NCS Shorts | #2: Anxiety

Hello and welcome to episode two of the NCS Shorts. And this episode is sponsored by TAURUS Network, who cover all aspects of web based services, including websites such as our fantastic NCS news website. So if you require professional, reliable web solutions, please visit www.taurusnetwork.co.uk. So, hello and welcome to episode two of NCS Shorts. Thank you ever so much for all the positivity weeks, the compliments that we got on episode one. And I'm delighted to be joined with not one, but two of our NCS contributors. So I've got Rich with me and I've got Tom. Hello, gents. How are we feeling after what has been, let's be honest, quite a difficult week to be a Notts fan. Rich, first with you. How are you feeling?

I think a little bit shell shocked. Like most fans, I think we've got to be careful not to fall into the trap of despair and thinking we're know a hell of a big hole that we've got to dig ourselves out of and that it's not great. Not great by a long shot and not what we would have hoped for as well as the start for the season. But, yeah, when you've been following Notts County for over 45 years, like me, you get used to starts to seasons like this. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how we get on on Saturday. But as far as the last two games go, not feeling particularly great, though.

And Tom. Over to you. I know how you're feeling privately on WhatsApp messages, so if you can keep this as clean as possible, but how are you feeling over the last week or so and the results and the way things have gone?

Yeah, it's been a roller coaster, to be honest. I've gone for every emotion this week. Obviously, we'll get onto the news later, but it's been from Sutton. It was like standing in the rain there at the time. It was comical. Then it was the day after watching it back, it was anger. Then it was obviously elation at some of the news we've heard during the week, and then again, it was probably disappointment. So it's been a real range. But I'm feeling optimistic is not the word, but I'm feeling okay. We need to be patient, really, is the key word, I think patience, and I think it's not going to be the cleanest start for us. It's not been the best start, but it's done now, isn't it? So I guess we've just got to sort of get behind the players and yeah, there's no point being negative. Look, we're back. So while it's not the best start in the world, at least we've not lost the first two games in the National League, for example. At least we are back. Yeah, real range of emotions, for sure.

No, I can completely echo that, to be honest. And you're absolutely right. It's about being there, isn't it? And it's being up there, I think, which is crucial, and what we've got to do, because I think if you can imagine how we might be feeling first two games into another season of the National League, I think I'd be taking how we're feeling now, certainly. Tom, you were obviously there, so talk us through the Sutton experience, if you can.

Yeah, well, from a certain point of view, firstly, obviously well played to them, and also the experience itself, it was quite enjoyable. It was like being the National League still, and that's no respect to them, but that's the one thing I'll miss about the National League, is those grounds where you can stand and you can hear the players, you can talk to them, they can hear you. So that was great. Shame about the weather, but we were covered, thankfully. So, yeah, the actual day was fine, to be honest with you. The issue was setting of the tone. You could feel the nerves from the players as soon as that first corner was given. You only stood about ten yards away from them and you can feel like the tension before the ball is even put in. So you kind of got the feeling this is going to go in, which obviously is Paul in having that your first defensive action, basically all season, and it goes in. I think it's a game we've learned lessons from, and that's something that was said after Stoke, and I know it's probably not Spans will get tired of hearing, oh, we've learned lessons, but I think Luke Williams has definitely learned some lessons, I think even sounds daft. But going down to ten, I think he made wrong decisions with the subs. And even at the time, to be fair, I probably thought, yeah, Jim would be the one to go off. But in hindsight, with the five subs, should we have taken off the two wing backs, gone with full backs and looked to control the middle? Because in the middle we're just completely overrun. But the takeaways are, I think that we are a little bit lightweight and I don't think we need to necessarily remedy that, because we're not going to bring a load of bruises in and we're not going to play sides that dominate us like that every week. But we need to find our rhythm. We just felt a little bit disjointed and we need to find our rhythm, I think. And I think they're the kind of games where last season Bromley was the parallel draw. We got a draw there late on, it didn't go our way all day, but we got a draw there. So if we'd have played Bromley in the first game of the season last year away, we might have lost there as well. So there's been lessons taken from it, definitely.

