The Notts issues

ARLukomski · March 13

There's a lot to get through here. A lot to pick apart from a season that promised so much but has delivered very little. Our aim, in my opinion, should have been the play-offs, if we recruited well in the summer that is. However that didn't happen and our season has faded into a feeling of emptiness.

Let's start with contract decisions. In the summer we renewed the deals of Kyle Cameron, Connell Rawlinson, Sam Slocombe, Aaron Nemane and Jim O'Brien. As KC was club captain, I can understand his 2 year deal, same with Aaron. Jim was offered a 1 year deal which was the correct thing to do. However, more thought was needed when it came to Rawlinson and Slocombe. Whilst both were rewarded for their loyalty, their promotion success and their longevity with us, neither are getting any younger. Both should've been handled the same as O'Brien with 1 year deals. Even the decision in March to give Chicksen a deal till 2025 was made a bit too much with the heart. Last season was his only good season for us.

It won't be the first time I mention this, but Stockport were ruthless in the summer of 2022, after they got promoted. Liam Hogan left, Ash Palmer was gone after 2 months of the season. Jordan Keane left and a few months later Mark Kitching and Ryan Johnson left as well. They ended the 2022-23 season with a back 3 made up entirely of new signings: Chris Hussey, Fraser Horsfall and Akil Wright, with January signing Neill Byrne on the bench. This was a team that kept 23 clean sheets out of 44 in their title winning season and they still made changes. This season (especially January seeing as we gave some players the time to prove they were good enough for League 2) was about progression over loyalty and we chose the latter.

Now our biggest problem this season. Recruitment. Something that has been more positive than negative in the Reedtz Bros era. However, this is the most we've got it wrong since summer 2020 (bar Ruben). A neglection of the defence, loyalty to players who we needed to bring in upgrades for, not covering for the injuries of Bajrami and Scott and sat doing nothing for over a month.

Now the players we signed. I'm going to go through every single one. Firstly, Jodi Jones. This one we got right. He had a good loan spell with us and his record assists this season have shown what a good acquisition he's been. Next up, Will Randall. Where is he? He said in his interview that this deal was done before the end of last season. However, he's barely been available and he's been in and out of the squad this season through injuries, lack of fitness and not being selected for a matchday squad. Next, Didzy. We were very excited by his return at the time and he has produced moments of magic this season, but he's not been the same player as he was at Derby in 2022-23. His signing has also meant we've lost part of our front press, which made us so effective last season. I'm hoping he can drag some of the players together in these last 2 months and show them what it means to play for Notts.

Fourth signing, Dan Crowley. He started brilliantly and his return has been really good with assists and goals. However, of recent, his standards have dropped and his problems from spells at previous clubs look like they are appearing again. Sutton at home when he cupped his ears, then giving away a penalty in the same game. Ruben had off days but he dragged us through games and his late runs into the box and his pressing mean he was far more effective. Our fifth signing was Aidan Stone. He didn't have a good start at Sutton and he made a few mistakes, but then he had his best game against Barrow (A) and then we dropped him. Why? Why did we drop him? Just because Slocombe played well against Derby. He made mistakes in various games after that and his confidence dropped. After Gillingham (H), he was dropped from the starting x1 and we haven't seem him in the squad since. Overall, not an upgrade on Slocombe. There is a keeper in there but it just hasn't worked.

Then, we sat on our backsides doing nothing for over a month. We signed Aidan Stone on June 23rd. Our next signing was Ollie Tipton who was signed on July 28th. We spent over a month doing nothing when key areas of the squad, like the defence and cover in midfield, needed strengthening. We started our opening day game with Rawlo, Cameron and Brindley. Baldwin came back unfit. It was so clear we needed reinforcements in defence and here we were doing the square root of jack. Tipton made less than 5 appearances in all competitions and barely ever saw the matchday squad. He may do well elsewhere, but we never saw it. Lewis Macari was signed on loan on deadline day and permanently in December. He's been one of the big positives of this season and he's been our best defender by a huge distance. Feel bad for him because one of the few players who look cut out for League football.

Dan Gosling. Brilliant. He hadn't played since November 2022 and we gave him a 2 month deal and with that amount of time, he was never going to get fit. I understand the deal from a financial side, but it just seemed a waste of a signing. Makes you wonder why we didn't bring in a centre midfielder in the summer. When Bajrami got injured we should have acted instantly. Then Palmer got injured and it left us with Bostock and O'Brien.

