Buckets and spades (but no boos) at the ready!

Buckets and spades at the ready – the English Rivierra here we come!

With all the excitement (?) of the two FA Cup ties against York City, it is easy to forget we are on a poor league run that needs halting – and it won’t be easy at Torquay this Saturday.

The Gulls are unbeaten in 10 games, eight of them victories, and are flying high. And you know what gulls can do to you when they are flying high above you!

But doubtless Stags will be backed by a decent following, many of who will have made a weekend out of the long haul (see you at the bar).

What we need is a victory and three points. What we don’t need is an extension to the recent row over booing.

While I would not wish to be booed at work I could understand fans’ frustrations after the home defeat by Wrexham and four straight defeats. I could see why they were so upset and frustrated and vented their feelings at the end. That’s football.

But I can fully sympathise with Billy McEwan’s anger over the booing at half-time on Tuesday night against York. That was plain daft and did nothing to help encourage the team.

Stags had come away from a very tough game at York with a replay on Saturday for which they deserved much credit. Many of us felt the FA Cup adventure would begin and end at Kitkat Crescent.

Okay so the first half of the replay was a tight, stale affair with little goalmouth action. But, even though we hadn’t tested their keeper, a decent York side had not really tested Paddy Gamble either and it would have been so much more productive to have given the side a huge Field Mill roar of encouragement as they came off.

Or is it they are now going to be booed every time they fail to turn in a sparkling 45 minutes while they are BSP level?

Yes you pay your money and have the right. And there will be times this season when I may join in the boos from the press box if deserved! But surely we all go down there and want to see them do well and would do whatever we could to help achieve that.

A second half like the first and an FA Cup exit as well and I could not have argued against a few boos of frustration. But let’s keep things in perspective and not make life even harder out there for a thrown-together side that is clearly struggling to find its feet but does have some talent that needs drawing out.

That said, we are through and have an unexpected trip to Saltergate to look forward to.

I can almost hear their chants now which will include ‘non-Leaguers’ and ‘scabs’ and, after their 11 goals in their last two games and our recent form, few will give us a prayer up there.

But if there is one competition in the world which is a great leveller it is the FA Cup and if we could win there it would possibly go down as Stags’ greatest ever victory over the old enemy.

It would also be the most unlikely given the two clubs’ current situations.

For those who go to every game home and away, there would be a small consolation in defeat. Victory will mean Weymouth away on second round Saturday will become a Tuesday night game!

Dorset on a Tuesday? Now that is something worth booing at!

Over-sensitive Billy – or did someone cross the line?

The thorny issue of supporters shouting at managers and players raised its spiky head again at Field Mill last Saturday.

Manager Billy McEwan was very upset by some of the comments directed at him at the final whistle and said so straight away.

But chairman Andy Perry was quick to defend supporters on Monday and say they were entitled to shout after a dismal showing.

So where do you draw the line?

It is a fact that fans pay their hard-earned cash to support their side and cheer them on if they are doing well but, equally, will holler their displeasure if things are not going well.

It is a natural reaction to what they are watching and this sort of thing has gone on for years.

People who have spent the whole week being told what to do by their own boss – and probably dreamed of being a footballer themselves – are bound to let fly when they watch what they see as men privileged to be paid for playing football not doing the shirt justice in their eyes.

As a manager or as a footballer, like it or not, by doing the job you choose to do you, you are all but agreeing that you will get stick. So was Billy being over-sensitive? Or did someone go too far?

But, that said, how much would any of us like it if someone walked into our work and shouted abuse at us. To be fair it has happened to me more than once down the years in my job

There is a level of professionalism that takes over and you try to deal with it and not react badly.

But there has to be a line that should not be crossed.

So it would be very interesting to know exactly what was shouted at McEwan as he walked off that pitch that caused him to react after so many years’ experience in the game .

He is the manager and he carries the can for his players’ performances. Full stop. Anything directed at him regarding the display, even with a few tasty expletives thrown in to add colour, is part and parcel of the game – like it or not.

But were these comments beyond that?

Sometimes people don’t just cross the line they positively pole vault over it and come out with disgusting things – family slurs, racial slurs, religious slurs, death threats, wishing terminal disease, anything – the worst possible things they can utter to get their anger out.

At this point you can understand why professionals break down and hit back.

Remember Eric Cantona’s infamous kung fu kick at the crowd, and TV shots of rugby players and ice hockey players wading into the crowd to sort out the loudmouths.

If you shouted those things at large guys in a shop, a car park or a pub you would generally expect a smack in the mouth. So why expect anything different just because you have the safety net of a few advertising boards?

Like I say I have no clues as to what was actually said but next time the Stags are under-performing, go ahead and vent your spleen – but do not cross that line.

Believe me, Saturday was as frustrating to watch from the press box as it was from the stands.

