Blarney

Carabao Cup BBC Radio Nottingham So now that the match is over... disappointment or happiness? Eddie Sirrel I talked about this before the match. What I wanted to see was us go out there and show we belonged. Show we could hang with a club 2 steps ahead of us and we did that. So there's nothing but happiness on my side. The lads went out there and gave the performance of a lifetime. We nearly had them too, but we truly fought. That's what I wanted to see. Hey, credit Luton they did what they were supposed to do but I can't imagine they're nearly as excited about the result as I am. They're a Championship club and we gave them all they wanted. Not taking anything away from them, they won... but I'm happy.

Carabao Cup Preview BBC Radio Nottingham Big draw in your opener of the Carabao Cup when you match up against Championship side Luton. Thoughts? Eddie Sirrel Yeah, it's going to be a tough match, we're not under any delusions here. If nothing else we're happy to be home and in front of our supporters. Nottingham Post What do you think your chances are of coming away with a win? Eddie Sirrel I'm not really thinking about a win or making any predictions here. The fact is Luton is a much bigger club than we are and nobody in their right mind is picking us to win this thing. Now wait, wait... before the supporters get all upset. That doesn't mean we're not in that mindset, we're not going in to lose. But I think more importantly is this is a test. I'm not big on moral victories but this is one of those times where we want to be competitive. We want to see how we match up against a club 2 steps up from us. We are going out there with everything we have but a loss here certainly isn't a loss in my books, as long as we make a good showing of it. Magpie Weekly So we can assume that you're going out there full force then, nobody is getting rest in this one? Eddie Sirrel We have a couple of guys nicked up so it'll be touch and go for them to make the start but otherwise no, we're coming to play.

Match One Nottinghamshire Live Big win to start the season. The hat-trick from Langstaff must have been pleasing. Eddie Sirrel I have run out of superlatives to say about Mac, he is just... he's just.... we'll leave it at that. Otherwise, yes, definitely better to win than lose but to start the season with a win is always nice. Swindon gave us a match there in the 2nd half when we sort of fell off but we held on and that's what counts.

Opening Formation Not a big change, I think we're going to pull our defensive-midfielder and put him on the defensive line instead. We left ourselves open a few times last season in the back when fast players were able to get past us so maybe just having 3 center-backs instead will solve that issue. We're still going to play wide and push the ball up the pitch. Our only changes to our starters from last season is Aljofree and Quamina, otherwise everyone remains the same. Well I guess Jones was our right-winger last season - at least part time - but Austin saw plenty of starts as well so that's not really much of a change. We definitely have more depth now so guys will get more rest when needed.

Pre-Season Press Conference Nottingham Post Welcome to League Two, Eddie. You open at home versus Swindon who are predicted to finish around mid-table much like your own club is. Do you like opening at home and how important is it to get off to a good start like you did last season? Eddie Sirrel I love opening the season at home. I absolutely want to kick off the season in front of our own supporters and hopefully get the win in that first match. You know we started off strong last season and then had a bit of a dip in form mid-season so I'd say we just want to stay consistent throughout. Competition is going to be different here than it was in the National League. I think there's going to be a bit of a feeling out process as we find our footing. I just want the boys to go out there and play how I know they can and not be overwhelmed by everything. Just play our game. Nottinghamshire Live Speaking of your game, are there any changes to your tactical style or will we see much the same as we did last season? Eddie Sirrel I think the basic concept will remain the same. We mixed things up a little last season, depending on personnel so there have been a few different things we've been working on in practice but I have a pretty good idea of what I think will work or won't. Nottinghamshire Live Still planning on a high tempo attack? Eddie Sirrel I like goals, what can I say. In all seriousness, I'm a fan of pushing the ball and creating pressure on the defenders. I want to force our opponent to react to what we're doing. BBC Radio Nottingham You have a few new faces on the club this season and a few from last season that are gone, notably Bostock, Baldwin and Cameron. Can you talk about some of the changes? Eddie Sirrel Moving up the pyramid also means having to make some changes and shore up positions where you think maybe you lack depth or quality. One of our definite weaknesses last season was depth so we needed to bring in a few more warm bodies - especially since we'll be playing more competitions this year and will want to give our starters a little more rest than we did last season. We also wanted to bring in more quality youth that can grow along with the club as we hopefully continue to get better. So we moved a few guys that were on the last year of their contract and we brought in a few to replace them... maybe 1 or 2 starters in the group that you might see out there on the pitch more often. That's always tough, saying goodbye to players that meant so much to the club, but it's the nature of the beast. You have to make changes to stay competitive. But honestly we're going to have somewhat of the same look we did last year. We're just looking for growth from some of our guys. Magpie Weekly Any predictions on the season? Eddie Sirrel Hard work.

Season Preview Predicted Finishes Well, the odds-makers like Wrexham at the top... and then 3 of the 4 relegated clubs from last season behind them. As for Notts County.... we're picked to finish a respectable 10th place, which honestly if that were to happen I'd be pretty happy. Player of the Season They don't like any of our boys for the top player award, while Mullin is on that list. Golden Boot However, they do like Langstaff to take back-to-back-to-back Golden Boots - he did it with Gateshead in the National League North before coming to Notts last season and winning it again. I'd love to see the 3-peat. Scott is also on the list, somewhat surprisingly.