Then January. Scott Robertson (other than Crawley) has been a good addition. He always puts his bundle of energy into every game and does the ugly side of the game well. Him and Palmer could be really nice next season. There is a player in Jaden Warner and I don't think we've seen it yet. I can see him going on loan to another club and having a good loan spell. His height and athleticism is the type of thing our recruitment team should be looking at more. He hasn't a great loan spell so far though, bar a solid performance against Wrexham. Luca Ashby-Hammond was a questionable one. He didn't have the best game for Crawley when they played us at the Lane and he didn't feel like a big upgrade on Stone and Slocombe. He had a good first two games against Newport and Wrexham, but hasn't been the same after that.

Whoever conceived the idea of signing Charlie Colkett needs to own up immediately. Why did we think signing a player who's played 15 times for Crewe in a season and a half, was a good idea. The guy had injury setbacks during that time as well. At the time we only had Robertson, Bostock and O'Brien. With Palmer and Bajrami out injured, we needed a centre midfielder who could come in and make an instant impact. Colkett was unfit and had barley played and we were signing him on loan from a team in the same division as us. The guy still hasn't looked fit in his sub appearances. Finally, Alassana Jatta. Another player who couldn't make an instant impact due to issues out of his control. We haven't seen him enough to make judgement yet and I don't think we should be judging him on three substitute appearances. Whilst I've seen people complain about signing a striker and not improving the defence, we did need a striker. Yes, we definitely needed defnders, but we only had Langstaff, Didzy and Morias. With Didzy playing attacking midfield, that leaves us with Macca and Morias, who has had injury troubles and times when he's fallen out of favour or just not been match fit, like Will Randall.

We have gone away from our recruitment strategy a little. The type of player that made us successful was signing younger hungry players, with energy and pressing abilities and players who are good on the ball. We started going towards a model of signing players who hadn't made it at top level academies and have since fallen down the leagues or players who've had injury troubles and are wanting to rebuild their career. It's worked for Jodi, it worked for Bostock up until about December 2023. It worked for Crowley until Luke left and it just hasn't worked for Colkett because signing him was just a complete waste of time. So when you go through a tough run of form like we are now, will them players get in the trenches and fight and drag us through games and get us points from nothing? I'm not sure other than Jodi.

We also don't have the required height, physicality and athleticism required at this level. It's why so many teams, even with lesser quality on paper, have just beaten us up physically. This league, as shown by last seasons promoted teams, is built on a good defence. The proof is in the stats, we may have the 2nd best attack in the league but we also have the joint worst defence. Gillingham have scored the least amount of goals in the league, but up until last night, they were in the play-offs. They, do however have the 6th best defence and whilst I don't want to give up our attacking play, not by a long stretch, a huge focus is needed on the defence in the summer. Like I mentioned earlier, Stockport were ruthless. The defence that got them promoted are now not at Edgeley Park at all. The players that are still there from the promotion winning season are: Ben Hinchliffe, Macaulay Southam-Hales, Ryan Rydel, Myles Hippolyte, Antoni Sarcevic, Ryan Croasdale, Paddy Madden and Will Collar. Ethan Pye was there but wasn't a regular member of the matchday squad like he is now.

The final thing is Stuart Maynard. Was he my first choice of head coach? No. Do I want him to succeed? Absolutely. Is it working? No. Whilst our recruitment is the number one driving factor behind our fall, SM has made questionable calls. The poor subs against Crawley, to tactical tweaks that end up putting Jodi and Nemane on the same wing and some of his pressers, pre and post match being a bit puzzling. He's correct in his judgement to drop Brindley and Stone and he's correct that we've had defensive issues all season and we don't have the personnel and height required to defend our penalty area well enough. He's also not helped by our poor squad depth, which has been an issue all season, impacting who he can drop and who he can bring into the side. However his record since he's come in has been terrible. One win, one draw and seven defeats. Whilst I get the focus has been trying to make us better defensively, it has meant taking the focus off the attack and we haven't been anywhere near as energetic or fluid going forward as we once were.

