The Hotel End

Enjoy your life as a Cobbler.

He is our manager so let's back him for our future, immediately at Reading!

Bloody good luck to him, i think he will be fine.

Good luck Kev!

Let's hope we'll be in the mood for dancing before long.

Wish him all the best.

Best Wishes Kevin .....JIT for Christmas & Boxing Day.

Glad there wasn't a protracted delay......Good Luck knocking this squad into shape.....onwards & upwards from Saturday's Charlton low point.

So he works with the existing backroom staff too.

I wonder what funds are available for the January window.

He needs to instill some spirit body and soul first.

Welcome big Kev!

Natural leader with an abundance of knowledge & contacts, who will demand respect & commitment from the players & finally give us an identity.

Huge ask even to keep us up considering the lack of quality, leaders & obvious injuries, so hopefully in Jan he'll get backing to release/sell a few & recruit a few...

CC coming in as DOF along with Nolan's contacts should hopefully massively improve the recruitment moving forward too...

I expect a massive clearout next summer no matter what division we are in due to the number of players thankfully OOC...

First two out Wilson & MDD please, with Waghorn already gone, that'll be 3 spaces already  ;D

Looking forward to some loanees from Newcastle & West Ham, plus connections through the England under 20s maybe?

Must check where the key players of his Notts County squad are too?

I wouldn't mind seeing Hondermarck shipped out too!

There's plenty mate!

Literally not fussed about losing any of this current squad...

Only Guthrie has consistently performed this season so far...

Welcome Kevin. A manager with plenty of contacts in the game should be valuable.

How Sampson etc. all have kept their roles is madness. I expect this part won’t last too long.

Excellent, stability and a future.

5 tickets bought for the Bingers contingent for rare foray South to Shrewsbury.


New manager bounce anticipated.

CC on route as well. Reassuring to hear that Sammo etc will be distanced.

Kelvin Thomas continued: "Kevin will be ably supported by the current staff who will remain in their roles while we expect to be able to confirm an additional experienced appointment in the near future to complete a very strong football staff.”

Steady on, he doesn't come with a free relegation pass.
I would imagine that he and KT fully expect us to consolidate in L1. We are only 3 point adrift of the P*sh and 10 points off the PO's.  :P
If the worst was to happen he isn't going to have a pretty first 25 games.

After a meaty 2.5 year deal I anticipate that he will get some additional funds in Jan to burn some of the dead wood and get a few of his own in.

Tons of the season to go to get a moderate improvement and we have only had one brief sniff of the bottom four.

I reckon we'll be absolutely fine and (on paper) as good as any of the names we've seen mentioned.

https://archive.is/ebBbn

Make of this what you will...

There's a lot of players that are drifting along.
I would want to keep McGeehan, and guthrie, and there are a few more. But as I said, there are players that are not up to the level, or just drifting along.

There is ability in this squad.

Eaves has scored 20+ goals at this level. Roberts has the technical ability to play
at a much higher level, was rated by Marcelo Bielsa and is admired by opposition fans every week.
Fosu is a genuine bums-off-seat winger who is a joy to watch at his best. Guthrie is one of the best centre halves we've had at this level.
NGW is a real find at full back. McGeehan is one of the highest goal-scorers from midfield in the division.

We've certainly had worse teams of individuals at this level.


Initially, Nolan needs to find a way of making us hard to beat and compensating for our deficiencies in central midfield.
In the short term, for me that means going back to 4-3-3, probably with Fox, Hondermark and McGeehan in central midfield.
In the more medium term, IMO KT has to back Nolan to bring in two central midfielders in January: a proper defensive
midfielder to finally replace McWilliams and a proper deep-lying playmaker to keep us ticking over.

My first instinct is that I quite like this appointment: probably the kind of character with the kind of contacts that we need.

Fox is out for a while. Hondermarck is nowhere near good enough - National League at best. Apologies in advance.

Was a poor summer for them! After only gaining a point from the last two games of the 2017/18 season they had to face the lottery of the playoffs and were beaten in the semi-finals by Coventry, losing the home leg 1-4 after a draw away in the first leg.
Pre-season saw them beat Basford United but lose heavily to both Derby and Leicester at home before defeat on the road at Luton, themselves promoted out of League 2 in that 2017/18 season.

The 2018/19 season began with a goalless draw at home to Colchester followed by defeat at Cambridge. After a first round League Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough The Magpies lost 4-0 at home to Yeovil. Defeats at Newport and then Lincoln saw the end of Nolan's reign having conceded 16 goals in the last five games and with the side bottom of League 2.

Perhaps, based on those stats, he shouldn't have been too surprised to have got the boot!

Anyway, welcome Kevin from me. Perhaps you can change some attitudes from the players and not settle for some of the half-arsed effort that has been on display these past few games.

Nolan's Orient team won three of the four league games in his first full month of management, only losing to league leaders, Northampton Town, and keeping three clean sheets. This led to him being nominated for February's manager of the month award, which eventually went to Chris Wilder of Northampton. On 12 April 2016, with the team two points off the play-offs, Nolan was relieved of his duties as manager of Orient, the role transferring to Andy Hessenthaler. He left the club altogether on 6 July.

Welcome Kevin and good luck.

Perhaps he will be able to BUY some league one standard players in January.
Jon wasn’t able to get the players in he wanted and we had to settle for what was left over.

The sceptic in me thinks he’s been bought in because he can follow the tried and tested untried youth players on loan who are of no long term benefit mantra which has served us so well each time we’ve come up to league one.

I feel his work with prem clubs and England youth vindicates my viewpoint.

Be prepared to shoot me down come January when we actually BUY decent players rather than freebies and prem youth teamers

The window will tell us all we need to know.

Freebies and prem youth teamers on loan is our model. Something radical would have to happen for that to change. I also think that whoever was coming in would find their hands tied in January due to squad size, loans already here and lack of (already increased twice) budget.

What players are ever of long term benefit when they have short contracts of a year or two at a time?
The benefit is when they are playing and the results and points these games yield.

Welcome aboard Kev.

Our model!!!

It’s a model that has been proved not to work at this level.


Every bloody time we’ve come up we haven’t been able to sustain league one football because we are not a viable league one club without new owners

Even the chairman has admitted Jon couldn’t get his targets in.

Let’s just keep with our model of having a few years in league two , the odd promotion and then certain relegation in the second season.

I’m surprised more league one clubs don’t follow ‘our model’ for league one sustainability*


*Actually I’m not.

I'm not saying its right, it's just the way it been at this club for god knows how many years, save for a splurge in the transfer market off the back of the Chinese "investment".

Owner after owner has not been able to make us a sustaining League 1 club so please explain how your opinion of changing to new owners has any substance!

Is it possible for some of you to just welcome the guy. Instead of reiterating the same point on every thread.

Good Luck with the Cobbs Kevin. Welcome.

Look at some of our previous owners
The cardozas
A bloke who had a stall on Northampton market….

The current board who can’t sustain league one football due to lack of finance.

Would it be too much to hope for better or shall I scrat around the market square in the new year to see if any stall holders are interested?

In fairness to beds a town of hundreds of thousands of people should have a sustainable league one team with lots of scope to move forwards and grow given a decent level of investment.
I don’t think that’s up for debate.
If the club had more ambition than a league 1-2 yo-yo club there would be many more fans willing to attend imo


Whoever ends up buying the club and invests in it will have a very decent asset imo.

I wish him all the luck in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItWTVzsCvpk

KT will be loving that interview.

He will be great until he isn't.

Good interview..... welcome on board and good luck!

I would love to know what the on field ambition the owners have

He certainly sounds like a good guy.

At least if it doesn't work eyt, we can count how many times he says 'You know' in his post match interview  ;D

Close your eyes and it could easily be McGowan talking.

In all seriousness though, I like this appointment. It 'feels right'. Hard to explain. I think if Colin comes in as D.O.F as well we will be very strong in the coaching department and have a really good reach in terms of contacts. Whether that benefits us we will find out sooner rather than later.

Super Kev's barmy army...NTFC...

Welcome Kevin. I hope you are a "lucky" manager because you are going to need it. Keep us up and you'll be a hero.

I do agree with you with the lucky thing.

If Super Kev keeps us up this season and then again next season, he will surely be one of our better managers. Its a tough ask. History is against him but then again, this whole 2/3 year thing is bollox because it does seem like other under funded teams like Exeter, Burton Cambridge, Shrewbury etc can avoid it. But it is really weird why we succumb to year2/year3 dross every single time (at this level)!

A few things struck me about the interview.

1- Kevin Nolan knows that he has got a problem
2- He appears to have done his homework on Ian Sampson
3- The statement said by Kevin was strange.  It was suggested at the interview that Kevin would be in demand for being successful and would leave for better things.  I hope that an offer to stay was added.  Or was that it?  No big ambitions at the club?
4 - Somebody senior is coming in to work.
5 - There will be changes in the team.  We will see who is really ill, hopefully!

Other than that KN came over as a decent person.  He appeared almost embarrassed.

He says he lives within decent commuting distance. Anyone know where ? It's got to be better than living in a local hotel like Curle (I think).

Spoke on the phone to Kelvin (not in Blighty?), appears to have spent most time with James (the CEO).

It’s beats the shît out of me with McGeehan ? What’s the love in, yes he’s scored a few goals but that’s it his all round play is non existent.

We have enough amateur psychologists on here, without more petty pops at the club, and a guy who has only just walked through the door.

Some of you are far too invested in what is supposed to be a pastime. Carrying on like your world is rocked by everything that comes out of NTFC. Just wait and fcuking see can't you. Take a breath and let the bloke get on with his job.

I see Thomas couldn’t be arsed to interview him face to face.

Absolutely this, this year's Paul Lewis

Mad ain't it. An interview conducted on the phone or zoom. What will they think of next.

Have you got 'negative' tattooed across your forehead?

evitagen, diy effort.

What the fcuk is negative about that, it’s a FACT he didn’t interview face to face, personally I always do.

Absolutely right, this is a fresh start for the club and for us. Let's all get behind the new man and give him at least a couple of moan free months to show what he can do with this team.

Good luck Kevin and welcome to the Cobblers.

He only said he spoke to KT on the phone, Manny. He didn't say they didn't also meet face to face.

In any event, what's the point in a CEO if they're not trusted to do the heavy lifting in the recruitment process?

 ;D ;D ;D

Don't tell 'im Kelvin, keep it to your self.

I'm with Terry on this...

If you think KN is a cheap option you don't understand how football finances work...we've given him a decent length contract as well. He is clearly someone the club is betting a lot on..

I'm also astonished at the brick bat's aimed at the owners..as I've mentioned previously, check out the valuation of our squad on Transfermarkt.com- it's now in the top 10 for league 1.

And(!!!!) By the time the East Stand us complete, they will have spent more than £10m net on the club since they rescued it..some sceptics said it would never be finished..

So, I genuinely don't know what people expect? Do you want them to spend twice as much?

Personally,  we were broke and facing receivership when they rescued us..we're in L1 with a good squad and an exciting manager..

If you want football without financial limits go and support Man City..

Oh hang on..

Isn’t this why he employes James Whiting?

