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Archived News from February 2018

EVANS, MACDONALD, MARK ROBINS REACTION
28th February 2018 17:15


Vital decisions cost Stags three points
mansfieldtown.net, Saturday 24 February 2018

Stags’ boss Steve Evans believes crucial decisions didn’t go in his side’s favour as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Coventry City at One Call Stadium this afternoon.

Frontman Kane Hemmings put the Stags ahead in the first half after Coventry’s Jordan Willis received his marching orders for a foul on Danny Rose, before midfielder Alex MacDonald conceded a second half penalty for allegedly bringing down Jonson Clarke-Harris, who duly stepped up and thumped the spot kick home.

After the equaliser, Stags had two strong appeals turned down for penalties of their own, with a free-kick being awarded for handball right on the edge of the Sky Blues’ box, before substitute Ricky Miller was booked for simulation.

And after saying he can’t fault his players’ effort at One Call Stadium, the boss believes his side came out on the wrong end of a number of major decisions.

“We’ve had enough entries into the box and good possession, good chances, half-chances, full chances but why don’t we win the game? Because the referee gives a penalty, which he’s entitled to do and I’m speaking with the benefit of watching it back, it’s not a penalty,” the gaffer said.

https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2018/february/crucial-decisions-cost-stags-three-points---gaffer/

“And if he gives that, he must give the one on Ricky Miller. We’ve just looked at it and there is a push. The handball is in the box by half-a-yard. I’m not going to fault my players today.

“I think we had enough good possession and we had enough quality play. We didn’t take our chances and that can happen. Nothing really fell for us in that little bit where there are ricochets in the box.”

However, regardless of the penalty decisions, the boss believes his side created enough goalscoring opportunities to win the game but couldn’t find the killer instinct required.

“It should have been over in 60 minutes, we should have been three or four up. I’ve just said to Kane and Danny Rose - we can’t have the entries into the box we’ve had week after week now and come in here with one goal to show for it.

“They’re both disappointed. It’s very hard for Ricky to come on. His touch lets him down a couple of times but he earns us a penalty that’s not given. If we get the penalty there in added time then we probably see the game through and we get the points.

“Credit to my players, we’ll bounce again. The quality of the football was stunning again, but I just said to the two strikers: you take the plaudits at the football club when you score the goals, our two strikers didn’t perform today.”

Over 1,500 Coventry City fans made up a crowd 6,105 at One Call Stadium and the boss lauded the atmosphere created by the two sets of supporters.

“Credit to the Coventry players; I’m not faulting their players. Their players have run to the end for their team, they’ve put their bodies on the line and the supporters were tremendous.

“The atmosphere was like a play-off game. The home support was brilliant and we just didn’t get it over the line today.”

Supporters can login to iFollow Stags to view the manager’s full post-match interview.

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‘The referee was shocking today’ - Evans
chad.co.uk, by JOHN LOMAS, Saturday 24 February 2018

Mansfield Town boss Steve Evans was furious with match referee Michael Salisbury as a tale of three penalties went against Mansfield in today’s 1-1 home draw with 10-men rivals Coventry. He was also angry at Coventry manager Mark Robins for verbal abuse of Mansfield striker Danny Rose during the game.

City down to 10 men since Jordan Willis was red-carded on 14 minutes and 1-0 down soon after, stole a point with a second half equaliser from the spot after Alex MacDonald was adjudged to have brought down Jonson Clarke-Harris.

However Evans said a replay showed it wasn’t a penalty and that a foul on Ricky Miller and a handball were at the other end, but not given.

“We feel really really let down by the match official today. He was awful,” said Evans. “We’ve had enough entries into the box and good possession, good chances. So why don’t we win the game?

Read more at: https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/the-referee-was-shocking-today-evans-1-9034482

“Well the referee gives a penalty which he is entitled to do. I am speaking with the benefit of looking back at it and it’s not a penalty. “If he gives that he must give the one on Ricky Miller. We’ve looked. There is a push. And the handball is in the box by half a yard. “The referee has been shocking today and he will be marked accordingly. “I won’t fault my players today. We didn’t take our chances and that can happen. On the day nothing really fell for us. “But he has given a very soft penalty at one end and not two concrete penalties at the other. “He allows the boy Doyle to stay on the pitch when he kicks the ball away and is already on a caution. His excuse is to come and give me a stage one warning. “I thought he was horrendous today. He shouldn’t officiate at this level. He’s just come up and should go back to where he belongs.” Evans also hit back at City boss Robins for his behaviour. “We appeal for everything and we get a name for it. But what we don’t do is abuse opposition players on the field of play,” said Evans. “That’s the second time. Gary Johnson did it here with Rose and I have just watched little Robins - the man who thinks he should be the manager of England - absolutely slaughtering Danny Rose on the pitch and it was ignored. We will raise that with the authorities. “I am absolutely furious. Just leave my players alone Robins - I will be speaking to you myself.” He added: “Credit to the Coventry players, they ran to the end of the team and put their bodies on the line. The atmosphere was tremendous. It was like a play-off game. We just didn’t get it over the line today. “We got the goal with a bit of fortune with a ricochet into the met. But we were commanding. “We should have been three or four up in 60 minutes. We can’t have that many entries in the box and only have one goal to show for it. The strikers are disappointed.”

