Lincoln City’s maiden Championship voyage has been mapped out, with the Imps ready to face Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in seven weeks’ time.
Before that, a clash with Derby County awaits in the first round of the League Cup.
Both of City’s new head coaches, Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen, will find that fixture extra special, given their connections to the Rams’ East Midlands rivals, Nottingham Forest.
There are just six weeks until that clash at Pride Park, which gives Lincoln ample time to bring new faces to Lincolnshire.
One such position that needs filling is an assistant for the Imps’ two head coaches, and Cohen provided an update on where things currently are regarding that vacancy.
“Between us all, we’ve got a group of candidates that we feel would be the right fit for the role. We’ve met two or three, and we’re hoping to make a decision that everyone will know about in the next couple of weeks, in a perfect world.
“I would like to know the number of people that Jez [George] has met over the last few years. He and Liam [Scully] put in so much work and are diligent.”
Similarly, things are fairly quiet on the transfer front at the moment. That’s to be expected so early on in the window, though that doesn’t mean that Jez is sitting around doing nothing. However, with no departures at present, a player fighting their way into our squad, which won 103 points last season, is going to be incredibly difficult.
“There are a lot of people involved in the process of finding players,” Tom said. “We have a lovely blend of data to back everything up, plus our own feel for these players that we’ve played against. The processes are really collaborative; everybody goes away and does their part of the role. We come together, discuss it, and think whether it’s the right fit for the football club.
“It’s a really top group of footballers that overachieved last year, so we have massive faith in that group. There’ll be some players that need to go and play elsewhere, and we’ll do right by those players. That is the nature of football and going up a league. But we feel we’re in a really good place with the lads who are in the building.”
Attracting players to the club now that we’re a Championship club should be easier, but we’re battling against much bigger fish to sign players. But renovations at the Elite Performance Centre (EPC) go some way to helping bring players to Lincoln, along with keeping our current players happy.
“I think every year when you come back, the feel should be a little bit different, no matter whether it’s been a success or not the year before,” Cohen said. “Ron and the club invest so heavily in the bits that matter, whether that’s an ice bath, to give the club a better chance of winning.
“It looks amazing. Every player who’s walked in has been blown away, and there’s loads more to come. So we’re really excited for everyone. There’s been loads of work done on our training facility; it looks elite.
“They don’t know where the dartboard’s gone, which is an interesting first question that they asked,” Tom joked.
Having listened to both head coaches speak twice this week, alongside their other engagements, the pair seem fairly happy talking infront of the cameras. It does beg the question of whether they will take turns speaking to the press, with Tom answering that.
“Neither of us are desperate to be in front of these cameras, so we’ll begin by sharing it out. I’d imagine we’ll probably get a feel for who’s a bit more suited to certain conversations, reporters and journalists. I think it just organically takes its course. I won’t be doing the wins and Chris’s losses or vice versa.
“We were going to do a game of darts,” Chris added. “Whoever loses does the media, but I’m miles better than you!”
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