Life as a Notts fan is rarely straightforward and September proved to be no exception, with qualified success on the pitch played out against a backdrop of intrigue off it, plus the welcome return of some old friends for good measure.
On the face of it, a solitary Beast-ing at a physical AFC Wimbledon side should represent steady progress after a stuttering start that was perhaps unsurprising given the extent of the summer overhaul. Yet, in a month which saw the transformation of Meadow Lane into a comparative fortress and in which Ricardo Moniz received a nomination for the Manager of the Month, it is fair to say there remain reservations.
Nevertheless, the football is certainly exciting, breathtakingly so at times. Indeed, for a fan base oft-derided for its perceived higher than average age, the commitment to fielding a side containing so many forward-thinking players should perhaps warrant a health warning.
The first home league game of September against Luton Town was a clear case in point. Two goals to the good and seemingly coasting to victory, ten minutes of madness highlighted the need to keep the defibrillator close to hand this season. Fortunately Liam Noble’s last minute show-stopper secured victory, after the Hatters appeared maddened by a brief period of showboating mid-way through the second half and inconsiderately scored two goals to poop the party.
Noble’s late intervention from the bench presented instant rehabilitation for a man who spent the end of August propping up the bar in the Last Chance Saloon, and also stole the spotlight from fellow penalty-enthusiast, Izale McLeod, whose sublime brace had previously appeared to secure the points. Notts fans are generally a cynical bunch, and many an eyebrow was raised when the club shelled out a Partridge-esque ‘six-figure sum’ on a thirty-year old at his twelfth club, at a time when we can seemingly boast at least seventeen other forwards. A neat dink against Mansfield in the JPT, plus the assured finishes against Luton helped justify the logic behind the signing, showing a level of competence in the danger zone not seen at The Lane since you-know-Hughesy.
Following the defeat at Wimbledon, the Meadow Lane pendulum continued to swing like a Max Mosley fancy dress party. Bereft of their dubious foreign investment, Crawley Town are a pub team at best, yet they somehow found themselves a goal to the good following some defensive pinball in front of the Haydn Green Stand. Just as the natives were beginning to become restless, the match was turned on its head by that most fire-retardant of phoenixes: Mike Edwards. For a man who has survived (at the last count) fourteen managers, an England international centre half, being made to train with Martin Allen’s dog, and regularly having to make beans on toast for a party of fifty, Edwards’s appetite for the game remains undiminished. Beyond his goal threat from set pieces, it is his mentoring of Hayden Hollis which has caught the eye recently, Hollis being a player who visibly grows in stature and confidence when paired alongside experience.
Yet it is this return to the old guard which embodies the aforementioned misgivings held by a portion of the fan base, certainly off the pitch. Notts’ recruitment policy during the transfer window resembled that of a particularly frustrated Tinder user, with around twenty new faces being tweeted out by the club’s media team over the summer. At least four of these new signings (Audel, Sprockel, Amevor, Bennett) are recognised centre halves and it has therefore been disconcerting to see selection revert back to a pairing comprising the part-time fitness coach and a young player who has (unfairly) became something of a boo-boy for those who feel the need to retain one at all times.
The digital age has brought about a significant reduction in the patience afforded football managers and, indeed, all public figures. This is nowhere more acute than at Notts, where a faceless civil war rages on social media between two distinct camps. The group known as the ‘Nodding Dogs’ are perceived to unquestionably swallow anything coming out of the club with good grace, whereas the ‘Bed Wetters’ are thought never to attend games, yet consistently believe the sky to be falling in upon Meadow Lane. The reality is far from being this black and white, however, and it is too early at this stage to judge whether or not the Moniz experiment will ultimately result in the success all parties crave. Certainly it is not unreasonable to question a transfer policy that has seemed disjointed at times, and where our squad numbers frequently run to almost twice that of the opposition on the match day programme. The apparent friction between Head Coach and Head of Recruitment, Guy Branston,whilst in all probability exaggerated, is certainly unedifying and should be kept firmly behind closed doors.
