Blarney

Hate losing to them. Haha. No, they're a good club and as I said it's not that we expected to go undefeated. Giving up a goal in the 95th minute is heartwrenching though. I'm more disappointed with the result in the FA Cup but in fairness I did rest some guys thinking we'd have an 'easier' match there. My fault.

FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round Nottinghamshire Live It was an outstanding offensive performance by both clubs... Eddie Sirrel Or a lack of defense played, if you want to look at it that way. Nottinghamshire Live Glass half full or half empty? Obviously you would have been considered the favorites here and looking forward to continuining on in the competition. How is the team taking this and can you express any thoughts on the loss at the moment. Eddie Sirrel Honestly I don't really have it in me right now to put a coherent thought together. Obviously this was not the plan. I take nothing away from Southend but this is a contest we should be winning. The expectaitons were to move forward in this competition and I'm deeply concerned about our quality of play in this match. Deeply concerned. I expect much more and honestly every man on that pitch better expect more or we can talk about what changes need to be made to bring in someone that does care.

Match Fourteen

Match Thirteen Nottingham Post So the run is over. 12 straight wins comes to an end with the loss to Wrexham. Quite a heartbreaking loss as well with the winning goal given up in the 95th minute. How is the team responding to this right now? Eddie Sirrel So I'm supposed to be upset and in some ways obviously I am, but it's not like I expected us to go undefeated for the season. That doesn't mean I like losing or accept it but we just got outplayed today and those things are going to happen. The important thing is now that it doesn't become a habit and we turn things around quickly. That's what you want to see from the lads.

Match Twelve Magpie Weekly Can you explain the range of emotions in this match? You go down 0-1 in the 11th minute and then Mair goes out with what appears to be some sort of hand or arm injury - maybe you can comment on that as well. Altrincham scores again in the 22nd minute against your backup keeper... who isn't a keeper because you didn't have one on the bench so you used a center-back in that position instead. So it's 2-0 Altrincham at the half... which could have just as easily been 3-0 but they missed what most would say was a pretty easy shot at the end of the half. Somehow your defense steps up and keeps them out of the net for the entire 2nd half but you can't seem to score either. Noticeably you had Langstaff out for this match - assuming he needed a rest - and Scott starting at striker. And then Scott finally finds the net in the 82nd minute... Palmer finds it just a few minutes later... and then in the 92nd minute Palmer heads one from way out on a cross from Jones and you win the match. Are these the sort of matches that you look at and just say "okay maybe it's our year?" Eddie Sirrel Well the emotions are all over the place. Mair did hurt his hand... in fact it's broken. He'll see a specialist tomorrow but he's going to be out several weeks at minimum. No, I did not have a suitable backup on the bench, that's on me. Probably was a mistake. We could have paid for that mistake but my guys pulled it out. So yeah otherwise, emotions all over the place as I said. You feel for the lads because you saw the look on their face when Mair went down and we really struggled, I mean really struggled with the ball. They held possession and every time we had the ball they just were all over us. We managed to get shot after shot after shot off but we couldn't find the back of the net for anything until late in the 2nd half and then they started falling. But credit to the boys for going out there and not giving up.

Financials Made a little money this month which is better than losing money but we're still struggling.

September in Review Schedule Back-to-back perfect months. We are definitely firing on all cylinders. Table But we're not the only club going off this season so far. We can't put any distance between us and Oldham who are matching us step for step. Wrexham has definitely turned their season around since their disastrous start and sit in 3rd at the moment but are 11 points behind. National League Team Stats National League Player Stats Langstaff is just a football god... he is absolutely unstoppable this season so far.

Match Eleven Nottingham Live That's 11 wins in a row to start the new season which is a new Notts County record. Were you aware of the record and how are you feeling regarding your start? Eddie Sirrel I actually wasn't aware until after the match was over and one of our people came over and let us know. I don't want to downplay the record because it's great but we're looking for beyond that right now. What those wins mean is that we're putting it all together from training to the actual matches. The atmosphere is awesome right now around the club and that's what we want to keep up.

