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Archived News from December 2016

EVANS ASSESSING SQUAD AND LOOKING AT NEW PLAYERS
5th December 2016 19:20


New Stags' boss wants players to prove capability
mansfieldtown.net, 29th November 2016

Stags’ manager Steve Evans has challenged his players to prove their worth in the next four weeks.

The manager has been in the post just under a fortnight and has overseen two wins and a defeat during his short tenure as he assesses the players at his disposal.

And the 54-year-old believes the time between when he started the role and the opening of the January transfer window is a ‘fair period’ to be able to assess the players’ capabilities.

“We said to the players when we came in we’d assess them over November and December. It’s a very fair period to be able to work with 19/20 players and just ascertain who’s going to be good enough,” Mr Evans said at this morning’s news conference.

Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/evans-wants-players-to-prove-capability-3443144.aspx#hEB9xLiTQM8ovqoS.99

“I think there are certain areas where we will definitely strengthen and then there are others where we’re saying ‘come on lads, show us a reason not to’.

“There will be two categories as far as which is quite simple and I’m using the great Sir Alex Ferguson’s words which are: yes, they’re good enough to go forward - well, that’s ‘tablets of stone’, they’re good enough; no, they’re not, that’s ‘tablets of stone’; and as a management team you have to take the approach to the maybes, the maybes are not good enough because there’s doubts.”

The former Rotherham United manager says he is already looking at areas where he can strengthen the squad in January and the boss and his coaching staff have already began scouting different players.

“We were out last night, both Paul Raynor and myself at separate matches. Our scouting staff have been out over the last week or so and we’ll continue to work diligently.

“I’ve had conversations with a Championship boss today and one in the Premier League about possibilities with players. We’re going to monitor them as well. Gone are the days where you can look at players over a game or two.

“It’s different if they’re experienced [English] Football League players and you’ve seen them many times but especially the younger generation, if you’ve looked at them over a game or two, it’s maybe not enough.”

Stags have a break in their Sky Bet League Two schedule this weekend with the Emirates FA Cup second round taking place and Evans says it is an opportunity to look at some of the players on the periphery of the squad.

“We’ve got a [behind] closed doors match planned for this week which is great for us because it’ll give us the opportunity to look at some of the lads that have only been having piecemeal off the bench or looking at them in training. Nothing can beat a game where you play against another side when they’ve got players playing that want to be in their first team.”

Finally, the boss confirmed that former first team coach Richard Cooper has returned to the club in an academy role.

“He’s coming in as part of the academy and really we’re looking at someone who knows what’s happening below the first team and someone who knows what’s happening at the first team.

“Coops is a good guy. We’ve known him many years. We’ve come up against him often enough, and we had a chat with him and he seemed very receptive in the very early days to taking a role and he’s thought it through and made it very easy. He said he’d love to be a part of it, so let’s get him in there [at the academy] for six or eight weeks then we can define an actual specific role for Richard and make sure we’re all happy with it.”

Supporters can view Steve Evans’ news conference, in full, on Stags PlayerHD.

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Evans planning January swoops for new faces
chad.co.uk, by JOHN LOMAS

New Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans is already talking to some big clubs about the availability of players as he prepares for swoops in the January transfer window. Evans saw his side lose for the first time under his management last weekend, crashing 5-2 which sent opponents Carlisle United top.

He has told his current squad they need to prove they are worth keeping over the next six weeks but said he already has plans to strengthen some departments.

“It is out job to do our homework,” said Evans.

“We were out last night, both Paul Raynor (assistant manager) and myself, at separate matches.

Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/evans-planning-january-swoops-for-new-faces-1-8265445

“Our scouting staff have been out over the last week or so and we will continue to work diligently.

“I have had conversations with a Championship boss today and one in the Premier League about possibilities with players.

“We are going to monitor them as well. Gone are the days when you can look at players over a game or two.

“It is different if they are experienced Football League players and you’ve seen them many times.

“Especially the younger generation, if you’ve looked at them a game or two maybe you know enough. But we have this wonderful six or seven week opportunity to look at them and have different people look at them and make sure we are all saying yes.”

He continued: “I think there are certain areas that we will definitely strengthen and others where we are saying ‘come on lads show us the reason not to’.

“As Mr Radford, the chairman, and Carolyn, the chief exec, have said to me, there are resources there.

“But hopefully we’ll be able to control that and make sure we’re doing it when it’s justified and needed and not doing it for the sake of doing it.

“We said to the players when we came in that we would assess them over November and December. It’s a very fair period to be able to work with 19/20 players and ascertain who is going to be good enough.

“There will be two categories for us, which is quite simple. I am using the great Sir Alex Ferguson’s words which are yes they are good enough to go forward or no, they are not. “As a management team you have to look at the maybes and the maybes are not good enough because there’s doubts.

“Not just the players, we all have six or seven weeks now to make an impression that we should be going forward and try to take the Radford family towards, as a minimum, the play-offs and League One.”

