I'm NOTTS crazy

[Blarney]

Youth Facililities Upgrade

Board accepted my proposal to upgrade our youth facilites.

First move toward making us a better club and more favorably positioned for the future.

[Blarney]

Season Predictions

Final Table

Well... the pundits think we're going to be a playoff contender.  I'd settle for a mid-table finish, in fact I'd prefer that.  Scratch that, I wouldn't mind making the playoffs our first season and building our reputation but privately I think it's best if we stay in League Two for a couple of seasons to build our club up rather than go back-to-back and put pressure on our kids.  Of course if the fans ask we're all about winning!  It is nice to see we've turned some heads though.

Top Player

Langstaff is getting some well deserved attention also after back-to-back seasons where he's won Player of the Year and the Golden Boot.

Golden Boot

And he's picked to win it again this year.  If he does it again... there's no way we can keep him around even if we get promoted, I think.  He's going to demand way too much attention.  Of course that will drive his asking price up as well.

[Blarney]

First Match Preview

The Independent

You're on the road to start the season.  Does it matter to you whether you're on the road or at home for your first match of the year?  Does it make any difference?

Eddie Sirrel

In the end, not really, but if you're asking my preference I'd prefer to be at home.  I'd like to start the new season out in front of our fans.  I think playing at home is a boost to the players and starting out the new campaign in front of your home-town supporters is always going to be better than going on the road.  But in the end you play the same number at home and away and you have to win regardless where you play and who you're up against.

Nottingham Post

A lot has been made of your record setting campaign last season.  Do you think that puts added pressure on the players to go out and do it again this year?

Eddie Sirrel

Pressure is a personal thing.  You only allow it to affect you if you allow it to affect you.  It's kind of like fear.  Fear is always going to be there, self doubt is always going to be there... but that doesn't mean you have to let it get to you.  What we did last season is last season.  You can't look at that and assume you'll replicate it this year or even care about whether you do or not.  You just go out and play your game and everything else that surrounds that is just noise.

Nottinghamshire Live

You've made quite a few moves bringing in more youth to the club while letting a couple of established players go, is this by choice or necessity?  Do you think that will make your club stronger or weaker this season?

Eddie Sirrel

A little of both, I think... as far as choice and necessity go.  Look, we're just fresh out of the National League.  We're in the 4th tier now so it's not like we're an established club in the scheme of things.  So in my opinion what we do now lays the foundation for who we are 2 or 3 or 4 years from now.  Personally I look to the youth to be that foundation, that's nothing against the established players - as you put it - and certainly there is something to be said for experience.  But my job is to meld that together, while looking to the future and trying to create something here that can last.

[Blarney]

Meet the Squad

The Front Line

Langstaff is the key here.  As he goes, so goes our club, at least that's how it was last season.  Of course last season he had his partner-in-crime, Cedwyn Scott, by his side - who lead the club in assists.  We're using a different tactic this year (next post) and putting 2 more people up in the center-attacking position to hopefully make up for Scott's absence while lending a little more bite to our attack.  Miles is a good looking youngster but Langstaff is still the man and our depth behind him - beyond Miles at least is..... meh.

Midfield Attackers

Miles and Gill will fill out our attacking front line, playing at attacking-mids behind Langstaff as our primary forward.  Roberts and Vincent will back them up.

Defensive Midfielders

We won't be using center-mids this year... just 3 up front in attacking roles and then 7 playing back.  Kirby, Mahovo and Bajrami (who can also play on the defensive line as he did last year) will probably split time at the def-mid position.  Dreher and possibly Palmer (if not dealt) backing them up.  Robinson can also play there but we think we might like him better on the defensive line.  We've definitely created more depth this year compared to last so we'll be able to rest players and mix/match as we need to keep players fresh.

The Defensive Line

We increased our depth here and much like with the defensive-mid position... we have a lot of flexibility here with guys that can play different positions.  Bajrami is fully able to play defensive-mid or center-back... as is Robinson.  Mahovo is young and can also play both although he looks like maybe better suited to a defensive-mid role for now.  McClelland, Dinzy, Aljofree, Jones, Mellors.... lots of depth here now as we try out a bunch of kids and see who develops. 

