NOLAN PUTS HIS PLAN TO LEARN ON ICE
NOTTS County boss Kevin Nolan has taken a novel approach to management, by turning to ice hockey in a bid to help his team.
The Magpies boss and assistants Mark Crossley and Richard Thorpe watched the Nottingham Panthers in action this week before speaking to head coach Corey Neilson.
And according to Nolan, it was a very productive arrangement, with plans already in place for another get-together between the two coaches.
Nolan said: “It was very interesting to see how other people go about their business and why and how they got their success.
“We spoke to Corey, who was brilliant with the time he gave up. He’s got everything going like a well-oiled machine and that’s a testament to him.
“I was delighted to see how hard they work and there are a lot of similarities with us.
“We want to look at other sports and to pick the brains of people, to see if it helps us.
“We are a management team which is relatively young in terms of experience and there’s only Norm [Crossley] who has been in it quite a while.
“We hope to reciprocate it and have a few of them come over to us, so they can see what we do.
“There were a few things we took away from it and, more than anything, it was just fantastic to be around a team who work so hard for each other.”
Meanwhile, Nolan warned players who turned down a move to Meadow Lane last January they had blown any opportunity of playing for the Magpies.
He added: “This time last year when I was talking to players they were saying, ‘I don’t know’, and if I was having that same conversation with them now, they would run to sign.
“I think a lot of those players made a big mistake because of the progress we have made.”