How about you tell us, about the people that you interviewed?  Particularly those that failed your stringent requirements. I suspect that there may be a few famous names that you have declined. Whilst sitting with your feet on the desk, puffing away on a Cheroot.

For me the manager is such a key appointment that I would have wanted to meet him face to face.
1st round and maybe 2nd but final interview always face to face.

Mais non, Mr Fenners, supporting The Mighty Cobblers is the be all and end all of everything, our raison d'être.

Not like you part time Percies.

Tel him comrade, still don’t know what his cat is called, some people eh.

That’s the second warning some of you guys have had ! Will you give the new man an honest chance?

It wasn't a warning. At least I don't believe it was. Correct me if I'm wrong Nigel.

Everbrite: You continue to see things that just aren't there. Is paranoid to strong a word?

Interview our mangers face to face?

Isn't West Ham supposed to be KT's team? and didn't KN work at West Ham? Just maybe they've met several times?

I thought it was a warning albeit a gentleman type warning. If you go back to page 2 message number 30 Terry gives quite nicely a gentle reminder. So for me message No 2 is just a warning of sorts! Depends on your perspective; as for paranoid some of your predictions are just that! Still it’s Christmas so have good one and a Happy New Year!

The employer to employee relationship is very different to West Ham supporter, West Ham trainer. The former is critical to our club, the latter is just polite association. Manny is right on this. You can never be too careful on who works for you.

Well there you have it. In the unlikely event he were to take any notice of anything said on this forum, there are only a handful of people worth listening to, I’m one obviously. With most it would be more productive to spend some time in the chimp enclosure at Twycross

Good luck Kev

This is probably as good as an appointment that could be made, no complaints here.

I doubt he's the cheapest option either, so no need to berate the owners.

It is laughable the amount of time you must spend looking for a negative against our owners.
So you criticise KT for not flying over, have a meeting, then fly back to his family for Christmas when he has a good CEO and also had a face timed interview with KN!!!

Welcome and good luck Kev get the players playing with passion and we'll be right behind you

Looks a sound appointment with the necessary experience both on and off the pitch- as previously mentioned probably not a cheap option given the type of salary he would have been on both as a player and on the West Ham coaching staff - vast majority of fans will of course applaud this appointment but of course there are a few who would have rather the owners had chosen Sammo, simply to fuel their all consuming hatred and be able to promote their cheap option, no ambition campaign.

Phase 1 - Assess current squad, injury list and options on squad/loan trimming.

Phase 2-  Grind out enough results to stave off relegation and get past our usual pattern of second season syndrome.

Phase 3 - Radical squad surgery and go again full of hope, expectation and cynicism.

We’ve all been here before.

They say 49.9% of the UK population have below average intelligence, here’s proof.

I'd say its closer to 50%

From the interview thought he came across really well and appears a good appointment, certainly not the cheap option. Must say I'm pleasantly surprised and hopeful he can turn things around. We'll find out soon enough. To me, this kind of suggests the owners are prepared to push the boat out somewhat to keep us where we are and hopefully we can offload a few and give him adequate funds to get a few in the January window. We'll done KT,  Bowers and possibly more so NLQ.

You don't get into the international set up without some real quality about you. Terry Fenwick, JFH, Rob Page etc.

Sorry...couldn't resist it.

A new dawn, no doubt the fans energised and hopefully a bounce. I do hope it isn't like JFH when the players looked to him for who/where to take throw-ins from.

Have you got a link to that?

England have 25%, I blame Scotland.

Your looking in that mirror again!

Think about it 😉

Oh dear at the recent 1% Mensa type show I got the 50% ( maths) question right. Typical !

Don’t forget Boothroyd.

Biggest concern for me from that interview was KN’s blood pressure. The lad kept going a deep red and looking like his head might explode. After one day in the job.

Certain managers touted on here would be waiting for a better appointment than us so I think Nolan is probably as good as we could get and should have good connections. I assume he has been promised some wriggle room in the transfer window.

I hope he’s got lots of wriggle room, otherwise we’re fooked.

There's a reason for that and it's nothing to do with the job or the training session.

Little chance of that.......

Cannot agree more. I shall never forget him.

This is well worth a watch...

Our new gaffa with big Sam!

https://youtu.be/CkVdIgWzVQ8?si=j2_LJoMCcCM9Hkqr (https://youtu.be/CkVdIgWzVQ8?si=j2_LJoMCcCM9Hkqr)

Brady resigned on the 5th December, I would have expected KT to have visited sometime between him going and KN arriving, maybe he did, does he have another job apart from being Chair of NTFC ?. I had a few cushy jobs in my time but the only one were I didn't go in for two weeks, it was called holiday  ;D
      That said, I'm reasonably happy with KN, it SHOULD be a good appointment but you never can tell, some people fit in some places, others don't.

I've not been in my office for about 11 weeks. Times have long changed.

But is your office in Florida, or anywhere with a 6 hour time difference? Also would that still be the case if the "main man" in the company had resigned ?

You are so 20th Century... things are very different in the 21st...  ;)

I work with clients with a 6 hour time difference day to day. Why would that matter?

From what our new man says it sounds as thou training is going to get tougher, that should add to our injury list.

 ;D

Made me chuckle this. I said to the bloke infront of me last Saturday, if you sent 28 men to Palestine statistically 15 of them wouldn't get injured. There's something not right, hopefully Super Kev will sort that eyt!

What a sack of s*** observation. Along the lines of,  your little crusade to rid us all of the use of the term "pikey". Then announcing to everybody that you had just purchased a caravan. You cant make this sh1t up. Happy xmas xx

Well perhaps they wouldn't get "a knock", but they might lose a limb or two, get dysentry, malnutrition, blinded, etc and not be able to get treated due to the state of the health care system there. But apart from that, sounds like a good comparison. And an amusing one at that.

Maybe the opposite is true? Proper training and conditioning could actually help reduce injuries! 

Try 11 hours. Since Covid most of the people I deal with insist on meetings via a monitor. Cost adverse, increased access and availability, what’s not to like. Face to face is already the exception rather than the norm.

I get it....

Though to be fair, the average is not always the median, so whilst 49.9% is as reasonable a number to use as any, it's probably nearer 80%!

Maybe Manny had a bad experience on Tinder?

My first thought (and I am 61) was that I thought no way was he only 42, 7 years younger than Jon Brady. But other than that I think he's potentially the best we could realistically have got. Good Luck new Gaffer.

Awesome news, excellent news Kevin Nolan.

Really pleased with this appointment, he spoke well in the interview and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of NTFC. Roll on next Weds when we're back at Sixfields for his first home game

;D

Super Kev’s blood pressure looks to be making mine look like rookie numbers, another bottle of Buckie Kev. 🇬🇧🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃

Completely the opposite, the economy is crashing and business needs to be done face to face, as for the office, all on office based contracts are required to be there 4 days a week.

Maybe in your industry, not in mine, FACT.

One day a week in the office these days and even that is flexible.

My office is a 3 hour + drive away so I don't go at all most weeks. I think I've only been in two or three times in 2024 and when I have been most of the desks are empty.

Are you Ali Kioki?

Work?  ;D

Wouldn’t blame Nolan if he walked out.

He has 2.5 years of this….if he’s lucky…aka about a 10 year sentence.

TBF he’s been here a few days and Merlin wouldn’t be able to work that quickly.
Pity we didn’t see a bounce.

Merry Xmas.

Here’s Manny’s prediction, Nolan will be gone by the Summer.

He won't make Easter.

A lot of it depends once again on the boards ambition
If they have told him that he has zero budget and KN has told them without it we are certainties to go down then everyone’s happy.
There’s no way KN will be under any pressure.
That will come next season if we are not around the league two playoffs or better.

This poor boy I feel sorry. He hides nothing. The playing team are far too bad. If he has probation in this time I think he go back. As you say, the end of.

He arrived THREE days ago  ::)

Is Le Quensie a billionaire?? If so, get you're fůcking wallet out. Otherwise why's he here.?

It’s a fair point?
A lot was made of having him on board and he certainly has the finance.
I thought we were only heading one way once he joined us and it appears i was wrong.unfortunately.

We have only headed one way to be fair

;D Billionaire, I don’t think so.

I was just asking.

Billion heir.

Because the Club (owners) won the JR but have to finish the stand to benefit from the wider land deal (maybe not legally but it would look kind of bad if they didn't), only they didn't want to put any more of their personal money in....therefore they sold 25% of their BDJ shares to him (registered now to an entity called Sole Intention). He will benefit to a degree from the land deal too now and will also be in a position to buy out the soon-to-be 80 year old owners.

Just my personal opinion!

I can understand them not wanting to put any more of their personal money in and suggested in a other post in a different thread that he may have helped towards the Nolan appointment. But could he be the potential Messiah? He certainly hasn't been very prominent thus far.

Actually this thread.

Our main problem is that we have been decimated by injuries, we had 3 teenagers on the bench yesterday. When you have a lower end budget and have 18 players out, competing is going to be a massive challenge. It’s sport and sometimes you are going to be victims of circumstance, and not everything is always fixable. Our owners simply don’t have the financial resources to compete with half the clubs in this division. Sometimes signings don’t match expectations, sometimes you experience multiple injuries to key players simultaneously, to reiterate, it’s called sport. Complain all you like but if there was someone willing and able to match the ambition of some on here they’d be buying the club, and they aren’t so there isn’t. And even if there was that isn’t necessarily a guarantee, if it was why are Man City & Utd struggling?

We have a lower half budget and 18 players missing from a 33 man squad. It’s a near fatal combination and anyone with an expectation above a huge struggle has their head up their arse.

KN has a big job on his hands so we need to be patient while he tries to turn things around, let's at least give him to the end of the year before somebody starts the Nolan out thread.

I think people could probably just about manage 4 days.

Sounds like KT hasn't 'fluffed the job up' and he has still accepted the challenge.
His aftermatch interview realistically identified short, the season ending and longer term aims and how he intends to achieve them, without the usual soundbite BS.
Good luck Kevin Nolan...

Well said sir 👏👏👏

Aye back the man.

Absolutely 100%, BUT he’ll go the same way a JB if he isn’t given the tools to do the job with.
Needs 4-5 new players in Jan if we have any chance of staying up.
Goalkeeper
Central Midfielder defensive
Central Midfielder offensive
Striker
Striker winger

Agreed.

👍

I hope he said the short term term was to stay in L1 or else he won’t get to play with the medium and long term.  :P

This ☝️.  They need to back Nolan fully.

Any news on calderwood becoming the Dof?

Nobody actually said that it was Calderwood. Just people assuming so.

It’s Colin.

Got a link?  ;D

Oh, I was going for Big Sam. Good job I didn't go for an acca with Mark Kennedy, there would have been lots of disappointment on the faces of the young Bingers Boys on Wednesday.

He did... ;)

KN has been on the cards for a while by all accounts, sounded out by Sean Dyche who at the time was looking for a replacement number 2 because Ian Woan was due to leave because of personal circumstances, which have now changed. Dyche had put KN name forward.

JB had got wind of discussions behind his back and jacked because of the cloak and dagger stuff going on with KT

Also certain players had downed tools with JB and had refused to play - injuring excuses had been used more often than not such as Fosu, and there had been a divide in the changing room.

