Archived News from June 2022
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CLOUGH LOOKING FOR 5 NEW PLAYERS
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Mansfield Town set to bring in up to five new faces and two current stars are set to sign new deals to stay
chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Monday 30th May 2022 Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough is hoping to bring in four or five new players as soon as possible and has outlined what he needs as Stags look to build on a great season that ended in disappointment in Saturday's 3-0 League Two play-off final defeat by Port Vale. “The retained list will be done this week, we just have a couple of conversations to have,” said Clough. “We will be in this week working, trying to get a few players over the line if we can. Then we need a break - maybe two or three weeks. “We know we were pretty close this season. We weren't far away. So it's now a matter of putting that behind us and going again. We have no choice. We start the season in less than nine weeks. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-set-to-bring-in-up-to-five-new-faces-and-two-current-stars-are-set-to-sign-new-deals-to-stay-3714955 “We need a few players in and that starts straight away. “Pre-season plans are pretty much in place, although we will put it back a couple of days to give the lads a little bit more rest to allow for them trying to get over the disappointment. “Physically and mentally we have to get over it and we have to be ready in less than nine weeks. “Now it's just getting the squad in place. It's not as if we need many. I think Port Vale brought in 26 players over the course of the two windows. We don't need that sort of surgery.” He continued: “We have 13 or 14 outfield players in place at the moment, so we need four or five to add to that. But they will have to be good ones in order to improve the squad. We know the areas we need to improve in. “I think the experience we have has been vital in getting us through the bad spell and getting us to where we got to. “We are happy with the majority of the squad. We just need to tweak it a little bit.” It looks like Clough will again have the services of James Perch and Jordan Bowery next season. “The good news is that Jordan Bowery and James Perch are very close to agreeing new deals,” he said. “I think in principle they have been agreed. Obviously everyone has been so busy in the last week or so, especially Diane (secretary Ceney), who has had everything on her plate. We will get cracking on those this week, but they are agreed in principle.” On targets, he said: “We definitely need one in each department, depending on who stays and who goes. “We only need one defender. We are happy with our defensive options at the moment. Then a couple of midfielders and a couple of attackers - maybe one attacker outright and one who just plays off a little bit. “That will be the aim. If we can get five in those areas then we will be happy. “We have started talking to players - you have to put a couple of scenarios in place. “We have made some chase-up calls this morning. “Three or four of the players on the list have said they are only interested in League One which you can understand. “So we just need to find out if that is still a definite for them - a make or break. “Some people change their minds. They might not have had the offers that they'd hoped for. So that will be the first job. “Then we work back from our targets like that.” ------------------ Mansfield Town begin talks with Manchester United over loan keeper Nathan Bishop chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Monday 30th May 2022 Mansfield Town are hoping to persuade Manchester United to allow keeper Nathan Bishop to stay with the Stags for another season. The 22-year-old had an outstanding campaign as Stags made the play-off final at Wembley last weekend. But manager Nigel Clough believes United may be planning to send Bishop out to a League One club. “I certainly need to look at the goalkeeping situation,” said Clough. chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-begin-talks-with-manchester-united-over-loan-keeper-nathan-bishop-3714919?fbclid=IwAR3CbOrCs-r1j1d42LlY7qBBZzMyrD1ZaB7frHpg35YPkH7qYAs3k-xJujo “We would love to keep Nathan Bishop so we have already instigated a discussion with Manchester United about that. “Ideally I think they want him to go into the league above, but if it's a lower League One club we are hoping to only be five or six places below them. “Nathan knows us and I think he enjoys working with Seamus McDonagh. "That has got to be one of the major attractions for him. “He is working with one of the best goalkeeping coaches and one of the most experienced goalkeeping coaches in the country. “He has just played 52 games for us, which I think is more than he has played in his career. "Do the same again next season and you will improve again.” Stags’ veteran keeper Marek Stech is out of contract this summer and Bishop’s planned start of season back-up keeper George Shelvey ended up going back to parent club Nottingham Forest early as his season-long loan was terminated in January. So Clough may need to find two keepers this summer. ------------------ Mansfield Town can close the small gap between being also-rans and automatic promotion next season believes boss Nigel Clough chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Monday 30th May 2022 Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough is confident his players can make up the small gap between being also-rans and sealing automatic promotion next season. Clough said their campaign had been wrecked in the end by one poor 15-minute spell in Saturday's play-off final defeat by Port Vale at Wembley. But he believes his squad will be inspired by their fantastic form over the second half of the season that was matched by few clubs in the land. “The season has been completely overshadowed by Saturday at the moment. But I think when everyone slightly gets over it they will see it's been a hell of a season,” he said. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-can-close-the-small-gap-between-being-also-rans-and-automatic-promotion-next-season-believes-boss-nigel-clough-3715098 “The highs and the lows have been out of proportion, even by footballing standards. “The highs have been since October, only losing six league games and getting to Wembley. “And it's the manner in which we did it as well, winning 13 or 14 home games out of 16 was absolutely remarkable. We want to build on that. We have to build on it and go again. “That will be the main message to the players when they come back. Come on, we had a bad 15 minutes you know? Let's make sure we are ready for the season to start on 30th July.” He added: “What we can take things from is over the course of the season. We fell at the final hurdle in one game - and, even then, only in a 15-minute spell in that one game. “But we have to take what we've done since October. Only five teams in the country won more games than us in that time. “We take all the positives from that. We finished seven points from the top of the league - that's all. Seven points from winning the league. And that was with a run when we didn't win for 14 games. “That's how close that league was - seven points. It wasn't like we were having to make up 15/16 points. We are talking a couple of wins from automatic promotion. “We know we can achieve that and it's down to everybody, staff especially, to make sure that when the players come back in, that is the message for them.” ------------------- Wembley defeat felt like a kick in the privates said Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Monday 30th May 2022 Nigel Clough has described the pain of Saturday's Wembley play-off final defeat by Port Vale as akin to a 'kick in bollocks' for his Mansfield Town side. And the Stags boss said it felt like they had let the army of fans down with a disappointing performance on the day that saw them fall at the final promotion hurdle. “The hurt has eased fractionally, but I think it's going to be there for quite some time,” he said. “We went into the game with a lot of optimism and it all dissipated within a 15 minute spell in the first half. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/wembley-defeat-felt-like-a-kick-in-the-privates-said-mansfield-town-boss-nigel-clough-3715087 “It feels like an almighty kick in the 'bollocks'. There is a reason people say that phrase - because it hurts like hell when it happens. You curl up, you're bent double, then gradually the pain goes away a little bit. “But the memory is always there of that kick - and the overwhelming feeling that we let everybody down. That stays. “You saw the thousands that came down and supported us and we just couldn't manage to do it for them. “We wanted that feeling for ourselves but also for everybody else - the memory we could have created down there that Port Vale enjoyed this year and we didn't.” Clough has not yet watched the whole game back but knows the first goal was vital. “I am not sure I will watch the game back though I have watched little isolated incidents,” he said. “I know the first goal is absolutely massive and it seemed like every little thing on the day just went against us. “We had a good chance to go 1-0 up, didn't take it. Then the deflected cross couldn't have fallen any more perfectly for their lad, straight in between Perch and Hawkins, and their lad buried it. “Then we had one come back off the bar. It could have hit the bar and gone over or anywhere but just went straight to their lad. “We had a good chance with Oatesy (Rhys Oates) which I think was about a centimetre from being over the line. “If we hadn't had goal line technology it might even have been given. “The sending-off then just meant it was almost certain we couldn't get back into the game. “Oli Hawkins made a very, very poor decision in getting sent off. “But you've got to remember he was probably man of the match in the two games against Northampton. He was outstanding in both games. He makes one rash decision and we are punished for it.” Clough added: “I don't take a lot away from the day or the game. We will look at our preparation and talk to the players to see if we could have done anything differently. “It was one of those games where it didn't happen for us. “Second half when we changed I think we had more possession than them and, had Oatesy's goal gone in, we had a couple of skirmishes. You never know. “But it was an almost impossible task at 2-0 down with 10 men at Wembley.” ------------------- Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough slams needless early return to action for League Two clubs chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Monday 30th May 2022 Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough has slammed the decision to make League Two clubs kick off a week early next season due to the forthcoming winter World Cup in Qatar. With Stags seeing their season extended in the play-offs, Clough believes it puts his side at a disadvantage when they begin again on 30th July. “That is a week earlier than we should be,” he said. “Again we are having something imposed on us because of a World Cup in Qatar that will not affect us one bit. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-manager-nigel-clough-slams-needless-early-return-to-action-for-league-two-clubs-3714939 “But we are having to start a week early in League Two because of a World Cup. It is absolutely ridiculous. We are the one team who has got to a final and lost. “So we are at a slight disadvantage straight away. The others will all have had two or three weeks extra to prepare. “The only other one who will have a disadvantage is the one who comes up from the Conference through the play-offs as they are even later. “That will be between Solihull and Grimsby and for the winner you're talking about eight weeks from actually finishing the season to starting again.” Clough added: “We have to get on with it, though, and our aim will be to have another successful season and try to go that one step further. “The Wembley defeat energises you and makes you even more determined to do it next year. “I think the players, after a day or two, will want to get back at it as soon as possible. They will want to put it right, having been so close. “Let's do everything we can to get in the top three, though if we go through the play-offs again, we do.” Clough added: “We have to get on with it, though, and our aim will be to have another successful season and try to go that one step further. “The Wembley defeat