Match Ten

Match Nine

Match Eight

Transfer News Bailey Signed Nottingham Post Following the surprise transfer of Rodrigues you've turned around and brought another played in... and another player from Gateshead of all places. Can you tell us about Owen Bailey? Eddie Sirrel Yeah so one door closes and another opens. Owen's a young guy that can play as both a center mid or defensive mid... or even as a center back if needed so there's a lot of versatility there. We're definitely thinking we could move him around on the pitch to help us out. Nottingham Post You gave up an attacking midfielder in Rodrigues and your lack of depth there seemed to suggest that maybe that would be what you were looking to bring in. Is that still the plan? Eddie Sirrel I'm going to go back to what my grandfather always said and I said in my introduction interview.... give me the best players and let them go. If I need to change up tactics or formations or put people in positions that maybe they're not used to playing but I think they can do it, then we'll make it work. So I'm not necessarily looking for anything in particular, I just want good players.

Transfer News Rodrigues Gone Magpie Weekly Supporters are questioning why move Rodrigues and especially now. Is it due to the work permit issues? Eddie Sirrel We knew early on that Ruben planned on exploring options after his contract expired this season. I approached him and told him we wanted him here but we needed that commitment and offered him a new contract which he accepted. Unfortunately there were work permit issues and we tried very hard to get that decision overturned but it didn't happen. After that happened we told Ruben that we decided to pull the offer off the table and explore other options. At that point our hands are a little tied and we're left either letting the player walk at the end of the season and getting nothing in return or exploring if we can put them up for transfer and get something in return. Magpie Weekly Is there any concern that moving Rodrigues now will have a negative effect on the club considering how well the season has started? Eddie Sirrel Tough question. Obviously there is a concern when you shake anything up, whether it's letting someone go or bringing someone in. You always hope you're making the right choice. The offer was there and rather than chance turning it down and hoping we get another one, we decided to take it and move on.

Match Seven

Financials \ Not real good. Our financial status is insecure. Ownership doesn't really want to put a lot of money into giving players long-term contracts. I don't have money to really go out and get anybody good... so we're pretty much making do with what we have. And that's fine, we're talented enough to compete this season but hopefully if we do continue to win the board will recognize that and put a little money into the club.

Excellent start to the season. Made more special by the unbelievable differences in wage budget that you have compared to the rest of the league. Just goes to show the hard work and dedication to scouting can make the difference.

Magpie Weekly We're excited that we got an opportunity to spend a few minutes with Notts Co manager, Eddie Sirrel, today and ask him a few questions about how things are going after an incredible month of matches. I guess we should start there. How is the feeling at the club after sweeping the month with 6 straight wins, many in pretty exciting fashion. Eddie Sirrel Yeah, you could say that everybody is in pretty high spirits right now but we have to temper that you know. It's 6 games. It's the first month of a very long season. Now before anybody calls me out for being all down and out or whatever, I'll take the 6 wins every month. I'll take 5 wins every month. I am beyond happy for the players and the supporters but we all know it's just the beginning. You can't win the league the first month of the season... but on the other hand you certainly can do a lot to throw it away if you don't start out well. So we're on the right side of things at least. Magpie Weekly You had 3 straight matches where you scored 4 goals. You've scored 20 through 6 games now. in the pre-season you said you thought you were going to be okay on the offensive side of the ball, you felt your attack had the possibility to be special. Did you see this? Eddie Sirrel I'd love to say I did. Look, we brought in a couple of special players in Langstaff and Scott and they're absolutely living up to the billing right now. I'm over the moon with the possibilities this season when it comes to what we might do with the ball and how quickly we can put it in the net. But I don't want to put too much pressure on the lads. So far so good is what I'll say. But beyond that, the team effort has been outstanding. We're moving the ball, I believe we're first in overall possession and in conversion rate right now as well. Statistically we're looking very good. Magpie Weekly Since you brought them up. What a coup you pulled off. You brought in the reigning National League North Player of the Year and Mr. Golden Boot himself, McCauley Langstaff, over from Gateshead AND on top of that their 2nd leading scorer in Cedwyn Scott... and what a show they've put on so far for you. 8 goals in 6 matches from Langstaff and 5 from Scott. Could you ask for more? Eddie Sirrel No. I'm so proud of what they've done and I'm so excited that the Notts County supporters get to see this. Yes, it was a big get for the club. We had holes to fill and our scouting department did a great job -- Magpie Weekly Of which you were a part of in finding these guys. Eddie Sirrel Well I was a small part in evaluating them, yes, but overall the scouting department did a great job of identifying some guys we thought could fill some holes and then we went to work on determining who we thought best could do the job. As it turned out we found 2 guys from the same club. Magpie Weekly A club that earned promotion last season to the National League and now has to face you and their 2 ex-players twice this year. Eddie Sirrel That's football. Magpie Weekly Well it certainly has been an exciting start to the season, we truly appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Eddie Sirrel Anytime. Come On You Pies!

