The Hotel End

So underperforming Mansfield are the visitors to Sixfields on Saturday, they currently sit in 21st place in the league with just 3 wins in their last 20 games in all competitions.
Their last away win was on New Years Day, a 3-2 win at Cambridge. They poached Graham Coughlin from Bristol Rovers in December but he has only won 3 games since taking over. Nicky Maynard is their top scorer with 15 goals this season, but no goal in the last four games, Danny Rose usually partners him and he has 11 goals too, so on paper a decent strike force.

Of 76 games against Mansfield they hold the upper hand with 37 victories to our 24, five of the last 8 meetings have ended in a draw. The Stags are winless at Sixfields in their last 6 visits, their last win was that playoff semi final in 2004 when (managed by one Keith Curle) they left with a 2-0 win under their belts.

The man in the middle is scheduled to be Peter Wright, a second year EFL ref, who makes his first visit to Sixfields. He was the ref for our game at Oldham earlier in the season, a game which ended 2-2, and the only other time I can see where he has taken charge of a game involving us was the 2-2 draw at Exeter last season. He has shown 82 yellows and 3 red cards in his 27 games this season.

If it's on! If covid-19 keeps ramping up at the rate it has today I can see any large gatherings of people being suspended for a while until the panic dies down (or games played behind closed doors).

If that does happen I wonder if the EFL will also suspend the rule about games not being broadcast on iPlayer at 3pm? Maybe issue free passes for anyone who has already bought a ticket?

What 85 people in a population of....?

No way it will be off.

The first part was slightly tongue in cheek so I don't seriously think this weekend's game will be affected. The following weekend though....? Today has seen a 60% increase in UK cases since yesterday. If that rate continues, according to my in-no-way-scientific-back-of-a-fag-packet calculation, by the end of the month 16.5m people could have caught it.

Of course, these things don't really spread at a nicely predictable linear rate like this, but if the numbers DO start to grow exponentially then I think we'll see some sort of reaction when it comes to gatherings of people.

For my part, I don't think the media has massively helped in all this and I suspect the fatality rate will be nowhere near the level being spouted by some outlets, but it does seem to be particularly contagious and could spread very quickly if left unchecked.

If games are played behind closed doors that will put a spanner in the works for Lee Geary. He's currently on 1500 consecutive games attended. Well done Lee by the way - a brilliant effort.  

FGR next week should be ok then!  ;)

Yeah, only somewhere between 5 and 6 million by then so probably fine... ;D

Football aside, I think some might have overlooked the gargantuan effort by the Chinese to thwart the virus and the fact that Europe cannot operate in a similar way.
If you can believe the published figures, infection rates in Korea have already exceeded that of China per capita and the Italians as of now, are not far behind.
Additionally, the virus currently has a kill rate of 5.8% in China and 18.7% globally (excluding China) as percentage of already resolved cases.
Those figures will probably surprise some?
www.worldometers.info

As for Lee Geary, what an unbelievable effort.

Youre right about the media, The Daily Mail, and London Evening Standard, have gone into overdrive. By all accounts theres going to be a temporary morgue in Hyde Park. I think that we will cope though. We always do.
I read yesterday that there will be empty shelves and a toilet paper shortage. A lady in front of me at the Tescos till had a trolley full of multipacks. And the old guy who got on the bus was struggling to carry all of his.
Pretty sad really. But if theres a beer shortage, then I will stock up! ;D

The government are possibly going to ban events with large gatherings of people ....
See you all Saturday then ...

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/cornell-responds-positively-after-being-dropped-curle-2072329

Take nothing for granted against these despite their league position. They always seem to give us a hard game. But we should have more than enough to see a home win to cement our playoff place if we do the basics right. Hopefully a decent crowd will be in. Seems there will be lots of kids groups in and Mansfield normally bring a fair few.
Looking forward to this.

Not much speculation on this thread ....
 We have a good squad to choose from and should be very strong against these

Always a tough game against the stags, irregardless of league positions.......let's keep this season home run going with huge support ! 

0-1 to the Staggies.

Out of your 3026 posts that is your most positive comment about the Cobblers............Up the Teyn!

 ;D 8)

ZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzz

For some reason I have a very bad feeling about this one.

Wheres the easy games thread? This is officially our easiest game, that we have left!  ;D

Lets hope we don't come unstuck. Win today, and win next week....then we can start dreaming about a push for the top3. Lose or draw either, and I reckon that's in, and play offs are officially our target.

With Maynard and Rose up top, they are clearly in a false position, a bit like ourselves maybe last season. They have got some decent players, and on paper...a decent manager. Why on earth they are struggling so much, gord only knows!

Hopefully injuries permitting we will be unchanged, but can KC help himself from changing a winning team.

He will have done his usual in depth study of the opposition and select a team to nullify their strengths and expose their weaknesses.

Unchanged starting line up from last weeks game

Do we ever lose to this lot?