Nolan has been assured of a healthy budget come January and in the summer to get him to sign. At least 2 of his own staff are incoming in the new year

This has come from inside the club who is on the way out - no sour grapes (as they are on a fairly decent contract elsewhere)

None of it makes any sense other than the bit where I despise Kelvin the messiah.

It makes a lot of sense.

Intresting.

Doesn’t explain the delay in getting Nolan in though.

Also the ‘injured’ players haven’t returned?

Of our last 17 managers, only one has won their opening game and that was JFH. The new manager bounce clearly doesn’t apply to us  :-[

Come on chaps, let’s give the poor bugger a chance! See you all tomorrow at Croud Meadow ….

I'm not so sure of these players who were "refusing to play" for JB, has nobody told them he has not been here for the last few games.

Exactly what I thought. I doubt any of it is true.

Not a chance after Reading, anyone going has my sympathy.

Delay? 18 days between resignation with no advance warning and the appointment following a recruitment process involving 75 candidates. You need help tying your shoes don’t you.

But apparently, he tried to resign twice before, and Nolan was nailed on before hand, and it was all something to with Sean Dyche, who may be the new DOF when Evertons new owners sack him? (he has previous connections to the club donchaknow).
And if anybody was on strike, then I expect to see Koiki and Wilson on the next team sheet.  Its all so simple really.

Pinch of salt

Part timer.

I heard that was all made up ballcocks? Personally I would rather take it from the horses mouth than some of the horses arses on here.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c93gd9ll6vyo

Who's on their way out to a decent contract elsewhere? There's not that many club employees, so if this true it should be easy to work out who your source is?

Brady's not really said anything there. I wouldn't be expecting him to state the full reasons for his resignation or be slagging off the owners, so I wouldn't read anything into that statement

I actually disagree and think he said a lot. He had absolutely no obligation to be so complimentary unless it were true. He could have easily been politely noncommittal, without risking anything or exposing anyone.

😂😂😂😂

My guess would be that you'd have to walk in his shoes to understand why he has acted in the manner he has.

🦖🦖🦖🦖

Exactly.

My comment was tongue in cheek, but check out his comment in full, on his X account. He gives no reasons, and frankly I never expected him to.

https://x.com/backofthenetfc1/status/1868997229710586233/photo/1
Anyways, Sean Dyche nailed on as the new DOF.
Unsuccessful in the prem, dull football, previous connection to the club, still has a house locally, just some legal bits n bobs to tidy up. Sounds like just as good as Calderwood to me!   ;D ;D

I know mate, wasn’t aimed at you.

😂 You’re a laugh mate, I’ll give you that.

i would imagine very little of this is correct, other than nolan is the manager

Glory hunter, only went because he was expecting the 'new manager bounce'...

If our player rota can't be changed much, the key thing has to be motivation from the manager to the players. The high effort put in immediately after half time really must have been a result of something said at half time. I haven't seen such a change in attitude this season, so this is pleasing. It showed us that the players wanted to do something and were able to do something. Again not something I have seen at the recent games that I have attended.

Welcome Kevin Nolan, already making a difference.

I thought the effort levels during the first half were equal to the 2nd half?

Did you not feel a lift a the start of the second half? There seemed to be a definite uplift to me.

McCarron certainly gave us a lift when he came on. Pity he only lasted about 15 minutes.

For me the lift began in the first half mainly because we were competing well against a very physical side. My impression that Shrewsbury overall were a bit lucky to get a point. Their claim for a draw was the final 10minutes when just about kept them out.If we had an effective centre forward then we may have put the game to bed well before the 99th minute! They certainly were not good enough to beat us on the day!. On this showing most came away feeling that we had survived a potential crisis and played a lot better than expected. So KN did something to install urgency, application and honest endeavour!

Toggle Tim thought it was a much improved performance  :, it was utterly dreadful we literally couldn’t pass it 5 yards our passing accuracy was 52%, for a professional team.

52% accuracy equates to the 13th best player in the entire division. FACT!

That means that according to your post at the very least, the other 600 odd players in the division are not of a professional standard?

Bit controversial mate.

https://www.fotmob.com/leagues/108/stats/season/23745/players/accurate_pass/league-one

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

How is Stroud CC coming along;also are the Refuse Men back at work today?

No attempt at explaining the contradiction then? That many emojis merely indicates frustrated realisation.

Let me reset your thoughts mate, I am talking about team passing not individuals 😉

https://playerstats.football/league-one/stats/accurate-passes

A minor technicality of no relevance. Where’s Marvo , he’ll soon put you straight.

KN also said, in his post Shrewsbury interview, that he does not intend sitting down with Kelvin and James until after the Burton game in order to assess what is required/is available during the transfer window.

Gold coast.

Forget boganville, what about the stats?

There’s a fantastic fish restaurant near the Versace Hotel, well worth a visit, it’s called Omeros.

I think a statement from the club about this is definitely required  ;)

Made in person, on the pitch at Sixfields, or it doesn't count.

Indeed 👍

If only we had waited, we could have had Wayne.

I tell you what, Nolan comes across as a lovely fella. I like him.

 :o

Kevin and curle sitting in a tree etc  ;)

Interesting interview on the BBC so more open than Brady used to be

I'm sure Brady was the same at the start.

Nah.. He was always a bit grumpy. But a decent chap.

I get the feeling he automatically picks up more respect from the players than Brady did as he played at a higher level, but its always hard to judge these things in the early stages as the players will always be spouting the new gaffa phrases and Nolan will be trying to get the confidence of the fans and players with what he says.

I do like the fact he is open an honest about us playing a bit more route one until we have players back fit and the results and confidence are on the up.

Very early days indeed to make any judgements but Nolan already has a better success rate in the third tier than Wilson, Curle and Brady (among others). Maybe not what people mean when saying "new manager bounce" but he has undoubtably had a positive affect so far. When a manager takes over a struggling team, especially one that has just lost its last three games conceding 11 goals in the process, they will always start by trying to shore up the defence and 1 goal conceded in 3 games suggests he may have succeeded in that endeavour. Next comes the hard part but if we can stay in this division this season then there must be high hopes that for the very first time we can make it to four consecutive campaigns in the third tier. (Although if we go up next year I'll have no complaints about missing out on that record)

I think that 4 games is rather too early to start making comparisons to previous managers and they don’t mean a lot anyway. Different managers will have had different number of games in div1 and div2.
4 games in and he only has win rate of 25%, buck your ideas up man or people will soon be calling for your head.

I started with "Very early days indeed to make any judgements" so why don't you shut the f*** up?.

Anyway, the comparison is in Tier 3 ONLY so that blows your first petty point out of the water and as for your second point, win ratio? How many times do I have to tell you it's a meaningless gauge. Jeez.

The bloke is an absolute tool Marvo, personally I enjoy your stats and have the acumen to put them in perspective.

Careful with the Kleenex  ;)

Last season I got to know WSOAP and still remain on good terms with him. He often goes to away games like many a supporter! So in this instance I would not agree that he is a tool! I like him as much as I admire your tactical windup comments; its not your fault that quite a few on here have no discernible sence of humour!

I see that you are still irony intolerant!  (https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/styles/smilies/laugh.png)

It's OK Evers, you don't need to defend me we all know what Marvo and Manny are. Marvo is the bloke is believes he is always right (although in the past few days that has been proved wrong) and he enjoys insulting people. Quite funny that Manny calls me a tool as in the past he has agreed with many of my posts so I suppose we are a pair of tools.

Evers, could you just clarify in which instances you do agree he is a tool?






PS, OAP, I can't think of any instances, so I will have to agree to disagree with the tool classifiers on this occasion

I count him as a friend as I do with Manny, in any case I have a gentlemans agreement with the great man! Its unusual I know but it works!

Bit of a harsh response fella.

Besides, I'm your wind up merchant...

Prickly innit 

If you vouch for him Evers old chum then that’s good enough for me, WSOAP I humbly withdraw my Tool.

I have never said I'm always right, in fact the complete opposite is true, I have said I often get things wrong and the times that has has happened has increased the older I get. Unlike you, I don't mind being put right if I get something wrong as I can then put the records straight.

You, like your mate Evers, are just a petty minded windbag who tries to respond to stuff that hasn't even been alluded to, let alone said. You deserve each other.

I never doubt any of your stats Marvo. You strike me as very meticulous in that respect and even if you are a game or a goal out, that's still a pretty good win ratio...

Some of the conclusions that you draw from those stats though...

To use a golfing analogy, when testing clubs, there is an abundance of technology that can be used to obtain data indoors using a simulator. This is referred to as "dry ball data".

However, you can only really know whether clubs are right by hitting outdoors from real turf in an outdoor environment. You can hit the same clubs and the same type of shots. But you'll get different results and also more subjective feedback in terms of sound and feel which, crazy as it seems, are important to golfers.

This is a bit like your stats. The numbers only tell a half truth and exclude success (or failure) factors, like did the points accumulated bring a promotion?

Anyway, I agree, four games and with a half crocked squad supplies no useful comparison. 😉

and that's exactly why I just present the stats and leave the reader to make up his own mind, like any sane person would do.

Did you know that Kevin Nolan actually only played against us twice?
He was in the Leyton Orient team (he was their player/manager) that we beat 4-0, in 2016, with the Ricky Holmes worldie (probably the best Cobblers goal that I've ever seen live).
He was also subbed on and scored Bolton's only goal, replying to two from Bayo, in our 2-1 win at the Reebok in the League Cup in 2008. Gary Cahill was also sent off.
(I was out of the country for that one).

TUT TUT. Tell him Evers...

I was also a Season Ticket holder at Borussia Mönchengladbach at that time.  :o

I remember him very well for Orient. Didn't he bring himself on at half time and spend a lot of time goal hanging?

Can't remember him playing in the Bolton game though. A player I always really liked back in his peak and probably wouldn't have been too far off an international call up for a while (he had some competition in his position mind...).

Marvo has most definitely mellowed with age, although I am sure being retired and sunning himself in Oz helps. A bit less stressful than driving a train.  

He still knows how to pull the odd chain though :)

He started the Leyton game.

My mistake. It was a very forgettable first half though!

C'mon Evers. That's two major transgressions. Where are you.

 I don't think Evers would be inclined to have a pop at Deepcut. Far too much at stake. It's his raison d'etre to contribute to this forum.

Stirrer... ;D

Is this the 'supporters slagging each other off' forum? Embarrassing

Yes, and I constantly live with shame as a result.

A rare tad over your head me thinks 8)

I certainly don't doubt that mate. But the occasionally admonishment from Evers keeps us on track. 😊

Who me?? Never. I was just making sure that Evers was still in the game.

Big Kev on the Cobblers Show radio Northampton at 6 tonight...

Tweet/X Jake Sharp with any questions @JakeSharpeBBC

Should be a good listen  ;D

On the ball but was aware that the Major had a relationship with a German Club. We won the war (both) so happy to be magnanimous. Besides the Major is sometimes a gentleman. Ask Ben he will confirm.

Only sometimes Evers, I’m shocked.

So was I?
Although I don't know who Ben is?

