Stags Half Term Report

It’s been a mixed, first half of the season, for Mansfield Town, playing in the third tier of the English game for the first time in over twenty years.

Not since a brief dalliance in the old Division Two, during the 2002-03 season, when they finished second bottom and were relegated to Division Three, had the Stags tasted ‘higher football,’ back then the club were going through manager like hot dinners.

Stuart Watkiss began the season at the helm, having taken over from Bill Dearden in January 2002, his reign lasted until the December of that year, when he was replaced by Keith Curle, who took over in the player-manager role.

Fast-forward 22-or-so years, and the Stags have been enjoying life of late, under the guidance of long-term manager, Nigel Clough, who took over in early November 2020; Clough finally led the Stags to promotion from League Two, to League One, following a successful, 2023-23 campaign, and, during the first half of the current, the club have, on the main, enjoyed themselves.

Winning eleven and drawing four of their twenty-four games has Clough’s charges sitting in eleventh place, with a game or two in hand on sides above them in the table, and just four points off the final, play-off spot (held by Stockport County).

STARTING LIFE IN LEAGUE ONE

It was to be a mixed beginning to life in League One and, despite a winning start, 2-1 at Barnsley, in early August, the Stags went their next three games without a win (drawn two, lost one) – that opener though, goals in the first twenty minutes from Stephen Quinn and Lee Gregory, gave the visitors all three points.

Opening Day Starting XI – Christy Pym, Jordan Bowery, Aden Flint, Deji Oshilaja, Frazer Blake-Tracy, Louis Reed, Keanu Baccus, Davis Keillor-Dunn, Stephen Quinn, Lucas Akins, Lee Gregory

September and October would see signs of the Stags capabilities in the third tier come to light, they winning five on the bounce, collecting wins against Cambridge United (H, 2-1, Lee Gregory brace), Shrewsbury Town (H, 2-1, Lee Gregory penalty, Aaron Lewis), Northampton Town (A, 2-0, Will Evans, Aaron Lewis), Crawley Town (A, 2-0, Lee Gregory, Ben Waine), and Blackpool (H, 2-0, Will Evans brace).

Victory over Blackpool saw the Stags register a fifth straight win in the third tier for the first time since April 1976, and pushed them up into third in the table.

A BLIP ON THE STAGS’ COPYBOOK

Hopes were soaring for Clough’s high-flying Stags following their five-match winning streak, however, between mid-October and mid-December, they registered just one win in nine outings, a 2-1 win at Wigan Athletic in the October.

Part of that winless sequence would see the Stags lose five straight, the first three of which were 1-0 reverses, along with a 3-1 loss at Bolton Wanderers at the start of December.

The run was arrested with a goalless draw at home to Charlton Athletic in mid-December, before winning their next two outings, which included a 3-0 Boxing Day success away to Peterborough United (Will Evans with a brace after an opener from defender Baily Cargill).

A WINNING START TO 2025

Having finished the previous year with two wins in three, the Stags began 2025 with the same, winning their first two outings, both 2-1, against Bolton Wanderers (H, Stephen McLaughlin, Lee Gregory) and Stockport County (A, Lee Gregory, Will Evans), before losing their last, by the same score, when home to second place Wycombe Wanderers, Lucas Akins with the Stags’ goal.

Starting XI vs, Wycombe Wanderers – Scott Flinders, Elliott Hewitt, Jordan Bowery, Deji Oshilaja, Baily Cargill, Louis Reed, Hiram Boateng, Aaron Lewis, George Maris, Lee Gregory, Will Evans

INCOMINGS AND OUTGOINGS

With no major signings or departures thus far in the January window, transfer business for Nigel Clough et al was done back in the summer of 2024, all three departures being main players of recent years in Ollie Clarke (to Swindon Town), Davis Keillor-Dunn (to Barnsley) and Will Swan (to Crawley Town).

Replacing that trio was four, free transfers, in Keanu Baccus (from St. Mirren), Frazer Blake-Tracy (from Swindon Town), Lee Gregory (from Sheffield Wednesday), Deji Oshilaja (from Burton Albion), Ben Quinn (from Glasgow Celtic), as well as Will Evans (from Newport County), all of whom have played some part or other so far this season.

WHO’S NEXT

Evans and Gregory, they’ve both bagged nine goals apiece for the Stags thus far, and will look to add to that total in the next outing, away to bottom of the table, Cambridge United, this coming Saturday (25 January).

Cambridge have won just four times, and drawn six, of their twenty-five outings to date and, despite drawing their last, are on a seven-match winless streak in the league.

The Stags then return home on Tuesday (28 January) night, they hosting fourth bottom Crawley Town, with Clough’s side looking to gate-crash, again, the play-off positions – something they’ll want to achieve sooner than later.

Peter-Mann Stags Half Term Report

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @mansfieldtownfc Field Mill is full of promise as the Stags sit mid table.

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