StarkMallard

Maybe not a crisis, but a major imbalance that is unhealthy for the game in the long term. The financial gap between the haves and the have-nots has become a chasm. Champions League money is distorting the Premier League and PL parachute payments are distorting the Championship and even League One. The PL is already starting to look like a closed shop. Meanwhile, the amount of money sloshing around the top level is now attracting owners and would-be owners who are looking to cash in. If they fail, things go south quickly. By contrast, the non-league scene is in rude health with crowds surging. I don't know much about Widnes, but it doesn't all add up - the board were seemingly wrangling with the council about a new ground, and ultimately decided to take their ball home. Hmm - I find it hard to believe they scrapped the first team over a dispute about a car park. Non-league football is full of badly run clubs that have achieved successive promotions on a completely unsustainable basis, only to vanish when they sail too close to the sun.

Since it's the first round, I'll remind some of our regular players. It all kicks off tomorrow! @menzinho @Fan of Big Tone @magpiejue @TheSkipper @JustLikeJuve @thommo @Joshua @Blake @DonnyNotts @NottsTastic @The Heff @NottsLoyal @upthepies @OoooooTommy @JIMBO @Dripsey3

Quality! Has somebody called Cotter a wizard on the wing yet?

These look like the little pics that appear in apps such as Onefootball. Not very flattering up close! And should't the coaching team be on there too, or has the kit man taken over?

I think we've all got an idea of how MP wants to play, now it's time to see it in action and hopefully pick up our first points. I wonder if we'll see Bennetts from the start - my gut feeling is that him and Luker will start on the bench and Cotter will be in the first 11. Cotter and Jarvis would be a very attacking choice of wing backs though. Can't wait to get underway after all the talking!

Interesting. I wouldn't say anyone is nailed on for anything before a ball has been kicked, but pundits tend to reach a consensus based on who has made the biggest signings in the summer. Our close season has been lacking in that respect and we're only placed relatively high up because of our performance last season. Personally I wouldn't fancy us either in their shoes, but fingers crossed MP will get us motoring. Gillingham and the franchise also invested heavily last season and ended up in the bottom half. Salford have been nowhere for years. Walsall weren't fancied last season and nearly went up, and who would have bet on Crawley to go up the season before last? Conversely, Notts and Chesterfield were both fancied to push for promotion the seasons they were relegated. You really can't tell in this division. When Saturday Comes magazine publishes a season preview in which a fan from each club predicts each division's final table and they average out the final positions like you have. But even fans from all 23 League Two clubs are often very wide of the mark. It's fascinating reading at the season's end though!

You could implant my brain in a cyberman and let me live 1000 years, and yet I still wouldn't live to see Notts reach the second round of the League Cup.

Thanks for your kind words everyone! Or are you all trying to butter me up because I count the points? 😉 Bradford City 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Exeter City Lincoln City 0-2 Reading (joker) Plymouth Argyle 1-2 Barnsley Barnet 2-0 Fleetwood Town Cambridge United 2-0 Cheltenham Town Grimsby Town 2-0 Crawley Town Walsall 0-1 Swindon Town

Sounds like a tribute act! If it's who I think it is, I've no idea how good he is as he barely touched the ball.

After a long, hot summer of transfer rumours and exotic pre-season tours, the proper football is finally about to begin. And with it the prediction league! You are ALL welcome to take part whether you're a newbie or a seasoned campaigner, but be warned: I've decided I'm going to win this time 😉 This is how it works: At least two days before every matchday I will post a thread with eight matches to predict from the Championship, League One, League Two and the Conference. You then reply with your predicted scores. The cut-off time for posting is kick-off (in this case 3pm). At the end of it all I'll then post a table with the current standings. Scoring system: 3 points for a correct score and 1 for a correct result. So if you predict Swindon to beat Walsall 2-1 and they do, you get 3 points; if Swindon win 1-0, you get 1 point. Each round you can also choose one match as your joker - any points you win for that match are then doubled. So let's get on with it, shall we? Here are Saturday's fixtures: Bradford City v Wycombe Wanderers Doncaster Rovers v Exeter City Lincoln City v Reading Plymouth Argyle v Barnsley Barnet v Fleetwood Town Cambridge United v Cheltenham Town Grimsby Town v Crawley Town Walsall v Swindon Town

Here's a reminder for those of you outside the UK - if you want to watch Notts on PiesPlayer this season (and haven't already got a subscription), the early bird offer for 140 quid runs out on 2 August. After that the price will go up to 180. https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/videos/subscriptions

This is a nice shirt, I'll be having one. The sponsor is OK but slightly loud for my taste, and I'm not keen on the black square on the back, but the rest of it is nice. Stripes of different widths keeps it looking modern and traditional at the same time.

