We couldn’t cover this last night as we were live on air, but Conor McGrandles has returned to City until the end of the season on loan from Charlton Athletic.
The midfielder is a familiar face to Imps fans, having made 91 competitive appearances over a two-year period after signing on a permanent deal in the summer of 2020. He won your Player of the Season in 2020/21, no mean feat given the quality we had that campaign, and was a key part of the squad that reached the 2021 League One play-off final
During his second season here, he regularly took the captain’s armband, althoguh the club struggled against the drop for much of the campaign.
Conor said: “I’m really glad to be back; I loved my time here last time and am looking forward to making a contribution over the rest of the season. I’ve spoken to some of the boys I was here with before, and they’ve spoken really positively about Michael Skubala as head coach, and I can’t wait to working with him and the team.”
Credit Graham Burrell
Head coach Michael Skubala was pleased to see the club’s top target for that position put pen to paper on a return to the LNER Stadium.
He said: “Conor gives us what we wanted – an experienced player to add to the team, and someone who can get up to speed quickly as he’s already familiar with the surroundings and league. He has the attributes we want to add to the squad and has the flexibility to play in numerous roles across midfield’
Director of Football Jez George added, “Conor has been our No.1 target all transfer window, and the fact that we waited until deadline day to secure this loan shows what we think of Conor. His desire to come to Lincoln City was crucial in making it happen, so I am sure that our supporters will give Conor a proper welcome back.”
Credit Graham Burrell
Conor was a surprise guest on our live Deadline Day feed, and he addressed his departure from the club. At the time, he was thought to be returning to Scotland, but he turned up at Charlton, where he’s had a challenging time. However, he confirmed that he never stated he was going back to Scotland and that those rumours came from elsewhere – it wasn’t mentioned, but it’s believed to have been the head coach at the time.
Conor has also had a loan at Cambridge, a loan then-manager Mark Bonner would have liked to have made permanent, but he concluded that whilst Conor was a ‘top, top player in League One, ‘ the U’s did not have the financial means to make the deal permanent.
Conor McGrandles has returned, but, and I really mean this club admin, let’s not also see a return of the ‘Scottish Kaka’ posts, please.
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