Once again there was an almost complete lack of penetration as another opposition goalkeeper picked up an easy day’s pay. And yet we created so many chances in those early games. They seem to have simply dried up

With McEwan going with two pacey wide men why oh why are Michael Blackwood and Nathan Arnold not trying to get round the back and taking players on in this league?

Both have the pace and the talent but both are spending more time coming inside or laying the ball off. To me getting those two doing what they do best is the key to getting things moving again.

Stags’ best bet of a cross coming in at the moment is right back Gary Silk who seems to be trying to cover every blade of grass and has quickly become the fans’ favourite after taking some nasty stick at the start of the season.

True, Lady Luck is certainly not interested in Stags right now, probably feeling she gave them enough earlier in the campaign.

But unless this side start believing in themselves and playing to their capabilities, this season is going to be a long struggle.

Maybe playing the next two games away from home against sides that – in their current form – Mansfield are not expected to beat will actually be a blessing in disguise as they can try to get things back together without the pressure of home supporters.

It’s York in the FA Cup this Saturday and, from a financial point of view, I can fully understand the club wanting to progress as much as possible in cup competition this season.

With promotion now looking an uphill battle, I can also understand fans who thing the season could be saved by winning a cup competition (though not the FA Cup)!

But, personally, with the current form and the size of the playing staff I would gladly bow out of all three cup competitions at the first hurdles if it means concentrating all efforts and resources on first making Stags safe and then trying to launch an assault on a play-off place.

A Wembley Play-off final place is the only final I feel interested in at this moment in time!

A ‘weekus horribilis’ at Field Mill

ANYONE who thought life would be less complicated and less frustrating with Keith Haslam gone can think again!

Stags’ ‘annus horribilis’ continued with an amazing ‘weekus horribilis’ this week.

Within the space of a few days we had back to back defeats, two controversial penalty decisions against us, four points deducted by the ‘holier than thou’ suits at the Conference, manager Billy McEwan fined for not wearing the correct shirt (‘snitched on’ by a fellow BSP club too) at Salisbury and the deadline for answering an FA charge against the Stags for a separate alleged transfer misdemeanour.

No wonder Billy was getting maudlin on Tuesday night and asking what he was doing working at this level of the beautiful game.

For Stags to lose four points that were so hard won on the field of play at Ebbsfleet and at home to Histon is a downright disgrace.

Where the hell has common sense gone? Sure, punish those who try to cheat – but that was never the case in this instance.

The Conference suits know exactly how bad the situation was at Mansfield Town in the summer and it was dire. There was certainly a point where there may have been no Stags this season.

Instead a number of dedicated people threw together a new club at the 11th hour and eternally deserve praise for it.

But instead of getting behind them as a new member club, the BSP seem to be happy to beat them with a big stick and put them in their place.

Those people know perfectly well that Stags did not cheat and that all the players were signed on time and the fax sent to them on time. All that is indisputable. But the fact the fax did not spew out of their machine at the other end suddenly makes your efforts tantamount to cheating. Ridiculous.

It makes you fear what is coming from the other case where Stags striker Aaron O’Connor is supposed to have been signed by Grays before joining Stags.

The BSP say the matter is in the hands of the FA and they won’t look at it until the FA findings are handed to them and they can see if Stags have broken any other BSP rules. You can’t help thinking they will probably be told they have no matter what.

The only hope is that can all spur the players into an angry reaction which will give them something extra on the field.

Sadly the misery over the four point deduction could not lift them enough to nail down Stevenage in a poor first half for the TV cameras on Tuesday night.

The second half was a different story and I have no doubt we deserved a point and would have had one but for keeper Paddy Gamble’s latest blooper.

He is an immensely talented young man with a potential future in the game but, like many players in the current starting XI, he has no real pressure on his place with such a limited squad.

I am not sure what constitutes an ‘emergency loan’ these days but some new faces in that dressing room would give everyone a spur and a boost.

On a brighter note at least the club’s new adminstration has been seen to be going the right way this week with the Safety Advisory Group allowing Field Mill full capacity again after long standing problems under Keith Haslam were resolved simply, quickly and amicably! Didn’t take much really did it?

And on a very bright note, my book – End of an Era: Mansfield Town, The Football League Years, has finally landed here after a delay at the printers.

For those who don’t know, this is a full colour 144-page book which looks at Stags’ proud 77 years as a League club, right from their formation and election and through their glories and miseries to the final, painful season.

What it offers that no other Stags books before it have done is a comprehensive look at the fans’ battle to rid the club of Keith Haslam and the takeover farce plus huge contributions of memories, pictures and memorabilia from fans, making it a real ‘people’s book’ which is what I always wanted it to be.

Those awaiting pre-ordered copies should check their letterboxes this week and anyone else wanting one can buy one from Chad, either over the phone, at our receptions or from our web site at www.chad.co.uk.

It’s been 77 years in the making, let’s hope my follow-up book – End of an Era: Mansfield Town, The Conference Year – is ready to write next summer as we reclaim our place in the League. We can but hope!