If League One dream dies, Notts County cannot afford to make 2018 mistakes again | OneFootball

The summer 2018 transfer window turned out to be a disaster for Notts, and they can't repeat those mistakes, whatever happens at the end of this term.

It is vital that Notts County avoid a repeat of their summer 2018 transfer window, even if they fail to achieve their promotion dream at the conclusion of this season.

The Magpies had been largely excellent over the course of the 2017/18 campaign, but relinquished their grip on an automatic promotion place in the second half of the season, before they were defeated by Coventry City in the League Two play-off semi-finals.

Instead of opting for a measured approach in the transfer market and building on the solid foundations that had been laid, the club instead opted to make several flashy, headline-grabbing signings which simply didn’t work out.

The end result was that Notts were faced with huge pressure at the beginning of the season and, after a faltering start, were ultimately relegated at the end of the year.

Whatever the final outcome of their current campaign, the world’s oldest Football League club must ensure they prioritise realistic improvements over the summer, rather than a complete overhaul.

Notts got their 2018 summer transfer window badly wrong

With the measured and methodical way that Notts are run now, it can be easy to forget that it wasn’t too long ago when that strategic, long-term thinking wasn’t in place at the club.

There are few better examples of that than the 2018 summer transfer window, when the Magpies allowed the opportunity to make several glamour signings to gain priority over a more considered approach.

The season before, Kevin Nolan’s side had threatened to claim automatic promotion to the third tier, but instead were left with a bitter taste in their mouths following a play-off defeat.

However, although the season ended in disappointing fashion, given the reality of the team’s situation (Notts had the division’s second-oldest squad and were overly reliant on loanees), it was a campaign that delivered a largely unexpected level of success.

However, with that in mind, they applied a completely wrong approach to the following transfer window.

What the squad arguably really needed was to become slightly younger, with the additions of greater pace and quality in a few key areas. Instead, the club threw money around and ended up with a squad that was painfully imbalanced.

Significant fees were splashed out on the attacking trio of Kane Hemmings, Kristian Dennis and Enzio Boldewijn (pictured). All three enjoyed impressive seasons in 2017/18, but the latter two in particular, struggled at Meadow Lane.

Meanwhile, big-name veterans were brought to the club in the form of David Vaughan and Elliott Ward. Again, neither proved to be even remotely successful.

Combine that with the additions of young players with little or no experience of senior men’s football in the likes of Tom Crawford and Will Patching, and it became a transfer window in which little turned out well for Notts.

Notts were punished for their errors

The poor decision-making by the club continued as the 2018/19 season played out.

As is to be expected when you make several high-profile signings, expectations were extremely high for the Magpies before a ball had even been kicked. That built up a substantial amount of pressure in the early stages of the season and, when the team didn’t start well, Nolan paid the price by losing his job after just five games.

Things didn’t improve as the campaign wore on. Notts eventually went through three different permanent managers, and were fighting for their life at the bottom of the table all season.

They showed flashes of hope in the second half of the season, but Neal Ardley’s men were ultimately relegated out of the Football League for the first time in the club’s history at the end of the campaign.

They had been punished in the worst possible way for their oversights in the transfer market the previous summer.

While that window undoubtedly had disastrous consequences for the club, it did at least bring one positive long-term effect, in that the relegation resulted in the club being taken over.

Since purchasing the club in the summer of 2019, Danish brothers Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz have thankfully brought much more stability and long-term thinking to the club.

With that in mind, it is vital Notts do not repeat their errors of 2018. Even if they miss out on promotion this term, there have been several huge improvements from the chaos of last season.

Steady improvement must be prioritised rather than attempting to spend their way to promotion next time out. With the club now in much safer hands than they were in 2018, it is safe to suggest that there is very little chance of those errors being repeated.