(FM23/24/25) Notts Again -- Back in Time

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Match Seventeen

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October in Review

Schedule

Three months into the season and we've "finally" faced a little adversity.  It started with the heartbreaking loss to Wrexham... followed 2 matches later with a humiliating defeat in the FA Cup to a much worse team and then 2 match later we drew against the worst team in the National League.

Still news really isn't all that bad as we look at the updated table.

Table

Which stil shows us in first place... alone now as Oldham has "faltered" a little in the past month as well.

National League Team Stats

We're still up in team rankings but not like we were at the start of the season.

National League Player Stats

I really don't know what we would do without Langstaff and Scott who hold the 1st and 2nd place in goals scored this season so far... and 1st and 3rd in average rating.

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A conversation with Eddie Sirrel

Magpie Weekly

Thanks for sitting with us and answering a few questions, Eddie.

Eddie Sirrel

Not a problem.

Magpie Weekly

So we talked a little before and I know you're not going to give us much of an answer but you know the supporters want to know.  There have been some rumors of discontent with some players following the FA Cup loss and maybe the way some took your comments after the match.  Can you or will you comment on any of that?

Eddie Sirrel

No.

Magpie Weekly

Is there anything you can say about the situation at all?

Eddie Sirrel

(after a short pause) I'm never going to comment much on internet issues, whether real or imagined.  Was I a bit tough after the FA Cup loss, yes.  Absolutely.  But if there was anybody in that changing room that didn't feel that way, wasn't upset or ashamed or that didn't know that that wasn't good enough.... there's the door.  I don't want them on my club.  The supporters don't want them on my club.  Look... it's a game.  It's a game.  It isn't war.  It isn't life or death.  It's a game.  But it's one that you're paid to perform in, whether it's National League or Premier League.  If you're doing poorly on the pitch and then laughing about it after or acting like you don't care... you won't be on my club.  Again, not life and death, I get it that people will react to things differently but I was embarassed after that match.  Embarassed.  Everybody in that changing room had better of been embarassed.  Did I maybe rip into them a little bit, yeah probably, and we've had that conversation.  I had expectations... expectations matched by the board and by supporters of at least giving it our all in the FA Cup and we didn't do that.  So if I was upset, get used to it.  Doesn't mean I don't love each and every guy in that changing room.  Doesn't mean I'm not impressed by what we've done this season so far... and it's still early.  It's much like if your kid disappoints you once, you don't stop loving them but you're not just going to forgive them either.

Magpie Weekly

Fair enough.  Moving on.  You've given up 15 goals in the last 4 matches... losing 1 and drawing in another.  You're still scoring - 17 in those 4 matches - which was enough to salvage a couple of wins... but obviously something is wrong.  You've lost Mair probably for 6-8 weeks with a broken hand which means he's going to possibly be out 2 or 3 more weeks.  Slocombe and Brooks are just not doing it.  Forgive the bluntness.  Was this a concern or should it have been a concern before the season started that there doesn't appear to be an adequate backup keeper on the club?

Eddie Sirrel

We've not been happy with the results and our defense has been porous but that's about more than just 1 person.  Brooks is young and he's going to make some mistakes.  Slocombe has been around and he's had a bit of an up and down season but they both have my absolute confidence.  There is no other option so they're going to have to figure it out.

Magpie Weekly

The good news is that Oldham finally slipped a little and you're on top of the table by yourselves now.  Do you think you can stay and has the foundation been laid for you to win the league this year and finally earn an automatic promotion?

Eddie Sirrel

That has been the plan from day one.  It continues to be the plan.  I have complete faith in my boys and everybody at the club that we're all pushing for the same thing.

Magpie Weekly

Thanks for your time.

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Match Eighteen

Nottinghamshire Live

It's fair to say you gave Southend a right thrashing.  Was there a bit of revenge in mind here for the FA Cup loss?

Eddie Sirrel

(with a smirk on his face) Did we lose to them in the FA Cup?  Would I ever remind my boys about that and suggest we teach them who we are?

