The disappointment of missing out on the play-off final and the hopes of promotion is affecting the site and fans’ expectations about the club strengthening for another push into League One. The media team could do better at keeping fans informed, but even if they share more interviews and updates, some supporters will accuse them of trying to distract us. They really can’t win.

There’s a lot of work going on ahead of the new season, and I’m confident the club is in safe hands. The club’s approach might be different, perhaps focused on sustainability or improving other areas, but I don’t believe our squad lacks the quality to succeed.

On 19/07/2025 at 14:46, Super_Danny_Allsopp said:

This whole pre-season feels utterly flat. There is little to be excited about and the silence from the club is deafening.

Club Media

What happened? It seemed like our media team were right at the front of our progression under the brothers and offering fans many insights into the inner goings on in the club in addition to keeping us informed of developments.

Now, we have silence. No dates even mentioned for the club home shirt. The away kit was released by UoN before the club. The Alfreton friendly was barely mentioned up to the game. The cold press releases for departing players are baffling. An end of season message from the owners announced - then ignored since. Has the department been reduced in terms of manpower?

The clubs' media department and fan engagement has declined terribly.

Recruitment

Hardly inspiring, is it? Sell the clubs best attacking midfielder - no replacement. Sell the best keeper in the league - no replacement. Let the best player in the league go because you don't want to pay his wages - no replacement.

The players we have signed, whilst seeming solid-enough, aren't filling anybody with confidence. True, we've not seen them play any competitive football - so we can't judge absolutely. However, they do not replace what we've lost in terms of quality. The current squad is objectively weaker than the one that started last season - and significantly at that. We're a couple of weeks away from our first game and we haven't got a goalkeeper on the books, bar some kid released from over the river.

Then there's the injuries. We have to be a complete outlier in signing players that are currently crocked or have a history of long-term problems. Surely this costs the club financially, as the budget is spent on players that barely kick a ball.

Have we seen this many trialists since the brothers acquired the club? Not since their first season after 'little Al' left us in a pickle. It doesn't point to a team with a data driven recruitment model - it points to a team scrambling around for players.

Are we struggling to attract players? What is a factor in that - budget, head coach, head of recruitment?

CEO and Head of Recruitment

Gone are the days of Jason Turner (RIP) and his excellent communication and transparency with fans. Replaced with - who knows. Montague was lampooned by some of us fans at times, but he seems light years ahead of this new chap who comes with a dodgy reputation - and is so far living up to it.

Then there's weird goings on with Peterborough cancelling friendlies only to then play MK Franchise on the same day we were supposed to play them. Odd behind closed doors friendlies that we are not informed about.

Manager

I'm willing to give anybody a chance. Clearly Paterson impressed in the interviews or which ever metric they are applying. However, it was hardly an inspiring appointment given other options available. This isn't enough to be a downer on its own, we've appointed managers before who were not inspiring at the time - Luke Williams being one - but combined with the rest of the clouds gathering over the club, the manager appointment feels like a contributing factor.

There is a general malaise affecting the club right now - or at least it appears so from the outside. I fear for the coming season if something doesn't change quickly.

COYP

I agree we need to be patient with signings as we could be waiting to to see what happens with the loan market, but something doesn't quite feel right at the moment. It's hard to put your finger on it exactly. Are there issues behind the scenes that we are not aware of? I suppose we will just have to wait and see. Lets hope the silence is a positive thing. Certainly the Port Vale result was what we all needed!

I don't fear for the coming season. I feared when we were breaking the record for the longest time in admin, when we had crowds of 3K mostly pensioners, when Munto turned out to be a scam, when we went to the Astoria meeting, probably a few other times. Honestly, these are the good times, try to enjoy them!

Club home shirt - just been announced what's happening.

Recruitment - hard to judge before the season has started but I predict a few will turn out to be gems, make the L2 team of the season, or score a wonder goal, or get sold at a massive profit. I'm basing that on the club's recent track record, not blind optimism.

Manager - seems passionate, honest and willing to learn. Determined to grab his chance. I like him already.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Example: one closed doors friendly (singular) is not odd. LW's team played one against Leicester. There was a brief match report straight after. No big deal.

@Sheffield Pie thanks for bringing a sense of perspective to this discussion, what you say is absolutely true, when you’ve been supporting znotts for over 60 years like I have you see some really scary times.

There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful ask Ian Drury.

People, please please please don’t despair and take the negative. The situation we have at the moment is obviously a little quieter than usual but think on, when you have a quest and are working hard towards fulfilling it, silence is golden. The Club we lovingly support (especially since the brothers took the helm) has flourished in all departments. So now is the time, more than ever to get behind one and all, showing our togetherness and patience. Look forward not backwards, and put faith into supporting all and sundry.

