Give the manager more time

[1955pie]

Our owners weren't just taking a random punt on someone. It wasn't a gamble that backfired. They will have thought long and hard about the type of coach they wanted 'in the building' before settling on Maynard.

The reasons why they chose him haven't disappeared or been invalidated because of a three of four poor results. For the same reason you wouldn't drop a lot of money on a certain stock that you've spent many hours analysing only to panic sell it a few weeks later because it went down 5%.

What I'm trying to say is, major decisions that change the course of the club's future take time to make. You need to be absolutely certain you are making the right decision and that you have exhausted all possibilities of a turnaround in fortunes.

Sacking the manager isn't the first thing you do so solve a problem, it's one of the last. Being in danger of relegation would force a bit more urgency, but we aren't in that position yet.

Thank god our owners don't think like some of our fans do, or we'd be back to three managers a season and eternal decline.

Most of what you say Slack is correct.
However, our previous manager walked out on us mid season. I would suggest that they had to come to a decision much more quickly than they would have liked and having to choose from a much smaller set of candidates. So I don’t necessarily think you can dismiss the possibility that they might change their minds if and when the right person became available.
If SM can achieve something like a 50% win rate in his remaining matches then he will have steadied the ship.
Montague should still go though.

[OldBanksy]

I don't believe SM was first choice. Perhaps not even second choice.
I would expect the club to stick with him until the end of the season. If performances and results don't improve by then, he'll be gone.

[slack_pie]

Most of what you say Slack is correct.
However, our previous manager walked out on us mid season. I would suggest that they had to come to a decision much more quickly than they would have liked and having to choose from a much smaller set of candidates. So I don’t necessarily think you can dismiss the possibility that they might change their minds if and when the right person became available.
If SM can achieve something like a 50% win rate in his remaining matches then he will have steadied the ship.
Montague should still go though.

I'm not sure they were rushed into a decision. They will have been planning for LW's inevitable departure for a while. They will have had a shortlist of managers to go to, with an idea of who they would speak to first. They will have been watching Maynard for a while.

[Piebald]

Some great posts and concerns
Recruitment recruitment recruitment
Whatever decision making process has been used since Wembley has failed to address our defending and goalkeeper.
Will the club please sort this out. Simples.
A major overhaul is required in the close season.
In the meantime inconsistencies will inevitably continue unless
players return to their effective roles
( changing these roles gives them an excuse for not performing )
I think SM and his coaching team would benefit from help and advice from an experienced mentor as suggested by others
This requires leadership from the top and a coming together of all concerned to restore the feel good factor and the dignity of the club.
This will demonstrate that our long term support is cherished.
COYP

[jackal2]

Some great posts and concerns
Recruitment recruitment recruitment
Whatever decision making process has been used since Wembley has failed to address our defending and goalkeeper.
Will the club please sort this out. Simples.
A major overhaul is required in the close season.
In the meantime inconsistencies will inevitably continue unless
players return to their effective roles
( changing these roles gives them an excuse for not performing )
I think SM and his coaching team would benefit from help and advice from an experienced mentor as suggested by others
This requires leadership from the top and a coming together of all concerned to restore the feel good factor and the dignity of the club.
This will demonstrate that our long term support is cherished.
COYP

Recruitment-wise what we desperately need in the full-back, centre-half and midfield positions are some aggressive ball-winning destroyers who love doing the dirty side of the game. Yes, they'll need to be capable of promptly passing the ball five or ten yards to one of our more creative players once they've won it, but their primary job is to stop the opposition. Scott Robertson, Lewis Macari and Jim O'Brien are probably the best we've got at present. Most of our central defenders should be prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act.

The current squad is over-balanced towards creative players. Too many of them don't have the appetite or in some cases the ability to be effective when we're not in possession. At the moment we're a nice team to play against, evidenced by the number of goals opponents score against us despite relatively meagre possession.

As someone who grew up watching Notts in the Warnock and Allardyce eras I really, really HATE seeing a Notts County team look like soft touches. That certainly is not an identity the club should want. A football team can be good in and out of possession if you get the right mix of players, like Nigel Clough has done at Mansfield. For every player like Jodi Jones or Dan Crowley who can beat an opponent or play a wonderful defence-splitting pass, you need another one who can stop the opposition's best players doing the same.

