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Archived News from January 2020

COUGHLAN, DINO MAAMRIA REACTION
31st January 2020 23:29


Manager analyses defeat
mansfieldtown.net, Tuesday 28th January 2020

Stags’ boss Graham Coughlan has provided his post-match assessment on this evening’s disappointing 3-1 defeat away at Oldham Athletic.

Goals from Jonny Smith, Tom Hamer and Gevaro Nepomuceno saw the Latics lead comfortably at Boundary Park, before Mansfield midfielder Otis Khan netted a late consolation seconds before the final whistle.

The boss says that he was ‘hoping for more’ after Saturday’s resounding 3-0 win over promotion-chasing Bradford City.

“We didn’t turn up,” he said. “We were second-best all night and the scoreline suggests that. I think it’s fair to say that’s the worst performance we’ve had since I’ve been here.

“Performances have been good and off the back of Saturday I was hoping for more. You could physically see we were low on energy - we had no legs and couldn’t press.

https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2020/january/gaffer-post-oldham/

“We used a lot of energy on Saturday and maybe tonight was a bridge too far. It’s one of those nights we’ll have to lick our wounds and congratulate Oldham. We’ll have to lift ourselves and go again on Saturday.

“A lot of the basics we didn’t do right. We turned the ball over cheaply when we got it back and didn’t get near them.

“We’re searching for excuses but Oldham were the better team on the night and we probably didn’t deserve anything out of the game.

“We have to dust ourselves down and go again. We’ll have to rally the troops for the weekend, because the weekend becomes important to us now.”

Graham Coughlan says that Oldham’s first goal sapped the confidence from his side.

“I didn’t believe after Saturday that we’d cracked it - and I think the players understood what I said after Saturday as well.

“When you come away from home and first blood goes to Oldham, we just looked as if we went backwards and were void of confidence.

“There were occasions where we couldn’t pass the ball and anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

“We’ve been preaching to the lads that we have to get in the oppositions’ faces - tonight unfortunately we were on the back foot and never got near them.”

The manager says that he ‘needs a reaction’ from his players when they take on Carlisle United at One Call Stadium this Saturday.

“The players have been struggling this season with confidence and negativity. We’ve given ourselves a mountain to climb this season, but if we can win on Saturday, that’s two wins in a week and it might be a start.

“All-in-all tonight wasn’t good enough and the dressing room will hold their hands up to that. They will react - I’m sure - because they have been trying really hard since we’ve come in.

“We’ll have to get the lads in and review tonight. We’ll sit down and do a mental job on the players, talk them through and point them in the right direction.

“But we need a reaction from them and the dressing room to pick themselves up and bounce back.”

iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the manager’s interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later tonight.

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Worst performance since I arrived says Mansfield Town boss Graham Coughlan after tired surrender at Oldham Athletic
chad.co.uk

Mansfield Town boss Graham Coughlan described tonight's 3-1 defeat at Oldham Athletic as the worst display since he became manager last month.

Players looked fatigued after Saturday's superb 3-0 home win over Bradford and had all their confidence knocked out of them before the break as they trailed 2-0 without any sign of a reply.

The defeat left Stags in 21st place, eight points off the drop, with a massive home game against fellow strugglers Carlisle United looming on Saturday.

“It's fair to say that was the worst performance since I've come through the door,” said Coughlan, who gave a debut to new signing Kell Watts, who arrived on loan today from Newcastle United.

“We didn't turn up to be honest. We were second best all night - the scoreline suggests that and the performance suggests that.

https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/worst-performance-i-arrived-says-mansfield-town-boss-graham-coughlan-after-tired-surrender-oldham-athletic-1378474

“Performances have been good and, on the back of Saturday, I was hoping for a little bit more.

“You could see we were physically devoid of energy. We couldn't press. We had no legs. We couldn't get near them.

“We'd expended a lot of energy on Saturday and maybe tonight was just a bridge too far.

“That's not like us. We haven't been playing like that.

