New Manager?

[PedroTheFisherman66]

What multiverse is it that absolutely anybody would want Ardley back? Why have supporters got to suggest who are next manager should be, don't some Danish guys linked to Notts have a business that should sort that out? Yes, automatic promotion is gone and I don't have any faith that Maynard has the nous or balls to navigate the playoffs. But, we are Notts....

Believe me , the Ardley lovers are still out there, even though he has bombed at every club he has been to since he left us. I see he's doing a decent job of taking Woking down this time around. !!

[LaxtonLad]

I am and have been for the entire time he's been here desperate for SM to succeed, he seems a lovely bloke, but I'm at the point where I'm more ****ed off with this team than I was with the team that got us relegated to the Conference, or any number of the boring mid-table League Two sides.

I could accept they were just a bad set of players, but this is a good squad. It has everything you could want really - the defence is pretty good, the strikers score goals, the midfielders are creative etc etc.

Every time we play with any urgency we look quite good. Today we had them on the ropes in the last ten minutes, unfortunately the eighty minutes beforehand we spent slowly passing it around between our goalkeeper and back three. I'm not buying the criticism of the January business, for me there is absolutely everything in place other than a manager who can get the team playing with the pace and intensity you need for a League Two promotion push.

We have players in the team who are average for the league they are in, not every player but enough, rather like any other club really. The difference between us and the other clubs has to be the manager. It's his job to win matches with the tools at his disposal and if he can't do it then he's below average and the managers of clubs above us are therefore above ours. Look at it this way - average manager, average players, average league position. But in my opinion we have a below average, novice manager trying to learn with every game out-thought and lost.

[queenslandpie]

We have players in the team who are average for the league they are in, not every player but enough, rather like any other club really. The difference between us and the other clubs has to be the manager. It's his job to win matches with the tools at his disposal and if he can't do it then he's below average and the managers of clubs above us are therefore above ours. Look at it this way - average manager, average players, average league position. But in my opinion we have a below average, novice manager trying to learn with every game out-thought and lost.

Who would you replace the current manager with out of interest even at end of season? I do think we might given as someone posted elsewhere we have done nothing about coaches. You say you should never go back, but I would be tempted to give Williams a full season if he does not go to MK Dons.

[LaxtonLad]

Who would you replace the current manager with out of interest even at end of season? I do think we might given as someone posted elsewhere we have done nothing about coaches. You say you should never go back, but I would be tempted to give Williams a full season if he does not go to MK Dons.

I don't have any particular manager in mind, but you would imagine any moderately successful club manager above L2 would have more experience and ability than ours. Naming names will only bring down a shower of "NOT HIM!" And I didn`t say "...you should never go back...".

[queenslandpie]

I don't have any particular manager in mind, but you would imagine any moderately successful club manager above L2 would have more experience and ability than ours. Naming names will only bring down a shower of "NOT HIM!" And I didn`t say "...you should never go back...".

You always have very aggressive responses. it was a simple question chap. I apologise for my poor grammar I know you didn't say that. From my point of view, I think if you don't like the manager which is fair enough you need to have worked through the issue and have suggestions for a replacement. It is pretty easy to criticise Stuart. I think he is doing ok but I think the quality of signings has not worked out as well as previously where we have taken a punt on future value and the injuries are shocking. I also think he was a calculated punt and I am a bit on the fence on him. I reckon he can forage a career in L2 moving forward though.

[BigFatPie]

For those wanting a name, Id suggest Dean Brennan, the bloke who actually got Wealdstone up to the National League when Maynard was his assistant. I remember a few Barnet fans being a bit mystified as to why we didnt go for him last time.

Either way its a bit strange to be demanding names when the majority of us wouldnt have heard of any of the coaches the owners have appointed so far.

[LaxtonLad]

You always have very aggressive responses. it was a simple question chap. I apologise for my poor grammar I know you didn't say that. From my point of view, I think if you don't like the manager which is fair enough you need to have worked through the issue and have suggestions for a replacement. It is pretty easy to criticise Stuart. I think he is doing ok but I think the quality of signings has not worked out as well as previously where we have taken a punt on future value and the injuries are shocking. I also think he was a calculated punt and I am a bit on the fence on him. I reckon he can forage a career in L2 moving forward though.

I'm sorry if you think I "always" have a very aggressive manner, it's not intentional. I won't try to name any names, we all have names in mind and each can be shot down in flames, unless it's that of some successful Premiership bod or someone who would never dream of descending to L2. I will come down a bit though and say if The Bros have too much of a say in how the playing side of the team is managed then it may explain a lot.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Agree. I think nailing opinions/expectations at the beginning of the season is an odd an pointless thing to do in football as football is such a moving feast.

