Joe Jones

Notts County assistant manager Richard Dryden has given a scathing assessment of the season just gone, describing it as “abysmal” and “heartbreaking”. The Magpies have finished the season in 17th place, losing half of their 46 games and experiencing a number of heavy defeats, including a 5-0 thrashing at Mansfield Town and a 5-0 loss at home against Carlisle United in the final game of the season. In addition three managers have been and gone, while Ray Trew has put the club for sale but has not yet been sold amid a flurry of media speculation over new owners. Dryden said: "Personally I'm glad it's finished because when you know you can't win promotion or get relegated, it's been tough to keep players motivated. "It's best to draw a line under this season. It's been really disappointing this season. We've let everybody down. "I am hurting massively. I came up here as a young lad with Neil Warnock and his ethic was work hard for each other. "I have been up here ever since bar four or five years and Notts is a club close to my heart. It is heartbreaking to see what is getting turned out some times. "We've been short on certain areas. We've not hit the ground running. If we've been scoring goals, we've been conceding them. "If we are not conceding, we aren't scoring. The quality just hasn't been there. Hard work isn't enough. "Everybody at the club has to take responsibility. We've all got to be pushing in the same direction and aim for much higher because this season has been abysmal." What do you think about Richard Dryden’s words? Share your thoughts on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

Notts County defender Blair Adams has criticised himself and the entire team for letting three managers down this season. The Magpies began the season with Ricardo Moniz and, despite some promising early results, the team went off the boil, resulting in the Dutchman’s sacking. Rookie Jamie Fullarton was next at the helm and, similarly to Moniz, a couple of decent results at the start of his tenure were followed by a horrendous run of form. He was next to walk before Mark Cooper stepped in on a short-term deal until the end of the season but, despite marked improvements which helped Notts steer clear of relegation, he still saw two 5-0 defeats and one 4-0 loss under his tenure. Following the 5-0 defeat against Carlisle United, a game which Cooper said he had to get something from to see his contract extended, the ex-Swindon boss decided to leave Meadow Lane, with non-league Forest Green Rovers said to be his next destination. Adams said: "Obviously I am disappointed. We should be at least in the top half of the table, but we were nowhere near it. It was the last game of the season and Mark Cooper has had 10 games in charge and we've not done enough for him. "It wasn't just him that we let down but Ricardo Moniz and Jamie Fullarton. It hasn't been good enough for them and we have let them all down. "I've missed a large chunk of the campaign to be fair, but I am not excluding myself. None of us have been good enough." Share your thoughts on this article by signing up to Pride of Nottingham's website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

