The time has come to sit down and have a good think about where I think we’ll finish.
On the podcast, I went for 12th. I’ve lain in the bath and feared we could be worse. I’ve walked the dog and convinced myself we could be better. Even now, I can’t put my finger on where we’ll be, and that’s unlike me.
I recall in 2017/18 and in 2018/19 getting our position spot on. Last season, when many predicted top six for us, I had us outside. I’m usually not too far away with my predictions, which is why I’m finding the current situation frustrating. I don’t mean the situation around the club’s summer action as such, but the variables that will ultimately decide what sort of season we have.
Michael Skubala
Firstly, let me be absolutely clear – Michael Skubala has my backing. I like to back our managers, or rather, I don’t often call them out, but I have done. I struggled with Mark Kennedy at the end, before the site, I had issues with Peter Jackson, but I have zero doubts over Skubala at all. I know that is different to some factions within the fanbase, but let me tell you why.
I keep hearing he is a streaky manager, but I think there is a pattern to the times we’ve struggled and the times we haven’t. When he took over, we struggled because he needed time to implement his method on the team. He did that in the second half of the 2023/24 season, and we flew. However, that actually set us back, because he has always preferred 4-2-3-1, but the success of 3-5-2 meant we stayed that way, which didn’t fully suit the squad profile.
Sadly, injuries hit in autumn last season, and we tumbled again. Once we got a couple in over the winter, what happened? We flew again. I’ve seen that used as a reason we could start well this season, but also as a stick to beat the manager, in terms of him ‘only’ having two good runs. The fact is, he’s had two good runs and two bad runs. Remember, his win percentage is still 40.7%, bettered only by John Schofield and Danny Cowley in my time.
No, despite the Clucas Clan hating on the manager for not using our homecoming king as much, I don’t feel he did anything wrong. The irony is that over the last 12 games, we were eighth in the form table, and for the ten-game period up to the Stockport fixture, our form was top six. That run started with the win at Mansfield and therefore included the time Clucas was ‘frozen’ out.
So, was the manager right with his decisions?
The Squad
Let’s be honest: there is a quiet unease bubbling under the surface among some fans this summer. The sort of discomfort that creeps in not because of what has happened, but because of what hasn’t. Other clubs are wheeling and dealing, social media is flooded with “HMS Piss the League” memes, and supporters are refreshing timelines, desperate for news of fresh faces. Meanwhile, we have added just two players: Ryley Towler and Sonny Bradley.
That perception, of standing still while others race ahead, is fuelling a kind of low-level panic. But should it be?
Let’s take Bolton as an example. They’ve made ten signings already, including Mason Burstow and, obviously, Ethan Erhahon. That transfer volume has created a buzz among their supporters. Yet, for all the excitement, how many of those ten will actually improve their starting eleven? Statistically, not all of them. Some will flop, some will do a job, and perhaps one will shine. That’s how football works.
The unknown is always exciting. It represents possibility. But often, it’s just that: possibility, not certainty. New players need to bed in, adapt to tactics, and gel with teammates. Some never quite do, and new isn’t always better. In fact, sometimes it’s just like the Emperor’s new clothes.
At Lincoln, what we have isn’t unknown. We have a settled team, one that knows its job and understands the way the manager wants to play. While that can feel underwhelming from a ‘wanting to put wanky memes on social media’ perspective, it can also be a strength.
Take our forward line. Rob Street was in excellent form at the back end of last season and had one of the best scoring records in League Two across the calendar year. However, we’ve seen him before, looking lost against Grimsby, so he doesn’t feel new and exciting. If Bolton fans had seen Mason Burstow in some Hull matches last season, they’d have the same feeling, no matter how good he actually is. A new signing doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight; he’s shiny and new, but that’s not reality.
James Collins, if he’d replicated his post-Christmas form across the whole season, would likely have ended up as one of the top scorers in the Football League. Between him and Street, we have two of the most in-form strikers of 2025. Add to that Freddie Draper, who had his breakthrough season in 2023–24. Because they’re names we know and players we’ve seen, they perhaps don’t quite feel as ‘sexy’, for want of a better word.
Existing players are being dismissed simply because they are not shiny and new. They are proven performers in our system under our manager and it’s not just up top: the same applies elsewhere. Jack Moylan was curtailed by injury last year but has looked lively in pre-season. Reeco Hackett and Ethan Hamilton were never quite at full tilt in 2024–25, thanks largely to disrupted preparations. Now both have had a full summer.
Conor McGrandles is another whose contribution is regularly undervalued. Fans often focus on the odd misplaced pass and overlook the structure he brings. In a holding midfield two, particularly with Hamilton alongside him, he is more than capable of filling the void left by Ethan Erhahon’s departure.
Jovon Makama still splits opinion, and to put it mildly, that has to be purely agenda-driven. He’s been exciting in pre-season, he was outstanding at the end of last season, and if he were wearing the shirt of any other team, City fans would be saying ‘why don’t our young players ever break out like that’. But, because we saw him sky a chance against Stevenage, that takes off some shine for many, wrongly. Zane Okoro remains an unknown, but we all know he’s only one missed chance away from being barracked by some so-called supporters.
