THE arrival of the season’s fixtures this week seem to have suddenly brought the start of the new campaign much closer.

All of a sudden Stags fans know where they are going to be for the next nine months.

With 11 new players and increased crowds the excitement is now building.

I don’t think the fixture list has been terribly kind to us sending us hundreds of miles to Barrow and Gateshead on Tuesday nights.

Any hopes of a nice stopover in the Lake District or Newcastle quickly vanished. But with the loss of Setanta, maybe we will see less games shuffled.

 But it may be hoping too much that with the death of Setanta the BSP allow the dreadful Setanta Shield competition to die with them!

Looking at the Christmas/New Year fixtures it would seem last season’s regular sparring partners York City are now are ‘local derby’ opponents.

The first three games will give us a very good indication as to how the season may unfold.

Crawley will be tough opening day home opponents and within four days we will get the chance to see if Luton are likely to storm back towards the league or struggle to settle into life post-League.

Then Salisbury is a long old trip to give an early test to players and supporters’ coach-legs.

Sadly what seemd to have been the most positive build-up to any campaign I can remember this week has been rocked by a section of fans furious they may have to sit in a different seat to help save money on stewarding. By closing sections of the stands, Stags can cut back on stewards and save £25,000.

In the current climate it seems perfectly sensible to me and those moaning just because they have to shuffle up a few seats would probably moan whatever (as some Stags fans are apt to).

The ones who are expressing worries about bringing in friends and children concern me more as they may have a valid point.

Though I am not sure why it changes just because you have had to move along the row.

 Let’s be honest, in a 10,000-seater stadium we are not usually too pushed for space are we? But rest assured we will run all potentials problems past the chairman before next week’s Chad comes out.

Let me know what you want us to ask if you fail to get the answers you want yourselves. All any of us want is to see the club do well and get back in the League.

And if that £25,000 provides the money for a player that helps us get there then most fans would not mind too much where they sat.  Don’t you agree?

We all await next week’s AGM with interest as the club will reveal the finances to the end of April 2008 – that means we will know some of the state it was left in by the previous owner before the ‘Three Amigos’ took over.

 In the mean time let’s sit and watch England teach the Aussies some cricketing lesson.

Hopefully you have now bought your Stags season ticket and can’t wait for the new season to start.

But for those still intending to buy one, this weekend represents last chance saloon.

Last orders on the £195 deal will be called at 4pm this Sunday and after that it’s up to £300 smackers.

It’s no use turning up on Monday with some sob story – the club and the Chad have been banging on about it for weeks and weeks and everyone has had adequate chance to take advantage of a fantastic offer.

There has to be a cut off point so the Three Amigos can sit down and work out their exact budget.

Although they may or may not sell a few more tickets at the higher price and will still get fluctuating numbers on the gate, the money from these tickets is guaranteed money and is all they can realistically base their immediate plans upon.

Anything else is a bonus as they push to get the side out of the BSP.

Luke Graham, Daryl Clare, Tim Sandercombe and Gary Mills all look good additons this week and the squad is quickly taking shape.

The new owners are doing all in their power to give this club a chance to get back into the Football League and restore some pride to the town and give the football club back to its people.

Still there are people who won’t come back, even though Keith Haslam is history.

There are some saying they won’t return as Haslam is still the landlord and gets some of their money and others who won’t go as Steve Hymas is being allowed to put money in after his altercation with Haslam on the last home game of last season.

Well a lot of people don’t like their landlords but pay them regular money as it is a neccessity of life.

And as for Hymas. Well he did the crime and paid his price. Time to move on.

You can’t hold grudges with people forever. Do you know for certain that no one else putting any sort of money into the club has a criminal record of any sort? Bear in mind that includes everyone including matchday sponsors, matchball sponsors, kit sponsors, player sponsors, advertising boards, mascot packages.

It is just that his was very public. But if this town ever needed its football supporters fully united it’s next season.

With a season of learning under their belts for the new owners, a cracking manager, a promising squad and twice as many people likely to be at home games, there is a momentum building that you can feel.

 I can’t wait until the fixtures list comes out on 3rd July!

And so a long and eventful first season in the Blue Square Premier comes to an end this Sunday.

For a number of the squad the visit of Stevenage Borough will mark the end of their time at Field Mill as boss David Holdsworth tries to build a team he feels capable of challenging for a way out of this league next season.

Speculation is rife who may or may not be on their way and who may be coming in to replace them.

And it looks set to be a summer of intrigue on that front as Holdsworth tries to utilise his extensive contacts to bring in the right men.

