Let’s be frank about it. In the eyes of the fans, Stuart Maynard was probably the most underwhelming managerial appointment Notts County had ever made when the club announced him as Luke Williams’ replacement in early 2024.
A gaffer who, while still working as a BT engineer, had done well keeping Wealdstone punching above its weight in the National League but who, four months later, had taken the Magpies from an automatic promotion spot to mid-table mediocrity despite having a free-scoring centre forward in the hugely popular Macauley Langstaff and League Two’s Player of the Season in winger Jodi Jones.
During the death throes of last season, some fans in The Kop had even started displaying a hand-scrawled ‘Maynard Out’ banner, such was their dissatisfaction. Now, a year on from those days, with the club unconvincingly stumbling over the line into the play-offs and deservedly being knocked out by Wimbledon in what has been, to put it bluntly, not a great division, he has been dismissed.
And the overwhelming feeling among fans is not really joy or happiness but more relief and the hope that the well-respected and greatly appreciated owners, the Reedtz brothers, might make an appointment that will excite the supporters and get them back on side.
The team’s form, especially at home, towards the end of the season and Maynard’s seemingly stubborn refusal or lack of ideas to change the game at crucial moments has ultimately been his downfall.
The sale of midfielder Dan Crowley, who was enjoying a purple patch of form in a black and white shirt before MK Dons came knocking for his signature, clearly didn’t help his cause as did injuries to key players at crucial moments during the season.
Losses at Meadow Lane to clubs such as Salford, Cheltenham, Chesterfield and Barrow during the final months of the campaign left those of us on the terraces angered and frustrated that a club pushing for automatic promotion could crumble so easily at the fortress home grounds are often expected to be.
On the road, we appeared to play with more freedom and ideas, although attacks were inevitably centred around the evergreen homeboy hero David McGoldrick and the huge talent that was teenage loanee George Abbott’s on-field telepathy.
Thoroughly enjoyable and deserved victories at places such as Accrington and Harrogate kept the flame of potential promotion lit. But ultimately even the most ardent Notts fan was not really convinced we would have deserved to have gone up.
Big crowds came and went just like some of the teams who took three points from us at Meadow Lane and perhaps that is one of the most frustrating aspects of Maynard’s tenure – big wins or great performances could have kept the neutrals coming back through the turnstiles. But they rarely materialised during the so-called business end of the season.
Despite him no doubt being a decent and honourable man, Stuart Maynard never really won over the fans from the moment he walked through the door. I’m still convinced there is a good manager in him but just not at a club where the weight of expectation is so high in the stands.
Today’s club statement about his dismissal is a strong one. “While football is a game of fine margins, and Stuart undoubtedly faced numerous challenges over the course of the campaign, neither results nor performances reached the levels we believe the team was capable of – particularly during the defining period towards the end.”
Words that all of us who follow the black and whites endorse.
This year was my 50th supporting the Magpies and it won’t be my last. I have already renewed my season ticket for the 2025/26 campaign. Like my friends who I sit with, we have nothing but 100% faith in the owners to this time make the right choice of gaffer to lead us to their, and our, ultimate dream of promotion and success.
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