Maynard, 1 year into the job

[Fan of Big Tone 𝕏 @mainstandpie]

Stuart Maynard has been Head Coach for a year now. What are your thoughts?

Was it a good appointment?

Whats he done right?

Whats he got wrong?

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

How Stuart Maynard went from 'man in a van' to Notts boss

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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Saturday's trip to Accrington Stanley comes a year since he left his job as a BT engineer and as part-time manager at Wealdstone to take over as Magpies boss.

 

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

He's stuck it out after a tough start that wasn't his making. He's had a big part in rebuilding a squad that was leaking goals all over the place 

He's not only helped to rebuild the squad, he's moulded the players into a good league 2 side that has every chance of getting promotion..

That is the sign of a good Manager/Head Coach & that's  a rarity nowadays. The Notts owners picked well when they brought Stuart in a year ago.

[MuddyPatchPie]

He’s yet to convince me that he’s the man for the job. The squad is good enough to get promoted automatically so let’s see what he does going forward.  Not a fan of the inverted wingers. In some of the games his substitution decisions were questionable. Failed to react to Walsall changes in the 2nd half of the game. He has managed to get some very good results especially away from home. I hope he continues to improve and gets us promoted. 
 

[menzinho]

The article from the BBC a good little read, interesting to see he says the first 3 months was a huge learning experience for him. I always thought the job he did at Wealdstone was excellent, to keep a part-time team in a full-time league was really impressive. But Notts was always going to be a challenge, not only becoming full-time for the first time, but also dealing with the step-up in quality. 

He had a tough start, coming in to replace probably the most popular manager (head coach) from the last 20 years was never going to be easy but he's definitely settled here now and this season overall has been good. We've put ourselves in a really good position to have successful end to this season, I think a play-off spot is something the squad is capable of achieving, albeit we are hoping for more!

He's got a lot more right than wrong, but I never understood the inverted wingbacks I thought it was a massive hinderance for us and in that little run of poor results I was frustrated at how slow we played/passed the ball.

Our recent form is good now though so I hope he can end his first year with a win.

[Fan of Big Tone 𝕏 @mainstandpie]

After a difficult start Maynard has come good as far as I’m concerned, if it had been left to some fans he’d have been sacked last season but the owners stuck with him and we are reaping the rewards.

I have no doubt he had a lot to learn and a lot to adjust to but he’s learnt and adjusted and no doubt is still learning, I think he’s a very good coach.

I felt really down when Williams left I had visions of us slipping down the table and going back out the league if the right replacement wasn’t found, I think Maynard was the perfect replacement.

I really hope he gets us up this season but I’d stick with him if he didn’t.

[DangerousSausage]

Yes, he was a good appointment. He inherited a side that, with hindsight, were in a false position - we didn't have the strong defensive base you need to succeed in L2. We got taught a bit of a lesson last season, and it was a big learning curve for SM as well. I wasn't the only one who doubted him.

Some of our fans still buy into the myth of the perfect football manager as a kind of messiah who sweeps in, waves a magic wand and makes everything brilliant overnight. Some of our owners have as well. This is the kind of thinking that took us from League One to the National League getting through about seven managers in the process. The truth is, like the players, the head coach needs to be given the right conditions to succeed and is not infallible. SM is much more proactive in making changes than Williams was, and he makes the right call more often than not. He's also clearly popular with the players. The league position hasn't changed much since one year ago, but in that time he's turned us from pretenders into genuine promotion challengers. He deserves our patience and a bit of faith.

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

I don't think anyone could say that Stuart Maynard hasn't been a good appointment because he has done well enough after taking on the role after Luke Williams left us at the worst time. The beginning was very unfortunate for Maynard, and I don't fault him for the downward fall that happened when we seemed to start losing every other week. I think from the coaching point of view, that is where his strengths are. He knows the squad now and who to start. There was a period especially last season when good performing players were dropped unexpectedly, and I still would say he's learning on the job.

The issue for me is he has a tendency of still impacting how players perform by instantly switching back to previous players and disregarding form. We started with a fair squad, but certain players were overplayed and this left us with much of an issue. Such as relying on David McGoldrick without giving someone like Cedwyn Scott more of a rotational role. Obviously, Scott then got injured and then needed time off for his mental health. I think experienced managers would have been able to see some of these issues coming. Scott was probably wanting to play as a striker but would often be pushed into an attacking midfield role. He was okay in that position, but you have to wonder when we needed someone to ease Jatta and McGoldrick, why Scott never really got that chance. I mean, there was a point Scott had more of a chance, but he quickly fell back to being someone on the bench.

Leaving changes late, or making them all in one go. The FA Cup match is the only time I feel justified in defending that decision, as we really needed to manage the players' fitness. Did he have to make them all in one go? No, but Peterborough had made changes long before all our subs came on that helped them come into the game. It just became an excuse, to the frustration that he does tend to make bold changes when it's not really needed. On the other hand, he has done well with changes and again, it comes down to management.

I just don't think Maynard sees how to get the best out of players' performances and sees the squad as being acceptable for being subpar. Whereas I think the old fashioned approach of handling players in form yields better results on the pitch. I don't think it's a case of him having favourites, but he seems to rate players more highly over others and prefers to risk them at the expense of maintaining form. Kellan Gordon burst into the team when we needed someone to pick up after the loss of Jodi Jones, but the way Maynard played him I believe impacted Gordon's form. Now, I don't think Gordon is the most consistent player but he's a totally different player when in form. Maynard is still clearly learning. He's gone from the nervous selections to knowing which players are best, but it does come at the cost of maintaining form.

His decisions in-game are a sign that he's sometimes out of his depth. Salford, for example, we desperately needed speed to counter how Salford passed the ball around. They enjoyed sitting off us, allowing the pace and the lack of direct approach from Notts meant that at 1-0, we were only going to lose that game. I still have my reservations about if he's good enough. I want him to succeed, and as I say, he will get my support, but certain parts of his ability are an eye-opener.

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

I'm from the old school. I think that recognising your best players then playing a settled side is a recipe for success. Clough, Paisley & Ferguson did it with great success & they were the best.

Good players that play regularly together get to know their fellow players very well & as the team gels, performance improves.

As far as I'm concerned I don't think Cedwyn was going to succeed at this level. He was never going to be the first choice striker. He was never going to displace Macca, Jatta & Didzy.

Stuart tried him in a withdrawn role & sometimes on the wing but it just didn't suit him.

I am astonished with the assertion that Stuart is out of his depth.You can count the games on a few fingers where Stuart's tactics didn't work or the opposing managers tactics were superior on the day. That will happen sometimes.

Just look how he's turned the team around since the beginning of the season. He's helped choose replacements, he's moulded them into a team that is winning matches, just 3 points behind 2nd place.

Notts record this season speaks for itself. Ten clean sheets already,  2nd highest scorers in the Division, sixth best defence, only two teams have less defeats than Notts.

And this record has been achieved with up to eight of their best players out over the last 3 months. Let's give Stuart the praise he deserves.

[DangerousSausage]

While we're being nit-picky, I've never understood the point of inverted wingers and, like @Chris, I'd have liked to see more of Scott up front rather than in midfield or on the wing. However, in cases like his and Gordon's I tend to cut the manager a bit of slack as he sees an awful lot in training that we don't.

[4everapie]

I can imagine what Sir Jimmy & Brian Clough would say about inverted wingers

Edited January 22 by 4everapie