Archived News from September 2012
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COX AND ROB SCOTT REACTION
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post match interview with Paul Cox ---> http://soundcloud.com/mansfield-103-2-sport/sets/27-08-2012-grimsby-town-4 VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM Grimsby joint manager Rob Scott told BBC Radio Humberside: audio interview ---> http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19315167 "We knew that performance was there; we saw it pre-season against Scunthorpe and Hull. "I thought they showed good courage after the Nuneaton game at home - probably quite rightly the fans vented their frustration because it wasn't good enough. "Today they showed the confidence and the bottle to get on the ball. "People probably think we're mad at times when we say there's goals in the team - it was just a case of it clicking." ----------------- Stags manager Paul Cox says 'it's back to the drawing board' after 4-1 drubbing at Grimsby chad.co.uk, By John Lomas STAGS manager Paul Cox threatened to make big changes this week after seeing his side lose and concede four goals for a third time in five games with a 4-1 defeat at Grimsby Town today. http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-fc/stags-manager-paul-cox-says-it-s-back-to-the-drawing-board-after-4-1-drubbing-at-grimsby-1-4871510 Cox said: “This job is a lonely place right now but I will turn things round. “If I am honest I knew things weren't right going into this game which is why I was trying to do things this week. The two wins have probably papered over the cracks. “It's back to the drawing board. You can't defend like we have been defending and expect success. “All the players will be in at 9am tomorrow and I will be talking to them. I am not going to air my dirty linen in public. “It needs drastic changes and I have some big decisions to make this week. “What upsets me most is that last year some people were moaning and groaning about the way we played. But we were organised, structured and hard to beat. “Today Grimsby did to us what we did to other teams last season. We got bullied and beaten up all over the park and couldn't defend set pieces.” He added: “I thought we competed well for the first 35 minutes and had a couple of good chances. Their first goal was a top corner wonder goal but it was the penalty just before half-time that killed us. “It was a stupid penalty to give away. He (Jake Speight) didn't have to dive in like that.” Cox refused to confirm he was trying to lure Exodus Geohaghon back from Kidderminster after his successful loan spell last season but said: “It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what we need. “The statistics so far this season tell the story. I can't brush it up or put any gloss on it. We can't have days like this and the buck stops with me.” ------------------ Mansfield Town boss Paul Cox promises to ring the changes Nottingham Post MANSFIELD Town boss Paul Cox has promised drastic changes and to go back to the drawing board after another humiliating defeat. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/story-16771940-detail/story.html The Stags lost 4-1 at Grimsby Town yesterday – shipping four goals for the third time in five matches this season. They have now conceded 14 goals. The Stags boss is looking to bring back giant defender Exodus Geohaghon this week, after he starred on loan at the end of last season when Mansfield finished third, only to join Kidderminster in the summer. But ahead of entertaining Woking this Saturday, Cox said: "We tried to change it to get us back in the game but you cannot defend like that and expect to be successful so it is back to the drawing board. "It does not take a rocket scientist to work out why we have been trying to get in centre backs and defenders. "The statistics tell the story and I am not going to try to brush over it. It is what it is and needs solving. "You have to look at it and it is about defending as a unit. We came here after two wins and I expected more from us. "Something needs doing asap. I am going to have a think for 24 hours but it needs drastic change. "I am not going to get involved in who is going and who isn't. I will think about it. We have shipped a lot of goals and it is a third defeat of the season. "It is not about airing dirty linen in public. I will talk to players but it is a scenario that needs rectifying – and quickly. We cannot have any more days like this and the buck stops with me, so we will see what happens." -------------------------------- Mansfield Town need to toughen up, says Paul Cox Thursday, August 30, 2012 Nottingham Post MANSFIELD Town boss Paul Cox said unless his side toughens up mentally they will continue to be exposed this season. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/story-16787366-detail/story.html The Stags slumped to a third defeat in five games when they went down 4-1 at Grimsby on Monday. They have now shipped 14 goals and in their latest defeat, simply crumbled after the Mariners came out for the second half with a two-goal lead. Cox has promised wholesale changes as he looks to utilise players with the heart and mind-set to buy into his philosophy of a team that is hard to beat. It was those uncompromising credentials that helped Mansfield to third last season and the play-offs but his new-look squad are not displaying such skills this time out. Cox said: "We need to have the mental strength to be organised. When you look at the side from last season it was organised, well-constructed and hard to beat. But we are not hard to beat at the minute. "Players, everybody at the club, including me, have probably got their wires crossed (about how they move forward). "Last season we had moans and groans about us not playing much football. But people knew they were in a game whereas people don't at the minute and that is something I need to get organised as quickly as possible. "At 2-0 down we changed the shape of the side but you can't win if you defend as we did. "For me 1-0 is the best scoreline on the planet, to be organised and keep a clean sheet and be hard to beat. That is the basics and we are not hard to beat at the minute. "I have sat down with a few people, analysed where we are making mistakes, where I am making mistakes, and we will rectify it." ------------------------------- Mansfield Town boss Paul Cox: We need to get back our ugly side Friday, August 31, 2012 Nottingham Post PAUL Cox is seeing his worst nightmare come true. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/story-16796395-detail/story.html As he delivered his post-mortem into a third defeat from the opening five games – and a third time they had conceded four goals in a match – he looked pained. The buck stops here: Stags boss Paul Cox has vowed to sort out his side's defensive woes. Once again, he had just witnessed an uncompromising performance that had secured three comfortable points. But the problem was, it was the opposition who had triumphed, as Grimsby ran out 4-1 winners on Bank Holiday Monday. Rather than dominating teams, bullying them, being hard to break down – it was his Stags side that looked weak, that was pushed around and could not deal with any threat thrown at them. It was a million miles from the effective team he built in his first season in charge, when he led Mansfield to third in the Blue Square Bet Premier and into the play-offs. With more depth, more quality and experienced players coming in during the summer, the hope was of going one better and winning promotion back into the Football League. Instead, a disjointed Mansfield side shipped four in defeats to Newport and Gateshead before two wins against Kidderminster and Hyde simply papered over the cracks. But the following defeat to Grimsby was the hammer blow, the moment enough was enough for Cox. Maybe he had also swayed away from his usual mantra, his way of working that had made Eastwood Town a success over the years before he turned Mansfield around in the last 12 months. His sides are uncompromising, hard to beat, direct and sometimes ugly. But at the same time, the opposition hate coming up against them and, at the end of the day, they win football matches. That is not happening here and Cox cannot afford to waste any more time as he looks to rectify it, looking to ensure he has the personnel with the mental and physical strength to buy into his ethos. "I am sick of seeing teams do to us the things we did to them last year," said a disgruntled Cox. "We are being bullied all over the pitch. We are being beaten up all over the place and we cannot defend set-pieces either. "We shipped four goals again against Grimsby. People complained about us last season because we hurled the ball into the box and were unsophisticated – but you have just seen a Grimsby side do the exact same to us. "Last season we had moans and groans about how we did not play much football. But people knew they were in a football match, people don't at the minute and that is something I need to get organised as quickly as possible. "Whether that is to do with mind-set, personnel, we have to look at that. We have to do something about it. "If I am honest, I knew coming into the Grimsby game some of the weaknesses we have and that was why I was trying to do something about it even after a two-game winning streak. "The Grimsby defeat just highlighted it. It is a hell of a lonely place at the minute, management is when it is not going right. Looking at us from the beginning of the season, something needs to happen. The two wins just papered over the cracks." Mansfield take on Woking at home tomorrow before another game at the One Call Stadium on Tuesday night, when they entertain Tamworth. And Cox is hoping to see more of the resolve of old when they take to the pitch, rather than the fragile side on show this season, a team that has shipped 14 goals in five games. "The main thing you could say last season is you wouldn't score a set-piece against us, you would have to work extremely hard to score a goal against us and we are not like that now," said Cox. "That is what we have to get back to straight away. "We will turn it around but there has to be some big decisions. I need to make some big decisions." --------------- Dangerman Matt Green will only get better, says Mansfield Town boss Friday, August 31, 2012 Nottingham Post MATT Green will only become more of a handful for Mansfield Town this season as he looks to repeat his goalscoring heroics of the last campaign. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/story-16796328-detail/story.html The striker bagged 30 goals as the Stags finished third in the Blue Square Bet Premier, only to lose out in the play-offs. And despite the season starting badly for the club, with three defeats in the opening five matches, Green, 25, has picked up where he left off. The former Oxford hotshot has bagged three goals in that time and will be gunning to add to his tally against Woking tomorrow and Tamworth on Tuesday – both games on home soil. So while manager Paul Cox looks to rectify the problems that have caused his side's downfall so far, he believes Green will only get stronger. Cox said: "The more games he plays the better he becomes and he is looking a handful. "Against Hyde, we scored the hardest chance we had in the first half. He will get stronger and stronger. "Greeny is here to put the ball in the back of the net and he does it really well. He deserves a pat on the back because he is a joy to work with. "Every club needs a goalscorer. We also need Jake Speight to catch up on his fitness and sharpness and Nick Wright too and when they do, the squad will look so much stronger." --------------- 'We knew we had it in us': Scott's praise as Grimsby Town beat Mansfield 4-1 Grimsby Telegraph ROB Scott praised his Grimsby Town side after they secured their first win of the season, but added: "We haven't cracked it yet." http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/story-16775779-detail/story.html Scott and co-boss Paul Hurst watched their players put in a convincing performance as they romped to a 4-1 victory against Mansfield Town at Blundell Park yesterday. A brace from Greg Pearson allied with strikes from Joe Colbeck and Frankie Artus saw the Mariners home against Paul Cox's men – a side tipped by many to be promotion challengers this season. And joint boss Scott was full of praise for his players, for whom he said everything 'clicked'. Their display delighted a home crowd hungry for a performance worthy of those first three points of the season. But he warned against complacency, adding that he expects more to come from his players. "We're really, really pleased for the players and the fans," he said. "The first two weeks of the season have been very frustrating for everyone connected with the club. "I know everyone had high expectations of us this season, as we have, and yesterday we showed how we can play and how good we can be. Everything really clicked and came together for us at the right time. "However much we wanted it to click right from the start of the season, it didn't. But you have to keep persevering with it as a squad. "I'm not saying we've cracked it by a long stretch – and there's going to be ups and downs before the end of the season – but we always knew that we had the quality that we showed against Mansfield." Scott admitted that he was pleased to get 'the monkey' off his squads' back by securing their first win and challenged them to use the performance as a platform to build on. "Let's be fair, we just wanted that win and it is a bit of a monkey off our back" he added. "Everybody's been desperate for it, and the crowd – who have been desperate to celebrate that win more than anyone else – were fantastic. "We always said that if you can pick up four points from the Wrexham and Mansfield game then we'd be happy – whichever way round it came. "That first win does change the mind-set of the players. "If we hadn't have got the win the players might have come back in on Wednesday thinking 'how long is this going to go on for' and it does hang over you. "But now we can sweep that under the carpet, put it to bed and kick on with things and everybody at the club will do so. "We knew what we had at the football club –it was just a case of when it would happen rather than if. "It will definitely give them the confidence the build. We'll keep plugging away and we still feel we can get better." --------------------- Greg Pearson's double delight at Grimsby Town's four-star display Grimsby Telegraph GREG Pearson said he always knew the Mariners were capable of their performance against Mansfield and was delighted to have played a starring role in it. Pearson bagged two goals to cap an impressive individual performance for the frontman, who was a constant threat to the Stags' back-line. He said: "I've always believed that we were capable of a performance like that – it was just a matter of time. "I'm delighted to get the win and obviously to get the two goals to go with it. "I've taken a few penalties before so I was comfortable in what I wanted to do, so it was just a case of executing it. "The second goal was a training ground move that we've worked on. It is just a case of getting a head on it at the front post and either it goes straight in or someone puts it in at the back post. I probably don't get as many headers as I should, so I was pleased to see it drop in. "It was a brilliant atmosphere yesterday and one that brought goals. The fans can only feed off the performances that we give them on the pitch, and they were absolutely brilliant." -------------------- |
Latest | September 2012