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Full transcript of Steve Evans' bizarre Mark Robins rant after Mansfield Town and Coventry City draw
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/full-transcript-steve-evans-bizarre-14335754

This is the full transcript from Steve Evans's shocking rant at Mark Robins after his Mansfield Town side were held by 10-man Coventry City yesterday.

Evans launched astonishing attacks on Coventry boss Robins and referee Michael Salisbury at full-time.

In a video uploaded to the Stags's iFollow channel, Evans blasted "squeaky" Robins - and made a bizarre threat to speak to the City manager himself.

Full transcript:

“We’ve had good chances, half chances, full chances,” Evans said.

“But why don’t we win the game? Because the referee gives a penalty which he’s entitled to do. I’m speaking with the benefit of looking at it back - it’s not a penalty.

“But if he gives that, he must give the one on Ricky Miller, where there is a push.

“And the handball is in the box by half a yard.

“The referee has been shocking and he’ll be marked accordingly.

“He’s given a very soft penalty at one end and not two concrete penalties at the other.

“He allows the boy Doyle to stay on the pitch when he’s kicked the ball away, even though he’s already on a caution, and his excuse is to come and give me a stage one warning.

“I thought he was horrendous. He shouldn’t officiate at this level, he’s just come up - now go back to where he belongs.

“I’ve got to be careful what I say or I’ll be done by the FA on Monday, but we feel really, really let down by the match officials.

“When was the last time I spoke about a match official?

“Really let down, he was awful, he didn’t give us decisions that we thought we should have had many, many times.”

“We appeal for everything, but I tell you what we don’t do - we don’t abuse opposition players on the field of play.

“That’s the second time - Gary Johnson has done it with Rose, and I’ve just watched Robins, little Robins, the manager who thinks he should be the manager of England, absolutely slaughtering Danny Rose on the field of play - ignored.

“We’ll raise that with the authorities, that’s two managers that have done it.

“That’s the Gary Johnson who called my assistant manager names, and then squeaked when the FA went to him.

“I’m absolutely furious - but credit to Coventry players, I’m not faulting their players, they’ve run to the end for their team, they’ve put bodies on the line, the supporters were tremendous, the atmosphere was like a play-off game.

“We’re going to have counter attacks when they’ve got players like [Marc] McNulty, [Jonson] Clarke-Harris and [Michael] Doyle on big money, and little squeaky Robins, who says that they don’t do all that stuff.

“Just leave my players alone Robins, I’ll be speaking to you myself.”

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Stags frustrated with Coventry draw - MacDonald
mansfieldtown.net, Saturday 24 February 2018

Dynamic midfielder Alex MacDonald said he was left with an overwhelming feeling of ‘frustration’ this afternoon as Stags were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Coventry City.

Stags took the lead in the 16th minute as MacDonald’s free-kick from the edge of the box struck striker Kane Hemmings and wrong-footed Coventry ‘keeper Lee Burge. This came after the visitors were reduced to ten men following Jordan Willis’ foul on striker Danny Rose after the Stags top scorer had gone through one-on-one.

The hard-working MacDonald was then alleged to have brought down Coventry striker Jonson Clarke-Harris in the box and the Sky Blues’ forward then stepped up to dispatch the spot kick and level the match.

Despite the set-back, Mansfield continued to play the better football but were unable to find the winner which much of their play had deserved, according to MacDonald.

“For large parts of the game, we dominated. We didn’t quite put the game to bed as we should’ve done. We’re in there very, very disappointed that we’ve not got the three points today,” the former Burnley man said.

https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2018/february/macdonald-cov/

“At times, we played some really nice stuff but it’s all well and good playing that ‘nicey nicey’ stuff from box to box but in both boxes we’ve really got to take our chances and keep them out at the other end. We just didn’t really take our chances today.

“When you’re playing against an opposition team like Coventry, they’re a very good team and the way they set up, and the way they play, they’re dangerous at all times.

“When they go down to ten men in the first half, you’re thinking we really need to start turning this dominance into some more goals and get a more comfortable lead.

“That was the most frustrating thing today, that we had a lot of dominance. We had a lot of the ball, we were in the final third a lot but we just couldn’t turn that into goals.”