Yeah, I think that's a fair point. And I wanted to bring Rich into this as well, because Rich obviously is part know NCS news, you're producing the data sheets as well, and the data reports. Was there anything that kind of stood out to you from the game that maybe either echoes some of the things that Tom was saying or maybe gives us food for thought going into the next few games? Yeah, definitely.

I mean, if I can, I've just had a look at both games separately, but looking at the same thing, and we're all obviously concerned about defending set pieces and being able to cover properly with the high line and how exposed that is and everything, and we've been caught out with that. Royally? Certainly against Sutton. And one of the things that I found interesting was last season, and again, we have to look at, no disrespect to the quality of the competition last season, but there's probably half a dozen teams that were going to give us a really tough game and the others you'd be expecting to get results against. So certainly with the players that we had for that level anyway. But one of our real strong points was our attacking ability, potentially our territory. Getting the ball down the wings and into the final third was a real big factor of our success last season. And I had another quick look at that this evening, actually, just before we came on, just to have a look, see if there's anything OD that was sticking out. There's a couple of bits of stats I want to give you here that are interesting. Against Sutton, Notts had 599 passes compared to 303 for Sutton. So we're looking at the possession there of the ball, keeping the ball. We played 73 of those passes into the final third, so that was gaining territory, sutton did 43. So based on that, about 12.2% of our passing was given us good territory, good attacking territory, 14% of Suttons. But then you look at the chances created from those and if you think that in the Sutton game, Notts created twelve chances from those 73 entries into the final 3rd, 16%, just 16% of what we did attacking wise actually resulted in chances. Sutton had 13 from 43, that's 30%, nearly double. And I'm going to scare you even more now, because if we look at the same again from last night, where Nottst's managed a total of six attempts on goal from 55 final third entries, that's just under 11% for Lincoln. 18 attempts on goal from 43 final third entries, that's nearly 42% of what they did going into the final third resulted in an attempt on goal. And I think that tells us a big story. There's something lacking in what we were doing last season that was helping us probably cover up the cracks a little bit at the back as well. But we were potent enough when going forward and confident enough not to worry too much about what was happening when we were out of possession, because we were pressing harder and we were getting the ball recoveries a lot quicker. So that was just something that spring to mind. And I think it's probably a bit of an obscure thing to look at, but it still tells a story. And I'm just wondering, I'd be interested in your views, guys, because I do think that we're lacking something in those first two games. Whether it's confidence, whether there's a mental issue or whatever, I don't know.

Well, do you know what? We've all very much sort of love the use of stats and look at it in terms of recruitment as well as tactical applications as well. And one of the criticisms we often hear from those people who don't quite feel the same way is that it's quite meaningless. But actually, I think those stats that you shared with us really reflect the fun experience that we're seeing with Notts. Is that one of the things that I feel that happens not just with Notts, but with any team that starts to feel that anxiety and that kind of that worry is that it's not necessarily that the passes drop. It's the fact that they're not very progressive, they're not very adventurous and they take a lot more passes. Do the actions that they would normally be doing in, let's say, two or three or four actions rather than five, six, seven different sort of passages of play. I think what also happens is when that anxiety is within the team, players get a little bit shorter, so they anticipate that the other player isn't confident enough to play that slightly longer ball, that slightly more confident ball. And so they get a little bit shorter, and therefore that progression is slower and slower, and the tempo gets slower and slower because it just takes so many more passes to get going. And then inevitably what happens is that gives the opposition time to get back into shape. One of the things that I think Ruben was fantastic with, who we're probably feeling the loss of quite a lot at the moment, I think, is he had that confidence to play that slightly more ambitious ball or to carry the ball forward and to really take it to the opposition when it mattered. And I think that's possibly something that we're missing at the moment. And so I'm really hoping that with a pack medal ain't on know, with obviously a flea in their ear from Luke Williams that the players are going to go on there and go, do you know what? We're actually going to find that confidence within ourselves and that confidence with our teammate to make those slightly more ambitious movements to take charge of the game and take responsibility going forward.

