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Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 17th April 2021 – Lamex Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  A long overdue win for Mansfield Town saw Clough’s men move within one game of securing their league status for the following campaign, as with four games remaining, the Stags are eleven points clear of second-bottom Southend with twelve points to play for.
All the Stags need to do now is match whatever Southend do on Tuesday evening – as maintaining the 11-point gap as a minimum, would see an eleven-point gap with only nine points left to play for, equalling safety – maths kids, got to love it! Ryan Sweeney’s 24th minute goal proved the difference in a match of little quality, but the Stags did what was needed when it mattered and kept a vital clean sheet, thanks in no small part to Aidan Stone who made four or five good saves to further highlight his standing as first choice keeper. The key thing to do in our precarious position is keep clean sheets so when called upon you need the shot stopper to do the routine things, Stone did that very well and certainly earned his clean sheet. Performances don’t matter at this point; points however do – let’s get the job done on Tuesday evening and then enjoy the final three games, ending the campaign strongly and giving us a little ripple bounce ahead of the new season. We all know that there will be a big overhaul in players to get us into a position where we can compete for a top seven finish, however all of that is for playing out in the close season so let’s leave the discussions for then! For the players that are here now, contracted beyond this season or not, this is the chance to go and earn a future and finish strongly – if you look at our last four games, I see no reason why we can’t get at least seven more points. Roll on Tuesday night! Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | James Perch ©, Farrend Rawson, Ryan Sweeney, Stephen McLaughlin | George Maris, Stephen Quinn (Ollie Clarke 53), George Lapslie (Jason Law 61) | Jamie Reid, Tyrese Sinclair (Harry Charsley 86), Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Mal Benning, Kellan Gordon, Keaton Ward
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Sky Bet League Two | Friday 9th April 2021 – One Call Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  It’s fair to say that Mansfield Town are their own worst enemies this season, with far too many mistakes costing them – but as Nigel Clough says, the bare minimum is to not lose games, and thanks to Tyrese Sinclair’s strike six minutes from time – secured a point which depending on other results, could be a huge step towards safety.
The Stags put in another decent display with the ball but again had no killer instinct which cost them, if they can maintain that performance level and keep the mistakes locked up in a basement between now and the end of the season, we’ll soon be breathing a sigh of relief. Again, like the previous two games, a lot lies on what Southend do this afternoon – a defeat or draw keeps a nice gap with five games, and fifteen points, left to go. A lot was said on social medias as per about the errors which led to Newports goal – don’t dwell on them, Stone will be frustrated to be beaten like that and it was his only error in an otherwise solid display, whilst Maris just needs to be more savvy with the ball in that position – it is what it is. The positive is Tyrese Sinclair, similar to Law he’s had a while to wait and is really grasping his opportunity. He took his goal very well and his all round play was good, he offers that little bit of flair which we’ve been missing but has good vision to get into good areas and open gaps up. Furthermore, he offers a good set play and it appears a long throw! Let’s keep working on those and see what happens! I’d certainly like to see the two of them on the pitch together, it’s very good to have some good young talent in the ranks, backed up and supported by the experience of Quinn, Bowery and Perch to name just three. We have the basis of something good with the right additions and a good, hard working, pre-season under our belts – I’m optimistic about next season, let’s cross our fingers and do the work to ensure we’re ready. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | James Perch, Farrend Rawson, Ryan Sweeney, Stephen McLaughlin | George Maris, Ollie Clarke © (Jamie Reid 80), Stephen Quinn, George Lapslie | Tyrese Sinclair, Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Mal Benning, Harry Charsley, Kellan Gordon, Keaton Ward, Jason Law Sky Bet League Two | Monday 5th April 2021 – St James’ Park [Behind Closed Doors]  In some ways, swinging like a pendulum from one extreme to the other, is typical Mansfield Town – a strong performance and a clean sheet at a play-off contender is the latest platform to swing too, but with now six games to go, let’s hope this little resurrection is the last, and that Mansfield Town keep it up to get over the line.
