Who do you think Martin Paterson should focus on to help Notts become more competitive? I realise football is a team sport, but I'm curious to hear which individuals people believe could make a real difference if they had their best season.

It’s about giving that extra bit of support, whether that's mentoring, boosting confidence, or guiding someone tactically. Think back to Adam Chicksen. His performances played a massive part in getting us back into the Football League.

So, who do you feel could be that player this season?

Conor Grant is someone fans think should play better more often. He doesn’t always do well and needs to be more steady when he’s on the pitch. I think Nick Tsaroulla could be a good player, but he’s not in the team very much. I’m not sure why, because when he does play, he looks alright.

Kellan Gordon is tricky. He’s got the skills, but most of the time he lets people down. He doesn’t play the same every week and needs to be more reliable.

I don't think progress comes about all that often by players 'stepping up'? It's more usually thru your good players continuing to be good and adding other players to them (although@NottsTastic gives a fantastic example in Chicksen and how LW unlocked him to help towards our promotion).

When you've seen players like Gordon, Grant and Edwards for a season (albeit limited games for some) that's probably all you're going to get. I don't have any hopes in these cases. But I think MP might be able to help with these

Palmer - he had a recovery season. Maybe he really needed that and maybe Paterson can get him out of the rut he got into with overly safe, negative passing

Traore - he couldn't be any worse, could he? He has to be able to offer more, surely?

Tsaroulla - if he adds end product to his really positive play, he'd be among our very best players

Jones - 2024/25 was a write-off for him, he'll want a bounce back season

Hinchy - I think he's on an upward cure, still improving

If 2 or 3 of those happen, some of Iorpenda, Cotter, Norburn, Aljofree, Roos, Dennis do well and Platt & Bedeau maintain their levels, we will have a lot to look forward too. But most agree that we need another striker and attacking midfielder anyway, we don't have quite enough goal threat as it stands.

I think that Conor Grant had one of his best games for Notts on Saturday. It could be that Conor will flourish under Martin's leadership.

At this time all of the Notts squad are going to have to work as hard as they can to impress Martin Paterson. We have already seen that the squad has up'd their game

The extra training is doing wonders to improve the fitness of the players which is another important factor. Martin has made it clear that all the players will have to convince him that they should be in the starting eleven.

I think this next week could be a pivotal week where we may see some players coming in but also going in the opposite direction.

Will Jarvis for me, besides McGoldrick and Jatta, was our best attacking player back end of last season. He has a natural ability to just glide past players, he makes it look easy even though it isn’t. I think if he was able to get a consistent run in the side he’d be really good but it doesn’t help his best position is one we don’t play. It reminds me when we had Roberts but switched to a back 3 and wing-backs, he just didn’t fit the system. Is this going to play out the same way for Jarvis?

I think Grant and Traore will have the most attention on them this season, because the expectation level of them is still pretty high. Traore gets a slight reprieve as this is his first time playing in England, he’s had more time to settle in now but we are yet to see the best of him. And Grant even though he is young has played tons of matches in League 1 and 2 now, he needs to start adding a few more goals and assists if he is to be a regular starter.

Really interesting topic 👌.

Because this is where a manager/head coach earns the money.

They only have a few levers to pull:

1. Add new players, and by inference get rid of those you don't think are up to it.

2. Get what you have fitter - big difference at any level.

3. Use the carrot and the stick for those you want to improve.

4. Massage the system to better suit the players.

5. Increase the tempo of play, assuming you have the right skill set.

So far MP seems to be working hard on 2 to 5, so I am very much looking forward to those first ten games.

Hopefully the Brothers and DofF can deliver the first.🙏

Tsaroulla - 2 goals and 2 assists last season, nowhere near enough end product.

Jarvis - one of our most naturally talented players. His attitude was questioned when at Hull. Any sign of that and MP will freeze him out straight away I'd have thought.

Palmer - when we were in the NL, opposition managers would say 'He should be playing in L1'. So he should be bossing it in L2.

3 hours ago, Robbie said:

I think that Conor Grant had one of his best games for Notts on Saturday. It could be that Conor will flourish under Martin's leadership.

At this time all of the Notts squad are going to have to work as hard as they can to impress Martin Paterson. We have already seen that the squad has up'd their game

The extra training is doing wonders to improve the fitness of the players which is another important factor. Martin has made it clear that all the players will have to convince him that they should be in the starting eleven.

I think this next week could be a pivotal week where we may see some players coming in but also going in the opposite direction.

Grant's a really funny player. He's good I think but a big part of him is linked to his confidence and how coaches and surroundings play into that. I want him to be more confident but as seen with Maynard, without assured direction, he often gets lost in matches.

I think in all fairness, we have to see marketable improvement from all the players we saw from last season. Traore, Tasroulla and Edwards were all disappointing in different ways. Players like Ness, Robertson and Hinchy need to continue to get better as to assure a first team place. Others like Jones and Palmer need to rediscover their fitness and love for the game. Lastly if Platt and Bedeau can continue and get better, they'll most likely get brought for a lot of money, which is not what we want outright, but if a player can be sold for a million or there abouts, it's a success of some sorts.

