All we want for Christmas is. . . .

It is that time of year when Christmas lists are being compiled.

And I would hazard a guess that top of almost every Stags’ fan’s list is a completion to the club’s takeover saga.

Where we are now with it is anyone’s guess.

But the longer it drags on, the more supporters get suspicious that something is going to go wrong and we will be back where we were.

The silence from all sides is deafening as solicitors exercise due diligence on their due diligence.

That initial rush of excitement as the takeover deal was agreed and announced has now been replaced by a feeling of frustration.

The home gate for the visit of Lewes last weekend was a tad disappointing and it won’t get any better with Christmas shopping ahead.

So wouldn’t it be a great Christmas present to get the deal sorted and into the FA Cup third round against a Premiership giant?

Harrogate Railway sit between Stags and a possible big day out. And for all the worries over an upset, I have to say I think Stags will win convincingly.

My diary is starting to look a mess with crossings out.

Two Saturday games have just been changed, Wrexham postponed and Harrogate moved to Sunday, then the Harrogate kick-off moved back five minutes from 1.15 to 1.10, and then the home Bradford game moved from a Tuesday to a Wednesday!

At least two weeks off gives injured players some respite as we build up to six crucial pre-Christmas games.

We have a trip to fading Rochdale and one to struggling Grimsby, winnable home games with Bury and Bradford inside four days, the big FA Cup televised game at Harrogate and the small matter of a local derby at Chesterfield to look forward to – six games that could all but make or break the season.

Plus, of course, an imminent announcement that could have far more long reaching consequences. Here’s hoping!

Lucky Bulls, burning Mickey Boulding on a bonfire and distracted psychics!

WHAT a kick in the teeth it was to lose at Hereford last night.

Mansfield had 80 per cent of the game and barely allowed the high-flying Bulls a pop at goal.

But Stags’ luck was out as Hereford grabbed a goal that proved to be well offside after surviving some fine Stags chances, added another and then rode their luck as the visitors pulled one back and battered them.

And, at the end of the tiring midweek journey back from Edgar Street I was further depressed by the news that the Wrexham home game on Saturday week had been postponed due to international call-ups.

But we are talking Wales here! Is that classed as proper international football now then? Well I never!

Seriously, I felt that game, coming on the back of the FA Cup clash with Lewes offered us a golden chance of a win in a real six-pointer.

Now, with Wrexham already having to slot in an outstanding League game with Rochdale in, it looks like we could be made to wait for the new date by which time form may have changed.

So we now do not have a League game until we travel to Rochdale in two and a half weeks time – not a place that Mansfield will relish having to go.

And, just as we were looking like injuries had cleared up and we had an almost fully fit squad, bang, bang, bang – down go John McAliskey, Simon Brown and Lee Bell in a day!

Does someone in Chesterfield have a long range snipers’ rifle?

However, despite the setbacks of the past 24 hours, let’s not forget Stags are in good form and about to face a side from Blue Square South in a first round FA Cup tie.

I know Lewes have only lost one of their 19 games this season and are flying high. And I am very glad this is not a tricky away tie. But I am confident Mansfield will be in the hat for round two on Saturday night.

They are a strange lot down in Lewes, according to my punk rock pal Attila the Stockbroker.

He tells me that the Cliffe  Bonfire Society holds the biggest bonfire parade in the country.

They have burned the Pope and many other effigies as a historic reference to the burning of Protestant martyrs in Lewes during the reign of Mary Tudor.

Other ‘Guys’ have included Osama bin Laden and Condoleezza Rice.

This year they burned the effigy of a seagull in protest at big brothers neighbours Brighton and Hove Albion being given permission for a new ground on Lewes’ doorstep!

Let’s hope by Saturday night they are building an effigy of Mickey Boulding to burn after his hat-trick knocks them out of the Cup!

I can think of one more person at Field Mill that a certain section of the crowd would like to offer up as a future victim for the Society too!

To all those stayaway Stags fans who have come back already, welcome home, you’ve been missed.

To all the waverers, come on down on Saturday and take the plunge while things are going reasonably well. It’s too early to be a bandwagon jumper yet!

And finally, what was psychic Dean Maynard doing on Tuesday night?

Was he watching Eastenders and forget about the Hereford game? Or did he just have a migraine?

Dean had claimed it was his channelling of his psychic energy since the Barnet game that had been behind the Stags’ recent revival.

Come on mate. Concentrate on the job in hand!

Seeya Saturday.