Marked for Liam Roberts
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mansfield Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael Smith and Mansfield Town agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Patrick Roberts and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match2 Oct 2027
Wigan Athletic left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Liam Roberts
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ben Wiles was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Alexander Bailey left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market4 Oct 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mansfield Town, another week without a signature from Nathan Moriah-Welsh.
Market4 Oct 2027
Harry Lewis is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mansfield Town has been clear about where Harry Lewis stands, which is more than many ever get.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Scott Wharton and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enso González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nottingham Forest have kept their man, and Mansfield Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Liam Roberts
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match28 Aug 2027
0‑1 to Leyton Orient, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A mistake Liam Roberts will not forget
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 May 2027
Position 13 on 59 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad3 May 2027
A one-man rearguard from Liam Roberts
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mansfield Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match1 May 2027
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Mansfield Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvin Austbø is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad3 May 2027
Ryan Sweeney and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Óscar Opazo wants to go home
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Player ratings
Owen Dodgson takes the honours
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Apr 2027
0‑3 to Stevenage, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A one-man rearguard from Liam Roberts
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvin Austbø was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Liam Roberts, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Hugo Magallanes is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Tyler Roberts asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Mark McGuinness and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Edvin Austbø falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Alexander Bailey chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The spotlight tightens on Liam Roberts
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market22 Mar 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Elliott Hewitt has his answer from Mansfield Town; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luke Bolton, and the manager let it.
Match20 Mar 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Bradford City defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
Hugo Magallanes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Julian Vazquez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 Feb 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Liam Roberts knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Liam Roberts's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Match20 Feb 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Alexander Bailey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Mansfield Town dressing room was either.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The team sheet said everything about Owen Dodgson
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Owen Dodgson.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Coventry City is saying, and nobody at Mansfield Town is enjoying the guessing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Reece Cole falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Samuel Loric and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match12 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Adeboyejo. 1‑0 against Leyton Orient, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Liam Roberts gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Liam Roberts lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
A one-man rearguard from Liam Roberts
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
George Abbott is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Match26 Dec 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mansfield Town are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Mansfield Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Reece Cole is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match22 Dec 2026
Stevenage left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to George Abbott, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Alexander Bailey left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A one-man rearguard from Liam Roberts
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Louis Reed: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mansfield Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tyler Roberts and Mansfield Town agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Mansfield Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Reece Cole is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michael Smith. 1‑0 against Blackpool, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ryan Sweeney in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mansfield Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A mark of 7.73, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Luke Bolton beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Alexander Bailey on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
The knee: Louis Bonser out for 24 days
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mansfield Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad5 Oct 2026
George Abbott is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Mansfield Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hugo Magallanes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Alexander Bailey to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Michael Smith knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mansfield Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nathan Moriah-Welsh, and the manager let it.
Market5 Oct 2026
Rodrigo Godoy is 37 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
The knee: Louis Bonser out for 61 days
61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mansfield Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $122.4K — a club that wants Daniel Chesters enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$120.0K on the table at Salford City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
No deal for Kamarl Grant at that price
Mansfield Town offered $340.0K; Millwall said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Mansfield Town asked and Gimnasia La Plata said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2026
Exeter City left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ryan Sweeney and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
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Squad
14 new faces, and Mansfield Town are still learning each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Matěj Jurásek is in the works
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
The knee: Louis Bonser out for 88 days
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mansfield Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mansfield Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wrexham have kept their man, and Mansfield Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Alfie Harrison is 20, and Mansfield Town have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The formation has left Reece Cole behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Mansfield Town will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Deji Oshilaja and Mansfield Town agree another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Liam Thompson knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mansfield Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jordan Bowery has his answer from Mansfield Town; what he does with it is the next window’s story.