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) :-*