At the same time, McLeod, Campbell, Burke, Aborah and latterly Sheehan (loan) are excellent signings, all coming out to shine in the comprehensive 1-0 demolition job of York City at the San Sirrel. Had the stars aligned fully, one could quite easily have become ten, as it appeared to those lucky enough to be in attendance that the penny had finally dropped. Nevertheless there was a sense of feeling short-changed by the narrow margin of victory, such was the level of dominance for the first hour.
The progress made during September was underlined by the level of disappointment in failing to come away with three points from a tricky midweek fixture at Dagenham & Redbridge. This disappointment was tempered somewhat by the first goal in club colours for Adam Campbell, after coming tantalisingly close on numerous occasions to breaking his duck while gaining plaudits everywhere for his high-tempo performances, reminiscent of a young Paul Devlin.
Where the club’s transfer policy does make a lot of sense is in Moniz’s stated aim of offering a second chance to young players unsympathetically chewed up and spat out by the Premier League body-harvesting machine. Players develop at different rates and, in the likes of Campbell, Burke and De Silva, plus Noble, the hope is that through a combination of the coaching talents of Moniz, regular first team football and (most important of all) the right attitude, another Alan Judge can be developed.
Overall then, a successful month in the main, during which time some genuinely excellent football has been played, demonstrating the philosophical seeds planted by Ricardo Moniz are beginning to shoot through. The frustration perhaps is that this team appears capable of so much more and, should everything finally click, a side will come to Meadow Lane and get absolutely ploughed into what is a now pristine playing surface following the welcome departure of the rugby team.
As ever with Notts though, you can never be quite sure what is around the corner and, as September gave way to October, we were reminded once again why some years ago boffins concluded Notts were the most stressful team in the country to support.
Ferris Bueller once famously bamboozled his High School Principal, Ed Rooney, by phoning in sick nine times in one semester, prompting the latter’s public decent into madness. Some thirty years later Moniz’s decision to make nine changes from the side that drew at Dagenham for the trip to Leyton Orient a few days later caused a similar meltdown on social media and had Notts fans speculating over an ulterior motive.
Whatever the theory, the move was a spectacular failure. An abject first-half display underlined the relative solidity (at this level) of Edwards and Hollis, as the defence reverted back to being unable to defend any kind of ball into the box. Whilst there was a marked improvement in the second period following the introduction of Campbell and McLeod, a familiar script played out as Orient exploited a Notts team pressing forward after a well worked equaliser, running out 3-1 winners.
A 5-1 hammering at Sheffield United in the worthless Johnstones Paint Trophy served to heap pressure on Moniz, who chose to restore eight of the players discarded in East London. The reaction he had presumably hoped for did not materialise and a beleaguered Notts were overrun and cruelly tormented, in particular by old boy Jamal (although you may know him as “Jaman”) Campbell-Ryce. It was a real shame that another stalwart of that now halcyon Great Escape season, Alan Sheehan, picked up an injury at Leyton Orient and was not around for what would have been a fascinating battle between former teammates.
By the time the Sky cameras rocked up for last Saturday’s home game with Plymouth Argyle, Moniz was under the microscope, largely his own doing. Anyone tuning in at home would have seen a fantastic advert for League Two football. Indeed, on a day where the red three quarters of the city were Believing in Miracles, the miracle at Meadow Lane was that the Plymouth goal somehow remained intact, resisting a Notts side again playing with vigour and imagination in dominating large periods.
Unfortunately the same old problems at the back retuned to haunt Moniz’s men, in a match that was the season so far in microcosm. During the rare attacks mounted by Argyle, a makeshift Notts defence were unable to contain a menacing Rueban Reid, resulting in a disappointing, in some ways perhaps even undeserved, 2-0 reverse. While there was widespread befuddlement at how Notts could possibly have come away with nothing, we were reminded of the great man Jimmy Sirrel’s adage: “If you dinnae score you cannae win”.
If September brought progress, so far October has offered only regression. As it stands Notts lie 16th, nine points off the coveted automatic promotion places and eight points behind Mansfield Town. The one inescapable conclusion is that the standard at this level is very poor and, should Moniz be able to get the pieces of the puzzle to click into place any time before Christmas, there remains a good chance of success.
Notts County FC website
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