The Attack

Big John is still dividing opinion. Some have him down as being one of the best players on the park the other night, others feel he’s typical of the problem we’re facing. I won’t argue my point any more than I already have, but the opinion of the East Anglian Daily Times interested me. They were talking about Will Keane and said;

“The former Hull City striker was lightweight and isolated against two big centre-backs. That didn’t give the wingers anything to feed off. In the first half, the midfield was too deep. By contrast, Lincoln’s lone forward, John Akinde, was powerful and energetic. He won headers, ran deep to win possession and provided a focal point for his team-mates to work off.”

He didn’t score, I get that, but our issues are not Big John’s fault. We’ve scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, Akinde and Walker have got 14 of those. Yes, if both had been more clinical at penalties and if John had spurned that great chance against Ipswich, they’d both have more. Without that pair, we’d be in a much worse position than we are right now.

Still, we can only pick one up top and as much as I do think John gets a hard time, it would be Tyler. My issue is perhaps him having to come out and look for the ball too much. At one point on Wednesday, he drifted out right, got in possession and started a flowing move across the box. We couldn’t deliver it in though, because he was meant to be the guy in the box looking to get on the end of the cross. It’s not his fault as such, perhaps tired leg contributed, but he needs to be more single-minded with his positioning.

The biggest issue of all for me comes in the ten role. I hailed the arrival of Jack Payne and I see the qualities he has, but he’s been a big disappointment as far as I can see. That role is crucial, you have to chip in with strikes and you have to glue the team together and I haven’t seen anyone do that as yet. Jake Hesketh had a busy night on Wednesday and I saw enough to suggest a three or four match run might be beneficial. The ball he fed into John for the early miss was excellent and his late strike suggests an understanding with Tyler that might bring goals.

Also, a little spell on the sidelines might inspire Jack Payne to fresh levels of performance which his pedigree points to him having buried in his locker.

There are other options worth considering too; Bruno might be effective in the ten role with Anderson and Grant on the flanks, Big John is a good option late on, especially if we have a lead to defend already. At the back, Callum Connolly could easily deputise for Cian Bolger and maybe even Jason Shackell as well. The squad does lack a bit of quality in key areas but, if the players we expect to perform well did (Payne, Grant etc) then we actually wouldn’t be too far off. We’re short in numbers, lacking options when injuries strike, but I still maintain when everyone is fully fit, we’re only two players away from a midtable side; a striker and another viable ten with presence.

The key issue to remember is we’re not far away from winning games. I know that won’t keep us up, but the real issue is the small margins: taking chances, perhaps creating one more per game and most importantly, remianing confident. I don’t think wholesale changes are needed rigth now, nor are they possible, but a little tweak here and there might just bring the little bit of luck we’ve been despertaely short of this season.