Well done to all those who made the journey down to Woking last weekend for the final away trip of the season, particularly the smurf army! We’ve all the ‘blues’ at recent away games but it’s never been running down our faces and arms in bright spring sunshine!

To be perfectly honest I shed no tears to hear Woking were relegated this week.

It was hard work to find the ground, driving round a one-way system of a town  that is far bigger than I ever imagined it would be. More like a small city.

Then, in trying to retrace my steps post-match, I ended up having to turn the car round down a suburban millionaires’ cul-de-sac that I had I accidentally turned down and was forced to ask directions back to the M25. Yes – a bloke does sometimes have to ask directions.

Another good reason for not going back there is avoiding their local radio commentator who must have swallowed a megaphone when he was young. Could you  hear him from where you were?

I am sure Health and Safety busybodies would require him to turn the volume of his mouth down if there were a way to do so. But from 1pm to 6.30pm it was a torturous afternoon and I am suprised my ears were not bleeding by the time I left.

Even David Holdsworth jokingly began shouting his answers at us at the post-match press conference as he tried to compete with Mr Megaphone.

With the season all but over, it was a shame but inevitable that Tuesday’s home crowd for a meaningless game with Altrincham would be small – the third smallest of the season in fact.

I am sure those with Sky TV who stayed in to watch Liverpool and Arsenal share eight goals will feel they made the right decision.

But those who did attend Field Mill enjoyed a cracking game with Stags playing some delightful football with a side that included two youngsters and a third given a debut also near the end.

Tom Naylor, in particular, stood out as he has done in recent reserve games and this 17-year-old has the ability to play in the centre of the Mansfield defence for years to come once he has bulked up his frame to carry his undoubted skill and determination.

Thanks to those who voted for our Chad Stags Readers’ Player of the Year. I will be handing the trophy over to your winner before kick-off on Sunday.

Let’s hope Stags can go out with a win to end 2009 unbeaten at home under David Holdsworth to send out a warning to the league for next year.

And let’s hope those that run on the pitch at the final whistle and the stewards there to look after their safety all behave themselves and we have a far more satisfactory last day to the season than we have had in recent years.

After the poor midweek attendance at Field Mill I would guess Stags are hoping it was due to people saving their money for Saturday to watch the home clash with Barrow.

The weather is due to pick up, the price of chocolate eggs will be coming down and Stags will hopefully turn on another display as entertaining as the one against Ebbsfleet.

 I know the previous two away games were a huge disappointment. But, let’s be honest, few sides are going to leave Histon or Wrexham with victories and all they did was underline where David Holdsworth needs to strengthen in the summer.

We know this side is not the finished article that the manager has in his mind.

We also know that there are just three home games left and three chances to put a few quid into the Field Mill coffers to pay the office staff, players and bills over what will be very tight summer months.

 If, after Wrexham, you decided to stay away on Tuesday in protest then you missed a treat and hopefully you will be back on Saturday.

If it’s a financial issue fair enough – times have rarely been as hard.

If, on the other hand, you will now stay away until they start looking the part next season then yah, boo, sucks! We will let you know when the glory bandwagon is ready to depart.

The debuts of Daryl Clare and Oliver Hotchkiss plus the home debut of Gianluca Havern were a delight to watch as was the way Clare and a revitalised Rob Duffy combined.

We also had the best game so far in a Stags shirt from Louis Briscoe who scored once and could have had five while Curtis Woodhouse was outstanding at left back.

Fans called for someone to buy out Keith Haslam and it was done, fans called out for a better keeper and Daryl Clare to be signed and they were signed, fans called out for cheaper admission – they can get in for £7.60 a game next season if they join the new season ticket deal and they called for better PR and the club are now very open and honest and have even thrown a training session open to kids during the school holiday next week.

They are bending over so far backwards to please the town that Stags are in danger of slipping a disc!

At home since New Year’s Day they are unbeaten in all eight games and have conceded just one goal.

After a rollercoaster season there is still the chance and the aim of a top 10 finish to sound a warning to the rest of the league.

 How good would it be to see over 3,000 make an Easter pilgrimage to the Mill this Saturday to get behind them and show this town does want a football club.

It’s countdown time to the end of the season with 10 games to go, starting at Grays Athletic this Saturday.

Sometimes at this time of year we say how it doesn’t seem five minutes since we were kicking off in August. Not this time.

This feels like one of the longest seasons in history!

It seems an absolute lifetime ago when the ‘Three Amigos’ took over the Field Mill reins from a certain Mr Haslam and recruited Billy McEwan at the 11th hour to preside over the three or so senior professionals left at the club.

