Notts County fans remain exasperated at the ever-flailing fortunes of this once great Football Club.
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They currently stand in the bottom two of ‘League 2’.
Simply saying "not good enough" is a big understatement to say the very least. It is nearer to appalling.
And not just because of the history of this club. But because the fans deserve to expect the players to achieve something much better. It just simply isn’t happening for Gary Mills’ men.
Today, as they travelled the short distance to Northampton Town, Notts fans would be forgiven for not bothering to attend. Last weeks horror showing at home to the woeful Cheltenham Town had despaired even the most hardened County follower. Notts simply weren’t at the races on that day, but with a new day always comes fresh hope and new expectancy.
Afterall, the Cobblers found themselves in a similar position to the magpies prior to todays proceedings at the Sixfields stadium. They were coming on the back of a 4-1 battering at Mansfield Town, and had also struggled to meet their own high expectations, languishing below mid-table.
The game started brightly enough, with both sides forcing the ball and looking to get the ever-important early goal. With Notts’ recent excellent defensive record, they believed one goal could well do it, and with new boy Youssef Sofiane partnering the returning Glynn Hurst up front, Notts had the pace to exploit a weak Northampton back-line. Unfortunately, as the game materialised, neither could stamp any authority on the match, and it was Northampton who was to leave the field the unhappy ones.
Indeed Colin Calderwoods men would consider themselves unlucky after being denied by the woodwork on three separate occasions, aswell as being most unable to beat Notts’ inspired on loan goalkeeper Wayne Henderson.
Notts had to survive many a corner in the opening exchanges, as Josh Lowe in particular caused some uncomfortable moments in the County rearguard.
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To a certain extent this worked. Notts were able to revert to a more traditional, more familiar 4-4-2 formation, and the players clearly felt more comfortable. Not that the statistics will suggest that.
Northampton was far superior in terms of chances. Lee Williamson, recently signed from Notts’ neighbours Mansfield Town hit the bar on the two occasions he found himself in promising openings, and throughout the ninety minutes Henderson had to make some fine stops to enable a vital point for Notts County and yet another clean sheet.
Notts’ attacking spurts were in short supply once again, particularly in the opening half. Tony Scully, Notts’ most exciting attacking force in the early stages of this campaign was unable to stamp his authority this time, leaving the forwards in short supply. To be fair to Scully though, he continued to try and forced two major openings himself. Once in the opening period and then again in the second half, but twice he failed to connect properly, leaving himself flustered and into a rare dispute with Mills’ number two Darren Gee.
The second of those chances turned out to be Notts’ best, as Northampton finished the game stronger.
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Gary Mills failed to address certain quarters of the media for the second time this week following Notts third successive blank sheet. In midweek, Mills failed to report to his weekly column in the local paper, and today he seemingly declined to react to the game on local radio, in an England style protest at the media perhaps?
What would he have said? Mills, ever the enthusiast, ever the optimist, may have blurted out the few positives that Notts could take from yet another winless game. David Pipes return to his scintillating best at right back would be one, yet another clean sheet a second, and a point at Northampton isn’t honestly that bad. Wayne Henderson was superb, and the new boys, on the whole, held their own, without setting the world alight.
And Notts must continue to take every positive they can out of every forthcoming fixture. Because things can certainly only get better, as Notts sit, demoralised, second from bottom in the basement football division, awaiting bottom club Southend United at the Lane next Saturday. Must win? You’d better believe it!