Listen, can I just jump in again? We were talking about anxiety and players being nervous and the whole atmosphere of being back in the football league and the impact that might be having on them. But if we have a look at the players that we've got that are senior players for this club. When you're talking about David McGoldrick, bostock. Jim O'Brien, matty Palmer, richard Brinley. Rollo chicks. They've all been there, they've all done it. They're all experienced footballers. And I understand that you get anxious and nervous before a game. We've all played, we've all had that, but this is what they've been doing for year after year after year.

What I might say, though, is that I think we're a unique club and I mean that in the nicest way, but I also think there's an awful lot of unresolved fan anxiety about the style of play. I think last season there was no space for criticism because it was just phenomenal, wasn't it? But I still don't think that every fan is a fan of the way that we are playing. And as perhaps I won't say waited. No fan goes down hoping that their team loses. But I do feel that they've been waiting, kind of like we saw with Ian Birchell as well. And I know that there's obviously differences in the style of play, but there are definitely those, and I think we saw them on comments on social media who aren't the greatest advocate of the way that we are playing and the style of play and the adventurousness or the passing style. And so I think, even though you're absolutely right, we've got players who have got fantastic experience, well above the standard that they're playing at at the moment, and we should really be relying upon that. I think we're quite a unique fan base in what we've experienced as fans over the last few years. That fear factor of being found out, that fear factor of getting to a level that we've been desperate to play out for years and then possibly being found out, or even worse, that all this progress has been. I won't say for nothing, we're a league game in, but you know what I mean. I think that's where the fans anxiety comes in. And it spreads. Of course it spreads. It only takes a couple of people a few seats away from you to murmur about something and it catches on. And so thinking ahead, I know we're breaking schedule a little bit, but thinking ahead about Saturday, what I really hope is that everyone gets down to medellin with that fixed mindset of this is the moment and this is the time where we are going to present our style of play confidently to the opposition and say this is us. This is nots county. This is what we do. And it is going to work and you're going to have to find a solution to it. Tom, is there anything that we've mentioned that rings true with you or you want to add to this before we move on and talk a little bit more about the Lincoln game?

Yeah, no, just quickly about the stats that Rich brought in. And I think that really marries up with what I was thinking earlier. In terms of last season, we weren't amazing defensive side. We didn't have to do a lot of defending. And I think a lot of that was because we were so good in the final third. And you think teams that played against us, it was exhausting for them to play against us. Like, we ran them ragged, 65, 70 minutes, they'd be done. So even though they might be able to make it close to 60 minutes competitive, they knew for the last half an hour it's going to be horrible. We'd turn it on, we'd run them absolutely ragged. And I feel that maybe he got his team selection wrong. I don't want to keep going on about that, but I think we lack a little bit of pace up top when not necessarily pace, but when he goes to the midfield three. You know, with O'Brien, Bostock and Palmer. It's then only on Mcgodrick and Langstaff. And as well as McGoldrick played, he was fantastic. He is slightly one paced. I know he can shift a little bit, but I don't think Sutton particularly were worried about him moving them out of position. And I think that was the thing is, I know we went down to ten, which made it so much more difficult, obviously. I think we didn't really see it because we kept the ball, but because we were down to ten, we didn't have that extra runner, that extra bit of movement, and that was what we really missed. I think it was very straightforward, and Ruben used to do that. He'd be able to drag players out of position. And when the opposition would turn the ball know the amount of times they would they'd be too knackered from defending to even get up the pitch and do anything meaningful. Or they'd think, this is our one chance, and they'd snatch at it where sutton knew that they didn't have to snatch at it because they're going to get another chance. So I think a little bit of it has to be our offensive play not quite marrying up to our standards of last year. And it comes back to the rhythm that I mentioned. I think if we get into our rhythm this Saturday, like you say, get down to the lane, I think if we can get our style of play across, we will be fine.