Another promising signing, albeit one who needs to deliver a bit more consistently according to some Grimsby fans. But he's still young and has time on his side. Slightly disappointed his parents didn't call him Luke. We've certainly got options in attacking areas now.

As far as I'm aware he didn't play for us during the German tour @Chris. However, I noticed that after his stint at Darmstadt he was signed for SV Wehen Wiesbaden by Paul Mackie, who moved in the other direction soon after and is now DoF at Darmstadt. I wonder if this is how the contact came about? Bennetts played most of his football in Germany at Borussia Mönchengladbach II, who play at the fourth level. However, he's frequently been in and around squads at Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 level so must have some potential. But what he really needs now is regular games. Fingers crossed the move benefits club and player alike!

Sounds like an interesting signing based on what I'm hearing, especially if he's versatile. His career makes for interesting reading. He hasn't played more than 20 games in a season since 2020-21, when he was at Ipswich. He joined our pre-season opponents Darmstadt in October 2022 as a free agent and played 16 times as they won promotion to the Bundesliga, but with just over 200 minutes played in total he was clearly used as a super sub. Nevertheless, their fans seemed to rate him and were disappointed when he left the next summer. He then suffered a long-term injury at his next club. Sounds like a player with pedigree who needs some games and a bit of luck. Welcome!

Good luck to him! I think he has to grow into the role and bit and having to share commentary duties didn't help. Now he can really make his mark.

@Wheelbarrow repair man, there's no need to be confrontational. You quoted him as saying the club is maintainable, which it is with our current owners as they're investing in the club and covering its losses. Being sustainable would mean the club can cover its own costs without the owners having to dip into their pockets, and that's where we're aiming to be financially. I see no contradiction and nobody is telling porkies.

This is what he said when we took over the Nest last year: "as a business we want to aim to be sustainable". That means we are not sustainable YET but are working towards it, and as far as I'm aware he's never said anything to the contrary. Nothing about this is unusual or controversial, the number of professional football clubs that break even can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The best way to become sustainable is to play in a higher division, so targeted investments in the right players are needed.

For all the talk about making the club sustainable, we're clearly not (yet at least). The owners are having to put in a seven-figure sum every year to cover our losses. That, along with the infrastructure investments mentioned above, is where the money has gone. Some of it will no doubt be reinvested in the team. The squad now is undoubtedly significanly more expensive than the one we had in the NL (McGoldrick alone was said to be on 5k a week), we've signed players for fees in the last year or so and there are surely more signings to come in the next month. Whether that money is spent wisely is another question entirely, but it's too early to judge.

The Vikings themselves are romanticised a lot, but people forget that Nottinghamshire was part of the Danelaw. It was widely settled by Scandinavian people (towns with names ending in -by or-thorpe were originally Scandinavian) who enjoyed some autonomy right up to 1066. This leaves a mark. Every time you say "ey up" or "ta" you're probably using language they brought with them. "Ey up me duck" could even be seen as evidence of integration as it combines the Old Norse "ey up" with "duck", probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon "ducas". Tostig Godwinson was a really pivotal figure. He was the landowner of a large part of Nottinghamshire (including the old Roman fort at Bothamsall) and convinced the Norwegian king to invade. If he hadn't, William may well have lost the battle of Hastings.

Fear not @gtownjohnno, I'm dusting down my abacus as you type. I'll post something later on, and the first round will be online on Wednesday.

I'm watching it too. I'd about written us off when the equaliser went in! You can't take your eyes off it for a moment.

This sounds good, he's experienced (including at a higher level) and has been getting plenty of match practice. His age also isn't an issue as many goalkeepers hit their peak after 30. The only thing that worries me are the various comments that he isn't great on crosses, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Welcome!

If you're thinking of exploring the region, I can recommend Lincoln, especially the area up the hill. The cathedral is stunning and very underrated. It's less than an hour's train ride from Nottingham.

The backgrounds they're using on social media look like that, but I haven't seen the actual shirt unless I'm missing something. Maybe I'm getting demanding in my old age, but I'm coming over soon and it would have been nice to have one.