Quite often! 37 times over the years.....we haven't won any of the last four meetings with them.

Exeter and Swindon both behind early on.....

Someone's been sent off.

Must have been thinking of a different team!
Pen Stags.
Sammy off
0-1

Sack 'em all!!!

Shocking start

I blame Dr. Feelgood. Part timer!!!

Curle out!

He's got to go.

Ten men for 80 minutes, Super Sammy sent off, pray for a monsoon and an abandonment!

Hoskins makes it to 37 games on 9 yellows therefore avoiding the two game ban......and gets himself sent off instead!

Or time to prove people wrong and show he can do?

EX Cobblers banging in goals all over the UK.... Joe Powell nets for Burton, Chris Long for Motherwell, Joe Iaciofano for St Albans, Ian Henderson for Rochdale.

Goode picks up a yellow for having a row!

Colchester, Crewe and Plymouth all winning, Bradford, Exeter and Swindon all losing.

You ca add Luke Norris to that for Colchester

Arnold makes a good save, Goode clears off the line.....hanging on.....they've had 9 shots on goal.

Half time, a goal and a man down. A distant 10 points off third place as it stands, and a point inside the playoff zone.

Any referees in? Clarification needed please. I thought that unless it was a leg breaker, the guidance now was to avoid a double punishment and issue a penalty and a YELLOW?

The behaviour of both sets of players - particularly ours - has been pretty disgraceful but the ref has completely lost control. I’m not sure what has wound Goode and McCormack up - it was a pen and sending off, possibly rose’s reaction after the pen? I can see us ending up with 8 or 9 players if we don’t get our heads straight.

It wasn't a penalty anyway - the foul was at least a yard outside the box.

I thought the law was that unless the player makes a genuine attempt to play the ball it is a pen and sending off?

That's correct.
Apparently if Sammy had made a genuine attempt to play the ball rather than just take him out it would have been a yellow.
Where's that Walton when you want him?

Time for Keith to change it up.

Agreed that tempers have been fraying and our players need to calm down. However, there has been clear playacting by Mansfield on at least 3 occasions (twice when a promising Cobblers move has been stopped to deal with a fake injury). Poor reffing in my opinion.

Referee has lost control and so have we .
Goode lucky to be on the pitch still .
One on one from corners exposed again and we were lucky it didn’t repeat itself with Marshall straight after the goal .

Yet when we do it....as Goode has many times this season its alright!

Couple of fouls by Charlie since his yellow, he's on thin ice. Turnbull needs to avoid a yellow in the second half or he gets a two game ban, Hoskins will get a single game for his professional foul. Yes it was outside the area but the foul was a foul and denied a goalscoring opportunity.

I agree completely with the observations on Goode - we’re definitely running the risk of him getting sent off.

Actually it's not all right. I have openly criticised Goode's playacting on this board. Only last week I said I was pleased the ref gave handball against him for diving on the ball looking for a foul, as he has done so often this season.

Individually there are dissenters, credit to you for feeling the same way I do about it......most of our fans are accepting though as long as we benefit!!

Smith on for Marshall at the break.....3-3-3 formation.

Ffs. The Mortemeister goes off injured.
Polly on.

Ffs. 0-2.

Smudger bags 1-2.

Full time....a damaging defeat in more ways than one!

Gate = 5,666. Good in the circumstances.

Premier League considering discouraging over 70s from attending at their meeting on Monday. Presumably, the rest of the league will follow.

Well, that was one of the most niggly, ugly, frustrating games of football I’ve seen in a long while. The referee was awful but so were the players who completely lost their discipline which is unacceptable when you look at the experience in our side. It just reinforces that when we have a bad day the wheels well and truly come off.

Quite how anyone can defend Hoskins after that I do not know. When his clearance was charged down there were 2 defenders and one striker. Just draw him and slip it to the side. Simple. The guy is a headless chicken. Clueless.

We’ll be better off without him.

While McCormack and Moreton were on the pitch we stood a chance . When they went off we looked aimless.
We went gun ho and conceded the second goal . In truth we kept getting caught and were lucky not to concede more .
The referee was appalling and lost control .
We played with passion but not good enough today

Well some team were going to benefit from KC's stupid tactic of leaving only one back, EVERY TEAM in the League knows that you leave one more than the opposition back, in case someone f**ks up , like Sam did today. You also have to ask why our leading scorer is doing a defensive job when we have a corner !!
     We've got away with it a few times this season but today, it cost us two goals and a red card, it's a stupid tactic Keith, that's why no one else does it, you're not out thinking anyone. You would have thought that after getting caught out the first time he would learn not to do it again, but no, KC the tactical genius, carries on and we get caught again. I won't insult schoolboys but it REALLY is a p*ss poor idea.

Hoskins always gets caught in possession, this time it proved hugely expensive.

