Lincoln City have had plenty of players worth bringing back in their prime, but which would actually improve the Championship side we have today?
That was the challenge behind a cracking Patreon question: “If you could use science to clone and bring back one former player who would it be? Permanent signings only, and players who have retired because picking Morgan Rogers would be too easy.” Naturally, I couldn’t stop at one, because there are a handful I’d love to see in this team. The complication is the level: we’ve played second-tier football before, but this is our first season in the division under its Championship branding, and being brilliant for us further down the ladder doesn’t automatically mean somebody could make that step.
I’m looking at players who would suit our high press, our energy and that willingness to scrap for everything, qualities plenty of Lincoln sides have possessed over the years. There is also a personal caveat: these have to be players I’ve watched properly, which rules out the likes of Percy Freeman and Tony Cunningham, however strong their cases might be. They don’t have to be players I watched for Lincoln, though, and I’m taking them at their peak, wherever that happened to be, rather than restricting myself to the version we had at Sincil Bank.
John Fashanu
John Fashanu is a good example of that distinction, because I didn’t see him play for us, but I certainly saw the player he became at Wimbledon and Aston Villa. With a prime Fashanu, I don’t think there would be much of a question about the level: this was an England international who could lead a line, occupy defenders and give you a proper target when you needed to get up the pitch. He had the athleticism and physical presence to help you stay there as well, allowing others to get around him and pick up the pieces. In the sort of role we ask Freddie Draper or Mikkel Ladefoged to perform, I think he’d be a terrific fit.
He also bought into that Wimbledon mentality, becoming a huge part of the Crazy Gang, even though the club’s rise had begun before he arrived. The question would be how much of his approach he’d get away with now, because he bullied defenders and was very happy to use his elbows in a way that wouldn’t necessarily survive modern refereeing. When Freddie seems to concede free kicks simply for standing his ground, you do wonder how long Fashanu would stay on the pitch.
Give us the mobility, strength and ability of the player at his best, with a little adjustment to his methods, and he’d be very difficult to look past.
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