Chris

Following the great work prior to the Sheffield United game, Notts County find themselves again at the mercy of the weather. Tomorrow will see us host the Latics who are, unfortunately for them, at the bottom end of the table, sitting in the 19th place, 5 positions away from Notts who now sit 14th but with 3 games over our visitors. We have taken the time to ask a series of questions to Bob, who gives us an insight into his time as an Oldham supporter who is sending a positive message about backing a young manager. Firstly, could you tell prideofnottingham.co.uk a little about yourself, such as how long you've been a fan for? I am 59 years old and supported Latics since 1970 after being told by some schoolmates to come and watch a player they called "Big Jim Fryatt". I was hooked from then on and it has been a roller coaster ride from then onwards!! How do you feel things are going so far at this point in the season and are there any concerns regarding your low position yet? Things are going from bad to worse at the moment and we seem to be going down like the Titanic. It is a shame since we have been very unlucky on many occasions added to by injuries and suspensions but they say you make your own luck but that seems elusive to say the least. Could you please tell us about how many away games you've attended so far this season and up to this point which one has been your favourite? I go with my son, to most away games and we are season tickets holders at BP. My favourite away win was at Forest!!! What a day out and our fans were superb and outshouted the Forest fans even when we were losing. In the 2010/2011 season in which Paul Dickov arrived as player manager, he sparked some impressive wins and appeared to turn things around for your club. What is your take on this? I am a big fan of Dickov even though he has many calling for his head. He always tries to attack and win games and has some good contacts which have helped us e.g Derbyshire who has now gone back to Forest and Baxter and Wabara from MCFC. He is doing his best with little funds and is passionate for the club and the fans and that is why he has my support and will continue to do so despite our situation. Why is your club nickname the Latics? We are called "Latics" because it is short for "Athletic" albeit has been copied by Wigan who are the plastic "Latics" who have tried to steal it away from us. There is only ONE "Latics" and that is us. Often I've taken part in quizzes where people tend to forget about Oldham featuring in the Premier League at the start of it's formation, do you recall anything about that season? We were one of the original teams of the Premiership when we had a great team put together for next to nowt by Joe Royle. Great days when we more than matched our rivals down the road at Maine Road and Old Trafford.We had some great players e.g Ritchie, Barratt. Warhurst, Holden and Palmer. Can you tell us which players at Oldham are most lively for you, posing a strong risk to our defence? We are lightweight up front so do not feel we will pose any real threats but this is Latics we are talking about here who can go from one extreme to another. Our young striker who is pretty tall is Matt Smith and we have another youngster called Taylor who looks promising. Behind them we have a great signing called Jose Baxter who has shown loyalty to the club by signing a long contract when he could have gone on to a higher level. I put that down to Dickov as well. If you were the manager, which two players of Notts County would you tell your strongest markers to watch for? I do not know which players of yours to watch out for, I would say all 11 of them including your keeper!!!! I visited Meadow Lane on the 5th of January, which was the day you played Nottingham Forest and impressively beat them. Some of your fans strongly felt you would win, did you attend the game and how important was the win for you? Yes, I came to the Forest game but I did not think to be honest that we would win. Our second half team performance was superb and Simpson's two goals changed the game and sent the 3000 Oldham fans ballistic. What is your favourite chant at away games? My favourite chant is "Oh when the bllllluuueeeesssssssssssssss" or simply "Come on Oldham" If you go back to any season and relive some of the memories which featured, can you tell me which season, when and why you would go back to that particular point in time? My favourite season was 1990/1 when we got promotion as champions with the last game of the season at BP when we beat Sheff Weds 3-2 after being 2-0 down to them and winning with a late penalty by Redfern in front of the Chaddy End which was packed to the rafters. It was great winning loads of games both home and away and having huge support and also winning over lots of neutral fans who loved to see lowly Oldham take on and beat the top clubs. Sadly those days have gone and many fans have stopped going. Where would you like to finish and which position do you realistically see Oldham finishing? We need someone with a small fortune to spend but the chances of that happening are zilch. We can but try to keep faith and hope for better things in the future especially for our younger fans who have seen lean years and no doubt get ridiculed by their school mates who support the Manc clubs. Still.. we are die hard fans and loyal to OAFC and its future no matter what happens to us. We are having a new stand built soon so that is a starting point...like the phoenix rising from the ashes!!! We would like to take the time to Thank Bob for answering our questions.

