Tom Shaw is looking forward to catching up with Michael Skubala at Bristol City, but first he wants the Imps to give our former head coach a difficult evening.
The reunion adds another element to City’s latest Championship away trip, with Tom and Chris Cohen preparing to face the man they worked alongside last season. There is clearly plenty of affection there, as well as gratitude for the responsibility Skubala gave them before they stepped up to lead the Imps.
Speaking ahead of the game, Tom credited those opportunities with helping prepare them for their current roles.
“Yeah, it’ll be great to see him,” he told Imps+. “Cracking fella, lovely, lovely family, and very grateful for the roles and responsibilities that he gave us last year.
“Him giving that to us, and those amazing roles we had as the assistants, has probably ended up with us getting our first job in the Championship. So we’ll be forever grateful for that.”
There should be time for a proper catch-up afterwards, with Tom having already put in a request for the refreshments. Before that, both will be trying to get the better of someone who knows their work well.
“We’ll go toe-to-toe with him for a couple of hours. I’ve told him to have his fridge ready for a beer afterwards when the dust settles. But yeah, looking forward to seeing him and taking on his team.”
That familiarity makes for an interesting contest. Chris and Tom know Skubala’s methods, while he knows plenty about the players and coaches attempting to take three points from him.
However, Tom was clear that watching Bristol City means assessing a different side to the one we saw here last season. Knowing the coach only tells you so much when he has a different group of players to work with.
“Yeah, they’re different to what Lincoln were playing like last year. They’ve got individual quality. They’re fluid in how they play. We’re going to have to be aware of some of their key threats.
“And he knows how we work. He knows what we go after, but ours is a very difficult brand to stop when it gets to full tilt and full throttle.
“So our ambition tomorrow is to take the Lincoln City way and the modern way we’ve been doing things, and take it to Bristol and try and cause some real problems.”
Bristol City’s search for a first clean sheet of the season offers encouragement, although Tom sees plenty to respect in their performances. Their first-half display against Southampton on Saturday particularly caught his attention.
“Yeah, had some really good results. They’re a very good football team. They were excellent, I thought, against Southampton on Saturday in the first half. Much of the game got away from them through some carnage, it looked like.
“But they’re a good team. We’ve got to be incredibly respectful of what they are, the level of player they’ve got and what they’ve recruited.
“But us at full throttle is a difficult machine to stop. So we’re looking to get the lads to top gear and take it to Bristol.”
For us, the interest will be in how that confidence translates onto the pitch. Tom clearly believes we can ask questions of Bristol City, even with someone who knows us so well in the opposition dugout. The friendship will still be there at full-time, but there are three points to play for first.
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