Archived News from September 2014
|
COX, GRAHAM WESTLEY REACTION
|
 |
|
Mansfield Town manager Paul Cox told BBC Radio Nottingham:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29289782 "We have just had a good chat with the players. We know now where we need to improve and where things went wrong. "We have had a positive discussion and been analytical on where things went wrong. "We gave ourselves a hill to climb conceding two goals early on and you can't do that in this league. I think that's about our worst performance this season. It's a bad performance and a bad result." "I said in pre-season that this was going to be our toughest season, and I'm not going away from that. The little things will always add up, but I'm not going to make that excuse. The little things in terms of the way we prepare are going to come up and be an issue, but I don't think that was an excuse today. I think the boys were a yard off the pace, especially in the first 10 minutes. How we can prepare better for away games is a massive question for us. I've got to sit down with everyone and look at where we can improve preparation, and how we do things before a game. But I don't think that was ultimately (the reason) for what we did today in terms of our result and our performance." Stevenage manager Graham Westley told BBC Three Counties Radio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29289782 "It was a strong display, it was an organised display. I thought in the second half we were much better. It could have easily ran out a bigger scoreline with the chances we had. It's good to get the third and just seal the deal on it. "They're quite straightforward to play against in many regards, as you know what they're going to do. "The boys who came on made the difference they were expected to, but in fairness the stars of the show were the boys that started, particularly Dean Wells." ---------------- Cox: It’s not all doom and gloom mansfieldtown.net, 27th September 2014 Boss rues bad display at Stevenage, but looks at bigger picture. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/cox-its-not-all-doom-and-gloom-1973699.aspx#JdxRKeMQu1akWZE4.99 Manager Paul Cox insists it isn’t all doom and gloom, despite today’s bitterly disappointing 3-0 defeat to mid-table Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium. Our team were left with a mountain to climb as goals by Chris Whelpdale and Charlie Lee inside the opening five minutes put the hosts in a commanding position. Whelpdale scored again late on to add gloss to Stevenage’s victory, and although our boss admits it was one of our poorest displays so far this term, he remains fully focussed on the bigger picture. Cox said: “It was a bad performance and a bad result for us. “What we’ve got to do is make sure that we learn from these defeats. The young players and those that are acclimatising to League Two have got to learn quickly and we need a little bit of help from a little bit of experience. “So it’s not all doom and gloom. We’ve had a half-decent start to the season, we’ve won five, lost five, and what I’ve said to the boys is we need a little bit of consistency now in our game-to-game ratio and our ratio over 90 minutes. “If we can do that, we’ll have a successful season.” Reflecting on the match itself, he continued: “Realistically, the game was over after 10 minutes. The first thing you do away from home is get a good base to start from, yet we gave ourselves a hill to climb. “When you’re two-nil down away from home after five minutes, you’re chasing the game. That’s when you look for individuals, collectively and individually, to step forward, but I just thought we were a yard off [the pace] probably all over the park today. “In the next 20 minutes from when we conceded the two goals, we had enough chances to equalise or even go in front.” Cox also admitted that his players had a positive and lengthy discussion in the dressing room, following the final whistle. “We’ve just been beaten three-nil, so we had a good chat with the players,” stated our manager. “We’ve been analytical of the build up to the game, the actual 90 minutes, where we can improve and where things went wrong. It was a positive discussion of where we went wrong today.” ------------------ Stags boss Cox goes easy on his players after bad day at the office chad.co.uk Despite a lengthy dressing room lock-in, Mansfield Town boss Paul Cox refused to be too hard on his players after their 3-0 defeat at Stevenage today. http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/stags-boss-cox-goes-easy-on-his-players-after-bad-day-at-the-office-1-6865321 Cox said he wasn’t going to get too down over what he saw as a bad day at the office. Stags went 2-0 down within the opening five minutes and, after making a good fight of it for the rest of the half, they simply faded away after the break and were stung by a late breakaway third goal for Stevenage. Cox eventually emerged from the dressing room and said: “We have had a good chat. Obviously we are not just going to have players get their boots off, shower and go home after being beaten 3-0. “But you have to be analytical about things and there were a lot of factors in the build-up to and then what happened during the game. “Sometimes you have to talk to players and get their views after what I thought was a bad result. “The game was realistically over after 10 minutes. We have started games really positively of late, put teams on the back foot and looked sharp, fit and created a lot of chances. “But as a team and as a unit today we were too open and didn’t show that bit extra we have shown in recent games. “We came here on the back of two wins against half-decent sides. “But the lads don’t go out there and deliberately not turn up. It was one of those days. Even after the first 10 minutes we huffed and puffed but didn’t have that extra edge to us. We looked