At the heart of it all is a game of football, a game we all expect to be played differently, one we like to believe we all know plenty about but in actual fact, don’t. I don’t know as much as the people paid to be in it, I just try to. When the team was announced last night it looked, on paper, poor. That said, with no O’Connor, Frecklington or Bozzy, the midfield was always going to look weak. I speculated whether it was Ellis Chapman’s time to come of age but deep down, I felt it might be difficult with Jorge Grant alongside him in the middle of the park.
Let’s be honest, we all looked at the lineup and speculated. I wondered if we’d gone three at the back, Anderson and Toffolo as wing backs with two in midfield and three up front. With Andrade, Hesketh, Anderson and Grant in the side, all perhaps thought of as wingers as much as anything, it made tough reading. My Dad, firm in his belief we’d win 2-0, immediately changed his tune when he saw the lineup. ‘We’ll not win anything with that side’ were his words and sadly, he proved to be right. Not that he felt the same at half time.
I know I’ll get shot down here, but I thought we were much better in the first half. Sure, we were playing ‘Ipswich reserves’, featuring former Manchester United striker Will Keane, Toto Nsiala who played Championship football last season and Alan Judge, a player coveted by Championship clubs over the summer. It wasn’t their full-strength side, but it wasn’t a team of clueless no-hopers either. We had a winger in midfield, an 18-year-old alongside him and took the bold decision to drop Walker and Payne. For what it is worth, dropping Payne was the right move but dropping Walker seemed a surprise until you heard he’d taken a knock.
The first fifteen minutes saw us control play I felt, but the final touches were never there. Corners, once a source of goals galore, are just plain poor and whenever we get one now I feel no excitement at all. The delivery has been weak and despite getting a couple in quick succession, nothing came of them. Ipswich had a chance on the break but fired wide, whereas we got a few balls into the box and nobody got on the end of them. On 15 minutes, the big moment of the game went to us and perhaps sparked the first bit of ill-feeling.
I saw Akinde described as a useless lump online last night, thoroughly unfair but not something I wanted an argument over. I thought he’d started the game really well, strong running, committed and using his strength to good effect. James Wilson was clearly struggling to contain him and when he found himself with a sight of goal, it should have been 1-0. Instead, with little pressure on him, he fired it wide. Now, had we not created a chance there we’d be in the Gillingham situation, but we got a chance and fluffed it. Not clinical enough, right? Well, yes that’s right, but I heard the same last season when we won the league.
After that we really upped the efforts, Bruno looking really dangerous, He did have a shot deflected wide which should have gone into Akinde earlier but I know what you’ll think; he wouldn’t have scored anyway. Harry Toffolo had a shot deflected wide too and we looked like the only team with a purpose and energy.
Bruno’s injury changed the dynamic again. He’d been a real threat and I thought it was a nasty little incident from where I sat. I may have not seen it correctly but it looked like he’d got a shot to the back of the leg when trying to shepherd the ball out. After a long break of four minutes (apparently), he was stretchered off and on came Jack Payne.
That changed the dynamic of the first half and as the side in the ascendency, little happened up until the break. Payne was out wide for a bit, tucked in behind for a bit, but he;’s struggling for form. I recall watching the opening game of the season and putting him up for Player of the Year then; how badly he’s done since. For a big signing, he’s let us down and he’s not the only one.
I felt we had the best of the half though; Hesketh put in a good shift, Ellis certainly put himself about a lot and whatever you think, John Akinde had a good opening 45 for me. I know forwards are paid to score goals and he didn’t, but in truth if you look back over our scorers in recent weeks, including Rotherham, it’s the players around the forwards not chipping in with enough. Still, if John puts his chance away on 15 minutes we win the game in my opinion.
Two more chances fell to him immediately after the break and whether you’re a defending or knocker of John you’ll see them differently. I thought he did well to get in the positions to score and was unlucky to see one of the efforts saved, but others will just see more wastefulness in front of goal. I’m not going to try to change your mind so please, don’t try to change mine.
I saw a neutral who felt Ipswich had the better of the second half, but up until the hour mark it was still us looking likely to score. Jack Payne’s effort was saved by Holy who I have to say was a beast in goal. How anyone scores against him is a mystery to me. He plucked crosses out of the air and looked unlikely to be beaten all night. We stuck to our principles, playing out from the back (which wasn’t always easy to do), but that killer instinct in the final third let us down. Balls went into the box and didn’t get challenged for and 95% of what we did was spot on; it’s just the final 5% costing us games.
