Patrick Eagles sat across from Macaulay Langstaff in his office, the walls adorned with Notts County memorabilia, each photo or trophy a reminder of the club’s proud history. The mood was tense as Langstaff leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. He had just completed another remarkable season, finishing as the league’s top scorer with 33 goals in 42 appearances, firing the club to promotion. Yet, despite his success, there was a clear sense of unrest in Langstaff’s eyes. Eagles knew exactly what was coming. “I’ve done all I can here, boss,” Langstaff said, breaking the silence. “This club has been great to me, but I feel like it’s time for me to move on. I want to play at a higher level. I’m ready for it.”
Eagles took a deep breath, knowing that convincing Langstaff to stay wasn’t going to be easy. The striker had every right to seek a bigger club, especially with his goal-scoring record and the looming challenge of a tougher season in the Championship. But Eagles wasn’t ready to let go of his talisman just yet. “Macaulay, I get it,” Eagles began, his voice calm yet filled with sincerity. “You’ve earned the right to test yourself at the highest level. But think about what you’ve built here. You’ve got the chance to cement your place as a club legend. The fans adore you; they see you as the face of this team. You’ve got the chance to do something special with Notts County, even in the Championship. You could be the one who leads us to stay up and then push on from there. I can’t promise you riches or glamour, but I can promise you that you will be the heart of this club.”
Langstaff shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his gaze flickering between the manager and the floor. He clearly appreciated Eagles’ words, but doubt still lingered in his mind. “But the Championship is a different world,” Langstaff replied, his tone cautious. “The competition will be tougher, and we won’t have the same resources as the bigger clubs. It’s a big risk for me. What if I don’t get the chance to prove myself?” Eagles leaned forward, locking eyes with his striker. “That’s the challenge, Macaulay. You’re a fighter. You’ve already proven you can do it when the pressure’s on. This next step is about proving you can compete at a higher level. And if you succeed, it will be all the more rewarding. You’ll not only be a legend here, but you’ll be someone who showed everyone that Notts County belongs in the Championship.”
The words seemed to strike a chord. Langstaff remained quiet for a moment, considering the offer laid out before him. Eagles continued, his voice now filled with conviction. “Look, I’m not asking you to stay for me. I’m asking you to stay for the club, for the fans who see you as a hero. Together, we can build something even greater. I want you to be the cornerstone of this next chapter, and we’ll make sure you get the support you need. It won’t be easy, but I believe in you. You’ve got the ability to rise to this challenge, and I know you want to prove it.” Langstaff met his manager’s gaze, his resolve firming. After a long pause, he finally nodded. “Alright, Patrick. I’m in. Let’s do this. Let’s make history together.”
Football Manager Focus
Five matches into the Championship season and we are top of the league with four wins and a draw, having conceded only one goal. Langstaff leads the way yet again as the league top scorer so far with five goals in five games, and all that while being asked to play in a different striker role than he’s played in the previous two seasons. But lets summarise how we got here.
Despite being predicted to finish 13th in league one, we went into the last fixture of the season with the chance to finish top, second or at the very least, in a playoff position. We beat Wycombe away from home 1-0 to finish the season in second place with 90 points and a 43 plus goal difference, one point behind Lincoln who finished as Champions.
It really was a season where we hardly skipped a beat and were able to replicate the good form of the previous promotion season from league two, and this was with minimum interruption to the core player base. We were knocked out of the fourth round of the F.A Cup by Brighton, losing convincingly 3-0. Sunderland knocked us out in the second round of the league cup and we failed to progress from the Northern section of the Papa Johns Trophy. The focus was very much on promotion from league one, and we look ahead to a season in the Championship where surely, still with very little money to spend, the realistic target will be relegation survival. We are predicted to finish bottom. Time to raid our affiliate Tottenham again for free loans.
Sadly we were not able to renew Alfie Devine’s loan into the new season with Tottenham preferring him to try a change of scenery. With 12 goals, 8 assists and an average rating of 7.16, he played a key role as our Regista and will be missed. We have also let go club captain David McGoldrick with 8 goals scored, Junior Morais (Striker), Goalkeeper Aiden Stone, Centre back Ben Heneghan due to a lack of pace and have renewed the contracts of key players like left back Bola , Dan Crowley and Macaulay Langstaff. After failing to get the game time needed to progress, we sold Michal Rosiak to Luton for an initial 56k.
We go into the new season needing to add pace and height to the centre back positions, cover for both full backs, 1-2 players in midfield and at least two strikers if we can to replace McGoldrick and add a decent back up option too.
Before going to Tottenham to assess who was available for loan, we were actually able to sign 3 new players with actual money. First in for 46k from Charlton was experienced defensive midfielder Luka Milivojevic, replacing McGoldrick’s experience and providing a solid option in our defensive midfield positions. He certainly fits the mold of a team player Eagles would sign. Elkan Baggott for 9.5k from Ipswich adds the extra pace and height needed at Centre back along with Josh Knight who’s lack of jumping reach is made up by his aggression and ability to provide cover at right back and defensive midfield if needed.
These transfer fees combined with the cost of renewing the contracts of key players with substantial wage hikes meant we now had to hit the loan market.
We brought in 3 loans from Tottenham on free to maximise the benefits of the affiliation with them. The finest of these has to be Gabriel Moscardo, as defensive midfielder who has all the attributes to get forward as and contribute offensively too. With an estimated value of 21-27 million pounds he alone is close to matching the value of the entire rest of the squad. We may explore maximising his ability in the Segundo Volante role to utilise his impressive capability as a defensive midfielder with strong physical, mental and passing ability.
Next to Moscardo and Milivojevic we also brought in James McConnell on loan from Middlesborough. He is another defensive midfielder with quality technical ability to support our possession game and another young option who will only improve while with us as long as we manage to give him the game time. With Jamie Bowden also renewing his contract after a dramatic U-turn on his earlier decision to review his options, we are now extremely strong in midfield.
Will Lankshear was another one brought in as a free loan from Tottenham to add another pacey option up front. We now have two strikers well suited to the poacher role but were not able to bring in a third option to replace McGoldrick’s role as a deep lying forward. We’ll be looking for Langstaff to adapt to this role potentially to balance our striking pair. We may need to look at a plan B tactic that moves Crowley to the attacking midfield position behind a single striker.
The big question at this point is how long can we sustain our early form that sees us moving well clear of relegation? Can Eagles continue to over achieve while sticking to his principles and can we continue to be lead in both defensive and possession based performance stats? How will the 4-4-2 possession tactic work at this level? Will we have to adapt to survive? If we do survive, will we see any substantial improvements in our financial status? It could be an exciting follow up season if we do!