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StarkMallard
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Everything posted by StarkMallard
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Years of selfless dedication @hissingdwarf, purely in the services of PON! Difficult one. A few years back we did have pretty decent pies at Notts, but now it's just the Pukka pies you get everywhere. And I'd have to be seriously hungry to get anything off those burger vans, they stink. You can't beat a decent pie and mushy peas though. Football fare in Germany is fairly simple - it's hard to mess up a sausage in a cob (I did once have a sausage that was still frozen at the Christmas market, but never at a match). So my answer would probably be "dunno" If you mean the last picture, that's just a blob of mustard. It tastes a lot better than cowpat The stuff next to it could be horseradish, but don't expect anything as exotic as that at a football match.
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I was recently asked what we eat at the football in Germany. The answer is: mainly sausages! If you go to a German football ground expecting a pre-match pie and peas, you'll be disappointed. Pies and sausage rolls are completely alien to Germany. Instead, the staple meal is the humble sausage. This can be a standard Bratwurst or a Feuerwurst ("fire sausage" - a spicy beef sausage) served in a bread roll - as demonstrated by Bayern Munich's Uli Hoeness below! This will set you back around €3, but I'm sure Uli can afford it. Something else found at virtually every football ground is the Currywurst - a chopped-up sausage served in a "curry" sauce, which is in reality a kind of warm, spicy ketchup, with curry powder on top. This is served on a little tray with either a bread roll next to it (for mopping up the sauce) or, if you're really flash, a portion of fries. The type of sausage used depends on the whim of the seller, and you probably won't notice the difference anyway. This is quality junk food - you'll get a hit from the sugar in the sauce, followed by stomach ache and a vague sense of regret. Then you'll be hungry again, so you'll go and buy another one. Other trash / quality meals found everywhere include giant pretzels and Frikadelle meatballs, which are like burgers but with pork served in the obligatory bread roll. If you strike it lucky these can be really nice, with herbs, spices and plenty of meat from the local butcher's. More commonly, these mainly consist of bread crumbs and fat. At most German grounds, that's yer lot. There are regional variations though. If you go to a ground in Hesse (Frankfurt, Offenbach, Darmstadt among others) they'll also serve Frankfurter sausages (below), which are boiled sausages served on a little tray next to (but not in!) some bread and a blob of mustard. You then dip the sausage in the mustard and take a bite out of the bread. This is a bit of a pain if you're drinking a beer as you'll need both hands for it. In the north (Hamburg, Bremen), the football staple is a fried fish filet served in a bread roll. Of course, we like to drink too. You'll find the usual array of soft drinks, plus apple juice with sparkling water, which is ubiquitous in Germany. Apple wine is highly popular in Hesse and is on offer at football grounds - it even tends to be a bit cheaper than beer. It's an acquired taste though and isn't really like cider. As for beer, experiences vary - you will find pilsner and shandy everywhere, although some clubs only offer pils with reduced alcohol (about 2.5%). Us football fans can't be trusted, after all. If you're lucky, you might find a Weizenbier (wheat beer), which is more full-bodied but gives you a headache if you drink too much. Trust me, I've researched this. Your beer will cost you in the region of €3.50, plus an extra deposit charge for your plastic beaker - 50 cents for a disposable one or around €2 for a resuseable one. You'll get your money back when you return it, but watch out: football grounds are plagued by little urchins who run about collecting as many beakers as they can carry so they can pocket the deposit cash! If that sounds like too much hassle, every matchday an army of helpful gentlemen can be found in the vicinity of every professional football ground, selling tins of beer from their cool boxes for about €2 a pop. Until the police turn up, anyway. But the big advantage with buying in the ground is that you can actually take your beer in with you and sup while you're watching the match - no downing your pint outside one minute before kick-off here. Prost!
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Postscript. Carl Zeiss Jena are rooted at the bottom of the third division. Thanks to the "situation", they will now almost certainly not be relegated despite being rubbish. This is their fans' banner, referring to the threat of abandonment due to nasty slogans about Dietmar Hopp. "Not even an abandonment will do us any good. We need a reset button." Prophetic words!
