Chris

Pride of Nottingham is undergoing the task of comparing the last time Notts County were in a similar position as we find ourselves now. The last time Notts found themselves to be in the bottom half of the table in this league was back in the 2010/2011 season. The majority seem to share similar views to myself that we can avoid the drop but no doubt Derry/Abbott have a task on their hands. Yet until the maths are virtually impossible, we should try to remain optimistic about surviving. We can get behind the squad, even when games are difficult and this might impact the game more than some might realize. Back on 19/02/2011 Notts County found themselves in the 18th position. This was the year we first returned to League One and perhaps underwent our progression a little too quickly, as the squad who helped us gain promotion from winning the League Two title was sadly dismantled. By the start of March Notts were a position higher, with 4 to 6 games in hand of the teams beneath. However, only Tranmere Rovers could move a place ahead if they won and Notts lost their upcoming game against Leyton Orient. Yeovil Town couldn't move ahead due to -15 goal difference, so things were vastly different than what we see today. Notts slipped to 19th by the start of April, after we lost 3-0 to Huddersfield Town away from home. Dagenham & Redbridge who would go on to be relegated after finishing 21st, had played one game more than Notts at 37 and the difference in points was only 1. Right now on the 19/02/2014 things are very different, we sit 21st ourselves with 30 points and various teams above and beneath have games in hand. The final game of the season was at home to Brighton, which we drew 1-1. By the end of the 2010/2011 season Notts had avoided relegation by finishing 19th. Walsall finished 20th 2 points beneath Notts who stood on 50. The teams relegated were Dagenham & Redbridge, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Swindon town. Dagenham & Redbridge –P 46 - 47pts Bristol Rovers –P 46 - 45pts Plymouth Argyle –P 46 - 42pts Swindon –P 46 – 41pts Interesting is the amount of games played compared to the final total of points. On the 12/03/2011 Notts had 42 points compared to our current 30 points. One of our contributing factors to the current season 8 out of 14 home games, however we can't rely on solely winning at home. We must start picking up wins and draws, if Derry can motivate the players further and avoid the drop he would have achieved no doubt what some fans would've felt impossible. I have every faith personally that we can avoid the drop.

Shrewsbury Town started the 2013/14 campaign quite well, as a side which has struggled in the past few seasons. Their fans will no doubt have thought things might have turned a corner, however there is one thing to be said. They know how to scrap and fight for their League One status! In their past six games, they've only managed to pick up two points. Brentford 1-1 at their home, whilst they drawn away to Port Vale 0-0. Notts come into the game having lost to promotion chasing Wolves, however we have picked up six points from our last six games. We now take a look at the match officials! On Saturday the match officials at Meadow Lane will be referee Sebastian Stockbridge, with his two assistants Christopher Kavanagh and Ben Toner. The fourth official is Andy Newbold. Match Officials; Referee; Sebastian Stockbridge has taken control of fifteen league games, he's been the referee in two F.A Cup games and one JPT tie. During these games he's issued a total of 66 yellow cards, whilst he's only sent off four players. The majority of games have been League Two standard, a total of 8 games. He's featured six times in League One and once in the Championship. Interesting Fact – Sebastian Stockbridge actually officiated our game against Tranmere Rovers back in September 2013, in which we won 2-0. Goals coming from Joss Labadie 7th minute mark and Marcus Haber 79th minute. Assistant Referees; Christopher Kavanagh has been the 1st assistant a total of four times, he's been the 2nd assistant once and the fourth official twice. He has however spent the majority of time officiating lower league games, where he once issues 8 yellow cards and 1 red all within the same game. Ben Toner was the 1st assistant once, he's been the 2nd assistant three times and the fourth official once. Like Christopher Kavanagh, Ben Toner has been the referee in a number of lower league games. He's issued 25 yellow cards in 5 games in the conference. Interesting Fact – In 15 conference games and 1 F.A Cup tie, Christopher Kavanagh has issued a total of 51 yellow cards. He has only issued 6 red cards – Compared to Ben Toner's 16 conference games and 1 F.A Cup Tie, 42 Yellows and 3 red cards. The Fourth Official; Andy Newbold has been the fourth official twice so far in this season, he's been the 1st official three times and the 2nd official 5 times. He's officiated four times within League One, three times within the Championship and twice in League Two. Interesting Fact – Back in 2009, Andy Newbold was an assistant in a famous Premiership encounter. No, this wasn't a local derby between either Liverpool, Manchester or London big occasions. This was a simple tie between Sunderland vs Liverpool, so why was this exactly a famous encounter? You might recall if you watch the attached video below. [center]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5O8ch-rSFY The beach ball goal of 2009! Despite the calls for rematch, it was decided the result was final. Let this be a warning to anyone considering having a bit of harmless fun by throwing items onto the pitch, it might just backfire! Do you have an opinion on the game? - Match Thread Also, please do leave us a comment below if you have time.

