16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Notts County lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Notts County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Abian Arslan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Charlton Athletic will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Lukas Haubenwaller has pre-agreed a move to Notts County, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
A mark of 7.39, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
The manager has not finished forgetting Calum Logan's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabrijel Podhraški, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Notts County dressing room was either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robin Druelle trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Notts County lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ronny Moncur and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Abian Arslan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Notts County lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ronny Moncur and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Connor Brooks and Notts County agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Abian Arslan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Notts County lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.36 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ronny Moncur was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Dec 2035
Words at Notts County training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Lienhart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout3 Dec 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Jack Thompson's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Ronny Moncur and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Words at Notts County training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abian Arslan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Promes, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Doug Lukjanciks's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Notts County are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Nobody at Notts County will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Evan Baranik has just signed for Notts County, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Lienhart was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jonathan Parker is 20, and Notts County have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Pierre-Emile Schmeichel is 19, and Notts County have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Ronny Moncur and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abian Arslan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Notts County, another week without a signature from Kegs Chauke.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robin Druelle trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Notts County would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Notts County know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMartin Parilla has become a man the manager trusts
MarketThe clock does Robin Druelle’s negotiating for him
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Ronny Moncur was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Abian Arslan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kolyo Stanev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout8 Oct 2035
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Notts County, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Notts County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Doug Lukjanciks was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doug Lukjanciks, and the manager let it.
Match29 Sep 2035
After 4 games, Notts County finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Stockport County; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Wolverhampton; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Notts County can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Notts County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Notts County offered $2.8M; Bournemouth said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Notts County asked and Leeds United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ronny Moncur was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. George Mitchell is living that version at Notts County, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Leonel Bucca falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Notts County will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marshall Heys will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Notts County the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Notts County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Robin Druelle is living that version at Notts County, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abian Arslan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.69, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Gabrijel Podhraški will call it something else in private.