Notts County’s decision to sign Nottingham Forest central midfielder Harry Arter on a short-term loan could be a wet squib.
On the other hand, judging by Saturday’s 60-minute debut performance in the 2-1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge, the highlight of which was an excellently delivered corner that allowed Alex Lacey to shoot Notts’ equalizer, the Arrival of the great. an experienced midfielder was able to offer the spark to relive their flagship promotion challenge. The Magpies’ recent run of bad form had left them out of the playoffs, with many lowering their deficit to simply miss chances and concede soft goals.
However, it could also be due in part to a promising but young midfield contingent whose energy level has dropped and who does not have the experience to control a game when not shooting on every cylinder. Jim O’Brien may have provided the wise old man next to the youthful surprise of Matty Palmer, Frank Vincent, Ed Francis and Zak Brunt, but he is missing with a long-term injury and is only now fighting his way back to fitness . .
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But after the Arter effortlessly moved into a team condemned by illness and injury to help Notts get their first win this month with a fighting performance at promotional rivals Dagenham, the three points put them back in the play-off zone Raising the seventh place, he can just be the man to galvanize the squad for what promises an exciting end to the season.
As coach Ian Burchnall explained, it came as a surprise to everyone when the artist, who has Premier League experience and international experience, announced Notts would join in the search for their promotional offer. But it may just be the kind of left-wing movement needed to lift Notts out of a difficult period and help them rediscover the form that fans had dreamed of for the National League title just before a challenging a few short weeks.
Of course, with the season fast approaching, Arter will have to run off the ground, a big demand as he was out of the first team picture at City Ground and reduced to training with the Under-23s. He clearly ran out of steam after an hour against the Daggers, but at 32 he is relatively young and full of fitness should not last too long.
Add to that the fact that he has a double promotion under his belt – he was part of the Bournemouth squad that advanced to the Championship in 2013 and two years later in the Premier League – and not so long ago represented the Republic of Ireland, and it is not unreasonable to hope that with the skills and know-how needed to play at that level, he can quickly adapt to National League football and stamp his authority on players, which is what Notts recently did not could do.
The cynics will say they’ve seen it all before, players with great reputations drop the leagues and did not impress, but the fact that Arter approaches Notts says he’s still hungry to play and not happy. sit down and see his contract. in the forest.
As Burchnall said: “At this stage of the season, bringing someone with that quality and experience to a young team that is evolving and learning is massive for us. Harry knows this is a great club and he is just hungry to play football, and that was the most important thing.If you hear a player from where he must be so hungry to play talk volumes about him.
“He will bring the experience to the center of the park, lead us forward and organize us on key moments. We were in front of a lot of players and sometimes you just need that little bit of decision-making inside to make good choices and see players through.
It was Notts’ style of play that convinced Arter to return from non-league football championship.
“I was aware of the brand of the Football Notts game, so it was attractive from that side,” he said. “I missed playing and once a loan abroad fell in January and the Football League window was closed, it was a case of watching the season with Forest Under-23s or playing a few games, so I talked to Ian and it was something I thought was pleasant.
“I can come here, enjoy the experience and hopefully help get the team into the playoffs. I’m excited to work with Ian because he sold me his football brand. The level is not so important to me anymore, it’s about playing football, and I’m really looking forward to it.
“Ian’s outlook on football really impressed me. I’ve worked with some very good managers and I have a strong opinion on how football should be played. I think I’m coming to a club whose results in recent weeks have not were great, but the philosophy and ideas are very good.
Injury and illness were bad times but notts had spirit
IT is darkly ironic that Notts County coincided with the worst outbreak of illness and injury in the most test month of the season, which the club has faced in a long time. A few short weeks ago, fans were looking forward to the arrival of March, which saw them go head-to-head with most of their title competitors. Unfortunately, the football fates gave head coach Ian Burchnall and his staff some serious blows as they plotted a way to collect as many points as possible from a hugely challenging program before heading to the promotion with a playoff game against Teams with little to play for. for or struggles to avoid relegation.
Just last month, players could not get the first pick and most National League teams are not even getting a spot in Burchnall’s game day squad. But as the recent FA Trophy quarter-final against Wrexham came around, Burchnall could only name five players on the bench, even though he was allowed seven, and three of them were token gestures – Sam Slocombe, though Burchnall usually never had a spare goalkeeper, assistant Coach Michael Doyle, who has not had a ball in anger this season, and Jayden Richardson, who discovered in the warm-up the injury that sidelined him recently was still bothersome.
Since then, the situation has worsened, and for last Tuesday’s poor outing to league leader Stockport County Burchnall was reduced to considering head coach Kyle Wootton and midfielder Matty Palmer playing at center, so bad were his defensive options.
It came as no surprise that the Nottts were comfortably beaten by Stockport, who were not flattened by a 3-0 scoreline. The rights and errors of the National League’s decision to deny the Notts request to have that game, and Saturday game day at Dagenham & Redbridge, postponed due to the number of players unavailable due to illness and injury , will be discussed at length, especially after the Football League. Allow Stevenage’s request to post the match at Mansfield on Saturday due to similar circumstances.
However, the fact that the Notts were able to secure a struggling 2-1 victory at Dagenham, despite the fact that they were without drivers like Cal Roberts, Ruben Rodrigues and skipper Kyle Cameron, lifted much of the gloom around Meadow Lane . They are not out of the woods yet, with the team further weakened by international calls that saw goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros and striker Kai Mitchell missing for crunch home games against promotion rivals Boreham Wood on Tuesday and Chesterfield on Saturday.
But the victory over Dagenham proved that with grit and determination, in addition to the dubious skill levels in their squad, notts are more than a match for the best teams in this league and as the illness and injury problems subside, they will Be strong. calculated as the promotion course reached its peak.
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