Analysing Ten Summer Windows From Imps Recent History (Pt2)

July 13, 2022 Gary Lincoln City 0

Courtesy Graham Burrell

Danny Cowley 2016

Division: National League

Estimated Budget: Upper midtable

Ins: Harry Anderson, Nathan Arnold,  Johnny Margetts, Sam Habergham,  Adam Marriott,  Taylor Miles, Sean Raggett, Alex Woodyard

Outs: Matt Sparrow, Tony Diagne, Liam Hearn, Aidan Grant, Nat Brown, Conner Robinson, Greg Tempest, Chris Bush

Rating at the time: 9/10

Rating with hindsight: 9/10

It’s fair to say the transfer window in summer 2016 was not only one of the best, but we knew it as well. Few that I’ve done over these two parts felt great and were great, but this one was. There’s no doubt the budget had improved, and by the time Christmas hit it improved a lot more, but we weren’t the big spenders. What we had was a persuasive manager with the nucleus of a decent team slowly adding to his options. Let’s face it, the second we signed Alex Woodyard we knew things were going well, and Sean Raggett, Sam Habergham and Nathan Arnold only underlined the strength we were building. When we did sneak one in, Johnny Margetts, we immediately turned a profit. It seemed as f everything Danny touched turned to gold, except Matthew Fry; he was the fourth Braintree player we were linked with, but he chose York City, who were relegated.

Credit Graham Burrell

Biggest Success

It’s hard to pick the biggest success from this season. Nathan Arnold’s goals were a big factor in our early form, Raggs and Woodyard moved on for fees that helped us out, and yet I’m going with the loan capture from Peterborough. I think it’s because I bloody loved Harry, but also he went on to make more than 200 appearances for the team, scoring crucial goals and winning three trophies. He played in three different divisions for the Imps, and is the only one who did so on an upwards trajectory.

Biggest Flop

It has to be Taylor Miles, who was unlucky. Had he not got injured on the opening day against Woking I suspect we’d have seen him edging into the team over time, maybe getting a few minutes in the FA Trophy, but instead, he disappeared. He was billed as having a lot of promise, but sadly luck conspired against him.