Putting that aside. The rest of the squad did nothing to help the situation. Nearly every senior pro lost their discipline. There was no need for us to disappear out of the game from the sending off. Any shape or organisation went out the window, and was replaced with a series of personal vendettas and petty squabbling.

I agree entirely,  the most stupid “tactical” innovation I can think of - and he is so stubborn that we will keep doing it and he will continue to think he’s the next pep guardiola.

Leaving one back is ridiculous .
We conceded one goal from it today and Marshall was then caught twice with the same situation afterwards.
Swindon and port vale also exploited it .
I would say we have conceded more from that tactic than scored from it .
Well done Keith - genius .

Summary of today.

Peter Wright was s***e.

End of summary.

Like I’ve already said, the ref was awful but we have a real issue with our game management and lack of discipline when we come up against the likes of Wright and Breakspear. I was so disappointed with Goode and McCormack today - their reactions gave a bad example that the majority of their colleagues seemed to pick up on.

People and the Chron saying that "the ref lost control"......no, actually the players lost control. What was needed? The ref to dish out a few more yellows? Send another one or two off?

In the fair play table we are the 23rd most disciplined team, and Mansfield are 22nd! No surprise the game panned out like it did today.

You're back - after a defeat  ::)

Correct.

Stupid or brave  ??? It gives us overloads in the box. I have no problem with it.

Madness by Curle.  Keeping only Hoskins at the back, a player who can neither tackle not head the ball has been an accident waiting to happen and it did today.  

But more important the football on show is plainly awful and this is more often he case than not.  To describe KC's brand of football as agricultural would be unfair to the farming community.  Another season of KC whichever division we are in fills me with dread.

A funny one today. It was all us in the opening exchanges then they broke down the field and Sammy presumably decided to "take one for the team". It was definitely a foul but looked comfortably outside of the area to me and, even if it was inside, to give the double whammy of a penalty AND a sending off was harsh and the first example of some of the dreadful refereeing that followed.

You can't put it all on the ref though; as soon as the sending off happened we lost our heads, especially in the 10 minute period that followed. I thought McCormack was having a decent game but he had to be taken off or we'd have ended up with 9 men on the pitch. Once we calmed down a bit I thought we were still on the front foot for most of the game. They threatened on the break and caught us out a couple of times that we got away with and then on the third time we weren't so lucky. I guess our tactic of only leaving one player back backfired on us today. Whether you see it as naive or a positive move to commit players forward is, I guess, a matter of personal opinion.

On the plus side, we kept plugging away, Smith looked very good when he came on, we didn't sign that repugnant little weasel Danny Rose in the transfer window and, despite the result, I actually really enjoyed the blood and thunder nature of the game today!

Really? It’s all about opinions I suppose but as Barton has pointed out if the delivery isn’t right, as it hasn’t been recently, it is a risk not worth taking and we have been living on borrowed time for a while. Again, like others have said if it is such a tactical master stroke then how come I have never seen any team in any league leave 1 on 1 from an attacking set piece when they are level?

Yes, really. It's good to see a manager taking a risk to score a goal. Unfortunately, there will be times when it goes wrong.

Just watched it and it was definitely in the box although the foul was started outside, there was no attempt to play the ball, correct decision for both the penalty and red card.

Fair enough, we’ll have to agree to disagree.

It ain't that we only left one back, more that the one was Hoskins!

He was still sh!t.

I'll take your word for it, I wasn't there... ;)

On the plus side, we now can't finish any lower than 22nd.  :D

Even a last minute reprieve for Bury won't relegate us now!

Bit harsh on KC this. Complete wrong decision from Hoskins and even more brainless to give away the pen and red card. I don’t mind leaving one back but I do however think that leaving Hoskins/Marshall back as the sole defender is probably not the best decision.

I’m genuinely very balanced when it comes to refs. Today was as bad as I can remember from any official in years. We were totally done over by that guy. There is not a chance that we would have lost if we had had 11 men all game.

Also, Danny Rose. Think we were linked to him in January. Well I’m glad we couldn’t sign him. He was a disgrace. I know Charlie play acts, but this was different level of cheating.

Precisely; not your leading scorer and smallest player to boot. Cue all the hindsight heroes reappear with constructive/destructive comments. I particularly single out the comment made by one punter on here that Hoskins can't defend or tackle. Yet I have seen Hoskins play excellent defensive rolls in several games but hey ho forget that; in order to make a poorly judged comment. Whether we qualify for the play offs is now not so certain particularly with the upcoming games. Can we do it? Of course we can provided we hold our nerve. I do agree that after the penalty/sending off a few players lost their heads and with it discipline. Remarkably we pressed on withdrawing Marshall (pity that) searching for an equaliser which I thought we looked likely to score and more. At the end of the day we did not have enough quality upfront to win the game. Definitely 3 points dropped against a not too impressive Mansfield side who got away with some strong tactics most of the game. Poor referee handling of the game.

