UniPie

Notts face yet another important meeting tomorrow afternoon at Meadow Lane. The visit of Tranmere Rovers is hardly a glamorous one, but an ugly performance is all that it will take to relieve the pressure on the pies. Chris Kiwomya has made a lot about not having a starting eleven and suffering from constant injuries and suspensions. However, I take a different view and believe that the management just cannot nail down the best set-up and team. This is by no means a jibe at the management, they shook things up with a different formation on Tuesday night. Whilst it saw more shots by Notts, the defence were left abused and exposed. It’s hard to imagine that the 5 goals shipped on Tuesday will put him off an attacking approach tomorrow though. It is hard to say what formation Kiwomya will adopt. With the emphasis on attack it would be surprising to see any of McGregor, Haynes, Haber, Liddle, Bell or Grealish absent from the starting line-up. Arquin could well start but has been seen to better effect coming off the bench. Sheehan, Leacock and Smith will be amongst the defenders but whether Dumbuya will be reinstalled is another question. Tranmere Rovers have Jason Koumas available again but James Wallace is still making slow progress back from an injury. Tranmere sit 17th with 5 points on the board with their latest result seeing them lose 3-4 to Brentford. They currently have a worse goal difference than Notts by one goal, but their ability to score goals is something Notts will be forced to address. They are likely to play on the counter attack at Meadow Lane so Notts must ensure they do not fall into the trap of all possession and no intent. Notts must make use of their wings and hurt Tranmere whenever possible. Notts are actually favourites with the bookmakers to win tomorrow at 6/4. Tranmere are best priced at 85/40 with the draw at 12/5. This is a very hard match to address in terms of a prediction. This certainly won’t be a match for those hunting out a glamorous attacking football display. It will be a rough, physical match that will require a ruthless approach from Notts. With so much pressure upon the players, nerves will be tingling, but if Notts are able to put in a good display and get a point as a minimum, there will be a lot to build upon after recent efforts. To be frank, we must cross our fingers, get down the Lane and hope that Notts can turn things around. Tranmere, although not world beaters, aren’t fools and will take advantage where they can. You Pies! By James Constantine

Pressure on the Pies - Fortress Meadow Lane holds play to a Notts team looking to break their maiden this weekend and strike up their first win of the 2013/4 season campaign. The visitors, Stevenage, arrive as one of only 3 teams not to score a point this season. Albeit one of those teams is Coventry who are on -4 points having started on -10, after having a point deduction for going into administration back in March. Notts have not been in imperious form themselves so far, facing stiff tasks against two promotion favourites, Peterborough and Sheffield United. Notts will take heart though from the last 30 minutes against Walsall where a much improved display with attacking football started to come to fruition. No doubts about it, Notts really need to be picking up three points here. It is Notts easiest task to date, facing a Stevenage team well out of form. Even more emphasis is placed on the need for a Notts win as last season’s poor home record was a major reason for a lack of points on the table. David Bell looked the part for Notts against Walsall and although sure not to be match-fit, Kiwomya will surely want to get him on the field to show what he can do again. It will a fascinating what Kiwomya decides to do with Gary Liddle. Manny Smith has lacked any run in the side for over a year, but he has improved with every minute he has been on the pitch. I hope he gets his chance to retain the centre back spot with Liddle tried in midfield. It’s the middle of the park in which Notts need to be more effective, and so I feel it would be worth a gamble to try Liddle out in the middle of the park. Graham Westley will hope to keep things tight and hit Notts on the counter attack as they so sorely did in a 2-1 defeat at home last time. Freeman and Shroot look the main dangers in the Stevenage side, but Notts are more than capable of shutting them out. I will be very pleased if Kiwomya really goes for this one and puts out an attacking line up to show the fans what this side can do. Playing it defensively against this side will only make the game tenser and a point will be fairly dissatisfying. So come on you pies! By James Constantine