As the minutes wore on we tired and Shackell had to clear off the line. I didn’t think he had the best of games last night, gave away a couple of silly free kicks and was caught out once or twice. Still, his experience certainly showed as Vickers was beaten, but even when Ipswich came at us, we went back at them. When Walker came on for Akinde, John got a standing ovation from several fans around me. Tyler almost bagged straight away, Holy making another save which James Wilson dealt with the second attempt.
Four minutes of injury time popped up and we were all hunkering down for extra time when a Harry Toffolo cross was nodded down by Walker. Jake Hesketh smashed a volley at goal and somehow, Holy saved it. When your luck is in, that’s a goal all day long. I felt we’d have one last chance, one gift that we could take confidence from and that was it, only Holy was their saviour.
A minute later, a slip in the area, they scored. Fine margins.
According to Soccerbase, we had nine efforts to their five, with us each having four in the first half. That tells me we were the better team over ninety minutes, but I suppose the better team are the ones who score goals; we don’t.
I’m not going to delve further into the game. I felt we played well, I thought we deserved a win and I think we’re a Danny Hylton type figure away from being midtable in League One. Sadly, we don’t have a Danny Hylton figure right now and the players we do have will be seeing the confidence drain every time they concede late in games. That’s my worry, that and the fact that some staunch supporters seem to have got the knives out for a manager so early into his reign. We all knew to lose Danny Cowley was going to cause disruption and pain, but I didn’t think people would turn quite as quickly as they have.
It’s a sad state of affairs when I’m glad there’s no football for two weeks now, not because I fear we’d lose the games, but because the trolls won’t have a chance to come out from under their bridge with their misplaced anger and shallow sense of loyalty. That’s why I fear for us this season, more than anything I’ve seen on the field, I fear that the elements that wanted to tear Danny down at the end of last season have now been given a target that will be far easier to turn others against.
I think last night showed the unbalanced squad Appleton has been left with. These are my thoughts some will agree and some will disagree but football is all about opinions.
3 Centre Backs (2 Ageing in Shackell & Bossie) – I’m not counting Melbourne and Connolly as they were signed for Left back and centre mid cover.
2 Wingers – Bruno and Harry – I’m not classing Grant or Payne as wingers as they are clearly number 10’s and should not be out non the wing.
1 Defensive Midfielder – O’Connor, yes Morrell plays a bit deeper but he can hardly be classed as a Midfield enforcer.
And then we have lots of pretty midfielders with no height or tackling skills. Pett, Freck, Hesketh, Grant, Payne, Chapman (ok he has height)
and finally 2 strikers – Walker – Good goalscorer but for me limited out of the box and then we have big John the man last night who controlled a football further than I can kick it these days. I like big John but just think he is not the right man for us at the moment.
Appleton likes to play with pace we have no pace in midfield and we cannot change it out wide in games as limited due to only have 2 wingers. We cannot play two up top as again no one to replace a striker later on in the game.
Well said , absolutely spot on ,I’m pleased I’m not the only one thinking this way. ????
Late winner from Arnold vs Ipswich was a sign of new good times.. New successful era, Era of Danny Cowley.
Can last nights late winner for Ipswich be a sign of new and not very successful era of MA ?
I hope not obviously but am afraid it can…
Squad is unbalanced but good enough to winning games at this level as Danny proved it…
As for last night we were at most average against Ipswich reserve team. .. Apparently we are hard to beat now but am not so sure as we keep losing…..
i am worried…..
He didn’t prove it, he lost as many as he won.
Surely he has won enough games to prove that winning with this group at this level is possible…..
As table don’t lie you can have a look where we were when Danny left and where we are now….
I know you insist to take some of Danny’s games out to prove your point etc, but for a change take this time first 4 games of MA out and you will take….. his ONLY league win with us…..
But you are comparing a single month’s fixtures versus nearly three months. You are also focusing on just the first 4 games as it is not pretty reading after. And two of those games are against awful sides. The downward trend started before they left. It is not about picking games here and there, it is showing that MA needs a heck of a lot more time than you are giving him. Like this is what we always are, a league one side. That losing here is some sort of aberation. The lords of football themselves struggled and they had a whole close season to get everything as they would like it and then bailed ASAP.
All am comparing are results….. And it’s not difficult to find out who’s are better .. 🙂
What you mean MA needs more time than I am giving him? Did i say anything about sacking him or something ?