 an adult male human being. : a man or boy who shows the qualities (such as strength and courage) that men are traditionally supposed to have. : a woman's husband or boyfriend.In physics, work is defined as a force causing the movement—or displacement—of an object. In the case of a constant force, work is the scalar product of the force acting on an object and the displacement caused by that force.is manwork04 that i ask the great British public,

why the negative post when you could each time find a to make a Bacon, Egg, and Brussels Sprouts Carbonara
you  alway are   clenching your jaws or grinding your teeth. when i sit next to you and try and hold your hand
   you have headaches and all listed below so love your fellow man
    stomach ache.
    increased and rapid heart rate.
        feeling hot in your groin next to men.
    shaking or trembling.
Righteous indignation is typically a reactive emotion of anger over mistreatment, insult, or malice of another. ... In some keith curle doctrines, righteous anger is considered the only form of anger which is not sinful, e.g., when arthur drove the money lenders out of the sixfields
    dizziness.is the magic number


i rest my case as you now know my views on this matter

The referee wasn’t the one who screwed up and got himself rightly sent off?

YES,but who put him in the Glenn Hoddle

Had one drink too many again my friend? Bedtime.

Was opposite to Hoskins and thought his challenge was clumsy and ill judged at the time. Did not look intentional but more a desperate desire to make amends for his poor clearance. Still he is out for 3* weeks and possibly young Morton too. Never rains .............................

Possibly only one game!           

Surely Hoskins will only be out for one game as it wasn't serious foul play, Curle seems to think so anyway. He also said Morton is a quick healer so hopefully he won't be too long. Mind you if he says he is 'close to a return' then that's probably him out for the season.

I was only saying to the bloke sat next to me that I don't like this habit of leaving Hoskins as the only one back from a corner, and a few minutes later he gets sent off and we lose a penalty. He then left Marshall as the lone defender when we had a corner or free kick and he's even smaller.

I fully expected Olinyaka to be at least on the bench today as he is supposed to be fit but needless to say there was no sign of him. We could have done with him today.

There is no doubt in my mind that with 11 v 11 today we would have won.

Changing the subject. I thought the pitch was terrible. Rough and bobbly. What happened to the "bowling green" we used to have? I know they train on it now, is it a deliberate plan so that teams can't play football against us? Doesn't affect us as we only play in the air.

Give us - we the great unwashed ; some clarity in your messages! We are not all mind readers or even intoxicated philosophers!

I have been thinking the same for some weeks, the pitch looks the worst it has been for several years.

You’re having a laugh right. Yes he messed up in the middle of the pitch, but that penalty is as soft a decision as you’ll see all season. I am not a big fan of Hoskins but the critiques he has had for that incident have been ridiculous.

After the game a Mansfield fan asked me if we were always that bad, I said ' no but we are never pretty'.He couldn't believe they had won as he said the Stags are 'a pub team'. We agreed that 0-0 would have flattered both teams on the day.

The penalty?, fair enough. The sending off?, wrong as the ball ran through to Arnold so not a goal scoring opportunity.

Your comments on leaving Hoskins/Marshall back on corners is valid and correct. Thanks for the good news that our leading/penalty taker is awol just for one game. Phew .... can sleep ok now! Hope that Morton is ok as I thought he just had cramp!

* No wonder the ref got it wrong - sort of a catastrophic own goal ;D

Started brightly then the penalty/red card completely changes/ruined the game. It was an awful game to watch. Mansfield constantly time wasting, going down at the slightest of touches, faking head injuries to get the game stopped, total sh*thousery. I know we sometimes adopt similar tactics but they took it to a new level and their manager comes out and has a go at our style. If we had a ref who could control the game it may well have panned out differently. No wonder the likes of Goode and McCormack got so wound up. When McCormack kicked the ball (stupidly) at their keeper when he was down 'injured' he got up so quickly it was ridiculous. That summed them up. As for their fans, a lot of knob  heads in there.
Playing 80 minutes with ten men is tough and we did well to stay in the game, indeed had chances but the ball wouldn't fall for us and predictably get caught on the break. Smith's goal was well taken but was too late, although the ref should have played 8 or 9 minutes injury time. A very frustrating day.

terrible tactics by Curle for the umpteenth time, as for Hoskins hope it’s a three game ban the guy is utterly useless.

I think the "injured" keeper leaping up and running towards McCormack was the funniest thing to happen on a poor afternoon for us. Regarding their fans, they have always had more than their fair share of knobheads.

Not the first time we've been on the wrong end of a poor ref against Mansfield, Phil Crossley anyone ?

The ref yesterday was one of the poorest I’ve seen ever.

I think you’ll find I’ve said exactly the same things after victories too.

Have a look at the video. A simple square pass to McCormack. All that was needed. It’s not rocket science.

I’d personally summarise the post as a floccinaucinihilipilification.

Interesting comment from Neil Warnock on the EFL show last night saying that he is “impressed with what KC has done with the budget they have got to still be in the play-offs”.

