Danny Cowley, the manager of Colchester United, expressed his gratitude for the stick that the Mansfield Town fans gave him both during and after today’s 1-1 draw, viewing it as a mark of a job well done.
His relegation-plagued team earned a valuable point from their away game against the league leaders, but he infuriated the home crowd by letting his team waste time and using their “streetwise” strategies whenever possible.
But he stated he’d chosen to cheer them on in response to the abuse.
Cowley added that Stags will win the championship and that they were the finest team in the division.
“I’ve watched enough football—maybe 850 games—so I’ll tell you what home fans do,” he grinned.
When people truly appreciate and value an out-of-town performance, they will jeer and become quite irritated.
It’s how football shows you appreciation and gives you a pat on the back.
It’s their way of indicating that you were incredibly tough opponents and that you are a really good squad. You’ve taken us all the way and given it your all.
“To me, the biggest compliments are the boos.
“Usually, when people applaud and cheer you on, it means that the home team has won and they are quite thrilled.
“I clapped and thanked them for coming, even though they called me a lot of names.”
“This is our football pyramid, and it’s the best football pyramid in the world,” he continued. “Football would be nothing without those supporters, their passion, and their level of concern.”
We are allowed to be a little quirky. You can try it, and I’ll clap and say “thank you.” This is something we should welcome.
“If not, what are we going to do? Are we all going to be faceless goldfish that just sit about and act like we’re playing snooker?
“Mansfield Town’s fans are amazing; they really support their team.”
They put forth a lot of effort to win, but they fell short. However, as they are the greatest team in the league, they will have their chance to win it.
“They have a huge attacking threat,” Cowley went on. They had scored twice as many goals as any other side in this division, or 31 goals, in their previous ten games.
We should be proud of ourselves for coming here and giving the performance we did, but we’re also unhappy that we didn’t win the game.
Harry Anderson had a fantastic finish, and I felt he played a wonderful game today both with and without the ball. He is really generous to us.
“Today, there were some really outstanding performances. If you hope to get anything from this experience, you must perform at the highest level possible.
“We did a pretty good job of protecting our goalie throughout, but he made an incredible save in the second half.
“I’ve seen Mansfield quite a bit lately, and they seem to generate opportunities effortlessly.
“I think highly of Nigel Clough and his group. What a fantastic team they are.
We had excellent defensive organisation and structure.
“I’m aware that the home crowd was becoming a little irritated, but I’m not sure if that frustration was directed at us or at their own squad.
“I wonder if people thought we would just show up here, lie down, and let them trample all over us.
However, that will not occur under my direction or over my corpse. Our goal is to succeed. We were tough, tenacious, resilient, and astute.
“During one of my team’s performances, we exhibited every trait I value, and I was pleased with their efforts.
“We have nine games left, and we won’t be giving up our League status lightly. We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