The former Oxford United man felt that he was harshly penalised for the collision which resulted in the Sky Blues being awarded a spot kick, but insisted that wasn’t the only reason why Stags didn’t emerge victorious.

“The penalty decision, for me, in my opinion, wasn’t a penalty.

“I’m not going to come out here and say to you that’s the whole reason why we dropped points today.

“We should’ve been a bit more clinical in the final third and we didn’t do that today."

Supporters can view Alex MacDonald’s post-match interview on iFollow Stags.

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MacDonald frustrated as Stags held by Coventry
chad.co.uk, by JOHN LOMAS, Saturday 24 February 2018

Alex MacDonald, Mansfield’s match-winning hero at Coventry, was left frustrated after conceding the penalty that saw the 10-men Sky Blues steal an unlikely point in a 1-1 draw at the One Call Stadium today. MacDonald was adjudged to have fouled Jonson Clarke-Harris in the box, but by then Stags should have been out of sight.

“It is frustrating. We dominated for large parts of the game but we didn’t quite put the game to bed as we should have done,” he said.

“The penalty decision for me, in my opinion, wasn’t a penalty. But I am not going to say that’s the whole reason why we dropped points today.

Read more at: https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/macdonald-frustrated-as-stags-held-by-coventry-1-9034474

“We should have scored more. We need to be a bit more clinical in the final third and taken our chances. “We didn’t do that today and that’s probably the biggest disappointment, not the penalty decision. “We had a lot of the ball and we were dominant in play. Today it just didn’t seem to click in the final third for us. “At times we played some really nice stuff box to box which is all good and well. But we have to take out chances and keep them out at the other end.” MacDonald had seen his free kick deflect home off Kane Hemmings on 16 minutes only for Clarke-Harris to bury his penalty. Stags had hit five past Newport in the last home game but, even that night, wasted a host of other openings. “We took our chances against Newport and still we were saying we could have scored more,” he said. “Today it’s cost us dearly and in the end we feel it’s two points dropped. “Playing against a very good side like Coventry, they are dangerous at all times. But when they go down to 10 men early in the second half, you think we really need to turn this dominance into more goals.” He added: “When we’ve had setbacks we have bounced back. Although this isn’t a defeat it feels like a defeat for having so much dominance. “We are now looking forward to getting back on the training ground and working towards a tough game next week.”

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INTERVIEW: Mark Robins reflects on his sides point away at Mansfield Town
Jonson Clarke-Harris rescues a point for the Sky Blues...

ccfc.co.uk

Mark Robins’ side have earned a hard-fought point at Mansfield Town’s One Call Stadium despite playing 75 minutes with ten-men.

Jonson Clarke-Harris penalty, which he won himself, brought City level with 15 minutes to go after Kane Hemmings first half goal gave the home side the lead.

“That was the brightest we have started for a while,” said Robins.

https://www.ccfc.co.uk/news/2018/february/interview-mark-robins-reflects-on-his-sides-point-away-at-mansfield/

“We tried to play a certain way and make sure that we nullified what they are good at. We did that, except for one ball through put on the back foot and Jordan Willis ended up stretching and reaching for it.

“We were then down to ten men. The players kept their head and kept going. We spoke at half-time about staying in the game and making sure that we were passing the ball and that earned us a way back in with the penalty.

“Clarke-Harris stuck it away brilliantly. It was a deserved point. We showed great battling qualities all the way through. We put some decent balls into the penalty area and we worked the ball really well down the left-hand side particularly.

“We were unfortunate not get a second, even. It was not to be, but this is a great point.”

Despite the early red card, Lee Burge was relatively untested in the Sky Blues goal and Robins’ side could have won the game but for a late tackle by Krystian Pearce on Jordan Ponticelli.

“There was not really any major threat on our goal,” said Robins.

“Their main threat was down the left-hand side with CJ Hamilton, so we needed the get the balance right and Jack Grimmer always copes with that. Dom Hyam has had some game time lately and he has more today.

“Then we just wanted to try and keep out two strikers on so that we had a goal threat. It was really early on to lose a defender like Jordan against a team that are flying.

He added: “This is a great point for us. We will take this and in adversity, a terrific performance.”

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Mark Robins delivers verdict on Mansfield point and picks out one Coventry City player for praise
Mark Robins was speaking to Brian Dick after the game

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/mark-robins-delivers-verdict-mansfield-14333262

Coventry City boss Mark Robins believes his side ‘dismantled’ Mansfield, deserved their point at the One Call Stadium.

The Sky Blues were under pressure for long periods after having Jordan Willis sent off just 15 minutes into the game.

They went behind almost immediately after the centre back saw red for bringing down Danny Rose and had to withstand severe pressure.

However, they did that, won a 71st minute penalty and earned a 1-1 draw when Jonson Clarke-Harris converted.