I’m not sure what you watched mate. But when the ball come back to Hoskins McCormack was in line with him. He wasn’t even under immediate pressure. In the context of football, he had ages to play it to McCormack or back to the keeper.

In Curles defence, if it hasn't cost him in 88 games, why would he not do it? That stat alone would suggest it was the players fault, as it clearly was, not the tactic. If I was going to point the finger at Curle for anything, it would have to be the fact that he didn’t seem to be able to drill some discipline into the team after the sending off. McCormack, Goode and Adams all appeared to ignore what he was trying to get across to them.

As much as McCormack should have kept a cool head yesterday, it was highly entertaining watching the running exchanges he had with their bench that resulted from him failing to do so!

I think you will find the tactic has cost us on a number of occasions .
Another point is that the players are told to move the ball forward quickly and not square pass it . I am certainly not defending it but Hoskins tried to do as instructed . It’s a percentage game for Curle

The one thing we can’t complain about is sh*thousery . We do it all the time and try to get players booked .
I am surprised we didn’t have more than one player sent off yesterday .
Another team that beat us at our own game .
Their manager was right when he said it was like a game of rugby .

I’m afraid you’re going to offer a bit of evidence on that. If that throws up that you’re right, then fair play to you. 

Hoskins is a professional footballer. Yesterday he screwed up. He had time, and he had options. If going to try to convince me that he made that mistake because he had no choice... Well, good luck with that. The only circumstances under which I would blame Curle on this occasion, would not be the tactic, but the player he chose to employ it. Hoskins usual lack of composure, and poor first touch cost us.

I think you’ll find that you have very little if any evidence to prove this. Completely false.

Spot on.

I agree, but only because we have been extraordinarily lucky. To not have a spare man at the back is naive at best, but to many eyes is downright reckless especially when not chasing the game. I remember against Forest Green at home earlier in the season when taking long throws and corners they invariably left as many as three players up against our one solitary defender. We won that game 1-0 more by luck than judgement. If we continue to be reckless against them next Saturday I do not expect a similar outcome.

What exactly were your comments after the Grimsby win then?

I agree with you that it was Hoskins' fault, a back pass to Arnold would have been the best thing to do in the circumstances.   

Please can we just clear up one thing. Hoskins was not on his own.

It’s a cast iron pen, and no attempt to play the ball so an obvious red.

According to Mansfield's manager we did not have a player under 6ft on the pitch so Marshall, Hoskins, Adams and McCormack must have had a growth spurt. Also, our players threw themselves to the ground at every opportunity, well I think Mansfield comfortably did that more than us.
Yes there was a lack of discipline but you could understand Goode and McCormack getting in the referee's ear as he was being constantly conned as nearly every time we got an attack going a Mansfield player would go down clutching his head as they knew the referee would stop play for a head injury. I concur that I never want to see Danny Rose in a Cobblers shirt as he was the worst offender. Didn't their 'keeper make a miraculous recovery, from laying prone, when the ball hit him perhaps he should have been booked for simulation.
Hoskins clearly made the wrong decision as it would have been better to let them score and keep 11 players on the pitch. However first contact was outside the box, their player had lost control of the ball which was running away from him and Arnold was closing in on the ball so they may not have scored anyway. The referee had to send Hoskins off as he was the last defender.
This not only incited the players but also the crowd produced one of the best atmospheres this season.
Apart from saving Adam's early free kick their 'keeper did not have to make another serious save as we rarely carried an attacking threat.      

Every team gets good luck and bad luck, it’s swings and roundabouts. Yes we may have been fortunate at times but as far as I know (and anyone feel free to prove me wrong) we have only conceded one goal from this so called recklessness. We’ve scored from corners this season many times. Could some of those goals we’ve scored from corners be a result of KC’s tactics of overloading the box? You have to look at it both ways.

Not a pen as it was outside the box for me. But certainly a red. The rule is pretty clear and as you say, that was definitely not a genuine attempt to play the ball. Had it been the other way round, we’d all be outraged if a red wasn’t shown.

I can see where you're coming from, BUT, if it's such a good tactic, why does no other team ever do it ?

I’m not saying it’s such a good tactic. I’m merely saying that on balance you could feasibly put forward the argument that it has in fact provided us with more goals than it has cost us. Given the fact that yesterday was the first time it actually cost us a goal (and even that’s debatable as to me it was a player error), the argument is more than valid.

Exeter do it as do Plymouth ,Port Vale, Forest Green and Morecambe. Macclesfield(a) did so recently. More investigation required prior to statement!

I think what you are saying is they only leave one back, but that is when the opposition don't put anyone forward. If you read what I said is that no team has the same number of defenders as the opposition have attackers. I have seen all those teams games against us so I know they don't go one for one when defending corners
     A little more knowing what you are on about required prior to statement !   ;)

I think you might have answered your own question there

Hoskins made a bad mistake, but your constant barracking of him and Cornell for any mistakes they make mean your comments will hopefully not be taken seriously by anybody sensible enough to put things in perspective. Have you never noticed that other players make mistakes too (Arnold, Cornell's replacement to name one), but they never seem to get mentioned by you. Wonder why?  ::)

Yes, Arnold's kicking (let's call it distribution) was shocking yesterday...and no, it wasn't the wind!

