Archived News from July 2022
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CLOUGH AND PAUL WARNE REACTION
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Boss pleased by Millers’ display
mansfieldtown.net, Saturday 16th July 2022 Stags’ manager Nigel Clough says he is pleased with the ‘very good’ pre-season game played by both sides, as his team and Rotherham United battled it out for a 1-1 draw earlier today. The boss used the fixture to give first outings to new goalkeeper Christy Pym and defender Riley Harbottle. Rhys Oates climbed off the bench to level the friendly after Rotherham’s Joshua Kayode put the Millers in front after 60 minutes. Speaking to iFollow after the game the boss was quick to praise both players as well as lively forward Will Swan. Discussing Pym’s performance he said: “I am very pleased with the goalkeeper on his debut today. https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2022/july/boss-pleased-by-millers-display/ “I thought Christy was excellent, [as he] showed what kind of goalkeeper he is. “He is always on the front foot and his distribution was excellent.” On Harbottle, who signed earlier in the day on a season-long loan from Nottingham Forest, he said: “He [Harbottle] hasn’t even trained with us yet. “He has showed everything that he is about... honesty, commitment and challenging in the air. “He’s a wholehearted player who is incredibly honest. He may have played a bit less had (Elliott) Hewitt or (James) Perch been fit, but he got 75 minutes.” Will Swan caught the eye with a lively display and the manager said: “Swan’s movement and intelligence along with the other lads was very encouraging. “He is lively and alert, with excellent movement.” Evaluating the match on the whole the manager was pleased with what he saw this afternoon from his charges. “it was a good all-round exercise, playing and shape-wise, everything today. “When Hiram [Boateng] comes on, he gets us on the ball and gets us playing. “This coincided perhaps with them [Rotherham] taking off some of their first-choice players. “[The game as a whole] I thought was even. “They [Rotherham] put some good crosses in today, [which] is what Rotherham are all about. “Their quality at set plays [showed], and one they unfortunately scored from.” When asked about the latest on trialist midfielder Dylan McGeouch he said: “We left it open for him to come down [from Scotland], to train and play with us. “Dylan is a very good player as you saw today. “It is just [unfortunate] That we have seven midfielders [currently in the squad].” --------------------------- Mansfield Town unlikely to make a move for Dylan McGeouch chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Saturday 16th July 2022 Despite a superb display in today's 1-1 home friendly draw with Championship side Rotherham United, it looks unlikely Mansfield Town will sign former Scottish international midfielder Dylan McGeouch. The 29-year-old free agent has been training with the Stags since meeting up with them at last week's Scottish training camp. But midfield is one department boss Nigel Clough feels he has already filled. “We left it open for him to come down and play and train with us,” said Clough. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-unlikely-to-make-a-move-for-dylan-mcgeouch-3771108 “He called us in midweek and came down for a few days. “I now need to have a chat with him. “Dylan is a very good player as you saw today. “It is just we already have seven midfielders and it's not an area we are looking to strengthen at the moment. “Kieran Wallace is out for a few weeks, if that is going to be longer term then that may change. “We will invite Dylan down for a few more days if he wants to train more and play in the games on Tuesday and Wednesday as he is more than good enough. “We'd like to sign him in some ways. But we are quite strong in that area.” McGeouch was one of several new faces on display - and all impressed. “That was a very good pre-season game from both sides,” said Clough “It was pretty even today. They looked dangerous from set plays as they always do, and they put some great crosses in. “I was very pleased with the goalkeeper (Christy Pym) on his debut - I thought he was excellent. “He showed what sort of goalkeeper he is, he plays on the front foot, he is on the edge of his box and his distribution is excellent. “The two young lads from Forest also did well. “Riley Harbottle hasn't even trained with us, but looked comfortable and he showed us everything what he is about - his honesty, commitment, his challenges in the air. He is a whole-hearted player who is incredibly honest. “Will Swan also showed his movement and intelligence. We need people to find him with passes as he made several runs we didn't find him on today.” Rhys Oates scored an excellent late equaliser to earn the draw but failed to grab a winner when clean through soon after. “He should have scored a second as well,” said Clough. “He dawdled and dwelled on it and I didn't think it was a penalty. I thought the lad got a good challenge in.” Stags now prepare for more friendlies on Tuesday and Wednesday amid the expected heatwave. “We will try to stay out the sun,” said Clough. “We are training 8am on Monday to get an hour or two in before it gets backing hot. “Then we have pushed the kick-off back a bit for the Sheffield United game on Tuesday night. It will be hard going in that heat. “The weather should then have changed by the time we play Halifax on Wednesday lunchtime.” Clough will continue to look for one and possibly two more new faces. “One more would be ideal - maybe something a little bit different in a forward position,” he said. “I think we have 18 outfield players now and three goalkeepers. “There may be another one as well, but we have six weeks of the window left so there is plenty of time.” "James Perch felt his calf at the end of training on Thursday, and he is going to have a scan on Tuesday morning and we'll know a bit more then." While new keeper Scott Flinders was rested as a precaution after feeling discomfort in his groin yesterday. -------------------------- Warne acknowledges need to add to squad following Mansfield run-out https://www.themillers.co.uk/news/2022/july/post-match--warne-reaffirms-desire-to-add-to-squad-following-mansfield-run-out/ Manager Paul Warne reflected on his side’s pre-season outing at Mansfield Town. “I really enjoyed the game to be fair. The lads are getting used to patterns and triggers. It felt a lot more like us today. We crossed the ball a lot. We should have took more chances, possibly. “We were a little open at the back but we have a few issues and people playing a little out of position, but it was generally good. “The only downside for me is losing JJ. He’s going to be out for a long period of time. It’s a massive blow for us. We are down to two strikers in the middle. That’s a problem for us. “We’ve still got a lot to do but our better players got a good work out today and they are looking at little closer to how we want them to be. “Apart from JJ, we had no more injury issues. That’s good. The result is immaterial to me and that’s not what’s important to me in pre-season.” -------------------- Warne ‘One Or Two Injuries Away From Catastrophe’ https://rotherham.vitalfootball.co.uk/warne-one-or-two-injuries-away-from-catastrophe/ Rotherham United Manager Paul Warne told iFollow that he ‘really enjoyed’ today’s one all draw away at Mansfield. The Millers took the lead on the hour mark through Joshua Kayode but, the downside of the game, the Rotherham Boss said, is the injury to the young forward. ‘It felt a bit more like us today,’ Warney said after the game, ‘we crossed the ball a lot but possibly should have took more chances. And we were probably a bit more open at the back, but we had a lot of people playing out of position. ‘Generally it was good with the only downside is losing JJ who is going to be out for a large period of time. Everyone else came through OK but we are one or two injuries away from a catastrophe. Why does this happen to us? Training and pre-season friendlies seem to give us a lot of injuries - losing JJ is more than unfortunate in my mind. He’s been in other players shadows since he became a pro and this season, I thought, would be his time to shine. ‘We are now down to two strikers in the building,’ Warney carried on. ‘We are putting on sixteen/seventeen/eighteen year olds and Mansfield, who have greater strength and depth than we have, were fetching on professionals. ‘But our ‘stars’ got a good workout today. ‘But we need players and not only players, we need players who are better than we’ve got. I feel like we are nearly close to two and I should find out tomorrow. I’ve had set-backs in our recruitment, I haven’t intentionally dragged it out to the last couple of weeks. But we have found it difficult to recruit the players we want.’ -------------------------- |
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