3 managers Notts County must consider appointing ASAP after Stuart Maynard is sacked | OneFootball

FLW looks at three bosses the Magpies should be targeting.

Notts County have parted company with their head coach, Stuart Maynard, after being knocked out of the League Two play-offs at the semi-final stage.

The Magpies endured a disappointing end to their league season, as a run of just one win from their final six games saw them miss out on automatic promotion, when the door looked as though it had been left ajar for them on several occasions.

While the play-offs represented a lifeline for Maynard and his squad to achieve their promotion ambitions, they fell to defeat with a whimper, and the manner of that defeat has proved to be the final straw in the eyes of the club’s owners, Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz.

The Danish brothers have acknowledged the fact that Maynard faced several challenges over the course of the season, but ultimately failed to deliver the results of performances that they felt the team was capable of.

The goal of promotion to League One will undoubtedly be the same for the next man to step into the dugout at Meadow Lane. With work already underway to find Maynard’s successor, FLW takes a look at three bosses the Magpies must consider to replace their outgoing chief.

Luke Williams

Sometimes, in football, the most obvious solutions can also be the most effective ones.

Williams won the hearts of everybody connected to the club over the course of Notts’ promotion from the National League in 2022/23, and after such a remarkable campaign that year, there is still plenty of love for him at Meadow Lane, regardless of his decision to move on.

The 43-year-old instilled a ruthlessness and a determination in his Magpies side that simply hasn’t been seen since his departure, and proved himself time and again to be an excellent motivator in the lower leagues.

Formerly Russell Martin’s assistant at Swansea, he opted to move back to South Wales to take over as their head coach back in January 2024, but things didn’t go to plan.

While there were some high points, notably the derby day victory over Cardiff City in March 2024, Williams was ultimately relieved of his duties back in February, following a run of seven defeats out of nine in the Championship.

With Williams now out of work again, the possibility of bringing him back to the club where he had so much success must surely be an attractive one for the board.

There is always an argument that football clubs should never go back to something that has been and gone, but Notts’ former chief would be a hugely popular appointment for the majority of the fanbase and would certainly get the fans back onside ahead of next season.

From the club’s perspective, they saw Williams as the man to take them forward before Swansea swooped in, and there is potential that nothing will have changed in that regard.

Des Buckingham

Hugely impressive in his work with Oxford United recently, Des Buckingham is another man that the Magpies must surely consider.

The 40-year-old defied the odds to win promotion to the Championship with the U’s back in 2023/24, helping the club into the second tier for the first time in 25 years.

While Buckingham was ultimately relieved of his duties by Oxford back in December, that decision was perceived by many as a harsh one at the time, and there can be no doubt over the fact that he successfully laid the groundwork for Gary Rowett to come in and steer what was an unfancied side to safety in comfortable fashion.

Buckingham’s brand of football would suit the desires of Notts’ owners, and, having enjoyed successful spells working across clubs in India, Australia and New Zealand, he is clearly capable of adapting to different set-ups and groups of players.

If the world’s oldest football league club were to target Buckingham for their vacant position, they could find themselves facing plenty of competition from elsewhere in the pyramid.

FLW exclusively reported earlier this week that Cardiff City are considering him as an option, and links with a return to League One haven’t been uncommon in recent months.

Buckingham is perhaps the most unlikely option on this list, but it could be a huge coup for Notts if they were able to lure him to NG2.

Adam Hinshelwood

Regardless of their decision to part company with Maynard, the style of football that Notts’ board want to play will not change, and that style is one which Hinshelwood is more than capable of bringing.

The Magpies have explored the talent available in non-league for both players and managers in the past, and it would be no surprise to see them consider candidates from outside the Football League in this instance as well.

After a hugely successful season with York City in the National League, Hinshelwood is arguably the most promising coach outside the top four tiers at this moment in time.

He led Worthing to promotion to the National League South as champions back in 2021/22, before then immediately recording a fourth-place finish in the sixth tier.

Hinshelwood then joined the Minstermen in February 2024 and has overseen significant progress in the space of just over a year.

His side were defeated by Oldham Athletic in the play-off semi-final earlier this week, but finished the league campaign with an incredible 96 points, a tally which saw them finish below Barnet alone.

Hinshelwood plays an extremely attractive brand of football and has had free-scoring sides in both of his previous jobs. He appears to be a coach whose stock is rapidly on the rise, and he has all the credentials to fit the desired mould perfectly at Notts.