Having said that, some good assured stops made and happy to see him get some first team action under his belt.

We do generally keep one player back and it has to be a quick one which is why Hoskins got the job. It means we've got more tall defenders in the box. Other players, McCormack in this case, sprint back as soon as a corner breaks down providing the extra cover. It does work well and it's got to be a first when fans criticise a manager for being too attacking minded.

I'm not criticising him for being too attacking, I'm saying it's taking a big risk leaving one on one. It was the 10th minute of a game where I don't think they had been in our half, as loads have said, if it had been 11 v 11 for 90 minutes we would have, more than likely, won, so why take that risk ? If it had been in the 80th minute it might be worth the risk but not in the 10th.

He didn't leave one on one, MacCormack was alongside Hoskins. I think Sam thought it would be good to launch it back into their box rather than play it square considering most were still in there. He was unlucky that it hit Charsley in such a way that it fell right in his path forward, generally they spin off harmlessly. He was a fool to then push him as I reckon Arnold had a decent chance of smothering the ball.
People have criticised MacCormack, Goode, Adams, Turnbull and Smith for antagonising the Mansfield players but apart from providing a bit of fun for us spectators it meant there was always a chance one of them would bite to even up the numbers.

Arnold's distribution was poor yesterday which is something Cornell used to be criticised for but has since vastly improved. Had the penalty not been given Arnold may well have smothered the ball as it had run away from the Mansfield player which made me wonder why he did not spread himself for the second goal instead of staying on his feet. He was of course totally exposed as the whole defense had gone awol.
Referees book players for time wasting but I have never seen a player waste as much time as yesterdays referee. He was constantly talking to players and took ages to get play restarted, 4 minutes were added 1st half, 6 minutes 2nd half but I reckon he wasted more than that attempting to regain control of a match that he had lost after 10 minutes.

Quite right, 16 minutes would have been nearer the mark 2nd half but I think we'd all had enough long before then.

Watch the highlights, McCormack was about 5 yards from the edge of the penalty area when the corner was taken, yes he was level with Sam, but 15 yards from him, when he played the ball forward but KC DID only leave one back, have a look !

Mansfield's manager may have spouted a load of bulls#@t but when he said;-

         " I'm a football manager and let's be honest, I don't even know the rules of the game anymore.

"I couldn't tell you what's offside and what's not offside and I couldn't tell you what's handball and what's not handball and what's a sending off and what's not a sending off".

I think we can all agree with him there!

Rose did bite, immediately after scoring he briefly squared up to Goode and then deliberately barged into McCormack on the way back to the centre spot and pushed him over when McCormack reacted. This apparently was only worth a talking to for both of them, which just goes to show how random the referee's decision making was, whereas under today's rules it should, in fact have been a red card offence. I reckon this was got Goode and McCormack going more than the pen itself.

Did nobody else notice either how Rose upended Wharton after Wharton had latched on to a corner and sidefooted it towards goal in the second half? You can see on the highlights that the ref saw it. To be fair there weren't any complaints except from Wharton himself but it looked to me like a clear-cut penalty. Wharton had played the ball and Rose ran straight into him while he was off the ground.

We may only leave one player back so we have more options in the box.....but we still take two people over to the corner flag, one to take the kick and the other to do...erm...nothing!

Why not leave the one who's doing nothing back as well?!

He's there for the short corner if we choose that option and we do at times.

I did notice and Rose should have seen red. How did the ref only manage to book ONE of their players?

Splitting airs. You know as well as me Rog, this one is on Sam. I'm not saying that I agree with the tactic in principle. But the mistake by Hoskins is what resulted in the goal. And you know as well as me, that there was time and options open to Sam.

I have no axe to grind with Hoskins, he's good at what he's good at. But where Curle IS wrong, is using him as a covering defender at set pieces.

 
I was referring to your last statement  ::) ; well they did during the course of the game, not all the time tho'. Check the high lights for instance Plymouth did it twice. Also Salford did it ; both games! Were you actually at these games?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Always thought those Guys at Rorkes Drift took a hell of a risk in staying put!

There is no way that Plymouth and Salford had only one man back if we had someone up whilst defending a corner. I was at all these games. I go to every game if I talk about it, I never say I'm going to a game and then don't turn up  ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

I'm not defending Sam, everyone could see it was a mistake by him, what I've said all along is that it is VERY risky to only have one man back to cover one attacker and, against FGR, KC only had one defender against 2 attackers. Despite what Everbrite thinks he's seen, no other teams use this tactic for the very obvious risk to your team.