[ThePieWhoCameIn]

Maynard has inherited a defence that by common consensus isn't considered good enough, so the same problem would face any Head Coach that replaced him. Over the next few weeks if he can find a way of stopping the goals going into our net, using current resources at his disposal, then it would actually be a sign of some managerial/tactical ability.

As a little nugget of hope, I thought it was noticeable on Tues how clearly they acted to not be caught out by a short corner like they were for Crewe's 1st. To show just how hard they were working, I swear I heard two of our players communicating with each other!

Obviously our problems go deeper than short corners but it does at least illustrate that as a group they can identify a problem, a solution, and put it into practice (rather than sitting through the lecture then thinking "stuff you I'll do what I want").

Also given there's a suspicion SM might not command the respect of the senior pros, look at it from his side - he's joined a League Club full of experienced professionals, and he's had to teach them how to defend a short corner. As much as the players could be thinking "what have they sent us", he could be thinking "what have I come to".

[hissingdwarf]

I sit firmly in the ‘Maynard was a daft mistake’ camp at the minute, but I don’t think he was a rushed choice by the owners.
They’ve come across as intelligent guys and after the Oxford debacle…surely they must have had a list of potential replacements ready made.

[SmiffyPie]

I am still firmly in the "Give him more time" camp simply because he inherited a squad that was tipping into a slump (with some players nowhere near L2 standard), he came to a club that hadn't sacked a manager so there was no bounce to be had and he came from a club that couldn't be compared to Notts in a million years (no disrespect intended). There is the suspected issue that some players would be treating his instructions with disdain and not putting a shift in but that is still conjecture. Why did he get appointed? No idea! His history shouldn't have excited the Bros, his technical qualifications aren't yet achieved and his personality probably didn't get them rocking in the aisles. I tend to favour they have probably put one to many eggs in the basket and taken a gamble on him coming good. Whether the gamble comes off we will have to wait and see.
One thing is for sure though, the players need to get behind him, they are the ones that are supposed to do the business on the park and perhaps they need to be reminded that.

[1955pie]

Some great posts and concerns
Recruitment recruitment recruitment
Whatever decision making process has been used since Wembley has failed to address our defending and goalkeeper.
Will the club please sort this out. Simples.
A major overhaul is required in the close season.
In the meantime inconsistencies will inevitably continue unless
players return to their effective roles
( changing these roles gives them an excuse for not performing )

Link to a BBC article of the 5th December quoting Luke Williams.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67625496

Here repeated are sentences 1,4,5 & 6.
Notts County boss Luke Williams says the club may run out of patience with some players if they keep conceding goals at the current rate.
"In this game, you only get so many chances," head coach Williams told BBC Radio Nottingham.
"There will be a list of players that the club are very interested in and feel may be able to come in [in January] and improve our performance from day one - if we're ambitious enough, that will happen."
He continued: "There has been a huge effort to try and eradicate some of the mistakes that are occurring. Ultimately it comes down to concentration.

This says it all - If we're ambitious enough ......

So what have we done to meet that ambition. Signed a young full back who was already here on a permanent deal. Signed another young centre back from Norwich on loan. And yet another goalkeeper on loan. And that is it!

This was a situation that needed addressing last summer.
Either Richard Montague has his eyes shut or the Radar model doesn't work for defenders or he doesn't have the money.

Last year we paid money for Morias (in case Macca left in the summer???)
This year we paid money for Jatta (in case Macca leaves in the summer???)
When what we needed then and now are 2 decent defenders and a goalkeeper.

If he hasn't been allocated the money, Montague should leave now for the sake of his own reputation.
If the model doesn't work for the defence it needs updating now.
If he stubbornly has his eyes shut he should be gone now.

I sometimes wonder whether they ever run the model against our existing squad and what the results show. We did give Rawlinson and Cameron new 2 year contracts last summer, so that is a bit alarming.

[upthemaggies]

This says it all - If we're ambitious enough ......

Yes, well found. That implies Luke wasn't totally confident that the board would match his own ambition and back him, if he stuck around.
Surprised this wasn't picked up at the time.