There are different types of methods in place to win football matches. One of those methods is to score more goals than the opposition in a match. No matter what the opposition scores, your team just needs to score more.

This was a philosophy that was practiced under Luke Williams at Notts which was very entertaining & exciting to watch. It brought in the crowds & the TV Cameras.

Of course there were downsides to this approach. The Notts defence was often exposed, but Notts were so good going forward this disadvantage was easily offset.

Under Stuart Maynard he was more defensive minded & it did work to a certain extent, however Notts did continue to play with relative freedom up front, maybe not as much as under Williams, but the Notts team still scored their fair share of goals.

I know it's still early days but it looks like the days of all out attacking football has disappeared under Martin Paterson. It seems that trying to become a more physical & resilient side has actually changed the way Notts are playing.

That brings us back to the question, is winning more important than the way Notts achieve it? I personally wanted the Club to continue with the Maynard approach, but improve the side by adding 4 or 5 quality players in the summer.

Maynard achieved 18 clean sheets last season with the seventh best defensive record. That record should have been easily built on this season. Up to this point I don't believe we are going to see that happen unless we see a big turnaround in performance under Paterson's Footballing style.

So what's your preferred style PON members?

Notts start at a disadvantage to a lot of clubs. We need to be well known for something that will help us fill our relatively big ground and not be completely overshadowed by our neighbours.

Being the oldest league club doesn't do it, never has.

Being data driven is no longer a novelty.

Being Wrexham's main rivals - that ship as sailed.

Being a team that plays exciting, possession based football that people might stumble across on Sky Sports and think 'wow' was definitely working in terms of attendances, national profile, ability to sign players. Losing that would be a huge mistake, surely?

I think you've hit the nail on the head @Sheffield Pie. There does appear to be a lack of obvious identity at the moment. Initially with the brothers, it was made fairly clear that the playing style was set by them and that all appointments of coaches and players were carefully chosen for how well they fit with this style. The brothers have either lost confidence in the style and are deliberately experimenting with a different type of coach who has brought with him a different playing philosophy, or they are now realising that the appointment of Paterson was an error. Whatever happens, it wil be interesting to see how this particular story ends ....

@Graham in all Honesty IMHO I don't think things will have an Happy Ending at the Lane this Season (happy to be proven wrong), but I think Martin Patterson's appointment was a wrong choice. And it seems to me that he was a desperate choice because other Coaches turned down the Head Coach Position at the Lane, and the Owners were left scrabbling trying to find a New Head Coach. Because (as I've said before) the Brothers had decided to Sack Stuart Maynard then a Replacement should have been in place Days, Not Weeks after Maynard's departure.

@Sheffield Pie the fact that Notts being the Oldest Professional Football Club has never carried any weight is the Fact that it's never been Promoted as such, it just seems that it's only a Notice that is put up at the Ground, and it has No Importance What So Ever. Surely Notts should be Proud of the Fact of their Status in the Footballing World and with the Evolving Interest from the States, it could be used to help Encourage any Sponsorship from that Quarter? And any financial backing would help Notts Future Plans, wouldn't it?

@Robbie . Sorry I've wondered off the subject of your thread. Your Statement Notts have to Score More Goals than the Opposition is correct, at the end of the Match if your opponents have one goal more than Notts they get the Three Points. But in all Seriousness it would seem the Attacking Philosophy of Luke Williams and the Defensive Philosophy of Stuart Maynard needs to be combined, something along the lines of American Football. They have Coaches who just Coach the Defense or the Attack and the Head Coach oversees everything. However it Doesn't Matter Which Philosophy Is Adopted By The Head Coach, If At The End Of Each Season, THE OWNERS SELL THEIR BEST PLAYERS!! Then Do Not Replace Them With Like For Like Players, As I've Said On Many Occasion.

I don't think there's been a conscious effort to forge a new identity or go in a very different direction.