Transfer News Baldwin Out Green Out Adebayo-Rowling Out

Facilities Upgrade First a new contract and now an upgrade to our youth facilities. I guess all it takes is a little winning to open the pocketbook a wee bit.

New Contract Nottingham Post You put your signature on a new contract today despite having 1 year remaining on the old one. Is this something you wanted to get done before the season started or was it something the club offered? Eddie Sirrel They offered it. They wanted to show their support for what we did last season and get something done before this season started to show that we were all on the same page. I happily accepted it and am overjoyed at the prospect of continuing what we've started here. Nottinghamshire Live There were some rumors of discontent last season with maybe the board's indedecision regarding spending money on upgrading facilities at the club. Does that contract put your mind at east that maybe things will change this year? Eddie Sirrel There was no discontent. I don't sign the checks. My job is to do my job with what I have. I'm going to offer suggestions on things that I think we need to do but it's the board's job to determine if the money is there or if it's something we can do. But regardless, yes this contract is a step in the right direction with me, telling me that they're happy with what we've accomplished and that we all want to continue pulling in the same direction.

Off-season Business Langstaff Extended The first thing we identified is we needed to extend Langstaff's contract. We had him for another year but we didn't want to go this season without getting something done... and done quickly. It's going to cost us a little... more than any other player on the roster, but we think he's worth it. His agent actually asked for 6 but we settled on 5, so we're happy. Scott Extended We also wanted to extend Scott and got that done as well. Scott and Langstaff last year combined for almost half our total goals scored. Mair Signed And the 3rd thing we wanted to do (and honestly maybe truly the most important) was get Mair. He was here last season on loan but we wanted him signed. It didn't really cost us as much as I thought it would either so we're very happy. Bostock Out Bostock told us he was going to explore options at the end of his contract.... which is like to me an automatic "put them on the transfer list"... so he's gone.

the Season in Review The Final Table 2 teams over 100 points. Congrats to Wrexham for advancing. **It's funny how art sometimes simulates real life** Competition Results 12 straight wins to start the season and 19 out of our first 21 matches. That was the start we needed and what pushed us to the finish line. Decent finish when we needed it as well with 11 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss in the final 16 matches to hold Wrexham off. Transfers In This is where we earn our jobs. We didn't have a lot of money to spend for the season so we had to be smart... and I think we were very smart. Macaulay Langstaff is a stud. Cedwyn Scott was really nice on the wing. Jonathan Dinzeyi - who was brought in looking like a backup - became arguably our best defender. Bajrami was a beast as a defensive-midfielder. Mair was a stopper in goal (and we have more news coming up about him.) There was no way we won this season without these moves. Transfers Out We didn't make much money off guys we let go but every little bit helped. Rodrigues wanted out, he got out. Wootton was replaced by Langstaff - we're going to call that a huge plus. Lacey, Brindley, Chicksen, Roberts just had no place on the club. Cameron was a nice piece of our defense but like Rodrigues wanted out. How We Lined Up Our style of play probably (more than probably) left us open in the back at times for opponents that were able to get the ball over our heads but it also helped us control the middle a bit more and helped us push the ball up the pitch quickly which lead to our obscene amount of goals scored this season. Whether we can continue this style in League Two.... that remains to be seen. Teams Seasons Stats Rankings Nearly 3 goals scored per game... crazy. Just an outright blitz every match by my squad. All in all our statistical rankings were very good. End of Season Financials This is one area where we definitely need to get better. As a smaller club we rely on any extra source of revenue we can find... and we don't have Hollywood money or friends. We need to get better sponsorships, win a bit more prize money in competitions and earn more merchandise sales to help our finances out.

Awards and Accolades Manager of the Year All credit to the boys on the pitch that made it possible. Golden Boot 54 league goals. What an unbelievable amount. 54 goals is also a National League single season record as well. Player of the Season Well deserved. Absolutely well deserved. If it wasn't for Langstaff, Cedwyn Scott might have won this given how good he was this season. Vanarama National League Record High Points Scored Also a new record for points scored in a season for Notts County. Notts County Record Low Defeats Amazing season. Vanarama National League Scoring Record Again, amazing season by Langstaff.

