Chris

The atmosphere at recent Notts County home games really has been impressive, especially given the situation we have found ourselves this season. The optimism around Meadow Lane has made both the 2-1 wins over Crawley Town and then Cheltenham Town all the more enjoyable. Performances may require further work, with spells in both games being quite stale at times – the important factor is the fact we are able to win games. It's especially good to see two home wins back to back, and it just goes to show how things legitimately seem to be turning around when you consider that it wasn't that far back that we had lost 10 league games in a row. For me Accrington Stanley is always a difficult game for Notts, I wasn’t overly disheartened by the result but the performance was bad by all accounts. With Kevin Nolan quietly working in his management style and with the January signings at his disposal, it would seem the club has adapted, working as a priority fully focused on making our home form and Meadow Lane a place where we can be entertained. It’s still early days, yet the passion has been restored in the stands and even speaking with fans, you can see an eagerness for the new era to be successful. In our most recent match against Cheltenham Town, it started quite slow and scrappy. Neither side looked all that convincing going forward, however Notts did look the better of the two even early on. With the players working hard on the pitch, chances fell and it created more reasons for our fans to sing their hearts out. The goal made a massive difference, under our new boss Notts does seem like a team wanting to have fun on the pitch. If you took a few moments to look around the stands, you would see just how much of a relief it was that we had scored – not because we desperately require wins in order to secure safety within League Two but because it felt like there is a massive difference around the club. I wrote a tweet after the Accrington game after seeing fans disheartened, and I suggested that perhaps Meadow Lane would be where we found the form to find safety. Certainly, I feel far more optimistic about home games now, than I do about away games. Yet all the remaining games are of huge importance and we don’t need Adam Collin or Mark Yeates to inform us fans of this. In fact, I would hope all the players focus on their performances and when the media come across to enquire about upcoming games – it would be welcome if they let this do their talking. This past part might sound a little blunt, however I am now at the stage whereby I would just want to see safety and continue to enjoy the feel good factor. I don’t fault anyone trying to be optimistic, it’s simply down to the fact I’ve heard it all before. Our next four games will confirm just how important things will be, if Notts can continue to pick up wins and perhaps a draw or two – things will look vastly different. The league table now allows for breathing, hopefully after Exeter, Leyton Orient and even Yeovil Town this will be more so the case. Share your thoughts about this feature on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

I wouldn’t really say that I was surprised to learn about the departure of Stanley Aborah. That said, I did value what he offered and although some believe that he was difficult to manage, I’m not quite sure I would agree. Who knows for sure? However, from his opening debut after trialling with Notts, Aborah shown that he had some spark about him. In games where the Magpies desperately lacked that certain quality, Aborah was there to provide it and until Jamie Fullarton came around, it was really hard to see our midfield without his presence. There’s no doubt that a player of his quality would be asking for game time, yet it did come as a shock when we all learned why he wasn’t playing. Whilst the local media speculated it was due to his poor defensive attributes, something else I would largely debate wasn’t fair (who exactly did defend well?) as the entire team was largely poor and for this reason I always felt he stood out unfairly because he tried. Yet it emerged back at the start of March 2016, that the then 28-year-old Belgian midfielder had ‘asked to leave Notts because he felt he wouldn’t play’, this was after being frozen out of the squad. The Belgian said: “To me it's not a difficult situation. He came in. I was dropped. Therefore I asked him if he wanted me to leave. I said I don't have to leave but if I could find a club it's fine by him.” He also accused the then manager Jamie Fullarton of lying about his reasons not to include him in the starting 11. “The question gets asked to him after a game he doesn’t say this. First he said he makes informed decisions or something like that. Then he said I’m not available. That wasn’t true. He said I was ill, for the York game.” I genuinely believe that the majority of Notts fans assumed this would be the end his time at the club, yet he would still go on to feature for the Magpies. This time around he hasn’t featured in the squad as a starter since the FA Cup clash against Boreham Wood, which we won 2-0, but he did come on in the 2-0 away defeat against Grimsby Town in the 83rd minute. I hadn’t realised this, so it does make sense that we would allow him to depart – it also eases the disappointment because it’s hard to say he would feature under Kevin Nolan. It’s debatable if things may have been different if we had included Aborah, I guess it's beside the point now but watching him play was generally exciting. His departure makes me curious as to why other players haven’t been released? Yet that might be explained by if he had requested to be released. Will Genaro Snijders be next? Can anyone actually say when it was he last appeared in the squad? This is something else I don’t actually recall. Perhaps he will get his chance finally under Nolan unlike Aborah? Notts do require pace on the wing and he does offer that. If we can inject forward movement into the squad, perhaps the wing would see more time to pinpoint the perfect pass? As it would seem the recent arrivals offer the lack of pace the squad has been missing. The departure of Aborah may not be best news for some fans, considering the restraints of the fair play rules – I would imagine the decision on who to allow him to leave would be difficult. I, and all of us at PON, want to wish him all the best with his career. Share your thoughts about Stanley Aborah's departure on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.