Nottinghamshire Live

Well whatever it was, it was certainly a special match for your side.  Does this put to rest any of the noise about there being issues with any of the players?

Eddie Sirrel

It shows who we are when we play as one squad... and that's dangerous.  That's what I want to see.

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Match Nineteen

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Match Twenty

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Match Twenty-One

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November in Review

Schedule

A very simple month of just 4 matches but we're back on the streak... and what a streak these 4 matches were.  17 goals scored against just 4 allowed.

Table

13 points clear.  I'm not going to say it, you can say it, I'm not going to say it.

National League Team Stats

I don't know, given enough games we could probably lap the 2nd best team in terms of goals scored.

National League Player Stats

Langstaff has already lapped the 2nd place guy in goals scored.  What a ridiculous season he's having.

Finances

We're making a little bit of cash but no real progress in terms of where the board thinks we are in financial status.

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Interview with Sirrel

Magpie Weekly

Thanks again for your time, Eddie.  Just a couple of questions if we can.  You sit at the top of the table, rather comfortably at the moment we might say.  We know you predicted that you were going to win the league this season but are you surprised at all by how well the club is performing at the moment?

Eddie Sirrel

I mean I predicted we were going to win because that's the goal.  And honestly I fully thought we were good enough to take the league, with a couple of other clubs that I felt would be there with us, including Wrexham for one, Oldham for another.  And both of those clubs are up there.  As far as if I'm surprised... that we are ahead by as much as we are at the moment, yes.  But that just turned in our favor in the last couple of months, for a bit it appeared as though Oldham wasn't going to lose a match and were toe-to-toe with us.

Magpie Weekly

You do know it's not supposed to be this easy?

Eddie Sirrel

*laughs* I'm not so sure it's been easy but the boys have been playing very well so it makes it look so I suppose.  I may be young, but I'm not stupid and as you know I've been around the game.  I'm going to take it while it's here, while we're playing this well but I'm not going to let a game or two that might go bad ruin everything.  I might be upset if I see something I don't like but right now we're just playing very well.

Magpie Weekly

Trying to think of a question you haven't been asked before and this one popped up.  We know you've been around the club.  We know you're Nottingham born and raised.  We know you want the best for the club.  But if you had to break it down, what do you think your main job is or what do you want the most out of this?

Eddie Sirrel

Wow, there could be a lot of answers there depending on which part of this you're asking about.  I know what the supporters want.  I know what the board wants.  I know in the end what I want.  But if you're asking me to break it down to right now, when I took the job what my main priority was or what my main job is... that's a two-fold answer.  My main job is relationships.  You have 11 men on that pitch... and a number more than that just waiting their turn.  They're not all the same.  They come from different walks of life.  Born in different town, countries... might speak different languages.  My job is to bring them all together and not only make them the best they can be on the pitch but to make them better people if I can.  My second answer is to grow the community.  We are nothing without the supporters.  I care deeply about Nottingham and if we're going to be a Nottingham club then we have to represent the community.  I want the fans to be proud to be supporters.

Magpie Weekly

Any predictions on the remainder of the season?

Eddie Sirrel

Don't expect us to give up or let down.

Magpie Weekly

Thanks for your time again.

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Match Twenty-Two

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Match Twenty-Three

Magpie Weekly

Here we go again.  Mair goes down with injury last match, Brooks comes in and we give up 5 goals.  We need another new keeper.

Edited July 6 by Blarney

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Match Twenty-Four

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Transfer News

Jordan Davies signed

Eddie Sirrel

Sorry, Wrexham

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FA Trophy

Third Round

Nottingham Post

Sirrel took a chance by resting most of his first choice players but came away with the victory and Notts Co will be moving on.

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Match Twenty-Five

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December in Review

Schedule

Little blip at the start of the month in our march to the finish line but we recovered and things are still looking good.

Table

10 points clear with a game in hand as we're into the 2nd half of the season.

