Having faced major disappointment at the end of last season after losing in the playoffs to Coventry City under controversial circumstances, Notts have regrouped and are ready to do it all again come August. During the off-season the Magpies have been on a major recruitment drive of which most teams would be envious. Kevin Nolan has started reshaping his squad with a blend of both youth and experience; Will Patching (Manchester City), Tom Crawford (Chester) and Nathan Thomas (Derby County, loan) bringing youth while David Vaughan and Kristian Dennis arrive from Nottingham Forest and Chesterfield and bring plenty of experience. Dennis brings goals too having scored 21 goals in 48 games for a relegated Chesterfield side and he’ll be complemented up top by Kane Hemmings who joins from local rivals Mansfield Town.
As well as the many players Notts have signed, thanks mainly to owner Alan Hardy’s serious investment, the Magpies have a number of promising youngsters who are expected to feature at points during the upcoming campaign. These include both Sam Osborne and Alex Howes who were around the first team last season, while there will be opportunities for others including striker Remaye Campbell who received rave reviews during last season for his form in the under-18 games. Also looking for some game time this season is Chinese prospect Dongda He who plays in an advanced midfield role. This year may be too early to establish a foothold within the first team, but he is someone who could be hugely beneficial to the club both on and off the field, given the growth of football in China. His presence could develop a new fanbase and grow Notts brand value massively in Asia. In addition to young prospects from the youth team Notts do have young players within the first team, many of whom will play a pivotal role in the season. These include Elliot Hewitt who has improved year upon year, more so last year under Kevin Nolan’ guidance. Another is occasional midfield partner Noor Husin who arrived from Crystal Palace in January and quickly established himself amongst the Notts faithful with his strike in the 4-1 home win against Crewe. The buzz around the club in pre-season has been unlike anything in recent years. You probably have to go back to the 09/10 League Two winning season for anything mirroring this, which obviously bodes well for this season. The investment by the owner has been key to the optimism surrounding the club as many fans can see the legacy that he is trying to build. The club has been prepared to invest money securing Kristian Dennis, Tom Crawford and Dutch playmaker Enzo Boldewijn. This kind of financial commitment underlines Notts ambitions of gaining promotion this season. Notts have also lost a number of players but have managed to keep the core group together and by doing so they will be able to learn from last season’s disappointment of just missing out on promotion and come back stronger as a result.
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He may have had limited playing time on the field for Chelsea but he’s certainly getting plenty of exposure off the field since his move to the London over a year ago from French side Marseille. His move to Chelsea has helped him gain greater exposure of various Social Media platforms with Batshuayi currently racking up over 1.2 million followers on Twitter, while he possesses over 780,000 likes on his Facebook and 1.3 million followers on Instagram. Following him on twitter I can see first hand the various types of interaction he has with his own fans and opposition fans, young or old. His tweets give an interesting insight into his life as a footballer and his personality on the whole. Below are some of his most popular recent tweets. Below is his reaction to the World Cup draw where his Belgium side was drawn in the same group as England (the country he currently plays his football in). This shows great interaction with his fans based in England as well as his Belgian ones. Here's Batshuayi getting involved in his own birthday celebrations. This tweet depicts Batshuayi’s humour after he cam off the bench to help Chelsea to a win at West Brom last season. Great interaction with his club's fanbase. The final tweet I’ve picked out from the many of entertaining tweets on Batshuayi’s feed is this one which demonstrates his ability to be able to engage the youth with the term ‘bae’ as well as appealing to the recent popularity of meme’s. In conclusion, what Michy Batshuayi’s Social Media use shows us is that he is comfortable with expressing himself and that he knows how to build a reputable brand that will have global appeal. He interacts and engages with EA Sports over all things FIFA (specifically, why he should have a higher rating) and by doing this it attracts the fan community of the FIFA franchise, thus increasing his brand reputation. In my view he is the best footballer to follow on social media, especially on Twitter as he comes across a lot differently to the regular footballer who’s either not that active or just posts the typical post-match win or lose tweet. Batshuayi gives all his fans a real insight into his life, such as his crazy dress sense and his love for SpongeBob along with his love/hate relationship with the FIFA franchise over low ratings. He shows he has a great sense of humour with various tweets and engages with fans all around the world without offending anyone. Adding all of this together it shows Michy Batshuayi is building himself up as a reputable brand for the future, mainly through his own creativity which makes is appealing to a wide range of sponsors who may be looking for a youthful, fun a charismatic face for their brand. Forget the likes of Ronaldo or Neymar, Batshuayi is the player to follow when it comes to social media.
This may sound like a bold statement to make, but there is evidence to show that this may well be true. City have shown plenty of ambition ever since the takeover back in 2008, with the acquisition of key players, stadium expansion along with a new training facility, plus certain strategies to target the global market which included the City Football Group owning and founding teams in the US and Australia (New York City and Melbourne City respectively). Whereas there is evidence to suggest that Manchester United could potentially face a period of decline with the huge debt coupled with the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson along with the instability since with a number of mangers and an influx and out flux of players. Manchester City have had clear ambitions to be a global footballing power ever since the takeover of the club and have laid out plans over certain years which will help them achieve this. Ever since 2008 the club has gone for a quick fix by signing marque players whom are capable of winning trophies. These include such players like Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero all of whom who have contributed massively to City’s success. In addition to these signings who have now been at the club for a number of years, City have brought in young English players like Stones and Sterling as well as foreign talent like Sane, De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus, all of whom will help bring further on-field success to the club for years to come. However, the reason for signing these players wasn’t just because they’re great players, it’s also because their huge names who will help develop Manchester City’s global brand. Another part of Manchester City’s hefty ambitions is the stadium expansion which took place over recent seasons and increased the Etihad capacity up to 61,000 capacity. On top of this expansion of the stadium, City built a new training ground complex which benefits the youth set up and Manchester City Women’s team as well. Manchester United on the other hand could be set for a period of decline with the huge debt that’s been racked up by the Glazers ever since their takeover of United. Currently Manchester United’s debt stands at £464M, according to figures published in the 1st half of 2017 which is slightly worry when debt levels across Europe have generally decreased. Nevertheless, this is an improvement from when it was £700M at its peak. Also back in 2010 when the Glazers were outlining a plan to attract potential investors into the club, they stated that the risk to their investment would be failing to qualify for the Champions League. I’m not saying by missing out this season will put United in decline but it may put certain players of joining the club which could cause a spiral of decline. Not only this, but Ferguson’s departure inevitably led to a period of restructuring at the club with Moyes, van Gaal and now Mourinho all wanting to bring in fresh ideas and players to the club, as touched on above. This meant that various appointments had to have a go at rebuilding an ageing squad which Sir Alex failed to do on a budget which may shrink depending on the club’s debt and on-field success. However, the spending under Mourinho last summer bringing in Lukaku and Pogba the summer before proves this is not the case. Also, the recent Deloitte money league has United sitting back at the top with record revenue of £515M which is in stark contrast to a few years previous shortly after Ferguson retired where United dropped to fourth for the first time since 1997. City on the other hand keep climbing and it 5th in the Money League. The question is who will grow faster? Clearly Manchester City have plans in order to take the club forward over the coming years and appear to have aims of developing their own players through state of the art training facilities. Whereas Manchester United have been feeling the effects of Ferguson’s retirement over recent seasons, with current manager Jose Mourinho only now appearing to have brought a period of stability back to Old Trafford. However, if there is a power shift in Manchester it may have a detrimental effect on United with sponsors deserting them as well as a drop-in revenue. Although United’s form over the past year suggests this may not be the case. Nevertheless, the next few years for both clubs will determine who the true kings of Manchester really are!
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