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Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 27th March 2021 – Prenton Park [Behind Closed Doors]  Since the enforced break in late January / early February, the Stags have only picked up two wins from fourteen games with six defeats and six draws – soft goals have proved the undoing with a lack of fight highlighted in those defeats, yesterday however the Stags fought back to get a much needed point against promotion chasing Tranmere.
Stephen Quinn’s phenomenal strike earned Mansfield a deserved point – needed as Southend grabbed a rare win to narrow the buffer to nine points, with eight games to go. If the Stags can continue to show the fight they will be OK, and what’s more important is more rest in between games – the fourteen games mentioned at the top of this blog played in the space of 47 days, very unusual for this stage of the campaign and when you factor in the missing of several key players for a large proportion of that, Maris, Lapslie, Clarke Sarkic etc – we’ve come out of it pretty well. Rotation is going to be critical between now and the end of the campaign too, I totally get why Clough named an unchanged side yesterday having played so well against Forest Green on Tuesday, but even in his post match comments there was a hint that he regretted now shuffling the pack, especially given how we conceded. The squad will be assessed over the coming days ahead of tough games with Orient on Friday at home and then a trip to Exeter on Monday – personally if we can get four points from the Easter weekend, we’ll be safe. Even if we get two, that’s two more wins that Southend need with games running out. Let’s enjoy the midweek break now and put in every last ounce of effort we have to drag us over the line. We’ve got this. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, James Perch ©, Mal Benning | George Maris (Stephen McLaughlin 46), Stephen Quinn (Ryan Sweeney 86), Harry Charsley (Ollie Clarke 57), Jason Law (Tyrese Sinclair 88) | Jamie Reid, Jordan Bowery (George Lapslie 46) Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Keaton Ward Sky Bet League Two | Tuesday 23rd March 2021 – One Call Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  Sometimes you can feel aggrieved at a goalless draw, however there was a sense of pride from supporters last night as Mansfield Town remain tight enough at the back to keep out promotion hunting Forest Green and add another point to the tally in the battle for survival – made better as Southend also failed to win, maintaining the eleven point buffer with nine games now remaining.
Aidan Stone came to the Stags’ rescue with a phenomenal stop in the second half as the Stags suffered a momentary lapse in concentration – claiming the resulting corner to eradicate the events of Saturday and lift Clough’s men when tiredness threatened to undo the hardwork. Stone’s opposite number was the key man for Rovers’ – keeping out three Jamie Reid efforts, two within the opening minutes as Stags roared out of the blocks – the game as a whole a real advert for League Two, all that was missing was a goal to make it the complete performance for the Stags. With nine games to go, I’ll be happy if we can maintain that energy and stern approach – because like it did December time, one clean sheet can lead to two, which like a 2p slot machine, pushes us forward to collect a jackpot of a goal and three points. Eleven points is a good buffer, if we can stretch it to somewhere between fourteen and sixteen/seventeen at the conclusion of the Easter weekend, we’ll be safe – it’s not really the points at this stage, it’s games – they’re running out, so one or two steps forward and the maths will see us over the line. Clough for a long time has said that the midfield is OK for where he wants to take us next season and that showed last night, it was our engine in both boxes – ran beautifully by Maris at the bottom of the diamond, Law at the top of it and in particular Quinn on the left, whose experience proved key in pulling the strings and nullifying anything Forest Green could offer, which in truth, was little – he’s a must buy in the summer. When you add into that Ollie Clarke and George Lapslie to come back into the fold, I think it gives us enough options to close teams out – even if we have got limited options up front with Sarkic again injured and likely to miss 80% of the remainder of the campaign. Tranmere on Saturday will be tough, but if we show the same energy as we did last night I’m confident we’ll come away with something. There’s no time to debate the ifs and buts, or ponder what could have been – let’s go again and get the primary job, safety, done asap. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, James Perch ©, Mal Benning | George Maris, Stephen Quinn (Stephen McLaughlin 74), Harry Charsley, Jason Law | Jamie Reid, Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Ryan Sweeney, Ollie Clarke, Jake Wright, Keaton Ward, Tyrese Sinclair Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 20th March 2021 – One Call Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  It should have been an afternoon where the Stags stepped into some clearer sunlight, but again more mistakes, more errors and more ridiculousness strikes Mansfield Town down in the very last minute, as the league’s bottom side claim a 2-2 draw.
