I was looking through some lower league teams in England who I could start the game with and Mansfield Town was the one I chose, why? I don't know, I guess I wanted a challenge.
I headed into the season with ambition and a view to improve the club overall within a few seasons including its infrastructure but first I had to get to know my squad. It wasn't bad to begin with, there were a few positions we needed strength in, left back and centre midfield most notably. I noted this and carried on my assessment of the club.
I also needed to get to know my staff, a useful bunch but not to the standard I required so it was out with the old and in with the new. I pulled off a major coup by persuading Michael Owen to sign as my under 18's manager, a real role model for the younger players at the club. Joe Corrigan also joined as a goalkeeper coach, Paul White as a fitness coach and Andy Porter as my assistant.
We stumbled our way through pre season, altering tactics and personnel while scouting out of contract players as I had no transfer budget, something the board thought was acceptable. I didn't mind, I knew they were free players out there that could come in and do a job, I also had the loan market to search through.
The first player to join was Blair Turgott, a product of the famed West Ham Academy, a right winger who my scouts desperately wanted me to sign. I must admit, it was a position out of my focus but I couldn't resist a season long loan, I knew he would produce and we needed that. Johnny Gorman followed, a free transfer from Barrow if I remember correctly, a young left winger with massive potential, again a position out of my focus but a signing we couldn't turn down.
Youngster Jack Thomas was starting to impress me in pre season, an 18 year old centre midfielder with a point to prove, I was starting to think that maybe we had enough cover in that area but something told me we needed more. The season looked long and injuries could cost us so we signed David Prutton, an experienced head who I hoped would give us that reassurance in a holding role. The left back problem still chewed away at my thoughts but there wasn't a worthy player out there who we could bring in so I decided to give Lee Beevers the benefit of the doubt and let him have the chance to prove himself.
The season was approaching fast and we needed tactics, a formation and a line up. I wanted us to keep hold of the ball, pass it and work openings, a mistake that cost us dear in the first two games.
The line up to start the season looked like this in a 4-2-3-1 formation:
GK - D. Evtimov
LB - L. Beevers
CB - R. Tafazolli
CB - M. Riley
RB - L. Jones
LW - J. Gorman
CM - J. Thomas
CM - J. McGuire
RW - B. Turgott
AM - C. Clements
ST - R. Bingham
We lost the first two games straight and the Capital One Cup had handed us an unenviable trip to Derby County. Steve McClaren began shooting his mouth off in press conferences, saying Derby were in for an easy win. I went back to the office, looked at the squad list until my eyes glazed over, formations going round in my head.
If Derby were going to win, I was going to make it hard and a horrible game for them. I switched our tactics to more direct passing, to pump the ball in the box on the counter while getting stuck in. Ollie Palmer came in up front as a target man, a god send and a turning point early on.
We knocked Derby out 2-1 I think it was, a mammoth effort and an impressive display from Palmer. Steve McClaren made his excuses red faced and I remained calm in the post match conference saying we still needed to focus on the season. Played 3, won 1 and lost 2 but we had the fans onside.
The new tactics produced an 11 game unbeaten streak, plenty of draws early on but we weren't losing which was the main thing, this streak ended with 5 straight wins. Ollie Palmer was scoring nearly every game and we were flying high just outside the play offs. The fans were excited and a few ex favourites joined in to say how impressive we were.
Injury hit Palmer halfway through the season, a hammer blow and we needed a replacement and quick. Bingham had impressed in pre season but not in the games that mattered, Matt Rhead scored when coming on as a substitute but not when starting so it fell to Alex Fisher to lead the line. He did well but we starting dropping points, we were scoring but not as many. Bobby Hassell joined the club on a free in January 2015 for a second stint as Luke Jones became complacent at right back, a move which the fans enjoyed.
David Prutton and Reggie Lambe had become problematic, they weren't starting and when they did they didn't impress, he wanted answers and solutions but I couldn't give them, not when the team I was putting out was doing well. They wanted moves away but no clubs wanted them.
We dropped off on form and fell to around 14th in the league in March but Ollie Palmer was back.
We eventually finished the 2014 - 2015 season in 12th place, a success in my eyes. Consolidation was the aim for the first season, something that we could build on. We had contracts that were expiring and the wage budget was thin, we had players we didn't want but nobody else wanted them, they were taking up valuable resources. I expected the turnover of players to be high close season, especially in a lower league but I wasn't prepared for what was to come. We managed to renew the contracts of good players like Tafazolli and Riley but the board weren't letting me offer the wages that the players wanted to renew their contracts, this included Ollie Palmer and Jamie McGuire. Two players that had been ever present in the successful season but the board were't prepared to allocate an extra few hundred pounds. Evtimov had also had an amazing season but he rejected the chance of another season at Field Mill on loan from Nottingham Forest. He had earned his first Bulgaria cap that season and wanted to kick on in his career, I knew Turgott would feel the same. Four of my main players walked out at the end of that season, the squad was stripped bare. Evtimov, Beevers, Turgott, McGuire, Bell, Prutton, Heslop, Rhead, Palmer and Fisher all left, a huge chunk of my match day squad. I was sad to see them go, I didn't want them to go but I had no choice. Joe Corrigan and my head of youth development also retired, the carpet had been pulled from underneath our feet.
I wanted to build on that season but already we faced a mountain to climb.
