‘Well spoken’ Notts County boss Luke Williams has fans in stitches with response on corners

‘Well spoken’ Notts County boss Luke Williams has fans in stitches with his response on corners and why they’re successful at it.

The head coach answered a number of questions at the club’s fans’ forum on Tuesday night, and impressed many with how well he spoke in it, as it was streamed online.

Williams had not just the supporters but chief executive Joe Palmer and director Richard Montague laughing, with a round of applause following his answer on short corners.

That PERFECT short corner response. 👏#Notts pic.twitter.com/phfMjpVq9P

— K-Ci Rennicks (@KRennicks40) November 22, 2023

He said in the clip: “Okay? Right, I’m going to tell you the truth now, okay? We have the most shots on target from corners in EFL. One in four corners results in a shot on target is the best by a long way. We’ve actually scored the most goals in the division from corners.

“But you don’t know they’re from corners, do you? Because unless we whack it in a box, it’s not a corner. Okay? But we take a corner, we pass the ball, until that ball is turned over and we give it away or it goes off the pitch, it’s still a corner. Still a corner, okay?

“And we are extremely successful at corners. I am sorry to break your hearts, but it’s the truth because I made sure we’d done the research.

“And of course, look, and I’m being serious now, corners have a very low success rate across football worldwide, putting the ball into the box. But, of course, when somebody runs through the crowd and heads the ball and it smashes into the back of the net, we remember it. We don’t remember 50 corners that just got caught by the goalkeeper, hit the side netting, headed away. We just forget. And we also forget that when the ball comes into the pitch immediately and he’s passed five times and then crossed from the other side, we think it was open play, that it was just a part of the game, but it wasn’t. It was from a corner.

“Okay, then when you play against Notts County, one of the issues that you have is that the ball is in play for longer than any other game in the EFL. So you will notice that the players have been instructed that they sprint. Gets the ball, puts it down, past it immediately, so you don’t get a break.

“Some of the defenders, many, many of the defenders, they love corners because they can have a rest. They’re six foot three, so they don’t want Dan Crowley running at them or as a running behind them. They definitely don’t want Macca in the box free and scoring 42 goals from open play. Right?

“So we take the ball, put it down immediately, pass the ball, and the defender, ugh again, Notts County. Come on, just kick it into the goalkeeper sands so we can smash it the length for the pitch and break.

“No, not going to happen, I’m afraid. I’m sorry. And we kicked one last season directly into the box and Macca scored. You know why? Because everybody was at the corner trying to stop us playing short.

“So I’m sorry to break everyone’s hearts, but this is the reality that we are extremely successful from corners.”

You can watch the fans’ forum, in full, by watching it below…

K-Ci Rennicks wrote: “That PERFECT short corner response. 👏

“Rather impressively unscripted yet spoken like straight from a script.

“The fact you can just sit there and list stat after stat, action after action, reason after reason is remarkable.

“G E N I U S.”

Other Twitter users gave their reaction after a ‘well spoken’ Notts County boss Luke Williams has fans in stitches with response on corners…

@elky9487: Very good. I think this guy could end up managing at a high level. Doing a great job at Notts County.

@CraigAndrew3: I was impressed by this play at the weekend. Very effective. He’s right, very few corners result in goals….so to mix it up is well worth a punt. More teams should do this. #bcafc

@AdamBrandon84: Not because of this response, but I was really impressed with how well coached Notts County looked when I saw them last season so Luke Williams would be high on my list as possible replacements for Wagner. #ncfc

@MorecambeFCFeed: Perfect response for certain teams it suits. It’s also important to think of other angles for sides like ourselves where it doesn’t.

@harriesdon87: This is phenomenal. Believes his way works and has the stats to back it up. Top level management

@LandyLandy_: The term ‘oozes class’ comes to mind

@JackMulhall92: Torn between this being insightful and another smartarse manager trying to baffle fans with nonsense.

@CraigJones29: Wonderful insight into corner taking, short corner benefits, coaching of corners. @SundayShare10 #SundayShare

@hbrooks_coach:
Three key remits I’d be looking for in hiring managers:
– man management
– charisma
– outstanding coaching from himself/his team
First two points often go hand in hand. You have all three, give the manager the foundations to be successful and you’re onto a winner.

@mjmderksen: I wouldn’t say that “Set Piece Analysis Stand-Up Comedy” is a thing, but this comes close. Brilliant. (and besides the great delivery, Luke Williams says some very sensible things) #setpiece #Notts

@joefriess: Absolute king

@CraigAndrew3: I was impressed by this play at the weekend. Very effective. He’s right, very few corners result in goals….so to mix it up is well worth a punt. More teams should do this. #bcafc

@jbcfc__: What a bloke

@eflpublished: Luke Williams is brilliant 😂😂 #Notts

@AlBooth: Just give this man a lifetime contract I think @Official_NCFC

@Paul__H: Superb 👏🏻