To be fair, their second goal was a brilliant strike – BUT, In my opinion, Farrend Rawson needlessly puts the ball behind for a corner, before substitute striker Ryan Sweeney (yes, you read that right) gives away a criminal foul from the resulting NEEDLESS corner. BOTH, are at fault – but the real question is, when will we learn. The bare minimum was of course to match Southend who also drew so actually it’s as you were – 11 point gap with now ten games to go – BUT this was a huge opportunity to widen that and make thing far more comfortable. More bad luck seemed to hit the Stags too with substitute Oli Sarkic pulling up injured after coming off of the bench and looking sharp, whilst Jason Law took a few knocks and at one point – looked like he may have to go off. Post match Clough also mentioned Jamie Reid feeling the effects, Stephen Quinn (whose been excellent) was rested after feeling leggy, and skipper Ollie Clarke missed out all together with him pretty much running on fumes. We have to improve and pick up a win, the games keep coming so there’s no time to dwell on how we’ve again thrown it away – ten games to go, and I can’t wait for it to be over. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, James Perch ©, Mal Benning | George Maris (Ryan Sweeney 81), Stephen McLaughlin (Stephen Quinn 74), Harry Charsley, Jason Law (Keaton Ward 81) | Jamie Reid (Oli Sarkic 74 / Jake Wright 89), Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Tyrese Sinclair Sky Bet League Two | Tuesday 16th March 2021 – One Call Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  As the end of the season starts to become visible in the far distance, Mansfield Town needed to dig in their heels and cut out silly errors in order to go again in League Two next season – something they finally did last night, thanks to Stephen McLaughlins free kick in the final ten minutes.
The Stags had again gone behind to what some may say for a soft, but instinctive, goal – however rather than crumble, they created a number of openings and deserved a point – easing the pressure on Saturday’s clash with bottom of the table Grimsby, the second of three consecutive home games. Boss Nigel Clough made two changes with Stone returning between the sticks and skipper Clarke rested, I was slightly disappointed to not see one or two more as we’re consistently looking tired – however mass rotation will disrupt things so it’s a fine balancing act! The most pleasing thing was dropping back into a diamond, that system doesn’t require us to put playing at 100MPH and is still effective in nullifying threat from the opposition which for me, is bare minimum for a home game. Another pleasing aspect is that we finally got to see Oli Sarkic who looked determined to fight for a place after so long on the side line, having him back along with returns shortly for Lapslie and Maris will really give us that much needed boost as the games keep coming. The next two are really tough games and will be played at pace – Grimsby are in desperate need of wins to claw off of the bottom, whilst Forest Green are hunting down the title – hungry for promotion to League One after a number of seasons in and around the play-offs. Both teams will be fighting for very different reasons, we need to ensure we’re up for that fight – because failure to get anything from the next two games coupled with good results for Southend who play fellow potential relegation dangers Scunthorpe and Walsall in their next two games – puts us in real danger, a danger we’re good enough to avoid. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, James Perch ©, Mal Benning | Stephen McLaughlin, Harry Charsley, Stephen Quinn (Oli Sarkic 75), Jason Law (Ollie Clarke 89) | Jamie Reid, Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Ryan Sweeney, Jake Wright, Keaton Ward, Tyrese Sinclair Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 13th March 2021 – Peoples Pension Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  I’m not entirely sure if the phrase “consistently inconsistent” makes any sense – but if anyone needs a definition, see Mansfield Town Football Club – who YET AGAIN failed to do the basics and in the last 90 seconds, managed to turn a comfortable and reasonable point, into a frustrating and disappointing defeat.