Did he say anything of note on the BBC tonight

Bigger Boy Bingers is Ben, he will confirm your gentlemanlyness.

He is generally on the coach!

I know your Ben, good lad... ;)

I know that Ben, not sure that he's on here though?

When he is not being a pain in the ărse.

Could Nolan be tempted to go back to working alongside Moyes at Everton ?

Money talks.

Robert Walpole;

"Every man has his price".

Of course he could. I'm also told by two close friends that Moyes is a near ideal Boss - delegates well (some suggest he's lazy) and very decent personally.

Would just about sum the bl00dy season up if it happened...

Kevin Nolan was an assistant manager at West Ham United from 2019 to 2024. He left the club when David Moyes, the manager, departed in May 2024. Nolan was then appointed as the interim assistant head coach of the England U20 team.

May result in some decent inbound loans from Everton.

No such thing....

Good luck to him if he goes, he’ll be on lots more money there than he would be here…
That’s what the whole game is about now
MONEY

Sometimes, I cannot believe the input of people on here. The man is barely through the door, just got the keys to his locker, and people are waving him ADIEU.
Now weve all been guilty of going off track, (me especially) but give the bloke a chance.

If you got a new job on a grand a week and less than a month later you got offered a job for five grand a week would you turn it down?

He's been trying to get back into management for a while, so why should he want to go back to being a number 2? He wants to be successful here, move up the ladder eventually and maybe in the future have his own Premier league team to manage. I'm sure that's his goal for the future. He won't achieve that by following Moyes everywhere.
 

Moyes says it would be his last job - then over to you Kevin ?

It doesn't work like that though, does it. First of all the second in command only has a chance of the top job if the current manager does well. Even then it's only a very small one, as Nolan doesn't have experience of first team management at anything close to premier league level. A big club like Everton will look for somebody with a proven track record.

No, just regurgitated the same sound bites, the only thing worth listening to was the utterly moronic questions from Toggle Tim, and Super Kev ignoring him 😂

But it hasnt happened though, has it? SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE.
In much the same way that the chuckle brothers, AKA (observing and ntfclad) tried to convince us that Mark Kennedy, was our saviour, SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE.
There is a fine line between banter, and actually believing this nonsense. (or sticking a crafty tenner on it) and there will always be the gullible fools, that accept this hyperbole as reality. Personally, I am not a gambling man, so you have no chance of prising anything out of me.

I would suggest Everton have been talking to Moyes long before Nolan took this job.

Been listening to him on Five Live. He won’t go anywhere. Just said a couple of people coming in to help him and they joked about some loanees from Everton.

I was asking what you would do, not what Kevin would do.
Would you turn down a five time increase in wages if it was offered to you a month after starting a new job?

Refreshing to have a manager in that’s well known in the game.

I wouldn't go back to work if they offered me ten times my pension. Enough is enough and if you have enough, trying for more is just pure unnecessary greed.

With Calderwood to assist him how could he wish for more?

And in the real world, you never get offered a five fold salary increase, a month after starting a new job. Never gonna happen.
Cos if they could have got you cheaper, then they would have done. Football is a strange business, but they still stick to the usual employers rules of "HOW MUCH?"

But would YOU take a five fold wage increase if offered it a month after starting a new job?

There's more to life than money...... A secure job in a nice working environment? Stuff the new job and wage increase!

I'm hoping its Calderwouldn't. These things rarely work when someone returns. Frank Large being the exception.

I wasn’t saying once you had retired , that’s fair enough…..
The 40 year old marvo starts a new job at train company A) a month later train company B) offer you a job for five times more a week….
What would you do?

I agree marvo
I wouldn’t want him back , he didn’t have to leave but the old pound notes talked and off he popped.
Fair enough.
Having frankly built a defence and style of defending that was the laughing stock of the premier league he gets sacked and we are expected to want his help.

I would think help like that we could do without.
Just ask Southampton fans.

I have been through this before. It would depend on the circumstances. Offer me a new job, miles away from my current secure employment, and my nice comfortable house, away from my family and friends, and the answer would be an emphatic "go fcuk yourself"
This attitude cost me a previous relationship, and it aint gonna happen again.
There is more to life than just money matey. And I dont give a s*** how big your mansion, garden, or fishing lake is, I am happier than you. End of story.

Not even for a five times wage increase!!!
Wow
Ps
I’m glad to hear you are happier than me  ;)

Does money mean everything to you? And you think that X5 salary, makes me happier than being with my current lass?
You sit in your lonely temple, whilst the rest of us live within our means, and walk around with a content smile.

And by the way Shoey, I would expect somebody like yourself, with serious capital, to drink in more salubrious establishments than a Corby Wetherspoons.
Take it easy mate. xx

She is a lucky lass.

PS Have you checked to see if she would like you to be paid 5 times more?

Likewise... ;)

If Kevin Nolan couldn’t work out that Moyes was going to get a decent offer sooner rather than later and he was about to complicate his position then we have employed the wrong bloke. If he jumps ship now the number of options he would have in getting another opportunity in similar circumstances would inevitably decrease as a result. He might increase his income as long as Moyes hangs onto the position, but his future prospects would take a bit of a hit. If he really is as ambitious as he suggests, then pulling cash out of Moyes apron whilst he hangs onto the strings would be a bit of a contradiction. So whilst it’s possible, I think it would be on the basis of being influenced by a fairly mercenary short term motive, and frankly good riddance.

I mix with all social classes  ;D

The biggest aphrodisiac for any female is money.  Just ask Bernie Ecclestone.
If it meant moving to Liverpool, not so keen.

https://x.com/i/status/1877823246470430914

Thanks for posting. We weren't the only one's thinking it then.

If Shoemaker had spare funds he might be invited to join the board. And I doubt he would accept any such invitation should it arise!

There you go again spending other people’s money

Hows that horse of yours getting on? The one that you advised may be worth a little flutter of other peoples money. BIGCITYLIGHTS wasnt it?  :D

It doesn’t belong to me but patience is the word…..
My friends and I had a winner in nov at4/5-2/5 and it was second at 8/1 in December.
It will win a couple more this season and hopefully run at Cheltenham.
Il PM you as and when if interested….
Hopefully you’ll be even more happier than me then….

If anyone would like a nice share in a horse for the future let me know !!!
Just PM me

Let us know when it wins. (not second or hopefully)  ;D

I'd prefer it if he lets us know before it wins... ;)

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/kevin-nolan-not-interested-in-joining-david-moyes-coaching-staff-at-everton-4940782

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/cobblers-owners-were-a-big-reason-for-nolans-decision-to-take-town-job-4941454

Out of interest - you reckon his salary would be higher as backroom staff at Everton?

Either way, I don't doubt establishing himself as a manager would be his priority, moving on so early would ruin his reputation for any future opportunities. But I wonder if any lower league manager has ever jumped ship for a lesser role at a bigger club purely for monetary gain.

Given that Prem managers have massive salaries compared to L1 and 2 I suspect pay for a senior backroom staff would be higher than what he is getting here but if you want to progress up the managerial career ladder you have to create a reputation when in charge - no one externally frankly takes much notice of long term back room staff

We did

 ;D ;D

If you’re interested in a share feel free to message me everbrite.
I can just envisage you in the winners enclosure.

100%. However, you'd imagine he's made more than enough money from his playing days enabling him to focus on his post-playing career rather than following the money around. Being assistant to Moyes at Everton would be a great short term move - but he'd struggle finding a managerial position again in the football league.

Sir Lancelot Calderwood , Mark Bunn(sort off) and Herbert Chapman*

* As a player, Chapman played for a variety of clubs, at Football League and non-League levels. His record was generally unremarkable as a player; he made fewer than 40 League appearances over the course of a decade and did not win any major honours. Instead, he found success as a manager, first at Northampton Town between 1908 and 1912, which he led to a Southern League title. This attracted the attention of larger clubs and he moved to Leeds City, (disbanded in disgrace)...............

PS I hope that Sir Kev studies the tactics of Herbert Chapman whilst at Northampton which were innovative at the time and eventually put him on the path to greatness. Dave Bowen did study him using similar methods which led to the first division of the Charlton Bros, Bell, Summerbee, Graham More, Denis Law, Bremner, Irvine,Violet, Hurst etc etc. Puts some of the recent Euro Prima-Donna's to shame.

I must have missed it when Mark Bunn was a manager. Neither Calderwood nor Chapman left a managers job for a lesser role either?

The "sort off" was a caveat........ and I'm sure he meant "sort of"  ;)

Kevin Nolan is big mates with Andy Carroll , just saying  ;)

He’s only on £3k a month in France.

Also good friends with Sam allardyce

We need a centre half😀

In defence of my choices to meet the Benchmark!

According to Wiki - In a FA Cup match against Sheffield United, leading them to offer Chapman a contract at the end of the season; Chapman accepted but dropped down to amateur status*, wishing to make use of his engineering qualifications in the local area. The Admin side was handled by an Office Clerk and/or Assistant Manager. *The fact he dropped to an amateur status for me at least is good enough!
He was very keen to promote his engineering qualifications on the basis he could earn more money running for an example a 1st WW Munitions Factory in 1917!  
He had the habit of reversing back to Amateur Status to seek employment locally as an Engineer which was clearly a better paid employment especially in war time.  I like Chapman he served us well as a Manager for nearly 4 years. So was IMO a good lad!

As for Mark Bunn although for us a very good Keeper; gained him the unfortunate reputation on here as a bench warmer never a first choice and this continued at various clubs notably Aston Villa. So technically a downgrade!

Possibly the nearest example to your bench mark is Calderwood who left to join Southampton but he was not perhaps a Manager here at the time? Money speaks!

Summary: Your query/reproval on my suggestions is correct as none of them perhaps meet the desired 'qualification'. As a Northampton supporter am proud of the way we can at least attract some notable Managers. On the other hand it is best to have a modicum of imagination! It helps at times.

Old age - you wait until your 85yrs. 8) :-*

Fair play on reaching 85 everbrite I bet you’ve seen some changes in your lifetime.
Aeroplanes,trains,cars   ;D

Wheel ?

;D
Fair play to him
He must be one of our older supporters.

 I think Deepcut's dad is a little older and probably more loyal. Keith attends every home and away game and has done for many years. Everbright's attendance is a little more sporadic but it is to be applauded nevertheless.

His age is in doubt also. A while back he got caught out adding a few years to his age on here. Deepcut had to put him right about it.
If I remember rightly he was posing then as a nonagenarian.  ;D
...There's no need Evers, we love you as you are  :P

🤣 Good one Rog.

Good article about our new manager in The Telegraph (splutter away if you like but I'm with Manny on politics). KT's text message after the Reading defeat was "welcome to it"!

Splutter...

To be fair I think Manny is much further out than the Torygraph

To give you my lens on things, I am slightly right of Attila the Hun. 😉

Really? You should have let us have some clues.

The Royal 'We' - thanks all the same but am still a married man!

Correct, my Dad is 90, his first game was on 15 November 1947 v Notts County(and the match is on YouTube).
He said that it would have been earlier if the 'little skirmish' in Europe and the World hadn't prevented him.
He hadn't missed a match home or away, to my recollection for a long time, until Burton away when he was out with a knee injury but he's taken advantage of last weeks postponement and hopes to be match fit for tomorrow...

