New update emerges on Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town future | OneFootball

Nigel Clough has said that discussions with Mansfield Town have begun but nothing has yet been agreed with the club.

Nigel Clough has confirmed that he has begun negotiations with Mansfield Town with regards to extending his stay as manager of the club beyond the 2024/25 season.

In an interview with BBC Radio Nottingham, Discussions between Clough and the club began earlier this month with Clough saying: “An offer came in about a week ago. Discussions have started but nothing has changed.”

Clough went on to admit that no agreement has yet been reached: “We will see what happens in the next couple of weeks. There has to be an agreement on all sides that it’s the best way forward.”

If the former Derby County manager was to sign a new deal with the club then it would mean the longest stint of his career with any team since his 11-year spell with Burton Albion between 1998 and 2009 to begin his managerial career.

Mansfield’s poor calendar year

Mansfield head into the penultimate match day of the campaign sitting five points clear of the bottom four and the relegation places but there is reason the be cautious about their safety just yet as they travel to St Andrew’s to face title winners Birmingham City this weekend with a defeat opening the door for both Bristol Rovers and Burton Albion to close the gap.

However, earlier on this season, Mansfield supporters would have been forgiven for believing they are even involved in the promotion push and challengers for the top six and the play-off places in League One.

The Stags defeated Bolton Wanderers by two goals to one at Field Mill on New Year’s Day before a shock 2-1 win away at Stockport County just a few days later, leaving them ninth in the table and just five points behind the top six.

However, since then, they have managed just two victories in 21 League One with back-to-back wins against Barnsley and Bristol Rovers last month helping them just about climb back away from the bottom four.

Their 5-1 demolition at the hands of Reading on Easter Monday leaves things tighter than they would have ever imagined just over three months ago and Clough joked they’ll be cheering Reading on this weekend when they take on Bristol Rovers:

“We have Reading scarves ready for Saturday afternoon. We will all be cheering them on at Bristol Rovers.”

Clough’s Mansfield stint

Nigel Clough took charge of Mansfield in November 2020 when the club were expecting to challenge for League Two promotion but had managed to instead embroil themselves in a relegation battle.

The ambitious Stags then saw themselves beaten by Port Vale in the League Two play-off final in 2022 before missing out on the play-offs in 2023 on goal difference after finishing the campaign with back-to-back losses.

Eventually, Clough managed to achieve the second EFL promotion of his career as Mansfield held off Milton Keynes Dons to finish third and gain automatic promotion to League One last season.

It has been a case of knocking on the door, smashing the door down eventually, looking as though they could pull off something remarkable to now very much looking over their shoulders at the still unlikely possibility of an immediate return down to the fourth-tier.

After their trip to face Birmingham on Sunday for their penultimate match day of the season, where they could already be safe should Bristol Rovers lose to Reading on Saturday, the Stags finish their campaign with a home game against Peterborough United.