More likely we've lurched from one point to another, and then another, based on the obvious failings before our own eyes. Suddenly losing our midfield under LW meant we could no longer control games, exposing our otherwise ok defence to pressures they just couldn't withstand. It was a downward spiral after that defensively (and the squad didn't get over losing LW anyway).

So in came SM, withdrew the WBs further back, put constraints on defenders and CMs to always cover. Those changes, allied to his passionless, technical approach made for a boring product and a gutless team.

So in came MP to reinject the passion, pace and purpose - to put the ball at risk more in the cause of being more positive. That allied to a poor year of recruitment - high quality going out, lesser quality coming in - has lead us to where we are now. All of which is, accidentally, far far away from how we strutted into the league with the ultra possession, ultra-attacking record goals / points team of LW's undeniable heroes, plus Didzy plus Crowley etc.

In short, we've botched it, we've blown it. But that doesn't help us deal with where we are now. We appointed MP and, up to a point, we have to let him have a shot at success, doing things his way. Hopefully he can survive long enough for a new Head Of Recruitment to come in and give him some better tools to do the job with in the second half of the season. Staying in touch with the play-offs til then is the realistic goal.

Your point @Wheelbarrow repair man about the owners selling the best players reminded me of the owners off field Philosophy of buying up coming players, acquiring young loan players & developing them, bringing in free agents for next to nothing then hoping these players will become more valuable then selling or moving them them on.

Can this philosophy be a path to success on the field or not? If it is a path to success on balance it will be a slow path to success.. it's ok to buy and sell, that's a part of football, but I do think that a Club has to hold on to their very best players & add other good players to supplement them.

I used to be a big fan of possession based football, the theory being while you have the ball the opposition can't hurt you. Especially the Guardiola style played at Barcelona. The problem is to make it work you need players like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Now even Guardiola has tweaked his style at Man City as many teams have discovered how to nullify it. In recent years Klopp and now Slot have and other managers are adopting a much faster quick passing more direct style that is proving difficult to defend against because defending teams have less time to react to what is happening and get into shape. With this style you don't need Messi and co, but you do need players who can think quickly and pass accurately. I think that has become my preferred style, but not sure it's achievable with league two players. When that style doesn't work you tend to get long aimless balls up field. Sound familiar? It's possible that the brothers are thinking that Williams style leaves us too open at the back and Maynard's style was too pedestrian. Maybe they think Paterson's style is somewhere in between. Let's hope it works out that way. I suppose we will find out sooner or later!

I think it helps to think of keeping possession as just something good players and teams do rather than as a philosophy.

English club football had it's peak in the late 70s early 80s but the writing was on the wall before that. I watched decades of football where European teams full of 'technical players' dominated the ball and British players gave it away. It was always painful watching seeing England or English clubs chasing round the opposition unable to get the ball. Giving the ball away cheaply became the thing I hated most, even watching Notts, which could be torture over the years but you do it out of commitment and loyalty.

Saturday was a masterclass in giving the ball way cheaply, by both sides, and it was an awful watch. Over the decades, good technical play became embedded in the English game and trickled down the leagues to even reach the NL. I think that thuggish, physical teams only succeed down in L2 because of the way the game's officiated - it wouldn't wash in other countries. Generally though I don't think there's any going back with the direction of the game and we shouldn't deviate from trying to mirror the type of football played in the premiership. Sure it's got faster as @McPie said, but it's still based on great technical players able to keep the ball and find a man. I think that's what were trying to pull off at the moment. Good luck!

I agree with @theAnticlough - I think what we're being served up with now is the result of poor recruitment and MP being unable to convey his ideas (or both) rather than being our ultimate aim. The owners know this is not where we should be and that's what ultimately cost our DoF his job. They were aiming for a more incisive possession-based style with more pace from wide positions but it's not happening so far.

In general, there's more than one way to skin a cat! You just need to have a clear idea of what you want your team to be and recruit the players that fit it.