Wolves come into the game having won all their previous four games, they did however lose narrowly to Gillingham 1-0 prior to this. Notts will be optimistic after casting aside Coventry City. On paper Wolves have many quality players, however as we saw in the Johnstone Paint Trophy we can shut up shop against them and play fairly well against them. Notts fans will be travelling in good numbers, so the League One encounter will be all set. For this weeks opposition view we've spoken to Wolves fan Mike, below you will be able to read his view into our game. Enjoy YP! Firstly, could you please tell prideofnottingham.co.uk a little about yourself such as how long you've been a Wolverhampton fan? I'm 28 now. First game I remember was in 1990, at home to Bristol City, we won 3-1 and Steve Bull scored a hatrick. At the time Molineux was being rebuilt so it was a million miles away from what it is presently At the start of the season can you share some of your doubts? Was you concerned about losing key players and did any signings put those feelings to bed? The only doubt was not bouncing back at the first hurdle. The players that got us relegated from the Championship deserved to be shot and I was glad to see the back of/exclusion of them at the earliest opportunity. The biggest relief for me was seeing the exclusion of Johnson, Henry, O'Hara, Ward and others by Jackett as soon as he arrived. We played earlier in the season in the JPT at Molineux. Did you attend and what was your thoughts on the game? I didn't attend no, but from what I gather it was a typical JPT/Early cup round game, no interest from the home support and nobody were really fussed by the result. Kenny Jackett is quite the character, how do you feel about him as your manager and would you say the fans are pleased with him? I had reservations initially but he's been excellent thus far. He's gotten rid of the bad apples with aplomb and given youngsters a chance. Danny Batth for instance was on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and made captain, when do you hear of that? a young loanee made captain? yet he wasn't given a chance by successive managers here. He's come into our side and now part of the tightest defence in League One. The signings have been excellent, Jacobs and Henry were superb for the prices we've paid, McDonald has genuine quality for 400k. Can you tell us how you feel the game will go, who the scorers/score will be? County seem to be improving a lot with the exception of the Walsall result. Also boosted by the capture of the boy from Celtic who we were interested in ourselves... that said if we want to go up we simply have to be beating teams in the bottom 5/6. We're bound to create chances and we have conceded the fewest in League One.. with that, I'll say 2-0. What would you say your highlights are of the season so far? Beating Gillingham 4-0 at home must be one. After the previous two relegations we'd won just 19 of our previous 84 (league) games. So it was a massive moral booster even if it was a promoted side and we were expected to win. Also, playing Orient at home we attracted a crowd of almost 29,000. For League One that's an achievement and we had the 4th highest attendance in Britain that day. Please share some memories of match days during the years you have supported Wolves, perhaps you could also tell us about how you became a supporter of them? For a while I was a home and away season ticket holder with friends but I stopped going away so much due to my career, I was a licensee in Wolves town centre for a while so I was often needed at work on matchdays etc after leaving the pub game I've started going away again but go mostly with my dad and his mates. It's always been a good craic. I've seen us lose 3-0 away at Pompey in the driving rain without a roof, and I've seen us beat Liverpool and Spurs away from home.. for me there is nothing better. What formations have you been using this season and what do you expect to be the starting line up? We had been playing with one up front with a midfield five with Dave Edwards making some great runs in which were causing a lot of problems for teams but after the transfer window we've reverted back to 4-4-2 with Dicko and Clarke. McDonald will dictate play and he can put a ball on a sixpence, and Evans is the classic Makelele type who breaks up play. Whilst Edwards was good playing the role above he lacks the discipline to play the Evans role and if he were to start we'd look totally lopsided. I'd expect this ------------------McCreary------------------ Ricketts - Batth - Stearman - Golbourne Jacobs - McDonald - Evans - Henry -------------Clarke - Dicko------------------ The last five games has seen Wolves pick up 12 points, how many points do you see being picked up from your next five? March will be make or break for us, we've got 8 games in the space of 28 days and looking at the opposition we need to be beating them if we're