Fantastic. Thank you for that. Is there anybody rich, have you got anything that you wanted to add, particularly about think about the linking game before we then start to think about probably some of these issues that Tom has already started to bring to the fore about kind of recruitment. Obviously there's a big recruitment transfer story that we want to talk about, which will bring some positivity, some much needed positivity, I think, to this short podcast. But is there anything you want to add about the Lincoln game, Rich, before.

We move on just one thing. I think Tom's dead right, actually, in that I suppose there were two other impacts on that game. Obviously, one of them going down to ten men again, albeit for the last 30 minutes, not as long as the game against Sutton, but also there were eight changes in the starting lineup from the Sutton game and the change in tactics. So I can appreciate that. Obviously, nobody's got a magic one. Nothing happens immediately. So I do take that on board. But, yeah, I think some of the stuff that we've all said has been extremely valid.

Yeah, I mean, on that point about squad rotation, I mean, I know a lot of points were made on social media about it being, oh, it's the League Cup. But actually that didn't sit totally true with me because the Luke Williams that I remember and know from the National League, in terms of those other competitions that we were involved in, he always seemed fairly determined to maintain that consistency with players. And I think some of those changes were warning shots to some of those players. I'm not saying that they were dropped or they were blamed for what happened, but I think there was a sign where he was saying to his squad, listen, there is no set eleven in my head. There is nobody that I'm unwilling to drop. I do honestly think that if Saturday had been different against Sutton, the lineup against Lincoln would have looked less transient, less know, because I think that's the type of manager that he is. And also that's the right way to manage a squad. Because if you're a squad player and you've watched your first team go out that you've not been involved in, and you've watched them lose in the manner that they did against Sutton, and you don't get your pick, that goes through a squad very quickly, that you feel that there's a bomb squad. And let's face it, we don't carry a lot of players. We don't carry a big squad. I mean, we've all been Notts fans where we've had squads of 30 players or whatever. We don't carry a big squad, and that can destabilize a group very quickly. So I think he had to do it. I think it was the right thing to do, and I think he gave those players a platform to go on and try and win a starting shirt for Saturday.

Right.

Okay. Thinking about slightly more positive things, because obviously one of the things that's come up is recruitment issues, whether we need to sign another player, which I'll get onto in a minute. But let's talk about probably the biggest news and the most positive news of the whole week, really, is Langstaff's new contract. Tom, do you want to talk a little bit more about that, how you felt, your reaction to it? I think even though it's four years for Langstaff, I think it shaved off about ten years off my life with the way the social media team decided to advertise it. So how did you take the news?

Yeah, I don't want to be too negative, but I've not been that impressed with the announcements. Like, the Aaron one was left late and they kind of implied that they knew all along that he was going to sign, which I'm not 100% a believer that they did, but this one, especially, when they posted that video, I was out and my mate text me saying he's gone, and I was like, what? Went straight on. And all I saw was this post saying, with the love heart, and I was like, oh, my God, he's gone. I thought this couldn't get any worse this week. And then obviously you watch the video and it says you do realize by the end, it's obviously a new contract, which again, in itself was like, what such weird timing. But I think good timing for us. I think maybe they have timed it for something like that. I mean, maybe they were going to announce it this week, but I think anyway, but it definitely helped that it lightened the mood. It's a brilliant piece of news. We don't have to tell everyone that. Listens how good Langstaff is the contract length is either going to give us a massive fee for him, but I don't even think it will because I've not really heard there's not been that many concrete rumors around him. I think he could be that he could become record goal scorer for the club if he stays for that long. If he continues scoring, I don't see why he can't continue scoring goals. So I know it's a bit early to say that, but he's already got 42, so he's already a good chunk of the way there. So I think yeah, it's fantastic news, isn't it?

