Before Saturday’s National League match at Torquay kicked off, all the talk among Notts’ fans on the terraces and social media was about the continued absence of Cal Roberts, not only from the team but from the squad which travelled to the south-west.
By the time referee James Durkin blew the final whistle, questions regarding the absence of the talismanic striker had been almost entirely replaced by those querying the no-show of the Magpies’ defence as they left the field in tatters after a 5-1 drubbing which seriously dented their ambitions of achieving a top-three place come the end of the season.
The desire of a dynamic and physical Torquay side to keep their faint hopes of gatecrashing the play-offs alive once again exposed the defensive frailties of a Notts team which had shown signs of toughening up in recent games but were cruelly exposed here.
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How head coach Ian Burchnall addresses those problems on the training pitch this week will only be revealed when Notts emerge at Meadow Lane for Friday’s clash with relegation-threatened King’s Lynn.
But he made no secret of his position regarding Roberts, dubbed "the Geordie Messi" by fans, who last donned a Notts shirt in the middle of last month but who proved his fitness by playing a full game for England C in their recent international against Wales.
“It is the same as last week, everybody is training, but I think people will agree that we went to Southend and played a good game, won 3-0 and the players were fantastic, so I didn’t see any need to change today,” said Burchnall after Saturday’s game.
“We can’t only talk about Cal, this isn’t the Cal show. There are other players - Ed Francis, Kairo Mitchell, Joel Taylor - who are not involved today but have done very well throughout the season.
“The competition is there, and if we take our foot off the gas, as we did today, the competition have to be ready.
“We now need a reaction in training and a reaction on Friday, because we face a team in King’s Lynn who are fighting for their lives. If we think they are just going to turn up and let us have it our way we have to realise that won’t happen.”
Asked if Notts could have done with a player of Roberts’ attacking ability on the bench, Burchnall said: “We can talk about Cal, or any of the other attacking players, but the reality is defensively was the area we were lacking in.”
“When you concede five we have to look at the other side of the game. I don’t think defensively we were close to it.
“I agree Cal is a great attacking force, so has Eli (Sam) been, and Aaron Nemane, when he came on, made the goal and made some chances, so I think we can say that it wasn’t the attacking side of the game which let us down today.
“The problem was we were two down after 15 minutes and when we got to 2-1 we were wide open, we didn't manage the game remotely well.”
What a difference a week makes! The previous Saturday Notts had left the Southend pitch to the applause of their fans, Ruben Rodrigues with a smile as wide as the Trent and clutching the match ball after his hat-trick secured an impressive 3-0 victory.
Fast forward seven days and the mood of both players and fans could not have been more different.
Outclassed and outfought in a 5-1 defeat, they trudged off the Plainmoor pitch in much the same way as they did when beaten 4-2 in last season’s play-off semi-final.
Despite the defeat, Notts remain sixth in the National League table, and while teams above them took advantage of Saturday’s horror show by winning to improve their chances of securing a coveted top-three place, many Magpies fans will still hope the team can garner a hefty points tally from their remaining seven games to launch them into the upper echelons of the play-off positions.
Realistically, however, the evidence of a topsy-turvy season so far points to such a scenario being far from guaranteed.
True, on paper, Notts could not have asked for a more favourable run-in to the season. All their remaining fixtures are against sides currently in the bottom eight, including two games against already-relegated Dover Athletic.
The problem is that apart from doomed Dover, Altrincham, who appear safe in 15th place, and Maidenhead, also in the clear barring a disastrous decline in their form and a miraculous recovery from clubs in the relegation zone, all the other teams Notts face are fighting for their lives.
King’s Lynn, who are the visitors to Meadow Lane on Friday, Weymouth and Aldershot are sure to be dangerous adversaries. And after seeing Dover put five goals past Wrexham recently, admittedly in a bizarre 6-5 defeat, and Maidenhead claim the scalps of some of the league’s big names, there is nothing to suggest that they, along with Altrincham, who beat Notts in the reverse fixture, will provide easy pickings either.
While Stockport look to have secured top spot and automatic promotion, everything points to the battle below them for play-off success being as tight and unpredictable as it has been all season.
One point could make the difference between finishing third instead of fourth, with the reward a guaranteed home semi-final, or fifth instead of sixth, securing a home quarter-final, or even eighth instead of seventh, and missing out on the end-of-season showdown altogether!
And that vital point could be provided by goal difference, which is where Notts’ heavy defeat at Plainmoor becomes even more worrying.
After their weekend wins the top two, Stockport, now on plus-50, and second-placed Wrexham, plus-36, are well clear of the rest in the goal difference column.
But the big change comes below that, and it does not make good reading for Notts’ fans.
Before Saturday’s games the teams occupying the remaining play-off places were separated by just six goals, with Solihull Moors, fourth in the table, next best to Wrexham on plus-26 and Grimsby Town, in seventh, on plus-20.
Notts, on plus-22, looked in good shape, knowing a run of scoring form could see them close the gap on those above them while providing further insurance against a late surge by one of the clubs still battling to get into the play-offs - Boreham Wood, Dagenham & Redbridge and Bromley.
That table looks very different now. Notts, on plus-18, have the worst goal difference of teams in the play-off places, two behind seventh-placed Grimsby, 10 in arrears of Solihull, who remain fourth, eight off third-placed Halifax and six behind Chesterfield in fifth.
In the run-in, of course, securing three points by any score is the first objective, but if Notts can really find their shooting boots to overtake those above them in the goal-scoring stakes it could mean the difference between success and failure.
