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Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Mansfield Town (Andy Cook) | Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 15th December 2019 | Alexandra Stadium  *The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*
John Dempsters time as Mansfield Town manager is over, as following the 1-1 at Crewe and the club drop to just seven points from the relegation zone and the gap to the play-offs widen – enough, was deemed enough. Jamie McGuire has been placed in caretaker charge but it’s unlikely he’ll be seen in the dugout on Saturday as Northampton visit the One Call Stadium, with speculation rife that Graham Coughlan looks set to walk out on Bristol Rovers to fill the vacant Stags’ seat. Plus, there are a number of promotion winning managers currently without a club, including the highly sought after Paul Tisdale and Nathan Jones who could be approached – all of that however is a conversation for another day – namely tomorrow, 6.30pm ish on our Facebook Page in a managerial Christmas special podcast. I genuinely feel for John Dempster who despite being a club icon in my view, never appeared to have the full backing of the fans to succeed David Flitcroft who regardless of your opinion led us to the highest league finish of the decade and created an attractive and effective brand of football. Dempster deserves respect from everyone, however there are many who will only remember his tenure as manager. As a player, as a captain he gave his absolute heart and soul to the cause. As Academy Manager, he worked tirelessly to build and develop a system capable of nurturing young talent, into sellable assets and help the club become even more self-sufficient – there’s no doubt he’d earned a shot at the manager’s job however in my view, the opportunity came at the wrong time where he had everything to lose and ultimately has done. The so called “supporters” on social media and at games who have subjected him to endless abuse are a disgrace and an embarrassment, he’s a family man and a genuinely nice person who deserved respect and thanks for years of excellent service – rather than the sour taste he’ll depart with. I hope he finds a new job elsewhere and doesn’t look back with regret – for EVERYTHING he’s done in his time, I thank him. Managing senior football however is a results based business, and after 21 league games to have just 22 points with the squad and expectations we have that is simply not good enough and it was only a matter of time before a change was made. I felt it may have happened after last weekend’s 3-0 defeat but credit to the Radford’s in giving him time to try and change it, performance wise at Crewe we played quite well for the best part of an hour – wasted chances, including three from Maynard, really cost us and whilst it was a good, solid point, it’s not where we need to be. The players need to take a long look at themselves now because ultimately they’ve cost a man a job (and ironically seemed to enjoy a night out afterwards if Instagram is anything to go by – sorry, that’s tongue in cheek and nothing more than a coincidence) – they need to stand up and be counted now, for McGuire if he takes charge for a while, or for the new manager who has a huge task on his hands to turn this season around. No more negativity, lets come together now and fill the One Call on Saturday and start a brand new journey. Fall down six times, stand up seven. Match Recap Two changes were made by Dempster in what turned out to be his last game in charge – one in personnel, one in system – James Clarke into the fold for Mellis, as 3-4-1-2 became a flat 4-4-2. Click HERE to read more, thanks to the clubs official report. FULL TIME: Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Mansfield Town | Attendance 4,060 STAGS: [4-4-2] Bobby Olejnik | James Clarke, Matt Preston, Ryan Sweeney ©, Mal Benning | Alex MacDonald, Neal Bishop, Conor Shaughnessy (Omari Sterling-James 67), CJ Hamilton | Andy Cook (Danny Rose 80), Nicky Maynard (Otis Khan 88) Unused Subs: Conrad Logan, Krystian Pearce, Jacob Mellis, Alistair Smith Written by | Craig Priest *The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations* Comments are closed.
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