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Mansfield Town 2-2 Carlisle United [Nicky Maynard 2] | Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 1st February 2020 | One Call Stadium  *The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*
Mansfield Town have a habit of throwing things away this season, so whilst it came as no real shock that the lads once again let a two-goal lead slip in the last minute, conceding another needless free-kick – it still hurt. The conditions were really tough with a horrible wind sweeping across the pitch, I was really pleased and proud of the lads for being tight enough in the first half to go in at 0-0 having had little of the ball, the pride grew further with two well-taken goals from Nicky Maynard to put us into a commanding lead – but as always, pride becomes before a fall and here we are having dropped points once again, fearing that a bad result against Morecambe next Saturday coupled with good results around us for others could put us right in trouble. The match itself and the result reminds me of being a child, the excitement of putting in the work to get your brand-new kite to fly. You put all the effort and desire into getting it under control and taking flight beautifully, running through the bright green fields happy with the sunshine settling on your face – before arrogance and compliancy sink in, one big gust of wind loses your grip – and before you know it, the kite is ripped out of your hands and is thrown into a tree, ripping and tearing apart as the blue skies turn grey, the heavens open and you get p*** wet through, having lost everything within seconds. That feeling of disappointment and dejection sums up the mood right now – having come through a horrendous transfer deadline day with nothing bar the overwhelming feeling of worry sweeping over us. On deadline day itself, the Stags brought in loanee Jack Evans from Swansea right at the death – but saw Jacob Mellis (Contract terminated – joined Bolton), Otis Khan (Newport County, loan) and Andy Cook (Tranmere Rovers, loan – undisclosed fee) all depart – leaving the Stags with limited options in attack and looking threadbare in all areas. Mellis I totally get and wish him all the best, he has barley featured under Coughlan and given what happened back in the Summer months, a fresh start is good for him – Khan I also understand, having started just once for Coughlan – predominately being an unused substitute, but I would like to have kept hold of a clear creative player. Cook is a strange one, Coughlan wants to play with a high pacey press from the front and obviously that’s not Cook’s game which became clear in the new boss’ first three matches at the helm, in which Cook started. His impact from the bench however can’t be overlooked with two goals from the bench in the last three games – having scored seven all season, could we really afford to lose him? I get that he wants to play first team football as a regular starter, and Tranmere too is a huge draw for him considering his affinity with the club – I really wish him well, I think my disappointment comes in not replacing him (yet) as, from the bench or not, players like him make a huge difference in winning the fight. That said, and this is really important, it’s clear he wanted away – listen to the interview from Cook upon his return to Tranmere, quite simply we don’t need players sitting in that dressing room who have no desire to be there, because that will take us in one direction – down. Don’t believe me? Look at our league position! Genuinely, I’d much rather have a smaller squad and perhaps not even be able to fill the bench some weeks, filled with players who want to be here and succeed, than have a large pool of people who don’t give two hoots about progressing this club and are happy to pick up a pay check – once again, take a look at how our season went from this point last season!! We can still sign free agents I believe, and I genuinely think we may see one or two be added should the right player come knocking – some very good players who could really help us out of this mess are currently free – Coughlan is no fool, he’ll certainly be working hard to make sure that if our options become properly threadbare, gaps will be filled. The same old mistakes cost us, we dust ourselves down and go again – we need six points from the next two games. I never really saw the appeal of flying a kite anyway Match Recap After a hectic transfer deadline day which left the Stags with fewer options, Coughlan made just one change from Tuesday’s match, Neal Bishop back in for CJ Hamilton as the Stags switched to a 3-4-1-2, new loan signing Jack Evans wasn’t in the squad – but no doubt will be next week as the Stags head to Morecambe. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report FULL TIME: Mansfield Town 2-2 Carlisle United | Attendance 4,272 (368) STAGS: [3-4-1-2] Bobby Olejnik | Ryan Sweeney, Krystian Pearce ©, Kelland Watts | Joe Riley, Alex MacDonald (Willem Tomlinson 20), Neal Bishop, CJ Hamilton | Harry Charsley (CJ Hamilton 77) | Danny Rose, Nicky Maynard (Matt Preston 88) Unused Substitutes: Aidan Stone, Craig Davies, Jimmy Knowles, James Clarke *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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