Pride of Nottingham brings you our Preview, Notts Reignite Season with Feisty Encounter! I remember not too many moons ago when Notts were at London Road facing the Posh in what could be described as one of the feistiest and tensest matches in recent history. A 2-3 all thriller was matched off the field with a good old-style brawl with ex-Notts manager Craig Short getting stuck in. It’s hard to imagine a brawl off the field this time around with the cool composed maturity Chris Kiwomya oozes. It is though unlikely he’ll be sat in his slippers tonight relaxing surrounded by black and white candles in his latest Notts County bathrobe. No, not at all. Instead, the manager has a defensive nightmare upon his hands caused by the suspension of Smith and Liddle along with young Haydn Hollis out injured. This arrives perfectly in time for a match against a Peterborough United side who score goals wherever they go. They slotted a cool five past Colchester on Tuesday night and Darren Ferguson will surely be out to keep things simple tomorrow afternoon. Whilst there is quiet on the Meadow Lane turf now, a ferocious bombardment is seemingly heading Notts way tomorrow with the likes of Bostwick, McCann and Tomlin all hunting for goals. Notts aren’t a damsel in distress though in the face of a brutal, ugly, goal scoring menace in United. Alan Sheehan looks the likeliest to partner Dean Leacock with the mightily impressive Dumbuya slotting in at right back. Perhaps left back will be filled by Tempest? The young lad looks the most natural talent currently being harvested by Notts and he seems most fitting to this position. In the middle, Mark Fotheringham – fozzy to the diehards, is a man who loves a tackle and so long as he watches his discipline, will provide some much needed fight. McGregor looks a talent having been brought in on loan from Celtic and it’s hard not to see him playing after a great display against Fleetwood. In the goals department, the towering Enoch Showunmi must start alongside Danny Haynes, a partnership that could flourish particularly given the formers recent efforts. Showunmi could be the hold-up man we need tomorrow which could allow Haynes to be creative around the big man. Notts could well take the counter-attacking philosophy tomorrow and this could well suit the players we have available. Providing the defence can hold off the immediate attacks of Peterborough and get the balls in good areas and retain possession, anything is possible. The bookmakers have Peterborough at 7/5 with Notts best priced around 9/4 so in theory, they see us having a better chance tomorrow than against United. So for me, a point would be very good to kick us off on the board. Avoiding defeat at all costs is a priority tomorrow and Kiwomya will know we need points on the table. I find it hard to envisage a Pie being unhappy with a point tomorrow… You Pies! By James Constantine

Jeff Hughes returns to Meadow Lane tomorrow evening no more than two months since he departed to the League Two outfit. Having scored on Saturday, the wide man looks to have settled in and there’s a sense that he could well be on the score sheet again tomorrow. Without dipping into the various opinions that have tried to interpret the form of Friday night’s performance against Sheffield United, it is hard to know what Kiwomya will do with the Notts side. It is most likely that the squad will be rotated considering pre-season feels as if it has hardly finished. Without Gary Liddle at the heart of defence, an opportunity could well show itself to Manny Smith who could possibly rate as the most unlucky of Notts’ playing staff. Having not been able to get a game for love nor money, he could finally have a chance to stake his claim to the centre half position. At the top end of the Notts squad, it’s likely that Enoch Showunmi could start after his beautiful strike against United. Who partners him is also wide open with Arquin and Haynes having both been unable to really feature in the United match. Adam Coombes could make his debut; it mostly depends on how seriously Kiwomya would like to take this fixture. Notts are currently priced around 6/5 for the win with Fleetwood just a shade over 5/2. The draw is priced around 3/1 and again I envisage a low scoring game with Notts really needing to display some creativity and ability in passing forward and creating goal scoring chances. It is most certainly not going to be the game of the season; perhaps the best outcome tomorrow is a good Notts performance including some of the newer and younger players. A lot of Notts’ ambitions rest on the players performing consistently and being better in attack than they were last season. You Pies. By James Constantine