A lot of last season's woes could be laid at Stuart Maynard's door. He just didn't have the same Man management skills as Luke Williams. Williams had the Skill to make poor players average, average players good and Good players Star players as he proved with Chicksen and players who were only really National League Level. Admittedly things were slowly starting to unravel before he went to Swansea, he seemed unable to be flexible and play a different technical game and once the opposition had worked Notts out the results started to go wrong. Still it would have been interesting to see which players had have come in, if Williams had had stayed for that January Transfer window and what may have happened if he had seen the season out.

I may have been a little harsh on Maynard? Maybe. But once the Saunders Brother left he appeared to Crumble under the Pressure, Alves his new second in command was a total Disaster , in each match I saw him in he simply stood in the Technical Area with his arms crossed over his chest like a Garden Statue, he never once shouted encouragement to players or seemed to be interested in helping Maynard out during a game. Automatic Promotion was there for the taking last season, but the Magpies home form was a Total Disgrace, they lost games to teams they shouldn't have at the Lane and certain players form fell off a Cliff after January. Failure to get Promotion cost Stuart Maynard his job I would say the National League is his Coaching Level. So who ever hired him must also take part of the Blame.

Player wise Jatta's form after January was terrible, even though he finished as the Magpies Top Scorer. Perhaps the Interest from other Club's played a little with his mind, because before January the guy seemed unstoppable. Returning from his injury seemed a tough thing for Jodi and in those last few games his head seemed to be all over the place, he also seemed to have added a few pounds to his frame and he appeared a lot slower than before his injury. Still I'm confident he can bounce back this coming season has he's done in the past with his other bad injuries. Matty Palmer needs to be stripped of the Notts Captaincy and be given the chance to find his form without the added pressures which come with being the Club's Captain. I'm sorry to say this but I think Traore is going to be another Junior he doesn't seem to fit with the Notts Model and he's struggling to adopt to the English game.

Tsaroulla and Jarvis are both good players but it struck me neither where given an opportunity to stake a place in the first team, because one week they were in the First XI then out the following match has Stuart Maynard tried stop the Rot at Notts. For this season another Striker is a must but as the Club seem unwilling to Splash the Cash where is such a player going to come from, unless of course the Recruitment Team are going to pull another Macca out of Non League Football. Just don't hold your breath on that one.

Martin Paterson has his work cut out, arriving at the Lane to a lack luster Welcome but he seems to have a decent attitude stating all players will need to prove their worth to get into his First XI a Good No Nonsense Character who will Hopefully be able to Inspire Players Get them fighting for every ball, give them the Belief they are the Best and even Bully some players to get the Best Out of them. Hopefully he'll be left alone to Run and Coach The Squad His Way, Without any interference from our New Director Of Football.

Grant is a class act - massively misused by Maynard. He isn’t a wide player nor a defensive midfielder. He’s creative, astute with good, quick feet and an eye for a pass. He can shoot too yet Maynard hardly ever let him get near the box! He’d walk into any other L2 team, so he should be a regular starter in ours.

Tsaroulla is another, if fit, he’s highly useful and needs to played in the right position, not wide right one game, left back another then filling in as a sub, if needed. He’d start for me but I’ve yet to see Cotter - I guess you don’t/can’t play them both together unless Jones is missing.

Hoping Cotter, Dennis, Iorpenda and Norburn live up to expectations too for that matter.

Re: the thread title - I should add that the player who most needs to “step up” is Palmer. Hopefully, Paterson won’t want him passing sideways and backwards 45 times before he actually makes a telling pass and can sharpen up his first touch diver keep the ball moving rather than dwelling on it.

Edited July 28Jul 28 by YoopEyes
Relevance.

I need to make it clear from the start that I really like Kellan Gordon, but he frustrates me at the same time because he is clearly a good player. I think when it comes to putting in crosses, he's one of the best at the club, but it's just how lacking we are to attack his good deliveries. He's almost identical in trying to beat his man; it's virtually nonexistent. He came off against Cardiff, and I thought, "Why did we start him?"

He's technically good; he has the ability to defend, but doesn't get stuck in enough for me. I think if he did, he could easily outshine others and prove too good with assists.

The question I found myself asking as he came off against Cardiff is something that frequently pops up when he plays.

---

Mai Traore, I still feel unsure about whether he will come good.

If he managed to establish himself, he could be exciting to watch. I have seen spells where he has had the ball at his feet and gone forward, looking dangerous. Whereas without it, he looks like a duck out of water. Ability I don't question; it's his effort and the mental side of the game that I question.

---

If we talk about players who can be good but need to be more consistent. I think the easiest answer would be Jacob Bedeau because, in spells, he sort of lost his way last season. Mostly towards the back, which could be more team-related, but it got to a point where I didn't want to see him lunging forward with the ball. He's perfectly capable of attacking, but if we could get solid performances out of him week in and week out, I think our form would reflect it.

Some fans told me he was their player of the season, and I can't dispute their thoughts, but I didn't agree personally. He had a great season, but it was off the boil at times. I think the first game was Morecambe away, where I questioned whether he was the player I had seen playing brilliantly at Meadow Lane.

Every player has their off days, so this might seem unfair to some, but I think when he's brilliant, we are generally by far the best team on the pitch.