-
Actually during the game on Sat I thought Arnie looked a bit nervous!                                                                                                                                                                                      

Well some of them do - the simple fact is they do; not all the time; its a tactic all the same.

You are a terrible loser ;D

The one v one at the back continually causes issues , despite what anyone protests .
On Saturday , Marshall was found wanting twice in that situation and they obviously scored from it .
Against Swindon we were constantly under pressure from it and they hit the bar from a direct break away .
We also now employ it when we take the pointless long throws that never work , which increases the chance of us getting caught .
It’s very basic , but then who is surprised that anything we do is anything other than basic !

Nobody is protesting. They are giving others the choice to cite examples of where it has cost us. Saturday can't be included, as there was two players back at the time when Sam received the ball. So that one should be excluded from any evidence of it going wrong.

I'm not saying I would do it. But has it really been the issue it's being made out to be. If so.. When?

I do agree with Roger, that it is a mistake waiting to happen, as is Hoskins  ;D But if Curle feels that the bulking up of the box for set pieces has yielded a return that outweighs the risk, then he is perfectly justified in using it.

Not a Hoskins hater, far from it but that was just a f*** up which he compounded by tugging at the player, conceding the penalty and getting himself sent off

Just a series of bad decisions really but s*** happens in the moment...

Fwiw I thought the offence was initiated outside the box but if a foul was in Hoskins head, he should have done it 40 yards out, not 20.

As for one man back... we could have had 4 back, it would still have happened

He could have squared it to McCormack or hoofed it up to the big fellas in the box to continue the attack. He chose the latter and with wonderful hindsight it was the wrong choice. if he had made the pass and it came to nothing, the Hoskins detractors would have had something else to get on his back about.  If to bang it back in the box is the instruction from Curle, then so be it. The real mess up was either not fouling the attacker at all, and if that decision then lead to a goal there would have been comprehenive derision, or Sam could or should have tugged him back well outside the box.. Would still have been a red, but may not have led to a goal. Spur of the moment decisions!

Bit subjective - suggest 'may have happened'...> if anybody should be back it could be McCormack he can pass and tackle. Not exactly slow either.

Yeah, but Curle has watched Sammy for a while now. If he struggles to beat the first man on crosses because he cant create space for himself (which he does), did it not occur to him that this might happen if the instruction from him is to launch it back?

That is incorrect .
MCCormack was not back at the time of the corner - and I know because he was stood right in front of where I was sitting .
He tracked back when the corner broke down .
If you had a player back to support Hoskins , he drops off behind him to cover .
This is essentially the problem , the way we defend means there is no room for error .

100% correct and echo's what I've said.

The manager has gambled for the majority of the season on how he wants to play attacking corners and, because of one acknowledged mistake by a player (not the manager) in the 37th game, people are creating and enlarging an issue and giving it all 'I told you so' when it isn't really there.
We were all aware of a/the risk but it was a risk he was prepared to take in order to provide more of an attacking threat at set pieces.
You're all sounding like the Harry Enfield "You didn't want to do it like that" character whilst using the greatest tool in history, hindsight.
It's as if you were waiting for it to fail so that you could jump all over him, it's a shame that you had to wait so long.  ;D

I remember when Atkins was villified for not leaving someone up top whilst defending a corner. Same sort of thing really. The manager decides and the manager takes the flak when it don't work out so let's allow Curley chops to take the flak, it is only fair.

Having watched/seen Hoskins play fair amount this season; I am at a loss to understand the familiar criticism of Hoskins which more often or not is based on hindsight. I order to avoid unnecessary argument can you please give specific instances of Hoskins failing to make space for himself; I can name at least 3 occasions but can you?

Some will be disappointed  ::) to hear that Sam Hoskins will serve a one match ban and will a available for next Tuesdays home game with Carlisle. When he will score the winning goal  ;)

He will probably get the first 2 as well.

Wow!

No I can't.
Fcuk me Evers, when he plays out wide have you not noticed the number of balls that fail to get past the fullback because he cannot make twelve inches of space for himself before crossing the ball? Ditto with the number of shots from him that never teach the goal.

Thanks for reply.
In particularly I found Hoskins performances at the following games often infuriating  :
Macclesfield(h), Crawley(h),Sc***horpe(a), Stevenage(h),Chelts(a), Salford(a), Port Vale (h), Derby(h & a). In some of these games overall he defended well and scored but when he had the opportunity to cross he over hit or simply fluffed it. Of course if you have a mindset on Hoskins (it appears you may have) then it will influence your opinion. I cannot recall Hoskins endeavouring to make room for a cross
as some of his centres were sometimes blocked; churlish not to think that the defender was doing his job ::) He is erratic as is our overall team performances show, 0-3 one week followed by a loss the next! However on average he is a worthy member of the squad and is currently our leading scorer. He also defends well as he did against Exeter (h) and apparently Grimsby(a). His best crosses always seem to come with a short dash down the wing; interlaced with a few over hits! On the basis of goals scored and his defensive duties when playing wing back I like most fair minded supporters give him the benefit of doubt and side with the opinion of several Managers. An infuriating player who scores some memorable goals and misses some sitters too.