Well done him.
Great support

Yes, fantastic support. Puts a lot of us to shame.
Who's his Prem team? ;)

A big acknowledgement to Dave, Jim and the rest of the regulars on the Teyn Away Days bus, who all assist him to keep safe and attending, especially at away games.

The Arsenal  ;)

Has the new manager bounce worn off already!?

Having just seen his latest interview I’m really warming to KN , laughing and joking away even when we lose , not a care in the world.
Would like to bring a couple of new players in before we travel to Wycombe but if not he’s not too fussed because we’ve got good players already here.
He’s not the sort of bloke to worry if we get relegated , he’ll just shrug his shoulders and laugh it off.
What a refreshing change to all the other managers who are so upset when we lose and constantly fret about league position and the need to improve squad quality.

Go on Kev you do it your way and prove everyone wrong just like captain redbeard rum.

Where can those that missed this inteview now hear it?

Youtube

KN win rate now 20%, early days but only other previous managers with a lower % who managed 5 or more games were Terry Fenwick and Dean Austin.

If you want to play with numbers, what percentage of first team players, did Fenwick and Austin have out injured?

He was appointed on the 23/12/24, he hasn’t been in charge for a month yet!

Quite right but looking at the next half a dozen fixtures he will soon be under pressure results and points wise unless he can get his targets in.
To be fair if they are as good as shaw then we have a chance and he’s shown he can identify a decent player, but in fairness I dare say JB could argue he identified plenty but wasn’t able to bring them in…

I'm sure when some of the injured return and with some decent additions he will turn things around but his stats could get worse before they improve.

Won't he be under more pressure (to get results) if he gets his targets in?

That’s a valid point.
Maybe he’s better off not signing anyone  ;)

I've just watched his post game interview, just a little bizarre.

Yerrr, manager having bants with the interviewer  ::)

Probably the worst team we have ever had. The quality is just rock bottom and I reckon JB recognised this.

You must be about 8 years old because in my time supporting the Cobblers I could name more than TEN teams worse than yesterday's line up!

100%!

Nowhere near the worst team we've ever had...

Also, Liam Shaw oozed quality & was the best cobblers player on the pitch, ironically the only one not signed by JB!  ;)

He was identified by Brady though, don’t let FACTS get in the way of your opinion 😉

These remarks are all very bizarre.

Jon Brady identified several targets that he wanted to bring in including Messi, Haaland & Salah but our tight fisted chairman wouldn't give him the funds. We'd be top of the league if Thomas had backed Brady.

As for the obsession with win ratio. Well if we'd been unbeaten since Nolan took over we'd still have the same amount of points. That's the idiocy of it.

Statistics are great as long as they have context, nothing in life is one dimensional.

I like Nolan, I think the injuries are really hampering him, he hasn't had the luxury of leaving people out of the squad yet, and every time someone has got fit another has dropped out!!!!!

I don't agree with this is the worst squad, potentially this is one of the better ones we have had for a while, I think towards the end of the JB's reign there were just too many injuries and potentially a lot unrest in the squad caused by JB ego along with some of the players which is taking a bit of time to adjust to and sort.

Once the players start coming back and he gets more signings in we can really judge him then, also losing your captain for the season within a couple of games is not a good start!!!

Being generous there Ris, I’d say 5, although old Soggy can’t recall events from 10 minutes ago, so it’s to be expected.

If Amorim is getting an easy time (which he is) due to the nature of work that needs doing, our Kev should get at least a season and a half to steady the ship and push on.

It is very, very early days and with the injury list we have definitely shown glimmers of improvement and importantly only conceded twice in the past 4 games. Certainly a more promising start than the likes of Wilder and Sir Alex!

I was only agreeing with Shoemakers Cpt Redbeard Rum post.  ;)

I was giving this some thought and the Cobblers are quite an attractive proposition for a manager trying to add to their reputation. If we stay up, I'm reasonably confident that this could well be the first time we make it to four consecutive seasons in the third tier, so well on our way to establishing ourselves. If we go down, we'll be one of the favourites to bounce straight back up. A promotion campaign will mean Nolan will probably get poached by a bigger club and we'll sort of be back to square one (as well as League one). So if this is to be a long term appointment (more than a season and a half), we need to stay up. Funny situation really, Nolan chances of getting a gig at a bigger club would probably be enhanced with us being relegated this season. That is as long as the club stick by him mind.

Indeed - funny old game but I thought exactly the same - probably not a popular view but a free scoring L2 team with a full Sixfields would represent a happier season than this one.

Not too controversial. I would hazard a guess that most (if not all in living memory) of our most enjoyable seasons have taken place in the lowest tier. Common sense really considering the vast majority of fans have never seen us achieve success beyond L1 and those that have are declining!
Can't be too many better than the Carr and Wilder seasons.

Then you get in the realms of questioning whether it is 'better' to follow a team like the Cobblers with the ups and downs...or the consistent drudgery of someone like Everton?

Either way, it'll be an achievement for KN to see out his contract.

What makes people think we're coming straight back up again if we get relegated? I'd personally rather struggle in league 1 until we can get established/competetive at some point, than go back down to the basement.

Me too, anyone who says we’d be better off in L2 is quite frankly moronic.

I don't think anyone has suggested we would rather be in L2. I see L1 as 'insurance'.

I do think though that most common fans go to the football to be entertained and hopefully win more than you lose.
The reality is that the more successful a team is, the more difficult it becomes to get tickets and the more expensive a hobby it becomes.

It must have been amazing to be a Luton fan recently. Probably not so much fun this season and it certainly wouldn't have been when they slipped into non-league.

With how our club is being run, I personally think we are quite a way from being near a non-league side at the moment. Not many financially astute, well run clubs fall by the wayside. There is normally a story attached.
I can think of nothing worse than following a mediocre Prem team....like Man Utd or Man City  :P

That will cause some consternation amongst the Ne'er-Do-Wells!

Euro'land may have disturbed what little self confidence you have left!

Moronic? - I think you choose your insults without thinking too much - ask most long standing fan's which were their most 5 enjoyable seasons over the last 20 years or so - I'd be very surprised if many in their top 5 featured our adventures in L1.

....and another one trying to insult other posters with limited wit - read the room Evers, I'm certainly not saying I want us to be relegated I'm simply saying the most exciting seasons have been those where we have been chasing promotion. I'm also not saying if we were relegated we would automatically be challenging for promotion next season but I do think we would more than hold our own

Reality says, with the current set up (Owners, capacity etc) we are very unlikely to be challenging for promotion any time soon in L1

You do know we lose around £1M per year don't you?

Of course we do…..

I am happy to own up to being moronic on this occasion (amongst many others). I go to games in the hope of enjoying seeing us win. I am not too fussed about the surroundings, whether it is Burton or Bradford, Bolton or Accrington, Carlisle in League One or Carlisle in League Two. To be honest, I am not that fussed about seeing a better standard of football. Did anyone at Bolton last season take any joy from seeing us getting ripped apart by a team playing lovely flowing football in fancy surroundings. I want to see us win and I am sure our win rate historically has been better in League Two than it has been in League One. In my 37 years watching The Mighty Cobblers, I have been more likely to turn up to a match expecting us to win, in League Two, than I have been in League One. Much as though I would like it to be different.

QED I am a moron.

Self realisation is the first step on the path to enlightenment Comrade.

History my friend. In the same way we never stay long in the third tier, the same can be said in the fourth. In the fourth we're a big fish in a small pond. In the third we're a minnow in the ocean.

As for anybody saying they'd rather get relegated? Well nobody said that did they? Once again people building up make believe sand castles so they can knock them down.

I would rather see the better standard of football in division 1 even thou we win fewer games and the majority of teams bringing good away followings rather than 100 from the likes of Fleetwood and FGR etc.

Yeah you're right. The standard of football we've seen from the Cobblers this season has been so pleasing to the eye and my how the goals have flown in. Talk about bums off seats.

Well as far as I can remember  we've only actually  come straight back up once, 1999/2000. So history would suggest we probably wouldn't come straight back up and I never suggested that anybody said they'd rather get relegated.

Some might say that it's about time I became enlightened.

It’s not an insult, it’s a FACTUAL description of someone who enjoys football in the league below our current one.

Maybe but we're most often close to a swift return so a season of being thereabouts with possible promotion going right to the wire is exciting don't you think? Also, with moneybags Stockport and Wrexham coming up last season, there is nothing to fear in the current League 2.

I wouldn't go so far as to call anyone a moron but I understand the sentiment tbf...

I'd rather be lower tier in League 1 than be anywhere near League 2.

Last minute equalisers at Birmingham, turning over Huddersfield, etc are infinitely more enjoyable for me than a shock home defeat to Harrogate, Sutton and suchlike, even if we do struggle in this higher division. Call me perverse (and I won't mind or take offence) but I'd take a last day relegation survival in League 1 over a last day promotion from League 2. I know... The outcome is the same. But if we are ever going to have a Yeovil or Burton season, it can only start from League 1, not 2.

Great comment - keep it up
regards

I don't think anybody would ever claim differently. However this season hasn't been enjoyable whatever anybody says. 6 wins in 26 games? Only 4 wins from 12 home matches? Stealing a point (and lets be honest, it was stealing) at Birmingham doesn't paper over the cracks. One win from our last 8 games, 2 in the last 14. Its not pleasant reading and the football has been awful. Entertainment value = zero. Hopefully all that will be consigned to history once Nolan gets HIS side on the pitch.

No, it’s your opinion not a fact - but the need to add a derogatory adjective to anyone or anything you don’t agree with shows a fundamental lack of social skills, often displayed by people with high IQs but very dissatisfied with what they have achieved in life frequently accompanied by a Walter Mitty type exaggeration of those achievements………

Does the cap fit?

Very tightly I’d imagine 🥳

It gives me a headache after a while 😉
Seriously there is absolutely no exaggeration in any of my posts.

Fair assessment of the season, I think despite the couple of loses and lack of goals there has been a marked improvement in performance since Nolan has taken over, lets hope players returning and his signings are the difference

All pretty relative and a decent performance. What we do need is more success from our youth set up to get a few more big figure sales.
You won't find many clubs in L1/2 turning a profit or even breaking even.

Lot of discussion when no one has actually said they'd rather us be in L2  ;D

Little incentive to invest in youth academies when the elite clubs can poach your best talent for a minimal sum before they've even played a professional game.

Getting back to the thread subject…
With a lack of signings and a very tough run of games this situation could soon turn fenwick.

So, because KN has inherited a poor squad absolutely ravaged by injuries & whom it seems no one wants to join...

Your suggesting he's on a par with the clueless Fenwick!?

If so, give your head a wobble!  ::)

No matter what happens KN deserves a chance to get rid off all the injury prone players in the summer & completely rebuild the squad...

Whoever came in was pi55ing in the wind with this squad & the constant injuries...

I dunno, £750k for a kid from NSB wasn't too shabby.

I am merely pointing out that if we have a return of four points from thirty available and facing certain relegation KN will come under the microscope rightly or wrongly.

I’m sure the board would expect to see some improvement in form.