Finally, FINALLY, Notts County’s wretched season of 2015-16 has come to an end. Finally, we can consign one of our worst, most embarrassing and most mentally draining campaigns to the dustbin of history. But where do we go from here? I had actually felt somewhat guilty after posting my previous column, where I had longed for the season to be over, but I then found out that a lot of people shared my views. And when I say a lot of people, I mean virtually everyone I’ve spoken to at and around Meadow Lane, in the street and online. They ALL wanted this season over and done with. Just over a month ago I flat out refused to come to Meadow Lane to watch Notts play Exeter in what turned out to be Jamie Fullarton’s last game in charge – good job I didn’t, because it ended 4-1 to the Grecians. This brief mini-boycott came to an end just a week later when Fullarton’s brief reign came to an end and Mark Cooper came in his place, and indeed things turned round on the pitch, our fight against relegation ending in a positive note. After safety was assured, however, it all fell apart again. We went from an upturn in form, which yielded two draws – including against champions, Northampton – and two wins, to losing three on the bounce and conceding 10 on the way, though a win against Newport seemed to somewhat alleviate the pain in the same manner paracetamol will stop a gunshot wound from hurting. And then came the crowning moment to the whole farcical affair – the final game of the season against Carlisle United, which began under a bright blue sky and gorgeous hot weather, soon turned to clouds both above the pitch and on it. It should have been a game of redemption where Notts ended the season on a high and secured either a draw or a win to officially crown Cooper as permanent manager. This being Notts, of course, it had to go wrong. Cooper was heavily linked to the Forest Green Rovers – a team that, at the time of writing, was still in non-league – before the game, with both sources in Gloucestershire and our own Colin Slater saying he had opted to turn his back on the whole “points target” malark for something more stable and less farcical. Indeed, the Magpies gave one of the worst performances of the season against the Cumbrian side, managed by Keith Curle – yet another of our ex-managers who has got a fair measure of revenge this season – the result of which was a 5-0 defeat. And then, almost as perfectly timed as Earl Hebner’s scampering from the Montreal Screwjob (if you’re not a wrestling fan, Google it) or Craig Joubert’s sprint away from the pitch when Scotland were knocked out by Australia in the Rugby World Cup, so was Meadow Lane a shrinking object in Cooper’s wing mirror – he had bailed out on Notts no sooner the season was wrapped up. So, here we are then. The 2015-16 season has come to an end, and I’m feeling like I’ve just done 12 rounds with Mike Tyson. I’m sure many fans will be feeling similar. At the very least, is the future bright? Is it hell. We have no manager, we have an owner who wants to sell but, following a plethora of mixed messages in the media, seems no closer to do so, and we are lumbered with a load of players on two-year deals who seem to be just as disillusioned with the whole farce as us fans. Let me ask you this, fellow Notts fans – over the last three seasons, how often have you actually felt like things were actually going well, either on the pitch or off? I can pinpoint to a handful of moments at most – the Liverpool game, the Great Escape, the five-game winning run in October 2014, the 2015 off-season, the Aston Villa game, and securing safety this season. Out of about three years, we’re talking a total of three weeks, while the rest has been virtually all bad. This season, in my opinion, has been the worst of the lot, bearing in mind the expectations we had at the start. Just being consigned to this pathetic division is bad enough, but when we’re getting turned over by teams whose stadiums still have standing areas, who up until a few seasons ago were semi-professional non-league nobodies, whose badge features a PRAWN, then you know you’ve plumbed the deepest depths the likes of which you would need concrete shoes to reach. Add to that being humiliated by a non-league side on national television, losing twice to your local rivals, falling to a record defeat against said local rivals, and all the chaos behind the scenes, and you have the perfect recipe for pretty much the worst season in recent memory – and Notts have had plenty of candidates since the turn of the century. The other week, Cooper banished Liam Noble away from Meadow Lane and said he will deal with him when he feels like it. Now he won’t have to. Us Notts fans haven’t got either of those luxuries, to either postpone the murky tasks or escape them altogether – once the season is over, it’ll be three months before we have to tune in again for another 46+ games. The reality is that increasing numbers of fans are choosing not to deal with it anymore and are sacking it off. They won’t get season tickets. They are ignoring their heart, which tells them to support Notts through and through, and using their head, which is telling them not to bother anymore because of the heartache, grief, and wasted time and money. In day to day life, relationships – in business, in love, in family, and whatever else – have their ups and downs, and people must take the rough with the smooth, but if the relationship isn’t going anywhere, if one party isn’t pulling their weight or, god forbid, if one party is abusive, then the other party is more than entitled to stop giving their other half any more chances and depart, never to look back. If Notts County want to ensure that fans don’t abandon the club – which, as “sinful” as it is in the world of football, drastic times call for drastic measures – they need to make sure the relationship is fruitful, is going in the right direction, and isn’t abusive. So for the sake of thousands of long suffering fans, Notts County, STOP MESSING US AROUND AND GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. Do you agree with Joe Jones' rantings? Share your thoughts on the Pride of Nottingham forum.

Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst has been named as the favourite with Sky Bet to become the next permanent Notts County manager. The 41-year-old, who will lead his side in their play-off second leg game at Braintree today, is 5/2 favourite to take the helm at Meadow Lane. Former Mariner Wayne Burnett is also said to be in the running at 8/1, behind Richard Dryden, while the names of Ian Hendon, Mark Robins, Malky Mackay, Richard Money and even Sol Campbell - a novelty bet at 80/1 - have been bandied about. The Magpies are managerless after Mark Cooper left the club following their 5-0 defeat against Carlisle United at Meadow Lane. Cooper said he needed a result against the Cumbrians to trigger the prospect of a contract extension, but speculation ahead of the game had linked him to the Forest Green Rovers job. No official confirmation from any club has yet been published regarding the ex-Swindon manager taking on a new role. What do you think of the names mentioned as bookies' favourites for the Notts job and are you happy with the whole debacle surrounding Mark Cooper's stay at Meadow Lane? Share your thoughts by signing up to the Pride of Nottingham website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

Notts County's disappointing season has ended on a low note after Carlisle United struck five unanswered goals at Meadow Lane, while the final whistle of the League Two clash saw Mark Cooper walk away from the club. It took just four minutes for Hallam Hope to set up Newcastle United loanee Alex Gilliead to finish at the near post, setting the tone for what was to come. Just before the half-hour mark Keith Curle's side doubled their lead as Jabo Ibehre pulled the ball back for Danny Grainger to score from 16 yards. And five minutes before the break it was pretty much game over when a calamitous error by Haydn Hollis saw Gilliead claim the ball, and, via a passage of play including Jason Kennedy, get it to Ibehre, who stabbed home. Notts conceded twice more in the second half, Ibehre bundling in Hope's low cross and Charlie Wyke latching onto Hollis' back-pass 10 minutes from time, rounding goalkeeper Roy Carroll and rolling the ball into the empty net. This being Notts County, things obviously had to go from bad to worse as, shortly after the end of the game, it was confirmed that Cooper - one of the most liked Magpies managers in recent years - had rejected further negotiations to seal a deal, and walked out on the club. Share your thoughts on the finale to Notts' season by signing up to the Pride of Nottingham website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

Speculation has arisen linking Notts County manager Mark Cooper with the job at Forest Green Rovers after the Magpies finish their season this weekend against Carlisle United. The Gloucester Citizen has published an article saying Cooper is set to be named as the new boss of the National League side, who are in the playoffs to be promoted to the Football League. Journalist Jon Palmer also posted a tweet appearing confident that the move will take place after the Football League regular season finishes. This week, Cooper talked about how his target-based deal at Notts County is not automatic, and also said "unsettling" deals are part and parcel of the game. He said: "Obviously there has been talk about the (Carlisle) result I need to earn a contract offer, but I just hope we put in a good performance. "It's not an automatic deal that kicks in, the package would need to be agreed. "No discussions have taken place on that side of things because obviously I have not met the target yet. "Is it unsettling? That's football. That's the way the game is. You have to work day to day. "In an ideal world I want to be here, but I have to get a result and see what happens. "If I don't, then I am not too sure what happens there either. All the chairman said was we need to get these points and then we will talk about a deal." Do you think Notts can hang on to Mark Cooper, and who should be to blame if he was to leave? Share your thoughts on Pride of Nottingham's forum.

Carlisle United and Notts County have met on just 29 occasions since their first clash back in October 1959, a Fourth Division clash that was won 2-0 by the Cumbrians. Out of those, the Magpies have won 16 and lost 10, with just 3 draws. Our last meeting was on 19 December 2015, as 3,067 Carlisle fans who made the 170-mile round trip to Preston North End's stadium - during a time of horrendous floods in Cumbria - saw their side comfortably beat Notts 3-0. Carlisle United is one of the northernmost clubs in the Football League, just 10 miles from the Scottish border, and one that’s normally mentioned among the most difficult away days – talk of “Carlisle away” is one for the most hardcore fans, especially in midweek (Newcastle United are further north than Carlisle, however). The Cumbrians have spent a season in the top flight, back in 1974-75, and recorded a double over Everton, as well as home victories over eventual champions Derby County, former titleholders Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers. They were relegated at the end of the season though. Carlisle is the smallest location, by population, to have had a resident top-flight English football club since 1906. Prior to this, Accrington FC, Darwen, Grimsby Town & Glossop North End were smaller. Despite their small stature, the club has experience moderate success with regards to silverware – they have won a Third Division title back in 1965, two Fourth Division championships in 1995 and 2006, and two Football League Trophies, back in 1997 and 2011. Carlisle are famous for one of the most dramatic Great Escape scenarios in all of English football, when on-loan goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scored in the last 10 seconds of their final game of the 1998-99 season against Plymouth Argyle to keep the Cumbrians in the Football League at the expense of Scarborough. --- Liam Noble will miss Notts County's game against Carlisle as he serves the second game of his five-match suspension following his third red card of the season. Izale McLeod came on as a last-minute substitute in last weekend's 1-0 victory at Newport County and could push for a start. Curtis Thompson's long-term ankle injury, meanwhile, will rule him out of the Magpies' final game of the season as he looks to recover in time for pre-season. Jon Stead looks set to lead the line after completing 90 minutes at Newport unscathed after sustaining a head injury in the previous match. Winger Jack Stacey has been recalled by parent club Reading and will miss Carlisle's trip, while Hallam Hope will come back into the squad, with the striker having completed a three-game ban for the Cumbrians. Defender David Atkinson returned to the bench as an unused substitute in last weekend's 2-0 home loss to Oxford following a hamstring injury but could play some part. Young midfielder Patrick Brough filled in for Macauley Gillesphey when he failed a fitness test and will do so again if the on-loan Newcastle winger is still not fit. How will Notts fare in their final game of the season? Let Pride of Nottingham know by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