In a sense, this is an indirect gem for those amongst us who enjoy the speculation and prediction phases of the modern game and present us with a robust challenge. The challenge of predicting the composition of the league table come the end of the season has thankfully already been undertaken here on Pride of Nottingham. This leaves me with the slightly easier, but still baffling task of dissecting and digesting what may happen come 9:35 on Friday. I must admit, I was slightly worried with the departures of Judge, Hughes and Kelly. A few holes were appearing in the squad and as a Notts fan it is always hard not to feel uneasy. Alas those holes were filled in as quickly as they appeared and it must be said both the backroom and playing staff have done a sterling job in replacing and building what was lost. Dumbuya, Fotheringham, Bell and of course Haynes have entered the squad and seem to have provided grit to the cause so badly needed in League One. Perhaps it is thought, rightly so, that passion and determination are more important on a wet and windy night up in the far North in January than raw technical ability. Thus with Fotheringham already talking like a leader off the pitch, it is thought he can add character to the tough personalities within our squad. Yoann Arquin looks reinvigorated. His goal against Ipswich was a sign more of confidence than of a change in ability. Alan Sheehan remains at Left Back and the solid trio of Bart, Liddle and Leacock are enough to build any great League One side. With some great fixtures and performances across pre-season it is fair to say that nothing bad can be said or aligned to the way in which Notts will have prepared for Friday. A few murmurings of impending signings from Scotland nestle themselves at the glee of fans wanting to see even more quality brought to the side. For the purposes of Friday’s game, we shall leave it to you to speculate on these quietly spoken words. Thus, with Notts looking in respectably fine shape heading into Friday’s game, what can we expect from Sheffield? They harbour a new manager at the helm in the form of David Weir who has wasted no time in imposing himself on a rather flat side who lost out in the play-offs of last season. Febian Brandy, remember him? He has been brought into the side along with Lyle Taylor, a 23 year-old who netted 29 times for Falkirk last season. Conor Coady has come in on-loan from Liverpool to support the other end of the United side already boasting Liverpool first team appearances. Both sides will want to start with three points, talk about stating the obvious. But I don’t see either team being too open at the back. Important to start out well and accumulate points early on, I fail to see either side willing to take too many risks in going for broke to fulfil this theory. A front two likely to compose of Haynes and Arquin, will both be raring to make a goal scoring debut in the 2013/14 season. From my perspective though, I would be very happy to come away with a point and see a good solid performance with lots of potential demonstrated. It would not be far off in saying we are about equal with Sheffield United going into this match in terms of new signings and pre-season activity. The bookmakers tell a different story though with United best priced 20/21 to win with Notts a 10/3 shot. Reputations should be avoided with no competitive matches having been undertaken at this point and thus my prediction for this Friday is a good display with a 1-1 draw. Or, if I’m being cheeky, a 1-0 victory to Notts. You Pies James Constantine. @JConstantine22

After an astonishing end to the previous season, all the signs pointed towards Keith Curle developing Notts into strong play-off contenders, perhaps even more. But just as quickly as the leafs fell from the trees, Notts sleepwalked into an abyss. The confident squad, filled with match winners such as Zoko, Judge, Liddle and Leacock turned into draw specialists. Notts managed only one win, a surprise 1-0 victory against Swindon, in an eleven match streak which saw the month of December go by without a single victory. Thrown into the mix was a thorough drumming by Rotherham in the FA Cup. We sit here now with the season over and summer on the horizon. Fans get ready for a month without the worry of the next home match or whether they will have to endure one of the woeful sausage rolls in the Kop. Unlike most normal seasons however, something does not feel quite finished yet at Notts. Normally we would talk about new signings towards mid-June and the list of those released would normally be about as surprising as the mud laden state of our pitch. This time however, the war drum is being thoroughly beaten by Chairman Trew. Reports of a slash in our budget of 30-40% strike a distinct fear into the hearts of those who want to see Notts sign proven goal scorers and recognisable, quality names in midfield. Whilst fans understand that cuts need to be made in order to comply with the new Financial Football League legislation and to secure the long-term future of our club, one cannot lose the initiative on progression. Who couldn’t be happier to see Romello Nangle and Tyrell Waite grab a goal each in our final two matches of the season? Curtis Thompson and Haydn Hollis look sure to feature heavily in the Black and White stripes and no one would deny that bringing through the youth is a great strategy and investment. But one mustn’t lose touch with reality. The quality of League One this season has been bitterly poor; many fans saw this as a very big opportunity missed. Next season, larger clubs will be entering through the Championship trap door and strong teams from League Two will also be gracing our League. The idea that League One will