Part Two - Mansfield Town 2015- 2016 Coming Soon
I headed into the season with ambition and a view to improve the club overall within a few seasons including its infrastructure but first I had to get to know my squad. It wasn't bad to begin with, there were a few positions we needed strength in, left back and centre midfield most notably. I noted this and carried on my assessment of the club.
I also needed to get to know my staff, a useful bunch but not to the standard I required so it was out with the old and in with the new. I pulled off a major coup by persuading Michael Owen to sign as my under 18's manager, a real role model for the younger players at the club. Joe Corrigan also joined as a goalkeeper coach, Paul White as a fitness coach and Andy Porter as my assistant.
We stumbled our way through pre season, altering tactics and personnel while scouting out of contract players as I had no transfer budget, something the board thought was acceptable. I didn't mind, I knew they were free players out there that could come in and do a job, I also had the loan market to search through.
The first player to join was Blair Turgott, a product of the famed West Ham Academy, a right winger who my scouts desperately wanted me to sign. I must admit, it was a position out of my focus but I couldn't resist a season long loan, I knew he would produce and we needed that. Johnny Gorman followed, a free transfer from Barrow if I remember correctly, a young left winger with massive potential, again a position out of my focus but a signing we couldn't turn down.
Youngster Jack Thomas was starting to impress me in pre season, an 18 year old centre midfielder with a point to prove, I was starting to think that maybe we had enough cover in that area but something told me we needed more. The season looked long and injuries could cost us so we signed David Prutton, an experienced head who I hoped would give us that reassurance in a holding role. The left back problem still chewed away at my thoughts but there wasn't a worthy player out there who we could bring in so I decided to give Lee Beevers the benefit of the doubt and let him have the chance to prove himself.
The season was approaching fast and we needed tactics, a formation and a line up. I wanted us to keep hold of the ball, pass it and work openings, a mistake that cost us dear in the first two games.
The line up to start the season looked like this in a 4-2-3-1 formation:
GK - D. Evtimov
LB - L. Beevers
CB - R. Tafazolli
CB - M. Riley
RB - L. Jones
LW - J. Gorman
CM - J. Thomas
CM - J. McGuire
RW - B. Turgott
AM - C. Clements
ST - R. Bingham
We lost the first two games straight and the Capital One Cup had handed us an unenviable trip to Derby County. Steve McClaren began shooting his mouth off in press conferences, saying Derby were in for an easy win. I went back to the office, looked at the squad list until my eyes glazed over, formations going round in my head.
If Derby were going to win, I was going to make it hard and a horrible game for them. I switched our tactics to more direct passing, to pump the ball in the box on the counter while getting stuck in. Ollie Palmer came in up front as a target man, a god send and a turning point early on.
We knocked Derby out 2-1 I think it was, a mammoth effort and an impressive display from Palmer. Steve McClaren made his excuses red faced and I remained calm in the post match conference saying we still needed to focus on the season. Played 3, won 1 and lost 2 but we had the fans onside.
The new tactics produced an 11 game unbeaten streak, plenty of draws early on but we weren't losing which was the main thing, this streak ended with 5 straight wins. Ollie Palmer was scoring nearly every game and we were flying high just outside the play offs. The fans were excited and a few ex favourites joined in to say how impressive we were.
Injury hit Palmer halfway through the season, a hammer blow and we needed a replacement and quick. Bingham had impressed in pre season but not in the games that mattered, Matt Rhead scored when coming on as a substitute but not when starting so it fell to Alex Fisher to lead the line. He did well but we starting dropping points, we were scoring but not as many. Bobby Hassell joined the club on a free in January 2015 for a second stint as Luke Jones became complacent at right back, a move which the fans enjoyed.
David Prutton and Reggie Lambe had become problematic, they weren't starting and when they did they didn't impress, he wanted answers and solutions but I couldn't give them, not when the team I was putting out was doing well. They wanted moves away but no clubs wanted them.
We dropped off on form and fell to around 14th in the league in March but Ollie Palmer was back.
We eventually finished the 2014 - 2015 season in 12th place, a success in my eyes. Consolidation was the aim for the first season, something that we could build on. We had contracts that were expiring and the wage budget was thin, we had players we didn't want but nobody else wanted them, they were taking up valuable resources. I expected the turnover of players to be high close season, especially in a lower league but I wasn't prepared for what was to come. We managed to renew the contracts of good players like Tafazolli and Riley but the board weren't letting me offer the wages that the players wanted to renew their contracts, this included Ollie Palmer and Jamie McGuire. Two players that had been ever present in the successful season but the board were't prepared to allocate an extra few hundred pounds. Evtimov had also had an amazing season but he rejected the chance of another season at Field Mill on loan from Nottingham Forest. He had earned his first Bulgaria cap that season and wanted to kick on in his career, I knew Turgott would feel the same. Four of my main players walked out at the end of that season, the squad was stripped bare. Evtimov, Beevers, Turgott, McGuire, Bell, Prutton, Heslop, Rhead, Palmer and Fisher all left, a huge chunk of my match day squad. I was sad to see them go, I didn't want them to go but I had no choice. Joe Corrigan and my head of youth development also retired, the carpet had been pulled from underneath our feet.
I wanted to build on that season but already we faced a mountain to climb.
Part Two - Mansfield Town 2015- 2016 Coming Soon