Archived News from February 2022
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CLOUGH REFLECTS ON SIGNINGS AND INJURY NEWS
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Boss evaluates Stags’ transfer business
mansfieldtown.net, Thu 3 Feb 2022 Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough believes his side is ‘definitely’ stronger than it was before the January transfer window. The Stags signed forward Lucas Akins, versatile defender/ midfielder Kieran Wallace, attacker Jamie Murphy and midfielder Matty Longstaff and extended the contract of key performer John-Joe O’Toole. Speaking to iFollow Stags, the boss reviewed the club’s business. When asked if the squad is stronger than before January, the manager said: “Definitely, yes. “Certainly, in terms of quality [it is]. In terms of quantity, we’ve trimmed it back a little bit numbers wise. https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2022/february/boss-evaluates-stags-transfer-business/ “I think when [some] of the [young] lads go out on loan [the squad will be trimmed nicely]. James Gale is ready to go out, Ryan Burke is ready to go out and Jason Law. “Jason Law will only go out now because of [the introduction of deadline day signing] Matty Longstaff coming in at the last minute. “That leaves us with the 18 outfield [players] that we wanted. George Lapslie is injured and will be for a little bit longer than we anticipated, but that still leaves us with a very good 17 and the 3 goalkeepers.” The manager believes the Stags’ current run of form has helped to attract players with Premier League experience, such as Longstaff. “When you are down towards the bottom [of Sky Bet League Two] and people have a look at the league, then inevitably people maybe [think you’re] fighting at the wrong end of the table,” he said. “I think with the run [we’ve been on] and all of a sudden you win 25 points out of 27, which is incredible return, people look and think ‘they must be doing alright at the moment.’ “In Jamie Murphy’s case, we’ve worked with him a couple of times before [so know his quality].” With the introductions of Longstaff and Murphy, the club’s two deadline day additions, the manager believes he has the personnel to adapt his system depending on the opposition. “I think that [rotation] is what was highlighted on Tuesday [in the 0-0 draw away at Harrogate]. “The running stats, we could see without having them confirmed, but the running stats were down, for the midfield mainly, George Maris was done, Ollie Clarke was down, Ryan Stirk was down, Jordan Bowery was down. “If the [new] lads had been available, they’d have probably played. “If Lucas [Akins] was fit he would have definitely started, Kieran Wallace the same. “Danny Johnson has not played a game since he’s come back from injury, James Perch is just coming back, so there’s four on the bench who couldn’t necessarily start and then the other two you’re left with are Jason Law and Ryan Burke. “Jason Law struggled when we played there in the EFL Trophy, so there wasn’t a lot of options apart from to go with the same XI. “When Lucas came on for half an hour and Kieran Wallace, it lifted us and gave us some fresh legs. “Looking forward, certainly with the amount of quality, we can change three or four if we’re playing Saturday, Tuesday without affecting the balance and effectiveness in the team then we'll certainly look at that. “We put so much effort in [in games] and I think the supporters see that. When we beat Orient on Saturday, we had to work unbelievably hard to get the victory and the emotions of breaking the record; to go again three days later is a big ask. “So, if we can look at changing three or four players, we’ll be doing that. “When we were missing nine or ten players most weeks, we struggled to win games. "We also have the option of changing the formation, which we did a bit the other night going 4-3-3 which we did with Quinny wide one side and Jordan the other. We had to be nice and solid against the wind in the first half. “All of a sudden, we’ve just got Laps on the side-lines, Kellan is a bit more long-term and that’s it. We want it to stay like that. "And we can also call back the lads who are out on non-league on loan. “With 19 games to go, most of the lads are looking fit and strong at the moment and we’ll take our chances that it will stay like that for the next three months.” The return of James Perch in recent weeks, after fracturing his skull, has given Mansfield further reinforcement as the club look to challenge for promotion. “The way he [James Perch] headed that ball from a corner at Harrogate on Tuesday night is as much feedback as we needed [on how he’s coping with his return to playing],” said