Our defensive performances haven't been sustainable all season, but our goal difference has gone from +8 to 0, with 10 goals scored and 18 conceded. We've been average at best and absolutely horrendously shockingly terribly inept, dire and woeful at our worst. We still haven't won at home and our away performances are still not wielding points.

I am thankful for what Chris and Alex have done so far, but they need to dig deep into their pockets in the summer because the squad needs a change and as it stands, the person in the dugout will to. I am also not sure about Richard Montague as well. He leads recruitment and the signings made have not been good enough.

liampie · March 13

i think the club wanted to retain much of the togetherness from our playoff winning squad, hindsight is a very easy thing to see but its much harder ahead of time. all the points you mentioned @ARLukomski are fair and im not saying you are wrong. just staring the case that it could have worked and aided us, i dont think the injuries we have faced have not helped and our owners have spent money but we need to make sure its spent wiser. they have been constantly using their money to fuel notts and update the club in so many levels. they simply cant always be right. you raise some good points, richard montague i dont know much about so i cant criticise him.

Robbie · March 13

A very impressive assessment of the situation at Notts @ARLukomski I agree with everything you have said, however I believe that the Reedtz brothers were right in appointing Maynard and I believe he has been very unfortunate to inherit all the problems inherited from Luke Williams. Luke was aware of the problems but failed to address them.

To his credit Stuart Maynard has tried to change things but it appears the players are either unable or reluctant to go with those changes. Stuart also has to work with the squad he has, and other than bringing in Juniors, he doesn't have any alternative players to turn to

There's been much vitriol on social media, but I think those who are moaning and groaning should put it all into perspective.

To all the naysayers, decrying the state of Notts, I say be thankful to the Reedtz brothers for buying and saving our club, and be thankful.

We may well have been in the Midland Counties League now and Meadow Lane a housing estate if it weren't for them.

Be thankful that we are virtually safe and can rebuild in the close season to challenge for promotion to league 1 next season.

Wheelbarrow repair man · March 13

A well written piece and a interesting read, there are things that I fully agree with, such has when handing out the contracts, they were given on the back of the playoff success without it appears players not being scrutinized to see if they were up to League 2 level, a case of the Heart ruling the Head. And I know I keep banging on about it but Williams had superb man management skills and could more or less get a top performance out of mediocre players, and it certainly seems Maynard can't and of course the Rumour Mill is running at Full Speed. It seems Maynard as fallen out with both John Bostock and David McGoldrick and the Brothers are looking to sell the Club because it's in to much debt. This despite the Notts CEO saying at the end of December (I believe it was) that Notts have no need to sell any players in the January Transfer Window and the club had finances to cover playing in League 1 and competing on a financial level with teams in the Lower part of the Championship. If that's True (and why wouldn't it be?) Notts seem to be Ok from a money point of view.

I also think that like it was stated in the above article that Notts like Stockport need to be Brutal in the off season. In My Opinion (and this is just my opinion) Macca, Jodi Jones Dan Crowley Matt Palmer Scott Robertson Sam Austin Lewis Macari David McGoldrick Cedwyn Scott Geraldo Bajrami and Aden Baldwin should be retained. There is of course a question mark against Alassana Jatta because we've not seen a lot of him playing wise. Jim O'Brien should offered a coaching role with the club. Luther Munakandra Tiernan Brookes and James Sanderson should be promoted to the first team squad. Th remainder should be let go, this of course doesn't refer to the youth team just the senior squad. A New Man in the Dug Out? We'll have to wait and see.

**Joshua** · March 13

We haven’t had a stable team this season. Yes, injuries can be cited as a reason, but we seem to switch goalkeepers on a whim or to keep the other content. The back three hasn’t been consistent enough, and the wing-backs are barely involved in defending. Some recent elements have been good, but they’re not sufficient. We rely on playing John Bostock even when his form is poor.

Similarly, with David McGoldrick at his age, you’d want to see him utilised for the impact and quality he brings. He’s a good player, even now, but we’ve overused him, and it showed in some of the home games before his injury. Yes, I started off by saying we haven’t settled the squad, but sometimes smart changes are needed.

While incidents involving Matt Palmer, Cedwyn Scott, etc., were all freak occurrences, I can’t help but feel we should occasionally rest a player. Consistency is very important, as is form. If we had a structured first team and changes were only tactical or due to form, then there’s an expectation to maintain a good enough level.

