WWSM2008: Notts County - Do you really wanna know where those Hats have been?

[Coffee Warlord]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Long story short, unknown in most circles, Rob Nielsen's theories on football tactics and strategy drew the interest of Notts County, England's oldest professional club. Eager to rekindle interest in the financially secure but talent-poor club, they give the young American a shot. Thus far, it's paid off.

To bring us up to date...

2007-2008
We started with mostly useless players, no transfer budget, and only about $1,000 / week available before we hit the wage limit. We managed to transfer out several of the deadbeats, hit the free / dirt cheap transfer market, and finished a respectible 7th in League 2. Midfielder Jay Davis was excellent up front with not so much in the way up help (our strikers were mostly a collection of shit), and won Supporters Player of the Year.

Not surprisingly, the board was quite pleased.

2008-2009
I was not going to allow anything to come between me and promotion this season. We had a fair amount of money to play with on the market (the club started at a value of about 1 million, and steadily increased as we made major profits). I decided to issue the edict that the players would receive a larger-than-normal cash bonus for finishing top table, and they were quite excited.

We made a nice splash on the transfer market, picking up a pretty fair striker in Simon Dawkins, as well as signing 2 young keepers, Italian Vito Mannone and German Fabian Luccassen, who will remain key players on the club for quite some time. We jettison our free-transfer human landfill keeper to the reserve squad, where he will play out his contract and go far, far away.

To summarize...Dawkins racks up the goals, finishing 1st in League Two in that category, and we hang on to secure the League Two Trophy!

2009-2010
And what becomes a continuing theme for us starts. Our leading goalscorer, Mr. Dawkins, decided he had enough with Notts County after dominating, and forced us into transfering him. Fucker.

Our first foray into League One goes quiet well. Armed with an improved xfer budget and recently improved training facilities, we pick up Liberian striker Francis Doe on a free, who is just sheer awesomness. He decimates Dawkin's goal and assist records, and we roll into 3rd place in League One in our first season up!

2010-2011
It falls apart here. We're looking to the Championship, but our team isn't cooperating. Doe, surprise, finished last season upset with us because we didn't want to transfer him, he came back from holiday pissed at us, and we wound up having to let him go. Got a nice fee on him, but dammit, I wanted some consistency at the striker position. No such luck.

We had something like 3 million to spend on players, however, so I go in thinking we can throw down some serious money on a stud striker. No such luck. Either they don't want to sign, or I can't find anyone worth the money I'd be willing to pay.

So we open the season with essentially 4 pre-pubescant strikers on the first team roster. It goes predictably, and we struggle to get anything going. About halfway in, I move us from our familiar 4-1-2-1-2 to a 4-2-3-1 in an attempt to switch things up, which does...alright for the remainder of the season. Vito Mannone does absolutely stellar work between the posts, and we manage to scrape a 5th place finish. And get absolutely slaughtered in the promotion playoffs.

However, there is one major highlight. Notts County took home the Johnstone's Paint Trophy! But regardless, a dissappointing season in my books after playing so well last season. We simply could not score with any regularity.

2011-2012
And we're up to date. I'm about 20 games in, and will give you the rundown when I get home.

[FrogMan]

LOL, good one

I'll be reading along.

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

You forced me into it.

That, and I'm enjoying the game right now to the point where I actually wanna share it.

And, well, you won't upstage me, you Lutonian Freak!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

You forced me into it.

That, and I'm enjoying the game right now to the point where I actually wanna share it.

And, well, you won't upstage me, you Lutonian Freak!

bah, it never was my intention to upstage you in any way. I too just felt like I wanted to share my stories and well, my wife doesn't care much. Funny thing is, my 10yo son is starting to ask me about Luton.

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

bah, it never was my intention to upstage you in any way. I too just felt like I wanted to share my stories and well, my wife doesn't care much. Funny thing is, my 10yo son is starting to ask me about Luton.

I never thought you WERE trying to. It just sounds fun to say.

