Archived News from January 2015
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MURRAY, OLIVER, PAUL TISDALE REACTION
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Murray: Responsibility needs to be taken
mansfieldtown.net, 17th January 2015 Boss bitterly disappointed with performance in defeat to Exeter City. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/murray-responsibility-needs-to-be-taken-2209531.aspx#PtZ02XwtFTqi7XqL.99 Manager Adam Murray says our players need to take a long, hard look at themselves if they want to be successful, following today’s bitterly disappointing 3-2 defeat to Exeter City at One Call Stadium. With just a quarter-of-an-hour to play, our team were on course to pick up a much-needed win as goals from Billy Kee and Vadaine Oliver had overturned a first half strike from Exeter’s Tom Nichols. But two basic defensive errors allowed the Grecians to snatch three points and inflict a defeat which leaves us just a point above the Sky Bet League Two relegation zone. “[It was] rubbish,” said Murray, who was speaking in his post-match interview. “We’ve scored two goals at home and defended like an Under 16s team. For some reason, we find it hard to defend set-plays, so you try and help the boys out and bring everybody back so there are no excuses, and we still can’t defend. “I’m fed up of walking into a dressing room and people saying sorry. It’s not good enough. “The realisation of it is that we’re in a relegation battle. We’ve got 21 games left and we need to win a certain amount of them - that’s the way it is.” Our boss continued: “It’s a common theme that we’ve had over the whole of the season. We don’t know how to win. We get ourselves back into the game and then make some absolutely horrendous decisions and you can’t allow for that.” During today’s game, we had numerous efforts cleared off the line and Murray has called for our team to be more ruthless in both boxes - starting next weekend when we host high-flying Wycombe Wanderers. “In both boxes we’re not ruthless,” added Murray. “We created plenty of chances again, but we’ve got to score more goals than what we’re doing with the positions that we’re getting in. “In the other box, we can’t defend at the minute. It’s a flip of a coin what’s going to happen when it goes in the box and if people can’t take responsibility then we’ll sort that out. “It’s frustrating when we’re coming off the pitch and their manager (Paul Tisdale) says well played to your team. It’s annoying, it makes me more wound up, and it’s not good enough.” Adam Murray's full post-match interview will be available on Stags Player later tonight. To subscribe, click here. --------------- Stags manager Adam Murray furious with defending after Exeter defeat chad.co.uk Adam Murray was furious with his side’s defending as Mansfield Town let a 2-1 lead slip to a 3-2 home defeat in a thriller against Exeter City today. http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/stags-manager-adam-murray-furious-with-defending-after-exeter-defeat-1-7056904 Stags’ fate was sealed when Martin Riley’s dreadful backpass six minutes from time saw keeper Adam Smith end up conceding a penalty. Stags are now just one point from the dreaded drop zone back to the Conference. “That was rubbish,” said manager Murray. “We scored two goals at home but defended like an U16 team. For some reason we find it hard to defend set pieces. Today we brought everyone back so there were no excuses, but still couldn’t defend. “I am fed up with people walking into the dressing room saying sorry. Sorry will get you relegated. “The bottom line is we are in a relegation battle, we have 21 games left and we need to win a certain number. “It has been a common theme over the season - we don’t know how to win.” He added: “We got ourselves back in the game then made some absolutely horrendous decisions. You can’t allow for that. If people can’t do their jobs then they had better get a warm coat. “In both boxes we need to be more ruthless. We have got to score more goals from the positions we get into. “Then at the other end we can’t defend. It’s a flip of a coin what is going to happen when the ball goes into our box.” On Riley’s suicidal mistake at the end, Murray said: “You want to defend individuals when you can. But people have to take responsibility. “It’s not good enough. There were some good things today. But I would rather play crap and win. “It has to turn for us. Nothing has changed. We are in a relegation battle and we have been for four months. “Look at the goals we’ve conceded in the last seven games and a high percentage of them have been down to individual errors. “People are not playing through us or tearing us apart. It’s just basic mistakes. “People switch off and go away with the fairies. They ball-watch and wonder what’s going on.” For Exeter it was an end to a three game losing streak and manager Paul Tisdale said: “It was an end to end game and it feels all the more sweet when you win it. “But I wouldn’t like to think what Adam is thinking in the Mansfield dressing room because it is tough when you lose that type of game. “Mansfield played really well. They put so many crosses into our box and our defence was given a real test. It was a very challenging afternoon for us. “We had to clear off the line numerous times. We defended stoutly and we have come out on top. “We are not the biggest, most physical side but we coped pretty well. “We got the reward at the end for responding to being 2-1 down. That is what we have been good at this year, responding to conceding goals. “It was just what we needed for the rest of our season. “Today won’t have done us any harm. Our midfield had to be dynamic and tenacious. Ryan Harley movement across the pitch was excellent and Liam Sercombe had drive back in his game. David Noble won tackles in there and Arron Davies was bright and filled a number of positions for me.” --------------- Oliver: We’ll work hard to rectify things mansfieldtown.net Frontman keen to play his part and help us pull away from trouble. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/oliver-well-work-hard-to-rectify-things-2210080.aspx#Tlzs0TmtE7XzhFpF.99 Vadaine Oliver says our players will be doing everything they can over the coming week to help rectify the issues that cost us dearly in today’s defeat to Exeter City. The Stags were punished for three costly defensive mistakes - two of which came in the closing quarter-of-an-hour after we had established a winning position. The defeat leaves us precariously close to the bottom two ahead of next weekend’s clash with Wycombe Wanderers. “A lot of the boys are down about the result,” said Oliver. “We obviously got ourselves back in the game and I thought we were going to win it, so it’s a hard one to take really. “We came out in the second half and we were on top. We definitely ran the game and once we got the [equalising] goal from Billy [Kee], we knew that we’d get another one. I then got on the score-sheet and at 2-1 we looked comfortable. “For them to catch us on the break how they did and for us to make silly mistakes, it’s cost us. It’s a hard result for the boys to take.” “It’s hard to pick yourself up from it, but its football,” added the on loan Crewe Alexandra man. “You’re a professional and you’ve got to deal with the up’s and down’s. We’ll come in next week and work on things. The gaffer [Adam Murray] will have us doing double sessions and we’ll work hard to rectify things.” Despite today’s result, Oliver admits he is still happy that he’s agreed a deal to stay at One Call Stadium until the end of the season and wants to do everything he can to help us pull away from relegation trouble. He continued: “I’m happy that I’m here. I’m playing games and I’m getting goal, which is something that I wasn’t getting at Crewe, so I’m glad that I’ve been able to extend my loan. “At the end of the day, there’s nothing worse than getting a goal and thinking you’re going to win and then it all gets taken away from you. It’s hard to stomach. It’s nice to have got on the score-sheet, but I’d have much rather had the three points.” ------------- Don’t write us off for the play-offs yet - Stags striker Vadaine Oliver chad.co.uk Even though yesterday’s 3-2 home defeat by Exeter City left Mansfield Town a single point off the relegation zone, striker Vadaine Oliver still insists no one should write off Stags’ play-off hopes. http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/don-t-write-us-off-for-the-play-offs-yet-stags-striker-vadaine-oliver-1-7056975 Stags battled their way from behind into a 2-1 lead through Billy Kee and Oliver inside 11 second half minutes before being made to pay for two costly defensive errors. Nevertheless, Oliver insisted: “I did tweet about us making the play-offs this week and I honestly still believe we have that potential. “We have the players in that dressing room to do something this season. We have good options and experience and it’s good to be in and around this. I definitely think we can be a threat. “There are still 20-odd games to go so we won’t start getting panicky. But we must start picking up points. We can’t afford to throw away points like today. “The boys are down and beaten up about the result. “I thought we were going to win it and it’s hard to take. It’s very hard to stomach having it taken away from you like that. “We came out in the second half and we were on top. We definitely ran the game. Once we got the first goal from Billy, I knew were going to get the next one and I managed to score it. At 2-1 we looked comfortable. But we made silly mistakes. It is hard to pick yourself up from that but you are a professional and you’ve got to deal with it. We have to work hard to rectify it.” Oliver has just had his loan from Crewe extended until the end of the season and said: “I am happy to be here, playing and scoring goals. “Scoring his first goal so soon will be a massive confidence boost for Billy. “I like playing with him and you can definitely see he has got goals about him. Hopefully he can now get on a run and score more goals.” ----------- Tis: “Another juncture in our season” exetercityfc.co.uk Manager gives post-match reaction following win in Mansfield It wasn’t a normal type of performance for us - we really had to play in a robust fashion and I’m delighted for the players." Paul Tisdale Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale was understandably delighted for his team as they came out 3-2 winners from a trip to Mansfield Town. Read more at http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/article/tis-another-juncture-in-our-season-exeter-city-manager-paul-tisdale-on-3-2-win-at-mansfield-town-2210070.aspx#37bYkbL3X1H6i2D1.99 After taking the lead into half-time, City were trailing midway through the second period as goals by Billy Kee and Vadaine Oliver had the Stags back in front. However two goals in the final quarter of an hour for Exeter swung the game back in their favour, as three points were gained in the most dramatic of circumstances to take the Grecians to the 40-point mark and within a single point of a play-off place. City had had to battle hard and defend deep at times throughout the fixture, with the Stags particularly threatening with their deliveries into the box and aerial presence. Matt Oakley and Arron Davies in particular racked up a number of clearances off the goal-line, and stopper James Hamon had to make a number of smart stops. And when the Stags went ahead and had the ascendency, it needed a lot of composure from the Grecians to stifle their threat and work their way back into the game. Tis was hopeful that winning with such character would represent another big moment in their season, having lost the previous three games before the trip to Field Mill. “It wasn’t a normal type of performance for us - we really had to play in a robust fashion and I’m delighted for the players,” Paul said. “More importantly, we needed it. It’s very good for our season and just what we needed today. “If a team is going to cross the ball and put it in the box, there are two ways to deal with it. You either stop it coming in or you head it and clear it in the box. Mansfield did it very well and it got to the point