“It's one of those nights you have to lick your wounds, take your beating and maybe congratulate Oldham.

“They were the better team on the night and we didn't deserve anything out of the game.”

He continued: “It's not a one-off performance. Over the course of the season it's happened on numerous occasions but it's the first time I have seen such a performance since I arrived. Too many players had an off night.

“There were a lot of the basics we didn't do right. We turned the ball over cheaply when we got it back. We didn't get near men, we didn't close down, we didn't press.

“I didn't believe after Saturday that we'd cracked it - not a chance.

“Away from home as soon as Oldham drew first blood we looked like we'd gone backwards and were devoid of confidence.”

Suddenly the Carlisle game has assumed even more importance.

“Now we have to lift ourselves and go again on Saturday,” said Coughlan.

“We have to rally the troops for the weekend as the weekend becomes important to us now.

“Six points from nine would be decent, given the circumstances. A second win in a week might be something for us to build on.”

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Maamria: “I'm A Big Fan Of 4-4-2"
oldhamathletic.co.uk

Latics put on an impressive display to pick up three points against Mansfield Town at Boundary Park and Head Coach Dino Maamria gave his verdict on the win.

The Head Coach was extremely proud of the performance from his side in the 3-1 win against the Stags.

"I think that we needed that so credit to the players. They applied themselves brilliantly and they focused on ourselves before the game because we knew that on Saturday, we didn't play any type of football.

"We had to go back and do what we do best, you know, footballers enjoy having the ball and that's what we've gone back to. I think that we were really brave to get on the ball and we played through the thirds, I thought the first-half was outstanding although the second-half was more difficult, we managed to get a third goal and we could have scored more.

"The most important thing from the game was the win and that's put us five games unbeaten now and it makes the picture much better."

https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2020/january/29012020-maamria-post-match-mansfield-home/

Maamria praised the character of the players to continue their unbeaten run to five matches.

"To be fair, I'm surprised at Mansfield because they have got a brilliant squad of players and it might be a better squad than last season and for some reason, things aren't going for them, but I watched the game the other weekend and they beat Bradford City and beat them well although it really wasn't about them, it was about us first and foremost.

"We've been very close to winning the last four games, drawing instead, I don't mind draws because you want to stay unbeaten, you don't want to lose the game and you want to keep picking up points.

"Yes, we should have won one or two more games of the previous four, but we didn't although I think that the Mansfield game was a complete performance, but it was disappointing to concede the goal in the last 30 seconds. You know what I'm like I'm a perfectionist and I like the perfect performance so that put a little bit of a dampener on it for me, but the boys were fantastic." He added.

"As a squad we are together, the lads on the bench, the lads who didn't play, the togetherness in the dressing room is the best it's been. I think that when adversity comes through the group of players showed what they're about really and that's probably gave me a lot of hope going forward because when things aren't going well and there's a lot of negativity around the team showed it's character. Are they going to fade away as individuals or are they going to come together and fight for the cause? We showed against Mansfield and we showed on Saturday to be fair when we came back in the second-half and the performance was outstanding."

Latics lined up in a 4-4-2 formation and that’s something that Maamria wants to continue into the future.

"I think that the pleasing thing was that we picked the right team for tonight anyway. We've been struggling with illnesses last week and there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes which people don't know about.

"I'm a big fan of 4-4-2 and I'm going to try and build a team around a 4-4-2, but sometimes with the personnel, it doesn't work how we want it to work.

"Against Mansfield, we found that team that I know is going to play a lot of good attacking football and hopefully we'll get stronger and stronger as the season goes on."

Striker Zak Dearnley was rewarded after his assist against Salford City with a start and the youngster certainly caught the eye again.

"Zak [Dearnley] has always been close to starting and we've been working on his fitness because he hasn't played any football for about six to seven months, so I've been trying to put him on in the last few games in the last half an hour or so and I felt that he was ready for the Mansfield game.

"He played around 60 minutes which is enough for him because we don't want to break him down, but he's got so much quality so when we get him fitter he'll be a very good asset for us." He commented.

