Good article. Most of us true Notts fans are a little sad to see Charlie go. He had his faults as a manager (primiarily not being able to motivate players or change tactics during the game) but he was black and white through and through. All the best Charlie!!!

We'll just have to see what the future holds for us I guess. Hopefully it's a more sensible appoinment than Roberto Mancini. If he get's the job they have clearly learned nothing from the Sol Campbell saga. Peter Taylor or Steve Coppell please!

"Our next appointment is going to be extremely vital to the project we are endevouring to deliver here"

That word again. 'Project'. It seems to be the trademark of all wealthy backers that the first order of business is to wipe the slate clean of all existing traces of a supposedly humdrum past to install a bright future from the word 'go'. Any form of success must not be looked on with a steady eye, on the contrary, it must begin as soon as possible, as a large indication that muscles will br flexed. The largest and most obvious example of this is Man City's unsavoury Gerry Cook, who flew out the trap with the blank cheque as soon as Sheikh Mansour placed his feet under the boardroom table, although, admittedly, Mark Hughes still retains his place. And as long as he maintains an upward mobility with his squad, he'll remain there.

The future will obviously be bright for Notts County (with the mooted financial boosts and 'ambitions' behind it, it can't really fail), but the transformation may be problematic for the rest of us as wealth brings a sudden inflation in expectation and attitudes. Man City (still the dominant example) was, before the money came in, mainly likeable for its almost trademark dour outlook, proletarian demeanour and bleak humour based on the fact that disappointment came after disappointment, building an image of warm, jokey acceptance of every pitfall it met.

Look at it now. Snarling, boorish, spiteful and cold, almost hatefully dismissive of its threadbare past and almost as much towards the rest of us, we who are supposedly 'jealous' of its financial power. How could anyone be expected to cheer its venture to break up the Big Four monopoly with such a sneering, abrasive character?

I hope Notts County don't take on similar aspects the more it must surely ascend with the backing behind it. With wealth comes the desperate need to move up to first gear with ridiculous haste. I was listening to local radio just a couple of nights ago and a Birmingham City fan (asked by the host of a phone-in to put questions to the new backers of the club) wanted them to give Alex McLeish £40m pounds to buy 'big name' players and shovel in heaps of cash to move things on. The ink hadn't warmed on the takeover contracts before Birmingham's new moneymen were expected to open their wallets with unrealistic swiftness. Bollocks to building, let's buy and buy now.

I'd probably be asked 'well, suppose it happened to your club, wouldn't you feel the same?'. To be honest, I'd just be thrilled as anybody else, but I would also hope that something wouldn't be lost in the process as Man City have demonstrated - the need to keep bridges unburned and a need not to lose that bit of humility that's almost ingrained in the fans of clubs who haven't been blessed with the open wallets of wealthy owners.

The alternative is a selfish, overbearingly contemptuous attitude that almost jettisons respect and appreciation from others. You may get to the top, but who'll admire you for it?

"I hope Notts County don't take on similar aspects"

They've already started, Ian.

On a vaguely related note, I am tired of being told by various people of the pundit kingdom that Notts County is at least generating interest in League 2. Well yes but in the way that it has become a laughing stock with Sol Campbell's early exit and everyones favourite England coach.
Aside from that, as a Lincoln fan all I hear about is reference to Notts County, not League 2 or its other members. In addition it was most annoying to see Notts County on telly this weekend as they are the current media interest. If there is one team in the League who don't need the 30k for being on TV it is them. Still as we are well aware with most forms of media there is no football outside the Premiership. This is why they presume that young English players who are not better than foreign stars fall off the planet for a few years before magically returning like Crouch and Defoe.

"Aside from that, as a Lincoln fan all I hear about is reference to Notts County, not League 2 or its other members. In addition it was most annoying to see Notts County on telly this weekend as they are the current media interest."

It's the 'bigness' factor that seems to attract the more obsequious of media elements and, sadly, it can't be avoided. In League One, it's Leeds with their 'big fish, small pond' aspect and in the Championship - well as far as the Guardian is concerned - only Newcastle seems to attract the attention of their scribes (that or Roy Keane's Ipswich), a tendency that brings a fair amount of criticism from fans on the subsequent comment threads that accompany such mysteriously slavish reports. The message is clear from the nation's hacks - unless you've been bought into by absurdly wealthy backers or are a supposedly massive club that's fallen into the lower leagues by virtue of being completely rubbish, all the rest of you piddling little outfits can f*ck off.

Ah yes Newcastle. The club with the fans who have suffered the most, so I am told, which will be news to Boston United supporters. Also to them, football is a religion and being a fan of another club I will never understand what football means, unlike them. I am sure that is not how Necastle fans think, but that is what we are told they think. Worst of all the Football League has a podcast which you would think would represent all the clubs. Fair enough Lincoln and numerous other smaller clubs have their mention, but it has got to the point where presenter Mark Clemmit actually apologises for talking about Newcastle "again".

At least he apologises, a hint, perhaps, that he's obliged by producers to shove the name of Newcastle to the fore on a regular basis for what reasons beyond 'massive'ness we could only speculate. We must grit our teeth at such bullshit.

Just to mention, that Birmingham City fan who I referred to in my previous post was on again last night on the day where Carson Yeung announced an injection of £40m or more into the club's transfer kitty, angrily demanding a public apology from the host who had laughed at his suggestion that such a sum was needed or would be arranged. Ooh, he was in a tantrum, this bloated, pompous little sod. 'I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG! ADMIT IT! I WANT A PUBLIC APOLOGY NOW!' he boomed, as if he'd been through the drama of being wrongly accused for a crime he didn't commit.

I fear that such a sort will make his voice heard the more that vaunted sums come their way. Newcastle fans may have competition in the bluster stakes come future seasons.