Chris

After putting two very disappointing League Two campaigns behind us, Pride of Nottingham delves into why we feel the 2017-2018 season will finally see Notts County move forward and secure the stability which will allow the club to be a strong contender for promotion in future seasons. 1) Revamping training facilities and securing a new location The agreement to use Basford United’s facilities is a major coup for the club, the training pitches are some of the best I have seen in the lower leagues – much better than Arnold Town’s and central to Nottingham which ensures fairly straightforward travel for the players. Meanwhile, the recent overhaul of the Family Stand by Alan Hardy highlights the club's desire to move forward and to attract players in alternative ways. 2) The re-capture of Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi Whilst the majority of fans are all inclined to agree that we won’t see the duo partner up in many games back-to-back, we will however be able to rotate and with the potential of throwing Jonathan Forte into the mix – it provides the Magpies’ two very hard working strikers, something the club simply hasn’t had in recent years. They may be ‘experienced’ and what some refer as ‘the wrong side of 30’ – yet we know what we will get from them. 3) Signing players on a transfer fee Acquiring players on a free, even building a complete team around them, can be quite rewarding. In the lower two divisions it’s actually much harder and I have mentioned for a number of years how much beneficial it is to sign a player for a fee. I don’t mean just one and of course they must be the right players. Yet assembling a mixed squad will allow us to establish the right tools to be successful on the pitch. 4) Academy focus and emphasis on producing good talent Although nothing new to Notts County, the previous emphasis sort of rushed youngsters to making the step up and often seen players like Tyrell Waite, Fabian Spiess and Montel Gibson lost within the first team shuffle. With a new focus on mentoring and offering support, this will allow the club to help the youngster transition properly into first team football – whilst the changes discussed by Academy manager Jon Goodman highlights the renewed desire to produce talent which is ready to make the jump before it happens or is called upon. 5) Local derbies The likes of Chesterfield, Mansfield Town and Lincoln City give an extra edge to the upcoming season, we haven’t done well in recent years in these games but I strongly feel that the 2017/2018 season will see these games give us an extra aspect to push ourselves forward. League Two will see quite a few more reasonable games which will lift match days both home and away. 6) Forging stronger networking opportunities (even with our neighbours) We have to show an openness towards working with any club fortunate enough to be in a better position than ourselves. Notts have had a very good report with dealing with other clubs prospects and ensuring a safe transition for them into first team football. Tom Ince, Alan Judge, Jack Grealish and Callum McGregor are a few of the talents we have given an opportunity to. So on the back of Jorge Grant and others, it’s vastly important that we keep an open door to all the clubs in the Premier League and Championship – in order to network better and to acquire the right players on loan (not just those the clubs open to loaning out). 7) Open communication from the board and chairman Naturally there will be aspects from open communication, especially on a social network such as Twitter which will leave desirable questions and see responses which, let’s face it, might not be accepted. Yet Alan Hardy has stressed his openness to engaging with supporters, whilst he shares many positives tweets from his day-to-day running of Notts County. We have seen the stonewall silence treatment, lack of news and an unhealthy relationship towards local media – so let’s be grateful to see the club return to caring about its fans and promoting the club in a healthy way. It may result in bigger rewards in the long term! 8) Kevin Nolan – A young hungry manager who seeks success not just for himself We have had the label ‘young and hungry’ describe managers such as Jamie Fullarton and even Shaun Derry. But there’s something quite obvious from the way Kevin Nolan conducts himself, he is a person I have no doubt attracts the right type of respect. As a player on the pitch he strived for better and oozed professionalism well beyond expectations, and adding his success on the field, these are all transferable qualities into management and for once I feel we have the right balance at the helm of Notts to see success. 9) Ensuring the good atmosphere in the stands continues and never letting it degenerate to 2014-16 levels A lack of communication by any business is an obvious wrong way about going about things, whilst Alan Hardy might have made some unpopular decisions and gone against the majority of fans opinions at times – there is no doubt that the decisions weigh on his belief for the best of the club. Whilst ensuring a better match day experience, among other things that will no doubt make the stands a better place for us fans. 10) Players that want to play and work hard for the club They say you often get what you pay for in football, as a club Notts have had some very good professionals from Alan Judge, Neal Bishop to Bartosz Bialkowski. Yet in the most recent seasons, we have seen players who haven’t quite shown the passion we expect to see as fans and one thing Kevin Nolan aims to address is ensuring players at the club want to be here. I feel this will be one of the bare minimum expectations from the club as we move forward. Share your thoughts about this feature on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Notts County will begin the 2017/18 League Two season with a trip to Coventry City on Saturday 5 August. As fixtures go, it is arguably one of the trickiest propositions for the Magpies, with the Sky Blues coming down from League One the previous season. Things do not get easier either, with local rivals Chesterfield coming to Meadow Lane a week later in County's first home game of the campaign. In terms of the other first local clashes of the season, Lincoln City will head to the Lane on 23 September, while Mansfield Town are the opponents at the One Call a week later. The regular season will then finish with a home game against Luton Town on 5 May. Here is a list of all the fixtures. Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Edited 21 hours ago by Joe Jones (show revisions)

With Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi both signing the contract extensions offered to them by Notts County, it dismisses my concerns over who can lead the Magpies front line during the 2017-18 season. The majority of fans I know were quietly confident about both of them signing, but I had my doubts and I thought it would be just one of the two staying put. Yet it is fantastic news that Kevin Nolan has successfully managed to retain them both, they showed us last season what a hard-working duo could do up front. Even when they didn’t play together, they allowed a poor Magpie squad to bounce back and shine after the 10-game losing run in League Two. Both players have a wealth of experience, each has something vastly different in their locker and I feel that they can be the key to passing the torch on and for this historic club to find their own natural goalscorer. We all know it’s very unlikely that they will have the engines to play game after game from August to May - we have to accept that we will need someone else to step in for one or even both from time to time. This isn’t a negative for me, I firmly feel it presents a perfect opportunity for Notts to recruit a young upcoming striker who can thrive as an understudy to the pair. Stead has recently expressed his concern with the Notts squad, sending out a message that most fans will only know too well. He said in relation to requiring a couple of 15-20+ goalscorers, "we are going to need a couple of them. I know the manager is working to get players in and I still think we are a little bit light. I think we need three or four more players in then we can have a right go." There’s no denying we need more strength in depth in certain departments, yet a concern for me is injury up top and a lack of a pacey, speedy threat. Aaron Collins would be the perfect example of someone young who fit the mould, he arrived with few expectations from my own opinion but quickly highlighted to me why he fitted the bill. I feel Nolan should identify a young striker of that calibre who can fill the void and take the strain off Stead and Ameobi. I’m not expecting fireworks from the off, yet it would be a great blessing to know we have depth throughout the squad and I feel the pair offer a lot of attraction to other potential signings – if we were able to get some creativity on the flanks and centre of midfield, for example. Providing we strengthen the defence properly and allow the attacking players to do their thing, then I don’t see why a young striker couldn’t thrive at Meadow Lane. I realise that we require a squad of about 22-25 players, but having the quality and depth in the squad will be paramount to Notts having a successful go this upcoming campaign. Honestly, Notts should be far more hardworking – the question right now is all down to where the creativity will come from? Share your thoughts about this feature article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.