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@Chris I have vague recollections of Matt Redmile playing in midfield (why anyone thought that was a good idea is a mystery), but that was probably the season before. Up front we had Jones and Farrell, with Farrell the target man type, but it took them a while to really get going. We started the season with Gary Martindale and Devon White in the squad too, who had had better careers up to that point. Tomorrow is the 22nd (gulp) anniversary of us winning promotion. We have only done it once since
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The nineties were a mixed decade for Notts to say the least, starting with two trips to Wembley and a return to the top flight. However, the five years after relegation from the first division were marked by bewildering sackings, even more bewildering managerial appointments, a cost-cutting drive overseen by Colin Murphy and, finally, relegation to the fourth division in 1997 (at that time the third division, now known as League Two. I know). This was our first relegation to the fourth division for almost three decades, since the early days of Jimmy Sirrel. To my 17-year-old self at least it was almost as unimaginable as our relegation of 2019. We hadn't played many of the teams in that division in many years and were perceived by other clubs' fans as fallen giants (we had been hosting Manchester United and Liverpool five years before, after all). We were Everybody Else's Cup FinalTM. The team was managed by Sam Allardyce, who had been appointed in January 1997 a few months after his sacking at Blackpool. Allardyce had failed to keep us up – in fact, we had embarked on a club-record winless run of 20 games, most of which were on his watch. He wasn't blamed for relegation, however, with most fans acknowledging that he had inherited a demoralised and bloated squad. Allardyce had already thinned out the squad the previous season, and the sole pre-season additions were Dennis Pearce and Mark Robson, who beefed up the left-hand side. Gary Strodder, in his third season at the club, formed the heart of a sound defence and was partnered by Graeme Hogg, Matt Redmile and Ian Richardson at various points. The previously hapless Ian Baraclough moved into midfield and was given a new lease of life. Phil Robinson was another regular, giving us plenty of strength and tenacity in the centre of the park. The team was captained by Ian Hendon, a very steady right-back and a sublime taker of penalties. Following a nervy but important win over Rochdale on the opening day and a comfortable win at Hull, we encountered our first setback at home to John Beck's “industrial” Lincoln side. After harshly showing Devon White the red card, the referee failed to spot that ex-Notts striker Phil Stant's winner for Lincoln was approximately seven miles offside, sparking furious scenes. But that was to remain our last defeat until November, with Notts establishing themselves near the top of the table in what looked like a close fight for promotion. During that time we recorded what was to be our last home victory over Mansfield until last season, with Gary Martindale scoring the only goal (which also had a strong whiff of offside about it). The match was rather more low-key than our more recent encounters with the Stags, however. On 3 December we won 1-0 at Brighton (who were groundsharing at Gillingham at the time) in front of a now-unimaginable crowd of 1,279. It was to be the start of a record-breaking run. The following week we moved to the top of the table for a final time after a 5-2 win over a dreadful and relegation-bound Doncaster side. This was also the time that Gary Jones came to life. The hard-working striker scored just five goals before Christmas, but finished the season on 27 goals and in the form of his life – form he would sadly never replicate at Notts or any of his subsequent clubs. We travelled to Lincoln during January with a score to settle and a club-record ninth consecutive win in our sights. In excess of 2,000 Notts fans made the short journey, myself incuded, and accounted for nearly half the crowd. And we were to be rewarded with a bombastic first-half performance and a 3-0 half-time lead – we were cruising, the only question seemed to be how many we would score. Just a couple of minutes into the second half, keeper Darren Ward attempted to clear a back-pass up the pitch but succeeded only in kicking thin air, and moments later the ball was in our net. Suddenly Lincoln came alive and ran us ragged. Just thirteen minutes after Ward's miskick, they were level. Seconds after the restart, Notts were back in the lead. And ten minutes later the Lincoln keeper attempted a clearance, but the tireless Jones charged it down. Instead of being allowed to tap the ball in the net, Sean Farrell sprinted ahead of him and claimed the goal for himself, much to Jones' annoyance. Not that the travelling fans cared. Notts were now well on their way. A 2-0 win at Mansfield the following week (with hundreds of Notts fans locked out outside the ground) extended the