[FrogMan]

LOL

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

2011-2012

The Squad
We came off a solid defensive, but piss poor offensive season last year. However, our board gave us 4.7 million to work with. A few big players, a switch back to our 4-1-2-1-2, and I think we can pull this off.

So...first, the roster. And a detailed view of our starting 11 (I didn't really wanna screenshot our entire squad).




GK - Vito Mannone
Oh Vito Vito Vito. You've done so well for us, but you're just not that talented. I'm going to ride you right into the ground till I can find me a stellar keeper who is willing to play here. I'm hoping promotion to the championship will attract the top tier goalkeeping talent to Notts County.

DL - Joe Ledley
Joe is a new signing to Notts County, replacing Robbie Williams as the primary left back. Joe has thus far been very solid, though I've been rotating him in with Robbie, who is no slouch himself, over the course of the season. I feel comfortable having either in this position, though Joe will hopefully be manning this spot for a few more seasons.

DC - Scott Dann
Scott is probably next in the firing line. Don't get me wrong, he's solid, but he's not spectacular. We have a little over 3 million in open transfer funds right now, and I'm looking for a top notch defender to unseat Scott here.

DC - Lloyd Doyley
We brought in Doyley last season, and I wonder if I'm going to give the guy a heart attack. He plays more games than anyone else, and does it quite well.

DR - Simon Francis
Our new team Captain, the squad loves him. Honestly, I wouldn't mind upgrading this position, but I do not want to fuck with cohesion back there, especially with us doing so well.

DMC - Nadjim Abdou
Another new signing to replace our departed ex-captain, he has thus far impressed. I love his all around game, and unlike his predecessor, he has the stamina to last a full match, which is vital in this position.

ML - Richmond Bossman
My offense lives and dies here. The strikers get the glory, but the wings control the game. Richmond "The Boss", has done an incredible job in his 2nd season back.

MR - Dean Sinclair
Dean is our sort of super starter. He splits time with Boyd as AMC, as we have a high quality pure right winger as well. Sinclair is a great guy to have, as I can plug him in at two big positions and feel pretty good.

AMC - George Boyd
George is sort of the guy who gets lost in the shuffle for me, but I've noticed...when he's not in, we're not doing as well.
It's a demanding position, and requires a lot of running across a lot of space. He's also allowed heavy creativity, and is tasked with picking up for the strikers.

ST - Nabil El Zhar
I signed him mid last season, thinking I needed a killer striker. We moved to a different offense, and I wound up playing him as an AMC. That worked...eh. When we switched back to a 2 forward tactic, he was the obvious choice as one of my forwards, and has thus far shined.

ST - Ross McCormack
...but not as much as this guy. 'Nuff said.

[Coffee Warlord]

GK - Josh Lambo
I have a weakness for bringing Americans across the pond, but I'm interested to see how Josh develops. He's a young U20 international, who spells Vito in decent fashion. I try and keep him in low tension games, but he's not bad.

D - Aaron Hardy
Aaron is one of the few players remaining from the original season. He was signed on a free right as I took control, and has moved from a starter, to a spot starter, to a backup. But he does it well, and he's a handy guy to have.

D - Stephen Shirley
Another first season signing who I just...can't get rid of. He's so easy to plug in to rest my defenders and DMC, and does a fair job. Gotta love him.

D - Patrick Fischer
Heh. Poor guy. We picked him up this offseason as a reserve defender, and he ran his mouth in the press, which pissed off the fans. And, well, he hasn't done much in his limited playing time to change their minds.

D - Robbie Williams
His third season here. He began sharing time at left back with a now departed guy I can't remember, he started last season, and now he's back sharing time with Ledley. He is an AWESOME penalty taker, as well as the squad's vice-captain. Great guy to have.

Coming next, midfield/wings.

[ArlingtonColt]

I guess Nabil El Zhar was quite a find for my Blue Shield premier team

I think I got him for 22k, he has been superb for me so far (Stevenage)

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by ArlingtonColt

I guess Nabil El Zhar was quite a find for my Blue Shield premier team

I think I got him for 22k, he has been superb for me so far (Stevenage)

Jerk! I payed 900k for him.

