⚽ Match Thread vs. Salford City [EFL L2] 23.03.24

[Woodypie]

Just need FGR to lose another because the way we are playing I struggle to see our next 3 pts.

Watch out Smiffy, I said exactly that last week and got abuse!

[SmiffyPie]

Watch out Smiffy, I said exactly that last week and got abuse!

I'm used to it Woody. I was saying stuff 12 months ago that people are now coming out with and got slagged off by those that know better (my backside!).

[jackal2]

On Tuesday night, a large life raft floated in front of Stuart Maynard courtesy of a 3-0 win, featuring a great performance by Jodi Jones who set up two goals with good service from the left side and really looked back on form.

Unfortunately today, our regular right-wing-back (Nemane) was unavailable, so the Head Coach had a choice:

a) Go with Sam Austin or Tobi Adebayo (if fit) from the start at RWB and therefore disrupt the team minimally from Tuesday night, leaving Jodi Jones in his natural and far stronger position on the left, bubbling from the previous game, or

b) Move Jodi Jones - probably raring to go again in his best position - to the opposite side of the field where he is noticeably less effective and bring in Adam Chicksen, who struggles in the wing-back position at this level because he can't often beat his man.

Now I'm one of those on this message board who hasn't jumped on Stuart Maynard's back and has said on several occasions that the owners will want a decent 'sample size' of games before reaching a judgement on him, but I'm afraid today made my mind up.

Stuart Maynard is one of surely a tiny minority of both fans AND managers who would have looked at the question above and picked Option B today. I'm sure he has been on many coaching courses, studied tactics in great detail and no doubt watched our opposition very thoroughly in preparing for games, but something that marks out the best managers is simplicity - an ability to see the obvious, not over-complicate things, to deploy players in a positions on the park where they feel most confident.

It should not have taken 30 seconds of decision-making time in team selection, let alone half a football match today, to realise that Jodi Jones needed to be let loose again on the left. We literally wasted a half of football today in the attacking sense, and when SM FINALLY corrected his error, Jodi looked like a different player in a team that looked more balanced.

But then, no sooner did we get the equaliser than SM made another substitution - Didzy for Jatta - that threw things off once more. Sam Slocombe - presumably under instruction - kept hitting long aimless balls to the big man who was no longer on the pitch, and you could see the fluency and confidence levels in the team start to fall again. There were several near calamities in defence in the final quarter of the game even before Salford got the winner.

Sorry SM, but for me the sample size is now big enough, and your inability today to make simple team selection decisions that could have built on the momentum from Tuesday night has tipped the balance in my mind. Consistency was the key after Tuesday and you went for unnecessary change. This was your opportunity to show you could get the simple but big calls right and get a roll going, but whether it was overthinking or tactical naivety, you blew it.

[1955pie]

Saturday home gates only table with Maynard's games in bold......

1. Sat 14/Oct/2023 16,638 v Mansfield Town
2. Sat 28/Oct/2023 16,083 v Wrexham
3. Sat 12/Aug/2023 12,950 v Grimsby Town
5. Sat 18/Nov/2023 11,909 v Bradford City
6. Sat 24/Feb/2024 11,470 v Crewe Alexandra
7. Sat 27/Jan/2024 11,243 v Barrow
8. Sat 9/Dec/2023 11,040 v Walsall
9. Sat 23/Sep/2023 10,648 v Forest Green Rovers
11. Sat 9/Mar/2024 10,224 v Wimbledon
12. Sat 26/Aug/2023 10,174 v Tranmere Rovers
13. Sat 23/Mar/2024 9,967 v Salford City
14. Sat 2/Sep/2023 9,846 v Accrington Stanley

I think to be fair you need to take the first 3 out. Large away followings.
But I agree that we are going into a rapid downhill spiral. 4000 season tickets next year if we are lucky.
Maynard’s interview today has made my mind up. You can accept a defeat. You can even accept a bad performance. But you cannot accept the manager saying that apart from the defence that we played well.
2 shots on target. Salford had 7.
There was very little to get excited about.
It shows a complete lack of ambition if he thought that was good enough.
It is an insult to the 9500 Notts’ fans who know what we saw.
How can anyone be looking forward to next season with even a little bit of hope and optimism? Dread is closer to it.

[nw6pie]

I said a few weeks ago that I’d give SM four more games before making up my mind about him, and today was the fourth game. In short, he’s a nice guy who’s not up to the job.