going up automatically. Brentford at the end of the month will be huge. Notts County - H - Win Brentford - A - Draw Port Vale - H - Win Swindon - A - Draw Shrewsbury - H - Win Which Wolves players have been vital to your recent performances? Can you tell us about the threats your side possesses as a whole? We can break at lightning speed thanks to the speed of our wingers. In Sako we've got somebody who can be completely anonymous for 88 minutes and still score one and set one up in two minutes of brilliance. I really like Dicko because the lad scares defenders and we've scored two own goals from nervous defending. The back four have been immense, to only concede 20 all season is a hell of a return and I think Evans too because he really is the glue of the side. Who do you see as being a threat Wolves from our side and how do you see them being dealt with on the day? The lad McGregor from Celtic. I don't think we've particularly set out to man mark anybody as of yet, as we play possession football the onus will be on County to 'come and get it' though as we saw against Preston, some managers turn up with a negative gameplan leaving their star players ineffective. PNE and Orient have. If I were County I'd accept we're rank outsiders and go for broke. Fortune favours the brave! Can you advise our travelling fans about the area surrounding the ground? Such as local pubs, eating areas and of course parking? There are very few pubs in town for away fans and even less by the stadium. Walkabout in the city centre is your best bet. It's on Queen Street two minutes from the train station. If arriving by train as you come out the station turn right and next to the BTP station is a marked subway, walk under there and turn right, theres a pub nearby called the Great Western, great pub busy on matchdays but a great atmosphere and I've seen away fans in there untroubled many occasions Pride of Nottingham would like to thank Mike for taking the time to answer our questions, we wish Wolves all the very best and hope the better team wins on Saturday (whoever that may be). COYP!

Pride of Nottingham once again takes a look at the 'Match Officials', this is in time for our away game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. This is your chance to gain an insight into those in charge of the game! We hope that you find the feature to be interesting, please do stay around if time permits and read up on some of our other content. On Saturday the match officials for the away game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the 15/02/2014. The Referee is Jeremy Simpson, with his assistants Simon Brown and Simon Clayton. The fourth official is Andy Woolmer. Match Officials; Referee; Jeremy Simpson has taken control of twenty league games, one F.A Cup game, one League Cup game and one JPT tie. Out of all these games he's issued a staggering amount of yellow cards totaling 68. However, he's only sent 5 players off so far. League 1 appears to be his level after making 9 appearances to-date, he has featured 5 times in the Championship and 6 times in League Two. The rest are split between the cup encounters he has officiated. Interesting Fact; – The most he's carded in one game so far has been in a League Game featuring York City and Mansfield Town. A total of 6 yellows and 2 red cards were seen during this game which ended with Mansfield claiming the win 2-1. Assistant Referees; Simon Brown was the 1st Assistant in Nottingham Forest's 4-1 win over Blackburn Rovers (booo). He's featured as the 1st assistant a total of 5 times, once in the Championship and two times both in League 1 and League 2. He's been a 2nd official once and a fourth official twice. Simon Clayton has been the 1st official a total of 5 times, a 2nd official once and the fourth official once. He hasn't featured so far within the Championship, all his appearances have taken place within League 1 and League 2. A number of 4 times each. Interesting Fact – If it wasn't interesting enough that both assistant officials are called “Simon”, Simon Brown was the 1st official in our home game against Peterborough United back on the 10th of August 2013. The Fourth Official; Andy Woolmer has only featured once as the fourth official, he's made 4 appearances however as a referee. He's featured once within the Championship and 2 times equally in Leagues One and Two. Interesting Fact – Andy Woolmer would have been the fourth official in Wolverhampton Wanderers postponed away game against Stevenage FC. He also holds a reputation for not giving penalties (usually within the right circumstances), as he's been mentioned numerous times within the media for this. Most recently in Coventry City's 2-1 win over Bristol City, where the Robins had an appeal waved away as Baker timely halted Cunningham with a perfectly timed challenge. Do you have an opinion on the game? - Match Thread Also, please do leave us a comment below if you have time.

