Analysis: Could Sheffield United Defeat Be The Catalyst For Change Lincoln City Need?

A 3-0 defeat is never nice for Lincoln City fans, or indeed any fans, but I do think that yesterday’s might be a blessing in disguise. 

We’ve kept such faith with some of the good, honest pros who got us promoted, the ‘bigger than the sum of our parts’ squad that shocked League One. I think we’d hoped the same might happen in the Championship, and while it hasn’t been a disaster, the bigger the sample size, the more obvious it becomes that we may see a shift in focus, from the heroes of 2025/26 to the summer signings.

Let’s talk team selection, rather than performance. It is the area I think we, as fans, always feel we know better. I rarely agree entirely with a team selection, but I don’t see the players train or know every fitness consideration. There is a difference between wondering whether somebody should play and assuming the coaches have overlooked something obvious. Even allowing for that, seeing Dom Jefferies at right wing-back, Rob Street in the front three and Tom Bayliss in midfield did prompt questions. We have largely trusted the players who won promotion, including some who weren’t necessarily the first names on last season’s team sheet. Loyalty is understandable, particularly when those players have helped deliver points, but we are nine league games into the season now. There is a reasonable argument for seeing more of the players brought in to help us compete at this level.

Availability complicates that discussion, obviously. My understanding is that Ethan Wheatley would have been involved but for a slight strain in training, while Mason Melia remains injured, Tom Hamer and Callum Elder are having their returns managed, and we know the circumstances around Reeco Hackett and Andrei Coubiș. That reduces the available options, although it doesn’t remove every question about the team we chose. Those questions, by the way, are from laymen (or women) such as you and I. We don’t see the players every day, but we do see them every week.

There is also a bias we should acknowledge as supporters: we love a signing. This website attracts far more interest in the summer than during the season, because speculation and the excitement of somebody new are enormously appealing, more so than games and analysis! Wanting the new players involved is reasonable, but we should ask whether we want a change because it improves the team or because we are excited to see our latest arrival. At first, I think there is a belief that new means better. Right now, that is probably more justified.

The whole afternoon felt a little flat from where I was sitting, even if that was up in the media gods with a great view and chastening wind. I wasn’t in the away end, so accounts of people struggling to reach their seats or standing wherever they wanted are anecdotal, but the familiar arguments have followed. I remember Lincoln supporters arguing and fighting over standing at Bramall Lane when we knocked Sheffield United out of the cup, so a good result doesn’t necessarily mean a good experience. Equally, blaming the atmosphere entirely on the football is too straightforward when we had opportunities and kept them relatively quiet early on.

Might I add, my experience was made better by the excellent chicken pie, roast potatoes and gravy served in the media suite. I’m always glad of any food gracefully provided, but Sheffield United was right up there with Plymouth for looking after us!

After a decent start for City, during which the hosts never got near the goal, I thought we were in for a good game. I noticed the first murmurs of discontent after maybe ten minutes, and it all hinged on us getting the first goal, a moment that could have changed everything, which we almost got. Japhet Tanganga’s mishit clearance went up in the air, Rob headed it back across the six-yard box, and Freddie Draper headed over. My first reaction was that Freddie should score, and watching it again hasn’t really changed that. There isn’t much pace on the delivery, so he has to generate power rather than simply redirect the ball, but it is still a chance I would want him to take.

What makes it significant is the mood inside the ground. There were grumbles from the home supporters very early, particularly when Sheffield United went backwards, and taking the lead would have put pressure on a team already dealing with uncomfortable expectations. I believe we would have had a strong chance of taking something if that header had gone in. It is impossible to prove what happens next, but we have already shown how effective we can be when an away game develops on our terms.

Instead, they scored just before half-time, and that was an enormous moment we didn’t recover from. We had allowed them possession in front of us, as we have against other opponents, but defending that way depends on knowing when to apply pressure and preventing comfortable deliveries. Looking back at the opener, I think there are several points where we could have intervened before Patrick Bamford got his finish away.

First, I wonder whether Rob could have pressed the player receiving the ball before it went wide more forcefully. Then Dom doesn’t prevent Sam McCallum’s cross, and when it arrives, Bamford has space between Sonny Bradley and Ryley Towler. I’m not certain whether Sonny needs to be closer or Ryley has lost his man, but that is precisely the sort of interaction the coaches will examine. It wasn’t an unstoppable goal, and identifying those moments doesn’t mean declaring the players involved incapable of defending.

At 0-0, the half-time conversation would have been about another away plan working reasonably well. At 1-0, Sheffield United had something to protect, and we had to find a response. They hadn’t looked likely to run away with it for much of that half, but the timing of the breakthrough gave them a very different platform.