So much has happened since then – top of the the table in the Crawley sunshine, the shock of the points deduction, the slide down to the relegation zone and the replacement of Mr McEwan by David Holdsworth.

Now we are left with Grays, Wrexham, Histon, Northwich and Woking away and Torquay, Ebbsfleet, Barrow, Altrincham and Stevenage at home. We are also left with a 13 point gap between Stags and the play-off zone.

That means it is almost certain Stags have nothing left to play for. Yet, while it is still mathematically possible to get into the play-offs, it would be unprofessional not to keep going for it.

Even if Stags finished just outside the zone, it would be a tremendous achievement by Holdsworth and a great tonic towards next season.

What we need now are decent crowds for those last five home games.

For all you sit-at-home fans whose reason for staying away is not a financial one, remember those last five Mill matches are the board’s last chance to top up money for the summer and give  them enough to pay wages to top quality players that Holdsworth wants to snare as soon as possible. Let’s steal a march on everyone else for a change.

So if you are a local football fan, tear off that Manchester United shirt and burn it (ditto Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal etc – you are too far north to be a United or Liverpool fan) and get down to back your LOCAL football team.

If things go as planned next season and the Holdsworth revolution inspires a promotion push then Field Mill will be full of bandwagon jumpers. That’s great but it’s always nicer to be ahead of the game and, believe me, there is a tingle in the air down at the Mill right now that is nothing to do with the weather.

Much has been said about the arrival of Daryl Clare. And I saw enough in the hour of Wednesday’s reserve game to suggest he could become a Stags legend.

Twice he popped up in exactly the right place at the right time as a natural predatory goalscorer should, netting once with aplomb and seeing the keeper save well from the other.

He linked play up well, he got under defenders’ skin with his aggression and he is still not fully match fit.

I can’t see him starting at Grays. But I am almost sure Holdsworth will have him on the bench and use him. So there may be a treat in store for those who make the journey down to East London on Saturday.

To get you in the mood make sure you listen to this week’s 50th Chad Stags Talk show on our web site with Andy Perry being honest and open as usual about the club, following on from last week’s appearance by David Holdsworth which is still on there to listen to as well.

How they react to a defeat is the benchmark of successful football teams.

Sides at the top, or ambitious to be up there, have a knack of boucing back straight away.

 It is still very early days yet in the Holdsworth revolution at Field Mill, but even so it will be interesting to see how his charges respond to their first defeat under his tenure when they travel to Rushden and Diamonds on Saturday.

One thing is for certain – Rushden will be lucky to manage to score one of the nine goals they chalked up at crisis club Weymouth last weekend.

It was the first time they had won in nine games and, let’s be honest, we have stolen two of Rushden’s best players here! So, although we will pay them due respect, we have every chance of coming away with something.

Anyone who saw Stags’ first setback at Oxford last weekend in the new manager’s seventh game in charge won’t have been too disappointed with the performance away to an in-form side and, given some more clinical finishing and a bit of luck, the Stags might have came away with a point or three.

 It was a cracking game on a suprisingly warm afternoon and you could almost get away with believing it was a Football League fixture given the quality and surroundings on show.

 In the end the game brought an abrupt end to the unbeaten run and all but killed off outside play-off hopes (though they will never die completely until it is mathematically impossible).

But, with Rob Duffy and Louis Briscoe nursing knocks, Stags do seem to be lacking a little up front and it is no surprise that David Holdsworth is looking at possible loans.

However, don’t hold your breath for Daryl Clare. Even if we were a couple of points off the play-offs, would you really shell out a £10,000 fee on an injury-prone 30-year-old? That’s before you start talking about wages!

 Holdsworth has already said he knows Clare is a quality player. And I, for one, wouldn’t bat an eyelid if he turned up here in the summer. But I really can’t see him coming now at this stage of the season.

And let’s not forget in a few weeks there will be literally thousands of players available on free transfers for a man with the calibre of contacts that Holdsworth has to exploit.

 Once this season begins to peter out I would love to see players like Connor Higginson, Lewis Trimmer, Nick Langford etc given a chance to blossom with the pressure off.

With that strange yellow disc in the sky and bulbs bursting through, it already feels like it’s time to ditch the thermals and 20 layers of clothing.

And the advent of Spring here at Field Mill usually means the advent of more disappointment.

But this year maybe we should at least celebrate seeing the club returned to the fans, caring people running it, a cracking new manager and the final bottoming out of our downwards spiral.

