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Forest Green Rovers have responded to Notts County's criticism of the Liam Noble transfer saga by describing their conduct as "megaphone diplomacy" and suggesting that they have issued false stories in the press and broken FA rules. For weeks, the Magpies have been trying to sign their former player, but this week it was confirmed that he would not be leaving the newly promoted League Two club. This led to Alan Hardy describing the whole saga as a "huge waste of time and effort by everybody at the club" and claimed that he and his club were messed around by FGR. In response, chairman Dale Vince released a statement which read: "We've watched with an increasing sense of bewilderment as Notts County have released a series of press statements about their interest in our player. It's one thing to engage in such megaphone diplomacy, and quite another to put false stories in the press. We have received a series of bids for Liam, the first we considered to be a joke. Their latest 'final' bid we received was not for £100k as their owner claimed in the press yesterday. Equally, the claim made yesterday about us suggesting they could double that amount and still not get him is completely false. We've been very clear from the outset that we did not want to sell Liam and the antics of Notts County since then have only firmed up that position. Liam Noble - Captain of our play-off winning side - is not for sale. We want Notts County to stop what they are doing, including the behind-the-scenes contact with the player, which we consider to be a breach of FA rules. Forest Green Rovers may be the newest and smallest member of the Football League family, but we know how to conduct ourselves and how to undertake a transfer negotiation the right way - quietly and respectfully club to club." Share your thoughts about this story on the Pride of Nottingham forum.

Kevin Nolan has confirmed that Notts County have made another offer for Forest Green Rovers captain Liam Noble and is hoping for "positive news". The Magpies have been chasing their former player for a number of months but the newly-promoted Football League club is playing hardball. Nolan says the matter is now out of his hands, but is hoping the club can seal the midfielder's return to Meadow Lane. "An offer has gone in and we are waiting to hear back from Forest Green," said Nolan. "Hopefully it will be positive news but if it's not, we will then see where we go. "The negotiations have gone quite far, but I've given the club my target and hopefully the chief executive can get it over the line. That's all we are asking now. "But I don't want to speak too much about him, because he's not our player and I want to respect Mark Cooper (Forest Green manager) and Forest Green." Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Transfer sagas are usually the domain of clubs in the upper echelons of the football pyramid. Virtually all the players currently in the middle of the annual soap opera currently play for one top team and are rumoured to desire a move to another top team. Will David de Gea move to Real Madrid? Will Diego Costa return to Atletico Madrid? And so on and so on. It's basically the sort of cliche love triangle storyline you get in your typical soap opera / reality TV show, but adapted to the beautiful game. But a similar "love triangle" is now taking place in the slightly less glamorous surroundings of League Two, and the three parties involved are Liam Noble, current squeeze Forest Green Rovers, and the ex, Notts County. So the soap opera storyline is as follows: Noble was a bit of a bad boy back in the day, let Notts down on multiple occasions due to his disciplinary record, and so he was turfed out, clothes metaphorically chucked out the window and all that. Noble then winds up at Forest Green, where former Magpies manager Mark Cooper - who had previously said the midfielder would not be allowed anywhere near Meadow Lane following one red card incident - was now at the helm. And lo and behold, Noble gets his act together, weighs in with a modest seven goals and a gargantuan 21 assists, winds up becoming captain, and helps get FGR promoted. Oh, and his prior Achilles heel was no longer a problem - just eight yellow cards all season. Now, you'd think a player whose career has been revived thanks to this club, and in turn has helped said club get into the Football League, would be buzzing from a personal and also a team perspective, and would be raring to go in League Two next season, maybe even show the ex what it's missing when it comes to the relevant matchdays. But here comes the twist: Notts have tried to get Noble back, and Noble is reportedly eager to return to Meadow Lane - and FGR are having none of it, with Cooper publicly admitting the club had turned the initial bids for him down. And of course, all this is being played out in front of the public. The Notts fanbase is still split over the prospect of Noble returning. The Remain (at FGR) camp says ex-players should never return to pastures old, or haven't forgiven his previous indiscretions on the pitch, maybe even worrying whether he might return to the red card habits of old, while the Leave camp thinks his spell at FGR has changed him and he would be a much improved player this time round. So what's PON's opinion on this? Well, Noble's had a barnstorming season, his goal tally is decent enough and his assist tally is amazing, and it looks like he's managed to get his act together on the disciplinary level. But the point that sticks is the reported transfer fee - £100,000. Which in League Two / non-league, is frankly too high. For that amount of money, you would expect a player to be unanimously accepted by the fanbase as a player that, in terms of how proven and reliable he will be, is as close to "guaranteed" as you can get. And let's face it, even though he's had a great season, fans cannot be blamed for having doubts over his temperament and whether he would be the same player under Kevin Nolan as he was under Cooper, as well as the fact that League Two is markedly more difficult than the National League, and faced with tougher opposition, frustration may set in again - and we all know how that turned out. So it's a gamble, a big big gamble, and at £100k, a risky one too. Surely for that amount of money we can get one or even two quality players who come with no prior baggage at Meadow Lane? Just our opinion here, but whether this saga rumbles on well into August (or a future transfer window) or it comes to a tangible conclusion either in the form of a contract extension at FGR or the player standing in front of the cameras at the Lane holding a shirt with his name on the back and talking about how he's got unfinished business and wants to prove himself with this second chance bla bla bla... it's one that will continue to keep the Notts faithful talking. Share your thoughts on this feature article by signing up for free to the Pride of Nottingham forum and joining in the conversation.