 Former Mansfield Town striker Paul Connor says he’s delighted to see how far Chairman John Radford and CEO Carolyn Radford have guided the Stags, having followed the clubs development closely since his departure. Connor, who signed in the summer of 2010 prior to the Radford’s arrival thanks to invest from supporters group “the 12th Stag”, believes the now Chairman has performed the kiss of life on the club – which is now going in the right direction. Speaking in the latest Mansfield Matters ‘Stags Stories’ the fans favourite said “I still follow it [the club] closely through twitter etc, I have to laugh to be honest because when John [Radford] took over the pre-season when Paul Cox came in, I look at the lads now and they’re getting picked up in Rolls Royce’s enjoying ten days in Portugal – in our pre-season, we played Boston and had a night in Skegness! so the difference there straight away even in that sort of thing, the players must be loving it! “The club was having a hard time [prior to John Radford’s takeover] but the players didn’t really realise it until the season got going. “I don’t think it’s a secret at how close Mansfield were to maybe going into administration if they [the former owners] didn’t get a buyer and it had started to drip feed into the players. “I remember the whole takeover. We played York City I believe and the manager at the time David Holdsworth actually said ‘look lads the clubs close to folding here – it’s that bad, but there’s a guy coming to watch you tonight whose thinking about buying the club’ and that was in the team talk. “He more or less said you’ve got to play well tonight and put on a performance otherwise this guy might not buy it [the club] – we went out and played like Brazil, beat York 5-0, I think it was one of the best performances of the season! “It was John [Radford] who was in the crowd, he came down to training the next day and it [the takeover] was starting to go through – I don’t think we won a game after that! I think at the time he [John Radford] watching that game thought this is good but with the results which followed, it started to really hit home how hard it [rebuilding the club] was and how hard the club had been hit.” Now aged 40, Connor is still playing part time and is beginning a transition into management as player/ assistant at West Auckland Town – with the Stags being his last full time professional club. During his hour long interview on the Mansfield Matters Podcast, the front man reflect on his decision to move into the part time game, plus speaks openly about the heartbreak suffered by the players on the big stage in the FA Trophy Final, which came at the end of Mr Radford’s first season as Stags boss. Since the Trophy final, Connor has watched the Stags gain promotion to the Football League and says he was gutted promotion to League One didn’t quite happen last time around, a feat he believes can be achieved this season. Stags Stories with Paul Connor will be out via all podcast apps at 5pm on Friday 5th July. 
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 With the end of the season just around the corner, here at Mansfield Matters as always we want you to have your say on your team, by voting for your 'Player of the Season' 'Most Improved Player' and 'Unsung Hero' in our listeners choice awards. We'll be revealing the winner in our end of season review show, which will either be next Thursday at 6.30pm (ish) or at a later date, should the Stags make the play-offs. Voting is free and will close Next Thursday at 6pm with all players (who ahve made one more starts for the club, bar for those out on loan) eligible for 'Player of the season' - A shortlist has been drawn up for 'Most Improved' and you have free reign over the 'unsung hero'. Get voting below! GIVE US SOME FEEDBACK AND WINHere at Mansfield Matters we'd love to get your feedback on the podcast, as it really is for you, not us! So if you complete the below form, you could be entered into a prize draw to win something very special Mansfield Town related! To enter into the draw, simply leave your name, age and email address at the top. Want to give feedback but remain anonymous, that's fine - just don't input your name! |