And maybe, just maybe, in 12 months time, Spring will give us something much, much more to cheer about.

New Stags boss David Holdsworth is enjoying an extended honeymoon and a lot of love from the fans.

 But there is little chance Cambridge boss Gary Brabin will be offering him flowers and chocolates on St Valentine’s Day at the Abbey Stadium this Saturday!

With United flying high, anything Stags earn will have to be earned the hard way – and their task has been made even more difficult by the loss of the suspended Scott Garner who has been such a rock at the back.

Mansfield Town face possibly their most testing afternoon to date under Holdsworth – and we all know runs have to end sometime.

But this is a feeling we had before the home games with Crawley and York and the away trip to Eastbourne – and those games produced nine points.

So maybe we just have to learn to have a little more faith. It is snowing now as I pen these words so God knows what faces us in the wilds of Cambridgshire on Saturday. But I was grateful to see the trip down there for the Histon game postponed on Tuesday.

With their route one football, it wasn’t somewhere I fancied going without Scott Garner.

And, to be honest, I still hadn’t thawed out from Field Mill on Saturday.

We know the game down there is going to be unpleasant and necl-stretching in the extreme so the last thing we need is Arctic conditions too.

But we are slowly building up a genuine fixture backlog just like the good old days.

Could be worse, though, we could be Kettering, Wrexham or Histon! Much more of this weather and they will be playing three times a week towards the end of the season.

Hopefully we will get another good following heading down the A1 to play their part on Saturday – Gents, don’t be told Valentine’s Day is more important.

There are plenty of nice places to eat in the lovely town of Cambridge and surely she should want to do things with you as much as you her.

So 90 minutes watching Stags win together and a nice meal could make a lovely day out.

But make sure you tell her you are going to take her to the romantically-named Abbey Stadium and not its current real name of the Trade Recruitment Stadium – that would kill all notions of romance dead.

Talking of supporters – a huge well done to all of you who cleared that snow off the pitch last weekend.

It sounds like it was damned hard work, though if the club had said in advance that the food on offer would be bacon butties plus pie and peas it may have got a few more of us to abandon our lie-ins! Still some fans persist in talking of possible play-offs.

 If we have six more points by this time next week I might be tempted to join the speculation.

Here’s dreaming of an extended honeymoon in romantic Cambridge with David Holdsworth! Easy girls!

THREE games unbeaten and three clean sheets, there is a lot to be thankful for as a Stags fan right now.

Yes we would all love to have won all three games 5-0 with scintillating football but this is real life and, in the situation we were in, David Holdsworth’s initial record so far is better than we could have dared hope for.

How many times have we groaned as our defence/keeper made basic and costly errors last season and this?

Holdsworth is right that the rearguard had to be the priority and he has quickly plugged the gaps and made us reasonably watertight. I am sure the rest will come eventually.

Admittedly I would prefer to see one player left up to aim for when clearing a corner instead of having the clearance stuffed back down your throat.

But Holdsworth wants all hands to the pumps on defending right now and whatever he feels will keep us up this season is fine by me.

Tuesday night was a cold, wet miserable night with a game that saw just one really clear cut chance in 90 minutes which Jon D’Laryea was unable to bury.

But there were some great plus points, notably the wingplay of Michael Blackwood.

He began the season in style but then went off the boil before going down with injury.

If Holdsworth can keep him performing like last night then I doubt anyone else in the club can put over such accurate crosses as Blackwood.

At the back Holdsworth had high praise for teenager Scott Garner which all who were there can only agree with.

The lad heads that ball so hard that I can see him scoring from well out with a bullet header sometimes this season. God knows how strong those neck muscles on him are!

Rob Duffy and an out-of-sorts Aaron O’Connor will have better games but they have not played with each other much and we know what both are capable of. So let’s keep the knives in the knife draw folks.

The same goes for those unhappy to see Neil MacKenzie return. No he will not put the foot in like Matt Somner and Curtis Woodhouse. But neither of them have the vision and passing ability of one of the best ‘footballers’ to play for Stags in recent years.

He is another great option to have in your armoury and those who are already speaking out against his return should remember what he can do.

I enjoyed my trip to Lewes far more than I should have done last weekend (and I don’t just mean the wonderful Harveys Ale).

It’s the old ‘glass half full or half empty scenario’ isn’t it? Some stood there at the quaint and spartan Dripping Pan ground – so wonderfully named – and said ‘so this is what it’s all come down to – this is how low we’ve sunk’?