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Blades friendly as Evans looks at Stags fringe players
CHAD.CO.UK, BY JOHN LOMAS, Tuesday 29 November 2016

Stags boss Steve Evans will make use of the lack of a game this week or weekend with a behind-closed-doors friendly against Sheffield United tomorrow to better assess his fringe players.

“That is a benefit for midweek, but I’d rather have a game on Saturday to be honest, either here or away in League Two,” he said.

“When you lose a game it can’t come quickly enough round to the next one.

Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/blades-friendly-as-evans-looks-at-stags-fringe-players-1-8265203

“But we have a closed doors match planned for this week which is great for us as it gives us the opportunity to look at some of the lads that have only been having peacemeal off the bench or looking at them in training.

“There is nothing that can beat a game where you play against another side who have players playing that want to be in their first team.

“It’s important we have a really good look at lads that have not been picked by us as we’ve not really seen them in a game situation, just footage and clips plus reserve games. But nothing beats the opportunity to watch a player when they are working for yourself.

“We will give them a little break towards the weekend and then we’ll be back in over the weekend obviously preparing to go to Carlisle.”

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Checkatrade not a priority, but Stags boss Evans wants to progress
chad.co.uk, by JOHN LOMAS

Mansfield Town’s Checkatrade Trophy round two clash at Carlisle United on Tuesday is far from top priority on Steve Evans’ list.

But the new Stags boss admitted he still wants to win and progress.

Without a game this weekend, Stags head straight back up to Brunton Park on a revenge mission after last weekend’s 5-2 defeat up there in League Two saw the home side move top. Evans’ predecessor Adam Murray was not a fan of the Checkatrade Trophy and Evans said: “I want to win. I want to win every game.

“But if I have got seven priorities here in the week before the game it’s probably not in the top seven.

Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/checkatrade-not-a-priority-but-stags-boss-evans-wants-to-progress-1-8266272

“We will make some changes for that game. That will be reflected in the team. “Of course we want to win. As soon as we start preparing Thursday/Friday for the match for the match at Carlisle, we want to be in the next round of that competition. “But if I am being honest, losing there and beating Colchester a week on Saturday is more a priority. “I will certainly make changes, I think Keith will. He has just gone top of the league so I don’t think it will be high in his priorities, though come game day or the day before and you start preparing, every football match a player should want to play.” Despite the result on Saturday, Evans said the return to Brunton Park held no fear for his side. “I had a chance to look back at the full game yesterday and there’s nothing in the game for 55 minutes. If anything we’re probably disappointed not to be in front,” he said. “But there are no excuses, we have to defend the box better. There were lots learned and lots to learn. “If you look at the players in isolation from the second half on Saturday at Carlisle, there wouldn’t be many here involved with us post-January. “But you can’t look at it like that. You have to look at it in the context since we came in. Six points out of nine and two and half very good performances. “You’re always disappointed when you lose, but lots more was learned. “We’re not hiding the fact that when we get to January, we need to be in contention for the play-off group, not necessarily in it. Then we can have a look at who we are going to be taking forward with us and perhaps who we are going add.”

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Stags to decide on Yussuf’s future
chad.co.uk, by JOHN LOMAS

Mansfield Town’s new management team are running the rule over striker Adi Yussuf as he completes his initial loan spell at Crawley Town to see if they feel he has a future with the Stags.

The 23-year-old, who scored five goals in 30 appearances for the Stags last season, is on loan at boss Steve Evans’ former club until 22nd January, where he has scored three times.

“He will come back in if he deserves to come back in,” said Evans.

Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/stags-to-decide-on-yussuf-s-future-1-8268832

“We will have a look at him. I met him face to face when we played Crawley in our first game and he seemed a pleasant enough young man. But I don’t want pleasant people, I want footballers that win football matches.

“So the scouting staff will be assessing Yussuf. I think Paul Raynor will pick him up as well in one of the games and then we will make a decision whether we think he is going to be better then either what we’ve got or what we intend to bring in.”

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Cooper to stay on as part of new Stags regime
chad.co.uk, by JOHN LOMAS, Tuesday 29 November 2016

Coach Richard Cooper is to remain as part of the new Mansfield Town set-up.

Cooper who had been working as a coach with the first team under previous boss Adam Murray was expected to leave the club along with assistant boss Karl Hawley.

But new manager Steve Evans has asked the experienced Cooper to stay on as part of the academy set-up at Melton, where the U21s are based.

Although no specific title has yet been agreed, Evans wants to make use of a man who has deep knowledge of both the current first team and the club’s future prospects. “He is coming in as part of the academy,” said Evans.

“Really we are looking at someone who knows what is happening below the first team and somebody who knows what is happening in the first team.

Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/cooper-to-stay-on-as-part-of-new-stags-regime-1-8266063

“Coops is a good guy. We’ve known him many years and come up against him often enough.

“We had a chat with him and he seemed very receptive in the very early days to taking a role.

“He thought it through and made it very easy. He said he’d loved to stay and be a part of it.

“So let’s get him in there for six or eight weeks and then we can define an actual specific role for Richard and make sure we are all happy with it.”

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Latest | December 2016