Keepers

We tried to sign Mair after the excellent season he had on loan with us last year but he wanted way too much money.  So we ended up hitting the wires and signing Kovacevic and Bishop who will probably split time while we find out true #1.  At least we have options.

[Blarney]

Tactic

We're going to change it up from last season where we played 2 up front, 2 in the middle and 5 back.  My thinking is we need a little more defense so we're going to put an extra man up front and pull everyone else back.  We'll go with one primary attacker in Langstaff with 2 attacking-mids and then everyone else will sit back and be primary defenders.

 This isn't necessarily our first 11 as we'll have a lot of choices and be able to mix and match guys until we get a good idea of who deserves the most starts.

It'll be a big change from last season where we had zero depth and everybody pretty much played every game until they fell down from exhaustion.

[Blarney]

Match One

from Broadfield Stadium, Crawley

held on for the win

Heck of a first half for the good guys.

And then we sort of fell apart in the 2nd half and we had to sweat out the win.

Langstaff puts 2 in to continue where he left off last season.

We had a huge possession advantage in the first half and then just couldn't stop them in the 2nd half.

[Blarney]

Carabao Cup

from Meadow Lane

penalties let us down

Wycombe came in as heavy favorites in this match.

We played them as tight as we could for 2 halves and scored late to tie it up.

Unfortunately we couldn't stop them in penalties and missed our 7th shot.

Privately, I'm not too concerned.  I didn't think we'd go that far in this competition and it saves us from another match, even though the money would have been nice.

[Blarney]

Match Two

from Meadow Lane

convincing win

Langstaff gets a first half hat-trick.

We held a small possession advantage but Grimsby just punished us with shots... but we only let one get past us.

[Blarney]

Match Three

from Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent

defensive battle

Neither squad got much off here although Port Vale shot more than we did.

They also had a huge possession advantage as well.

[Blarney]

August in Review

Schedule

Disregarding the friendly match, we had a successful August in league play with 2 wins and a draw.

We did lose our Carabao Cup match... but we're more focused on the league than any tourneys this season.

Table

It's early but we'd rather be up than down.

Wycombe - who were "heavy" favorites in our cup match are winless in league play.

League Two Team Stats

We're scoring goals... or at least Langstaff is.  Our average possession has been horrible.

League Two Player Stats

Langstaff has been unstoppable.... we hope that doesn't change because we're in real trouble if he goes into a slump like he did last season, unless someone else steps up.

Financials

Small loss this month.

[Blarney]

Transfer Day News

In

A fringe player that cost me 2.5k per week..... but we needed a little extra depth, the squad was complaining about it.

And quite honestly he'll most likely be a starter over Gill - who's younger and still needs a little seasoning.

Out

Vincent was another guy that wanted out and when other clubs came calling we listened and took the best deal.

Reviews

The Independent:  Not a lot of movement on transfer day for Notts.  They have already lost a few players this season and brought in a few others so we assumed there wouldn't be much business done today.  Francis Vincent was sent to Portsmouth for 100k and Paul Glatzel - a 22-year old winger that has the agility to play multiple positions - was brought in on a free transfer.  Eddie Sirrel has already said he'll split time at the center-attacking position.  All in all the club lost a few guys that probably didn't mean much to their future - other than Cedwyn Scott - and brought in a lot of new, young faces to replace them.  Time will tell if the moves have worked out but squad depth is something that was sorely lacking last season, so if nothing else the players will get much more time to rest this year when needed.

Nottingham Post:  There was a flurry of moves this season from Eddie Sirrel.  In his own words they needed to increase squad depth and wanted to get younger.  They definitely accomplished that as the average age of Notts County players is now just over 20 years old.  Did they go too young?  Did they lose too much experience?  Much of the core group of players that won the Vanarama National League last season have moved on as larger clubs came calling.  But Langstaff, Kirby, Baj and Dinzy remain... and with Langstaff up front, playing like he has been, it's hard to say that Notts doesn't have a chance of repeating their excellent season.

Edited September 1 by Blarney

[Blarney]

Match Four

from Meadow Lane

it's Langstaff's world, I'm just livin' in it

Harrogate went down a man late in the first half and never really recovered.

We relentlessly attacked them in their half with shot after shot.

I'm almost upset we only put 3 in as we hit the woodwork 3 times and Langstaff missed a penalty shot as well, but you won't see me complaining about a win.