It may be cavalier to leave one man back at corners, but it’s wasteful to have 2 men to take the corner. Better to have the spare man in a midfield position to pick up the second ball and provide some cover!

I think that was what happened on Saturday with the Mac tracking back.  Unfortunately, Sammy-baby chose the wrong option out of the 73 other options available to him.  Eg, keeper....or, many points of the compass into the stands......

My grandson plays a great standard of U-? level.  But, last time I watched him, I had to remind of something that was drilled in to me as a kid.....  NEVER play the ball across the front of an opposing player, wherever you are on the pitch.

If a professional player does not know that by the time they are getting paid to go on the pitch, then......  You cannot blame that on the manager.  Otherwise, the first 23 coaching sessions when a new manager arrives will be focused on making everyone understand that the round thing that the opposition kick is a "FOOT-BALL".  Duhhhh!

Respect to the previous poster, and this is not an attack on their post.  Just additional support for their argument.

The instruction from our coach is to boot the ball forward into the box at the earliest opportunity and not to pass it square .

Curle says he “ doesn’t listen to what other managers have to say “ after being accused of rugby tactics against Mansfield .
Only last week did he quote ad Infinitum Ian Holloway’s assessment of the team after we won !!
Whatever Keith

Acknowledge praise and pass it on to the players. Reject criticism and protect the players.
Sounds like a manager i'd like to play / work for, even if I didn't agree with what i was being asked to do.

But that doesn't assist certain individuals' agenda...

++

Is there anything Curle can do that will actually please you?

Yes , refrain from playing the worst football in all four divisions

Haha now you are having a laugh  ;D ::)

Who said McCormack was back at the time of the corner?? Read what I said again. I said McCormack was next to Hoskins when he received the ball.. He ways leVel with him, ten yards (at most) to the right of him. Please try to quote me correctly. 

The point being made was that we keep one person back for corners . This was again the issue on Saturday . McCormack was not back for the corner , he tracked back . You said Saturday did not count in terms of conceding a goal because McCormack was back . Wrong . He wasn’t .
If a player had been back , Hoskins would have had cover behind him when he attacked the ball .
Listen and learn

At the time Hoskins played the ball McM  was level and looked pretty close. Get the impression you are playing with semantics?

Tbh , you have either played hundreds or even thousands of games at centre half / full back or you haven’t .

Sunday Racecourse after a Saturday night isn't too much of a reference though...

Its Thursday and still going over Hoskins' blunder last Saturday? Get over it.

Hoskins made a mistake and got punished for it, the tactic we use leaves this scenario as a possibility, but all tactics are ultimately trying to play the percentages just like we do here. Outside of this one occasion we haven't been punished for it, during this season at least. McWilliams was usually the lone man staying back at corners last season and I can't recall being punished for it then either. If the ball had been rolled back to the keeper and he had plenty of time and options and ended up kicking it against the attacker, costing a goal, does that make passing the ball back to the keeper a poor tactic?

As to the comments by the Mansfield manager, they are some of the most bizarre I can remember from any manager post match. We have a few players who are notable for their 'antics' and gamesmanship in Goode, McCormack and Turnbull (and Smith as well, now he's back) but generally I believe we are an honest team and squad.

The behaviour from the Mansfield players from the first minute was disgraceful however. We could have had multiple penalties in the first 10-15 minutes alone as I lost count of the amount of times the player marking Morton looked like he was trying to tear his shirt off, in full view of the ref who happily let gave them free-rein to do what they wanted. As to the 'throwing themselves to the ground' comment, I struggle to remember a worse side than Mansfield for throwing themselves to the ground and pretending to be injured at every opportunity. The amount of attacks we had cut short because one of their players mysteriously went down holding their head was beyond belief. We should have had 10 minutes injury time at the end of the second half for these stoppages alone, at a bare minimum. Their managers comments are clearly projection and/or deflection away from the fact that they were the ones who turned the game into a rugby match and to a man were obviously under clear instructions to do so.

I'm astounded though at the lack of sportsmanship and class by managers in post-match interviews in general. Being gracious in victory or defeat is basic sportsmanship, or so I thought! Klopp and his 'we play 'proper' football' comments last night being a perfect example. Curle's handling of these situations is always commendable, how anyone can criticise him for that god only knows.

I suppose that's as much of a u turn as I can expect for totally misquoting me  ;D ;D

Agree with all of that. Absolutely fuming coming out of Sixfields on Saturday...and more so with the utter hypocritical comments made by Coughlan.
Bizarre is a rather polite word to describe his s***e!

How trivial this all seems now .....
Perspective has been given

Hurrah - 179 quality messages on this thread - better than Mansfield?