October
A plus point from the draw with Hereford was that it was the third game in a row without conceding a goal, highlighting the effectiveness of the Wigginton/Crombie partnership in defence. Only one goal was conceded at Wrexham the following Saturday, but as an unchanged team were unable to score it meant City slipped back a place again and were two points adrift of safety. The game marked the last of Alan Cork’s appearances for the club as he now returned to Derby spending his time in their reserves before joining Wimbledon the following February where he was to make his name.
Better came the following Tuesday night at Carlisle with a second away win in three games. Alan Harding was fit to return to the side, and with John Fleming back in his old position wide on the right it was the four across the middle that had done so well for City in recent years. With the departure of Cork, Phil Hubbard was moved up front to partner Peter Graham, and after a first half performance described by Maurice Burton as ‘inept and discouraging’ City stormed back from 2-0 down at the break to win with two goals from Fleming – his first for 18 months – and a second of the season from Alan Harding. The win moved City out of the bottom four on goal difference
George Kerr now revealed that he was at last looking to sign a new striker, his hand no doubt having been forced due to John Ward’s absence, stating that he “did not have a lot of money to play around with” but that he was close to bringing someone in. However, it was an unchanged side that built on the win at Carlisle with a 3-1 home victory against Swindon. Coming back from conceding an early goal to the visitors, Peter Graham equalised just before the break and first goals of the season for Hubbard and Booth sealed a deserved win.
The two points gained against Swindon lifted City up to 17th place but that was to be as good as it got for Kerr, and his first reign as Lincoln City manager then started on a slippery slope. Unable to meet either the asking price for Bradford City’s Joe Cooke or the wage demands of experienced Wolves and ex-Arsenal striker Bobby Gould (who joined Second Division Bristol Rovers instead) the side was again unchanged for another home game the following Saturday. Again, the Imps conceded an early goal and again there was an equaliser late in the first half, but this time the only goal of the second half came from visitors Exeter City in what one newspaper report described as “a shocking, lifeless display”.
The following Saturday brought a trip to face Sheffield Wednesday, then at just about the lowest point in their history, a point adrift at the foot of Division Three. However, they had recently appointed Jack Charlton as manager, fresh from his success in establishing Middlesbrough as a top division side. The visit of City was his first home game in charge and over 13,000, their highest gate of the season so far turned out to see it.
Changes were made for this match with Terry Cooper returning in place of Dean Crombie, and with the good news of the return of John Ward to the side Phil Hubbard was moved to play wide on the right. Brendan Guest came into the side at right back allowing Phil Neale to form a midfield partnership with John Fleming as Dennis Booth and Dave Smith were left out, although the latter came off the bench to replace Ward whose knee injury recurred. But a disappointing 2-0 defeat saw City back in the bottom four again.
The following Saturday saw another trip to South Yorkshire, this time to Rotherham who were in eighth place but only one point off top spot in what was still a wide-open division. The back four was re-vamped again with Crombie returning in place of Cooper who was left out of the squad following ‘an incident in training’ and Phil Neale moving to left back in place of the also-omitted Dennis Leigh. Fleming was back on the right of midfield with Phil Hubbard up front in place of Ward who it turned out now needed an operation on his knee. Dave Smith returned to the starting line-up, but the big surprise was the inclusion of Glenn Cockerill in a midfield role.
Following the defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, the directors had held a board meeting at which it appears some had been in favour of sacking George Kerr. Instead, he was given a month in which to improve results. At Millmoor, the players certainly seemed to show their support for their manager with a battling performance in a goalless draw which included an outstanding display from the 18-year-old Cockerill playing in midfield for the first time, Kerr saying afterwards, “I think we may have discovered his best position”.
Meanwhile, Dennis Booth, who not been in good form in recent games, after being deservedly left out of the side to play at Hillsborough had asked for a transfer. This was granted and surprise, surprise, he was immediately on his way to join Graham Taylor at Watford for a fee of £10,000. Also asking for a transfer was 22-year-old goalkeeper Jimmy Gordon after three years as understudy to Peter Grotier but this was turned down. There were rumours that Watford were also interested in signing Grotier, but Kerr said no offer had been made for the player
Hopefully coming into the club at long last was a new striker. Bury’s bustling 19-year-old centre forward Wayne Entwistle who had scored seven goals in 31 league games for the Lancashire club the previous season had been lined up for a fee thought to be £20,000. However, City were unable to compete with Second Division Sunderland and Entwistle shortly joined them instead for a fee 50% higher. Instead of a new striker, we got a winger, as in another deal Kerr secured the services of 26-year-old Alan Jones from Chesterfield for a substantial £11,500.
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