Chris Buckley: 'Notts County must abandon hoofing tactics and play ball on ground'

The performances so far from Notts County during the 2017-18 season haven’t been the ‘most complete’, something which Kevin Nolan has admitted himself.

However every fan should give credit to Nolan for where we are, sitting second in the league after 14 games with 9 of those being wins is very impressive.

Especially after the turmoil of the last few seasons, there will always be a transitional period, and I do honestly feel bad performances are part and parcel of that.

This said I do feel we should abandon the hoof ball tactics, as it invites pressure onto ourselves by being poor in possession.

I feel some of the best performances that have come from Notts during this campaign came by having played the ball on the ground.

Nolan was bemused at the start of the season after his side was labelled ‘a route one football’ team.

He said: "If someone is under pressure, then put it in an area that is going to give our forwards or a winger an opportunity but hurt the opposition in the process. If you are a centre-half what is the ball you hate? It’s not one coming on to your head, it’s one in behind.

"It’s not about putting balls onto Jon Stead’s head because that’s not his game. A lot of people maybe thought his game was that.

"For people to say that’s what we want to do is ludicrous."

The problem is we are more reliant of hoofing it than we are at keeping calm in procession, or against the run of play.

In recent weeks, fans have suggested that the problem stems from the attack, mostly that the strikers aren’t doing their jobs – yet I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

We all know that there’s a limited amount of service to our strike force, especially in games where we struggle, and the route one football has perhaps helped at times – yet it's largely hindering the progression we can truly make.

Nolan has also said that he doesn’t want Notts to pass for the sake of it, something which reinforces the fact that we are reliant on hoofing the ball.

"I’ve never been a manager who likes passing it for passing sake," he said.

"There are managers out there who like to keep it, then look at the possession stats afterwards and say we kept it for 80 percent of the game. But I’ve been involved in matches against United, Arsenal etc and they’ve had the ball 75 percent of the game, but we’ve won 1-0.

"That’s the only stat that matters and that’s because we got it right defensively, and we did the basics right. So in that 25 percent possession, we’ve scored a goal."

In recent weeks I would argue that we aren’t getting the basics right at all, and in this division you can’t rely on the odd goal as a cushion – you have to be clinical and defensively solid.

Passing allows you to grow in confidence, players will naturally get a feel for the game and it largely assists with setting the tempo.

Most teams win games simply because they handled these simple facts, whilst allowing the pressure to be absorbed away from the defence – clearing the ball and attempting to force the play only returns frustration and it really does play into the advantage of the opposition.

I have spoken about the hard work which all the players and staff have put in, and it always seems like going top of the League Two table is the issue – yet we must believe in what we do.

I really hope Nolan finds a way to get the team focusing more on how we proceed with games, rather than just hacking at the ball – if you watch the training highlights released by the club, virtually everything is played on the deck, so why is it different when we go into games?

For me it’s not passing for the ‘sake of it’, it’s a case of ensuring we are doing enough to protect ourselves.

Teams which focus on hoofing it generally fall under those that lack quality, we know Notts have depth and capable players – I also mentioned it earlier about how when we do pass along the floor how much better we look.

Losing to Crewe means very little, it's all about how we respond but we have been stuttering since playing Mansfield Town at Field Mill towards the end of last month.

Share your thoughts about this feature article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.