Defensively, we’ve been weak, but it’s been made more apparent with Palmer’s absence. Bostock isn’t the same. People criticise Macaulay Langstaff for missing chances, but some forget to point out it’s a team game. Misses will happen, especially when morale and confidence are low. It’s not an excuse to say that when we’re on fire, Notts can be unbeatable, but for the most part, we allow ourselves to be less disciplined throughout the game.

Robbie · March 13

I didn't mention this in my previous piece but there is one person who hasn't been mentioned much lately, but I do believe Notts are missing our great CEO Jason Turner.

The relationship he had with the Coaching staff, the players and all the staff at the club and the way he could lead, encourage and inspire has sadly been lost.

No disrespect to his replacement, but I believe Jason was the spark, the guiding light for everyone associated with the club and his passing has affected the club in many ways.

We all said he would be greatly missed and he is being missed.

menzinho · March 13

I understand why the club offered the players it did new contracts in the summer. And given we’d not played in League 2 for 4 years we had no idea how they’d perform. Yes we probably should’ve been more ruthless but I’m not sure how well that looks. It’s almost disrespecting to those players who really did have a great seasons for us, a kind of thanks but don’t let the door hit you on the way-out attitude. Potentially it could’ve caused a few players to become upset, if that’s a way a club treats its players who got them promoted.

I do think we’ve been very unlucky with injuries this season too, that has not helped, I think that between Nov-Dec-Jan we fielding almost the same team every week, which probably did lead to players being overplayed. I think Didzy has kind of now fallen victim to this, you’d think he’d have been able to rotate more with Austin, Scott and Morias but due to the injuries this seasons he’s pretty much had to play when he can. But yeah, it’s incredibly unlucky to have 3 season ending injuries in one season. I don’t remember that ever happening in my time supporting us. And with them all occurring into the season pretty much all the good players would’ve been signed by other clubs so replacing them last minute is not easy.

January then became a bit of a fire-fighting effort in terms of the recruitment, securing Macari and Robertson has been good but I agree signing Colkett and Ashby-Hammond not so. I don’t know why we didn't bring in a "proven" defender either, did the recruitment team struggle to identify a good player or was it simply no-one good was available and affordable? Recruitment’s probably the most important part of what makes a club successful. On the whole it has been very good and you’re never going to be perfect and unfortunately for us it's dipped this season.

But you can only learn from your mistakes and we can only hope and assume the owners and recruitment team will be fully aware of our issues this season and why it's gone so wrong – they’d have to be pretty much blind and stupid to not notice this! You can’t get it right all of the time and as bad as it sounds considering we were in the play-offs if we don’t go down (still mathematically possible but surely not…) then the season hasn’t been a disaster, just very, very disappointing. And I think depending on how the season ends we will have to revaluate whether SM and his team are right for us going forward.

That said I’m still confident with our owners and how things are going. I'm sure in 2/3 years’ time we’ll be a lot closer to league 1 than the NL.

Simon Clark · March 14

@ARLukomski You know my thoughts very well - I wouldn't have given any of the defenders a new contract. They were weak in NL - bear in mind how much we dominated last season, they hardly had to defend and yet we still gave away 35 goals, was it? Mainly from individual errors. It was obvious those errors would be punished more in L2. Somehow we need to find a way to get rid of the ones under contract to free up space.

I was Ok with Slocombe as a back up keeper. A solid, reliable professional who would be wanting a start but accepting a place on the bench and never giving less than 100% in training to help the senior keeper. The problem was the guy we signed isn't good enough. And neither is the loan replacement.

I get the point with gambling on Gosling, we needed bodies and you'd hope his experience would have shown more than it did. A gamble that failed.

Colkett strikes me as a 4 month trial period. Do we sign him in the summer and will he want to come?

I'd actually like to see one or two young lads get a run out as the season comes to a close but we probably need a win or two to give Maynard the freedom to do that. Sanderson and Cisse both looked exciting players. I fear Munakandafa has missed the boat as he's done himself no favours when he has played and Williams was pretty critical of his attitude in an interview earlier this season, although he could easily have out that right, of course.

I wonder if the owners / recruitment team had seriously underestimated the level of L2. Let's hope they learn quickly.

I will take you to task when you say they did nothing for 5 weeks just because there were no new faces. That could have been for any number of reasons. A lot of players would be holding out for better offers and a lot of clubs would be unwilling to let someone go until they had a replacement in, so discussions could have been going on left, right and centre.

