It is with great despondency that I type these subsequent words after the events that have transpired today in concerns to my supported team, Notts County. Following the conclusion of our closing encounter away at Gillingham earlier this afternoon, we now find ourselves consigned to the lowest division within the football league that is SkyBet League Two. It is a stat that I am sure the vast majority of fellow supporters will not want to be reminded of, but nevertheless, our cruellest nightmare has indeed come to fruition, and now, we must analyse and assess the causations in order to investigate the causes as to how this unfortunate situation became reality.
I must profess that before the start of the match, I considered the prospect of relegation to be both a blessing and eye opener for the future development regarding our club. The concept behind this thought process would comprise of both a complete overhaul of the playing squad and re-structure behind the scenes at board level, for a club that is in desperate need of financial injection and constructive equilibrium. Irrespective of how despondent I am to see the club be relegated, I still envision that this course of action is necessary for a healthier outlook of our club, but as with all aspects of football, this will require a consistent requisite for solid labour and allegiance from within all sectors of the club, from our experienced board associates, to the faithful, unpretentious supporters that make up our club. We have to recognise that we are where we are, and it is up to us to continue to support the players and Ricardo Moniz, and demonstrate to the rest of the football world that we will not surrender and perish. We will return as a force to be reckoned with, and we will endeavour to provide the city with a team that we can all be proud of next season, regardless of our newly acquired League Two status.
So in what areas do I sense we have been lacking insufficiently in this present campaign? Well, for starters, the shortage of financial import has been displayed significantly throughout the season. It is well acknowledged that we had the forth-worst budget in now our predeceasing league. However, although I do feel sincerely remorseful towards our Chairman Ray Trew and his family, irrespective of his earlier contributions into the club, I do believe that perhaps more could’ve have been instigated into depositing more commercial support into a club that so desperately requires more expenditure clout to strive for more higher goals in the forthcoming future. Can this be achieved with our current board? I genuinely hope so, as I believe that they are decent people. Like countless other fans, I would love to see more wealth pumped into the club within the near future. Only time will tell if this notion will become a reality in the summer.
I also consider the dismissal of Shaun Derry to be unscrupulous in relation to the timing of his departure. I do not believe that he warranted the sack, as I contemplate that it was the player’s responsibility to perform for a manager who commanded respect amongst the majority of our supporters. Shaun was a good man, and I trust that he would have kept the club up in League One had he stayed in charge, much like his performance during the great escape manifestation in the previous season. Sadly, we will never know if this was to be repeated under Shaun, and we now currently have a manager in Ricardo Moniz, who, without meaning to be discourteous, was relatively unheard of amongst the footballing community. An anonymous foreign coach who was thrust into the deep end of the ocean with only a squad that was lacking in self-confidence, it was little surprise that Ricardo failed to establish a run of positive results in sequence, despite the impressive win in our last home encounter against Doncaster. I feel sorry for Ricardo. When it relates any aspect of a job, you can only perform with the tools at your disposal, and with all due respect to Moniz, despite all of his vast tactical knowledge and credentials that he has gained from coaching and winning titles in other countries, he was limited to what he could work with, and thus, it has shown in our unfortunate relegation to League Two.
I do not blame Ricardo, Shaun, or to an extent, the board at Notts County. I place the record accountability upon the shoulders of the players, who perform week in and week out on the pitch for the club. It is all well possessing great levels of skill and ability and having tactical awareness of both the opposition and your team mates around you, but if you do not possess the self confidence to play straightforward attacking football, then ultimately, you will not win the vast majority of football matches, and this has been displayed in our final position in the League One table. We have been too petrified to damage opposition defences in their own half, and not keep enough possession of the ball for periods within a game. We have played far too many long balls to our attacking forwards, and too many times this season have our wingbacks been caught slacking defensively and picked off by opposition forwards. This needs to be immediately addressed on both the training ground and through our engagements during the summer transfer window.
Do I believe that we will be promoted from SkyBet League Two at the first time of asking? I strongly consider the likelihood that we will form a more attacking intent team that will fit the style of Ricardo Moniz’s attacking philosophy next season, with the squad shaped to suit the requirements of the managers footballing strategy over the course of the summer, through player releases and transfer signings.
Regardless of our odds for promotion next season, the main task at hand now is to create a team that will generate a positive atmosphere around Notts County, as well as inspire a future generation of footballers and supporters. The division we are consigned to is irrelevant and eventually, the mourning from todays unreceptive occasion will subside. We must stick together and provide the club with the continued backing and devotion that make Notts County so unique in comparison to any other club within the country. In time, I trust that Moniz will produce the results both on and off the pitch, and we can all gaze back at this catastrophic occasion as a trivial blip on the road to resurrection for Notts County Football Club.