But myself, and I wasn’t the only one, thought that, while we don’t want to be in this division forever, while we are here then let’s enjoy days out at grounds like Lewes.

Forget Manchester United and Chelsea – this is what real football is all about.

A few short seasons back Lewes were playing Sussex County League football but have fought their way through promotion after promotion to reach the Conference.

They are clearly punching well above their weight and will certainly go back down in April.

But everyone there from the friendly staff to the players and people on the terraces are pasionate about the game and how nice was it to see the fans moving round the ground behind the goals at half time just like t’Good Old Days!

The only down side were the spring-loaded desk tops in the tiny press box which when you took the pressure off them flipped straight up immediately.

Thankfully no one was in front of me when my boilding hit and full cup of Bovril was launched Apollo-style into the stratosphere or I may be facing a lawsuit from someone for giving them a Carlos Tevez-style neck!

This weekend should be our final seaside trip of the season and an end to the longer trips as we take our Amber and Blue buckets and spades to Eastbourne Borough.

And there is no doubt on current form they will provide Stags with their biggest test so far under the new boss.

If Stags can emerge from there with a clean sheet then I think we can all but kiss goodbye to worries over a prolonged relegation battle and start to enjoy a smoother ride.

NEVER ever trust a weather forecaster.

They smile at you nicely on the television (I can still remember that Ulrika grin as if it were yesterday and tell you what will happen.

But by that night or the following day it’s all changed. Yes, they guess and they lie!

Long term and ever shorter term forcecasts last weekend suggested David Holdsworth would finally get his first taste of match action as the new Mansfield Town manager.

But someone in Shirebrook must have opened a fridge door or something as an unexpected Arctic blast engulfed Field Mill at the last mninute and we saw the visit of Altrincham postponed yet again.

So now we have had to wait another agonising week for our footy fix.

I quickly scanned the papers for alternative games to watch last weekend but as quickly as I found another possible destination they also fell foul of the weather.

In the end I just had to give up and accept my fate as I headed with my wife to spend a few hours at the mother-in-law’s house – ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON!

Some things should remain sacred!

Now all we can do is keep our fingers crossed that this week’s mixture of heavy rain and freezing cold nights doesn’t extend what will already be a 19-day gap between games.

We should be welcoming Steve Evans and his Crawley side who will be smarting from their four point BSP deduction this week for playing an ineligible player.

Let’s not forget we were top of the table when we visited Crawley earlier in the season only to lose the four points and see ourselves slide down the table.

After nine unbeaten games, let’s hope their deduction affects Crawley on Saturday though their 5-0 away thrashing of Cambridge on Wednesday night suggests they may be using it as a positive.

And if the weather does affect this one and we face another blank Saturday I am going to sneak out the house and spend the afternoon looking at an empty stadium, claiming it went ahead!

Once this is out of the way, it’s time to pack Speedos, sunblock, buckets and spades once more and head for that south coast yet again the following weekend.

More on that next week!

Here’s to a winning start for Mr Holdsworth!

AFTER the false start of the Billy McEwan era this really is starting to feel like another exciting new era this week.

Following the misery of the 2007/08 season, the big changes on and off the field generated a lot of excitement and enthusiasm as we took the Conference by storm (briefly).

As we all know that quickly turned sour and we were suddenly left facing relegation worries once more.

But now, as we enter 2009, all of a sudden the manager, chief executive, commercial manager and three loan players have gone and in has come a fresh new manager with decent-looking new signings.

It has injected a new feeling of hope and, with three home games in the first four matches and – hopefully – disgrutled fans willing to return to get behind the new boss, this month offers David Holdsworth a great chance to kickstart the season once more.

The six new faces in this week all have their merits – particularly keeper Alan Marriott who has so often been a thorn in our side.

So hopefully those fans who have begun staying away again, disillusioned with the way things were going will come back on Saturday for two reasons.

It would be nice to see a packed Mill pay a proper tribute to Ian Greaves following the legendary Stags manager’s death last week. And  it would be great to see them then get fully behind new boss David Holdsworth on his ‘debut’.

There is the feeling of a baton being passed on in the way this has fallen and the more superstitious among you may even be taking this as a ‘sign’.

It’s been a while since I felt this excited and enthusiastic about a game and, even if the new-look side doesn’t click straight away, a win on Saturday will be a step forward.

The addition of Curtis Woodhouse next week after his suspension will be a further boost, possibly amongside a couple more new faces, and suddenly we are starting to look like we have a proper squad for the first time in ages.

Let’s hope Jack Frost or Altrincham don’t spoil what could be a very special day – see you down the Mill!