Notts County (a) Match Thread

I feel sorry for the fans who have spent good money and time to get to Nottingham in poor weather to have to face the ignominy of this again.

Can anyone actually give me good reason for Rusk being the man to take us forward?

I’d love to hear some genuine reasoning.

One thing I don't want to hear, from the manager or anyone, is any excuses about injuries- Madden, Fryers, whatever. Byrne again has it right. There's an embarrassment of riches here and there are XIs suggested on here every week that can go out and compete with what we have available. The manager appears to be wedded to one or maybe two similar formations regardless of personnel, and struggles with setting out a team that can use the strengths at his disposal and/or counteract the known threat of the opposition. And then he's too late to react and change games once that threat has damaged us (today, no protection for Kitching left side, and don't tell me we have no-one to do that job, you just need surely a footballer directed to fill that space and do the hard work there).. then when he does change, the changes are frankly bizarre, eg taking off your target man at 0-2.

Actually I say bizarre. An explanation that occurs is his background and experience are in youth football. Where maybe because the result doesn't matter so much so if a player has taken a slight knock or looks a shade off the pace you take him off. Whereas in the professional game if that guy is key to the gameplan eg he's your attacking kingpin, you leave him on. I say this, but then you would need a gameplan for that to be the explanation. And Byrne days there was no evidence of one.

Im trying to stay calm and it's not easy straight after something like this and I really feel for the 2000 who made the sacrifices we know about to make the trip. But right now I feel Rusk maybe needs taking out of this situation not just for County's sake but his own. Because to have on his CV a first full season where he leads a squad like this one to midtable or maybe scrape the playoffs.. I'm not sure where he goes from there. Not to another job managing first team football I don't imagine.

I agree. Need to bring in a big number 9 then no more. We have plenty of players. Need to start using them better. Look at where we were when Rusk came in. The number of players signed since then is phenomenal and we are much, much worse than we were. Remember shortly before Rusk’s arrival we gave a strong West Ham team a run for their money and won at Daggers.

We are dross now. We really are.

The writing must surely be on the wall.

Have heard Paul Cook’s name mentioned but not sure how true that is.

I think that you are attaching too much importance to the early doubts about the new management structure.  A good team would not have collapsed with grief at what was said and written. It would have striven to prove the critics wrong.

Ha. You let that one out the bag!

This is a time for the owner to be cool, calm and collected. Quick actions can be going from the frying pan into the fire.

The next appointment must be copper bottomed and it should be made by taking on someone who can correct the issues that the present management has got wrong (and what's worse - didn't recognise them as being wrong).