winning run to ten, before it finally came to an end with a draw against Shrewsbury. But by now the chasing pack were melting away; it already seemed a matter of when we won promotion, not if. Shaun Derry left for Sheffield United after the Lincoln match, with Andy Hughes replacing him days later. With every passing week it became apparent that we really were going to be champions by Easter. Promotion would have been possible with a win over Colchester on 21 March if other results went our way. We drew 0-0 and they didn't. So it was on 28 March 1998 that we became the first Football League team to win a championship in March, when we beat Leyton Orient 1-0 in front of a crowd of 8,383. Mark Robson scored the only goal and Sam Allardyce led the festivities on the pitch after the match, grabbing the microphone and “treating” us to a rendition of “We Are the Champions”. The club organised a “gala day” on the final day against Rotherham United, who had play-off ambitions of their own, but it was probably the prospect of another round of celebrations that drew a season-best crowd of 12,430 to the Lane. The team duly obliged with a stylish 5-2 win after falling behind in the first half. Notts finished the season on 99 points – we were simply too good for the fourth division. And so we returned to the third level at the first attempt. We had the wind in our sails and a proven, popular manager at the helm – hopes were high that we could enjoy a successful era with Allardyce at the helm as we had under Sirrel and Warnock before him. Although those hopes were to be dashed, the 1997-98 season still left us with lots of happy memories. On the up: Steve Finnan – Signed permanently during the previous season, Finnan disappointed and ended up warming the bench. He blossomed during 1997-98 though, making the right wing spot his own. Finnan was sold to Kevin Keegan's Fulham the following season and subsequently made over 100 appearances for Liverpool, featuring in their Champions League victory over AC Milan. Doncaster Rovers – Doncaster were in dire straits in 1997-98, with a chairman who tried to set fire to their own ground and a team made up of his relatives and youth-teamers. They were relegated on a goal difference of -83. After a takeover the following summer, they returned to the League in 2003 and have never looked back. Swansea, Cardiff, Hull and Brighton – These clubs all finished in the bottom five of the basement division in 1997-98, and all have played in the Premier League since. In the twenty-odd years since 1997-98, the bottom five teams from this season have fared rather better than the top seven... Disappearing from view: Devon White – The popular Nottingham-born striker, who played most of his football for QPR and Bristol Rovers, had returned for a second spell the previous season. He scored his final Notts goal in the farcical defeat at home to Lincoln City and was harshly sent off ten minutes later. He joined Shrewsbury just weeks later as Gary Jones and Sean Farrell consolidated their place in the team. Z block – At this time the Kop still belonged to away fans, often giving them an acoustic advantage. The vocal Notts fans were in the side of the Sirrel stand closest to the Family Stand, meaning that the songs and chants could often only be heard across half the pitch. Scarborough FC – The Seadogs made the play-offs this season, losing to Torquay in the semi-finals. However, the following season they were dramatically relegated to the Conference on the final day courtesy of a Jimmy Glass goal for Carlisle, and were never to return to the League. Share your thoughts about this article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us. -
This hasn't aged all that well - it was a big topic for a few days and even hit the English media, but now it's far from anyone's mind. Thanks! The food is mixed at best. The staples are sausages of various kinds, chips and, in the north, fried fish. Pie are unknown and sorely missed. At Waldhof there's only light beer on offer, with 2% alcohol, as we can't be trusted with anything stronger. There are always plenty of people outside the ground selling tins though... As always, if you want nice food and drink, a football ground probably isn't your number one destination
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Fantastic result! In view of the coronavirus I think we should now skip the rest of the season and move straight onto the play-offs. Who's in favour?
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As others have said, we won't catch them now whatever Saturday's result. That ship has sailed. But a top three finish isn't out of the question, and that would give us a big advantage in the play-offs - finish third and we'll have a one-legged semi-final at home against a team that played just three days earlier. Third place is just four points away, so it's an achievable goal. Barrow are top for a reason and anything we get there will be a bonus. If we're aggressive and take the game to them instead of just reacting all the time we might just bring some points back with us.