[Blarney]

The Independent Reports

Trent Crimm sports

We caught up with Eddie Sirrel after their win against Harrogate and asked him this question.  "This win marks 20 in a row unbeaten at Meadow Lane.  How have you been so successful at home and is it important to keep that streak going?"

This was his response.  "It's all about our supporters.  They're the 12th man when we're at home.  They give us a huge lift and disrupt our opposition whenever they have the ball.  We want to make Meadow Lane a fortress where nobody wants to play.  As far as the streak, I mean if we keep it going it means we're at least getting a point every match, so we want to keep it for as long as we can.  The lads know how important it is to play well at our stadium for our fans.  That's what this game is all about."

Edited September 1 by Blarney

[Blarney]

Papa Johns

Northern Section Group E

from Meadow Lane

ouch

Under no circumstances was this a good match for us.  We were completely overmatched.

We did hold a possession advantage but a lot of that was due to the fact that every time Newcastle U21s touched the ball they were launching it at our goal.

We did a decent job of allowing just 1 goal in the 1st half but were under constant pressure in the 2nd half and let in 2 more.

[Blarney]

The Independent Reports

Trent Crimm sports

I caught up with Eddie Sirrel after the match versus Newcastle's U21 squad and asked him this question.

"You had a pretty full rotation out there tonight.  Some of the supporters have questioned the idea of sitting out so many of your regular starters and whether or not you took Newcastle seriously.  Do you have a reply?"

"One of the things that I said at the start of the season was that we had a lot of depth this year and wanted to give guys an opportunity to play and show they earn a spot on the club.  I've done a good amount of rotating in our league matches but there were still some guys that haven't had a lot of playing time early in the season.  I wanted to give them their shot.  And whether the fans want to hear it or not, my focus is on the league, so if I get a chance to rest some guys before a big league match, that's what we're going to do.  I can imagine the backlash if we played full strength every cup match and then rested guys in a big league match and lost.  I wouldn't like it as a fan and I can't imagine most would.  That's not to say we don't care about cup competitions, because we do, but we have to pick and choose which we give our full attention to and hope for the best when we have to rotate guys."

[Blarney]

Match Five

from The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage

tough match

Tough match against Stevenage.  They got off quite a few shots but we were able to hold them out.

Unfortunately, we didn't get off a lot of shots and couldn't put one in either.

[Blarney]

Match Six

from Meadow Lane

hard fought

Back-to-back tough matches where we just didn't shoot well.

In this one we didn't even get a shot on target.  Hard to win that way.

On the plus side, it's another match where our defense stood strong and held off a pretty good attack from our opponent.

[Blarney]

Match Seven

from Meadow Lane

finally put one in

Our offense stepped up in this one, although we didn't have a real good shot on target percentage.

Our defense continues to play strong as we held Mansfield to just 5 shots total.

[Blarney]

Match Eight

from The Peninsula Stadium, Salford

we'll take it

14 shots, 2 on target...... but 1 in is all we needed.

Much like last season our defense is nearly impenetrable which is good because our offense - much like happened for a time last season - has gone stale.

[Blarney]

September in Review

Schedule

3 wins, 2 draws in 5 league matches.

Table

Solidly in the upper half even though we've had some tough matches, we still haven't lost a match though.

Barrow is looking tough.  Chesterfield is struggling.

League Two Team Stats

Yeah, other than a good first few games from Langstaff our offense is struggling mightily.  I might need to look at a different tactic but I don't want to mess with our defense either.

League Two Player Stats

So far this season is all about Langstaff and Kovacevic.

Financials

Made a little money.

[Blarney]

Match Nine

from Meadow Lane

nice win

Wimbledon gave us a match.

We did get a lot of shots off but still having trouble finding the target.

Miles and Roberts were the heroes here, with Langstaff getting an assist.

[Blarney]

Papa Johns

Northern Section Group E

from The Mazuma Stadium, Morecambe

darn

Well we tried.  We substituted a bunch of our guys again to get them some rest and gave it a shot and failed.

I'm not too sad about it.

We just didn't play a good match at all, couldn't get shots off, couldn't stop them.  Way overmatched.

[Blarney]

Match Ten

from The Completely-Suzuki Stadium, Cheltenham (huh??)

big win

Breakout match for the good guys.  We finally put a complete game together.

