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Joe Jones
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has spoken fondly of Colin Slater and recalls the great relationship they had when he was at Notts County.
The BBC Radio Nottingham stalwart, who has covered more than 2,500 Notts matches for over seven decades, is retiring from commentary, although he will remain the station's Magpies correspondent.
Allardyce, who worked with Slater during his time at Meadow Lane between 1997 and 1999, has recalled how the 83-year-old helped him in learning to deal with the media.
"I was quite a young manager at the time and Colin [Slater] was a great stable backing for me in dealing with the media and talking to him privately about experiences all of his life was really good for me," Allardyce told the Croydon Advertiser.
"I had a great relationship with him in the near three years and it is fantastic to see he is still healthy and well. Enjoy your retirement mate, you deserve it.
"It is a dying breed, and dedication to the job is an understatement, but it is because he loves it and that is why he is so good at it."
Slater's last game as commentator will be County's trip to face Newport County next week.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has confirmed that he will be registering again as a Notts County squad player next season.
The 34-year-old, who took over the managerial reins in January this year, registered this year but is yet to join his players on the pitch.
However, Nolan confirmed that he will be involved again as a squad member going into the new campaign, citing the injury to Michael O'Connor as an example of needing cover in midfield.
"I am going to do pre-season with the players and sign on as a player again," Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
"I know the chairman wants to see me in a black and white shirt, so I might just give him some of my Newcastle videos.
"But in all seriousness we are going to be missing Michael O'Connor and that's a massive loss to me and I am devastated for the lad.
"Because of things like that, I have to make sure I am available if we lose another midfielder.
"I might get the hunger back and decide I want a little go, but I will get fit and see how we go from there."
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Joe Jones
Alan Hardy has claimed that he did everything he could to try and keep Notts County Ladies afloat, but ultimately the numbers did not add up and so had to go ahead with "one of the toughest calls" of his career.
The Lady Pies folded last Friday, just two days before the start of the WSL Spring Series one-off season, prompting backlash from the team's players and fans.
Hardy dedicated his weekly Nottingham Post column to the club, writing: "It would be remiss of me not to focus this week's column on Notts County Ladies and the gut-wrenching and sad decision I had to take regarding their future.
"It is one of the toughest calls I have ever had to make because there were livelihoods at stake, and good, good, people at the heart of a fantastic club.
"I tried everything I could to find ways of maintaining the Ladies team here at Meadow Lane even though we would be regarded as the underdogs in a league including Arsenal, Man City et al.
"I revisited the numbers time and time again in what was a pretty exhaustive process and it gave me many sleepless nights.
"But the truth of the matter is the numbers just didn't stack up no matter how hard or how many times I looked at them and tried to make them work.
"I even enlisted the help of a marketing consultant, a lady who is well known within women's sporting circles.
"She held a senior position with Sport England and came on board for three months in order to build some momentum in terms of generating funding to help us avoid this scenario.
"We put a lot of irons in the fire and we thought there was more than a good chance of a strong outcome, but it turned out that every iron we pulled out turned cold.
"It was therefore extremely sad, and I was truly devastated to admit defeat.
"Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of what the Premier League clubs have which is the access to vast sums of money which they can afford to invest."
To read Alan Hardy's Nottingham Post column in full, click here.
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Joe Jones
Jon Stead says he would like to get a few more goals for Notts County before the end of the season and have the team carrying momentum into the 2017-18 campaign.
The veteran striker is currently on 14 goals from 36 League Two appearances, having beaten his tally for league goals last season - 11 - and level on last season's tally in all competitions.
Stead, whose future at Meadow Lane is far from certain, nonetheless insists that he wants the group to finish the current campaign strongly and target a promotion push next year.
"I'd like another couple of goals before the season ends," he told the Nottingham Post. "Even just to get to 15 would be nice as it's a round number.
"I just want to be consistent in what I am doing and as a group we want maximum points.
"We want to finish the season strongly and in confident mood so that we come back ready for a promotion push."
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has reassured Notts County fans that he will give the club all he's got as he cannot bear the thought of being out of a job and having regrets afterwards.
The 34-year-old has enjoyed a personal renaissance at Meadow Lane, as his first spell as manager at Leyton Orient ended with his first-team coaching duties being taken off him.
Orient's loss was County's gain as the Magpies have gone from relegation certainties to ending the season clear of League Two's bottom two, and Nolan says he will not let his own standards drop going into next season.
