Notts County head coach has frequently been dubbed an ‘assistant manager’ with his teaming failing to capitalise on rivals struggles this season.
The automatic promotion places are begging for League Two teams to grab the bull by its horns this season, with teams around Notts County so far struggling to find any consistent form to solidify their place in the top two.
Notts County are another club who have failed to find any consistency so far this season, with just 12 points separating 2nd placed Crewe and 14th placed Cheltenham.
The magpies fell to a 1-1 draw at home to Bromley on Saturday (January 25) with the visitors’ Cameron Congreve scoring a late leveller.
After the game, County head coach Stuart Maynard labelled his side a “nearly team.”
“If you look in the end, I think they [Bromley] have something like seven defenders on the pitch and they defend their box well and that’s why they are in the league where they are,” Maynard said.
“It [the result] is a big frustration but I think Bromley do that to you, I’ve played Bromley enough over the years to know they do that to you, but we had 17 shots they have four,” the County head coach added.
Maynard came under fire after the game for the teams’ tactics and substitutions, with the former Wealdstone head coach subbing off Jodi Jones, David McGoldrick and Conor Grant just before the visitors equaliser.
Without taking the Bromley game in isolation, Notts County have dropped plenty of points to the likes of Salford and next weekends opponents Gillingham with the side struggling against teams operating a low block.
So, is the 44-year-old really good enough to be a head coach at a promotion pushing League Two side? Yes, it’s clear to see that the former BT engineer has always pushed for his sides to be better.
Maynard has advanced all the way through the footballing pyramid and failed at the likes of Billericay Town and Kingstonian before he found success initially as an assistant at Wealdstone before becoming head coach and guiding the stones to safety on a shoestring budget.
The County head coach has found a solution for the magpies previously leaky defence and has been able to adequately replace record goal scorer Macaulay Langstaff and now has to deal with the loss of Dan Crowley.
Don’t get me wrong, Maynard’s tenure at the club has largely been up and down, but despite the fairy tale story Luke Williams earned at the club, the Welshman was also responsible for the teams’ leaky defence at the start of last season which has since been drastically improved.
Let’s not pretend Stuart Maynard hasn’t made any mistakes at the club, but he has the side firmly fixed in an open battle for promotion and until Notts County don’t grab the bull by its horns, I don’t think Maynard’s position should be questioned.