Rob wrote:As you say, it is far too early to get carried away but we are in a strong position given we are still carrying some expensive players. DF's second transfer window is coming up and I think by the end of Jan he hopefully will have more of his own players and less of Evans expensive flops.
I don't want to take anything away from Flitcroft's fine achievement of building a team that we're so proud of.
But I wonder who the "expensive flops" are that he's suffering from. You look back to February and we were three points from 2nd place and beating Exeter with a fine display just before the Scottish Manager left. Not really "flopping".
Mansfield Town produced a fabulous first half display and a gritty second half display to play high-flying Exeter City off the park at St James Park this afternoon
The team was;
Logan 7 A quiet afternoon with not a single shot to save, but showed his class by being so alert to clear a long ball into the area late on.
Anderson 7 Solid defensively and some good play moving forward down the right.
Pearce 7 Defended well. One fine header away.
Bennett 7 Very solid. Plenty of headers away.
Benning 8 Some fine attacking down the left with Hamilton.
Potter 8 Very good. Great cross which led to the goal. Some fine defensive play.
King 8 Really classy, quality on the ball.
MacDonald 7 Worked so hard, as he does every week. Good game.
Hamilton 8 Some great attacking down the left. Good to see him playing with freedom away from home. Some good defensive work.
Rose 8 Great display. Alert for his goal, his 17th of the season. Hit the post early on. Took a battering and kept going.
Hemmings 8 Superb effort was denied by an incredible save before Rose scored from the rebound. Very good all round display.
The only subs that are still with us are Atkinson and Mellis. I wouldn't describe MacDonald as a flop, he's just been injured too much this season. Anderson we can agree on, although it's a mystery what's going on there. Perhaps Butcher (who clearly isn't pulling up trees but is useful) and Sterling James (who was free from Solihull Moors and I doubt is costing much). But there are always going to be squad players who may become valuable later on in the season when we suffer injuries and suspensions, and I don't think that these examples are going to be so expensive that it makes a big difference.