Losing five home games on the bounce is pretty unforgivable, and it’s hard to see where the next home win or even draw is coming from. We are so sluggish in possession, it’s painful to watch. He’s not helped by having some of the division’s worst defenders (Macari was the only bright spot back there today), but we are going backwards fast - which is a rare instance of us doing anything at pace.

I can’t see the owners getting rid of SM this season, but they need to be honest that it’s not worked and we need major changes both on and off the pitch in the close season. Otherwise next season will be a complete car crash.

[Togtastic]

On Tuesday night, a large life raft floated in front of Stuart Maynard courtesy of a 3-0 win, featuring a great performance by Jodi Jones who set up two goals with good service from the left side and really looked back on form.

Unfortunately today, our regular right-wing-back (Nemane) was unavailable, so the Head Coach had a choice:

a) Go with Sam Austin or Tobi Adebayo (if fit) from the start at RWB and therefore disrupt the team minimally from Tuesday night, leaving Jodi Jones in his natural and far stronger position on the left, bubbling from the previous game, or

b) Move Jodi Jones - probably raring to go again in his best position - to the opposite side of the field where he is noticeably less effective and bring in Adam Chicksen, who struggles in the wing-back position at this level because he can't often beat his man.

Now I'm one of those on this message board who hasn't jumped on Stuart Maynard's back and has said on several occasions that the owners will want a decent 'sample size' of games before reaching a judgement on him, but I'm afraid today made my mind up.

Stuart Maynard is one of surely a tiny minority of both fans AND managers who would have looked at the question above and picked Option B today. I'm sure he has been on many coaching courses, studied tactics in great detail and no doubt watched our opposition very thoroughly in preparing for games, but something that marks out the best managers is simplicity - an ability to see the obvious, not over-complicate things, to deploy players in a positions on the park where they feel most confident.

It should not have taken 30 seconds of decision-making time in team selection, let alone half a football match today, to realise that Jodi Jones needed to be let loose again on the left. We literally wasted a half of football today in the attacking sense, and when SM FINALLY corrected his error, Jodi looked like a different player in a team that looked more balanced.

But then, no sooner did we get the equaliser than SM made another substitution - Didzy for Jatta - that threw things off once more. Sam Slocombe - presumably under instruction - kept hitting long aimless balls to the big man who was no longer on the pitch, and you could see the fluency and confidence levels in the team start to fall again. There were several near calamities in defence in the final quarter of the game even before Salford got the winner.

Sorry SM, but for me the sample size is now big enough, and your inability today to make simple team selection decisions that could have built on the momentum from Tuesday night has tipped the balance in my mind. Consistency was the key after Tuesday and you went for unnecessary change. This was your opportunity to show you could get the simple but big calls right and get a roll going, but whether it was overthinking or tactical naivety, you blew it.

I agree wholeheartedly with your view. We were at home to Salford, we should be going out to blast them out the park not play Chicksen (an honest pro) whose first thought is to go backwards rather than attack. I have previously been happy laying the blame at the players door but today's starting setup defies belief and the manager is entirely responsible.

[Elite_Pie]

When he went down injured I was half way hoping between a seaon ending injury and a career ending one.

I'm feeling really down, but that has to be one of the worst posts I've ever read on here.

You are clearly a sick individual.

[M0ufMk3]

“If this is the worst Notts team you have seen in the last 50 years then I would say you must have been going to the wrong ground”

I didn't say that. What I did say was that he would make my worst Notts team of the last 50 years (and as captain). Although if we are just taking the period since Christmas there's a deal of evidence, but not enough to challenge the Gudjon and Dearden years which were truly miserable.

[M0ufMk3]

Stuart Maynard is one of surely a tiny minority of both fans AND managers who would have looked at the question above and picked Option B today. I'm sure he has been on many coaching courses, studied tactics in great detail and no doubt watched our opposition very thoroughly in preparing for games, but something that marks out the best managers is simplicity - an ability to see the obvious, not over-complicate things, to deploy players in a positions on the park where they feel most confident.

Spot on. Football may well be a more complex game than many fans allow, but crucially, a manager's job (in any walk of life) is to distill complexity into a message which is as simple as it can be without becoming ineffective.

[MapperleyMagpie]

I'm feeling really down, but that has to be one of the worst posts I've ever read on here.

You are clearly a sick individual.

Couldn't agree more Elite. I'm pissed off like most on here but wouldn't in my darkest moment suggest such a vile thing.