What we have is a squad with cohesion. A squad that knows each other. A squad that, crucially, knows what Michael Skubala wants from them. And that is no small thing. So, why am I not shouting about a top-six finish?
The Threats
Skubala has shown that given time on the training pitch, his side improves. Both of his best spells in charge have come after sustained periods without the relentless grind of Saturday–Tuesday fixtures. That matters. This summer, he has had the chance to implement tactical ideas, tweak formations, and drill habits into players he already understands. However, once the season gets underway, we’re going to be Saturday–Tuesday again, and I don’t see us having the tools to stop another winter collapse, especially in terms of depth.
Sonny Bradley arrives as an experienced head. Ryley Towler has already looked solid in pre-season, and even slotted in at left-back with composure. They are logical, considered additions. They replace Paudie, who was suspended for what, six games last season, and Sean Roughan. I won’t criticise either of those players now, they were top notch for us, nor will I say the new signings will (or won’t) be better. Time will tell. I think both the new recruits have the ability to eclipse the departing players. But it is an unknown.
Ethan Erhahon, when on form, was one of our top players, and his replacement is important. We also need a left back, and that’s two big questions going into the season. It feels like the campaign we had Jack Diamond and Matty Virtue join in the final week – the squad doesn’t quite feel like it has depth, and that is another worry.
We currently have a first team squad of 26 players. Of those 26, some are injured: Lewis Montsma, Erik Ring, Dom Jefferies, Ben House (potentially), Oisin Gallagher, and MJ Kamson-Kamara. That would leave us with 20, depending on House. I realise Gallagher and MJ probably wouldn’t be matchday squad members anyway.
Then there are the players not likely to be troubling the 18: Jamie Pardington, Gbolahan Okewoye and Charlie Parks. The trouble is that puts us on 17, meaning Okewoye is likely to be on the bench. That also includes Zane Okoro, probably considered now as part of the 18, but with little experience. Already, that does feel like bare bones.
Unlike other teams, we haven’t fished in the loan waters, but will we bring in a Saxon Earley-type figure? If we do, will that be considered as what it is by supporters? Earley, Lee Angol, James Brown and Akeem Hinds are all players brought in to fill out a squad and offer cover, but with little game time. The club were barracked for having those players, an unnecessary spending, the given excuse. Still, fail to sign them and we’re threadbare. Bring them in, and the club are berated for transfer misses.
When we do sign a left back and midfielder, as expected, that will add a little meat to the bones, and there is a hope that House, Montsma and Ring are close to a return, but it’s a little red flag, a warning from seasons gone by (2023/2024, no strikers for four months). It’s another reason I can’t predict 12th, 17th or 7th.
Finally, there is the question of consistency. Last season, I dare say that Adam Jackson, Reeco Hackett, Jack Moylan, Ethan Hamilton and Ben House all drifted in and out of form. Jacko had challenging times in January and February, and then looked like a world beater. Hackett and Hamilton only looked like the players we know they are towards the end of the campaign. Jack Moylan’s injury put paid to his season and Ben House certainly struggled for form and goals. If four of those players can hit their stride this campaign, we’re top ten, no bother. If we see the same inconsistency from any six or seven of the first team squad, we could be clinging onto the coat tails of the top half all season.
The Real Issue: Complacency and Perception
What this summer has exposed is not a lack of activity, but a problem with how familiarity is perceived. It breeds complacency among supporters. We have seen these players before, so we assume we know their ceiling. But development is not linear. Players grow. Systems evolve. Jack Moylan today is not Jack Moylan of October 2023.
The keyboard warriors cry out for new signings and new names. But new doesn’t mean better. And the names we have are far from poor. What we really need is consistency. That is what will define whether we are 12th, 17th, or 7th.
Sadly, I feel some supporters are going into this season waiting for the failure of Michael Skubala. The same can be said of Mat Sadler at Walsall or Mike Dodds at Wycombe. They’re managers who will only need to lose two on the bounce in August for supporters to be jittery. Most managers get longer, but I feel at Lincoln, there is a divide. The malcontent won’t be as widespread, but a poor start, and the grumbles will start. It’s grossly unfair, as in my opinion, Skubala is doing a great job, keeping us above our budget level, swimming in waters with much bigger fish and not getting eaten.
Rochdale, Accrington, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury, Cambridge and Gillingham are examples of similar clubs that have been where we are, and not had a manager doing as well as ours. Northampton, Exeter, Mansfield and Port Vale are all the same size and all are tipped for the drop – so why is it Skubala is criticised when pundits have us comfortably above these clubs?
That malaise and expectation (nay, entitlement) can derail a campaign almost as much as injuries or poor form, and that is my final worry. I fear some supporters need us to be top six by October to be convinced that Michael Skubala is doing a good job, when in reality (and this is the second mention of it), anything above our budget position will be a big boost. Where is our budget this season? If I were guessing, I’d say around the same, 17th-ish, so if we’re 12th in October, we’d be doing well.
Selling that to the dissenting voices is where the real skill comes in.
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