be anything but stronger next year is totally incomprehensible. But why is this important? This is important because if speculation is to be believed, Judge is as good as gone. Bishop, Zoko, Arquin, Showumni, Bencherif all look to be shown the door and even Jeff Hughes could potentially be on his way out. It is hard to see how our budget can be slashed by 40% without nearly all of these players leaving. Even the likes of Campbell-Ryce could be heading on the next train out of Nottingham should finances not permit an extension of his stay. If the majority of these players were to leave, it would be naïve to believe we could replace them with matching quality on significantly less money. So with some of our best talent on the way out, the introduction of more youth players and a far stronger League on the horizon next season, can Notts realistically aim for anything higher than where we lay now in 12th? The answer is no. No fan wants to see their team turned into mid-table fodder, it is not in Notts County’s nature to be in 12th spot. It doesn’t feel right not being on the edge of our seats right until the last game of the season either trying to avoid relegation or seal promotion. So what are we looking for as a club over the summer and into the new season? The answer to this question will vary widely from those who want to see money invested from the top down to buy in the talent for promotion compared with those who are happy to wait for bottom up results from the youth. Next season will be decided in the months June to August. Chairman Trew cannot rely solely on more youth to create a squad with top 12 credentials next season, nor can he allow the likes of Hughes or Liddle to leave and not expect us to slip down the table. The obvious gamble being taken may result in dwindling attendances and the need for even more cutbacks should the youth fail to bring in attractive, goal scoring football and most importantly, wins. Conversely, we can neither expect more investment from the top, something Trew has ruled out more times than a monorail. So with all things considered, our conclusions on next season’s predicament are not the exciting and plentiful paths to glory as we may hope. The first phase is likely to see Rodwell filling out P45’s with a large proportion of our squad on the way out. Rodwell’s pen will be out again in drawing up numerous contracts for new youth players set to turn pro. Along with the exit of current players and the restocking of the shelves with young pro’s, Kiwomya will come into his own as he searches for players to complement the youth. His first target must surely be a striker, or three. Notts’ tragic failure to score has undermined what is largely unnoticed as one of our best defences in years. Sheehan, Liddle, Leacock and Kelly with Bart in behind has surely got to be one of the strongest back fives in the League. If Kiwomya can galvanise this defence, bring in some reliable and committed players with proven records at a similar level to our current position, progress is very realistic. Trew’s vision of a home-grown player fully establishing himself as a first team pro will take time, equally time worth waiting for. If Kiwomya can find the balance between the long term youth vision and next season’s viability as a competitive and prosperous team, then we really could be in for better times. If he misjudges this though, it could be quite catastrophic. For all that has been said, let’s enjoy the very weeks that our blood pressure doesn’t sky rocket and hope that a sensible and cohesive plan is in place to bring the best out of our club. You Pies. By James Constantine

After a disappointing showing on Wednesday night, Notts have had just 2 full days to prepare for Saturdays away trip to Crawley. With Wednesday looking like 2 points dropped, it seems Notts will be unable to reach the play offs this season. So with this in mind, let us have a look at what tomorrow might install. Notts are 3 places higher sat in 10th over Crawley by 2 points. However Crawley have 2 games in hand over Notts and for a team that has been very quiet all season, Crawley will be looking to join Notts on level points. Crawley have lost 1 game in their last 5 matches and beat Bury 2-0 in their latest match whilst drawing to Carlisle 1-1 in the match prior to that. Notts’ loss on Wednesday came on the back of a win against Carlisle and a point against Tranmere. The biggest blow for Notts comes as Dean Leacock picked up his 10th yellow card of the season and will miss tomorrows match. Leacock has certainly been a lynch pin of the Notts back four (or three) and will be sorely missed. This will provide however a chance to Manny Smith who has been suffocated of any game times this season. Of course, this is no certainty as Haydn Hollis put in a solid performance on Wednesday and could be partnered up with Gary Liddle at centre half. Both John Cofie and Julian Kelly are likely to miss out on tomorrows match with a facial injury and hamstring problem respectively. Crawley could see the return