#themag is something I personally always enjoy and look forward to on Match Days. If I cannot make it, I will do my best to make sure it's not missed and so I usually walk down to Meadow Lane so I can obtain my copy to read with my son Jake. A feature that really stands out for me, is the personal notes from our Chairman Ray Trew. It brings an insightful view on recent on-going and his own thoughts ahead of games. His notes ahead of yesterdays match against Sheffield United is one I very much enjoyed, it's refreshing to read these comments. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Meadow Lane for this npower League 1 game against many people’s pre-season favourites for promotion, Sheffield United. Obviously the first thing to say is that I hope the game has been given the go ahead and we can finally get back to playing football, we really don’t need any more games in hand. The weather certainly hasn’t been kind to us in recent weeks and whilst that has allowed us to get a few players back fit, it also means we have had to keep the squad fresh and focused, which is difficult when they are not playing regularly. We can’t whinge about it though, this is the situation that we find ourselves in and we have to address that as best we can, there is still all to play for and we’ve been in a similar situation in the past, which ended quite well as I remember! I would like to welcome the players, officials and of course the supporters of Sheffield United to Meadow Lane, I am sure that they will arrive in numbers and in fine voice, so there will be a challenge on and off the pitch this afternoon. Finally, in light of recent speculation, I would just like to reassure fans that Notts County are not in the midst of a financial crisis. Times are tight, as they are for all businesses, and I am certainly not prepared to keep bankrolling the club indefinitely, but that shouldn’t be a cause for concern. It just means that we have to operate more astutely as a club and plans are already being put in place to ensure that we continue on a sound financial footing whilst also remaining competitive on the pitch. Your continued support can only go towards helping this obviously. Onwards and upwards Ray Trew Chairman Special thanks to Mr Trew for granting permission to feature his 'Chairman's Notes'.

Come snow, fog or freezing temperatures, we here at prideofnottingham.co.uk never give up. With the game truly at the perils of the weather, we decided to plough on as we speak to Sheffield United fan Martin to give us his views on tomorrows match. With Notts not having played a game since the very first day of January, focus remains on the blades consistent, but stuttering form. Sheffield United sit a whole 11 points above Notts in the League Table but Martin tells us why he will be happy with a draw… Firstly, could you tell prideofnottingham.co.uk a little about yourself such as how long you've been a fan for? I’m Martin, 24, and have been watching United since I was a kid in the mid-90s. I’ve had a season ticket every season since 2000. What are your earliest memories as a fan, do you have any strong recollections of past games? My first match and the earliest I can remember was a Coca Cola Cup game against Stockport County at Bramall Lane in September 1996. It was a Tuesday night, we lost 5-2 and I was hooked! Other games that stand out are the FA Cup and League Cup games in 2002/03, where we reached the semi finals of both and knocked out teams such as Leeds and Sunderland, and also beat Liverpool 2-1 at Bramall Lane. During your time supporting the Blades can you tell us your best memory and what you would prefer to forget about? Best memory would be promotion to the Premiership in 2005/06. We won away at Cardiff on Good Friday which meant Leeds had to beat Reading the following day, which they were doing until Reading scored a late equaliser and sealed our promotion. The play-off final against Huddersfield last season is the one I try to forget about. It was the third play-off final in a row we haven’t scored in and looked to have done it if we’d have scored our third penalty. Then it all went wrong before goalkeeper Steve Simonsen blazed over the bar. The fact we lost out on automatic promotion to our biggest rivals before losing in the play-offs made it worse. Sheffield United's recent games haven't quite gone as probably expect since losing to Hartlepool United, How are your fans reacting to these past results? Understandably the fans aren’t too happy at losing two home games in a row to sides we should really be too strong for at home. I think a lot of Blades are more concerned with the style of play, as we’ve gone a lot more direct in our play lately. Danny Wilson has resorted to blaming the pitch which has antagonised a lot of the fans, as visiting teams have coped fine. Can you single out your main threats to Notts County, who has been your best performers this season? Prior to his season-ending injury I would have named Shaun Miller for both parts of this question, as he’s the most naturally gifted finisher I feel we have at the club. Since his injury I would go with Tony McMahon. He’s scored directly from three kicks in recent weeks and often puts in good crosses for Dave Kitson and others to attack. If the game goes ahead, how do you feel you will do against Notts County? Based on current form and how we’ve been playing I would happily take a point before the game. If I had to make a prediction I’d go with a score draw. How many times have you visited or seen Notts County play Sheffield United? Twice, and the Blades won both games rather comfortably. My first and only visit to Meadow Lane to watch United was when we won 5-2 last season. The other was the JPT game live on Sky this season. What are your hopes for the rest of the season? I’d have to say automatic promotion is the main aim, and anything less will be seen as a failure when you consider our resources compared to the rest of the teams in the league. I think I speak for most Blades fans when I saw we want to avoid the play-offs at all costs! Who do you consider to be the player you have seen play for Sheffield United or any opposition? Presume this means best player? In my time watching United I’d have to say James Beattie. He was scoring for fun in 07/08 and early 08/09. For an opposing side it would definitely be from the Premiership season. Take your pick from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gerrard, Lampard and Drogba etc. Is there any pressure from the fans or the board with regards to Danny Wilson? Hard to say in terms of the board. I would guess not at the moment due to us probably not having the money to sack him if we wanted to! The fan opinion is probably split 50/50. Some would like to see him replaced as it’s the January window and it could create some momentum similar to what happened at Sheffield Wednesday last season. Others think he should be given the rest of the season and then see where to go from there. If team selection was down to you what changes would you make and how would you strengthen your team further? The main thing I would improve is our options out wide, as we are lacking is wingers with pace. This was identified by Wilson and the fans last season and it was stated the situation was addressed. However, nothing has been done and we find ourselves with strikers often playing out side. I would personally like to see more of our younger players given a chance. It’s something Wilson doesn’t seem keen on and has annoyed our fans after the chairman stated players who reached the FA Youth Cup final would be brought through to the first team. We have a 17 year old called Diego De Girolamo who has recently scored twice for Italy U18s, but isn’t yet deemed good enough for our first team. A lot of fans are interested to see what he could offer the first team, as his creativity is something we’re lacking. Did you enjoy the local derby the previous season and how did you feel losing out in the playoff spot to them? The Sheffield derby games are hard to enjoy due to the nerves involved. Last season was even worse due to the fact that both teams were in the unique position of both challenging at the top of the league. Losing promotion to them when we had a large points gap at one stage is hard to take. I can’t think of anything worse. We would like to Thank Martin for the time of answering questions and sharing his views.