It is. Maybe there's a Saudi Arabian side sniffing around, who knows? But like I say, if it goes into 100 million, I think I might be tempted to take it. But, Rich, do you think that this is probably the most reassuring sign of something to believe in, in terms of the context and the culture of the club that obviously the owners have built and that Luke Williams has been able to move onto this platform?

Yeah, definitely. We all know what MACA's about. I mean, look, back on Saturday, McGoldrick's goal, all right, he got the head on with the flick and McGoldrick did. But it was Macca's work to put the defender off, get the ball on the line and put it on a plate for McGoldrick. And that's him all over. His worth ethic is second to none, his attitude second to none. There's not a lot to dislike about him at all because he's a really likable bloke and he can score goals. And I think it's a message as well from the club to say, look, okay, this guy made a lot of news last season. There may have been offers. We don't know. There may have been interest. We don't know. But they've stuck by the guns. And it's a good bit of business to go and give him that extended contract as well, because, of course, then, what it's doing? If he has another good season this season then the zeros on the end of the pound signs are going to keep going up, aren't they? I think, in a number of ways. It's obviously fantastic news for the club, for the fans and moving forward throughout this season, for sure.

I agree completely. Now, the last bit on recruitment before we move on to the final bit where we talk about Grimsby and what we're hoping for on Saturday is the big question. Do we feel that we need to recruit another centre? Know, obviously there's an awful lot of talk about Fischer for know, is he the right person or do we think that there should be another solution, if at all, going into there? Or maybe is it a tactical switch or a tactical change, maybe to a back four that we need to be thinking about? Tom, I'm going to start with you.

Yeah, I think we will make a sign in. I think that's the sort of noise that I'm picking up in Vibes and picking up from the club. I think we will be getting a sign in whether it's before Grimsby or not. I mean, there's only a couple of days. Isn't you know, it's extremely difficult. I guess it might happen on Friday, but yeah, I think Fischer would be a good addition. I think he's not the biggest. He's slightly shorter than Brinley, not massively shorter, but you feel the weakness is perhaps in the air, but then the switch to the back four. This is no disrespect to brinley or Adebaya rolling, but are they good enough for what we want to be doing if we go to four starting week in, week out? I'm not so sure, whereas Fisher definitely would be. I imagine he'd cost a fair bit because of his experience at high level. He's only really played at championship level, played the vast majority of his career championship level. He's had problems of injuries, but he's been training with us. And if Luke Williams and the staff like the look of him, then he's obviously done something right. He's a very good defender. One v one. He's quick. He's got that nasty side to him. I won't allude to what he's done in the past. Sure, you guys can go and research that, but he's got a bit of bite to him and a bit of nastiness to him, so maybe we like that a bit. So that would be good to bring him in. And I get the feeling maybe we might even bring another defender in again. Obviously, we've got tipton he looked really good in the League Cup, and I think he's the one that maybe made a state, stuck his claim to the shirt, even though it was only a cameo, especially if Baldwin gets sent off. You're probably going to start on the weekend, isn't he? So I guess we'll see how he gets on as well.

Yeah, I think the move for fish is quite an interesting one because I think it does nod a little bit more to this idea of almost quite a flexible back four, I'll call it, in the sense of I can imagine us having one of, let's say, Jodie Jones, for example, on the left hand side, who's a less than traditional left back, obviously much more left winger going forward, but having on the right hand side someone who can operate centrally as well as right. So then we almost switch to a back three as Jones goes forward, but obviously the player on the right hand side being capable of going forward should we need to be able to do it, which obviously Fischer's got in his locker. And you can do that as well with chicks in on the left hand side, and then have your attacking option down the right hand side, in the man, for example. So I think it's building up those flexible pieces, isn't it, into that back three, back four, back five, whatever it becomes, and making sure that we perhaps choose selectively the right defensive formation for the opposition that we're facing. Right, I just want to move on to Grimsby, then. So obviously we welcome Grimsby on Saturday. And Rich, I want to start with you, if that's all right. What are you hoping for, what do we build upon? What are you hoping to see in what is going to be a fantastic achievement, really, which is our first league game at medalane.