August in Review Schedule It's very difficult to be much better than perfect for the month. But to do it in style where you score 20 goals in 6 matches.... not bad. Table We sit at the top but Oldham is right there with us with a perfect month as well. National League Team Stats Green everywhere you look. We're blitzing the league in goals scored, pass completion ratio and conversion rate. And we're 2nd in average possession. Not a bad start. National League Player Stats Langstaff leads the league in goals scored but Cedwyn is tied for 2nd and has the best overall average rating as well.

Match Six Nottinghamshire Live You almost gave this one away. Your side scored 2 quick goals within the first 25 minutes of the match, only to see Solihull score 2 nearing the end of the first half. In the 2nd half neither team could get anything going until Vincent put the winner in at the 90th minute. How big was that and how big is this win? Eddie Sirrel Couldn't be happier for Franky, it was a great goal and one we obviously needed. You think that after you put 2 in relatively early that maybe you're just going to cruise and then all of a sudden it's 2-1 and then 2-2 at the end of the half and momentum is all on their side. We really battled in the 2nd half, we had a lot of opportunities to score but just couldn't put it in. It really looked like it was going to end in a draw until Franky put that one in. Big goal. Big win.

Match Five

Match Four Magpie Weekly A huge win over a rival club. The supporters were behind you all the way in this one. Being from Nottingham and a County supporter I know you felt this was a big match as well but do you take anything special from the victory compared to a regular match? Eddie Sirrel In the scheme of things no one match is supposed to be any more important than another, unless of course it's a must win or a cup match or something like that. However, we all know rivalry matches hold a special meaning for the supporters. If we go out and lose to Torquay or Coventry or someone like that, it stings but the supporters are going to get over it a lot easier than they will losing to a Chesterfield or any other rival. So in that regard, yes, it's important and means more than just a reguilar match.

Match Three Nottingham Post You matched up today against a club that you took 2 players from during the off-season in Langstaff and Scott. Langstaff scored twice in the match and Scott put in one as well. How did they handle the pressure of facing their old club? Eddie Sirrel Well I'd say pretty well. Both had quality matches out there. Gateshead acquitted themselves well and gave us everything we could handle but we pulled through and that's all that matters. I'm very happy with how the club fought in this one.

Transfer News Tyreke Johnson and Jonathan Dinzeyi Signed BBC Nottingham You signed 2 new players this past week in Johnson and Dinzeyi. What was the thinking behind bringing them in and how will they fit at the club? Eddie Sirrel My thinking whenever we bring someone new in is are they going to help us win. With Johnson we felt he was a little bit of a better option on the left defensive side, nothing against Chicksen - he'll get his time as well - but we were pretty slim on the outside edges and needed a little more depth. Same thing with Dinny, we felt we were very weak in depth with our center-backs and needed desperately to bring in some more quality players. Both will get every opportunity to show us that they deserve starting status.

Match Two

Match One Nottinghamshire Live You got the win in your first match as a manager and your first match of the season. How are you feeling? Eddie Sirrel I'm happy for the boys. They've been working very hard in training. Preparation has been excellent. And then they went out on the pitch and executed everything we've been working hard on. You can't ask more as a manager. Nottinghamshire Live But for you personally, does this feel like any vindication for the naysayers? Eddie Sirrel (with a laugh) That would assume that I've given them any thought, and I haven't. I don't mean to be flippant, I care passionately about all our supporters, even those that have questioned if I'm the man for the job. But my job isn't to worry about them or their concerns, it's to get this team ready to play. I care about what my boys are thinking and how we're preparing and how they execute. I'm always going to be happier for them than I am any personal achievements that come my way.