energises you and makes you even more determined to do it next year. “I think the players, after a day or two, will want to get back at it as soon as possible. They will want to put it right, having been so close. “Let's do everything we can to get in the top three. If we go through the play-offs again, we do. But we will do all we can to make the top three. We were so close to achieving that third place in the end.” ---------------- Boss: We will use heartache as fuel for 2022-23 mansfieldtown.net, Monday 30th May 2022 Mansfield Town will use the heartache felt at Wembley on Saturday as fuel to launch a successful campaign next season, manager Nigel Clough said today. The Stags lost 3-0 to Port Vale in the Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Final, but - when summing up the season - the gaffer feels his squad can be proud of a remarkable journey from joint-bottom of the league table to narrowly missing out on promotion. In a wide-ranging interview today with iFollow Stags at RH Academy - the club’s training ground - the manager began by describing his feelings two days after Saturday’s disappointment. “It feels like an almighty - I think there’s a phrase - ‘kick in the b*******’,” the gaffer said. https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2022/may/boss-we-will-use-heartache-as-fuel-for-2022-23/ “There’s a reason, it’s not just a phrase you know, there’s a reason people say it. “It hurts like hell when it happens, you curl up and just gradually the pain goes away a little bit. “The memory is always there of that kick and the overwhelming feeling that we’ve let everybody down. “When you see the thousands that came down and supported us, we just couldn’t manage to do it for them. “We wanted that [winning] feeling for ourselves but more so for everybody else [and] the memory that we could’ve created down there [in the Capital].” Nigel said the club can be proud, however, of the progress made this season. “When everybody slightly gets over it [Saturday] we’ll think, ‘I tell you what; it’s been a hell of a season.’ “The highs and the lows have been out of proportion [this campaign] I think, even by footballing standards. “The highs of what we’ve done since October, losing only six league games and getting to Wembley [has been outstanding] but it’s not just that, it’s the manner in which we did it as well. “Having 13 or 14 wins at home out of 16 [league matches] is absolutely remarkable. “We’ve won as many games as most teams [since October]. I think there’s only five teams in the country that have won more than us [in that time]. “We finished seven points off the top of the league. “Seven points - that’s all - from winning the league and that’s with a run where we didn’t win for 14 games. “We know we’re pretty close [to being a promotion-achieving team], we know we’re not far away. “It’s now a matter of putting that [Saturday] behind us and going again. “We have no choice. We start the season in less than nine weeks. “We want to build on that [the highs], we have to build on that and go again, that’ll be the main message to the players when they come back. “Let’s make sure that we’re ready for [the 2022/23 season opener on] July 30.” The boss has already outlined recruitment plans for next season. “We need a few players in, so that starts straight away,” he said. “I think we have 13 or 14 outfield [players] in place at the moment so we need four or five to add to that, but they have to be good ones in order to improve the squad. “We know the areas we have to improve in. “I think the experience we have has been vital in getting us through the bad spell [earlier in the season]. “I think one in each [position is needed in the summer] depending on who stays and who goes. “I think we only need one defender, we’re happy with our defensive options at the moment. “[We’ll look at bringing in] A couple of midfielders and a couple of attackers, that will be the aim and if we can get five in those areas then we’ll be happy.” The boss remains hopeful of on loan goalkeeper Nathan Bishop playing for Mansfield again, next season. “We’ve got to look at the goalkeeping situation, we’d love to keep Nathan Bishop,” said the manager. “We’ve already instigated a discussion with Man U [his parent club] about that. “Ideally, I think they’d want him to go in the league above... but he [Bishop] knows us, I think he enjoys working with Seamus [McDonagh, goalkeeping coach] - that has got to be one of the major attractions for him - he’s working with one of the best goalkeeping coaches and most experienced goalkeeping coaches in the country. “He’s [Bishop] just played 52 games for us which is more than he’s played in his career, do the same next season and you’ll improve again.” Nigel provided an update on when supporters can expect to see the club’s retained list and revealed that two of the Stags’ star men are close to signing new deals. “That’ll be this week [that the retained list is announced]. “We’ve got a couple of conversations to have. The good news is that Jordon Bowery and James Perch are very close to agreeing new deals. “I think - in principle - they’ve been agreed. We’ll get cracking on those this week, but they’re agreed in principle.” When asked about the clubs plans for a trip away in pre-season, the boss said: “We’ve booked Scotland for a few days. “We tried to book it for the second week in July and then we found out the Open was on at St. Andrews which just sums up our luck, the 150th Open. “We’re going the week before and we’re just having a few days at the University up there, no games at that early stage. “[It will be] Just training and doing some of the work that we would be normally, up there. “It will be important to get everybody away. It’s always good to integrate new players and everything so we’ll be looking forward to that. “I think we come back and play Retford, for our first pre-season game, on Saturday 09 July.” With preparations already underway, Nigel says the aim will be to go one step further next campaign. “That’s the aim, another successful season and to go one step further [and achieve promotion]. “I think the players, after a day or two, will want to get back at it as soon as possible and say: ‘we’re going to put this right, let’s try [and finish] in the top three.’” ----------------------- |
Latest | June 2022