that it was very difficult to stop it coming in. “They were pretty purposeful with their play, they pushed on and had good opportunities to cross it and gave our goal a real challenging afternoon. “James Hamon did extremely well for a young goalkeeper in the circumstances, and so did our defenders. We’re not the biggest or most physical defence but we coped with it pretty well. “Today won’t have done us any harm at all in the performance and the way we had to play. We didn’t have it our own way and didn’t have the opportunity to dominate the possession. Our midfield had to play in a dynamic and tenacious way. “It was another juncture in our season. We’ve had a few big moments - away at Cambridge was a big moment for us - only time will tell, but today is possibly another opportunity for us to get the wheels turning again off the back of a disappointing last two or three weeks.” It was a tenth goal of the season for Tom Nichols that got the Grecians going on stroke of half an hour, deftly glacing in a right-flank cross by Arron Davies. And after Kee and Oliver had turned it around, it was a fine finish from Scot Bennett - sweeping home after being left free from a corner - and a penalty from sub Alex Nicholls that won it for Exeter. The penalty came as Nicholls pressured the Stags defence into a loose back-pass, allowed David Wheeler to draw a foul from goalkeeper Adam Smith. Paul had praise for the way the Grecians worked their openings in different manners, as well as converting their chances at vital times. “Arron Davies worked the cross really well and didn’t panic - he did a really good job in getting that cross in and it was a lovely header from Tom,” he continued. “All the goals had merit. I really liked the last goal - Alex Nicholls chased in behind and David Wheeler read it and followed it up. “It is often the next person on the scene which makes the difference, but it has to come from the first person that sets it off and Alex chased it and David chased and pressurised their ‘keeper into a mistake - and well done to Alex for sticking it away.” ------------------- Nicholls: “We held our chests out and put our chins up” exetercityfc.co.uk Forward praises character of team after winning from behind It’s a credit to us to have fought back - after the way the last three results have gone, another team would have crumbled." Alex Nicholls Nicholls: “We held our chests out and put our chins up” Forward praises character of team after winning from behind Read more at http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/article/nicholls-we-held-our-chests-out-and-put-our-chins-up-alex-nicholls-on-3-2-win-at-mansfield-2210660.aspx#PS06hLHzIKCj3eQP.99 Exeter City forward Alex Nicholls was full of praise for the character that his teammates showed in the face of adversity by coming from behind to beat Mansfield Town 3-2. City had initially taken the lead through Tom Nichols, by Billy Kee and Varaine Oliver each scored after the break to put the Stags 2-1 ahead. It was at that point that Alex Nicholls was introduced, with a little over quarter of an hour to go. And Exeter scored twice in the space of four minutes as Scot Bennett swept in a corner from Liam Sercombe and Nicholls converted a spot-kick after goalkeeper Adam Smith felled David Wheeler in the box after he nipped in on a lax back-pass. Alex was particularly pleased with the kind of charisma that the team showed to battle back from their position to take victory. “It’s a credit to us to have fought back - after the way the last three results have gone, another team would have crumbled,” he said. “But at 2-1 down, we’ve got strong characters in the dressing room and we held our chests out and put our chins up and we went for it. “Scotty [Bennett] got a good goal - I thought he was brilliant today after he came back into the team today, and I was happy to get the winner at the end. “We got that goal from being on the front-foot. I’ve run into the channel and put the defender under pressure, and if Dave isn’t as switched-on and alert as he was, we wouldn’t have won the penalty.” Tom Nichols’ goal on the half-hour - his tenth goal of the season - was a well-directed header from Arron Davies’ cross. Alex admitted that he didn’t have the chance to admire its quality as he was busy preparing himself - but was full of praise for his teammate on his landmark goal. “I missed Tom’s goal, to be honest - I was just putting my shin-pads in!” he said. “But Tommy has been fantastic since I’ve been back. He’s putting the ball in the back of the net and that’s the biggest thing for a striker.” With 15 minutes to go, City were facing the prospect of a fourth straight defeat. But Nicholls is hopeful that a resilient showing will mark the start of another upward curve for the Grecians. “With the last few weeks we’ve had, winning a game like that at the end would lift any team,” Alex continued. “We’re just thankful to get the three points and hopefully we’ve turned the corner after the last few weeks of disappointing results. “Mansfield have strengthened so far in January and there is a bit of freshness to them, so we knew they were going to come out sharp and that’s exactly what they did. “They had got a good squad and they put us under pressure for long parts of the game, especially at the start of the second half. “But it’s gone for us today. In the last two or three games things haven’t gone for us - today we cleared stuff off the line and we could have been a couple of goals down after 20 minutes of the second half. “We stuck in there and rode our luck at times, but we’re happy to get the result. “When you win games like that at the death and when you have rode your luck, it can give you that bit of extra confidence. “Hopefully we can go into the next game with a bit more spark about us, and go to Oxford get another three points to get back-to-back wins which would push us up that table nicely.” ----------------- Martin Riley @LifeofRiley6 Amazing performance from the lads today and i cost us the three points. No one else to blame but myself. I take responsibility ---------------- |
Latest | January 2015