the boss. “They [Harrogate] got a corner with a few minutes to go and Quinny was shattered, we just put him in there and he went and headed it as though he hadn’t been away at all. “That was as much of a confirmation that we needed that he’s okay.” "We've got a couple of games coming up later in February in the Premier League Cup against Wigan and Leeds and he's down to play in those, but if we need him in the meantime we'll use him. The manager provided an update on defender Richard Nartey, on loan from Burnley. “[The situation with] Richard is a funny one. We had a chat with Burnley, they have in the agreement the option to recall him, we didn’t have the option to send him back,” said the gaffer. “Richard initiated it really and said ‘is it okay if I have a word with Burnley? I understand people are getting fit and Perchy is back and so look at going back and getting somewhere on loan’. “I had a chat with Sean Dyche and what we’ve agreed is we keep his registration, so he’s still with us but he goes back to Burnley, plays for the 23s and trains with them. “If we need him, we can call on him but essentially, he’s gone back to Burnley, apart from we keep his registration. “I think it’s worked out well for everybody.” "We enquired about Will (Forrester) coming back, but they (Stoke) were keen on keeping him." "George Lapslie had a scan on Monday on his thigh, it's a little bit worse than we thought it was so we're looking at another 3 weeks from now. He had this niggle before a few weeks ago." Watch the manager’s interview in full now on iFollow Stags by clicking here. --------------------------- Nigel Clough later told Colin Hazelden of BBC, video on iFollow Stags, 7 Feb 2022: on the transfer deadline day deals: "What we don't want to do is give the impression that we're splashing money, because the two players that have come in, have saved us money on the two or three that have gone out." (Comment by Martin: presumably referring to: in: Longstaff, Murphy; out Charsley, O'Keeffe. I think this strongly suggests that we are not paying Longstaff's wages.) ------------------------ Nigel Clough believes Mansfield Town squad is much stronger after January transfer business chad.co.uk, By Mark Duffy, Thu 3 Feb 2022 Nigel Clough believes Mansfield Town’s business in the transfer window has resulted in him having a slightly smaller but much better quality squad at his disposal for the closing stages of the season. Stags saw several players come in and go out during January as Clough endeavoured to fine tune his squad to be one capable of maintaining the club’s recent excellent form and sustain a challenge for promotion. And he now believes the quality is there to do just that. He said: “It’s definitely a stronger squad than we had at the start of the transfer window, certainly in terms of quality. When it comes to quantity, we’ve had to trim it back a little bit numbers-wise, plus there are lads ready to go out on loan like James Gale and Ryan Burke, plus Jason Law who can now go out because we’ve got Matty Longstaff in. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/nigel-clough-believes-mansfield-town-squad-is-much-stronger-after-january-transfer-business-3555021 “That leaves us with the 18 outfield players that we wanted, and although George Lapslie is injured and will be out a little longer than anticipated we’re still left with a very good 17 and then the three goalkeepers.” With Mansfield being in such a rich vein of form which saw them win a club record eight league games in a row before Tuesday’s 0-0 draw at Harrogate Town, Clough thinks that has made it easier to attract better quality players and therefore given him the luxury of being able to tinker with his starting eleven without weakening the side overall. He said: “When you’re down towards the bottom and people have a look at the league, they inevitably think you’re fighting at the wrong end of the table, but I think when you’ve won 25 points out of 27 it’s an incredible return so people look at that, deduce we must be playing well and think it’s a good move. “I think it was highlighted on Tuesday [at Harrogate] that our running stats were down, mainly in midfield, so had the new lads been available they definitely would have started but as it was we didn’t have a lot of options other than to go with the same eleven. “When Lucas Akins and Kieran Wallace came on for half-an-hour it lifted us again with the fresh legs, but looking ahead, if we can change three or four when we’re playing Saturday/Tuesday but without affecting the balance and effectiveness of the team we’ll certainly look at that. “It’s because we put so much effort in and I think the fans saw that against Leyton Orient on Saturday