Give the manager more time

[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.

[SmiffyPie]

Good post.

[Pietastic]

Before we write of Stuart - worth considering this...

Brendan Rodgers joined Watford three months in to the 2008-2009 season after Aidy Boothroyd left the club by mutual consent, leaving them 21st in the Championship. Rodgers did not have the instant impact that was required, winning just two of his first ten games in charge of the Hornets, leaving them in the relegation zone by January. Form did improve in the new year though and Watford only lost five of their last six**** league matches of the season.

[upthemaggies]

Before we write of Stuart - worth considering this...

Brendan Rodgers joined Watford three months in to the 2008-2009 season after Aidy Boothroyd left the club by mutual consent, leaving them 21st in the Championship. Rodgers did not have the instant impact that was required, winning just two of his first ten games in charge of the Hornets, leaving them in the relegation zone by January. Form did improve in the new year though and Watford only lost five of their last six**** league matches of the season.

Rodgers joined a club that had lost 5 on the bounce and were in the relegation zone the week before he took over. Very different circumstances to ours. His results in his first 5 league games in charge were DDLWW so he would have made enough of an impression with credit in the bank to ride the poor 5 match run that followed before they had the 3rd best 18 game run-in in the division.
Maynard is not going to be the next Brendan Rodgers, Sam Allardyce or Alex Ferguson.

[Bohinen]

Rodgers joined a club that had lost 5 on the bounce and were in the relegation zone the week before he took over. Very different circumstances to ours. His results in his first 5 league games in charge were DDLWW so he would have made enough of an impression with credit in the bank to ride the poor 5 match run that followed before they had the 3rd best 18 game run-in in the division.
Maynard is not going to be the next Brendan Rodgers, Sam Allardyce or Alex Ferguson.

He will not but Pietastic deserves credit for using a new example and not the well worn cliche of Alex Ferguson's start at United. Posters would be well advised not to challenge UTM on stats, he will always find some from somewhere to see you off. Like MadMagpie using SM's last 6 games to prove he was no worse than LW, when actually it showed his projected results over the season would give you 30 points, bottom place and relegation.

Trying to be objective, I would have to say the jury is out on the club's ambition, but that could be down to FFP. The jury is also out on on Football Radar's ability to analyse defenders. We can accept consolidation if that is what people want but I would rather that was 8th/9th/10th than 20th/21st/22nd. Whatever, this weird period where Notts have had huge support may be coming to and end. It felt odd anyway to someone who went on one of two coaches (with Claude Bishop or Neal Hook) to away games in what is is now the Championship. And half of those fans had sandwiches and a flask, and a tartan blanket.

What we can (or maybe not in some cases) agree on was it was a nice moment to see Forest lose to an 89th minute goal last night, with a double celebration after 4 minutes of VAR confirming it. You Pies.

[matt_magpie]

Tbf it’s very hard to get decent players in the Jan transfer window. No players contracts are ending and if players are doing well clubs aren’t going to let them go or even their decent back ups as there’s no time usually to get someone in.

[Elite_Pie]

Trying to be objective, I would have to say the jury is out on the club's ambition, but that could be down to FFP. The jury is also out on on Football Radar's ability to analyse defenders.

I'm also trying to be objective and look at the bigger picture as to why things have suddenly gone tits up after enjoying a continuous upward curve for 18 months. I think that on and off the pitch we've lost three important parts of our success, maybe the three most important parts. Jason Turner, Luke Williams and Matty Palmer were the heartbeat of the club and would always be very difficult to replace. Hopefully we can arrest the downward spiral soon, it would be sad to end the season on a downer.