Steve Tilson 2011

Division: Blue Square Premier

Estimated Budget: Top Ten

Ins: Jamie Taylor, Sam Smith, Francis Laurent, Doug Lindberg, Nicky Nicolau,  John Nutter, Kyle Perry, Alan Power,  Simon Russell, Tony Sinclair, Josh Gowling, Bradley Barraclough, John-Francois Christophe

Outs: Mustapha Carayol, Delroy Facey, Paul Green, Luke Howell, Cian Hughton, Drewe Broughton, Joe Anderson, Jamie Clapham, Pat Kanyucka, Clarke Keltie, Scott Spencer

Rating at the time: 10/10

Rating with hindsight: 2/10

This was a transfer window that should serve as a warning to anyone bugging a player up because of their past performances. We signed Rushden’s Player of the Year (Power) and their hottest prospect (Smith). We signed Cambridge’s Player of the Year (Russell), Tamworth’sleading scorer (Perry), Eastbourne’s Supporters and Players’ Player of the Year (Taylor) and a defender with experience two divisions above (Gowling). It looked such a solid summer of signings I felt, 100%, we’d be in with a stab of an immediate return. it didn’t matter other clubs, like Fleetwood and Grimsby, had a better budget, this was the team to win the Blue Square Premier.

Only, it wasn’t, was it? The manager was wrong, and that meant a talented side never really got off the ground. Tilson had time at the end of the previous season to manage his squad accordingly, but it turns out they weren’t the only problem; he was. When Paul Green, one I’d have kept, helped Tamworth to a 4-0 win, Tilson was sacked. His squad was more or less dismantled immediately and there’s a feeling way may have pushed the boat out financially for a big return, and the gamble didn’t pay off.

Biggest Hit

There’s zero doubt as to the biggest hit in the summer of 2011: Alan Power. He always played for the shirt and gave us six seasons of constant application. Even when Danny Cowley came in and clearly favoured a different approach, Power kept himself on the fringes and wrote his name into Imps folklore. Of all the signings we made that summer, he is the one you’d make again and again. Could you say that about the others? Jamie Taylor certainly, perhaps Gowling. That’s it.

Biggest Flop

I’m calling this because the player was the leading scorer for his club the season before, and because he only seemed to turn up against his former club (Telford), a club he liked so much he joined on loan and became one of the only players to play for an opponent and score against us whilst contracted to us. Step forward Kyle Perry, a decent bloke if truth be told, but a signing that absolutely did not work out.