[Coffee Warlord]

M - Kristoffer Andersen
He signed on to start, but really never won a full time place. That said, however, he's a good winger who has continually played very, very well for us. His contract is reasonable as well, so I fully hope to keep him on for awhile.

M - James Ryan
He is neither Harrison Ford nor Alec Baldwin. An 18 year old who has a lot of potential, I don't play him all that often, but he's handy to have, as he's so versatile. Hopefully he'll develop well and turn into a good talent down the road. Were it not for the fact I did need an additional body to cover my wing positions, he'd be on the reserves this year.

M - Cedric Evina
Cheap, young left winger I picked up this year as a backup. Don't really have a lot to say about this guy right now. He's a decent talent, but needs to develop more if he is ever gonna have a shot.

F - Tom Webb
This is the feel good story for Notts County this year. I bought him 3 years ago at the tender age of 17, and let him develop in my reserves since then. As I needed a 4th striker for my squad, I decided to take a look at him. And, well, damn. This dude scored on his league debut, and actually has pulled down 9 goals in limited action this season. Very very impressive.

F - Ryan Donaldson
The high priced kid. He's only 20, I paid 2.3 million for him last year, and he was somewhat of a dissapointment. He's got the potential, I think, I just don't know if he's going to shine the way I had hoped. He has done well this year, though. Just not THAT well.

[Coffee Warlord]

Tactics



We run a counter-attacking 4-1-2-1-2 that stresses one thing: speed. If you're not running, you're not playing our football.

A rough overview of how we line things up....defensively, it's fairly straightfoward. Our centerbacks are instructed to play DEFENSE. They basically have just two objectives: 1) defend, and 2) pass the ball as far away from you as possible. Our left/rightbacks are slightly more offensive minded, as you can see from the arrows. They are still slightly defensive minded, but back up the wings and provide deeper crosses for our forwards.

Our DMC is the cog. He is primarily the 5th defender, but he is required to push the ball forward if our defense isn't long balling it. I'm still not 100% happy with the decisions this position is making (reflection of my tactic, I think, not my player). They tend to sit on the ball too much at times, but I'm leery of allowing more run with ball on this spot. I don't WANT him dribbling, I want him to be a toll booth en route to my forwards.

The wings are the death inducing jobs. They run...the entire pitch. On defense, I have them man-marking their counterparts, so they are covering a lot of turf. We have a slight focus on outside passing in our offense, so these guys get a LOT of action with the ball.

The AMC is my roamer. He is given a free role, and I basically instruct him to find a way to help the offense. He doesn't score a whole lot in this tactic (aside from the occaisonal rebound goals and 20 yard cannons), but he does get a good amount of assists.

The strikers, well, duh. They're designed to get the ball on breaks and score. Fairly simple there.

[Coffee Warlord]

December, 2011
We head into december absolutely rocking league one, with 14 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses, 37 goals for, 14 against. Amazingly, newly promoted Wycome is right there with us, just 3 points behind. Unreal how good they're doing.

In cup action, we're the defending champions of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, and are through to the North Semi Final at the moment, basically cruising. We lost a well fought match to Premier side Bolton in the 2nd round of the League Cup, and are through to the 2nd round of the FA Cup.

Ross McCormack is 2nd in League One goals scored, with 15, and is tied for 1st in MoM awards, at 7. He also picked up player of the month honors for November.

And in recognition of our stellar start, yours truly has been named Manager of the Month for both September and October this season.

We're still half poking around at adding a new centerback, but it's slow going, and I'm in no hurry, especially with how well we're playing.

[Coffee Warlord]

By the way, a little quick club overview at this point.

Notts County
Reputation: Regional
Rivals: Nottingham Forest, Mansfield, Lincoln, Petersborough
Finances: Secure
Estimated Value: 19.25M (up from 1.1M at the start of 2007)
Stadium: Meadow Lane
Stadium Size: 20,300 all-seater
Training Facilities: Good
Youth Facilities: Adequate

We've asked, and had, our training/youth facilities upgraded a couple times. I've inquired about investing in a stadium upgrade, and the board assured me that a plan was in the works. Waiting to hear more there.