The point takes us to TEN points ahead of Southend, hopefully they can lose against Morecambe this evening to ensure that stays the same as, for my money at least, whilst it wouldn’t put us mathematically safe, it should just about do the job. Nigel Clough made four changes to freshen things up, including giving Tyrese Sinclair his first league start – changes were needed and to be honest, probably will be again on Friday night, but not on as big a scale, subtly is the way. Sinclair was good value for his first league start and should have won the Stags a spot-kick in the second half, but instead picked up a yellow card – madness, but this season, little things like that haven’t quite gone our way. Like Law, there’s still development there to be had but it’s great to see young talent coming through and representing the club and showing us that we do have options in the attacking third. The bare basics in any game is to keep a clean sheet which we did well, fewer back passes to Stone stopped the hosts from pressing high and gave them little opportunity, in fact I can only remember two real moments of danger – a good block from Perch in the second half, preceded by another solid save from Stone at the death of the first. Yes we need to add that fire power but at this stage of the campaign, every point we get pretty much means Southend need to get three – you can criticise the two wins in sixteen? But of that, seven draws makes us tough to beat in my view - the only time we get beat is when we beat ourselves with ridiculous errors, so as long as we continue to eradicate those – we’ll be OK. Six more to go, come on Morecambe, do us a favour and let these last six be a little less stressful! Newport at home on Friday, 6pm kick-off, let’s get this done. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | James Perch, Farrend Rawson, Ryan Sweeney, Stephen McLaughlin | George Maris, Ollie Clarke ©, Stephen Quinn, George Lapslie | Tyrese Sinclair (Jamie Reid 82), Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Mal Benning, Harry Charsley, Kellan Gordon, Keaton Ward, Jason Law Sky Bet League Two | Friday 2nd April 2021 – One Call Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]  Last time out Mansfield Town earned praise for fighting back against promotion chasing Tranmere, but yet again those of us who had hope as a result of that fight back were left the victim of a mistimed April Fools joke, as the Stags put in a whimpering display – losing two-nil at home to Leyton Orient thanks to two golden gifts.
Clough’s men are still eleven points clear of second bottom Southend, however by the time Monday’s trip to Exeter comes around, that gap could be narrowed to just six – with the relegation battlers in action this lunchtime against Carlisle, meaning yesterday’s result could leave a very sour taste. Yes, Orient deserve credit for pressing us high and giving us little room – but the bare fact is, they actually created very little, I’m struggling to remember Stone having a shot to save from anything created organically from the visitors, their two goals absolute gifts from us – TWO errors, TWO errors which if we don’t make them – earns us a point and as a result, further pulls the rope from Southends grasp. We are essentially masters of our own undoing. It’s tough to sit here and write these little blogs at the moment, they’re becoming shorter at fear of becoming repetitive. We know what we’re lacking, who we’re missing and the mistakes we’re living to regret – but we can’t change that, the only thing we can change and effect is the next game. With Lapslie now back fit and Clarke on the verge of being so, I’d look to shuffle the pack again and compact the midfield with a 4-2-3-1 formation, which includes a number of changes. My team would be as follows Stone J Clarke – Perch – Sweeney – Benning Maris – O Clarke © Charsley – Lapslie – Quinn Law I’m not the manager and I know he’ll be feeling as frustrated as the rest of us, he pretty much said it during the week – we should be safe now, it should be job done and for whatever reason it’s not. I want to see us go to Exeter with some fight and fire, let’s press from the front and use the attacking edge of Charsley, Lapslie and Quinn to support Law – with the likes of Bowery, Reid and Sinclair to come off of the bench, plus if we need an extra body, send Sweeney forward! Hopefully Southend will lose this afternoon and the gap stays at 11 points with twenty-one left to play for, we don’t need the stress or the panic because we’re not good enough to cope with it right now – the proof is in the results. Over the next two games, Exeter and Newport, let’s find that energy and drive from within and get it done, four points coupled with two losses for Southend (against Carlisle and Morecambe) makes the buffer 15 points with as many left to play for [for us, Southend would have 18 left to play for as we play Friday, and them Saturday] should see us OK – surely even we could find one more point at the stage?! This season has been horrendous watching from the sofa, let’s get it done and dusted and move on very bloody quickly. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report. STAGS: Aidan Stone | Kellan Gordon (Ryan Sweeney 83), Farrend Rawson, James Perch ©, Mal Benning | George Maris, George Lapslie (Ollie Clarke 75), Stephen Quinn (Harry Charsley 80), Jason Law (Stephen McLaughlin 75) | Jamie Reid (Tyrese Sinclair 80), Jordan Bowery Unused Subs: Marek Stech, Keaton Ward 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 |