National League Team Stats

82 goals scored on the season.... #2 has 55.  Wow.  It won't matter if we don't win though.

National League Player Stats

Barring some major (and inconvenient injury) Langstaff is absolutely going to destroy the single season record for goals scored.  Dude is an absolute beast.

Financials

Please can we make some money.

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Match Twenty-Six

Nottinghamshire Live

That's back-to-back matches versus Oldham and back-to-back wins that puts a little distance between your 2 clubs.  Do you like the 2 matches in a row versus the same opponent?

Eddie Sirrel

Yeah, it gives you a chance to just focus all your intention for a week or so on just one club.  It also puts a little pressure on you if you win the first match you know that they're going to be coming even stronger for you in the 2nd but it's good, that's what you want.  If you fancy yourself the best you need to bring it each and every match, otherwise why are you playing?

Edited July 7 by Blarney

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Transfer News

Cameron gone

Nottingham Post

If nothing else you're just not afraid to shake things up.  You've let Rodrigues go earlier in the season when most would have said you needed him for the promotion push.  And now you've let last season's team captain and one of your better defenders go here with a couple of months left in this season and Wrexham nipping at your heels for the league title?  If this backfires you know the supporters are going to be calling for your head on a platter, but that doesn't seem to affect your mentality.

Eddie Sirrel

Well, it can't.  I love the fans, truly I do.  I am a fan.  But I can't manage the club always worried about what a supporter is going to think.  One thing I've learned is that you can sit in the stands and follow a club but you're never going to know what's really going on behind the scenes.  I had as much if not more - honestly more - access to this club growing up than 99.9% of the fans out there and once I took this job and sat in this chair I learned quite quickly that I didn't know anything about the inner workings.  Okay, maybe not nothing, but you know what I mean.  I loved Ruben, great player, great influence, strong attacker in the middle... but we let him go and we're setting scoring records.  Could it have gone a different way... of course.  But we took that chance because I had faith in the rest of the boys here.  When it comes to Cam, we've been in communication this season to talk about a new contract once his was up this year and we couldn't come to terms.  He had told us early he was thinking about exploring options which every player has a right to do but as I said before that puts us in a situation where we have choices to make also.  In this case we couldn't come to an agreement and we decided to take advantage of being able to sell him before we got nothing in return.  Will he be missed... of course.  Do I have faith others will step up... yes.

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Match Twenty-Seven

Magpie Weekly

Boreham manager, Mark Sampson, had some rather unflattering things to say prior to the game about not only the club but about you personally.  I think the words over-rated, over-hyped and not nearly as good as they think were brought up.  Langstaff goes out and scores 4 and you put up a clean sheet against them.  After the match he didn't back down and intimated that they were their own worst enemies.  Do you have a reply?

Eddie Sirrel

He can look at the score and there's my reply.

[Blarney]

Please Improve our Youth Facilities!

So I went and had a chat with them.

And they told me no.

They told me we were doing great and they felt the youth facilities were fine.

They're not.

I told them they're not.

I threatened them because I'm not going to back down.

They told me to tender my resignation if I felt so strongly about it.

**Honestly, I sat there for 15 minutes and thought about doing it, this is my biggest problem in the game is I can't separate at times what I would do in real life and what I have to do in the game to remain employed.  Because in all honesty if I were in charge and if my ownership was so stupid as to suggest that we're fine, when we're not... I'd walk.  Which I have before which is why I keep starting over... well that and being fired because I've argued with them.  It's like a Notts save can't work unless you just capitulate to stupid ownership that doesn't give a damn about the club -- at least in the game.  Oh, and our youth intake this season.... was horrible.  But we're fine, right?  I mean we have NO money.  They refuse to increase our wage budget (I've asked) and they refuse to increase our transfer budget (I've asked) and our youth intake is terrible, but we're fine.  Granted, we're destroying the league, I get that, but that's this league.  If I can't make improvements to the club going forward then what am I doing.**

I told them I didn't want to resign and went about my way.... fuming.

