Archived News from November 2004
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PALMER: WE NEED A STRIKER, WHILE WOODMAN GOES BACK
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Palmer chases new faces
CHAD website, 18Nov04 CARETAKER manager Carlton Palmer is hoping to bring in a couple of new faces in time for Mansfield Town's tough trip to promotion rivals Boston United on Saturday (3pm). Palmer, in charge while suspended pair Keith Curle and John Gannon's misconduct inquries are completed, said he was hoping to bring in a left back and a striker, hopefully by the end of today. He said: "It is hard to find quality players in a short space of time so I have been having to call in a few favours and I have been ringing a lot of managers. "Sam Allardyce has said he would would help me with a left full back if the lad wants to come and I have also got one striker lined up too but, if that falls through, I have two others who I could bring in on loan." Although Palmer was not naming names, he did mention that Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End were clubs he was dealing with. With on-loan Craig Woodman returning to Bristol City and Derek Asamoah starting a three-match ban, Palmer certainly has his work cut out to find replacements at short notice. "I could bring faces in - no problem," he said. "But they have to be better quality than what we have. Then it can be a case of persuading a player from a Premiership club to drop this far down." Palmer revealed that he had sent Woodman back to Bristol City after the young defender refused the chance to play in Tuesday's FA Cup replay at Colchester United. "He didn't want to play and get Cup-tied which I can't understand," he said. "Bristol City have told him he isn't in their current plans and I was offering him another month on loan here. "He was happy enough to play in the LDV Vans Trophy, yet Bristol City are still in that. I only want players here who want to play for Mansfield Town." Palmer was pleased with the team's perfromance in Saturday's 1-1 FA Cup draw with League One Colchester, despite the afternoon ending in abuse from fans against himself and chairman Keith Haslam. "I thought it was a good performance, especially first half, and we can build on that now," said Palmer. "We can take heart from that. They showed me they have the fitness and the ability to do well. Now it's all about a state of mind - a positive attitude. "I was disappointed with some of the supporters' reactions near the end of the game. "I do understand it is a difficult time then with this situation which we can hopefully clarify as soon as possible. But they decided to vent their anger against me and the chairman. "The chairman is only doing his job. He has been a personal friend of mine for years and he has done a fantastic job for the Stags. I think he is entitled to a bit more loyalty from the fans." Palmer asked fans to show some patience. "If they do I am sure he will deliver what they want," he said. "It has been a hectic time for me since coming in last Thursday. "I had a big game just two days away and a small squad. "I hve told the players where I think we can improve, but there is not a lot wrong. We do need to score more goals and I am trying to address that situation now. "We don't have a right-sided player in the club and we need full backs too. "We certainly have to improve on our away record. You don't win promotion by having a good home record. "We've talked about it and the lads feel they've not had the rub of the green in certain away games. "We will show Boston the respect they deserve. But we will go there and take the game to them. "I want to make it a very open game and make the pitch as big as possible, getting Wayne Corden further up the field and onto the ball. "I had the lads do a good old fashioned running stint on Monday, which you wouldn't normally do after such a big game as Saturday. "But it was very easy for them which tells me they are very fit lads. "I believe, with what we have here, we are among the top four sides in the division. But we have to go away from home determined to come away with something from the game. "Boston are similar to us in having a good home record and poor away record. They will be very physical and play very direct from back to front. "We have to stand up and be counted and properly defend set pieces." One player not in the squad is Rhys Day. Palmer has told him to stay with the physio until he has fully recovered from his ankle injury and stop trying to come back too early. Stags chairman Keith Haslam said he was hoping the club could sort out the managerial situation by the end of the day but was unable to guarantee it. --------- mansfieldtown.net reports that Caretaker Manager Carlton Palmer has taken a look at recent Stags form and identified areas where there can be some improvement and he believes that Mansfield Town need to score more goals: "I have taken a look at the recent form and had the opportunity to see the players in action in a competitive game and recognise that we need to score more goals so in my capacity as caretaker manager I would like to bring in a striker. "It is going to be a difficult game at Boston so I spoke to the players to get their thoughts on the way they have been playing. The general feeling was that they hadn't had the rub of the green. So I have set them a target of a minimum of four points over the next two league games. I thought that the lads gave a very good performance against Colchester last Weekend especially in the first half but we were denied a penalty then they scored against the run of play. I felt there was a lot of positives to come from the game so we are looking to build on that now starting on Saturday at Boston" Meanwhile mansfieldtown.net reports that Craig Woodman has returned to Bristol City sooner than expected. Carlton Palmer, temporarily in charge of the Stags felt disappointed that the player didn't want to play in last weeks FA Cup tie against Colchester United. "I was disappointed that he (Craig Woodman) didn't want t play on Saturday. Whilst I am in charge at this football club I want players who want to play football. I offered him another month's loan on behalf of the club but he didn't want to be cup tied so I felt he isn't the type of player I would like in my team as I only want people who want to play football for Mansfield Town and have the Desire to do that." Palmer told the official website. Craig played in the LDV trophy game against Darlington and Bristol City are still in that competition so that shows that the player isn't currently figuring in his clubs plans and this was a factor in the caretaker managers decision. With Woodman returning to Bristol and Scott McNiven recently finding that he has cancer there is a shortage of full backs at the club, something that has not gone un-noticed by Palmer: "I have spoken to Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers) and I am hopeful to have a left back player at the club in time for the weekend" he said. On the Derek Asamoah red card Carlton Palmer feels that he was unlucky: "I have watched the video a couple of times and in particularly the incident where Derek received a red card. I have seen a worse challenge from Defoe when I was covering the Everton Game for the BBC. It was a much more malicious challenge and he didn't get sent off but with the interpretation of the rules in today's game, if you jump into a tackle you have 'to go'. "I felt sorry for Derek because he had a good game, he was constant threat although his final ball could have been a bit better and to be without him for three games is a massive blow to us but that's life - that's football." He said. On Rhys Day, Carlton Palmer has told the physio that he doesn't want to see Rhys out on the pitch until he is fully fit. "He's not played for three weeks so it's better he gets fully fit before he comes back" said Palmer. ========== EARLIER STORY: Robins recall Woodman from Stags BBC.co.uk, 17 NOV 04 Bristol City have refused to allow midfielder Craig Woodman to extend his loan spell at Mansfield Town into a third month. Woodman, 21, will return to Ashton Gate next week, after playing nine matches and scoring one goal for the Stags. |
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