of their top goal scorer Billy Clarke who has netted 12 goals already this season. He did not feature midweek and is likely to be much stronger and fitter in time for Notts’ game tomorrow. Crawley captain Josh Simpson is still absent with an ankle injury and Kyle McFadzean is still absent with a virus that he contracted in November. Tomorrows match is certainly one in which features many injuries and absentees. Notts, although collecting more points than has been the case this season, have not been performing to a very good standard. It is likely that tomorrow will be a scrappy affair with both teams attempting to grind out a result to better off their standing. Notts still look unable to score and with Leacock missing, the midfield will be oh so vital in protecting the back line, as well as aiding the front pairing. With all this considered, I am going to predict a draw tomorrow. The speculative score prediction would be 0-0 with Notts looking unable to do anything but defend and Crawley being a middle of the park team who have not been able to break down teams this season. All that said, expect a 4-4 all draw tomorrow…

Keith Curle has today been relieved of his duties as Notts County manager with immediate effect. Notts were disappointing against Hartlepool with the performance not reaching the standard of a team who sat nearly 30 points above then bottom of the league Hartlepool. Notts now look forward in their search for a new manager to replace Curle, and with a few big names jobless at present, speculation will be flooding the media for the next week or two. Being a Notts fan it is not unusual to expect sackings and changes of manager. A poor run of form when many believe Notts should be at least battling away in the play-offs would most normally be the primary reason for a manager’s departure. In this case however, Mr. Trew explains that ‘this (was) a business decision as much as a footballing one’ going on to explain that ‘fans are obviously key to the club and their support is essential’. Whilst many will over-look this as they begin to dream of big name managers such as Nigel Adkins or Simon Grayson, that small quote demonstrates something quite extraordinary. Perhaps that Trew was forced into sacking Curle not as a result of the loss to Hartlepool, but rather the resulting expectation of a miniscule attendance for Notts’ next home game. I feel that fan power has truly cost Keith Curle his job and one can imagine a sympathetic call to Curle on Sunday afternoon from the board. Alas, with Keith Curle gone and Notts still able to push into the playoffs with a good run of results, Curle will become a distant memory. I would suggest that the next manager to appointed will be one with good public relations, especially in interviews and winning the respect of fans. If there’s one thing Mr. Trew wants, that is much increased home attendances to get money circulating around Notts again. With a capable squad and the right manager at the helm, the potential for a great season is not all lost.

Adam Faiers is the Chair of the MK Dons Supporters Trust and a keen cyclist. This season, Adam has combined the two to set upon a remarkable task by cycling to every single away match MK Dons play in this 2012/13 season. Just this Tuesday been, Adam cycled 81 miles to Nottingham to watch their game against Notts County and has a further 120 miles to ride this weekend to watch MK Dons face Sheffield Wednesday in a tricky encounter. Adam is raising money for the MK Dons disability teams and a specialist school for the disabled in Milton Keynes and has so far raised over £1800. All the support and donations you can provide would be so greatly received and you can do this by following this link: http://mkdsa.co.uk/i...php/latest-news as well as being able to track Adam’s progress. Continuing with the community spirit, I am sure everyone at Pride of Nottingham would like to congratulate Adam Faiers for his work so far and upcoming across this 2012/13 season. James Constantine

After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Brentford, the boo’s that immediately followed from around the ground after the final whistle were noticeably loud. Having seemingly copied the same script from when they last played Rotherham; Notts dominated with slick passing football, and definitely deserved their first goal. However, it was unsurprising that Notts capitulated again after only 30 minutes and parked the bus only for it to be driven away by a committed Brentford, worthy winners of all 3 points. What was most worrying about the loss to Brentford was the sluggish, almost disillusioned body language that came across from the Notts players. The lack of marking, lack of creativity and most importantly a lack of a goal threat after the half hour mark saw the worst Notts performance in League One all season. But what is going wrong? This article attempts to factor in the numerous issues that seem to be surrounding Notts at the moment. Many fans have a number of concerns and we hope to come to a conclusion about