Edited July 7 by Blarney

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FA Trophy

Fourth Round

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Match Twenty-Eight

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Match Twenty-Nine

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Match Thirty

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Match Thirty-One

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January in Review

Schedule

Busy month.  3 wins, 2 draws and a loss in league play.  You take it but you know the quality of your club this season means that maybe you should have done a little better.  We started out really well but then we got a bit tired and our lack of depth sort of bit us in the arse there at the end of the month.

Table

12 points in the clear but with 2 more games played than Wrexham.  The distance has definitely been closed.

National League Team Stats

Our opponents are scoring too easily on us... granted we're scoring more but that's not sustainable.  We must shore up our defense.

National League Player Stats

44 goals from Langstaff now.  15 more from Scott... although he's really cooled off of late.

Financials

Good month.  Board doesn't seem to care.

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Let's chat

Nottinghamshire Live

We had a chance to sit with manager, Eddie Sirrel, and wanted to ask him a few questions about where he thought the club was.  Thanks for joining us, Eddie.  So you've wrapped up January with a win after a couple of draws and a loss in the 3 matches before that.  How are things at the club?  We've heard some rumblings of maybe some discontent with the board?

Eddie Sirrel

Things are good.  I think it's a good thing that the expectations are now that we're going to go out and win every match when we know that's unrealistic, but that's far better than our fans assuming we're going to lose every match.  As far as discontent... just because there's a disagreement or two doesn't mean there's discontent.  We're not always going to get everything we want.  You just hope that sometimes you do.

Nottinghamshire Live

So obviously things still look good on the table but maybe not as good as they did 2 months ago.  Wrexham is 12 points back and Solihull is 13.  Wrexham has 2 games in hand which means that they could concievably close to within 6 points with 2 victories on their side.  Are you feeling like things might be slipping away a little or are hopes still high that you have the league wrapped up with just 15 games remaining?

Eddie Sirrel

Well I don't want to dash hopes or bring anybody down but it's not over until it's over, yeah?  Do we like where we are compared to maybe being in Wrexham's position, of course we do, but we can not sit here and think it's over.  We have matches to play and matches to win otherwise either Wrexham or Solihull or both could catch us.

Nottinghamshire Live

So you famously - I think we can say famously - let Rodrigues go earlier in the season and just let Cameron go... and also Brindley as well.  You didn't have a lot of depth to begin with and now with a few lingering injuries you've been hard-pressed to give players time off that maybe they need this late in the season.  Are you concerned?  Do you wish that maybe you had 1 or 2 more bodies to lean on?

Eddie Sirrel

I am not a fan of going back in the past and wishing things could be different because no matter how much you want things to be different... they won't be.  Am I concerned?  Not overly.  Do I want my players to get rest?  Of course.  But we have to function within what we have and right now we have the players we have until we don't.

Nottinghamshire Live

Well best of luck the rest of the season.  Go Pies!

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Match Thirty-Two

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FA Trophy

Fifth Round

Nottingham Post

A comfortable win for Notts County against Ebbsfleet as they advance in the FA Cup.  Eddie Sirrel gave Macaulay Langstaff the day off for rest and Cedwyn Scott played the striker position and came through with the brace.  Nemane and Bajrami put in one each as well.  Ebbsfleet got off 17 shots but couldn't find the net as Notts' defense came through when needed.  It was a good win for a club that's been a little up and down lately.

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Match Thirty-Three

Nottinghamshire Live

This oen seemed to get away from you a little.  It was definitely a match that many thought you'd win.  What happened?

Eddie Sirrel

Credit to Yeovil, honestly.  We came in with a game plan and had a very hard time executing it.  They controlled possession, which is usually our game.  We got off some shots but just couldn't get them in.  They definitely put pressure on us and we just didn't adapt when we should have.

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Match Thirty-Four

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Records

Vanarama National League Goal Record

Notts County League Goal Record

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Match Thirty-Five

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Match Thirty-Six

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February in Review

Schedule

A loss, a draw and 3 league wins.  Still holding on.

