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Mansfield Town 0-3 Cheltenham Town | Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 7th December 2019 | The One Call Stadium  *The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*
Here we are again, another Sunday and another defeat. Deflating, frustrating, and downright bloody annoying as the squad billed as potential promotion winners, look more and more like they’re getting drawn into a relegation battle – and do you know what? To fight, you need to have the courage to battle, I think there’s an absence of that right now! Again we played well for the best part of half an hour and the atmosphere matched it, but as soon as Cheltenham led through a cheap header, all of that came crashing down and evaporated within seconds. The Stags tried to freshen things up in midfield and to be fair we were looking fresh until the opening goal, but as soon as we take that sucker punch we crumble and let ourselves down. A section of the supporters made their thoughts very clear, chanting for the removal of John Dempster as manager, a few weeks ago despite our slumber I didn’t see why the board would make that choice – however as we plummet closer to the wrong end of the table and a battle few expected us to be in, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a statement made at some point. Naturally we’d have to write this season off as a rebuilding process, setting out survival and regrowth as the target, but I’d rather that than kindness drag us into a relegation battle – there, I’ve said it. As always, I always support whoever is in charge (unless its Holdsworth and then bye-bye season ticket) and back Dempster whilst he’s at the helm to find a way to get the best out of the players, but thus far we’ve not seen it and time is running thin on the ground. Yes, he deserved the opportunity (still the wrong time in my opinion but hey ho) but I want to remember him as the excellent commanding player and captain he was, and for the tremendous job he did in the academy, rather than be the man who brought all our hopes tumbling down, which a section of fans – are already doing. Promotion chasing Crewe are up next, come on boys – PLEASE turn it around. Match Recap In an attempt to restart the season, John Dempster made four changes from the side knocked out of the FA Cup at Shrewsbury last Saturday, including one between the sticks as Oljenik replaced Logan for his first league start in nearly a year. Wing-back Kellan Gordon missed out through injury whilst skipper Pearce missed out with illness, as Bishop and Benning returned – Alistair Smith was also replaced by MacDonald, Ryan Sweeney took the captaincy. Click HERE to read the clubs match report FULL TIME: Mansfield Town 0-3 Cheltenham Town | Attendance 3,715 (157) STAGS: [3-4-1-2] Bobby Olejnik | Matt Preston, Conor Shaughnessy, Ryan Sweeney © | CJ Hamilton, Neal Bishop (Otis Khan 62), Alex MacDonald, Mal Benning (Omari Sterling-James 74) | Jacob Mellis | Andy Cook (Danny Rose 71), Nicky Maynard Unused Subs: Conrad Logan, James Clarke, Alistair Smith, Jimmy Knowles *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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