There must be something in the air in Nottinghamshire. The county has seen the only sackings in the EFL this season after Nottingham Forest dispensed with Sabri Lamouchi in October, Mansfield Town have followed suit 22 days later.

Graham Coughlan was sacked last night by the League Two club after failing to win any of his first nine league games of 2020/21 despite, on paper, having a squad of enviable talent.

The former Bristol Rovers boss took a risk when leaving the Gas last season. They were sat fourth in League One and had looked like a side that could mount a decent play-off challenge, yet the desire to be closer to home took him down a division to a side that had underachieved badly.

The Stags missed out on promotion in 2018/19 on the final day after an insipid performance at Stadium MK saw Milton Keynes Dons leapfrog them into the last automatic promotion spot. John Radford decided change was needed and dispensed with the services of David Flitcroft shortly after they crashed out of the play-offs on penalties to Newport.

The internal appointment of youth coach John Dempster backfired badly and the Stags looked to Coughlan to get them out of the mess of their own making.

Despite talking a good game, evidence of improvement just never materialised. The Irishman only won four of his 24 league games in charge, taking 24 points from a possible 72.

As much as we advocate managers needing time, there has to be signs of improvement for that to be a realistic prospect yet Coughlan persisted with the same tactics, formation and, almost, the same lineup.

It was like a groundhog day of poor defending and lack of creativity despite having proven goal scorers and midfielders like Harry Charsley and George Maris on the books.

So, the big question…who do the Stags turn to next? They are a club that will have out of work managers queueing around the block to have their CV read.

This is an outfit who back their coaches to the hilt, have more patience than many and a lot of ambition which they back with hard cash. Who wouldn’t want to work for this club?

So here are a few names that could well be top of the Field Mill shopping list as we head into November.

Danny Cowley

This is a reach. The Cowley brothers are Championship quality managers but D3D4 Football understands that they are keeping a very open mind about their next move.

If the Stags ownership can convince this talented duo that there is a long-term project to be had in Nottinghamshire, where they will be given time to reshape the team from top to bottom, then you never know.

Nigel Clough

This seems to be a popular choice with the fans. Clough is local and worked wonders during his time at Burton Albion. He also has experience of managing big characters and personalities after spending four years at Pride Park with Derby County.

He would almost certainly be interested and could be a man to galvanise a support base that has become disillusioned with performances over the last 18-months.

Paul Cook

This has to be the one most people will expect to land. Paul Cook has an excellent record  – he has taken Chesterfield, Portsmouth and Wigan to promotions and would have remained in the Championship with the Latics if it was not for their unfortunate ownership issues that derailed their 2019/20 campaign.

He has worked with David Sharpe, Mansfield’s current CEO, at Wigan where they won promotion and the League One title in 2017/18 and this connection could see the pair link up again at Field Mill. With Cook’s record in management, his appointment would certainly be seen as a coup.

Paul Hurst

Paul Hurst was hot property after he guided Shrewsbury Town to the EFL Trophy and League One Play-off final in 2017/18. His move to Ipswich proved to be the wrong move at the wrong time and his move to Scunthorpe was brought to an end prematurely after he fell out with owner Peter Swann just as the club were making progress.

Despite his falling stock, Hurst is still a very capable manager who should be given full consideration by the Radford’s as they cast their net for the next appointment.

Keith Hill

Keith is another manager with loads of experience and an impressive record. He took Rochdale to League One, something no one had done before and to Wembley, again something no one had ever achieved.

He is an excellent manager and will likely be in the thinking of the Stags owners, but would perhaps be considered a long-shot considering the other names on this list.

Paul Tisdale

Has Tisdale become the forgotten man? If he has, then it is to the detriment of EFL clubs. It was his MK Dons side that condemned Mansfield to the play-offs two years ago and he has a great record both in terms of style and with success. He is a thoughtful, patient manager who will almost certainly improve a club like Mansfield. Whether or not he gets a look in remains to be seen, but expect his name to be strongly linked.

words James Richards, D3D4 Football