Notts County’s decision to sign Nottingham Forest central midfielder Harry Arter on a short-term loan deal could turn out to be a damp squib.
On the other hand, judging by Saturday’s 60-minute debut performance in the 2-1 victory at Dagenham & Redbridge, the highlight of which was a superbly-delivered corner which allowed Alex Lacey to head home Notts’ equaliser, the arrival of the vastly experienced midfielder could provide the spark to re-ignite their flagging promotion challenge. The Magpies’ recent run of poor form had left them outside the play-offs, with many putting their demise down to missing simple chances and conceding soft goals.
However, it could also be due, in part, to a promising but young midfield contingent whose energy levels have dropped and who don’t have the experience to control a game when they are not firing on all cylinders. Jim O’Brien may well have provided that wise old head alongside the youthful exuberance of Matty Palmer, Frank Vincent, Ed Francis and Zak Brunt, but he has been absent with a long-term injury and is only now fighting his way back to fitness.
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But after Arter stepped effortlessly into a team ravaged by illness and injury to help Notts gain their first victory this month with a battling performance at promotion rivals Dagenham, the three points lifting them back into the play-off zone in seventh place, he may just be the man to galvanise the squad for what promises to be a thrilling end to the season.
As head coach Ian Burchnall explained, it came as a surprise to everyone when Arter, who has Premier League and international experience, approached Notts with a view to joining their promotion bid. But it may just be the sort of left-field move required to lift Notts out of a difficult period and help them rediscover the form which had fans dreaming of challenging for the National League title just a few short weeks ago.
Admittedly, with the climax to the season approaching rapidly, Arter will have to hit the ground running, a big ask as he has been out of the first-team picture at the 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 gaining full fitness should not take too long.
Add in that he has a double promotion under his belt - he was part of the Bournemouth squad which went up to the Championship in 2013 and, two years later, to the Premier League - and not long ago was representing the Republic of Ireland, and it is not unreasonable to hope that with the skills and know-how required to play at that level he can quickly adapt to National League football and stamp his authority on games, which is what Notts have been unable to do recently.
The cynics will say they have seen it all before, players with big reputations dropping down the leagues and failing to impress, but the fact that Arter approached Notts suggests he is still hungry to play and not content to just sit back and see out his contract at Forest.
As Burchnall said: “At this stage of the season, bringing in someone with that quality and experience into a young group who are developing and learning is massive for us. Harry knows this is a great club and he’s just hungry to play football, and that was the most important thing. When you hear a player coming from where he has to be that hungry to play speaks volumes about him.
“He will bring experience to the middle of the park, drive us forwards and organise us at key moments. We’ve been ahead in a lot of games and sometimes you just need that bit of decision-making capability in there to make good choices and see games through.”
It was Notts’ style of play which convinced Arter to step down from Championship to non- league football.
“I was aware of the brand of football Notts play so it was appealing from that side,” he said. “I’ve missed playing and once a loan move abroad fell through in January and the Football League window had closed, it was a case of seeing the season out with Forest Under-23s or playing some games, so I spoke to Ian and it was something I thought would be enjoyable.
“I can come here, enjoy the experience and hopefully help get the team into the play-offs. I’m excited to work with Ian because he has sold his brand of football to me. The level is not that important to me any more, 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 feel I’m coming to a club whose results in recent weeks haven’t been great but the philosophy and ideas are very good.”
Injury and illness were ill-timed but Notts have spirit
IT is darkly ironic that Notts County’s most testing month of the season has coincided with the worst outbreak of illness and injury the club has faced in a long time. A few short weeks ago fans were relishing the arrival of March, which sees them going head-to-head with most of their title rivals. Sadly, the football fates dealt head coach Ian Burchnall and his staff several serious blows as they plotted a way to garner as many points as possible from a hugely challenging programme before homing in on promotion with a closing run of games against teams with little to play for or struggling to avoid relegation.
Just last month players who would be first choices in most National League teams couldn’t even get a place in Burchnall’s match-day squad. But by the time the recent FA Trophy quarter-final against Wrexham came around, Burchnall could name only five players on the bench, even though he was allowed seven, and three of them were token gestures - Sam Slocombe, though Burchnall never usually includes a spare goalkeeper, assistant coach Michael Doyle, who has not kicked a ball in anger this season, and Jayden Richardson, who discovered in the warm-up the injury which has sidelined him recently was still troublesome.
Since then the situation has worsened, and for last Tuesday’s ill-fated trip to league leaders Stockport County Burchnall was reduced to considering playing main striker Kyle Wootton and midfielder Matty Palmer at centre back, so dire were his defensive options.
It came as no surprise when Notts were comfortably swept aside by Stockport, who were not flattered by a 3-0 scoreline. The rights and wrongs of the National League’s decision to refuse Notts’ request to have that game, and Saturday’s fixture at Dagenham & Redbridge, postponed due to the number of players unavailable through illness and injury will be debated at length, especially following the Football League’s granting of Stevenage’s request to postpone Saturday’s match at Mansfield due to similar circumstances.
However, the fact that Notts were able to secure a battling 2-1 win at Dagenham, despite being without leading lights such as Cal Roberts, Ruben Rodrigues and skipper Kyle Cameron, has lifted much of the gloom surrounding Meadow Lane. They are not out of the woods yet, with the squad weakened further by international call-ups which see 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 win over Dagenham proved that with grit and determination, added to the undoubted 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 a force to be reckoned with as the promotion race reaches its climax.