FA Trophy The Double! BBC Radio Nottingham Congratulations on the win, Eddie. Eddie Sirrel Thank you, this was the players, it's all for the players. BBC Radio Nottingham Can you explain the emotions? This was quite a match. Eddie Sirrel Give Wrexham credit. They really pushed us. As far as emotions... I don't know. Up and down. We thought we were going in at the half nil-nil but Mullin put that header in and it just took the wind out of us. But hey, it's 1-0 down... nothing we haven't seen or fear. I know the goal-scoring capabilities of this club so 1 goal wasn't going to destroy us. Then we come out in the 2nd half and just can't get anything going and all of a sudden they put another in. Now we're in the 60th minute... 30 minutes left in the match and we're down 2-0 and things just aren't going our way. Wrexham's defense is just unbreakable. But then something clicks... Mac gets around his marker and blasts one that their keeper just tips with his fingers and Baldwin is there and knocks the rebound in. 2-1 now. Then just a few minutes later Mac gets another shot off and this one goes in just past the keeper. Now it's 2-2 and it's a new game. We get into added time and we're thinking we're going to be playing awhile longer. But then we get the penalty shot. Mac's going to put this in, game over. Their keeper stops it... unbelievable. But then somehow 2 minutes later Jodi gets around his man and puts one in the corner. Just, I don't know.... just Hollywood. Magpie Weekly You kept Langstaff and Scott in for the whole match after hinting that maybe they'd only play part of it, what was the thinking? Eddie Sirrel We wanted to win. In the end I wanted to give the boys something that they could take with them the rest of their lives. If they never get back here again, they got here now and they won. That's all. I talked to both Mac and Ced and both wanted to play and both wanted to stay in. Credit to them. They knew what it meant. Hey, first FA Trophy for Notts County as well. First of a lot of things this season. But this is just the start. Just the start. Nottinghamshire Live Can you talk about Wrexham for a second. Thoughts on their team and this competition. Eddie Sirrel Wrexham drove us all year long. You know at the start, the first month at least, they were really slow coming out. They were struggling but honestly I knew they'd be there at the end. This could all be different if they had started out well... say like Oldham did and they were undefeated right along with us. Oldham fell off but Wrexham just turned it on after the 2nd month. They had a better record than we did down the stretch. So they pushed us. I was looking at the table to see where they were. I was looking at the results to see what they did. I told they boys they were right on our heels and that they couldn't turn it off. So they pushed us. They are an incredible club with 2 superb owners that really seem to care about that club, about that town... so credit to them. I'm very happy they won the playoffs and will be in League Two with us. That's going to give us another push next season as well.

Trophy Preview BBC Radio Nottingham You're here. You're at Wembley. Nerves? Eddie Sirrel It's Wembley, there are always going to be nerves. Every player and manager in England dreams of playing here. Nottinghamshire Live You've had an incredible season, winning the league and earning promotion to League Two. Does being here cap it off for the club or was the league enough for the season? Eddie Sirrel The league was our goal. We wanted to win the league. So everything beyond that is just icing on the cake, but it's a sweet cake. Nottingham Post Wrexham won the league playoffs and will be joining you in League Two next season as well. You faced them twice this season, losing at home and getting a draw at the Racecourse. Are you confident going into this match that you're going to get the win here? Eddie Sirrel We've had a draw and a loss against them so it would only seem fair we get the win today! We always have confidence. Always. But there's no denying Wrexham is a top team. We've had the extra time off to rest and get ready while they've been playing a couple of matches so they may be a little sharper than us, but also more tired. We're ready. Magpie Weekly There are rumors of a new contract for Langstaff and Scott, can you comment on that? Eddie Sirrel Mac was our player of the season and Ced wasn't far behind that. They are both a major part of why we won the league this season. I think they've earned a better contract so now it's just up to me and the team to put something together and keep them here. I'd do that for any player that I think has earned it... when we can. We still have to work within the constraints of the club. But the more we win, the more those constraints will become less strict.

Incredible result and top of the table. Very nice.

This save looks like a lot of fun. I didn't even realize you could move clubs around like that, I've never messed with the editor (which I'm assuming is how you do it). "The interactions are stupid (one of my biggest hates in the game), the work permit situation not mentioned at all and no option to even say anything about it in our exchange, Pathetic really, yep great realistic simulation to real life negotiating and interaction JOKE!!!" This. This right here. The interactions in the game drive me crazy at times because they are soooo unrealistic. I had the same issue with Rodrigues in my save. He wanted out, told me he wanted out, I ended up offering him a lucrative contract which he accepted but I couldn't get the work permit through, so I put him up for transfer and he got mad. There wasn't even an option of saying "hey mate, you wanted gone, we tried to keep you but England won't allow it so we're giving you what you wanted, out... that's on you." Instead half the team got mad because they thought I was being unfair.

Congrats to Wrexham Well deserved victory by Wrexham to earn their promotion to League Two

April in Review Schedule FA Trophy Semi-Final win... and 4 wins in league play is enough to secure the title. Table 110 league points for the win! Wrexham gets 102 themselves. Oldham... poor Oldham. After going neck and neck with us for a good part of the season they fall completely out of the playoffs at the end. National League Team Stats 135 goals scored. National League Player Stats 54 goals for Mr. Langstaff. Mr. Football. Mr. Player of the Year... better be. Can't overlook what Cedwyn did. He added 21 goals and 10 assists. Incredible season. Financials Nice, profitable month.

Cheers, mate. I was seriously getting worried there at the last. I guess I shouldn't have assumed that we'd win the league by 20 points even though it looked like that was the way it was going through the first half but Wrexham made it tight there at the end.

Match Forty-Six

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.

Match Forty-Four

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.

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.

Match Forty-Two