Ohh Tommy Johnson · March 14

1 hour ago, Simon Clark said:

I will take you to task when you say they did nothing for 5 weeks just because there were no new faces. That could have been for any number of reasons. A lot of players would be holding out for better offers and a lot of clubs would be unwilling to let someone go until they had a replacement in, so discussions could have been going on left, right and centre.

It was also the middle of summer and a lot of players could simply have been away.

I can see why they didn’t go for wholesale changes. Stability and just one or two changes a season has served us well up to this point. I think we needed a leader at the back, uncompromising on the opposition and those around him. Someone who sets high standards and demands it of those around him. I think we may have seen a different outcome with even just one more defender in that mould.

Right now I think a lack of confidence along with some players being on their last legs is a huge part of the issue. We haven’t been able to rest players or take them out of the firing line which can’t help, and right now they must be wondering where the next point is coming from.

I don’t think many of them will have experienced Meadow Lane at its toxic worst, but judging from Tuesday night, I don’t think they will have to wait long. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of our fans squaring up to another for a fight.

allardyces tash · March 14

This discussion certainly provides a fresh perspective, and @ARLukomski’s post is both excellent and detailed. For what it’s worth, I agree that the contracts given at the start of the season made sense. In a different scenario, some of these players would be proving that it was a smart decision. Unfortunately, this season has fallen apart, leaving many questions unanswered.

I don’t think we have a bad squad. It’s our game management and lack of focus that let us down. It’s not fair to blame Stuart Maynard for all of this. These issues existed before, but I wouldn’t single out recruitment, although it could have been better. These things are always easier to understand in hindsight than to predict at the outset.

If Matt Palmer hadn’t been injured, we might have shown more grit in midfield. His calm influence and eagerness to move the ball forward are greatly missed, as is his knack for quietly winning the ball back. There aren’t many players in our current starting lineup who press enough to win the ball.

We must learn and adapt from this season if we are to become stronger.

Wheelbarrow repair man · March 14

Ohh Tommy Johnson, I have myself on several occasions stated in the comments sections that Notts need a True Leader on the Pitch, personally I believe Notts haven't had a true Leader since Michael Doyle. Now let s go into the realms of Fantasy, How about the Recruitment team approaching Kasper Schmichael and asking him to do a Didzy and come back to the Lane to finish his career and not be about money? If this happened not only would the Magpies have a first class keeper, but also a Born Leader on the Pitch. And imagine the influence Kasper would have on a young guy like Tiernan Brookes. And if the Brothers are determined to have Stuart Maynard in the Dug Out then a Director of Football namely Neil Warnock should be bought in. Warnock's vast footballing Knowledge and Experience can be Nothing but a huge plus at the Lane and it would seem his departure from Aberdeen is a sign to get the man back to Notts.

After the end of last season before new contracts were given out, each Notts player should have been checked and looked at in great detail to see if they were of League 2 standard. The Brothers after all would have Full Data on each individual and those who didn't reach the standard should have be told, Thankyou for your efforts but your time at Meadow Lane is now finished. I have stated in an earlier comment the players I think should be kept at Notts and those I believe should be let go, if this had been done after the Wembley Victory the Magpies may Not have been in the position they now find themselves in.

**DangerousSausage** · March 15

This is a great post @ARLukomski, thanks for taking the time!

A few of you have mentioned the extent to which we developed (or didn't develop) the squad during the summer. This is always a balancing act - ideally you want to take some of the momentum and team spirit into the following season. But it was also clear that we had a soft underbelly at times and we did need reinforcements at the back. For that reason, I was surprised to see us offer new contracts to Rawlinson and O'Brien despite their excellent service, as we needed to make room. A Flint could have made all the difference.

We've made a bit of a habit of signing players with long injury records. This strategy has allowed us to sign players who wouldn't have even been on our radar otherwise and it worked well with Jones, but we've now got several players who never seem to be available. If you constantly sign players who are made of glass, you shouldn't be surprised when they're injured all the time. Gosling was never going to be one of the successful ones as his contract was too short.

