The Imps have announced that Head Coach Michael Skubala has agreed to a new long-term deal running until the summer of 2028.
Having joined the imps last November, ‘Skoobs’ quickly endeared himself to fans, and seemingly, many club members too, now earning him an extension to his original deal. When speaking to club media, the former Leeds U-21 boss spoke about how he feels the recruitment of the backroom staff has shown a real intent from the club to build a solid foundation that can be built on.
“I’m really pleased to have signed this extension at a really well-run club with everything set up to keep moving forward,” he said.
“The heartbeat of a club are the players and fans, it’s my job to connect them and there’s a real bond been built over the time I’ve been here. It’s important to have the backing of the fans and it can make a difference on the pitch – and if the fans keep backing the team, as they have home and away, then the club is in a good spot.
“League One will be tough this season as we know some big clubs have come into the division, but while recognising the challenges we’re also confident of being competitive.”
Adding to Michael’s comments, City CEO Liam Scully emphasised how pleased the club were to get this over the line.
“This is a structure which has been built to work for Lincoln City Football Club but Michael has been a key component in both the design of our coaching team and the recruitment strategy, and how we bring everyone in the team together in order for us to achieve success.
“What’s been really clear since we’ve been working together is that Michael is the right captain of the ship for what we’re looking to achieve. So it was really important that we gave him and his family the further stability that he’s earned and deserved.”
So what does this mean? Short-term, not a lot. It just provides every party with a bit of added security. However, it is long-term where the benefits of this extension are likely to come. Firstly, if Skubala continues to impress in the way everyone believes he will, then it means we won’t be in a situation where we could be losing him in an upcoming summer for nothing. On top of that, it also means that if any club does come in wanting to entice the 41-year-old away from Sincil Bank, then they would have to pay a rather heavy fee.
Over the past few weeks, I, along with many of you, have read predictions from various outlets ahead of the League One season. Some are more detailed than others, some with Lincoln finishing in the play-offs, some placing us in mid-table obscurity. Yet, what almost every one of them has in common is that they always make special mention of our man in the dugout.
As fans we know that this has been a big transfer window, building on the squad depth we sometimes lacked last campaign, but for onlookers, no wonder they want to talk about Skoobs and attribute much of the second-half of last season’s success to him. From the moment he came in, he implemented a style of play, a philosophy on the pitch, and bought into the culture off it. All of that culminated in that incredible run that saw us brush teams aside with relative ease, before just missing out on a place in that top seven.
So, with our head coach locked down for another four years, can he be the man to take us into the second tier?