffering this harsh fiscal lesson as he seeks to recoup his investment on the financial ‘black hole’ he acquired for £1.
Speaking of £1, the much heralded reduction in match day ticket prices was somewhat exposed in the days leading up to the opening home fixture with Stevenage, swiftly turning commercial positive into negative. Advertised prices proclaiming an apparent £2 reduction for advance purchase neglected to clearly disclose that phone and online sales were subject to a £1 transaction fee, thus halving any saving and doing little to quell the sense of discontent amongst a good proportion of supporters, who feel they are treated with distain by owners who probably no longer wish to be there. It appears rather than buy tickets in advance at a £1 saving, many are opting for a straight £20-odd saving by staying away altogether.
Thus when Glenn Roeder finally made a return to Meadow Lane as Stevenage Assistant Manager, the proceeds from the Buy-Glenn-Roeder-Fund of yesteryear would have represented excellent recompense to fans feeling short-changed by entirely different owners. As it was, Roeder brought with him only the footballing embarrassment that continues to troll the Notts faithful, a Stevenage team which plays exclusively on the edge of the rules, their primary methodology seeking to hoodwink the inexperienced officials which graze in the wastelands of the professional game. A 1-1 draw against our recent bogie team was probably fair enough following a shambolic second half performance.
Notts then needed a midweek performance and a result against a Plymouth Argyle side pointless (and goalless) until this point. We should perhaps be thankful we got half; a much improved Notts dominating the game but going down 2-1 to a classic smash and grab by the Pilgrims. The sorry sight of former target-man Jimmy Spencer terrorising Louis Laing was made all the more poignant by our lack of striking options on the bench. It remains hard to believe that this squad wouldn’t be improved by having Spencer at the club and, for that matter, Ronan Murray (thanks Guy).
It was with some trepidation that Notts made the trip north to Hartlepool United, an unhappy hunting ground of recent years and a point of departure for a number of former managers. When the Magpies went in a goal down at half time it looked as if the miserable start to the season would continue, only for Louis Laing to level the score midway through the second half and goal machine Jon Stead to grab an unexpected winner, proving once again that it really is a funny old game.
Overall then a tough opening period for the men in black and white. Undoubtedly the squad is much improved from last year and, despite a difficult start, it seems unlikely that this season will descend into the unbridled shambles that was the 2015-16 campaign. Nevertheless there remains considerable work to be done in fusing the component parts assembled by Sheridan into a coherent unit and also cut out the mistakes, particularly at the back, which have characterised performances.
Off the field the club would benefit greatly from clarity regarding the ownership, as only when the parties to the feud between board and fans, one which has raged since the Fullarton fiasco, begin talking to one another again can the fractured club come together and move forward.
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