
Next Notts County Manager Odds: Eight names in the frame to replace Luke Williams

Luke Williams will take some replacing at Notts County, delivering incredible success on the field, and leaving some excellent foundations.
But who’s fit to step into his shoes?
EFL pundit Gab Sutton discusses eight candidates.
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1. Stuart Maynard
Stuart Maynard has done an excellent job at Wealdstone, building on the solid foundations laid before him by long-serving predecessor Gordon Bartlett.
The 43-year-old has steered the Stones to 16th and 13th placed finishes in his first two seasons on a bottom end budget, and they’re currently in the top half with games in hand.
More importantly from the Notts perspective, Wealdstone favour a similar brand of football, and a back-three, too, and play with a real swagger, even if their approach can backfire defensively.
Quite how Maynard’s work would translate to full-time football is unknown, but in other ways it’s more impressive that he’s been able to achieve what he has with a part-time side.
2. Brian Barry Murphy
Brian Barry-Murphy’s stylistic and developmental work at Rochdale earnt him the Head Coach gig at Man City EDS.
Some argue the Irishman is so process-driven, he lacks the competitive instincts required to thrive in senior football, and that the U21s environment suits him better.
However, this can be countered by the fact BBM kept Dale in League One from a tight spot in 2018-19, taking charge for the final seven games, then kept them up comfortably the following season on a miniscule budget, all with an attractive style whilst developing the likes of Aaron Morley and Luke Matheson.
In 2020-21, the squad was ravaged, the club had a bad news Director on the board, and relegation felt almost unavoidable: despite that, the Lancashire club only went down in the penultimate game of the season, having scored more goals that year than promoted Blackpool.
So, there’s reason to think that in a far better run club like Notts County, who have the operational tools to allow Barry-Murphy to focus on what he does best on the grass, and with a squad already accustomed to his style, he could thrive.
Incidentally, BBM would be my own pick for the job!
3. Phil Parkinson (Altrincham)
Like Maynard, Phil Parkinson has done his best work as a part-time coach, leading Altrincham to promotion from the National League North via the Play-Offs in 2019-20, before steering them to safe 14th and 17th-placed National League finishes on a bottom-end budget, with a club that was previously operating part-time.
All the while, Parkinson’s side have been playing attractive football, and been the top goalscorers in the bottom half, and this season they’re flying high in fifth, while the 42-year-old’s eye for a non-league gem could come in handy.
While Parkinson’s style is attacking, though, it’s not fundamentally possession-driven, and Notts County aren’t in a position to compromise what’s now an ingrained club philosophy.
4. Scott Lindsey
Scott Lindsey might not have the elite potential that some of the other candidates do, but where there’s question marks over how the skills of thriving coaches will translate to senior football, there’s few doubts in Lindsey’s case.
The 51-year-old is not only one of the loveliest people this writer has come across in the management industry, he’s delivered 38 points from 25 games at Swindon, which is a competitive return when considering he didn’t have the loan stars Ben Garner had the year before.
Plus, Lindsey is doing a fantastic job at Crawley, with many people’s ante-post relegation picks flying high in ninth.
Of all the other 23 League Two managers, Lindsey bears closest resemblance to Williams’ stylistic approach, and could be a smooth fit.
5. Travis Binnion
If Notts County want to go down the elite coach route, Travis Binnion is the Under-21s boss at Manchester United.
The 37-year-old’s knowledge of United’s youth prospects, as well as those elsewhere in the PL2, could be a big plus, especially if the Magpies want to build a recruitment strategy around U21s pickups.
Binnion would likely bring County fan Tom Huddlestone with him on the coaching staff, which could be a plus depending on how highly you value the sentimental aspect.
Joe Hugill on loan, if Macaulay Langstaff was sold, centre-back Willy Kambwala or playmaker Isak Hansen-Aarøen, would certainly be nice additions.
6. Jimmy McNulty
Jimmy McNulty has done an excellent job at Rochdale.
The former centre-back nearly kept Dale up last season, overseeing 12 points from eight games in charge which wasn’t enough due to the damage done under predecessor Jim Bentley.
The Lancashire club went down with a glimmer of hope and, despite being in a chaotic financial and structural situation, which for many clubs can lead to the risk of another relegation from the National League like Scunthorpe suffered, they’ve been thriving in 7th.
McNulty has reconnected Rochdale with it’s footballing routes, playing out from the back, and has shown himself to be able to motivate people in difficult times.
7. Morten Dahm Kjaergaard
Cards on the table, I hadn’t heard of Morten Dahm Kjaergaard before Notts County fan and lower league expert Tom Williams suggested him.
The 40-year-old spent eight years at FC Frederica, as assistant, and four and counting, as manager of Aarhus Fremad, in the Danish 3rd tier, where his side have been heavily possession-based for four years, earning praise for their performance in chance creation metrics and high-xG.
We wouldn’t have mentioned Kjaergaard if the owners, the Reedtz brothers, weren’t themselves both from Denmark, and heavily data-driven in their approach.
8. Charlie Trout
Charlie Trout has led Puerto Rico to 12 points from six games in his CONCAF Nations League Group, scoring 22 goals.
In that time, he’s worked with numerous players from the Inter Miami Academy, and might be able to get the odd talent on loan from the Floridian club, or elsewhere in North America, where he’s coached at several clubs.
Trout’s from Nottingham himself, and already plays a 3-5-2 system which is similar to what Luke Williams deployed in his last few games, switching from a 3-4-2-1 by dropping Dan Crowley slightly deeper

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