All am saying is that results are the most important thing in this business and MA can’t get any at the moment…
There is countless number of managers coming to clubs in lot worse position ,worse form, with worse players etc than us and getting results but MA is unable to do it so far… Instead he is talking about us getting hard to beat which is not really happening and guess what we were hard to beat for the past three years anyway so not sure what he is on about… That is all I am saying..
I wish him well and hope he will turn things round but more than anything else I am praying for three worst teams than us at the end of the season in the table…..
Oh and ,,Lords of football” are born winners , i can’t remember when they ,,struggled” ( i wish MA can ,,struggle” like that and be in top half of the table……) all i remember is that they gave you best ride of your life as a Lincoln fan …
We have to give Appleton time, The big man is not League quality, and a couple of good forwards hopefully supporting Walker will come in the January window, and a mid table end to the season should be possible!
It is how I remember LIncoln, drawing the hardest team in the first round of the cup and nobly going out. The difference now is the expectation to win. We played well as far as I could tell from the radio, but that sickening late goal seemed slightly likely.
The wider issue on attendance, it was a matter of time. There are so many new fans that this had to come as the performances wained, so would the gates. I keep saying, but you reference the club never needing its fans more, what about the Dambuster scheme that crashed? The club was on it’s knees and the city turned it’s back. Dorrian stepped up, and then appointed the Cowleys, not Clive as the revisionist history seems to go. Fact is for many people it is entertainment watching Lincoln. Nothing more than that. And here we are, what happens when a cinema puts out films people don’t want to watch. For me the biggest indicator was the away game. A fifth of the following and the #Impvasion posts with family selfies in cars, and interviews with radio presenters etc long gone. The novelty of going to a Lincoln game has worn off now.
We are back where we always were. Few bad results and fans getting on the manager’s back. This is why manager’s almost always got sacked in October/November as the good vibes of August die away and the clamour builds over September. And there are people on here already questioning Appleton. He’s had barely two months and picking up from managers who had abolsute control of everything and shaped exactly from them. From the science department, training ground, nutrition, to the squad. Not only are they not his players but it was hidieously unbalanced going into the season. Three centre backs and two forwards?! Not only is fitness and issue but adjusting tactics is so hard to do. There is no wriggle room to adjust.. But some on here and in other places think giving him time is 10 or so games. They also say he knew what he was getting when he came in. Well yes but presumably he was looking at the long term but mistakenly thought fans might also do this.
At Lincoln, as with many clubs, when the going gets tough, the majority get going. Or writing on booky
I was thinking of something clever to write but, sod it, I agree with everything you say Gary! I believe Michael Appleton is the right man. Yes he has work to do but goodness me what dreadful luck we are suffering. Bruno’s injury and one particular save from Holy (I’m sure even he knew little about it) summed it up last night. Up the Imps!
The majority of this group defeated Sunderland not that many weeks ago. MA is not that far off.
We got 6000 in the first round of the FA cup last year and that was a Saturday and then 6,400 against Carlisle in the second round – Saturday again and same ticket prices! I’m not sure why you are suddenly attacking he fan base during a season when we’ve generally been very bad in cup matches. There were a lot more there last night than I expected, on a cold Wednesday evening, and a lot more families than I expected too.
Cowley left because he knew that, with the team he’d assembled, a team almost entirely focussed on midfield quality, he didn’t stand much of a chance in D1 unless we could keep our best defender fit and Walker scored goals. We didn’t and he hasn’t been!
We’ve got no strength in depth across defensive positions and it’s costing points on a weekly basis. Until we address that then why would people spend money, just before Christmas, watching their team struggle to score and almost obsessively conceding weak goals at the other end.
What I also meant to add was that, the one thing I do agree with Gary is that we did play well last night, across midfield (all match) and also defensively (first 75-80 minutes). Some of the blocks made by Eardley, in our own box were amazing. But, until MA can bring in a striker or decent attacking midfielders who can confidently score a few goals, then the midfield dominance that I’ve seen in many games is all just wasted effort. MA needs more time as the team he’s inherited is badly unbalanced and I agree that he needs much more time. I am also not convinced that, if DC was still here, the current situation would be any different!
People should stay loyal. This is when you find out the lightweights
Definitley a night and a game to divide opinion. Football….. a game of opinions…. surely not!!!