Nolan told the Nottingham Post: "I love being involved in football, I love working in it and I love playing it. The last thing I want now is to be out of a job.
"If I don't work as hard as I can, and don't give that 110 percent, to this club, to the lads, then when I lose it, or it's taken away from me, I will look back and I know it will eat me up."
Notts have two games left this season - Blackpool at home and Newport County away.
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Joe Jones
Notts County have confirmed that they will not be having an end-of-season awards night out of respect for the demise of Notts County Ladies.
On Friday, the Magpies announced that the ladies' club would be folding just days before the start of the Spring Series, putting its players - many of whom are internationals - out of a job.
As a result, Alan Hardy believes a celebration of the achievements of the club - whose men's team is now safe in League Two after months of relegation struggles - would be inappropriate.
Hardy told the official Notts site: “It’s been a very difficult week for everyone connected with Notts County – players, staff and fans.
"While Kevin and his team deserve recognition for all their hard work, I don’t think it’s right that we go ahead with an event of this nature.”
The site goes on to add that supporters who have booked their place at the dinner will be contacted by the club’s commercial department, with more information to follow in due course, while the awards will now be presented at this weekend’s match against Blackpool.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has claimed that Notts County will play hardball over player contract negotiations and will not be "bullied" into offering higher salaries in case someone has a higher offer elsewhere.
With the exception of Adam Collin, Mark Yeates, Carl Dickinson, Michael O'Connor and Matt Tootle, every other player on the Magpie payroll will see their current deals expire this summer.
Nolan has already spoken of how he wants the out-of-contract players to give their all in the final few games of the League Two season to "make him want to keep them" as well as rejecting prospective new players who "have to think about" a move to Meadow Lane.
Now, the Notts manager has warned his players that he is not one for "haggling" over new deals, telling the Nottingham Post: "We don't want it where players are haggling over £20 here or £100 there. That's the mentality we have to have and we will be better because of it.
"We won't be bullied into offering an extra £100 just because a player may have an offer somewhere else.
"Alan and I will try to come up with a structure which is going to work for the club but also help us be successful on the pitch too."
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Joe Jones
Colin Slater has announced that he will be stepping down from Notts County commentary duties with BBC Radio Nottingham.
The 83-year-old, who began reporting on the Magpies in 1959 at the Nottingham Evening News and Football News before making his BBC Radio Nottingham bow in 1968, will continue as the club's correspondant on the station.
In an announcement on the BBC website, Slater said: "I have some personal news for you.
"I've been commentating on Notts County matches for nearly 50 years and I have made the decision that the time has come to step back from those duties.
"But next season I will still be around and I will still be heard on BBC Radio Nottingham - not as frequently but definitely from time to time, and in fact quite regularly, and I hope that you'll join us then. Thank you."
His last commentary for BBC Radio Nottingham will be the Magpies' trip to Newport County on May 6, almost 50 years after he was first heard on the airwaves.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has expressed his sympathy for Michael O'Connor as the Notts County skipper faces nine months out through injury.
The Magpies midfielder suffered cruciate ligament damage in the 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth on Easter Monday and was carried off on a stretcher before half-time.
According to the Nottingham Post, O'Connor was sent to Derby for scans last week and they revealed a ruptured ligament that will require surgery once the swelling has subsided.
"I am devastated for Michael," Nolan told the newspaper. "He was an integral part of our team and he is our skipper.
"He still will be going forward and we will work our socks off to make sure he gets the best attention so we get him back as quickly as possible.
"We are not going to rush him. We will give him all the time so he can come back the same Michael O'Connor as before he got injured.
"I was little disappointed in the challenge which led to it. I know the lad isn't malicious but as a footballer you know it's not a good tackle.
"He's been brilliant since I came in and hopefully now he can just concentrate on getting himself back to full fitness and return to the top-notch player he is."
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Joe Jones
Notts County boss Kevin Nolan has reiterated the need to have momentum going into next season's League Two campaign and urges his out-of-contract players to "make me want to keep them".
With the exception of Adam Collin, Mark Yeates, Carl Dickinson, Michael O'Connor and Matt Tootle, every other player on the Magpie payroll will see their current deals expire this summer.
The club secured safety last Monday despite falling to a 3-1 defeat against Portsmouth, before the weekend brought a 2-1 loss at Luton Town, which left Nolan unimpressed.
"I just thought we came away from the things we have done which have brought us so much success," Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
"I said to the players that the next week will be all about getting back to those basics. Once we do that, then you see the better football.