Ever wondered about the match officials? Pride of Nottingham introduces this new feature 'The Match Officials', it's your chance to learn a little more about the people in charge on match days. It's aimed towards providing an insight into the games they've officiated, so that we can go into games knowing more about each one. Well here we are, meet the match officials for our home game against Coventry City on the 08/02/2014. The referee is Carl Berry, with his assistances Joe Hull and Darren Strain. The fourth official is Robert Atkin. Match Officials; Referee; Carl Berry has taken control of six league games and one JPT cup tie. Within these 7 games, Carl's managed to avoid sending off a single player but has yellow carded 26 players in 6 of them. The only game in this current season which he's avoided using a card was on Saturday 30th November which saw Shrewsbury Town win away from home 3-1 against Stevenage FC. Interesting Fact – Carl Berry sent off MK Dons manager Karl Robinson back in January 2012, Karl Robinson was so outraged after the game that he approached the match officials and was reported to say “I want a fair game, I want the right outcome. “People say that some go for you and some go against you but we’ve had no decisions that have won us a game this season.”. You can follow Carl on Twitter - https://twitter.com/carljberry Assistant Referees; Joe Hull's been fairly active playing mix roles so far this season. He's been an assistant within the Championship on numerous occasions, having been the 1st assistant 5 times, the 2nd official 4 times and fourth official once. Darren Strain has spent the majority of this season assisting within League One. He's mainly been the 2nd official 6 times, whilst being the 1st official twice and the fourth official twice. Interesting Fact – Joe Hull was the 1st Assistant in our earlier encounter this season against Coventry City, the well known game which saw Danny Haynes red carded. The Fourth Official; Robert Atkin has mainly featured as a 1st assistant, which has seen him do so 4 times within this current season. He's been a second official once and has featured as the fourth official three times. Interesting Fact – Out of the 8 games Robert Atkin as been a official 4 have resulted in draws, 2 home teams have one whilst 2 away have also won. Whilst our facts above only feature the league, Robert Atkin was the referee in a local game between Ilkeston FC and Grantham Town – His ability was questions by both managers in their post match comments. Do you have an opinion on the game? - Match Thread Also, please do leave us a comment below if you have time.