20 shots, 10 on target, 4 in.

Cheltenham got off their shots but we held when it counted.

[Blarney]

Match Eleven

from Rodney Parade, Newport

tough match

After exploding against Cheltenham we had a much tougher contest against Newport.

Their defense played us really tight and we didn't get many shots off.

Macaulay did manage to get one in early in the match from about 16' out but after that they really shut us down.

[Blarney]

Match Twelve

from Meadow Lane

snuck one past 'em

We had to rest a couple of players in this match, including Langstaff, so I'm very happy we got the positive result here against a tough competitor.

We did just enough for the win and that's all I ask when we're not out there in full force, which is going to happen in a long season.

[Blarney]

Youth Recruitment

We just got done doing a 400k upgrade to our youth facilities, which absolutely HAD to be done... but I'm greedy and wanted more.

So I asked about upgrading our youth recruitment which was below average.

And they said no -- shocking.

So I met with them... and after telling them 3 times it had to be done...

Winning matters.

[Blarney]

Match Thirteen

from Meadow Lane

we earned this one

Another tough match but we continue to find ways to either win or draw.

This was a very even contest, shots about the same, possession about the same.

We each put one in the net in the first half and then went back and forth in the 2nd without either club being able to break through.

[Blarney]

October in Review

Schedule

Another excellent month.  Despite the loss in the Papa Johns Trophy competition we have managed to remain unbeaten in league play.

Table

We aren't the only club having a good season though and it's still a battle for the top spots.

League Two Team Stats

Our offense has been just good enough... but it's our defense that continues to win games for us this season.

League Two Player Stats

Langstaff and Kovacevic.  Kovacevic and Langstaff.  Thank you.

Financials

Money is still looking okay.

[Blarney]

Player Stats

Attacking

I'm really glad I didn't give in and sell Langstaff off because other than him... our attacking does not look good.  He is the centerpiece for sure.

Now, I'm not going to worry too much because I had an idea it was going to be a year of growth which is why I brought in so much youth to give them a year to develop and then separate those that I thought had talent from those that don't.  Still you'd like to see something other than just 1 guy doing it all.

Defense

It's a different story on the defensive side as we have several players that are turning in key performances.

This side of the ball has definitely been the guiding light so far this season.

[Blarney]

The Independent Reports

Trent Crimm sports

We sat down with Eddie Sirrel and had an opportunity to ask him a few questions.

"Eddie thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions.  You're 13 games into the season now and your club hasn't lost a match yet.  You're also at the top of the table so things are going well for you.  How has the season been from your point of view to this point?"

"No problem, Trent.  Umm, obviously we're very happy with where we are at right now.  It's, it's very early obvoiusly so we're not getting ahead of ourselves.  But it's hard to complain when you're at the top of the table.  We've faced some good competition and obviously teams are going to be gunning for us now.  If I'm being honest we've been a little lucky at times but we've stayed in every match and given ourselves an opportunity to win."

"Your defense has been a fortress.  You're leading the league in goals against.  Kovacevic has the 2nd best save percentage in the league.  You were very good defensively last season as well.  Has this been a focus for the club?"

"It's been a matter of emphasis.  You know I came into the league having more of a reputation as someone that cared more about the offensive side of the game.  My focal point was scoring goals, I said as much more than a few times.  It's not that I didn't care about defense, it's just that I wanted to maintain a positive attack and control the match from holding possession and putting pressure on the opposition.  But from the start we reshaped our defense and brought in players that I felt were very strong on the backside.  We've played a formation that lends itself to being a strong defense, while sacrificing a little attack... but then we've allowed our wing-backs and midfield-defenders to push up the field and push the attack to our forwards.  We have a very fluid tactic from back to front, I think."

 

[Blarney]

Match Fourteen

from The Suit Direct Stadium, Hartlepool

(cool little stadium)

rollin' along

Our defense was absolutely impenetrable this match.

Hartlepool only got off 4 shots total and none on target.

On the fip side we pounded them with shots, but somehow were short on the possession side... which just goes to show how that just doesn't matter at times.

Edited September 4 by Blarney

[Blarney]

Match Fifteen

from Brunton Park, Carlisle

(so is it normal for a stadium to be completely flooded like this???)

eeked out another one

Even match as far as shots go but they killed us in possession.

