Taking into account Notts' financial situation, If you could choose up to five players of who to bring in to Notts County who would they be? | |||||||
| I saw two young players last season who were out on loan from Arsenal that I would snap up if I had that sort of power and Notts had that sort of money! One was a midfielder at Brentford, Steven Sidwell, and the other was a wide player at QPR, Jerome Thomas. For good measure I would tempt Arsenal to sell me a third player, central defender Liam Chilvers, who Notts had on loan. If Notts acquired those three I dare to say they would be promoted. | |||||||
| What do you think about the cash crisis concerning the lower division clubs? | |||||||
| The cash crisis at Notts and at many lower league clubs, plus some in the First Division, is extremely serious. The collapse of the ITV Digital deal is only one reason for that, though quite a major one, only eased slightly by the new deal with Sky. Clubs will either have to stop living wildly beyond their means or they will go to the wall. | |||||||
| Do you think Notts and Forest will ever merge or even groundshare? | |||||||
| What would be the point of Forest and Notts merging? It doesn't make sense from any point of view. But I do think ground sharing - at a new stadium, not at either of the present grounds - could materialise. I've always thought it a pity that the scheme for a new joint stadium at Wilford was scuppered by Forest. | |||||||
Which match from last season changed the clubs fortunes do you think? | |||||||
| The turning point last season came in one week: Tuesday, 26 February a 1-1 home draw with Colchester; Saturday, 2 March a 3-0 home win over Tranmere Rovers, with a Danny Allsopp hat-trick. That set up the Great Escape! | |||||||
| Colin, a final question from me. Can you please name your Notts County all time eleven. | |||||||
My Notts County all-time eleven, drawn from the seasons from 1959, is: Raddy Avramovic in goal; a back four of Steve Finnan, David Needham, Craig Short and Dave Watson; a mid-field three of Don Masson, Gerry Carver and Willie Carlin; and a front three of Tommy Johnson, Tony Hateley and John Chiedozie. Value in today's transfer market between £30 and £40 million. My five substitutes would be Dean Yates, Nigel Worthington, Mark Draper, Iain McCulloch and Ian Scanlon. Value in today's market between £8 and £10 million. With apologies to many others (such as Don O'Riordan and Dean Thomas) who nearly made it but didn't in the end! | |||||||
| (from Ian Shaw): As a long suffering County supporter since 1966 I've seen the "highs and the lows" and a few surprises along the way. One mystery I hope you can shed some light on is why the club signed Eric Weaver, a reasonably talented winger, in season 67-68 but sold him after just 17 games and 4 goals. My recollection is that he was quite popular with the fans. | |||||||
I remember Eric Weaver as a strong, dashing winger and I am as baffled as anybody else why Notts moved him on so quickly. | |||||||
| (from Colin Smith): What did you think of Tommy Lawton as a striker and how does he compair to other great strikers? | |||||||
As Tommy Lawton pre-dates my time at Meadow Lane and as I only saw him play once or twice I don't think I ought to comment beyond saying that he was obviously a genius. | |||||||
| (from Deryck Flowers): Dear Colin, I am a safety steward, and I was wondering what do you do with yourself in the close season? | |||||||
I enjoy the break from football, time to relax a bit more and recharge the batteries. But this has been the busiest summer I've ever known, the financial problems and going into Administration being the causes for this. | |||||||