[Coffee Warlord]

December, 2011 Review
A LOT of matches, and I'm working hard to keep guys fresh. But, despite 1 tough loss, we play well. Most notable was our CLOSE 1-0 victory over 2nd place Wycombe, padding our lead in the league table by a little more.

I'd like to single out Ryan Donaldson, our #3 striker, who has been absolutely stellar for us. He came on as a sub and pulled off that goal vs Wycombe, and 2 days later, while most of our players were still tired, pulled off a hattrick in just 40 minutes of play, en route to a 4-0 victory over Bournemouth!

Match Review
-------------
vs Macclesfield (0-0 D) (FA Cup 2nd Rnd)
at Petersborough (4-1 W) (League 1)
at Hartlepool (2-1 W) (League 1)
at Macclesfield (3-1 W) (FA Cup 2nd Rnd Replay)
vs Barnsley (0-1 L) (League 1)
at Wycombe (1-0 W) (League 1)
vs Bournemouth (4-0 W) (League 1)

League 1 Table
---------------
Notts County - 56 pts
Wycombe - 45 pts
Cardiff - 44 pts

Awards
-------
Ryan Donaldson won young player of the month.
Rob Nielsen places 3rd in manager of the month voting.
Ryan Donaldson places 3rd in goal of the month voting.

[BYU 14]

Millwall has a little something for Notts when we finish with West Ham baby!

[Coffee Warlord]

You know, I had no idea about that nice handy screenshot button. Lordy, sure makes doing a full roster shot easier. So, here's the full team.

This is fairly indicative of where each player USUALLY plays. A few are hard to classify, since I plug them in wherever. A position by the player denotes who I consider my 'starter' in that position.

Goalkeepers
GK - Vito Mannone
Josh Lambo

Defenders
DR - Simon Francis
DC - Lloyd Doyley
DC - Scott Dann
DL - Joe Ledley
Aaron Hardy
Stephen Shirley
Patrick Fischer
Robbie Williams

Midfielders
AM - George Boyd
DM - Nadjim Abdou
MR - Dean Sinclair
ML - Richmond Bossman
Kristoffer Andersen
James Ryan
Cedric Evina


Strikers
ST - Nabil El Zhar
ST - Ross McCormack
Ryan Donaldson
Tom Webb

[Coffee Warlord]

January 2012 Review
Things are getting tougher for us. We took a couple of bad losses, and in general have not looked as crisp as we have all season. I think it's just due to the ungodly mass of matches we've played in the last couple of months. It's a very busy time, and I'm doing everything I can to keep my players rested. But really, there's only so much you can do. Excitement abounds, however, as we bring in Goalkeeper Graeme Smith from Leeds. The Scottish former U-20 player is a big step up in quality for us between the posts. He will take over as our number 1 keeper, with Vito Mannone slipping into a rotation starter. I'd show a shot of his stats, but my web server is down right now.

Match Review
-------------
at Burnley (2-2 D) (League 1)
vs Yeovil (2-1 W) (League 1)
vs Southhampton (3-3 D) (FA Cup Rnd 3)
at Preston (3-1 W) (Johnstone's)
vs QPR (1-1 D) (League 1)
at Southhampton (1-2 L) (FA Cup Rnd 3 Replay)
vs Preston (1-2 L) (League 1)
at ... sigh ... Luton(2-3 L) (League 1) (Die, Luton)
at Rotherham (3-0 W) (League 1)

We're still in good shape at the top of the table, and there's been some serious movement beneath us. Wycombe has finally realised they are not that good, and is nose diving.

