Stags star impressed by new boss Flitcroft

Paul Anderson says he's been impressed by new manager David Flitcroft so far and believes he can be the man to keep Stags in the promotion hunt.
Paul Anderson in action against Coventry.Paul Anderson in action against Coventry.
Paul Anderson in action against Coventry.

Flitcroft replaced the Peterborough-bound Steve Evans last week and oversaw a 1-1 draw with Lincoln City on Tuesday night.

And Anderson has liked what he's seen from the new man so far.

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He said: "The boys were keen to have the right man in the job even if it had taken longer to achieve that. We’re professional throughout the squad and would have carried on as we’re all so positive. We want what’s right as a group.

“The new manager has brought some great ideas to the table and we’re in it together. I really like him, he’s come in and shown a lot of respect to the boys and reiterated several times how good we are as a group of lads and players.

“He’s carried on the positivity from before. We don’t need to change things massively as we’ve been successful all season. We may need to tweak a few things, which it looks as if he’s doing, but as a guy and as a manager he’s impressed me and it’s been a good week."

On the quick turnaround between Evans leaving and Flitcroft's arrival, Anderson added: “In your head there are questions but you have to take your hat off to the chairman and to Carolyn for acting so swiftly and bringing in a very good manager.

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“It affects the lads initially but it was barely 48 hours before we were back in training and doing as the new manager asked. Everyone who signed here in the summer came here for what the club was aiming to achieve, irrespective as to who was in charge. It’s about the ambition the club has now and in the future.”

Reflecting on the draw with Lincoln, Anderson felt that in the end it was a fair result, and also praised the fans who helped clear the pitch of snow to get the game on.

He said: “It was a bit scrappy. There was perhaps a degree of nervous energy as everyone was trying to impress the new manager. I don’t think we were good enough on the ball and kept giving Lincoln the chance to lump it back in which seemed to be their tactic, but what they do is effective and we probably didn’t deal with it well enough sometimes.

“It was disappointing from us as a group but we can also come away knowing we defended really well throughout considering they bombarded us with long balls. It was a shame that one lapse at the end cost us – Conrad Logan made an unbelievable save in the lead up to it and on another day we’d have kept the ball out and won 1-0 but overall I think a draw was probably a fair result.

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"You have to take your hat off to the fans and the locals who helped out and the least we can do is join in – I’m not bothered about shovelling a bit of snow!

“It’s great for people to turn out – there was even a toddler out there helping – and for the fans to see that we’re human and will come and do these things too. So we thank the fans and hopefully we can give them something to celebrate come the end of the season."

As for his own role in the team, Anderson is happy to play where asked but feels an attacking role remains his strongest position.

He said: “I want to play as far forward as possible. It’s what I’ve done throughout my career and what I’m known for over 12 years as a pro.

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“I want to play on either wing or in the hole – I even had a chance up front which was good. I’ll play right-back when asked as I think I’ve done well there and helped the team a lot. I’ll do whatever I have to do – even play in goal – if it helped us to creep up those couple of spots in the table."