Remember:-

Those who continually shout are unmelodious, but those who whisper are always in tune.

On 19/07/2025 at 21:52, Robbie said:

I agree that dropping the match programmes was a big mistake

I believe they cost the club money, so that's the reason why they were dropped

another thought...transfer fees

Has the transfer fee and compensation fees profits gone towards the pitch renovation last season? Have the Bros gone cold on seeing the Traore fee being possibly misspent?

I don’t think it’s fair to pick on people’s honest views and call them negative. I can see the bigger picture, and it matters that the club listens to feedback so things can improve. It’s still early days. Some members might later change how they feel, and that’s completely fine. But it’s okay to raise concerns now.

If you don’t speak up, you keep those worries to yourself, and there’s no chance for others to share different views or offer support. Nothing gets better unless the club listens and acts.

The question might not be worded clearly, but from the outside, there doesn’t seem to be much wrong with how Notts County is being run.

Your club looks like it’s in a strong position. The owners seem to be changing things for the better and improving Meadow Lane, especially from a match day point of view.

I haven’t been for a while, to be fair, but I’ve seen the pictures and the pitch looks better than most in League Two.

Signing free players isn’t a problem. If it strengthens the squad, it’s worth doing. Just because a player comes from a lower league doesn’t mean they won’t do well for you.

Some clubs are in a mess, with owners making poor choices or spending too much without thinking about the long-term effects.

It’s best to wait until the season starts properly. Until then, enjoy the build-up.

This season's approach feels more steady and focused, which is a good sign. I do agree about the content, if there's still news being shared, then that's better than silence. It must be a bit frustrating for the club having people constantly asking about player updates. That kind of behaviour does come across as a bit childish.

I don't think anything's going wrong. Everything seems to be moving in the right direction as we head towards the new season. When you're a football fan, it's perfectly normal to worry. It just shows you care.

We need to be patient with how things develop. Growth takes time, and reacting too soon doesn't help. The original post seems more worrying than the situation itself. It's natural to have questions about the new head coach and the players brought in. Not everything will click straight away, and that's okay.

The season has only just started. If after ten games it still looks like things aren't falling into place, then we’ll have a reason to talk. For now, let’s give it time to settle.

i understand the concern but i cant say i ever felt concerned enough to think something serious was going off or wrong at the club. the media team can do a lot to keep us informed but if they dont have much to put out, why stress? yes, they could put things out during the quieter weeks but i am sure they had plenty of things to do. i am not concerned about the signings, i think the club has earned faith in this department. signing free players and those who are on loan, just seems sensible business. i think once the season is firmly underway, i hope we can look back and laugh this off.

I sincerely hope you are right about that. Recent activity suggests we are “in a good place” at the moment. A couple of decent results certainly helps enormously.

The key issues will be, how long do the new guys take to settle in, can we create and take enough chances and where will we be after 8 - 10 games. We’ll have a far better idea about how it’s all shaping up by early October.

I don’t think it’s time to worry during pre-season. I’ve seen us play well in these games before but then do badly in the actual season. And sometimes when pre-season has been rough, we’ve ended up doing better. The club feels like it’s in a good place now, and that should help us. I do think Notts fans get too worried sometimes, but this chat makes sense.

Regarding the media team, to give some perspective, it must be challenging to cope with the level of things they have to do at a professional level. I find my role here challenging, which is why I am very thankful for the help I receive so that I can focus on areas where I can get the most out of my time. I have been critical in the past, but that stems from wanting to see improvements, and I always try to ground my criticism in feedback.

One example is the production quality of some of the fan forums; as for a professional media outlet, it shouldn't capture people in the way or have people talking in the background when a board member or someone else is talking on stage.

I have no qualifications in videography, so I know I wouldn't be able to do much better, but from a professional point of view, there most certainly can be improvements.

I don't like how some fans on social media pal up to them but soon call them out; it's the same with the players. I am sure everyone involved in the club is doing their best, and I see no reason why the media team wouldn't want to communicate with fans. The quiet spells this close to pre-season could perhaps have been handled with content to fill in those spaces, but again, from my experience, there's only so much time, and unless you do a role like this, you have no idea how long it takes to do things.

This said, something is better than nothing, and I am sure the club will take it on board.

I don't personally feel that we should be worrying, not at this stage. Joe Palmer and Roberto Gagliardi need to be given time. It's fine to have your doubts, but only Palmer can really be questioned at this stage. Gagliardi can't really be the person to blame for the transfers when they are conducted by a panel.

It's fair to have concerns and to voice them; after all, it can lead to a healthy discussion.