why, after a fantastic start to the season, Notts are beginning to drift into a worrying slump. One of the most mysterious issues surrounding the club at present is the Lee Hughes saga. The news broken by Colin Slater pre-match on BBC Radio Nottingham stating that Hughes had provided a sick note ruling himself out till January raised many eyebrows. Keith Curle’s defensive demeanour in his post-match interview suggests that something is not quite right behind the scenes, including reports of Yoann Arquin leaving the ground during the match. Of course the facts of both these situations are unclear, it is unlikely we will find out exactly what is happening at Meadow Lane for some time, but nevertheless it does appear to be unsettling for both fans and players. What makes the situation even harder is that these two players have goals within them, and that is something that Notts are missing right now. All we can hope for is that the Lee Hughes situation is dealt with swiftly whether he stays or not, and that Arquin is back in the squad as soon as possible after apparently enduring an injury. On the topic of players, the general consensus would agree that Notts do have very capable players. Notts have a completely different squad to the one that saw them run so close to the play offs towards the latter half of last season. Curle’s signings of Leacock, Liddle, Bialkowski and Boucaud have all been extremely consistent adding a much needed backbone to the Notts squad. The likes of Arquin, Zoko and Campbell-Ryce look to have real potential but have unfortunately been inconsistent and absent from games throughout the season. At times, the whole squad has blended very well and produced footballing master classes that have seen us put in some spectacular football and dominate whole matches. But with one win in the last seven, Notts have not looked anywhere near the mark of previous matches. There is less confidence, less structure and Notts’ played frustratingly slow backwards football against Brentford which ultimately turned into a long ball game, extremely “predictable” as Curle called it post-match. An over-reliance on Alan Judge may be turning our game into a one dimensional system, Notts certainly lacked a killer instinct yesterday and with only Iwelumo and Showunmi available upfront, both took it in turns (unsuccessfully) to be fed decent balls for which neither received. So whilst holding a very strong squad, but suffering from a lack of a big goal threat, what is ultimately leading to poor results and very poor performances? Our discussion has ultimately led to Keith Curle. As we have already established the players have the ability and so it is up to Curle to be addressing our problems. It seems clear that fans agree that the passing game we have adopted is the right path to be pursuing. However most are ultimately displeased with the painful lack of threat that is present when Notts do obtain possession. Whenever Notts score, they drop further and further back, and with better finishing, Notts may have been demolished by Rotherham, Brentford and possibly even Yeovil. So Notts require something a bit different, something to change and it is down to Curle to provide that motivation and the impetus to improve. It was pleasing to hear his displeasure with our second half performance, stating that Notts did not play his ‘style’ of football and that much is certainly true. Calls for Curle’s head are shocking, and totally misguided. The brand of football, the philosophy that Notts are pursuing is the best for over a decade and Curle has clearly an eye for talent with the players he has brought in and built upon this season. Bishop has already scored five goals this season and demonstrates the easily unnoticeable work by himself and his backroom team to change aspects of player’s games and improve Notts as a team. Curle needs our backing and with a tough Christmas period ahead, Notts need to attract more people down to the Lane by addressing our home results. Only 4,700 home fans attended yesterday’s game and although it is the run-up to Christmas, it remains slightly worrying. The real test for Notts will come in January; holding onto Judge is vital as is addressing Notts’ lack of goal prowess upfront and potentially a lack of width and a natural left-sided winger. Jeff Hughes who used to fulfil this role has taken an ever more central role under Curle. Therefore, all should not panic. It is a bad spell, a slump and providing Notts can stem the rotten form, we will be fine. Notts are far from firing on all cylinders this season and providing they can maintain touching distance with the top of the table, Notts will continue to remain in a strong position, they are of course only 6 points from top spot. It is my opinion that whoever remains in touch with the top of League One and finishes the season strongest will win the league. So do an unnatural Notts thing and relax, read ‘The Mag’ and look forward to a hopefully active Notts in the January transfer market and let us get behind our lads.