"Cameron [Borthwick-Jackson] came on and made his debut and showed his quality especially his composure on the ball and he defended really well and got us playing from the back as well offering us that quality going forwards, which gave the team a lot of confidence in the middle of the park.

"Our midfield was also very good on the night, so it was a team performance and as I said, everybody contributed and a big well done to everyone.

"Cameron is a Premier League player playing in League Two. To be fair to him, he came in and put his head down and he knows what he needs to do to put his career back on track.

"He's a humble guy and his quality is there for everybody to see, we're lucky to have him and let's see what happens if we can keep him next season that would be brilliant. He is enjoying his football and he's another one that is very happy to be here and that's always pleasing to see."

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Hamer: "Massive Boost To Our Confidence"
oldhamathletic.co.uk

Latics managed to inflict a 3-1 defeat on Mansfield Town with Tom Hamer scoring one of the goals and the right-back gave his thoughts on the game.

The youngster claims that the lads have worked tirelessly on the training ground in order to turn these draws into wins.

"I thought that all the team played well as you can see we've been working hard in training and we've been working on how to play out from the back and play a bit better football than we did at the weekend against Salford City because we didn't really play out and we just lumped it forward, but I thought that the game plan that we had worked this time round.

"Obviously, it's a massive win and it just gives the boys a massive boost to our confidence. The last four games we've drawn which shows we've been hard to beat, but we just haven't had that clinical edge to finish the opposition off. However I think we did that against Mansfield. It's disappointing to concede right at the end, but it's just how it goes at least we got the win.

https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2020/january/29012020-hamer-post-mansfield-home/

"We were on the front foot from the start. The gaffer likes to press from the front and I think we did that and the performance showed that."

Hamer scored his second goal of the season and gave an insight into what happened for him to find the back of the net.

"I wasn't even ready for the corner, Wheatz [David Wheater] was telling Jonny [Smith] to stop and not take it, but I'd seen the space and I weren't actually marked so I ran into the space and gave it a little touch with the outside of the foot, hit the post and went in."

After the game, Head Coach Dino Maamria gathered the players on the pitch for a team talk and the defender believes it helps the lads get a tighter bond.

"I don't think there's anything to it, I just think it's getting the lads together and getting the team spirit up and obviously after the game it's just a little confidence booster for the lads especially now we've won. Yeah, it's just getting the lads together and keeping us as a team close together which I think is a good thing."

The 20-year-old expressed his delight to play alongside captain David Wheater in the Latics backline and explains how much of an influence he has had on him.

"Wheatz is an experienced centre-half, he played in the Premier League, Championship, League One and Two so he's played in every league notching up hundreds of games.

"It's good to play next to him because he gives you advice with his experience and he talks to you and obviously Pidge [Carl Piergianni] has come in and impressed with most recently Cam [Borthwick-Jackson] as well, he started for the first time and I think we're building a strong defence.

"Even the players who aren't starting like Zak [Mills] and Alex [Iacovitti], everyone's on the same page. We work on defending quite a lot in training so I think it shows in our last five games where we've conceded only four goals, two of which were soft penalties compared to the losses before. It would be better to keep a clean sheet of course, but it's showing vast improvements.

"I'm 20-years-old still and I've played every game bar not starting two matches against Bradford City and Blackburn Rovers, but other than that I've played every other game and at my age there's nothing better than you can do, so personally as a goal for me it's good."

Hamer discussed how much of a boost the signing of Danny Rowe was for the squad and praises his performances for Latics so far which has directly seen an upturn in form.

"I think Rowey [Danny Rowe] coming in has given us more options upfront, obviously he scored his goal against Salford and creates chances and you can see he's got it in him.

"He scored 30+ goals in the last two seasons, I know it wasn't in the Football League but it shows that he can score goals and with Jonny [Smith] staying, you know he'll get a goal as well so it's a bonus having them in the team, we're looking strong in every area now."

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Latest | January 2020