The Shrewsbury game seems to be a distant memory now. For myself it's hard to believe we haven't played since the 1st of January 2013. The weather forecast doesn't seem to help our lack of events surrounding Notts County. Apart from the signing of Andre Boucaud it has been very quiet, not much seems to be happening at all and I'm starting wonder if we will make any other signings. It's not a complaint, I'm just hopeful that we may add bulk to our squad. More importantly I cannot wait to see the colours of our team on the field, battling to rise back into the play-off spots. In recent news reports you may of seen Scott Laird has publicly accepted Jamal Campbell-Ryce's apology regarding the challenge which caused Scott to break his leg. It's good to see, although it's a sign as to how quiet it has been at Meadow Lane as it's hardly a worthy of a headline story. After the comments of Mr Trew, it's brought concerns regarding the 70k debt and although I don't like reading about any debt, I would like to add it's good that it's not much higher compared to Swindon Town who are reported to be losing £250,000 a month. It makes me even more grateful that we have the Trew's behind the club as I am sure his accountancy is vital to keeping things flowing without rising to such a concern. I feel it's important that when the next game, whenever that may be, we get fully behind the club and squad, try to do as much as we can to help get back our finances which may allow us to be in a position next year to add further improvements. Survival is important, I wouldn't take anything else but would like to help secure a brighter, more promising future. After all, any help we give the club we may see reflect back towards us supporters and if not we can surely help reduce the debit by making sure we take along a friend or two, purchase from the club shop and even find alternative ways of getting money back to the club. These postponements will not be helping, it's quite concerning but we can make the difference and I'm sure the club would appreciate all our efforts in trying to help ease the debt loss. Over the next coming weeks I hope to bring more news to your screens, more signs of growth and although it's a slow start for us, it is nice to know that Pride of Nottingham is serving the Notts County community. It's important that we focus on being a good alternative source for fans and this is very much our focus. Please consider joining if you're a frequent reader, we would love to say hello and see our community (forum) flourish with new discussions.

Ahead of our clash against Portsmouth FC, we've decided to ask a series of questions to Pompy fan WhoIzzet. Notts have suffered a turbulent period recently and whilst Pompy reside in the relegation places, both will be striving for the full 3 points this Saturday. Notts have beaten Pompy on two occasions this season already, but with Bury away at MK Dons, Portsmouth fans will see this as a fantastic opportunity to make ground in their search for maintaining their League One status. Wholzzet takes time out to tell us here at prideofnottingham.co.uk. Firstly, could you tell prideofnottingham.co.uk a little about yourself such as how long you've been a fan for? I'm Jake, 32 years old from Horndean. I've supported Portsmouth for as long as I can remember, through the very-highs and very-lows. I'm also an admin on footballforums.net (Check us out!). At the start of season things were looking quite positive for Portsmouth FC, with your league standings and attitude towards financial difficulties. How close is your club to resolving the issue regarding ownership and how did you feel at the start of the season? The trust's bid to buy the club has gained strength beyond what anyone really anticipated, and that has been the major positive. It does seem that the fans now have a realistic chance of owning the club, but the likes of Chainrai seem to be doing what they can to derail our hopes. It's impossible to say how close we are to resolving our situation, because every time it looks like we're getting close, we hit another setback or two. At the start of the season I hoped that we could stay up, but my major concern was that we stabilised our finances. Despite how the season has gone so far for your club, the fan base has shown amazing support. There doesn't seem much time for negativity, how do your fans stay so upbeat? It's nice of you to say. I guess one important thing is that this has happened before. We've been on the brink so often that it doesn't tear us completely apart, but this will have to change soon as the Pompey support don't have unlimited patience. Attendances have understandably dwindled and until the ownership issue is resolved, there are some who won't return to Fratton Park. Your 3 – 1 Win over Shrewsbury Town is probably the turning point of your season, the drop in points since is quite concerning. Would you say this is more a reflection on a loss of players, rather than the performances? It's partly down to loss of players, but in truth our performances have been poor of late. There is enough ability in the squad so we shouldn't be performing so dreadfully in the league, but we are and this unfortunately has to be attributed to the manager. As much as