Inevitably, when Michael Skubala left Lincoln City for Bristol City, there was a fear he’d be back for key personnel.
It’s always a fear, just as when Danny Cowley took Harry Toffolo a few months after leaving. The Imps have so often become prey for a former manager, but Lincoln City 2026 are not in the same position.
Michael may have gone to a bigger club, but we’re at the same level. Some supporters have asked if there is a deal in place with Bristol City not to take our players, but as Jez George explained to BBC Radio Lincolnshire, no deal needs to be in place, as the Robins are no different from any other team.
“Bristol City be treated no differently to any other club,” he said. There’s no agreement in place because we don’t need one. The agreements that we have in place are the contracts for the players, so we’ll have valuations for every single one of our players.
“We’re protected to a large degree, or a slightly less large degree depending on length of contract, but we feel pretty comfortable with all length of contracts that we are.
“Yeah, we did a lot of work. You mentioned Jack Moylan, George Wickens. We’ve done a lot of work pre this window to try and make sure that we secured key assets and made sure that no one was in the last year of their contract.”
Of course, any team could come in for Jack, be it Bristol City, Stoke City or Manchester City, but the crucial element is that Lincoln are protected. If a player leaves, it will be on our terms, whether Bristol City are the buying club or another Championship side. The balance of power is with the Imps.
“It’s our valuation,” added Jez. “And with all respect to Bristol City, it’s not about Bristol City. It’s about whether a club meets the valuation. And we’re not in a position at this moment in time where we need to sell, want to sell. We want to add to this group.
“We want to go into the next league that we know is an incredibly difficult challenge. We want to go in there best equipped. So, yeah, no agreement in place, but no agreement needed to be in place.”
That doesn’t mean we won’t be selling any players; it just means there is a Championship manager out there who knows the players a little better than the rest. If he wants one of them, or two, or three, then the price will be the same as anyone would have paid had Michael still been in position.
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