Performances don’t matter at this stage of the season, yes they help, but so long as you do the basics and keep things tight you’ll be OK – but again the Stags aren’t doing it. Is it fatigue? Is it quality? I’m getting tired of going through the motions. Nigel Clough has had a tough job since he first came in and I guess deep down we knew we’d always be in a fight – with 12 games left, fortunately one in hand on second bottom Southend, we’re now ten points ahead of them and can’t afford to keep making these mistakes if we want those last maybe six to eight games, to be stress free. Personally now I’d like to see Clough make sweeping changes in the line-up to freshen things up, I do get that when you win a game you want to try and keep the side settled and generate momentum – but the problem we have is, we’re playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday and have little time for rest, fatigue is clearly an issue so let’s mix things up and see what happens. We’ve got Ryan Sweeney back from suspension and experienced defender Jake Wright sitting on the bench, let’s pair them up or put one alongside Perch whose been excellent at centre half. Midfield is a bit of an issue with Lapslie coming back from injury and Maris still out, but we’ve seen in recent weeks we can change formation a bit to sort that – let’s have a look at Keaton Ward who I thought did well yesterday in the second half, or Harry Charsley with Law in my opinion performing far too well in the front three to be pulled back into the middle. Up front Sarkic was back on the bench yesterday so will get his opportunity sooner rather than later with Sinclair knocking on the door too – we have options, let’s manage them well and get through to clear, safe, water. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Marek Stech | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, James Perch, Mal Benning | Stephen McLaughlin, Ollie Clarke © (Keaton Ward 45), Stephen Quinn | Jason Law (Harry Charsley 75) Jordan Bowery, Jamie Reid (Tyrese Sinclair 68) Unused Subs: Jamie Pardington, Ryan Swneey, Jake Wright, Oli Sarckic Sky Bet League Two | Tuesday 9th March 2021 – One Call Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  For weeks Mansfield Town have been guilty of the same old mistakes, errors and in some cases – stubbornness, a refusal to change and subtly tweak things, yet as proved last night in the 3-1 victory over league leaders Cheltenham, subtle tweaks were all that was needed.
Mansfield changed from the pressing 4-3-3 to a countering, high-octane 4-2-2 diamond – with boss Nigel Clough admitting he was “sceptical” about the change, but heaped praise on assistant Gary Crosby for the idea – which ultimately helped the Stags nullify Cheltenham’s threat from throws and set-plays, and at the other end allow creativity and flare to flourish to the tune of three goals. Cheltenham’s goal on 50 minutes could be argued as a typical Mansfield goal to concede with defenders losing the goal-scorer, but a dominant side like Cheltenham will put good quality crosses into the box and have the power to convert them, what mattered more was the response. The Stags could have easily crumbled and gone onto be easily beaten, but a lovely inside pass from Jason Law set up Bowery for a powerful effort to peg back Cheltenham after three minutes and pave the way for a Mansfield come back, full of desire and fight. Law will rightly get a lot of plaudits for his role at the top of the diamond, pulling him back slightly allowed Reid and Bowery to push on and have space to punish – however credit should also be given to Stephen McLaughlin at the bottom end, sitting just infront of the back four he was excellent in breaking things up and sparking a number of counter attacks. One win doesn’t make us safe, nor alter the fact we have weaknesses – but with players coming back into the fold we are certainly stronger going into the next four games, which includes a clash with bottom side Grimsby – prime opportunity to widened that buffer and take the final run of games with freedom rather than panic. A huge well done to all of the players for last night’s display, the bare minimum for me now is that we don’t stutter again, especially when we have the potential and ability to really shine. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Marek Stech | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, James Perch, Mal Benning | Stephen McLaughlin, Ollie Clarke © (George Lapslie 73), Stephen Quinn (Harry Charsley 88), Jason Law | Jordan Bowery, Jamie Reid Unused Subs: Jamie Pardington, Corey O’Keeffe, Jake Wright, Keaton Ward, Tyrese Sinclair Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 6th March 2021 – Furness Building Society Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  A year ago [7th March] we were walking away from Northampton Town after beating the promotion chasers 2-1, with no idea that THAT, would be the last time we could walk away from a Stadium and enjoy a proper match-day. The next twelve months would be a nightmare in, and out of, football – with yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at relegation rivals Barrow the latest scene in this mega-football drama we’re forced to watch from the sofa.