In the end we got one in and they didn't though and that's what matters.

[Blarney]

The Independent Reports

Trent Crimm sports

At the start of the year, Eddie Sirrel signed 2 replacements at the keeper spot for Notts County to replace, Mair who had been on loan the previous season.  As the season has gone along though it's obvious that Kovacevic has stood out from Bishop - who's only started a few games and has been injured twice, including going down with a training injury yesterday.  Eddie had this to say to the media.  "Bishop twisted his knee in training and it looks like he'll be out for 5-6 weeks.  Brooks will back up Kovacevic while Bishop is rehabbing."

[Blarney]

Match Sixteen

from Meadow Lane

gave it up last minute

We had this one won until we allowed a penalty shot to tie it in the 90th minute.

In all honesty they probably deserved something from it.  We did a good job of keeping them out of the net for most of the match but they definitely controlled the pace.

Guess I should be happy with the draw.

[Blarney]

FA Cup

First Round from The Community Stadium, Boston

nice win

We took a chance, needed to rest some guys so basically played all backups and we got the win.

The supporters probably would have been all over me if we had lost this one but Boston is a National League club and I just assumed we'd get the win.

We didn't really blow them away and they definitely got their shots off, but I had faith in my defense.

[Blarney]

Papa Johns

Northern Section Group E from Blundell Park, Cleethorpes

too little, too late

We got the win in our final group match in the Papa Johns competition.

Unfortunately we had already been knocked out.

But, it gave us another chance to rest our players in back-to-back matches.

[Blarney]

Match Seventeen

from

 

we stole this one

Down 0-1, nothing falling, 80 minutes into the match.

We finally put one in at 82 minutes and then follow that up with another in stoppage time to get the win.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

[Blarney]

Match Eighteen

from Meadow Lane

dominating

Barrow never stood a chance in this one.

We pummeled them in shots and they couldn't mount any offense against us.

The good times just keep rolling along.

[Blarney]

Match Nineteen

from Sixfields Stadium, Northampton

offensive explosion

Biggest offensive game we've had this season.

Funny thing is they got off more shots than we did and had a better xG than we did.

But we kept sneaking them by their keeper and they struggled against ours.

[Blarney]

November in Review

Schedule

9 matches on the schedule this month, so it was a long month where we needed to rest some players.

Luckily we got the chance in a FA Cup match against a lesser opponent and then a Papa Johns Trophy match where we had already been eliminated.

In league play... we managed 5 wins and a draw in our 6 matches... where we only gave up 4 goals total.

Table

We're starting to put some distance between us and the rest of the league as we continue to sneak wins and still haven't lost.

League Two Team Stats

We've worked our way up to 2nd in the league in goals scored and 4th in conversion rate.

League Two Player Stats

Langstaff still leads in goals scored and Kovacevic is first in save percentage.  Lethal combo.

Financials

A little dip in the cash flow.

[Blarney]

***My schedule is going to tighten up a little so I'm probably going to go to monthly updates rather than per match until I get a little more free time.  I don't want to abandon this save and I don't want to go days or a week without updating which could happen if I continue doing it the way I have been.  Once I free up some time I may go back to per match, but just wanted to let you all know why it was changing.**

[Blarney]

***Well it wouldn't be me if I didn't mess something up.  Somehow after my last game that I played I didn't save the progress, which I always do.  And I always save it before I shut the game down... but I didn't.  So the last match we played had to be re-played, which obviously changes the stats that I posted.  We did get the win but it was 2-1 this time.  Not nearly as impressive.  I'll just keep the previous post up because  in the end it doesn't matter much but just figured I'd  explain what happened if anybody is paying that much attention and sees a different result than what I posted.**

[Blarney]

December in Review

Schedule

9 more matches this month, 9 last month... we're a little tired even with the extra players we have available.

Table

We're still on top but Tranmere is breahing down our neck.  Luckily we just beat them to knock 'em down a peg.

League Two Team Stats

Slipping on goals scored.  Still nowhere to be seen in any other offensive category.

League Two Player Stats

Langstaff still on top.

Financials

Made a decent chunk of money this month.. partly from the 300k we got as part of the Scott trade we did earlier in the season.