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This weekend the headlines have been dominated by the chants and banners aimed at Hoffenheim benefactor Dietmar Hopp, in developments that must seem a bit bizarre from over the Channel. I've seen a few articles in English papers already, but none seem to tell the full story. I'll try to give you the inside track. At the weekend, numerous matches in Germany were stopped while offensive banners aimed at TSG Hoffenheim's billionaire owner Dietmar Hopp were taken down. Most referred to him as a "Hürensohn" ("son of a *****"). Some went further and depicted his face in a gun's target. When banners were unfurled by Bayern fans at Hoffenheim (minus the targets), the players stopped playing and simply passed the ball among themselves for the last 15 minutes (although it should be noted that Bayern were already 6-0 up at this time, so hardly had anything to lose). Players up and down the country refused to play until the banners came down, and engaged in a public show of solidarity with the billionaire. So who is Dietmar Hopp, why does he stir such strong feelings and what brought this all on in the first place? Dietmar Hopp is the co-founder of SAP, one of the world's biggest software companies, and is a very rich man. He often puts his money into charities, local sport, and in particular youth sport. He invested in his village club TSG Hoffenheim in 1989. At that time they played in the Kreisliga A, the eighth level of German football (as the German pyramid is heavily regionalised from the fourth level onwards, this is lower than the Northern Premier League in England. Think Nottinghamshire Alliance). The investment was modest at first, but the big money started to come out from about 2005, when Hoffenheim was in the then third-level Regionalliga. After Hopp tried and failed to merge Hoffenheim with two other local clubs and move them 20 miles to Heidelberg, he decided to financially dope the village team instead and get it into the Bundesliga - which he achieved in 2008. Just months later, Hoffenheim (population 4,000) had a brand new stadium next to the motorway with a capacity of 30,000. OK, the idea of a billionaire taking, say, Bingham into the Premier League is a bit bizarre. But what has that got to do with all the insults? In Germany there is something called the 50+1 rule - a majority share of each club must be owned by its members (50% plus one). While this makes German clubs less attractive to investors, it does mean that the fans' voice is heard. Hoffenheim, who were transparently Hopp's plaything, drove a coach and horses through this rule. The rule was recently weakened to the extent that individuals or companies that sponsor a club for more than 20 years can own more than 50% of the shares, but not before Hoffenheim had gained an unfair advantage. This riled fans before they reached the Bundesliga, but from 2008 Hoffenheim were national news. In 2011, Borussia Dortmund were visiting. The away fans decided to sing a few songs goading Hopp, and for their trouble they were subjected to an "acoustic attack" - to drown out the songs, a Hoffenheim employee played a high-frequency noise on the loudspeaker system at a frequency that could cause hearing damage. Naturally this didn't have the desired effect of stopping Dortmund's songs and banners about Hopp and, a couple of weeks ago, the German FA banned Dortmund's fans from attending their team's fixtures at Hoffenheim for the next two seasons. Hence uproar in Germany's fan scenes and "Hürensohn" banners out of solidarity up and down the country. In my view the banners with Hopp in the target are tasteless and have to go. The "Hürensohn" banners are crass and insulting (I'd prefer a more creative and witty protest, but many ultras struggle with that). But does that on its own justify bans? At Saturday's match I insulted every single Kaiserslautern player before kick-off, I insulted everyone who lives there, I insulted the referee and the linesmen in two languages and I was pretty harsh with two of the home team's players too. I'm sure there were plenty of away fans questioning my parentage too. That's hard to justify in a normal social context, but if we hit ordinary insults with the ban hammer, where does it end? "The referee's a chap who's made a few unfortunate decisions"? This goes deeper too. A couple of weeks ago, a Schalke player was racially abused - he reacted furiously, and for his troubles was shown a second yellow card and sent off. This was not front page news, there were no public expressions of solidarity from clubs or the German FA - and the furore over the insults aimed at Hopp is showing that the football authorities take rude words aimed at a white billionaire more seriously than racism. I've followed the walk-offs and abandonments in England as a result of racist abuse. In Germany, this solidarity seems to be limited to rich club owners, and that sends out a pretty damning message.
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Sounds like we did a good, professional job on them. Didn't realise the semi was two-legged but come on, we haven't been to Wembley since 1996!
