What could be behind the delay to appoint a new head coach? I suspect it could be one of many reasons. One might be due to the restructuring of our footballing department as highlighted in the announcement made regarding the appointment of Dr Rhodes shown below. “The news of Dr Rhodes’ appointment precedes an important update we look forward to sharing with supporters in the near future.

“As well as introducing our new coaching team, we’ll be announcing a restructuring of our football department – and explaining how it will help us achieve our ambitious plans for the club.”

Any thoughts?

Try not to over think things, we'll find out in due course. 😀 COYP

I think it’s the process of talking to coaches, other clubs wanting to appoint their own managers, and the board making arrangements before finalising anything. I’m not worried, but I find it interesting to see what people think.

Notts might be targeting a head coach who has interest from higher levels, and the club could be waiting to see how that plays out. I don’t think the Reedtz would allow the head coach to treat Notts as a backup option, so it’s possibly more about the coach himself. He might be using his holiday as a way to buy more time.

It’s all speculation, but the process isn’t dragging on for no reason. The club will want the fans to be happy, and sometimes that just takes time.

I'm sure the Owners know what they are doing.

Notts probably have the person they want, but the person is probably on holiday so they will announce when they can introduce the person to the media.

Whatever is going on at the club, it’s clearly keeping people busy. If there's a four-week break after the final game, it likely means people will be back in soon. The board might want to improve certain areas before speaking to the head coach. Talks could still be happening, or maybe terms have been agreed but not finalised yet for whatever reason. We can all guess, but until we know more, it's just a case of waiting.

Patience is a virtue. Only time will tell.

You can't reach for anything new if your hands are full of yesterday's clutter.

It's a mystery, but at least the signs look good. Without the news about Dr Rhodes and the training ground, we’d only have two signings, which would raise more questions. It seems like the board want to focus on the infrastructure first, maybe as part of their pitch to the new head coach. It might all be part of a bigger plan, and the wait makes sense if they want to pick the right person. I don’t believe the rumours that we’ve been snubbed or are finding it hard to bring someone in. It’s more likely that the club are just being careful and taking their time.

the decision to sack stuart maynard came pretty quick after the defeat to afc wimbledon, so something must something happening. i think if the decision was going to be 'easy' we would have seen it by now, so i personally rule out joao alves and luke williams. i just think if they were real candidates they would have been announced by now.

Being patient could work out well for Notts. I would have thought the club would’ve made the announcement by now, but it makes me think they’re working on something first before they say anything. We might need to wait a bit longer, but hopefully we’ll know by mid-week. It would be good if the local journalists asked about the recruitment process for the new head coach. We might then understand why the wait is needed, or at least get something interesting to read.

I would of thought a new head coach would be i place. Pre seasons are getting shorter and there needs to be work done to hit the ground running.

It is important the team gets off to a flyer to build confidence and momentum.

All will be revealed, and it's certainly worth waiting to get our ideal team in place of necessary. However, I'd been expecting an announcement by now. And I can't deny I'm nervous that our lack of a head coach and coaching team is putting off potential signings at a crucial time.

As this is a forum, I'll now engage in some pointless speculation. I see three possible reasons:

Number one - we've been rejected by our first and maybe also our second choice, throwing back our schedule. Hopefully not, but it happens.

Two: we've chosen a head coach, but he's already employed by another club who are trying to squeeze as much compensation out of us as possible. This is a very likely scenario if it turns out to be Adam Hinshelwood, who York were going to sack until suddenly they weren't.

Three: our chosen head coach is from abroad and the club is holding back from making an announcement until the visa formalities have been settled. This would affect Tobias Solberg, although I doubt he's a serious candidate.

Knowing how the brothers operate, no doubt there will be good reason whatever it is.

I think that the Head Coach or First Team Coach has been chosen but is possibly on holiday & will be announced on his return.

I say First Team Coach because of the possibility of the restructure affecting who will be in overall charge of football matters. It's possible the Head of Football will be in overall charge.

The limitations placed on the Head Coach role will shorten the list. Some coaches will want a larger degree of freedom. My 2 cents is that it will be a foreign coach as this approach is more European in nature.

I understand that Notts appointed a manager one week after the sacking of Stuart Maynard. However, they have not been able to announce it until he has completed his 4 weeks notice period at Virgin Media.

There I was, convinced Notts had a head coach all lined up, adamant that the club must embark on a proper German tour and refusing to sign the contract until at least three clubs had been booked in. Then again, maybe the Reedtz have just been busy tinkering with the training ground and reshuffling the coaching setup before making their move. Priorities, eh?