Anyway it’s all conjecture at this point and KN may well be able to attract quality signings and get the results needed.

Not even a month! Some people need to get a hobby!

Not at all, but that was 9 years ago and I doubt it's even covered the running cost let alone added much for investment in the first team. It was also dependent on a £15m sell-on fee, how much would we have gotten if instead stayed at Villa? Or more likely released on a free and ended up with a Championship club.

EPPP was all about getting the countries best players playing together as soon as possible. I'd love the idea of local lads breaking into the first team to subsequently move on to bigger things for a fee, but it doesn't happen anymore. Even the likes of Crew Alex can't compete anymore. 

Fenwick was a complete knob with absolutely no communication skills with either the players or the other coaching staff so irrespective of results really no comparison.

I wasn’t comparing personalities just pointing out that KN needs some points on the board and quick given we got bugger all against Lincoln.
Mind you Kev didn’t seem too fussed so I guess I shouldn’t worry too much about Wycombe away.
I like old Kev he’s not one to fret.

Fair points

Nail on head Marvo. And tbf, I don't think Brady ever got to put his first choice XI out either. That's not a defence, well, I guess it kind of is. The lack of quality, entertainment and in turn, wins is completely and undeniably down to the loss of key players to injury.

The only exception would be our perennial inability to unearth a decent striker or two...

I don't know whether anyone has already posted this but it is an extremely interesting insight into the mindset of our new gaffer.

He obviously leads by example; places great store by players respecting the rules for turning up on time and was a great captain.

For example, when skipper at West Ham, he took back to L'pool (where he lived at the time), players at West Ham who would have been on their own at Xmas.

You can never assume that charismatic players will make great managers, but I think he is the most naturally charismatic manager since Graham Carr.

Hopefully,  his association with Sam Allerdyce & David Moyes will have given him a great foundation.


https://youtu.be/QwIlifElVr4?si=TdeWyguJ5oFVeMlu

Win rate now 16.67%, 6 points from 6 games (relegation form), c'mon Big Kev pull your finger out. 

If we'd won two of those games, lost the other four, win rate would be 33% yet we'd still have only 6 points. Will you ever understand?

As for relegation form. We have 27pts from 27games and are 6 pts clear of the drop zone so even if we drew every game from now until the end of the season we'd still be likely to avoid relegation, you have to go back to 2020/1 to find the last time a side was relegated with 46 points.

I believe that you were pulling someone's chain?  :D

Well said Weka, stick with Nobby he’ll do you proud. It was Nobby who was instrumental to sending Afolyan to Wanderers from Wet Spam when he was coach there so he does have good contacts and is a grafter. In fact there are many that would like him at the Reebok so if he does well with you, you never know? He’ll certainly get a brilliant reception when you come on Tuesday. As a character he’s top notch, has worked under some great managers and I’m sure if you do stick with him he’ll do well for you, just not on Tuesday I hope?

I know what you're saying Deepcut but the 6pts from 6 games was a perfect opportunity to illustrate the fallibility of win ratio and not one I was prepared to forgo.

I know, stats are great but they can be presented in a way that will determine that they are read in the manner the author intended.
Their fallibility is easily demonstrated by their individuality and also their variety of perspectives.

It is true that 46 points would have been enough to avoid relegation in the last 3 seasons but before that the previous 7 seasons you would have needed 48,50,51,50,47,51 and 48. We ought to be aiming for a minimum of 48 points.

Looking at the teams in the bottom 4 and taking Cambridge as an example they currently have 21 points from 26 games (.81 points per game) to reach 48 points they need another 27 points from their remaining 20 games (1.35 points per game) which is 7 wins,6 draws and 6 defeats so they need to make a significant improvement in form. It may be that none of the bottom 4 have that capability but often 1 team goes on a run but also 1 team outside of the bottom 4 has a bad run to get relegated.

For all the soundbytes regards KN he isn’t getting points on the board.
What has he mustered five points from eighteen or something similar?
This could get a lot worse yet……

No better than JB but you’d have to say his two signings have improved us, we just have no creativity whatsoever.

I’m inclined to agree but they are not signings that are leading to wins….

Agreed.

Time to kick on and show your worth KN.

Well I'm strangely optimistic. Also, if we survive this season, I'm fairly confident we can break the three seasons third tier hoodoo. We were definitely going down under Brady. I think the next 48 hours is vital.

We are going down under Nolan as well, we have Udders and Wrexscum up next, he’s won one in the last 7.FACT

48 hours?

If you mean the transfer deadline that isn't until Monday 3rd February at 2300 hrs.

Our new manager bounce will turn up soon im sure of it…

Wow, I stand corrected. And here's me thinking it was called the January transfer window.

You have a woman’s hands m’lord

Northampton Town 24/25 Season.
John Brady 21 points from 21 games in charge =1 point per game.
Kevin Nolan 6 points from 7 games in charge =.86 points per game.

Exactly. He's still working with the diabolical squad assembled before he arrived and like you say his signings so far have made us better. We just need a lot more of them (and to somehow get rid of a large amount of the crap that's already here).

He needs to be seen as a bit of a project as opposed to a quick fix.

I think we have improved since the final weeks of the JB era. Aside from the 3 goals last night we seem to have tightened things up. It is glaringly obvious we need help up front as the likes of Eaves are not the answer and we can't rely on Hoskins bailing us out. I think injuries mask the underlying issue and I'm not sure our strongest 11 would be necessarily setting the world alight, not that anyone could pick our strongest 11. Our recruitment has been awful and the last two players to come in are clearly an improvement.
Using 31 players is never going to be a winning formula.

Having said that, the 'project' definitely doesn't want to and shouldn't include getting relegated!

Is that the Wrexham that lost at home to Stevenage last night?  Its a funny ol game, as Greavsie used to say.

When KN was appointed, like many, I thought (and still do) it would be a monumental achievement just to stay up this season...

Pre season planning was a disaster, summer recruitment on the whole was a disaster, a massively bloated mostly injured squad to work with was always going to be a huge handicap to anyone taking on the job...Add to that Guthrie, Guiness-Walker also joining injury list...

The two signings KN has made to date are quality (MDD ffs!) with hopefully more to come before 11pm on Monday...

Fact is 4 teams have to go down & after all the issue's we've had this season, it's realistic to think that we could/will be one of those 4 teams...

However, I feel much more confident of giving it a right good go under KN, than I did under JB...

Whatever happens, KN will be here next season & then can be properly judged, once he's assembled his squad...

Let's just all get behind KN & just see what happens eh?

Il just put this out there as an opinion
I’m not so sure KN will be here next season.

 ;D

He will be here next season, but I'm not sure he will see that season out

And he’s been the manager for just over a month

I know.
His style of football is the key. Absolutely it is what's needed right now.
But going forward, think Boothroyd.

My fear is that we have a run of games where currently it looks unlikely we will pick up many points
The longer that goes on the worse it looks and we could enter fenwick territory.

I want KN to succeed and to turn our season around but it’s in his hands and managers are ultimately judged on their results.

Huddersfield this Saturday. Worst team we've played all season. Easy 3 points. Followed by non-league outfits like Mansfield, Wrexham and Rovers. Have faith.

I agree but get after the next two days there's easier games to come  8)

Huddersfield have won 1 of their last 6 games.
Mansfield have just lost to Cambridge (saw the game and they were awful) and Crawley.
Wrexham are a completely different proposition away from home.
Bristol Rovers fans think they are going down.

The next 4 weekends are not as bad as they look on paper.

Hurrah! We'll be safely mid-table before you know it and planning for next season in League One.





PS then the whinges will be that the players are already on the beach.

A major part of a managers job is persuading players to join the team. KN has started well with Shaw and Taylor but the hardest job is still to be achieved with the signing of a quality pacy strikers (or strikers) before Tuesday.

If achieved then I feel we will have a good chance of safety this season (if the injuries improve).

As I said. Easy 3 points as per. Now on to the non league outfits.

That's more like it Big Kev, win rate up to 28.57% which is just about enough to avoid relegation as it equates to 13 wins (39 points) so together with about 10 draws would be enough.

John Brady 21 points from 21 games in charge =1 point per game
 Kevin Nolan 9 points from 8  games in  charge =1.125 points per game.

Hasn't he won 2 matches in 8?

Surely that is a win ratio of 25%?

I see maths is another string to your bow  ;D ;D

Not really as we only have 17 games left!

On the stated scenario we need 6 wins and 1 draw, so the required win rate is 37.5%. Not sure where Nolan would place in Marvos table to achieve that

Or 5 wins and 4 draws making 29.41% win ratio. Alternatively 4 wins and 7 draws when only 23.53% would be required.
However, the instance I quoted was the requirement over a full season.

Also 6 wins from the remaining 17 games is 35.29% and not 37.5% as you state.

Not if you take a game out for the draw you said was need.

Jeez, I'm only messing bud, no need to get salty. You quoted the numbers, I just did the math

Wonder if last weekends tactical change will be our longer term strategy for the rest of the season?

Yes Was you did do the maths and I am not getting salty. What you seem to fail to understand is that when working out a win percentage from remaining games you use the total of those remaining games and don't subtract the number of drawn games. If you are subtracting the number of drawn games why not subtract the number of games we would lose then you would need to win 100% of the remaining games.

I did add win ratio to the managers stats page, even though I think success rate is a far more valuable measure. Anyway, 37.5% would put him level with Jon Brady. How's that for a appropriate coincidence?

I get your point but you specifically stated 13 wins and 10 draws which means 6 wins and 1 draw from 17 games which in turn means 6 wins from 16 games which is... 37.5%.

I can concede 1.1% if it really bothers you. Either way, both figures are a bit above the 28% or whatever you originally quoted.

Whatever the number you want to settle on, we need 6 or 7 wins to be sure, IMHO. Brizzle, Exeter, Blackpool, Cambridge, Shrewsbury and Crawley all feel like must wins

Was, my original post that 13 wins for the season (28.57%) together with 10 draws giving 49 points for the season would usually be enough most recent seasons to avoid relegation. But if I took out the 10 draws then 13 wins from the remaining 36 games would give almost 36% win rate to avoid relegation but 36% win rate with a number of draws would see a comfortable mid table finish.
To reach 49 this season 5 wins will be enough with 4 draws allowing us to lose 8 (almost half) of our remaining 17 games.

I bet your fun at parties 😉

You'll always find him in the kitchen....

I only go to maths parties but on the condition calculators are not allowed.

;D

Our Kev is due on Talk Sport soon. Chatting about the Newcastle v Arsenal  game. Wonder if we'll get a mention.

I think we might have got ourselves a good one.

Still early days yet

3 wins, 3 draws, 3 defeats.

I reckon even West Stand oap will be able to work out the win ratio of that.  ;) ;D ;D ;D

Finally got there, KN now has a win ratio of 33.333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 ad infinitum% and we are now in mid table territory with a chance of further improvement with 3 home games to follow. Anybody feeling confident enough to go down the bookies and put a bet on us being unbeaten in February or winning all of our games?

A point a game from our remaining 16 games should be enough to ensure our safety but with 10 home games and only 6 away we have a good chance of moving further up the table. Also a good chance of more away wins with our remaining games being against Cambridge, Crawley, Peterborough, Exeter, Charlton and Leyton Orient.

