Maynard GONE [Official]

[Bohinen]

I think the statement is quietly brutal. They make it clear that the decision has been made on the basis of fact, and not on a whim, when they say 'neither results nor performances reached the levels we believe the team was capable of'. And they presumably have the data to back that up. Maybe he was Montague's choice.

The final parting shot of 'We are highly optimistic about the club's future' could almost have 'now he's gone' in brackets after it.

[Could'vebeenacontender]

I think the statement is quietly brutal. They make it clear that the decision has been made on the basis of fact, and not on a whim, when they say 'neither results nor performances reached the levels we believe the team was capable of'. And they presumably have the data to back that up. Maybe he was Montague's choice.

The final parting shot of 'We are highly optimistic about the club's future' could almost have 'now he's gone' in brackets after it.

I don't think Stuart saw it coming
He's worked all his life in the normal business world where people are given time and sackings are relatively rare
Football is a business like no other, where the exact opposite is the case
I hope he does well in whatever he does next

[the_anticlough]

It's a relief. Thanks for the efforts and good luck to him.

I think my take on this has been close to the mark, and my opinion is that this was a marginal decision taken recently and even a better showing in the play-off semis might have saved him. At least a goal in the 3 hours of play, a penalty shoot out...

As it was, the two games were in-keeping with the run-in - a choke and bottlejob, not performing at the crucial make or break part of the season.

Seemingly innocent picks can also be the downfall of a manager - like Ardley picking Turner at Wembley and continuing to pick him at LCB when we finally switched to a back three. For SM, what on earth made him pick Sam Austin to start the two play-off games, after he had shown absolutely nothing since coming back from injury/illness? The team sheet was a resignation letter in itself.

[SwalePie]

I think the statement is quietly brutal. They make it clear that the decision has been made on the basis of fact, and not on a whim, when they say 'neither results nor performances reached the levels we believe the team was capable of'. And they presumably have the data to back that up. Maybe he was Montague's choice.

The final parting shot of 'We are highly optimistic about the club's future' could almost have 'now he's gone' in brackets after it.

I read it that way too. 'Quietly brutal' is spot on IMO.