Given last season, if we would have been offered 6th with 8 to go, everyone on here would have snapped your hand off. After Salford away, the same. After 25 points from 30 post-Salford, there is frustration around which, to an extent, I get.

Maynard is a good coach. There are some parts he can be critiqued on, he certainly is not the finished article, but he is not at the stage of his career to be so. People do not like them, but if you look at it statistically, on probably 95% of the metrics we are one of, if not the best teams in the league; defensively, offensively, in and out of possession. All that does not happen by chance.

With us being sixth, we are slightly underperforming when compared with those metrics. So, you dig into the disconnect.

Our biggest issue is converting our chances. AJ has 20 but could conceivably have 30 or beyond. Didzy has 14 and could have at least 20. You take Jodi and his output out of the equation (14 league appearances all season) and the sale of Crowley (a goal contribution ever other game in his time at Notts), with even one of those in consistently, we would be in the Top 3. With both, I think we would be top.

As it stands, the pivotal moment of the season was selling DC and not bringing someone in with more experience a the top end of the pitch as Whitaker, Traore and to a slightly lesser extent Jarvis can be put into the gamble category with regards hitting the ground running.

At the start of the season if someone had said with eight games to go we would be two points off automatic most people would have taken that. Especially even more so if it would have been said that JJ and Crowley would be missing for large parts of the season. It would be seen as a very big positive.

Form has taken a dip since we had that peak over Christmas and New Year after the Salford game and is literally polar opposites. Form needs to improve as well in the last eight games otherwise we will be at risk of falling out of the playoffs at the last hurdle. That’s where the frustration and disappointment would come because we’ve been up there all season. Let’s be positive and hope it doesn’t come to that worse case outcome.

If any of Walsall, Bradford, Wimbledon, Port Vale, Doncaster or us can win four or five of the remaining games those are the teams who will likely get automatic promotion.

In hindsight I agree we needed a replacement in January for Cowley to be another Didzy type by that I mean an experienced attacking player who had played at a higher level and might have got a few goals. Especially with the setback to JJ’s recovery. Similar to when the club brought Mark Ellis in to be an experienced head on a stick at the back except he chipped in with goals as well.

We are still in the mix and with eight games to go we need a win at Newport next week for starters to set us up for the midweek home game against MK Dons.

[Notts78]

The issue I have with Notts is that the recruitment in certain positions hasn?t matched the way we want to play? injuries to key components have also been an issue.
JJ and to a lesser degree Austin, have been massive misses in wide areas. No end of times we get into excellent wide positions only for the cross or final pass to be utter dross. Gordon and Tsarroulla haven?t had the attacking output hoped.
I remember a certain winger being slated for not being able to defend? I?d have him back in a heart beat, especially with the back 3 we had yesterday.

[IPieWithMyLittleEye]

We have players in the team who are average for the league they are in, not every player but enough, rather like any other club really. The difference between us and the other clubs has to be the manager. It's his job to win matches with the tools at his disposal and if he can't do it then he's below average and the managers of clubs above us are therefore above ours. Look at it this way - average manager, average players, average league position. But in my opinion we have a below average, novice manager trying to learn with every game out-thought and lost.

Maynard looks to me to be an excellent 'coach'. Notts are well organised, defensively solid, regain shape well and our attacking patterns can be excellent.
I would also guess (I don't have any statistics) that our results with 3 or more of our best attacking players available - Jatta, Didzy, JJ and Crowley - have been very good and have others have said would likely put Notts in the automatic positions.

Crowley was sold from under him, and also missing for sections in the first part of the season plus JJ has barely played and aside from the first 5 games he hasn't been match fit.
First team players like Macari and Austin have also had long spells on the sidelines. Robertson could have been a very effective foil for Palmer and Abbott too, but he's not been fit either.
So I think Maynard needs to be cut a large amount of slack given the injury list.

He's been given replacements yes, none picked by him I would assume so we can't criticise his recruitment.
None of the replacements have come in ready to play at our level, all are learning.
In my opinion Jarvis and Whittaker look like they are improving game on game. I have no idea what level either will get to but I think Maynard deserves a some credit for improving them with his coaching?

What a coach does Monday - Friday is 95% of the job and for the most part I think he's doing a good job. I'd give him an 8/10 for this.

All the above said though, I think during a match he's been poor. Very slow to make changes in personnel or
hange system even when its obvious that chances need to be made. He's reactive rather than proactive and that can be massively frustrating for match going fans. This is probably only 5% of his job, but it's 100% what fans witness and our judgement is clouded because of this. I'd rather him a 4/10 for this.
He massively needs to improve during the match day 90minutes. He's a young coach in his first professional job, hopefully he can add these strings to his bow?

Against Crewe on Saturday he even made Notts changes before the Crewe dugout made theirs and we hadn't even gone behind! I almost passed out. So you never know, hopefully he is learning?