Yes – you did read that, I used the term ‘Relegation Rivals’ because in my opinion we are flying far too close to the sun and are in a relegation battle, we have been since Graham Coughlan’s disastrous start to the campaign. OK, with 14 games to go we’re on the outskirts of the battle – BUT, by virtue of the fact we lost yesterday, we are in one! The BARE MINIMUM we needed yesterday was to draw and maintain the eleven-point gap – a defeat, coupled with a point for Southend has narrowed the gap to eight points. Here’s the worrying part – Barrow have a game in hand, thus potentially narrowing the gap to five points (far too close for comfort IMO). Yes, we have a game in hand over Southend (second bottom) so that can rebalance itself, BUT our consistent FAILURE to DO THE BASICS is enough to take that potential balancer and throw it in the bin. I’ve had to laugh this morning reading some comments from a minority of Stags “fans” – they want Clough sacked! I’ll give you a minute to laugh, swear or whatever. Clough is 100% the best man for the job and I firmly believe we will be successful under him, BUT we have to give him time to build and develop from absolutely NOTHING, like Paul Cox did when he came in when you think about it. 98% of this squad is not good enough to compete, and the truth is that was accurate when we had our nice little run – and deep down you know it. Yet again a poor January transfer window coupled with injuries has killed us, but in this season of financial worry amid covid, I totally understand why we did what we did. I know people are going “well Bolton threw money at it and now look at them, that could be us” – no it couldn’t, because Bolton already had players good enough to be top seven before the transfer window, they just needed one or two ingredients to speed up the potential growth within – we didn’t. Clough will be frustrated that he didn’t get his A-list targets in January for sure, and may even be cursing the decision to let Cook and/or Maynard go out on loan – but ask yourself this, can we change that, can we recall them, can we rewind to January and go again? No we bloody can’t – so accept what we’ve got, allow Clough to work with it and mould it and we go again next season with force and passion – with us in attendance, singing our hearts out from second one to the very end in the terraces rather than falling asleep on the sofa. Yesterday was poor, and to be honest I’m disappointed Clough didn’t come out and show a little bit more fury in his interview – but again, hindsight says that won’t help, let him do that in house, in the privacy of the dressing room – because he 100% will be! If we are to take any positives from yesterday, it’s that because of cards and injuries we will be forced to freshen things up. OK we are VERY short up front if Bowery is out and Sarkic still out too – but, fresh ideas, fresh eyes, fresh legs can we hopeful. What is killing us right now is the hectic fixture schedule, usually at this time of year – a four week injury, take Lapslie for example, means missing five games maximum – but because of the pile up, four weeks out, means missing ten, maybe twelve games – and we can’t afford that, but have to accept it. There are three things I want from Mansfield Town between now and the end of the season – firstly, to show some passion and energy in their approach to games. Second, comes being tighter and cutting out basic school boy errors which cost us games – finally, but most importantly, BARE MINIMUM – match whatever the team in 23rd does – because MATHS says right now, if we do that, we stay up. One day Mansfield Town we will meet again – and that WILL be in Sky Bet League Two. Fourteen games, you can do it. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone (Marek Stech 67) | Kellan Gordon (Jake Wright 78), Farrend Rawson, Ryan Sweeney [SENT OFF TWO YELLOW CARDS 63], Mal Benning | Jason Law, Ollie Clarke ©, Stephen Quinn (Keaton Ward 78) | Harry Charsley (James Perch 64), Jamie Reid, Jordan Bowery (Tyrese Sinclair 78) Unused Subs: Corey O’Keeffe, James Clarke Sky Bet League Two | Tuesday 2nd March 2021 – Utilita Energy Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  There are people in this world who are utterly useless at DIY, who struggle with those little fiddly jobs and who rely on YouTube and Google to figure out problems rather than good old nouse and knowhow! And then there are those who just get it, bosh. I have no idea what category Nigel Clough falls into, but I do know that his team are right now like a bike chain, endlessly falling off no matter what you try to solve the problem.
A 1-0 defeat at Bradford thanks very much to the same old errors, not doing the basics of defending and have very little spark at the other end. It’s almost pointless going over it again, you could pick ten or so more of these blogs this season and they all read the same – we don’t do the basics and we get punished, it’s frustrating, disappointing and sadly our downfall. For me, as it has been since day one of Clough’s arrival to sort the mess left by Coughlan, it’s been getting as far away from the dropzone as possible – with Barrow losing last night the buffer says the same, beat them on Saturday and we extend it and have even more breathing space – naturally I’d take a draw but we really need to be winning. George Maris going off injured coupled with the skippers sending off late on leaves us short, I think the red card will be appealed so we might be ok, however if unsuccessful perhaps going to a 4-4-2 may help us out a little, otherwise we could become unbalanced. Disappointing to lose yes, Bradford weren’t that great and on any other night may well have been beaten – but it’s gone, it’s done, it’s over, the only thing we can effect now is Saturday. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | Kellan Gordon, Farrend Rawson, Ryan Sweeney, Mal Benning | George Maris (Harry Charlsey 20), Ollie Clarke © [Sent Off 90+5], Stephen Quinn (Tyrese Sinclair 86) | Jason Law, Jamie Reid, Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Corey O’Keeffe, James Perch, James Clarke, Jake Wright. |