I’m in complete agreement with Page 1 Gary. Now is a time where the club, the manager and the players really do need the support. I am convinced we have got ourselves a good manager in Michael Appleton and once he he has a chance not only to bring his own players in, but also have a chance to pick from a fully fit LCFC squad then I think things will change quickly and for the better. Let’s not forget our best player for the last 2 seasons hasn’t played since he went off at half time in the Bristol Rovers game in mid-September. How wonderfully reassuring it was to at last see him jogging about and on the bench last night.
However I don’t think we played well last night, not at all. Just because you are the better of the two teams on the pitch doesn’t mean that you have played well and I just don’t think we did. Sure there was plenty of effort and endeavour and certainly no lack of fight, but also there was a real lack of quality, particularly where it mattered. Lots of our play was relatively slow and ponderous and whilst we created 3 or 4 decent chances that was about it against what was a pretty poor side (irrespective of the paper credentials of some of their players). I was pleased to see Jorge Grant have a better game as I have always thought he is a good player and one more suited to playing centrally.
I walked away disappointed, not just because we had (in my opinion) played poorly and lost but because I thought the whole team just looked short of belief and confidence and a win of any sort would just do wonders for them. Harry Anderson, despite the odd flash of life and also in fairness quite a bad knock looks like a lost soul and seems to have no belief whatsoever in his own ability. Last night he and Eardley looked like they had barely played together before and yet we all know very differently.
We got in the car to go home and yet I found all my fellow passengers in positive mood thinking we had played well. Football certainly is a game of opinions.
Great article Gary
I actually enjoyed the entertainment value of our football last night and actually as daft as it sounds didn’t even feel too bad when they scored,
I felt there were a number of positives in the performance.
The guy needs time and if we can avoid the drop this season and give him time to build his own team I actually think we could threaten the top half of league one in time
Rome wasn’t built and all that
Wycombe struggled in their first season back in league one and they kept their manager in place
Sadly some fans are fickle and that’s life
Now is the time more than ever to support our team and get through this difficult time
UTI
Stu Harris, a Somerset Imp.
This situation we find ourselves in was always going to happen no matter who was manager. We must thank the Cowleys for giving us a few seasons of brilliant memories, but they have moved on and I hope they continue to be successful, they deserve it. When the Cowleys left the “bubble” had started to burst for us, but we were in a tougher league, we could not hope to win matches as often has we had done, perhaps the brothers would have pulled it around, that we will never know. Whoever came in as manager was going to have a tough job on their hands, trying to pick up a team on a bit of a downer and having to take over from a management duo who had had great success. I agree with Chris, we appear to be overloaded with midfielders, not enough forwards, the backs seem okay to me and we have two good keepers. This then is what MA inherited, but look at the injuries, suspensions etc that have happened since he took over, add that to only having a small squad anyway and a dip in form of a number of key players, talk about an uphill task! So lets cut out blaming the manager for what’s gone wrong of late, get to January when hopefully he can start to do something about strengthening the squad .I have been an imp supporter since I was around seven and I am seventy two now, I cannot think of a time for many years when I have felt so hopeful for Lincoln City FC ,good board, a good manager, good fans, DO NOT LOSE FAITH, we will come through it.
Lots of good points here – which I hope MA reads – the best of which come from Michael Brown. 1. We got to give MA time (and hope it’s not too long a time); 2. Akinde needs a move elsewhere; 4. We need a couple of good forwards from loans or the January sales to work with Tyler Walker ( best of luck here!) We simply cannot afford to keep passing up good goal-scoring chances through inept finishing; 5. time for a clear-out of the Past-Its, Shackell for starters. Lastly, I agree with those who say that we should do everything we can to finish the season mid-table. (And can I make a plea to MA to do something about good bits of football ending up in dreadful passes to the Opposition. And what’s this nonsense with the goalie fooling around with short passes to backs instead of clearing the ball up the field?) All in all, we got to keep hope alive and keep up the support!
Sadly but understandably for many, it is all about the result… they dont care if we dont play well….we just have to win anyway we can. They dont acknowledge that week in week out we are playing against established League One opposition with half our team recruited two years ago to get us promoted from League Two but getting long in the tooth and the other half young loanees looking to get game time in mens football. In the main we have played some good football but in the summer we couldn’t get for whatever reason that most sought after but difficult to find goal scorer to support young Walker. Much talk about imbalance in midfield but it’s all about finding that illusive finisher.