Blink1862: Notts County must put a stop to culture of uncertainty

It's quite serious to think that the club is yet again in another relegation battle. Whether this will be long-winded like prior battles or simply a case of the Magpies finding their feet under John Sheridan remains to be seen, but it's obvious by now that this sorry state of affairs will take years to fix.

Whilst an increased amount of fans are becoming hacked off with Sheridan, and a minority standing behind the decision to protest for “fresh change” in the direction that club is being lead, there's one thing which is clear - talk of the sale only leads to “uncertainty” and “unpaid debts”, which multiplies that by whatever percent you could imagine.

I was, and remain, uncertain about the future of Notts, even after the club parted ways with the sixth manager since the disappointing loss of Steve Cotterill (not including Paul Hart and Mick Halsall who took temporary charge as caretaker managers). My feelings only increased after the appointment of Jamie Fullarton, as many didn't quite understand the decision behind the appointment.

Can the club be saved with a simple fix? It's not as easy as waving a magic wand.

Likewise you can't pull the wool over people's eyes, and you certainly can't tell fans how to feel – after all they're the reason the club is in operation no matter how you see it.

Yet it will literally take years to put right all that has gone since Munto Finance took over, even more so under the lacklustre Trew era.

That said, there were things which needed changing prior to mystery millions that mistakenly got pulled into the club rather than paying the costly milk bill.

However, Munto had the basics right even though they represented more fiction than Sherlock Holmes, Jessica Fletcher and Hercule Poirot.

The thing is, the community surrounding Notts was more close-knit without the millions. The majority of players cared, even during Munto with the newly signed players, but when you pay peanuts and give your better players away on freebies, surely the garden path isn't such a mysterious destination?

Certainly there will be fingers wagging, voices debating who's to blame but this really beside the point.

What matters is how you learn from your mistakes, how you move forward and ultimately how you address concerns.

So when rumours of the club's takeover is reported as imminent, focus on the daily business, get the players prepared for the weekend's game (or whenever it is). Make uncertainty the last thing they think of, breed confidence and support those who do the supporting.

By the time HMRC comes knocking, it will only make matters worse because even unsuccessful clubs that pull together have a better chance of riding out any storm - and of course it helps paying bills on time.

Will this season be a write-off? Only the management and the board of Notts County can answer that, yet the clubs needs to snap out of this losing streak and pull itself back together. The only award that the club would win at the most is that of “most stressful club”.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the contributor are his own and are not necessarily representative of Pride of Nottingham.

Share your thoughts about this feature on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.