Latest news with #NigelClough
Powys County Times
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Nigel Clough hails Mansfield's ‘unbelievably hard earned' victory at Exeter
Mansfield manager Nigel Clough does not think his side will pick up a more hard-earned three points than those they got in a 2-1 League One win at Exeter. Mansfield went in front when Frazer Blake-Tracy rose unopposed to head in a George Maris corner just before half-time, but Exeter were level through Josh Magennis, who scored from the spot after a Sonny Cox shot had been handballed. But Will Evans finished off a swift counter-attack for the winning goal four minutes from time, much to the delight of Clough. 'We should have had a point from the first couple of games at least, but to come down here with players missing off the back of the win at Chesterfield – I don't know what will happen over the next eight and a half months, but I don't think we will get a better three points. 'It was unbelievably hard earned. You (press) have been up there in the shade, but when you get down on the pitch, it is quite brutal that heat. We had a good shape and everything and deserved what we got off the back of a harsh penalty given against us. 'There is a change in the handball rule and I don't think they are quite sure what is and what isn't handball at the minute. I am sure it will settle down in a few weeks but I wouldn't like to see those given. I don't think there is anything he (Jordan Bowery) could have done about it. 'We responded well and the value of the squad with Aaron Lewis, who was very good at Chesterfield the other night. He came on and made the goal, it was a good move, a good team goal and there is Will Evans to finish it off.' Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was not happy with his team's performance saying: 'We weren't good enough for the whole game. 'I thought we started OK, but our passing was too slow, our movements were not dynamic enough, we didn't threaten their backline. But too often the passing was too slow, we didn't find the free man or penetrate the last line and then we got bored with having the ball and controlling the game. 'We gave them opportunities and they took one with the set piece and the second half was more of the same. I thought we looked a threat when we changed the shape and we started to get the ball forward. At 1-1, I think everyone in the stadium thought there was only going to be one winner, but we have managed to shoot ourselves in the foot and lose it. 'It's a huge disappointment – a huge disappointment in the last two games to be honest. I am sick of hearing about last week (a 4-1 win against Blackpool) because that is miles away. It was one game.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'The players know what is at stake'
Mansfield Town left-back Stephen McLaughlin has said the squad "know what is at stake" ahead of their Carabao Cup tie at local rivals Chesterfield on 35, joined the club from Southend in September 2020 but is yet to experience the derby with Chesterfield, who were once voted by fans as Mansfield's biggest returning to the English Football League last season, the Spireites will be looking to get long-awaited revenge on Nigel Clough's side after a 1-0 defeat in April 2018 helped confine them to relegation to the National League that year."We knew from when the fixture was released, it's been talked about and the players know what is at stake for the fans," McLaughlin, whose long-range strike opened the scoring in the Stags' eventual 2-1 defeat in League One by newly-promoted Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, told BBC Radio Nottingham."It's a really important game – I know our end is sold out, so, I'm really looking forward to it. 'The further you go, the more special they become' Almost 10 years ago, McLaughlin was preparing to take on Tottenham Hotspur as a Nottingham Forest player in the third-round of the he hopes a cup result can kick-start his side's campaign after they succumbed to back-to-back defeats in their opening two league fixtures."Cup games are different, I don't know what's about it, the further you go, the more special they become," he added."Within a couple of games, you could be playing at [Manchester] United."I know a lot of people [would say] you'd rather be out of it because they've got their eyes on other things."But I think a cup run is always good because then you get to use the full squad as well - it's always a good competition if you can go far in it."
BBC News
31-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Why have Mansfield raided Forest for summer recruits?
Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough says it is no coincidence that he has raided Nottingham Forest's academy in search of League One-ready Forest and England striker Clough has signed three Reds prospects on loan this summer, with the trio of Joe Gardner, Jamie McDonnell and Kyle McAdam making up a third of the Stags' new additions ahead of the new it is a transfer route Mansfield have taken in the past – having previously signed forward Will Swan from Forest - it is unusual for them to bring in so many players from one club at the same says there is no formal arrangement with Forest's academy behind the deals, but that the neighbouring Premier League side is a breeding ground for talent that cannot be says the influence Warren Joyce - the Forest Under-21s boss who previously held the same job at Manchester United - has on emerging players means they are suited to and ready for football in England's third tier."They happen to be the players we identified," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham when explaining why the Stags have signed three players from Forest."We see a lot of the 21s and Warren Joyce, who takes the Under-21s, does incredibly well with them."We like the way they are playing and he is a little bit - I don't want to say old school because that sounds disrespectful - but he has them working hard."You know when you are getting a player out of Warren's U21s, you know they are going to be ready. He did that for many years at Manchester United." Clough, who played under his father and legendary Forest boss Brian during his time at the City Ground in the 1980s and 1990s, also said Mansfield have developed a "good relationship" with Forest first-team coach Andy Reid and their player pathway and loans manager Owen Coyle Jr."I think it's ideal for them to send them out if they are going to get some experience and chance to play, which they will," Clough the Stags trio have helped each another "settle in quicker" ahead of the season, which starts on Saturday at Burton are also the youngest additions made at Mansfield this summer in what has been an off-season of significant change, with veteran servants Stephen Quinn and Aden Flint among those released after the Stags clinched League One survival last term."We recognised that to get out of League Two a couple of seasons ago we needed the experience and to keep us up last season we needed the experience as well, and now we are trying to move on a little bit," Clough said."It's good that we have been able to attract players in their mid-20s, you are getting players more in their prime rather than towards the end of their careers, which is good and it's always good when youngsters come to get some experience as well."
BBC News
14-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Stags sign Forest's Gardner on season-long loan
Mansfield have agreed a season-long loan deal for young Nottingham Forest forward Joe Gardner can operate as a centre-forward or attacking midfielder and links up with his Forest B team-mate Kyle McAdam, who signed on loan for the Stags at the end of 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan with Mansfield's League One rivals Lincoln City, scoring once in 11 appearances for the who has joined Nigel Clough's side on their pre-season tour of Ireland, said: "I've been out here only a couple of days and the lads have made me feel very welcome."I'm really looking forward to the season and hoping to impress."
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Clough wants Stags to 'keep moving forward'
Nigel Clough says he is determined to keep Mansfield Town striving for new heights after recently signing a new two-year deal to remain in charge of the 59-year-old's previous contract was coming to an end in the summer, but after weeks of negotiations the former England forward agreed to stay at the One Call previous contract extension was a 12-month deal triggered after guiding the Stags to automatic promotion from League Two in returning Mansfield to the third tier for the first time in 21 years, he became the first boss in more than three decades to keep them in the division for longer than one season."We are very pleased to have the opportunity to keep working with the owners and keep moving the club forward," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham."We hope to continue that, which is not only the most challenging part of it but also the most important part." Remaining at the helm means Clough will take his managerial career into a 27th former Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Manchester City striker, who enjoyed the best years of his playing career at the City Ground under famous father Brian Clough, first took up coaching at non-league level at Burton Albion in 1998.A second spell with the Brewers - after nearly seven years away working at Derby County and Sheffield United - had him managing the east Staffordshire club in the were back in League One when he stepped down during the Covid-19 pandemic to help the club save costs when football stopped - but he returned to management within months with Mansfield in November than two years later he got them to within a win of promotion at Wembley, where they lost the play-off final to Port Vale, before they eventually went up automatically in 2024.A 17th-place finish in the third tier made for a successful return to a level that Mansfield had only fleetingly played at in the past 30 before Clough's future was confirmed, the club moved to strengthen their squad for another season in League One with the additions of midfielders Regan Hendry and Nathan Moriah-Welsh, goalkeeper Liam Robert, defender Kyle Knoyle and Nottingham Forest loanee Kyle McAdam, having also brought experienced defender Ryan Sweeney back to the that, Clough says "two or three more" players will be needed in attack before the season starts against Burton on 2 August."The signings we have made so far, plus the improvements at the stadium and the training ground as well, all keep the club moving in the right direction," he added."But the most important thing is on the pitch, because if you don't get that right, then everything else is irrelevant."