Notts County have confirmed that they will play Nottingham Forest in a pre-season friendly this summer for Mike Edwards' testimonial. The date of the match against Notts' local rivals has been confirmed as Saturday 23rd July 2016, with a 3pm kick off. Edwards, 35, has made over 340 appearances for the Magpies during two spells at the club, and was a part of the team that lifted the League Two title in the 2009-10 season. The Football League granted the defender and strength & conditioning coach a testimonial year after a committee were successful with their application to honour him. Edwards said: "I'm delighted and humbled to have been given a testimonial and I have a lot of people to thank. "I need to say thank you to Ray and Aileen Trew for their support and the committee for the work they have put in to make this possible. "During my time here I've played in a few pre-season games against Forest and, of course, the League Cup tie. They have always been great occasions and that made it an ideal choice. It's a great match to be involved in whether it be a pre-season friendly or as a competitive game. "It's also good for the city of Nottingham with it being announced as the City of Football so it can bring the two clubs together. It would be fantastic if it were to be more of a regular occurrence. "I'd like to give a big thank you to those involved at Forest for agreeing to the match, which I'm really looking forward to." Will you be attending Mike Edwards' testimonial this summer? Let Pride of Nottingham know by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.

Hundreds of Notts County fans gathered outside Meadow Lane on Thursday to see the unveiling of the statue of club legends Jimmy Sirrel and Jack Wheeler. The memorial, situated between the Derek Pavis Stand and the Trent Navigation Inn pub, was revealed to about 200 supporters at midday. Jimmy and Jack – who took the Magpies from the old fourth division to the English top tier – have been immortalised in bronze after a campaign to raise more than £100,000 was launched in May 2010 following their deaths. The statue, designed by sculptor Andrew Edwards, depicts former manager Sirrel and trainer Wheeler sitting on a bench in a dugout. Were you at Meadow Lane to see the unveiling? What do you think of it? Share your thoughts on Pride of Nottingham forum.

Notts County striker Jon Stead has claimed he would "love" manager Mark Cooper to be given the job permanently and hopes to be part of his plans should that be the case. The former Swindon Town boss is just one result away from triggering a clause which will guarantee a permanent contract offer from the club's owner Ray Trew. With one year left on his contract, Stead is hoping to help Cooper to get a result against Carlisle United on Saturday and subsequently feature in his plans next season, having scored 14 goals for the club since arriving last summer. "I have another year here and I am really backing the gaffer's corner - I would love him to stay," Stead said. "I think he can really build next season given the reins and let him do what he needs to do with the squad. “Hopefully I will be a part of that. I've been half and half in my personal goals this season. “I've done reasonably well with my goals tally and played a lot of games which is nice, but there is more I can do. I want to improve my tally and my all round game." Can Stead lead the Notts County line under Cooper next season? Let Pride of Nottingham know your thoughts by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining the conversation.