“It was a good point, with 11 players on the pitch we win the game. I think we have done really well,” Robins said.

“They are a good side, they have got some good players in the team. They have spent an absolute fortune, they have been the pre-season favourites and really we have dismantled them.

“We have done a terrific job tactically and I thought we were really good against a good side.

“The players have done brilliantly. It’s a tough place to come at the best of times.

“We have been on the back of a three game losing streak and we have got to come to this place, go to Wycombe and Lincoln at home at the weekend.

“It’s now stand-up time. You have got to stand up to it - and they have done it today, they were outstanding today.

“It’s 13 games and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Robins also reserved praise for Clarke-Harris who having been brought down picked himself up and assumed responsibility for the penalty.

He also had to deal with gamesmanship from Stags goalkeeper Conrad Logan.

“He just turned away from the goalkeeper, he didn’t look, didn’t get involved in the ridiculous antics that you see on the touchline and you see in the team and some of the players and just buried in brilliantly.”

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Robins delighted with battling Coventry in draw with Mansfield Town
chad.co.uk

Coventry manager Mark Robins was delighted with his side’s battling display to earn a 1-1 draw at rivals Mansfield this afternoon. Despite being 1-0 down and reduced to 10 men since the 14th minute, City stole a point with a second half penalty. “It is a really good battling point for us and we will take that,” said Robins. “We started brightly but were put on the back foot by one ball over the top that caught us out. “Danny Rose will go down under the slightest of contacts. We were doubly punished by the ball bobbling in from the free-kick. “That said we kept our heads and played some good football. We spoke at half-time about staying in the game and we did that. “We got a way back in with the penalty, which was stuck away brilliantly.” He added: “It was a deserved point and a battling point, we could well have won it late on. “We fought all the way through and put some decent balls into the box and threatened down the left hand side. “We were unfortunate not to get a second goal but we will take the point and move on.”

Read more at: https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/robins-delighted-with-battling-coventry-in-draw-with-mansfield-town-1-9034489

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INTERVIEW: Michael Doyle Reflects On Mansfield Result
The captain made his return at the One Call Stadium...

https://www.ccfc.co.uk/news/2018/february/interview-michael-doyle-reflects-on-mansfield-result/

The Sky Blues picked up a point in a 1-1 draw away from home against Mansfield Town in Sky Bet League Two action this past weekend.

Mark Robins side fell a goal and a man behind in the first fifteen minutes, when Kane Hemmings saw the ball ricohet off him from an Alex MacDonald free kick to give the Stags the lead.

The free kick had been awarded after Jordan Willis was adjudged to have brought down striker Danny Rose outside the box and was shown a red card.

However, the Sky Blues continued to battle and managed to find the leveller when Jonson Clarke-Harris was tumbled over in the area and the referee pointed to the spot and the striker took the penalty himself and made it 1-1.

The game also saw City skipper Michael Doyle make his return to the starting eleven, following an injury which had kept him out for the last three games, and he had this to say on the game:

He said: “It was a good shift. We started so well and it was just very naïve defending and it was so frustrating.

“Having been out of the team and watching the goals we have been conceding, I think we have been very naïve and it wasn’t like us at the start of the season.

“It was just a catalogue of errors and then to concede such a sloppy goal from the free kick, you’re thinking its going to be a long afternoon, but we had to get galvanised, organise ourselves, be hard to break down and sort out our shape and let their centre halves have their ball and it worked out.

“I thought we were fantastic, some of the football we were playing, we were the better side, we played them off the park and we had 10 men.

“It’s a start and when you’ve been on the kind of rut we have been on the last 3 or 4 games, losing becomes a habit, but to pick up a draw with 10 men I think it’s a massive result.”

Following City going down to ten men, Mark Robins switched to a 4-3-2 formation, keeping Jonson Clarke-Harris and Marc McNulty up top.

Doyle was then in a midfield three alongside Jordan Shipley and Tom Bayliss, two young midfielders who had broken into the starting eleven this season and the Skipper believes it will be a great experience for the duo.

“We need to build on today, I think at times we're making things difficult for ourselves, we need to be a lot stronger physically and mentally at times and we need a bit more know-how.

“I thought as the game went on we got stronger and for the likes of Shipley and Bayliss, that’s proper football for them; down to ten men and I think that’s probably the best game they will play in this season in what they will learn from it.

“These are the games that can change a season for you, so hopefully for us we can get on our bike and get up the table.

“Also, I think a lot of credit needs to got to the manager this afternoon, because I think a lot of other managers would have shut up shop and gone one up top, but he left Sparky (Marc McNulty) and Jonno (Jonson Clarke-Harris) up there and it’s got us our result in the end.”

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Latest | February 2018