“I think it’s always important to make sure you know what it takes. It’s about winning games, it’s really important we’ve got to keep winning games. Trying to develop players, which I think I’m strong at, and try to improve players all the time as we do that, and try to put a team on the pitch that the Lincoln City fans can be proud of.” – Michael Skubala, November 2023.
That was the promise. First and foremost, before front-footed football, in just his third question as Lincoln City head coach, Michael Skubala promised to put a team on the pitch that Lincoln City fans can be proud of when he first walked into the ground.
Whatever we achieve between now and the start of May, I’d like to say that in terms of his early promise: job done, Michael. Job well bloody done. If it were your mission to make fans proud of the team, then your job is already done. Now it is time for part two: making Lincoln City a Championship team that fans can be proud of.
We don’t have as much of the ball as the opposition, but it isn’t about having the ball; it’s about what you do with it when you have it. We don’t have as much money as 75% of the teams in League One, but what money we do have, we use like we use the ball: efficiently and effectively. Today, one of the best sides in League One came to Sincil Bank and, in my opinion, did their best to show why they’re one of the best sides in League One, in the same way a fish on the deck of a trawler, wriggling for its life, is doing its best to show everyone how good it is at swimming. You can be the best there is, but we’re better.
Maybe not in possession, maybe not for stringing 1,000 passes together, but we are better, and we proved it today. We fight a little bit harder, we run a little bit further, we keep going that little bit longer. We might be on a 20-game unbeaten run, but in 37 this season, only twice have I truly been disappointed with us: Rotherham and Orient away. We’ve seen some really good teams, Bolton at their place, Stockport today, Plymouth for 20 minutes in August, and not once have we shied away from the task at hand.
Today’s game, like all of them in recent weeks, felt huge. It’s funny, because Cardiff felt like a big step in the promotion hunt, but then it’s like “yeah, but now we have Exeter”, and we win that. Then it’s Stockport is a huge game now, and now we’ve won that as well. Is Huddersfield huge? Well, we need four wins and a draw from the next nine games, so if we don’t win, it won’t be the end of the world. Today, with Bolton stumbling, it really did feel like the final nail in their automatic promotion hopes, but as a Lincoln fan, we’re still not convinced of our own possible Championship status. It’s mad, isn’t it? Any other team sitting 15 points clear with nine games to go is nailed on to go up. When it’s your team, you wait and see.
We didn’t wait to see what Stockport had this afternoon. We did what we’ve done all season and got on the front foot. Even games we did win, Orient and Exeter earlier in the campaign, we went at it early, and we did that once again today. The Magic Man was hungry for it, smashing a really fierce volley at the biggest keeper I’ve ever seen to save. Seriously, Corey Addai is huge, I’m pretty sure he bangs his head when he walks under the crossbar. Decent keeper as well.
The save led to a corner, and while Brad Hills dealt with it, Bradley taps it back in. Oné holds off a defender, and Magic Moylan sneaks in and scores. It’s not a classic, but it is classic Lincoln City: seemingly causing panic, but organised panic. It looked scrambled, but there are so many nice little components, only appreciated after the fact, certainly by me.
We kept on, long throws being a big feature, and Addai dealt with them better than Trott last week. Stockport weren’t really at the races in the first half, and we took the opportunity, I think, to manage the game. I did notice their sub Olaofe with a cheeky little move at one point: Hamer had a long throw and as he launched it, Olaofe made to walk across him, from my angle, pretending to block. Nobody said anything, so maybe it was just me, but it’s probably clever from their lad. After all, the dark arts are something to be admired, if you do them right.
I think at times we did look a little jaded. There’s no surprise, with the break Stockport had, they should be fresher, whereas we had a team out there with a lot of football under their belt. Oné, Hackett and Street, at times, struggled to get into the game as much as they’d like. It certainly wasn’t a lack of trying, that is never something you can accuse this Lincoln side of, but we did just look a little weary as the first half went on.
Mind you, you glance at the bench and see Adam Reach, Ben House, Tom Bayliss, Dom Jefferies and the rest, and realise we’re going to get a second wind.
Widget not in any sidebars
You must be logged in to post a comment.