Notts County - 64pts
Preston - 58pts
Cardiff - 57pts
Wycombe - 54pts
Swindon - 52pts
Barnsley - 52pts
Southampton - 52pts

[Coffee Warlord]

February 2012 Review
I'm just not happy with the squad's performance right now. We're just too all over the place. One game we'll dominate, the next we'll just look awful. Ryan Donaldson sat on the bench most of this month, in a run of absolutely horrid form. He finally made his way onto the team in the last game of the month, and netted a goal, so I'm hoping he's getting out of his funk. Even more terrifying is the fact that McCormack has had a run of 4 straight 6-rating games. Totally out of character for him. The good news is, we're hanging on in the league. No one has been able to close the cap, which is good, 'cause I just don't know how we're gonna finish this season. Hopefully we'll pick it up.

Another scary thing...George Boyd, Robbie Williams, Lloyd Doyley, Nabil El Zhard, and Richmond Bossman all have expiring contracts. And none of them are interested in re-signing right now. That's a lot of high quality starters we may lose. Eeep.

And unfortunately our quest to repeat as Johnston's Paint Trophy winners came to an end vs Burnely, who won on away goals after a rather dubious penalty was given to give them the win.

Match Review
-------------
at Northampton (1-0 W) (League 1)
vs Cheltenham (3-0 W) (League 1)
vs Hull (0-0 D) (League 1)
at Swindon (0-1 L) (League 1)
at Burnley (1-0 W) (Johnstone's Leg 1)
vs Cardiff (2-0 W) (League 1)
vs Burnley (1-2 L) (Johnstone's Leg 2)

League Table
-------------
Not a lot of movement at the top, though Wycombe is continuing their free fall.

Notts County - 74pts
Preston - 65pts
Swindon - 65pts
Cardiff - 63pts
Barnsley - 60pts
Wycombe - 59pts

[Coffee Warlord]

March 2012 Review
Better on a few fronts, but we're still not in the form I've come to expect out of these guys. The good news is McCormack finally broke out of his rut after I publically challenged him to actually show up for a match. He's picked up his game, and it coming back on form. Also encouraging is the fact that several players decided to re-sign. We're now set to lose El Zhar, Doyley, Boyd, and Dann, but of those, El Zhar and Doyley are willing to talk. Of the other two, I would like to keep Boyd if possible. Dann, I can replace.

One more match to play before the full end of March....and god did it suck.

Match Review (everything is League 1)
-------------
vs Oxford (1-0 W)
at Southampton (2-2 D)
vs Crewe (2-0 W)
at Accrington (3-0 W)
vs Blackpool (0-0 D)
at Norwich (3-5 L)
vs Hartlepool (0-1 L)

5 matches to go, we have an 8 point lead on second place Swindon. Cardiff and Preston are the only other teams who could catch us at this point.

[Coffee Warlord]

Notts County Wins the Coca-Cola League 1!
It went down to the wire, with the Magpies claiming the title only in the second to last game of the season, but we did it, and Notts County will be heading up to the Championship next season!

So, with the playoffs going on, we're now scavenging the world, looking for new players to sign to keep us competitive. We're set to lose 4 starters next season, George Boyd, our 2 centerbacks, Scott Dann and Lloyd Doyley, and right winger Dean Sinclair is being shopped, as we have already inked a deal for his replacement.

Our targets are pretty straightforward. I can get either a new AMC or a new striker and move Nabil El Zhar back to center midfield, and obviously, we need defenders. Other than that, I'm happy with our depth, though an extra midfielder would not go amiss. We'll see how much we have to work with for next season.

Also, I intend to cancel our partnership with Derby, and take on the role of the parent club with a lesser team. Should be interesting.

Still haven't heard anything about the stadium we're supposed to get.

[NoSkillz]

Congrats on the promotion!

I remember Doyley when he played for Watford. Any chance of him being interested in staying aboard now that you are moving up a division?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by NoSkillz

Congrats on the promotion!

I remember Doyley when he played for Watford. Any chance of him being interested in staying aboard now that you are moving up a division?

He gone.

Update prolly tomorrow on our offseason.

Teaser: Promotion to the championship didn't do much for our finances, with the big payouts and the wage bill being heavily bumped up. We had some tough decisions to make to keep the financial stability of the club intact.