Table

9 points clear now with Wrexham having played 1 less.  We still control our own destiny with 10 to play.

National League Team Stats

National League Player Stats

Financials

Still making a small amount of money.

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Match Thirty-Seven

Magpie Weekly

A good win for the club and one that punches your spot to the playoffs... if nothing else.  How's the response from the players?

Eddie Sirrel

At the risk of sounding flippant, playoffs isn't what we want.  We've had playoffs for 3 years here and they haven't worked out for us yet.  That's not to say we're not happy or that if that's all it ends up being that we don't think we're good enough to advance and earn promotion.  It just means that's not our goal, it's not been our goal from day one... so we're not done here.  We're not done yet.  There are still games to finish and a league to win.

Magpie Weekly

The match was a little touch and go there at times.  You scored in the 28th minute off a penalty shot but you're side seemed in clear control up to that point, pushing Bromley up against their goal and firing shot after shot in the first half... 11 total in fact.  But then the switch seemed to flip in the 2nd half and you only got off 3 more shots while Bromley seemingly figured out how to counter what you were throwing at them and took control.  What happened?

Eddie Sirrel

Yeah, they definitely came out in the 2nd half and put us on our heels.  That's going to happen so it's how we respond that makes the difference.  So despite the pressure my boys responded and we were able to keep them out of the net and our 1 goal was enough in this match.  In the end that's all that matters.

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Match Thirty-Eight

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FA Trophy

the Quarter-Finals

BBC Radio Nottingham

A big win for Notts County this week, Eddie, which puts you in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy.  Is success in this competition something you set out early in the season or does your league success matter more?

Eddie Sirrel

Well league play is always going to count for more.  As for 'matter'... I'd say league play matters more also for the club but when you ask the fans, they never want to lose anything, so it matters.  If nothing else it's a ways for smaller clubs to make some much needed money, but there's also pride involved.  And with every success you build the profile of the club as well.  So it matters... but it doesn't matter as much as winning the league.  That was our goal this season more than anything.

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Match Thirty-Nine

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Match Forty

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Match Forty-One

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March in Review

Schedule

No horrible setbacks for the month.  We won our FA Trophy Quarter-Finals match.  We had a couple of draws in league play but we didn't give up too many points.

Table

It's definitely a 2-horse race now, which we assumed it would be at the start of the season.  We have a 6 point cushion now with 5 to play.  The bottom of the playoff bracket is interesting as well as there are 4 teams really fighting it out for 2 spots left.  And then there are a few clubs at the bottom of the ladder fighting to stay in the league or face relegation as well.  The last month of the season is going to be a good one.

National League Team Stats

National League Player Stats

Langstaff at 50 goals now.

Financials

A small increase in cash.  At least we've trended the right way this season.

[Blarney]

A Chat with the Boss

Magpie Weekly

We're down to the final month of the season with 5 matches remaining for you and for Wrexham as well.  You hold a slim 6 point advantage, with Wrexham really pouring on the pressure over the last few months and closing the gap between you rather quickly.  Is there any concern this might get away from you?

Eddie Sirrel

Everybody in the organization knows what's at stake.  None of us want to face the playoffs again but that doesn't mean we are worried if we do.  We know our quality.  But that's not the plan obviously.  We're not looking at this glass half empty.  We hold the cards here.  We're in charge of our own destiny.  If we go out and we do what we need to then all this talk about doom and gloom never mattered.

Magpie Weekly

Fair enough but being honest... a few months into this season and it looked like you were going to win the league going away.  Your side looked absolutely unstoppable and nobody at that time would have guessed there ever would have been any question of you taking the league by 20 points or more.  You were trending towards a total that nobody has ever seen before.  But that's changed the last few months and you're more sliding into the end rather than running through it.