where we had to work unbelievably hard to get the victory, so to then have to go again three days later is a big ask. “So if we can just change three or four players, which we now have the option to do, we’ll be doing that. “It was very difficult when we were missing nine or ten players and most weeks we struggled to win games, whereas now we really only have George Lapslie and Kellan Gordon on the sidelines and that’s it, and we want it to stay like that. “It’s a little bit of a gamble in terms of numbers but we can always call lads back who are out at non-league clubs on loan if we’re desperate, but with 19 games to go, most of the lads are looking fit and strong at the moment and we’ll take our chance that it’ll stay that way for the next three months.” ------------------------- Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough gives update on Stags players including Burnley and Stoke City loanees chad.co.uk, By Mark Duffy Nigel Clough has updated fans on the situations regarding some of the club’s loanees and injured players. Richard Nartey has returned to Burnley to train and feature for their U23s, but can still be used by Mansfield Town if required. With Mansfield Town having done plenty of business in the January transfer window, there remained question marks as to whether existing loan players would remain at the club and how close to a return to action some of Stags’ injured squad members are. And Clough has clarified where things stand, firstly with on-loan defender Richard Nartey who has featured only three times since signing from Burnley last summer. Clough said: “It’s a funny one with Richard. In the agreement we have with Burnley they have the option to recall him, but we don’t have the option to send him back, so we didn’t do anything and in the end Richard initiated it and said he wanted to have a word with Burnley given we had players getting back fit, to see if he could get somewhere else on loan. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-boss-nigel-clough-gives-update-on-stags-players-including-burnley-and-stoke-city-loanees-3555074 “I had a chat with Sean Dyche and we’ve agreed that we keep his registration so he’s still with us, but he goes back to Burnley, plays with the U23s, trains with them and then if we need him we can call on him. “So essentially he’s gone back but we’ve kept his registration, so it’s worked out well for everybody in that if we have a crisis injury-wise we can call him back, but it will benefit him more to be playing in their U23s and training full-time with a Premier League side than playing the odd game here given he’s coming back from injury.” Another loanee, however, won’t be returning to One Call Stadium, with defender Will Forrester’s deal from Stoke City not being extended. Clough said: “He’s definitely staying at Stoke. We enquired about him coming back but they were keen on keeping him so he’s remained with them, but it was another good loan. "We knew he had a knock when he arrived and it took a week or two longer than we thought it might to recover but the games he played saw him acquit himself very well and he scored a very important goal in the cup at Doncaster, before he then got another injury which ended his spell, but he’s a good lad.” In terms of Mansfield’s own players, James Perch has returned to action following a long spell out due to a fractured skull, which it was initially feared would rule him out for the season. But he came on as a substitute at Harrogate Town on Tuesday night and Clough said any doubts as to whether Perch was ready to return were soon dispelled. He said: “We didn’t need feedback on him - the way he headed a corner away as soon as he came on at Harrogate was as much as we needed! He headed it as though he hadn’t been away at all, so that was as much of a confirmation we needed that he’s OK. “We’ll keep getting him on the pitch. We’ve got a couple of games coming up later this month in the Premier League Cup against Wigan and Leeds, so he’s down to play in those but if we need him in the meantime we’ll use him.” Midfielder George Lapslie, however, will be out of action for upcoming matches due to a groin injury, with Clough reluctant to rush him back until he’s fully ready to perform without the risk of further injuries. He said: “George had a scan on his thigh on Monday and it’s a little bit worse than we thought it was so we’re looking at maybe another three weeks for him now. "He had a niggle before this a few weeks ago and now the groin, so we want to make sure we get him completely fit so that if he’s available for the last 14 or 15 games that he’s ready for those.” ------------------------ |
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