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While extreme rainfall can happen and can't really be helped, this is the second last-minute postponement at Fylde. Was it really so hard to see this happening in advance? Aside from all those wasted trips, it's also a shame for the team - yesterday would have been the chance to show a quick reaction to Saturday's debacle and put it behind us
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Sounds like a depressing day for us. To be honest I feared the worst when I saw the line-up. The calls for the manager's head were predictable, but what's the point in losing our heads now? We're still in a ply-off spot. Let's dust ourselves down and move on.
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This a brilliant insight into how the man thinks and also what was going on behind the scenes at the time. Thanks for sharing! The almost tragic thing about Moniz is that he's big on establishing a philosophy at a club, but never seems to be kept on anywhere long enough to see it through. Part of that is the nature of modern football, with clubs always looking for that magical quick fix. But how much of it is due to his choice of employers? As he wants plenty of control over signings and wants to be a manager rather than just a head coach, it was a bit of an odd decision to join a club like Notts where there were clearly people upstairs with a great deal of control (and who were unwilling to relinquish it).
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Sounds like it was quite the afternoon's entertainment, looking forward to seeing the highlights. How did the new keeper look?
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Someone shared a Twitter post in the Facebook today suggesting that we were going to sign the Wimbledon keeper Joe McDonnell. If this is true, it would appear that McDonnell has been on NA's radar for a while, as an internet search reveals that we were interested in him last January too. And secondly, it indicates that NA can't get shut of Fitz quickly enough. It'll be very interesting to see who's in goal tomorrow.
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This one's a banana skin, especially with Chesterfield having picked up a couple of results recently. Hopefully we can beat the TV curse. I think Jimbo will return to the midfield alongside Rose. It'll be interesting to see if Bakayogo gets the nod at left back again, as he had a bit of a mare last time out... How long is Slocombe out for?
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Thanks for the article @Alexlevy0908, I've been hoping to see an article about away grounds and I enjoyed that! I've always preferred more old-school grounds with character and a sense of history, so I feel I'm missing out a bit this season. Looking at the highlights this season, we've always had a good following, and I have a nagging suspicion you're all enjoying yourselves far too much Are there any remaining away grounds you're looking forward to visiting? Chorley and Fylde will be new (although the latter has more than a touch of Rushden & Diamonds about it). Barrow and Wrexham could be good as well, and the stakes will be very high. By the way, out-of-date beer is perfectly fine as long as it's within six months or so!
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I'm glad we went through, the last thing we needed was a replay. It keeps the squad players happy if everyone is getting games (not to mention match fit) and keeps confidence high. How did we actually play? Any stand-out performers? How many went?
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We should definitely be looking to rest some players. It could benefit us, as it's an opportunity for some fringe players to get 90 minutes under their belts and get sharp. I'd like to see Bird and Crawford playing. Crawford might not have impressed last time, but he had had very little match practice beforehand. We're a bit thin in central midfield with the injuries, so having another match fit player we can call on would do us good. Oh, and we can get to Wembley! That's not a bad motivation surely...
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We are unbeaten throughout the whole of 2020 Keep that up and I'll be happy enough. A win would be a great result bearing in mind where they are in the league and would put us within shooting distance of them. They had us well beaten in September from what I remember, but hopefully we've come a long way since then. Fingers crossed.
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Here's the winning goal from the Notts Facebook page. Listen to the roar on that! How many did we take?
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Get in! I've got to admit I was sceptical when I saw the team sheet, but it seems NA was spot on once again. Now we can go at Maidenhead again and consolidate our place in the play-offs.
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Well that sounded pretty marvellous on the radio. Clinical in the first half, totally shut them out in the second. And it sounds like Osborne and Dennis made the most of their call-ups too, more of the same please! You're our new lucky charm!
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Delighted with the win. We certainly looked lively on the highlights. I know there's been a lot of redevelopment at the Shay, but the big empty seated stand looks depressing. Not sure why Halifax need a ground that big.
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@AmericanPie It's an unwelcome distraction and/or a very realistic chance to go to Wembley, depending on your point of view. Personally I think it's a great chance to go to Wembley and win an actual trophy, and we might as well grab it while we've still got the chance.
