Archived News from November 2008
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McEWAN AND BUCKLE REACTION
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McEwan slams sorry Stags after poor second half proves costly
CHAD.co.uk MANSFIELD Town boss Billy McEwan laid into his side for their poor second half display in a 2-0 defeat at in-form Torquay United on Saturday afternoon. Full interview at CHAD.co.uk here The Stags wasted a solid first 45 minutes with a poor second half that saw them concede two poor goals to extend the Gulls' run to 11 unbeaten matches. Torquay United 2 Mansfield Town 0 The result was Stags' fifth consecutive BSP defeat and sucks them to within a point of the relegation zone. "I have ripped into the players for that second half showing. Some of the stuff going on out there was just not acceptable," lashed McEwan. "The second goal was just schoolboy stuff . "I thought we did okay in the first half, looked quite solid and had some good situations. We were the better side. "I said at half time the only way we would lose the game is if we gave it away ourselves and that's what we did - we shot ourselves in the foot. "We knew it would be hard with the wind against us. But the two goals we conceded were poor. "Let's not forget we were playing against a side who are on a bit of a high and we knew it would be tough here. But we looked comfortable in the first half and had more shots than them while Paddy Gamble only had one save to make. "But we can't give goals away like we are and expect to get anything. "We changed our shape when they scored their first goal. We started with three up front and you can't get much more adventurous than that away from home. It worked well at York. "We knew we would be in a battle looking at their league position. "Torquay have dangerous attacking players but I thought we contained them very well in the first half. But in the second half they were the better team and took their chances - we didn't. "It was our third tough game in a week after two clean sheets and I felt sorry for our fans who had come a long way to support us and we couldn't manage to get anything for them which was disappointing." ------------ McEwan defends Stags' changes thisisnottingham.co.uk BILLY McEwan defended his decision to change a winning Mansfield Town side at Torquay to hand a debut to midfielder Adnan Ahmed Full interview at thisisnottingham.co.uk here The Stags had beaten York 1-0 in a midweek FA Cup replay through Matt Somner's strike. But the Mansfield manager still chose to bring in Ahmed – a loan signing from Tranmere – as well as Aaron O'Connor, at the expense of Gavin Hurren and Emile Sinclair as the Stags lost 2-0 at Plainmoor yesterday. "It was a big thing for Adnan to come into the side here," said McEwan. "He has got experience at a higher level at Huddersfield and Tranmere but he has only been with us for three or four days. "It was tough for him, but that's the decision you have to make. If you don't play him, people say why haven't you played the new signing. %3Cbody%3E%3Cdiv%20id%3D%22adDiv%22%3E%3CA%20HREF%3D%22http%3A//ads.anm.co.uk/ADCLICK/CID%3Dfffffffcfffffffcfffffffc/AAMSZ%3D452x118/SITE%3DTHISISNOTT/AREA%3DFOOTBALL/SUBAREA%3D/ARTICLE%3D444033/acc_random%3D8963067626/pageid%3D/RS%3D10307.%22%20target%3D%22_new%22%3E%3CIMG%20SRC%3D%22http%3A//iad.anm.co.uk/anmdefaultad.gif%22%20ALT%3D%22%22%20border%3D0%20style%3D%22margin-bottom%3A%200px%3B%22%3E%3C/A%3E%3C/div%3E"If you do, they say why have you changed a winning team (who beat York 1-0 in the FA Cup). You are on a hiding to nothing. "It is easy to pick the team in hindsight and a lot of people can do that, and say why didn't you do this and that, but decisions have to be made. "We changed our shape when we lost the first goal and went more adventurous, even though you can't get much more adventurous than playing three up front as we did in the first half." ------------------- Carayol given licence to run at defenders http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/gulls GULLS BOSS Paul Buckle revealed that he faced a difficult selection decision before picking man of the match Mustapha Carayol for Saturday's 2-0 home win over Mansfield Town. "Both Mussy and Danny Stevens are flying in training," said Buckle. "So, with Wayne Carlisle out at the moment, it was a real toss-up which one I played. "I know Danny is desperate to play, and it's been difficult with both of them because Wayne has been in the side, making goals and scoring goals. "I went with Mustapha and gave him a licence to go at defenders. "I don't want him to be afraid of making a mistake, as long as he reacts well when he does make one. "When he runs at people, he's almost unplayable. "Once Mansfield had to come at us, they were always running a risk, because we've got a lot of pace in the team. "And I thought Mustapha was very hard to handle. "The conditions played a big part. "It was one of the main talking points for us before the game — we had to be ready for the conditions, as well as be ready for Mansfield. "It was imperative that we were disciplined and organised with the wind against us in the first half. "I thought the players deserved a 'Well Done' at half-time. "They were no-nonsense, they cleared their lines and they stayed with runners. "We said at half-time 'Now it's a different game — we can be all over them'. "With the crowd behind us, we totally dominated in the second half. "The atmosphere was terrific, with our fans paying good money to come out in awful conditions. "What the Plainmoor crowd want to see is effort and work-rate, and that's been the foundation of our success of late. "We've had that in place, and then we play. "I thought some of our wing play and some of the passing was excellent. "It was a really good all-round performance." Mansfield manager Billy McEwan said: "I've ripped into the players for the second half performance. "Some of the stuff out there isn't acceptable. "We knew we were in a battle, and it was always going to be a hard game. "But at half-time I felt comfortable. "I thought we did OK in the first half, we looked quite solid and had some good situations. "I said at half-time that the only way we would lose the game is if we gave it away ourselves. "That's what we did. "Both the two goals were too easy for them. And the second was schoolboy stuff. "Torquay have dangerous attacking players, but we contained them very well in the first half. "But in the second half they were the better team, and they took their chances." ------------------ |
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