This.

I agree. He’s ambitious and passionate. I hope he turns it to be so good we can’t keep him..

I feel the squad has achieved a great points total so far and look forward to having a choice of forwards available for the first time this season!

Heard his post match interview where he's 'not happy' with us singing "The Teyn are staying up".

I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't sung at every game, when winning, for the foreseeable future now. :)

Did he hold the same view I did about the chant?

Perhaps we should sing "The Town are going up" instead. Or is that creating unrealistic expectations that put too much stress and pressure on all concerned.




It's not easy this team supporting lark is it? Damned if you are too positive, damned if you are too negative.

I like positive!

Maybe keep the chant entirely factual rather than subjective.

“The Town are 17th”

Does the job 😝

In keeping with the spirit of this forum and our overall love of split part singing, perhaps some could chant "The Town are 17th", whilst others then respond with a nice loud "FACT", and then the roles are reversed. If we can sometimes manage "We're the left side" etc, I reckon it's doable, but somebody will need to keep tabs on the in match live standings - thank goodness for the Internet.

'We're mid-table, we're mid-table, we're mid-table over here.'

Instead of “ we’re going uuuuup, we’re going up, we’re going up etc”
We just sing “ we’re moving up”
Job done.

Moving on up, moving on up, nothing can stop us.

That’s a very old chant last sung in the Brady L2 days and before that Wilder. Remember it well’

"Mid-table, we must be proud "

Next Saturday it will have to be 'symud ymlaen I fyny' for our foreign opponents!

Is there a phonetic version of that?   :)

My experience of that area, is that they all have a scouse accent. Still, those chirpy Liverpudlians view themselves as not being English anyway.

Baaaaa?

The bookies have us around 5/2 for relegation after Saturday's results, going out from 2/1 in the morning.
We've been hovering around evens the past few weeks, so you can understand the "We are staying up" chants on Friday night. Mind you, that shouldn't be a surprise as according to the chants, we are also "By far the greatest team the World has ever seen"

Eeaye, eeaye, eeayeo
Up the football league we go,
When we get to 16th, this is what we'll sing
We are the Cobblers, we are the Cobblers
Nolan is moaning!

Coat time...

He's taking us to Europe to Europe to Europe

😂😂😂

Northampton Town manager Kevin Nolan believes it is too early for their fans to be singing about 'staying up' despite the team achieving back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
The Cobblers followed up a 3-2 home win over Huddersfield Town with a 1-0 success away to Mansfield Town - a result which put them seven points clear of the League One relegation places.
But they still have 16 matches left to play and Nolan - who was appointed just before Christmas - thinks the fans' show of confidence about where they will be at the end of the campaign may be premature.
"It's doing my head in when the fans sing 'we're staying up'. I don't like it. I'm not having a go at them but how many games have we got left?" he told BBC Radio Northampton.
"There's a third of the league to go so can they find something else to sing please!"

From the manager via the BBC

Dont get me started on that we are staying up bloody chant!

My lad said when it was sung the other week 'we've only been in the drop zone for 1 week all season' lol

It makes us look fcuking tinpot!

Its a complete embarrassment. Id rather the numbskulls who are singing get themselves a bloody drum  ;D

That's a different context to how I wrongly assumed he meant it. I thought he implied not to sing it because of course we are better than relegation fodder and certainly never been hanging around in the bottom four.
Maybe if we were rock bottom and now pulling away but that isn't the case.

Anything but a drum, now that is tin pot.

Whenever I see anyone banging a drum they always look about 12.

And I wonder how they get it through the turnstiles.... (I know, they leave it there....)

Im not disagreeing but its not *quite* as tinpot as singing 'we are staying up' when we've spent about a week in the relegation zone during the last 2 bloody years and theres over a third of the season still to go!

I think that it was a reaction to the 'backs to the wall' and fighting performance that we witnessed at Mansfield.
I'm in favour of it in an ironic way, especially as many pundits, bookies and newspapers etc.. had us down for relegation at the start of the season.
Instilling a siege mentality and treating every victory or success against the odds, celebrating as an individual battle won, brings us all together and will help towards ensuring that we stay up... ;)

And there was me thinking rangers fans liked drums and flutes

We do when there’s 50,000 joining in 😉

https://youtu.be/3TVBh4O0caA?si=d91TlWs0mL-jcHpA

Kev is doing a great job. He’s been a breath of fresh air.

Superrrr super Kev

15 games, 5 wins, 5 draws, 5 defeats, 20 points, win ratio 33.33% over the course of the season equates to 61 points. Next season when he has assembled his own squad with an uptick of 25% or just over we are in the play offs.

He strikes me as a thoroughly sound person.

Absolutely. Although he he does have an annoying habit of saying "youknow" at every available opportunity.  ;D

Scouser

Nuff said.

Usually following a successful manager the next 2 or 3 appointments have resulted in a disaster on the pitch and in the league tables. Finally it appears we may have bucked that trend. Particularly pleasing as we have stuck to our guns and continued with the continuity strategy originally envisaged last time by keeping Sammo, Rico and bringing CC back into the fold. Well done everyone at the club and especially Kev.

https://youtube.com/shorts/HZni3j0NjDk?si=Fyzhrpo7Rx5ItSsT

Kev or Kelv?

Appointing two successive successful managers and establishing a route way within the club for coaches to progress and keep continuity going, rather than bringing in too much in the way of outsiders, so the longer term good of the club and it's culture /ethos is retained.

What do you reckon Comrade and Mr Mysterious?

Yes, KT and the sunshine band has done well, it could still go wrong, but all good so far Comrade 👍

Nolan's win ratio takes another knock today, he really needs to buck his ideas up. 😜😁

Jon Moss who refereed for 11 years in the top division says Nolan was the worse player he had to referee and would argue all the game.

I wonder if he ever refereed Jon Brady. Not that I know how argumentative he was as a player, but as a manager, he didn't half whinge.

who cares

Clearly you don't but that doesn't mean other people are not interested.
Nolan certainly had quite a poor disciplinary record.

Is it passion or petulance?

Petulance.

Sent off 4 times.

 ???

Poacher turned gamekeeper?

Before Nolan - Played 21 - Won 5 - drew 6 - lost 10
With Nolan                 16          5           6          5

Identical except we have only lost half of the number of games, he seems to have made us harder to beat.

It's only identical if we lost the next five games?

As I said identical except for the number of games lost (and games played if you want to nitpick).

Interestingly the away form shows more improvement than the home form, since we lost at Reading a few days after KN took over we have only lost 1 of the following 7 games and taken 12 points. At home we have only won 2 of his 8 games taking 9 points.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11095/13332470/kevin-nolan-interview-northampton-town-boss-on-working-under-david-moyes-at-west-ham-and-loving-being-a-manager-again

A good interview... ;)

Defence/Organisation - 7/10
Attacking ideas/pattern of play - can’t see one, apart from hoofball (it fits L2 perfectly)

Outclassed, outpaced, outfought, out of ideas.

Nolan is a vacant, shoe-gazing varmint and the sooner we get Brady back the better. Oh and Caldermidwife can do one too. Whoever thought he was an asset needs a broadband update.

Try taking more water with your drink! Pathetic!

We have now only lost 1 of our last 8 away games, hopefully we can extend that at Peterborough next week. Having played 9 games home and away since KN took charge this is how we have fared:-

Home - played 9, won 2, drawn 3, lost 4, points 9, points per game 1.00

Away - played 9, won 3, drawn 4, lost 2, points 13, points per game 1.44

As we have visited Burton, Exeter, Mansfield and Cambridge we have to take into account that the home set of games have been tougher.

If he keeps us up all well and good but his tactics, substitutions and team selections leave a lot to be desired.

He needs to significantly revamp the squad in the off season. We look a very poor League One side that would be unlikely to contend anywhere near the top of League Two at present. He's lucky to have so many players out of contract in the Summer.

I get a sense Comrade, that "the Scouser" is not your favourite Cobblers manager of all time.

He’s not comrade, his results are bang average, I find his interviews nonsensical, and he pick bizarre teams.
What’s your thoughts?

I think Brady was a better coach than Nolan, tactically they both make some odd choices before and during a game but Nolan will have the pulling power to bring players in based on his history and contacts and if you get the hair drier from Nolan its likely to be more effective than Brady, because we all know the ego of these players

Well, he is the current manager of The Mighty Cobblers and therefore he gets my blind loyalty and unconditional love, like with Evers.

I haven't yet seen a match since he became manager so I haven't seen the style of play. Like JB this season he has the injuries tying one hand behind his back. I suppose really the jury is out until he gets his own team together.

I don't listen to his interviews so that isn't going to influence me one way or another.

Once he guarantees us safety he can work on next season.

Well that didn’t take long…

This thread perfectly demonstrates that the tide can turn very quickly. A lot of positivity on here, which after the most recent run is rapidly dissipating.
Assuming we stay up he'll get close season and a window to do his stuff, possibly if we go down too. You'd hope that one of the two below us won't better our results until the end of the season....unless we lose them all of course!

Then 10 games into next season we could be on the merry-go-round again.

Let's hope we can pull off a shock (at would be a shock at the moment) win on Saturday and a lot of the past few games will soon be forgiven....and then he plays a blinder in the transfer market!

He hasn’t got the minerals.

OK Turkish  ;D

One of the best films ever FACT.

5 wins from 19 games, down to 26.3%win rate.

To be fair to Nolan no one's singing 'we are staying up' anymore

https://www.twtd.co.uk/league-tables/competition:league-one/daterange/fromdate:2024-Dec-27/todate:2025-Jun-01/type:home-and-away/

Form table since KN took over, although I haven't included the Reading away game on Boxing Day.

You would hope that with his own team and less injuries, he could better that next season, which could potentially put us in the top half of the table, which I would be very happy with.

With 30 points from his 25 games that would be 55 points in a full season so just a little better than our final points total.
7 wins gives him a 28% win ratio but a disappointing 3 wins in 13 home games.

Big Kev in the studio on the Cobblers Show tonight at 6pm, should be a good listen...

Get those questions into Jake on Twitter/X

Not good enough, however in mitigation he inherited a complete bag of shyte in terms of squad, the addition of the Jan window stopped us being relegated, but not for one minute we’re any of them his work.

It’s claimed the average L1 budget increased considerably last summer. Even though we increased ours the gap was widening, and if it increases proportionally this summer it will be a challenge. I will of course be cut and pasting the Deloitte report as soon as it’s available. Budget is not always everything as Man U have proved of late, but the odds are (and were) stacked against us. That applies even if the budgets remain the same. Given the calibre of players we lost (Guthrie and Shaw in particular) it was miraculous we didn’t go down. 0-4 away at Peterborough is one of our best performances in years, and there were others where I felt we played well above ourselves comparably on paper. Frankly, I don’t think the guy is being given anywhere near enough credit.

The Ottoman Lieutenant?

6.4 I’m IMDb 🤮

Can't wait. ;D

For those that missed it last night, you can listen back here...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002bdtz (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002bdtz)

Nice to hear a new keeper will be coming in to compete with Burge for the number 1 jersey, with Dadge providing competition behind those two...