Through all the aspersions, ifs, buts and maybes we must remember. What comes easy won't last, what lasts won't come easy.

3 hours ago, allardyces tash said:

There I was, convinced Notts had a head coach all lined up, adamant that the club must embark on a proper German tour and refusing to sign the contract until at least three clubs had been booked in. Then again, maybe the Reedtz have just been busy tinkering with the training ground and reshuffling the coaching setup before making their move. Priorities, eh?

Until yesterday I had convinced myself that Luke Williams was coming back as Head Coach and the delays were around appointing and announcing his new coaching team due to holidays etc. However I’ve since changed my mind!

I am now wondering if the new Head Coach will be the Danish U21 manager Steffen Hojer. The owners will obviously know him well and there’s also a Viborg connection. He is currently away in Slovakia for the U21 Euros where his team head their group after winning both of their games so far. They play Finland on Wednesday night and are expected to qualify for the quarter finals which take place this weekend. If they go all the way to the final we could be waiting until the end of June for an announcement if it’s him! Could well be worth the wait though in my opinion.

And what’s to say that some of the other names being bandied around aren’t going to form part of the new ‘football department’ structure on the coaching side? Eg Alves and, dare I say it - Luke Williams who has previously gone on record as saying he would be happy to work as an assistant…..

All wild speculation of course, and I’m bored!

Ps. My first time on here in years. Recently went back to the MAD board after about 5 years then remembered why I’d left it. It’s sooooooo bloooody sloooooowwwww…….zzzz

Link to the U21 Euros fixtures if anyone is interested

https://www.uefa.com/under21/fixtures-results/2025/#/d/2025-06-25

Welcome back to the pleasuredome @LymmPie and feel free to post your thoughts on here in between sending smoke signals to MAD!

Steffen Højer is an interesting suggestion, he'll be known to the owners and well versed in what they want. He must be highly rated as a coach to be promoted to the national team setup. And there's even a plausible reason for the lack of an announcement, as the Danish FA wouldn't want any distractions during the U21 tournament. He appears to be out of contract this summer too. Assuming that contract runs until the end of June, it would leave him conveniently free to step in for the start of training in July.

On the other hand, he doesn't have any direct experience of English football and the brothers haven't shown any inclination to appoint their countrymen at the club so far. I also think that having a head coach there to speak to prospective signings would help us land our summer targets.

I don’t know, it’s anyone’s guess, but there will be a reason, and the process has worked well so far. Every appointment the Reedtz brothers have made has kept us moving forward, and I trust them completely in their decision.

Whoever takes charge next, I will back them fully because we need that unity to push on from League Two. Hopefully, they get off to a strong start, as that will help bring more fans onside. Support the club, not just the people who come and go.

I actually believe a decision has been made by the owners and the new manager will be announced this week, we have signed four new players in the last couple of weeks and I'm sure the new manager whoever he is will have had some input into those signings.

It's impossible to know without inside knowledge, but I’m sure there are good reasons. The club might be waiting for a visa to be granted, though that hasn’t stopped them from announcing players who needed one before.

Whoever takes over must get the most out of this squad and win over a fairly divided fan base. The right appointment could bring promise, but the real test will be the early fixtures and how the head coach settles into the role.

My wild theory behind the delay relates to how we've had issues with the assistant head-coaches in previous seasons, Maurice Ross lasted about a week and then the Saunders Brothers left right in the middle of a promotion challenge with no other job lined up. (Completely not suspicious at all!). It meant the Luke Williams era aside, we’ve ended up with very inexperienced assistants both Doyle and Alves had to step in, and no disrespect, both were and are in their very early stages of their coaching careers.

I wonder if we are trying to put a coaching team together, as opposed to just selecting a head coach and then letting him bring in whoever he wants?

I agree it's probably more likely it’s all sorted and the new head-coach is/has been on holiday so will officially be unveiled when they return. I’m sure we’ve selected someone by now as it’s been nearly 4 weeks since Stuart departed (and the Bros & Roberto will have probably started planning long before that even happened!)

@menzinho, that's a good point, and it could be the reason. Maybe Notts wants to announce the head coach along with the full team. But then, surely starting with the head coach and assistant would make sense? I guess it depends on how Notts wants to restructure. It’s possible the club is looking to hire new coaches, and some of the current staff might be negotiating their exits. We'll have to wait and see.