Review

We lost 2 out of our last 4 matches in league play.  We were really getting exhausted with how our schedule has been the past 2 months.  Even with the extra depth and rotating guys in and out our players have still been winded.  We got past Tranmere 1-0 which is good because they've closed to within 8 points of us.  We also won our FA Cup match in a very tight contest against Walsall.  We were pretty lucky in that match and probably pretty lucky we played them at the start of the month and not the end.

The transfer window opens up at the start of the month but I'm not sure if we'll do any business.  If I can move a couple of guys then I might look to bring some young reinforcements in as that is still my main priority.  I'm not going to go out and spend a lot of money on anybody else at the moment.

[Blarney]

Notts Board Concerns

I've been approached by a couple of different clubs about jumping ship.

I've turned them down politely without even going to an interview but it appears the board is concerned either way.

That's obivously a good thing.

[Blarney]

New Contract

They want me around

 

Edited September 7 by Blarney

[Blarney]

Derby coming hard

It is nice to be wanted.

[Blarney]

The Independent Reports

Trent Crimm sports

Things are heating up in Nottingham and we don't just mean on the pitch.  Reports are that Derby has Notts County manager, Eddie Sirrel, firmly in their sights for the opening at their club.  There was even a fan poll done recently and the supporters are fully behind Eddie being picked in overwhelming numbers.  For what it's worth, Eddie has laughed off the reports and said that it's always nice to be recognized and considered wanted for other jobs but he's fully committed to Notts County, which should make their supporters happy.  In fact he's just recently signed a new contract keeping him at County for another year.  Hopefully that was just the starting point for a bigger contract to come and one can imagine that if Notts keeps up the success they're having this year and earns another promotion.... that a new contract should be on his desk pretty darn quickly before another club does come in and make an him an offer he can't refuse.

[Blarney]

January in Review

Schedule

Nice start to the month with 3 league wins and a win in our FA Cup match.  Then we got a little tired again and ended up with 2 draws and a loss in our final 3 matches.

Table

We have a 13 point lead now and looking good for the final push.

League Two Team Stats

Offensive stats looking a little better and we're still strong defensively.

League Two Player Stats

My gosh I hope we can keep Langstaff.... but I'm really worried about the interest he keeps getting.

Financials

We're having a decent year financially bolstered by the money we're getting from transfers out and not spending any money on bringing guys in.

Review

A nice little bounce-back from how we fell apart at the end of last month.  We got back on track and only lost 1 match this month.

We also increased our lead for first place... while there is a real tight race between spots 2-8 and even 9-14 are only a few points out from a playoff spot.

[Blarney]

Transfer Deadline

*crickets*

We made one move at the deadline.

And it was relatively minor.  Nico wasn't starting for us and really had no path to becoming a starter so we let him go.

We put a few others in the window but didn't get any offers and we decided not to make any moves to bring anybody else in.  There were a few we looked at but they demanded too much money and I just didn't want to spend it at this time.  We'll work through the remainder of this season with the guys we have and rotate them as necessary and hopefully do enough to maintain our lead and go into the off-season looking to re-tool.

[Blarney]

FA Cup Preview

The Independent

You're facing Charlton in your 4th Round FA Cup match.  They are currently sitting in 2nd place in League One.  How are we feeling about this one?

Eddie Sirrel

We know the quality of their club and they're having an amazing season but we've been working hard in training and feeling confident.

The Independent

You've got them at home in front of your fans, I assume that's a plus.

Eddie Sirrel

We're always excited to go out there and play for our supporters.  They absolutely give us an extra boost of energy when we take the pitch.

Nottingham Post

The last time Notts County progressed past the 4th round was in the 2009/2010 season.  Is it important to you to get past this round this season?

Eddie Sirrel

I'll answer that as honestly as I can, which may not be exactly what everybody wants to hear.  The answer is no.  In the scheme of things our focus this season has been on league play, if you asked me that question about every single league match we've played and will play the rest of the season then I'd say I want to win every single one.  Obviously we haven't done that and I never would have realistically thought we would but that wouldn't change the fact that was our goal.  Cup competitions right now to us are icing on the cake.  We want to do well but we're not taking our focus away from the league.  Now, the other side of that is the further we progress in a competition the more we'd like to stay in it, so it's not like we're going to go out there and fold.  Charlton is going to see our best side and we're going to see how we stack up.