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.

Steffen Hojer now 2/7 on

Edited June 19, 20251 yr by Garry Lee

It looks like Steffen Højer is becoming a real option. Right now, he seems a much more likely choice than bringing Luke Williams back. Højer’s work with young players might be a key part of it. It could explain why the club is shaping the coaching setup the way it is.

3 hours ago, RetroPie said:

It looks like Steffen Højer is becoming a real option. Right now, he seems a much more likely choice than bringing Luke Williams back. Højer’s work with young players might be a key part of it. It could explain why the club is shaping the coaching setup the way it is.

Seems very plausible to me. In which case we'll find out next week at the earliest - Denmark are in the quarter finals after winning their group and play France on Sunday evening.

Reading steffen Højer's wiki & what he is doing as Manager of the Denmark under 21s who he's guided to the Euro under 21 Championship quarter finals, & with the opportunity of going further, I would be very happy to see him as Head Coach at Notts.

But are Notts really in the running? If they are it would be a great capture.

Would the club really take this long if they'd already made the decision after the AFC Wimbledon match to part ways with Stuart Maynard? It seems likely the board knew what they were going to do before the game, depending on the result.

It wouldn’t make much sense to wait this long for someone who’s out of work. That’s why it feels more likely that the new head coach is still under contract elsewhere. If that’s the case, I’d like it to be Steffen Højer. I was hoping for someone with experience at this level, but managing Denmark’s under-21s suggests he knows what he’s doing. There must be something about him.