So, the end of Notts' now annual pre-season training camp in the ridiculously remote Austrian mountains (someone on the messageboard posted a link to Google Maps' satellite view - I think I spotted Ben Burgess' beard) is upon us and Craig Short seems fairly content with what was achieved in Obertraun, with Notts beating SV Austria Salzburg 2-1 and narrowly losing 1-0 to Arka Gdynia. The camp also gave for some great Magpie Player footage, with Stephen Hunt cycling around Obertraun to give us a tour being one of the most bizarre yet brilliant things i've watched all week and Luke Rodgers dive bombing into an Austrian lake being equally entertaining.
We also have access to highlights of the two pre-season games on the player, which feel like they're being watched on a Betamax player, but being able to hear Jim Rodwell's throwaway comments and some angry Austrian swearing whilst watching the game is decidedly more entertaining than the usual commentary. It's also allowed us to do something resembling a match report, which is good news for those who've missed my largely irrelevant ramblings over the summer. We'll start with the game against Austria Salzburg, which saw Notts run out 2-1 winners against the Austria equivalent of AFC Wimbledon, who play in the third tier of Austrian football. The Magpies opened the scoring when Graeme Lee powered one of his trademark bullet headers into the top corner from a Ben Davies free kick, but Davies' regular scuffles with his marker were a better watch and showed that we haven't lost our competitive edge from last season, I mean who starts a fight in a friendly!?! Luke Rodgers got the second goal for Notts after the Salzburg 'keeper decided it was a good idea to come charging out of his goal in search of a ball he was never going to get, but Stuart Nelson upped the stakes in the goalkeeping howlers competition by spilling a shot that was rolling ten yards wide straight at the feet of an Austrian attacker.
An impressive performance in this match from trialist Krystian Pearce prompted Short to say he was interested in bringing the former Birmingham City defender, who had a fairly successful loan spell at Notts as a seventeen year-old, to Meadow Lane on a more permanent basis. Various other trialists also played a part, including Mansour Assoumani, formerly of Wrexham, Kevin Smith, once of Dundee United and Jeremiah Ani, who has played for nearly as many clubs as Drewe Broughton. It must be conceded that the game was only against a lower league Austrian side though and the second game against Polish top flight club Arka Gdynia would turn out to be a far more pressing test, as it transpired. Craig Westcarr did put in an impressive showing though, having two goals disallowed for offside, including one that stopped the Polish 'keeper taking the calamity crown from Stu Nelson. Notts were punished when a 'forty metre stroke' (Polish translations can be interesting) played in a striker who calmly lobbed it into the net. Notts had chances to get a goal for themselves, but Short was impressed by the way the side applied themselves and the football they were playing.
As Stephen Hunt made clear in his magical mystery tour of a remote Austrian village, the players have enjoyed their week away in the mountains far more than they do regular pre-season in the far more glamorous surroundings of Wollaton Park, but it's now a return to Nottingham and four more friendlies. On Thursday, Notts host a 'Stoke City XI', which presumably means a bunch of youngsters we've never heard of and the frozen out James Beattie. At least this means we may not be subjected to endless long throw-ins and having to watch Mama Sibide, though. We then host Cardiff City (for reasons i'm still not quite sure of) and Short's former side Sheffield United, before rounding it all off with the arduous treck north to Arnold Town on July 30th. Short has made it clear that the Magpies' summer spending (on wages, at least) isn't quite complete yet and that one or two more players will be joining the Magpies ahead of the first game of the season against Huddersfield Town on August 7th.