Eddie Sirrel

I guess maybe we should shorten the season to 3 months?  *laughs*  Okay, look, we started out on fire, we know that, you know that, the world knows it.  But the season is long.  It's a marathon, not a sprint.  You've probably heard that one before.  It doesn't matter if you're up by 20 points 3 months in or 6 months in... it matters where you finish and it doesn't matter if you finish by 20 up or 1 up as long as you're up.  I'm not taking away anything the boys have done this season.  And we're not looking ahead either.  We have to finish this thing out otherwise the questions will really come.  If we win it, in 2 years nobody is going to remember how far up we were at one point, not even me.  All that matters is the finish.

Magpie Weekly

So it's Wrexham on your tail.  Is that the way it was always going to be?  After their disastrous first couple of months it didn't look like it would be.

Eddie Sirrel

Same story, different verse.  We had a great start and have come back to the pack while they had a horrible start and are running up the ladder now.  But I expected them to be here at the end with us and I think if you asked them they'd think the same.  There are some that are upset by the things Wrexham is doing but honestly I think it's good for the league.  We've never had so much attention put on us before.  Yeah they're spending a lot and some think they're just basically buying victories and most clubs here -  really every club down here - can't afford what they're doing... but they can.  Do people not expect them to try and win?

Magpie Weekly

But instead you are.  They may still get there but if you take the league they're going through the playoffs which did them no favors last season.  Seems like your typical David vs Goliath story.  Does that make it more.. special on your end?

Eddie Sirrel

My job is to beat whoever is put in front of us.  Doesn't matter if they're the smallest club in the league with the smallest wage budget or if it's Arsenal or Manchester City.  Is Wrexham the big dog in the league currently, yes, absolutely.  Does it mean more when we beat them?  Not necessarily but I'm not going to say I don't like it.  Most people feel something more when you beat or are at least competitive against clubs that maybe are bigger or allegedly better than you, more than you do if you beat someone that everyone expects you will.  But in the end, all wins matter, it's what we're paid for.

Edited July 8 by Blarney

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FA Trophy

Semi-Final Preview

BBC Radio Nottingham

How important is the match versus Chestefield in the FA Trophy?

Eddie Sirrel

It's important, absolutely.  We're going out there with the idea that we're coming away with the win and we're going to Wembley.  We've come this far, the journey simply isn't over.

BBC Radio Nottingham

You've matched up against Chesterfield twice this season, getting a 4-1 victory at home and a 2-2 draw on the road.  How confident are you given those results that you're going to get the win against them this time at home?

Eddie Sirrel

I'm happy we're home.  We come to play every single game when we're in front of our supporters.  In fact we've only lost 1 match all season at home and that was a 2-3 contest against Wrexham.  We know our fans will turn up and give us that added something so we're going to go out and give everything we have in return.

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FA Trophy

Semi-Final

Nottingham Post

A good result for your side.  How happy are the players right now having booked a trip to Wembley?

Eddie Sirrel

Wembley is a dream for most players so they are ecstatic right now.

Nottinghamshire Live

Chesterfield came to play today and were putting a lot of pressure on you, especially in the 2nd half where they scored both of their goals.  How special was Langstaff's hat-trick?

Eddie Sirrel

Langstaff has been special all season long.  He knows how I feel about him.  Credit Chesterfield, they certainly didn't make it a walk in the park for us.  That game was worthy of a finals match in my eyes.

Nottingham Post

Speaking of finals.  You'll be facing Wrexham at Wembley.  Is that just the way it was always going to be this season? You're 1-2 in the league and now you're both in the finals of the FA Trophy as well.  You couldn't make this stuff up.

Eddie Sirrel

No, I think even Ryan Reynolds has to be writing the script for this already.  I wonder who'll be playing me?  No, yeah... I think this is the way it was going to be this season or at least how I thought it would play out.  Granted it means both clubs had to do their job but to this point they both have.  They're right on our heels in the league and we both did what we needed to in the tournament to get here.

Magpie Weekly

So the plan is to finish them off in the league and then to finish them off at Wembley?

Eddie Sirrel

We have 5 matches left to close the door.  6 points separate us.  All we have to do is go out and do what we need to and it's ours.  I truly hope that they do theirs and earn their promotion as well, they deserve it.  But we're still going to beat them when we meet them at Wembley for our finals match.

