Left Pie-On: February

Illustration: Adam Poole

January closes as one of the more concerning months of Shaun Derry and Greg Abbott's time in charge of Notts. With a raft of new players added to the squad, overall performances may have improved just a touch but the results certainly don't look to be turning around anytime soon. Ultimately, in spite of the narrow deficit between us and the play-offs, the target as of now is merely to hit 50 points and effectively secure our League One status. In the grand scheme of things it shouldn't be all that difficult a task but we're well aware by now that we don't do things easily – we never have and we never will.

In amongst the on-field action, we've also been subjected to a mildly-hostile social media takeover by the country of Hungaria thanks to the signing of Balint Bajner. He's good. In fact, on his few appearances so far I'd go as far as to say he's been outstanding – but a striker's role is to score goals, and somehow the Facebook furore the club has faced since he came to Meadow Lane already shows people's patience toward him being tested. It's a bizarre turn of events, but again that's just how we do things, I guess. Only in modern football.

Another addition is Will Hayhurst, who has come in from Preston North End on the lamentable ‘undisclosed fee’. His is the kind of delivery from the left-hand side that we've craved for so long, ironically the kind Jake Cassidy could have thrived on had he not passed Hayhurst on his way out the back door.

Curtis Thompson

It all serves to underline that this is a season as much of transition as it is stabilisation. There's going to be highs, there's certainly going to be lows – it's just that right now the highs feel just a little hard to come by. With a newly bolstered squad, there was a genuine belief just a fortnight ago that a corner had been turned and that we might just push back on for the play-offs. But I guess we aren't the kind of club in a position to sign the calibre of player guaranteed to hit the ground running. Impressive as Billy Daniels' wonder goal in the closing frames against Crewe might have been, he – like Bajner – is visibly short of full match fitness and so won't make a regular impact as immediately as we might like.

The jury is very much still out though on those that have come in. A confusing deluge of one-month youth loans (obviously with a view to extending them) has brought in Hayden White and Kieran Woolery from Bolton Wanders, with another tag team of Alefe Santos and Kwame Thomas joining from Derby County. Each has shown a glimpse of what they're capable of, yet for a number of conspiring reasons haven't been able to put a run of form together. White's appearance at home to Peterborough was a horror show; Santos looks devoid of anything resembling confidence; Thomas is a specimen of brute force cruelly punished by refereeing ineptitude; whilst Woolery's solitary appearance to date was a thankless afternoon at Oldham in which Notts lost 3-0.

One shining light during a relative lull for our season so far has been Curtis Thompson. Much maligned in some circles for a series of harrowing displays at right back, he has excelled in central midfield given the guidance of the seasoned Gary Jones. With the tenacity of Liam Noble invaluable at times, the time for Thommo and Noble to stand on their own two feet together came at Oldham – the stabilisers were off, so to speak. It proved to be County's undoing, however, providing little if any protection to the vulnerable Haydn Hollis and Hayden Mullins. By the time Chesterfield at home rolls around, it's very much likely that Jones will come back into contention to shadow the younger pairing once more. Given that Thompson has signed a new extended contract at the club, you feel Noble and Thompson's time will come again.

Hayden Mullins

Mullins has been imperious of late, and his performance at Oldham certainly doesn't reflect the form he has shown since a return from injury. Hollis, meanwhile, straddles the line of inconsistency perfectly. A rock solid semi-quarterback some weeks, in others the fearful youth team prospect he was some years back. Roy Caroll marshalls the two with fear, picking up yellow cards with reckless abandon. As a Notts fan you wouldn't be without him – but a course of anger management might not be the worst suggestion in the world for the Northern Ireland international. Notts tried to recruit the impressive Louis Laing on a permanent deal during this transfer window but the red bunch weren't willing to part – his could well have been a much needed addition to our back line, a presence to keep our central defenders on their toes.

We remain closer to the play-offs than we do the relegation zone, which is absurd given the run of form we're in the middle of. The chance is obviously still there to have everything fall into place and for us to hit a purple patch, but it shouldn't be taken seriously for now. 50 points – that's the only goal anyone should have in mind, no matter the temptation to dream of glory beyond that. A sobering thought? Absolutely. But regardless, this is still a season of progress on and off the field. No, we're not doing very well in the present but perspective is important. I too have grown bored shitless of the harking back to last season when in truth the football is at least a lot more progressive than it was as we entered 2014: goalkeepers are tested; we're capable of dangerous deliveries into the area; we can defend with our backs to the walls like warriors - but maybe a step backwards is necessary just to get results back on an even keel? At least when we were boring, we topped the League One form table.

Things could be better; similarly, they could be a lot worse. We should be content with a somewhat mild season of mid-table obscurity so long as there are signs that we're building towards a more prosperous future. Whether that is happening is a matter of perspective. Of course we'd all love promotion, but it wouldn't represent a season of failure if we were mid-table.

It isn't as easy as it might appear to look at matters in anything other than a dismissive, borderline homicidal light, yet so be it. I'm adamant we've a first team of talent, one which merely lacks regular cohesiveness. The potential is certainly there for us to do better, but for now our campaign has come down to securing another 15 points at the earliest opportunity.

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