We’ve been through all the tellybox games on this weekend and it’s amazing that we’re not there. Fobbed off with the old excuse that the FA Cup is the oldest marketing device in the world or something, the Beeb and BT Sport just wouldn’t listen to our very impressive suggestion that, maybe, the idea of Mansfield Town v Stevenage in League Two was more appealing to their viewers.
Or viewer, in BT Sport’s case.
Mansfield Town v Stevenage: The Lowdown
Yep, we’ve picked ourselves up after the FA Cup dumped us for an odd-looking fellow from the south west last month and banged heads with the Stags to lay on our own bash. Just us, them and a lone Channel 5 cameraman clutching a suspiciously short straw – the magic of the cup hasn’t got a patch on this kind of thing. It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s January, it’s Field Mill – all the ingredients, see?
So, can we expect a classic? Oh yes, if you like your games played out between two teams who each haven’t bagged a league win in four outings. We have the 18th best away record in the division – yeah, we were surprised there were six teams worse than us too – and Mansfield have the 18th best home form. Hold us back folks, we’re literally so excited and we’re struggling to hide it.
Five of the Stags games indoors have finished 1-1 and their fans haven’t witnessed a win on home turf for four games, not that we can start getting cock-a-hoop about it. After all, we haven’t kept our sheet clean on the road since 1974 and we’re not proving that brilliant at scoring more than we concede this season – obviously, given that our goal difference is flashing red double figures.
We reckon you could probably get away with thinking this game is hurtling towards a 1-1 draw (13/2) before a ball has even been kicked, but it’d actually be the first time in eight clashes that neither side has come out on top. And remember what we said about struggling to score more than we concede? We’ve not so much as tickled the back of the Stags’ onion bag since September 2014.
If you were hoping for the return of the FIFA 16 Verdict, so were we. But, despite saying Mansfield were up next, Plymouth Argyle were plonked in front of us and we ain’t got time for that virtual shizzle. So, that’s where we’ll be leaving it for another week. Tune in next week for the next exciting episode in our lives. Oh, it’s Plymouth next week. OK then, as you were soldiers…
BoroGuide has a Mansfield Town club profile and it looks a little something like this