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Match Forty-Two

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43 Preview

BBC Radio Nottingham

Forgetting the last 3 seasons and playoff losses... this is probably the biggest match that Notts has played in recent memory.  You have 4 games remaining and you're 6 points up on Wrexham.  A win here seals it for your side.  A loss and you're only up 3 points and all the pressure would seem to be on you.  How are you feeling?  How are the players feeling?

Eddie Sirrel

That pretty much breaks it down.  Everything is on the line tomorrow.  The magnitude of the match doesn't escape us but at the same time I've told the boys that tomorrow isn't the end.  They can't go in thinking that it's over if they don't win, that's a lot of pressure.  But I want them to have the attitude of giving everything they have tomorrow, leaving it all on the field because if we do win, it does pretty much mean everything we've worked for this season is going to come to pass.

Nottinghamshire Live

Wrexham got the upper hand at your house in your first match 3-2.  Is there anything in that game that you saw that you've worked on and plan to do differently this time around?

Eddie Sirrel

Yes.

Nottinghamshire Live

Can you elaborate.

Eddie Sirrel

No.

Nottingham Post

Can you talk about Paul Mullin a little and how you're preparing for him?

Eddie Sirrel

Mullin is an incredible player and an even more incredible person.  He is the heart and soul of Wrexham's club and we know we have to definitely mark him and not let him beat us tomorrow.  I would imagine that Wrexham is saying the same thing about our guy, Langstaff as well.  Actually both clubs are filled with just top quality players from 1-11... it's going to be a great match.

Edited July 8 by Blarney

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Match Forty-Three

Nottinghamshire Live

Disappointing result for your side.  How's the attitude in the changing room?

Eddie Sirrel

Like I said before the game I didn't want to put undue pressure on the lads.  Sure we wanted the win but a draw is the next best thing.  We didn't give up points at least.

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Match Forty-Four

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Match Forty-Five

Champions... finally?

BBC Radio Nottingham

Congratulation, Eddie.  You came in here at the beginning of the season and never waivered on your commitment to the club and your goals and now you're winners of the National League.  How are you feeling?

Eddie Sirrel

No words.  None.  I'm not even sure I can comprehend this at the moment.  Just beyond ecstatic.  You know you dream, you say a lot of words about what you want to happen and you make it sound like you believe them, and maybe you do, you probably do but it's, it's words.  You're saying them because that's the expectation.  But then you have to go out and prove it, prove yourself.  Prove that everything you said wasn't just words.  I am so proud of the boys back in the changing room.  So proud.  We had a goal from the start, we trained very hard and we came out and executed, pretty much all season long.

Nottinghamshire Live

Not taking anything away, Eddie, but you definitely shot out of a rocket this season and then during the 2nd half things appeared to slow down a little.  Was it just the drag of the season or other clubs figuring you out more?

Eddie Sirrel

Seriously?  We're doing this now?  I mean we just won the league, I don't care and nobody back there cares how or why or whether we got tired or other clubs gave us everything they had because it was us.  I don't care.  What I care about now is finishing the last game of the season, going to Wembley and getting the double and then starting preparations for our return to the Football League.  Oh and probably having a parade.

Magpie Weekly

Regarding the last match, you are at home but the game doesn't mean anything at this point.  Are you planning on resting some guys or going out and putting on a show for the home supporters?

Eddie Sirrel

A mixture of both sort of.  I'm going to put my first 11 out there in front of the supporters because they've been there all season long for us.  But I can't see a few of them finishing the match.  Langstaff, Scott for sure will just get the start and then get taken off so the fans can give them a good long standing ovation that they very much deserve.  Everyone does obviously but I'll substitute who I can.  Fact is we've already set a record for wins, points and goals scored in the National League but I'd sort of like to add to that and make it harder for anybody to ever break it, if I'm being a little conceited.  I want that for the boys.

Edited July 8 by Blarney