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

[Blarney]

Pre-Season

What's always most important to me in the pre-season is that we get in shape and come out on the other side healthy.  We did end up with a few small injuries but nothing that I think is going to set us back.  On top of that we worked on a new formation......

Which seems to have worked pretty good considering how many goals we scored.

But like I said... I don't put much stock in the actual games, generally.

[Blarney]

A Talk With The Gaffer

Nottingham Post

Back-to-back promotions since taking the helm at Notts County must have you feeling pretty good but you find yourself in League One now.  Most would say that you start to see a step up in the talent level at this tier, just one step away from the Championship.  How do you think your club stacks up?

Eddie Sirrel

Well.. we're going to find out, aren't we?  We're very excited.  We're probably ahead of the schedule that most had us on by a year.  Maybe it would have been nice to stay down another year and let some of our kids grow up before throwing them to the wolves, but I don't think anybody is upset about the promotion.

Nottingham Post

So does that mean you're concerned that maybe you're not ready for this level?

Eddie Sirrel

Not concerned.  I know the quality we have on this club.  They're going to be tested and they know it, but they've been tested each of the past 2 seasons and have come through it.

Nottingham Post

Another promotion coming this season?  Back-to-back-to-back?

Eddie Sirrel

We're going to go out there and do what we always do and that's leave it all on the pitch.  I would be ecstatic with a mid-table finish this season, just keep us out of a relegation battle and that's a win for us right now.

Nottingham Post

You've got a bit of a reputation as someone that is ready to move anybody at any time, while continuing to bring in young players to restock the club.  Are you concerned that maybe this shows that you have no loyalty to anybody on the club?

Eddie Sirrel

I don't think that's the case at all.  Look, with respect to everybody that's been around here for a few years, this club was going nowhere.  We fell out of the Football League and spent years in the National League unable to win a playoff game to earn promotion.  I'm not trying to be harsh but changes had to be made and we made them.  We brought in some younger players and we moved on from others that we thought didn't fit the future of the club... but that doesn't mean we thought any less of those lads.  We just let Matt Palmer go who's been outstanding for us for the past few seasons but it was a deal we just couldn't pass up.  I look at each deal on the table individually and make decisions based on what I think is best for the club.  We're getting better and that's all I care about.

Nottingham Post

Yes, but that's a business point of view.  For your players, many might be sitting there wondering if they're going to be around here in a month or 3 months or at the end of the year, contract or not.  Don't you think that affects their attitudes and how they play?

Eddie Sirrel

I see that point of view also and to any player that feels that way, my door is open.  I'm not actively trying to get rid of anybody and if I am I have that conversation with that player so they know what's going on.  But the fact is everybody in that changing room means something to this club, each and every one.  In the end, we have to do what's best for us but it doesn't change how we feel as people.

Nottingham Post

Best of luck this season.

[Blarney]

I apologize for the lack of updates over the past week as I've been away on vacation (holiday, I think is what you all in the UK call it and maybe other parts of the world.)

I've also sort of hit a brick wall -- well more than a brick wall -- in the save.  I'll explain.

While I've been away I've continued playing the save, just not posting.  I made it all the way through my first season in League One and finished in 19th place.  Respectable as far as I was concerned.  Actually up until the final 6-7 weeks I was sitting in 11th place and then a couple of injuries hit -- 2 at the same time to both of my main strikers.  I ended up losing 8 of my last 9 matches, drawing the other one and fell way down the table.  The board wasn't entirely happy but not overly upset as they wanted me to just stay up for the most part.  The supporters as expected weren't quite as happy but again, we were safe and that's what mattered.

I went into the next season with just a few changes made as I expected my young players to continue their growth.  We won our first 2 matches and then lost 4 in a row.  Over the course of the next 2 months we lost way more than we won and we were sitting in a relegation battle 3 months into the season.  The board asked me to meet with them and said things needed to change.  They didn't.  I argued with them (which is always a problem of mine) and 2 matches later - 1 draw, 1 loss - they sacked me.

I come from America.  I'm well aware of the "what have you done for me lately" aspect to sports but this is like the 3rd time I've been fired in a Notts save I've tried to do.  To me back-to-back promotions and a mid-table finish should earn a little bit of trust, but that doesn't appear to be the way the game works, at least not for me.  But I do think that I'm partly to blame and that I argue with the board too much instead of just begging for my job or capitulating to their requirements.  I'm probably really like that in real life so it's hard to be something different even in the game.

So I had a conversation with a couple of people that I trust on this forum and explained what happened and said that I still had the game saved from before I was fired, even all the way back to the mid-season the year prior and could just go back and redo it since I hadn't posted anything... but that's not me.  I don't "fix" things in the game.  I don't change what's happened, ever.  But I was tempted because I wanted the save to work........ yet my heart really wasn't in it, just because I think I'm somewhat fed up with trying to make Notts work.

As I've said, Notts County was the first club I fell in love with when I lived in England just by chance of going to a match when I visited Nottingham once and then just sort of followed them.  But I'm an outsider, it's not like I know much about them other than what I've read.  I feel like calling them my club is like someone from Minnesota claiming the New York Yankees as their baseball team even though they've never lived in New York City.  We call it being a bandwagon fan here in the states.  I actually do have a local club where I live in the USA.... but I'm not a big fan of American soccer.  I don't hate it, but it's not the same.  So I've tried and tried to make a Notts save work and something always goes wrong... almost like the game is telling me to stay away.

So I will.  Fact is I already have another idea, something that's been brewing for awhile.  Long before I started this save, in fact probably been brewing for the past year or more, just not something I seriously entertained just because I'm not sure how it would work... but I want to try.  So I will based on the advice I received from some people I trust on the forum.

I look forward to posting about that and wish Notts all the luck in the world in real life..... but here, I just can't with them any longer.