I don't agree with @Wheelbarrow repair man that Schmeichel should come back (he's Anderlecht's number one keeper so he wouldn't be interested anyway). He wasn't here out of sentiment, we offered him a lot of money. But we could really benefit from an experienced goalkeeper who can organise and compose his defence, and maybe a seasoned keeper from a higher level in the twilight of his career could fit the bill there. The back line having a nervous/inexperienced keeper behind them really hasn't helped.

This season has been a different challenge to the last few seasons and I hope our recruitment team are drawing the right conclusions from it.

Robbie · March 19

An interesting statistic with 9 games to play with Notts scoring 72 goals and conceding 72.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Notts could finish the season scoring 90 goals and conceding 90.

If that happened it could be possibly a record for number of goals scored and conceded in a season.

The fact that a promoted club may have less goals scored and a relegated club conceding less would be for interesting reading.

**Piethagoram** · April 3

Excellent piece from @ARLukomski

@ARLukomski "We also don't have the required height, physicality and athleticism required at this level."

"When Bajrami got injured we should have acted instantly."

"The final thing is Stuart Maynard. Was he my first choice of head coach? No. Do I want him to succeed? Absolutely. Is it working? No. "

My choice was Brian Barry-Murphy, having previously managed at Rochdale. Having some EFL experience, like LW did, helps.

I have throughout the season badgered on about, Notts having the 2nd worst defence in the NL, based on the 30% of the time, we had to defend.

@Simon Clark "I wouldn't have given any of the defenders a new contract. "

@Wheelbarrow repair man" then a Director of Football namely Neil Warnock should be bought in." Warnock's style is the complete opposite to a possession based game and you need the physicality of players, to play the Warnock way

@liampie "richard montague i dont know much about so i cant criticise him." ...Well I can, success rate on creative players, yes but on qualities needed at the back and keeper, a resounding "No" from me

@DangerousSausage "A Flint could have made all the difference."

@allardyces tash "If Matt Palmer hadn’t been injured, we might have shown more grit in midfield. His calm influence and eagerness to move the ball forward are greatly missed,.."

@menzinho "And I think depending on how the season ends we will have to revaluate whether SM and his team are right for us going forward."

@Ohh Tommy Johnson "Someone who sets high standards and demands it of those around him. I think we may have seen a different outcome with even just one more defender in that mould. "

@Joshua "Defensively, we’ve been weak, but it’s been made more apparent with Palmer’s absence. Bostock isn’t the same."

@Robbie "To all the naysayers, decrying the state of Notts, I say be thankful to the Reedtz brothers for buying and saving our club, and be thankful." has been good for Notts

Wheelbarrow repair man · April 3

Piethagoram

Why do some Fans seem to think the appointment of Neil Warnock as a Director of Football means he'll take over the running and picking of the Team? That's the Head Coaches job. The Director of Football job is to Provide recommendations on Crucial matters. Such as Players Recruitment Academy Strategy and Coaching Appointments. Plus Physicality of Players as you put it, is something that's needed in League 2 NOT this tippy tappy Chuckle Brothers type of football From Me To You, From Me To You, OOOPs the opposition's got the Ball and Scored. Maybe just maybe if someone like Warnock had been Director of Football he'd had spotted the weakness in certain players, and recommend Not to Hire Stuart Maynard and Notts wouldn't have found themselves in their current Predicament. One thing for sure if the Notts Coaching team carry on their present path playing the type of Football they're playing, the Magpies will end up back in the National League.

Robbie · April 3

@Wheelbarrow repair man

I agree with most of what you say.

Of course it's great to see Notts play an attractive passing game, but I believe we have to mix our style of play depending on conditions and the opposition.

Against Swindon we were playing it around at the back on a bobbling pitch and making big mistakes.

Going long on occasions keeps the opposition guessing and also is a counter to the opposition's high press which most of our opponents have used against us this season.

And going long has proven to be a successful tactic especially with Jatta in the side.

We need strong, tall, & physical players at the back in this league too

I would favour an appointment of an experienced DOF to work with Maynard and recruiters to ensure we get the players we need to compete in this league.

