Now the prospect of legal action is a distinct possibility. A story in todays Nottingham Evening Post states that the Stags Keith Haslam could now well sue Team Mansfield over the comments made following the takeover talks. Haslam who is currently on holiday told the paper "I have been in discussions with Team Mansfield about retracting what they said. I asked for a retraction for the lies they printed," he said.
"My lawyers have spoken with their lawyers.
"I will discuss it further with them when I get back from holiday and see where we stand.
"There is not a great deal more I can say about it at the moment.
"As far as I am concerned, I don't recognise Team Mansfield as a body. We communicate with supporters through the Stags Supporters' Association."
A Team Mansfield spokesman replied to the paper: "We have published an apology and hope it will bring this matter to a close because if it does go any further there's a real danger to the existence of Team Mansfield which would be a disaster for the shareholders, the club and its supporters.
"We remain determined to fight any proposed legal action.
"Mr Haslam has to recognise us as a body irrespective of any legal action.
"We remind Mr Haslam of the agreement signed in 2002 and we have a shareholding in the club to the amount of £33,000."