Guy Whittingham is a popular figure in Portsmouth, he's not able to deal with the difficult situation as well as Michael Appleton could, and should perhaps step aside if results don't improve. James Keene has returned on loan, how important is his return to the club? He's a new attacking option, and with the departure of Izale McLeod it was important that we found someone to fill the gap. I couldn't possibly say if he will do well though. He didn't quite cut it for Pompey the first time around, but it sounds like he found his goal scoring feet in Sweden. I'll be interested to watch him play again and see how he's improved. Do you expect any other additions to your squad? I'm hoping there will be. A few players are due to leave the club on the 15th, so we will be chipping away at bare bones if we can't find any replacements. While the ownership issue is still up in the air, any deals will be very temporary, but it's important we don't just give up on this season while survival is still a possibility. Who would you say are Portsmouth's danger men in our upcoming game and who has been your key player in recent performances? Mustupha Dumbuya (leaving on the 15th) has become more and more of a menace down the wing in recent weeks and often seems to provide our most incisive threat going forward. Though his end product still leaves a lot to be desired, the Notts County defence will have to be aware of him. Paul Benson can also be a handful up front. Which Notts County players do you feel your side should watch out for from a defensive point of view? The trouble for Pompey fans is we're still getting used to having to stay up all night for a quick round up of the league highlights! I guess Yoann Arquin would be someone to watch out for considering he's County's top scorer, but in truth we are chaotic when it comes to set-pieces. If you have someone who can whip a dangerous ball in from a free-kick or corner, it's curtains for us. How is Jon Harley getting on at Portsmouth? I haven't been overly-impressed. We've been crying out for an attacking option down the wings, and while Dumbuya has stepped up his game in that department, Harley seems unable to offer the same kind of service. His defensive work is about average. What game this season has been your favourite and why? I guess beating Shrewsbury 3-1 did seem, as you say, like a turning point. It was a good feeling to see the team performing as a unit and getting the result without performing particularly well, and the match occurred just after the Supporters Trust was named the preferred bidder, so there was a renewed sense of optimism that day. But the highlights have been few and far between, and I doubt the club will be releasing an end of season DVD. If you were a Notts County fan, how would you respond to the negativity which surrounds the club for very little reason(s), especially considering we're progressing nicely since our return from league two? It's a strange one for sure. From what I know of the situation (which is very little, so excuse my ignorance), the chairman has made a statement asking the fans to stop moaning. I guess the craziness that goes on with Pompey means that I'm envious of anyone who has a stable football club to support. Whether promotion happens this year, next, in ten years - just enjoy the football, and the fact that the club is on the rise. Where do you feel Portsmouth's final position will be at the end of the season? We're quite doomed. Relegation beckons. In summary, I should imagine Keith Curle will have this fixture down as three points for County, and he'd be absolutely right to. We are low on confidence, players and form, and in truth it would not be a surprised if we lost this by three or four. I hope the County fans enjoy their first visit to Fratton Park in a little while, bearing in mind that it is likely it will be the last for a while as well. We would like to Thank WhoIzzet (Jake) for the time of answering questions and sharing his views.

I've been very busy since opening Pride of Nottingham that I haven't had much time for my other hobbies. When I'm not doing things on here, I tend to be found on one of my other sites that I run. These are all things I am very passionate about, so it makes complete sense to bind two of them together. The first site I ever started was related to Poetry & Art, it's something that has been very positive in my life and great way for me to express myself. I very much enjoy writing as a hobby, over the years I feel I've gotten much better than being basic at it. Please take the time to read 'Our Club, Our Passion' by Notts-Joe Will you stand with us, As we fall, or as we win. Be the spine, the song, The roar of it all. Be the pride, Our passion, the life, Of our ever dreaming belief, Will you take a moment, To think before you speak? Can you encourage, inspire, Be more than one fan, Chant for the moment, Sing when nothing can be sung, Will you rise above, The shadows which form from off the floor, Can you back our team, Just once more, We will build as we grow, One hundred and fifty years on, Our club is our passion, As fans we can be strong, To challenge, to make a difference. Together we are one, Have faith in our tough times. I will, will you? http://youtu.be/wOhMz3CpA5E