Wheelbarrow repair man · April 3

It's all well and good playing attractive Football Robbie but it doesn't work in the Lower Leagues it's has you say, Notts need to mix things up instead of sticking to this Boring possessional stuff. I swear I dozed off for ten minutes at the Lane the other week and when I woke up Notts still had the ball in their own half. But seriously if the Magpies are going to play this kind of Football at least play it at a Decent pace. Another thing Notts need to learn is how to Park the Bus how many times have Notts had a one goal lead or playing for a Draw and allowed the opposition to score late in the game? I keep an eye on the Swansea Results and when Luke Williams first arrived there, the Swans were in 15th place and they still are in 15th place, so his type of Football isn't doing what the Owners hired him for that is an advancement away from the Championship Relegation Zone. So it looks like he'll have to learn to Mix things up as well as the Notts Coaching staff need to do.

Ohh Tommy Johnson · April 3

@Wheelbarrow repair man Decent pace - that's what needs to happen, or as @Robbie says mix it up, or both. Notts can't park the bus, so they ned to keep going when they take the lead, but I suspect that that is more down to confidence than anything; when you are on a run like we are you try and protect what you have rather than risk losing it by continuing to attack.

I think a mentor of some description, either under the guise of a DoF or on a consultancy basis would be very useful for Maynard (I think it is something that most managers would benefit from and should welcome) and I think some serious Sports Psychology work for the players wouldn't go amiss either. What they lack is the ability to Think Clearly Under Pressure. Technically they are all fine, but the mistakes come from poor decision making when we are passing it around the back. I think that the players were so thoroughly drilled by Williams that making changes is causing things to misfire too, so players aren't where others think they should be etc.

On a coaching front, Maynard has made loads of mistakes (who wouldn't), but I don't think he has made as many as some think, nor as catastrophic... but then I don't think he is blameless either. The main issues I would highlight are not playing to the conditions (Swindon in particular), and not simplifying things whilst he sorts out the tweaks etc. The latter, I can see that he may have thought he was just making minor changes that would not impact things too much, but when they clearly did, he should have simplified things and just told the defence to take no risks and if necessary put the ball into row Z.

I wonder if these modern coaches are a bit clone like, they go through the programmes, they learn what Pep does and how to replicate it. Possession is the modern style and all teams are gravitating that way, so if we were to get rid of Maynard, we will get another young manager playing the same way. I wonder if, during their training, they ever learn what Dave Bassett did, or Warnock or Alladyce? I wonder if they are ever encouraged to think outside the box at all? In the future I think 2 things will distinguish the best managers, those who can evolve a style, or introduce surprise elements, and those that are charismatic. The rest I think will be like clones all playing a variation of the same approach and the best of the rest will be those who spot and adapt to new trends the fastest. My feeling is that Maynard will be either a clone or an adapter...but it's very early days for him yet and how quickly he learns from his mistakes will probably determine which.

Robbie · April 3

@Wheelbarrow repair man

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

I agree. We have morphed over recent years to what I call the Continental style of playing, passing & building from the back all the time. The old British style of punting the ball upfield and going direct as gone out of favour.

And I agree that Luke is not getting the results at Swansea that people expected.

You hit on a good point @Ohh Tommy Johnson about clone like coaches all preaching the same style of play. Managers like Warnock, and the traditional style of playing are going out of fashion, and you could be right that if they changed Maynard they could just get another clone.

I think what fans are missing is the charisma of Luke, Stuart's personality is not that type and I think fans are judging him in a big part because he lacks the presence of being a charismatic leader.

But Maynard wanted to play the same way as Luke did, Luke couldn't adapt, can Stuart adapt, he's trying but it is proving difficult.

Ohh Tommy Johnson · April 3

4 minutes ago, Robbie said:

@Wheelbarrow repair man

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

I agree. We have morphed over recent years to what I call the Continental style of playing, passing & building from the back all the time. The old British style of punting the ball upfield and going direct as gone out of favour.

And I agree that Luke is not getting the results at Swansea that people expected.

You hit on a good point @Ohh Tommy Johnson about clone like coaches all preaching the same style of play. Managers like Warnock, and the traditional style of playing are going out of fashion, and you could be right that if they changed Maynard they could just get another clone.

I think what fans are missing is the charisma of Luke, Stuart's personality is not that type and I think fans are judging him in a big part because he lacks the presence of being a charismatic leader.

But Maynard wanted to play the same way as Luke did, Luke couldn't adapt, can Stuart adapt, he's trying but it is proving difficult.

@Robbie That last sentence is the key. Players seem to be drilled in one way of playing, and I think more and more coaches are too... it's those that can be brave enough and pragmatic enough to adapt to what is needed that will be successful.