Thanks, a really good listen. KN seems a top bloke, I like him.

Some key points;

The Fosu discussions will likely take a while.

KN hopes to have some new bodies in the door by the first week of pre season but says some deals will be a waiting game.

Players are due back 23rd June.

Appreciates that some players offered deals may want to move back closer to family.

Has only spoken to a couple of the players that have been offered deals (I found this strange) but will look to speak to all of them before 23rd June. They’ve been given deadlines but he couldn’t remember. 

No contract offer for AK was a difficult decision but KN had concerns as he couldn’t finish a game.

Keen to bring back Dara, Taylor and Perry. Will have conversations but it’s out of his hands.

Unlikely that champ loans will sign untill a couple of weeks into pre season with prem players 4 weeks in

Was at Forest U21s on Tuesday night watching Perry and trying to spot some further talent.

Not thinking of moving on any players under contract untill pre season has began and he’s had a good look at the squad.

Just to caveat before the normal suspects start, the above points are my recollection of an hour long interview, some words may differ slightly.

Thank you MC...

Cheers.

KN was on a BBC 5 live panel last evening,  well he was when he could get in his house because his kids had the house keys and decided to go out!😂

NTFC got a few mentions which helps our profile.

I'm a big fan of Nolan and I believe (although others may disagree) that without him we'd be looking at a season in League 2 now. However, his stats are pretty poor. There are of course mitigating circumstances but next season they will have to improve as there will be no excuses  to hide behind. I think he can do it and I wish him the very best of luck which all managers need. Going to be interesting.

Doing a spelling and grammar check as we speak.

Like I said Marvo he’s a bang average manager, with 55 points you are always going to be flirting with relegation, his aimless hoofball tactic was horrible against Blackpool and Rotherham.
Hopefully with his own players we can kick on, time will tell.

“Bang average” probably describes all managers in division 1 including the promoted sides. How would they have got on this season without the considerable financial advantage they had.
Look at how many seasons it took Sheffield Utd to get out of this division with people like Nigel Atkins in charge until they appointed Wilder.

Absolute nonsense, all managers in L1 are bang average, what are you talking about, so Calderon is the same as Parkinson? 🤫

With the Hollywood money Parkinson ought to have done well at Wrexham, a lot of other managers would have. His previous record had not been great, relegated and sacked at Charlton, got Bradford promoted from division 2 beating us at Wembley, got Bolton promoted and then relegated, only lasted a year at Sunderland. How well would he have done with the squad Calderon inherited at Bristol Rovers?

Definitely better than Calderon, the point I am making is all managers are not bang average, my point is proven by what Bowyer has achieved at Burton.

I would rate what Bowyer has done for Burton merits him being division 1 manager of the season. It has worked out for him there but not a great managerial career before as he was sacked at Blackburn, Bradford and Salford.

Managers at our level generally play the merry go round of success and failure at plus/minus the same level - very occasionally there is an up and coming manager that does go on to better things, maybe Kevin Nolan will, like Chris Wilder be one. Big budget isnt a guarantee of success but it certainly helps!

Football is fickle. Managers go from being perceived as savants to completely inept in as little as 6 months.

Player recruitment is more important than anything else. Ability, attitude, injury proneness, compatibility with the style of play.

Obviously managers have an input into that, but there's been plenty who've done well by simply inheriting a solid foundation that they've never replicated elsewhere. (Hasselbaink at Burton)

Nolan's done well enough given where we were when he took-over. Next season will be a fairer assessment with a full pre-season and the opportunity to bring in the players he wants.

The good thing about Nolan IMO is he talks sense and is relatively honest alongside being positive.

Time will tell if that changes when he is inevitably feeling the pressure at points.

I can’t understand a word he says, he can’t seem to finish a sentence and punctuates then with “you know” every other word.
Where he will be useful is with his contacts in Everton and West Ham.

You are a bit of stroker aren’t you

I have noticed that also.  A bit like Justin Edinburgh used to slip "Yeah No" into his interviews all the time.

It is a good job he is employed for his football management ability and not hie elecusion then, my dear man!

Bit like you with “FACT” then?

It's unbelievable really - he can't 'speak proper' is now a criteria to assess the manager by...

If there was a block button...

I'm pretty hopeful that KN will turn out to be the best manager that we have appointed in many years but these things are determined by so many uncontrollable factors that hope is all we've got at this stage.

I don't think you can judge him on the results of last season - not his players, pre-season etc, but he is obviously as tough as teak under that genial personna that I wouldn't want to let him down if I was a player.

And you judge managers by a completely different metric to managers in any other walk of life. I don't think I would be any good at choosing one - and KT/DB/JW have arguably got much better at it as they've experienced more different sorts.

At the Open Forum his obvious charisma and appeal was also evident.

But when we appointed Pat Crerand we all thought 'cor'...

He and Colin Calderwood were pretty confident that next season would be much better so I think it's fair to judge them at the end of it. I'm hoping for a top 10 finish and some cup excitement..

Amen to that brother. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just take it seriously for a change? A trip to a big club or even a Wembley appearance would supplement a midtable League 1 campaign.

I asked him (and KT) the question at the Open Forum about cups. Reminding them that our last big crowd was Coventry. Glorious victories or defeats are what we remember in 20 years time..

Mind you, I'm not hopeful of remembering much at all in 20 years time..

I don’t have massive expectations for next season but a comfortable top half finish is I think reasonable - but please KN focus a bit on cup competitions that can really add to a bit of excitement - our previous medium term record is terrible and clearly not just bad luck but showed no real intent.

Maybe its own thread but...
Rob Page - "We go again"
Kevin Wilson - "I was gonna say"
Chris Wilder - "appeh" (ok only once but worth a mention).

And Keith Curle talking about "jigsaw puzzles".

Not sure about Jigsaw Puzzels it was mainly bollôx 😂

I would say that “communication “ is a key attribute of a football manager.
A “block” button is a form of censorship, free speech etc, very popular amongst you left leaning types.

Curle struggles to string a sentence together without starting with "AGAIN". It is all I could hear every time he spoke.

I’m not sure why everyone thinks Nolan is a great or even good manager, his career to date nets his a 1.44 points per game, however his record here is worse, mitigation is the fact he inherited a poor squad.

The jury is very much out for me, let’s see who he can bring in or back, first 10 games etc.

Does it matter. - some footballers have more o levels than you, manwork and me? All a bit snobbish no wonder Brady resigned! Mysteriousl excluded of course!

Well said Sir Michael, so many snobs on here! What do you reckon Sloan Sq Cobbler!

Can't argue with this. He's pretty much done what he was brought in to do so far. He comes across well, and I think his management of Fosu has shown potential. The back 3 we were playing for a while was dreadful though!

Don't forget "Dust ourselves down" probably all of them said that at one time or another.

45 x 1.44 =64.8 pts  nearly promotion form or at least playoffs!

I thought we played 46 games in a season?  ::)

Therefore his ratio would be 66.24 over the season.

That would be 10th place this season. Leyton Orient finished 6th with 78 points that's 12 more points for play-offs and certainly not promotion.

Well, you have absolutely no idea, how many "O" levels that I departed Dusson Upper with, and also, who mentioned Brady??
Nah, you dont know how far up the wrong tree, you are currently barking matey.  :D

How did Mark Robins do? 😉

Did he go to Dusson upper?

He was a shît manager, took Cov from League two to the Championship play off final and the FACup semi Final, pretty poor by anyone’s book, and kept a very poor Stoke side in the Championship.
His points per game was 1.79.
Good job we got Nolan. 😉

I'm glad you agree  ;)

Nolan kept us up with a regular back three of Dyche + two full backs + Hoskins and Pinnock as unorthodox wing backs. He had zero fit senior centre backs for the majority of his tenure.

That achievement should not be underestimated.

Without Guthrie and his marquee signing, beat the Poo 0-4 and kept us up, all without Received Pronunciation. It’s a tough gig this management lark.

As I said bang average, counter that with the likes of Rotherham and Blackpool.
As a first team manager he is a rookie, let’s hope CC and a decent budget can help him have some much needed success.

Agree that it's too early to judge KN as a manager. He sounds and looks the part, so will have to be judged on next season. The good news is that the loan signings that came in after he took charge were definite and significant improvements, so I'm hopeful he can at least get us to midtable next season. And yes, PLEASE can we have a cup run, which was something we never had during JB's years.

From the 14th of December to the 1st of January we played 6 games and didn’t win any, conceded 16 goals in the process culminating in losing Guthrie for the season. At that point if someone had offered you 19th place with some of the performances we delivered you’d have took their arm off. Bang average my arśe.

He’s on a wind up 🎣

And it worked, I’m biting like a great white on a whale carcass.

Then stop 😉

His overall record is 1.43 per game.

Indeed it is after over 850 games with a fair few in the Championship, how do you think Nolan will compare?

No idea but it was your opinion that a 1.44 average was moderate. FACT

When Lampard took over at Coventry they were 17th and finished the season 5th so changing their manager proved to be the right thing to do.

I can’t help it.

Nice try 😉

How did that end?
Lampard played the utterly useless Wright up front who missed an absolute sitter in the last minute and refused to take him off even though they had Asante on the bench.

Leyton Orient were 20th when Coventry sacked Robins. Leyton Orient didn't sack their manager and finished 6th progressing to the final of the playoffs.

So sticking with their manager proved to be the right thing to do.

It is, but as I said he’s average with us is 1.20 😎

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/nolan-reveals-his-ambitious-plans-for-cobblers-for-next-season-and-beyond-5131400

Has he been reading this board?  :)

Interesting how that doesn’t tally with John Brady’s latest interview where he explains he left because of not being able to retain players he wanted to and one could guess not being backed to get the players in he wanted.
It’d be good to hear KTs response to this and whether KN will be in a similar situation.

Not long to find out I guess.

The cup run was directly brought up to him during the east stand meeting, so he definitely seems he's taken the message to heart. It doesn't really say a lot though does it. Ideally he'd want to be in the play-offs or competitive, first stop is avoiding relegations. Probably the same ambition that every manager in a similar sized club to us has, he's just going to have to work how to realise it.

Doesn't say anything at all about our financial backing, it'll be the same as last year - both the highest the wage bill has ever been and also in the bottom 20% of clubs in the league.

It was me that asked this - apart from the memories (great and disastrous), a 3rd round FA Cup tie is worth a fortune to a club like the Cobblers - from the FA fee (£115k, broadcast rights etc).

How Jenkins, now Newport chairman, reckoned that a replay at OT would have netted them a million quid.

My understanding is that we can only spend 60% of this extra income on players directly because of the SCMP. However, the other 40% goes towards reducing our annual deficit.

No one knows our precise wages bill, but a decent cup run would definitely pay the wages of two of our best loan players last year, for example.

As shoemaker pointed out, since Huw Jenkins comments, replays have been scrapped..so we can only have away fixtures from now on!

No replays anymore.

That's a very good point! We need away draws from now on..

It will be interesting to see how strong a side he puts out for these cup games, previously they have been used to give squad members a game. If he selects his strongest 11 and we overcome our injury epidemic squad players will get little game time next season.