After the popular demand of our last upcoming games article, Pride of Nottingham returns with a view of Walsall FC, Preston North End, Coventry City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Shrewsbury Town. On 21st of January 2014 Notts County played against Peterborough United, it was a game fans perhaps didn't foresee quite en-frilling but in fact Notts secure two very early goals. The game ended 4-3 in Peterborough's favour, however the passion installed by Shaun Derry surely as captured a significant change. Thing's don't get easier for the Magpies, these next few games will be tricky. In our last edition I mentioned how we needed to prepare ourselves for the great escape, never did I think we would collect a huge 9 points from the 5 games played. However, I did feel Notts could gain 6, although realistically I felt 4 would be quite rewarding. This doesn't mean it's all over, however it bides us some time and a chance to gain additional points to push us adrift of the relegation zone. Walsall FC are a side which play free flowing football, although this isn't always the case and the perfect example would our scrappy away encounter at Bescot Stadium. Craig Westcarr is their highest goal scorer notching up 11 so far this season. Adam Chambers is their most persistent fouler with 6 yellow cards, although Andy Taylor isn't far behind with 5. Andy Butler is their only player to be sent off, although he has been yellow carded twice. In their last four games, they've picked up an impressive 8 points after drawing to Brentford 1-1 on the 18th January 2014. Sam Mantom clinched three points for saddler's as they beat Oldham Athletic 1-0, whilst at Tranmere Rovers they drew 1-1. Walsall also beat Sheffield United 2-1, which seen the club secure all 3 points after a 17 minute goal from Chris Porter. Preston North End have finally settled within League One, they're a much better side under Simon Greyson and they're a side which should not be under estimated. Former Nottingham Forest front man Joe Garner is their highest goal scorer with 13 goals, however they also have former Bolton Wanderers striker Kevin Davies who's scored 5. John Welsh and Bailey Wright share 6 yellow cards each. Kevin Davies, Stuart Beavon, Neil Kilkenny and Paul Gallagher have all be sent off once. In their last four games, they've picked up 7 points in the league but notably defeated Ipswich Town 3-2 in the F.A Cup 3rd round replay. A late equaliser for Coventry meant the score finished 1-1, they lost 2-0 to Wolves. Beat Port Vale 3-2 after leading 3 nil for 69 minutes and they beat Shrewsbury Town 1-0. Coventry City despite struggling with financial hardship and starting this 2013/2014 campaign with -10 points, are a very capable side but they are not the same side without leading striker Leon Clarke. Naturally Leon Clarke is their highest goal scorer with 18 goals, however Callum Wilson notched up 15 and Franck Moussa with 13. A lot depends on if they can keep Leon Clarke who surprised the Sky Blues fans by handing in a transfer request, although they process a very talented attacking squad. John Fleck and Conor Thomas both share 6 yellow cards each, whilst Carl Barker is the only Coventry City player to be sent off. In their last four games, they've picked up 6 points. Two draws, 1-1 to Preston North End and 2-2 to Crawley. They beat Rotherham United 3-1 away from home in a game they were originally losing and draw to Oldham ending 1-1. On the 4th of January 2014 they also beat Barnsley 2-1, after also going down by 1 goal in the 3rd round of the F.A Cup. They now await Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the 4th round which will take place on the 24th of January 2014. Wolverhampton Wanderers are a side doesn't require an introduction, although we have some good results against them this season – they are a Championship side still featuring quite a few of their Premier League squad back from 2012. Leigh Griffiths is their highest goal scorer with 13 goal, whilst Bakary Sako is on 7. David Davis is the most persistent fouler in the Wolves side with 7 yellow cards and Richard Stearman is their only player to be sent off once – Surprised by this? I am. In their last four games, they've picked up 4 points which as seen them drop from league leaders to 3rd place and they're now 5 points behind Leyton Orient who sit back on top. Wolves beat Preston 2-0, they lost 1-0 Gillingham FC, draw 1-1 to Tranmere Rovers and drawing 1-1 to Leyton Orient. Shrewsbury Town are one of the weaker teams in League One, although they cannot be written off. They're a side that can surprise teams who fail to mark their offensive players. Tom Bradshaw is their highest goal scorer on 5, Joe Jacobson and Dave Winfield have 4 yellow cards each and Jon Taylor's their only player to be sent off once. In their last four games, they've picked up 3 points. They lost heavily to Rotherham United by 3 goals to nil, they narrowly lost 3-2 to MK Dons and again to Leyton Orient, the final score 2-0. However, they beat Oldham Athletic 2-1 – the Shrews first win since the 30th of November 2013. I see Notts picking up 7 points, realistically who knows after our recent form but 5 would seem about spot on. My key game is against Coventry City – they're a side I see entertaining us at Meadow Lane, with a reasonable chance of achieving something from the game. Walsall and Shrewsbury are games which strike me as 'winnable', Shrewsbury Town being the side we must defeat for sure. COYP!!