Jatta looks to me to be quite a lot like Kevin Bartlett, so a long ball over the top from time to time would be a good tactic to keep a defence honest, and if he could just finish 10% of the chances Bartlett had he would be up there with Macca for goals scored!! This is where I see a consultant being useful, someone to say 'look at these videos of the old Notts...give Jatta chances like that from time to time and you will be laughing'. But there is nobody to do that. That is also why I think most managers would benefit from a consultant from time to time... to shake the thinking up a bit.

Wheelbarrow repair man · April 3

Ooh Tommy Johnson and Robbie

I see what you mean Clone Coaches Clone Players Clone Game Plan. Could we see this at Notts next season?

Maynard AJ You must score Goals.

AJ Yes I must score Goals

Maynard Defenders You must stop the ball getting into our Box

Defenders Yes We must stop balls getting into our Box.

Individual skills and Individual Talent Must Be Crushed At All Costs. We Must Only Play The Continental Way.

Yes Individual Skills and Individual Talent Must Be Crushed At All Costs. We Must Only Play The Continental Way.

Would you want to watch that kind of Football ? I know I wouldn't.

Edited April 3 by Wheelbarrow repair man

Robbie · April 3

@Wheelbarrow repair man

@Ohh Tommy Johnson

While we are on about styles of play, there's another style too.

Conceding possession, let the opposition do the passing around in their own half, pack our defence and midfield, let our forwards do the pressing and hit the opposition on the break.

Isn't that the very tactic most of our opponents in league 2 have been doing to us. Even Stockport, Wrexham and Mansfield did it to us.

Why oh why can't we do it to our opponents for once, we have the players up front to exploit that tactic to the full? When we have gone direct, when we've broken away from defending, we have scored goals that way.

It doesn't take a coach with grade one qualifications to work out that fannying around at the back, making repeated mistakes, and conceding easy goals has to stop.

Wheelbarrow repair man · April 3

Indeed Robbie Indeed the trouble is it doesn't seem to be a Style that the current Coaching Staff at the Lane can grasp. There are things you must be fed up of repeating in your comments, I know there are in Mine. For instance the type of Football Notts played under Luke Williams worked in the National League, it also worked in League 2 until the opposition found out how to beat Notts style of play and when the Team who was Rock Bottom of the League can Put a Total of NINE GOALS past You over two games then the realization of You Must Be Doing Something Wrong should work it's way into Your Brain and Something Needs To Be Changed. Maynard is the Head Coach so he should be intelligent enough to know when Plan A isn't working then move to plan B or Plan C or D to find out a Winning Formula,. He's been at the Club long enough to know by Now his preferred Team Selection and How to handle different opposing teams styles , pitch conditions and how to produce a Winning Team? How ever it appears Not so that is another reason for him to GO.

**Piethagoram** · April 4

19 hours ago, Wheelbarrow repair man said:

Piethagoram

Why do some Fans seem to think the appointment of Neil Warnock as a Director of Football means he'll take over the running and picking of the Team? That's the Head Coaches job. The Director of Football job is to Provide recommendations on Crucial matters. Such as Players Recruitment Academy Strategy and Coaching Appointments. Plus Physicality of Players as you put it, is something that's needed in League 2 NOT this tippy tappy Chuckle Brothers type of football From Me To You, From Me To You, OOOPs the opposition's got the Ball and Scored. Maybe just maybe if someone like Warnock had been Director of Football he'd had spotted the weakness in certain players, and recommend Not to Hire Stuart Maynard and Notts wouldn't have found themselves in their current Predicament. One thing for sure if the Notts Coaching team carry on their present path playing the type of Football they're playing, the Magpies will end up back in the National League.

@Wheelbarrow repair man Most of Warnock's success was based on the recruitment by his right hand man, ex Notts player, Mick Jones RIP. Warnock's own ability was in man management, not player recruitment. When Mick Jones briefly returned to Notts, it was he who spotted and brought to the club Grealish and McGregor.

Wheelbarrow repair man · April 4

Piethagoram wouldn't you say Man Management is one of the things that is Lacking at Notts at the moment? Neil Warnock wouldn't be solely in charge of Recruitment as Director of Football he would have other duties and I would think Maynard would Benefit from a mentor like Warnock.

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