Will Notts County achieve Ambitious goals?

With international football taking centre stage this week my attention has been turned to the lower leagues of English football.

Now usually I wouldn’t really think much about League Two but this summers events at Notts County has raised my awareness of lower league football.

I must admit my knowledge of League One and Two in recent years was limited to looking out for local sides such as Tranmere Rovers and Chester City results.

Raised awareness of League Two

I don’t know about anybody else but the summer takeover at County has added some extra interest for me. It hasn’t only raised the profile of the Nottingham side its raised the whole profile of the league. People like me, who wouldn’t watch League One or league Two football are suddenly paying attention to them.

Notts County ambitious

The new owners of Notts County have been quite clever with the marketing of the club using the fact that they are the oldest football club in the world as a tool to attract interest and business opportunities. Its been stated that that their intention is to make the Premier League in three years. Three years might be a bit ambitious but if the club keeps investing money then they are bound to make it to the promised land eventually.

The takeover still needs to be ratified by the Football League with questions being asked about who is involved in the Munto Finance consortium. The consortium is a Swiss based Middle-East operation. Executive chairman Peter Trembling has revealed he expects everything to be sorted out without any problems.

Building for the future

Not only are Notts County building on the pitch by signing players but there are also plans to build a new training ground. They are setting the foundations for a rise up the leagues. The club have spent most of the last five years in the bottom half of League One and had no stability behind the scenes. Hopefully this takeover will bring that stability that is needed for the club to progress.

A very strange few months

Notts County saw two of the strangest moves in the history of football in the last few months. Firstly the arrival of former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football and secondly the arrival of former England centre-back Sol Campbell.

Eriksson was expected to take up a managerial role in a top European league this summer yet he turned up at Meadow Lane instead. How long it is before hes tempted away by a high profile job in Italy or England remains to be seen but at the moment he seems content in Nottingham, despite reports to the contrary.

The whole Sol Campbell signing was another case of raising the clubs profile. The former Portsmouth star joining County was another shock but his love affair with County and League Two lasted less than month. His one and only appearance for the Magpies came in a 2-1 defeat at Morecambe. That one game was enough to convince him that League One wasn’t for him.

Decent start to the season

County have had a decent start to the season. They are currently the top scorers in the football league. They play some attractive football and their home form has been good but their away form has been patchy. The summer signings of striker Lee Hughes and Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel could been the most crucial that County could make.

Both have had experience of playing football at a higher level. That crucial experience will be important if County are going to get promoted this season. Hughes has scored nine goals already this season but all have nine have came at Meadow Lane. Schmeichel has the ability to play Premier League football and will no doubt be a Premier League keeper of the future just like his dad Peter.

Promotion

County are a good side and come the end of the season I expect them to be in the top three of League Two. They have some talented players and it would be a big surprise if they don’t get promoted to League One. However their ambition of the Premier League in three years may be a stretch too far.