"I gave them a bit of a rollicking at half-time, because in the first half certainly, we looked a team that had guaranteed safety and were going through the motions.
"That's now how I want to end the season. I want momentum going into next season's campaign. With a lot of the players out of contract they have got to make me want to keep them."
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Joe Jones
Notts County fell to a 2-1 defeat at Luton Town in Saturday's League Two clash at Kenilworth Road.
The Magpies began well as Elliott Hewitt opened the scoring, but goals from Ollie Palmer and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu put the Hatters in the lead by the end of the first half and they hung onto it until the final whistle.
The official Notts site has put up the match highlights, so you can have a look for yourself how the Magpies did against the Hatters as well as the game's goals.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has praised his Notts County players for all they have achieved in the last four months as they went from relegation certainties to mathematically assured of League Two football next season.
The Magpies were in dire straits coming into 2017, with a ten-match losing run symptomatic of the malaise at the club, and it looked like they were heading out of the Football League.
However Alan Hardy's takeover of the club, combined with Nolan's appointment as manager, saw a slow but steady revival that culminated in Notts securing safety against Portsmouth on Easter Monday.
And despite Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Luton Town, which left the manager bemoaning his team's performance, he nonetheless had good words to say about the players in terms of the long-term displays which have saved the club from the drop.
Nolan told the official Notts website:  “I don’t want to come away from what we have achieved in such a short space of time.
“When I came in, everyone thought we would be coming to this stage of the season still in the relegation battle so it is a fantastic achievement [to already be safe].
“The teams who perform great escapes often do it on the final day but we haven’t. This has been a great escape. Hats off to Alan Hardy and the players for buying into me.
“The lads have been through a hell of a lot and I am sure we will get a reaction from them at home to Blackpool next Saturday. I’m looking forward to it.”
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has given a scathing assessment of his Notts County team after they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Luton Town in Saturday's League Two match at Kenilworth Road.
The Magpies began well as Elliott Hewitt opened the scoring, but goals from Ollie Palmer and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu put the Hatters in the lead by the end of the first half and they hung onto it until the final whistle.
“In the last two games I feel we have not been the same team we were in the five games previously,” the manager told the official Notts site. “It has been disappointing.
“We could have come away with a point despite not playing well which pleases me a little more than if we had lay down and let Luton run all over us.
“We had a go in the second half but we were very poor in the first half. That is what happens when the lads feel the relief of getting to safety after what they have been through this season.
"You have a big sigh of relief and everything drops so it is up to us as a staff to pick them up again.”
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Joe Jones
Notts County have fallen to a second defeat in a row as Luton Town came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.
The Magpies took the lead after just six minutes when poor Hatters defending allowed the ball to land in the path of Elliott Hewitt, whose half-volley from the edge of the area flew into the bottom corner of the net.
However, the hosts were level just ten minutes later as Danny Hylton sent a ferocious 25-yard drive crashing into the bar and the ball fell to Ollie Palmer, whose header towards goal saw Adam Collin grasp for the ball but was unable to keep it out.
Luton then completed the turnaround in first-half injury time when Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu picked up the ball on the edge of the area and scuffed a shot towards goal, which was enough to beat Collin once again.
After the break, Danny Hylton put a great chance wide, while Luton goalkeeper Stuart Moore made a fine stop to turn over Adam Campbell's effort in the 64th minute.
Both sides continued trading blows as Hylton was denied by Collin, with Moore turning Mark Yeates' effort away, before Hylton saw red in stoppage time for his second booking.
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Joe Jones
Notts County have confirmed that captain Michael O'Connor has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The midfielder, who has made 34 appearances for Notts this season, was stretchered off the pitch after suffering the injury to his right knee in Monday's 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth at Meadow Lane.
Initial scans suggested a ruptured ACL, and further assessment by a surgeon confirmed the news on Friday.
"We are all devastated for Michael, who is a huge influence for us on and off the field," Magpies boss Kevin Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
"Everyone at the club will do everything they can to ensure he comes back stronger from this.
"While he may be facing a while on the sidelines, he has a huge role to play as captain of this football club and he will be heavily involved in everything we do going forward."
O'Connor tweeted: "Absolutely gutted with rupturing my ACL in the game on Monday. Going to be a long and hard road to getting back on the pitch.
"With good people around me I am confident I will come back stronger and help Notts County to promotion next year."
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