a yard off the pace. “We had three or four great chances to get back on even terms.” He added: “Maybe there was a bit of fatigue, a case of players coming a long way very quickly early on this season or young players having a little dip - these things will happen this season. But I am not looking for excuses. “The boys are hurt, but I think we’ve got to put it down as a bad day at the office. “I won’t get too down. I know these things are going to happen this season. We have made a half-decent start to the season. The main thing now is to see the boys bounce back and we will go again next Saturday. “We have now won five and lost five. Not many clubs have won more than us, but we need to start turning some of those losses into draws. “At a tough place to come like this we need to learn to shut up shop and come away with a point. Some people might say that’s boring but all I care about is our final position come April.” -------------------- Case for defence as Westley praises Stevenage's Dean Wells after win over Mansfield Hertfordshire Mercury, By ALAN SCOTT Dean Wells was Stevenage manager Graham Westley’s hero - as Boro dealt with the physical threat of Mansfield Town to secure a second successive home league win for the first time in almost a year. Read more: http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Case-defence-Westley-praises-Stevenage-s-Dean/story-23010976-detail/story.html?#ixzz3EbelJyuM Former Braintree Town centre-half was excellent alongside returning Jon Ashton, as Stevenage kept a third clean sheet in four games. "In fairness the stars of the show were the boys that started, particularly Dean Wells," said Westley. “They throw a lot of long balls forward. You know you are going to defend those long balls. I thought our back four was excellent in dealing with that threat. They [Mansfield] have got some real height and real presence up there. “They win a lot of second balls. We know we had to be organised. It was playing in Stevenage’s hands to play that way. "It was a strong display, it was an organised display. I thought in the second half we were much better. It could have easily ran out a bigger scoreline with the chances we had. It's good to get the third and just seal the deal on it.” Although Stevenage remain in 13th, they are just a point away from the play-off spots. “It was a good start to the game. It was good on get on the front foot and get two early goals which would have given the players a lot of confidence. “We took the game forward as we will do when our confidence grows.” The Boro boss knows his side are well used to dealing with direct teams. "They're quite straightforward to play against in many regards, as you know what they're going to do,” he said. “It’s a compliment when they feel they have to change their shape to match your shape. In honesty, I felt we were much more comfortable once that happened. Defensively they were much more predictable. The full-backs were playing up against their two high, wide players, and in the middle of the park they matched us which meant we could get Charlie [Lee] on to join the front a lot more often and I think that caused them a lot of problems. “We had more experience on the pitch today, and when you get your experienced players out there you start to see patterns that are different and show more maturity. I thought today on the whole we were much better. It wasn’t fluid but in patches there was some really good stuff played. "I’m sure as we get the experienced players back and they settle into an understanding with each other they will continue to improve.” Boro’s substitutes, notably Roarie Deacon and on-loan Tom Conlon, also made a big impact when they came on. “That has been a feature in our sides over the years. Everyone in the 18 is ready to do their job when called upon. Everybody is geared up to the winning standard. When they boys came on they did well.” ------------------- INTERVIEW: Dazzling start against Mansfield can be a template for us, says Whelpdale Damion Roberts, thecomet.net Chris Whelpdale says Boro’s dazzling start in their win over Mansfield Town should be the template for the club in future games. http://www.thecomet.net/stevenage-fc/interview_dazzling_start_against_mansfield_can_be_a_template_for_us_says_whelpdale_1_3786120 The winger scored for Boro in just the third minute against the Stags after his initial shot was saved by Town keeper Dimitar Evtimov, and was followed two minutes later by team-mate Charlie Lee’s strike. The former Gillingham man then added his second of the match late in the game to make it 3-0 after Roarie Deacon had set him up, and is now Stevenage’s top scorer with four goals so far this campaign. Speaking afterwards, Whelpdale said: “It was a great start for us. We put in a solid performance. I think we’ve got to learn from that and start games better, and get the goals early on. It’s a really great three points. “I saw the ball floating around. I should have scored the first shot if I’m being honest, but I’ve managed to poke it from underneath him and put it in the back of the net. “It was a great start, and then a great finish for [Charlie Lee]. We opened them up really well in the first 10 minutes. “Maybe we made it a bit hard for ourselves after that and maybe dropped off a little bit, but we got the three points which is the most important thing.” After targeting double figures of goals this season, Whelpdale maybe now tweak that figure slightly. “I’m well on target for it, so maybe if I hit that target then I can go on and make new targets so I’m looking forward to that,” he added. ---------------------- Rakish Bingham @RakishBingham We wasn't at it today, let ourselves down. We bounce back to winning ways on Saturday! #stags Oliver Palmer @OliverJPalmer Got to put a bad day behind us yesterday and get a couple more back to back wins!! --------------- |
Latest | September 2014