Yeah, definitely. And something I'm really looking forward to, which I'm sure a lot of other people are. I think I saw earlier that there was already over 2700 Grimsby tickets sold, so the atmosphere is going to be good. They've not had the best start. I mean, yeah, they're a point above us. They had an ill nil against Wimbledon and then it was Coventry, I think. Sorry, Mansfield of all clubs last night, wasn't it? Did them two nil. And I was listening to you earlier, Colin, on Radio Nottingham, and the Mansfield fan that was on there was adamant that Grimsby were absolutely dreadful last night. But I've looked into that little bit more. It looks like that there may have been a few changes as well. So I think they'll be a little bit stronger starting eleven than probably Mansfield faced last night. It's going to be tough. It's never easy against Grimsby. It's just going to be one of those games, and I think it's literally going to be another case of who dares wins on the pitch, really. And we spoke about anxiety and mental strength and leaders, and we've got enough. Leaders and experience in our team to be able to overcome all of that anxiety and the big occasion and everything else. As you know, they should be driving those other younger players on a bit more. And I think some of the younger players play without fear. MACA's one for sure. He definitely plays without fear. I'd like to think that we've got the winners at the weekend. That's my heart speaking, but my head's kind of still not quite there yet.

Are you willing to put a prediction on Rich?

One one.

Okay. Okay. I think I went two one, and I think that was down to I think we're going to click a little bit more. We're going to go with the momentum. I think Notts will go two ahead, but I think Grimsby have improved their set piece taking certainly from their first season in league two. I think they're somewhere around 9th last year in terms of goals from set pieces. So I think they pose a threat and I think that question mark may continue for some time to come. Obviously I hope not, but but I still think Notts are going to get the three points. Tom, can I have a prediction from you? And also, can you just give us a little bit about a player that you and I know really well? Camille Conte is going to be playing for Grimsby, and you've done a fantastic thread on it. So let's have your prediction first and then tell us this player to watch out for.

Yeah, I'm going to go two nil Notts. I said that for the Sutton game and that fire spectacularly, so hopefully it'll come good this time. But I think with Grimsby and we'll talk about content just a couple of seconds, it's very similar. They're a very good footballing team. Surprisingly surprising. That sounds disrespectful. I don't mean in know, but they're a good team. And this will come back to haunt me. Now I've said it, but I'm going to say it. They don't really scare me in terms of their attacking threats. They look a little bit lackluster in front of goal, so while they're a good team, it's like they're a good side, they're not quite a great side in their final third. The fact they haven't scored a goal yet, and that's kind of telling, and that's only two games. But I think if you look at their side, even on paper, you look at the names in there and you think, are they really massive goal threats? And I think that's another thing about Conte, is that he almost embodies that in terms of he is such a wonderful footballer, he's so well rounded, he plays at the base of their midfield, even though they've sort of played a four four two. He's sort of sat back, he recycles the possession so well. He's a player that you picked out when Gateshead came to play us at Meadow Lane. He will be fantastic again. He's press resistant and I think obviously, if Palmer and Bostock looked to close him down, he's a tough player, he doesn't lose the ball, so he's definitely a difficult player to play against for sure. He's fantastic. He's got the physicality to get up and down the pitch as well, but I'm hoping that while he may lay on a few chances, he's not the massively creative type and I struggle to see in their eleven where the goals come from, maybe from set pieces. That might be what I'm doing again. Hopefully not. Hopefully we've done some work on it this week, but I'm going to go two nil. But Carmel Conte will be a player. I'll be enjoying watching At Manolane again, because he is a fantastic footballer.

Absolutely. I'd join you with that. Right. Fingers crossed for three points at Notts. Thank you ever so much for joining me, Gents, and we'll see each other again shortly.