A plan for Jan! | Page 3 | Vital Football

A plan for Jan!

Thoroughly depressing (although sadly not surprising) reading comments here and elsewhere. We’ve lost a few games by the odd goal which happens, especially to lower league clubs. The sweeping judgements made on players who’ve previously proved their worth to us is embarrassing.

If you can’t stomach not seeing your team win every week then you should really consider whether this is the right hobby for you - a BT Sports subscription will give you access to all the PSG or Barcelona games you like.
And the Vanarama!
Try sitting with my mate, I'm sure he's expecting a local derby against Boston in the near future!
 
And the Vanarama!
Try sitting with my mate, I'm sure he's expecting a local derby against Boston in the near future!

I sat in front of two people on Wednesday who spent the entire game non-stop moaning about the performance of the team and individual players. It was absolutely constant, non-stop. At one point they were bemoaning the "lack of tackling" and "closing down" only to complain literally 10 seconds later that an opposition 10 yard pass had "taken out 3 players" as we pressed them, and woe betide any player who tried to do something creative only for it not to come off.

And I would add that the guy sat to the right of me literally applauded when Ipswich scored so he didn't have to "go through another 30 minutes of that". I am almost never speechless but even I had no response to that...
 
you are like the captain of the Titanic, dont worry we are all ok band please keep playing.

The slower you react (change tactics, change players, change manager etc) the more it will hurt!

What you actually said was " it could be a downward spiral we can never recover from"

Don't you think this is just a tad OTT?

This is Lincoln City not Sunderland. For all but a handful of people still alive the club has spent its existence bumbling around the 4th Division.

There's already been a downward spiral which was arrested by a South African and an astute/fortunate (take your pick) managerial appointment. This lifted the club in no time from hopelessness to a station above practically anything in living memory.

I'm all for fearing the worst but to claim that a few bad results will lead to "a downward spiral we can never recover from" is... well, I'll leave you to reconsider if you really mean that.

Even relegation, which I don't think will be the case, would not indicate that. I expect an improvement in results in the second half of the season with or without any signings
 
What you actually said was " it could be a downward spiral we can never recover from"

Don't you think this is just a tad OTT?

This is Lincoln City not Sunderland. For all but a handful of people still alive the club has spent its existence bumbling around the 4th Division.

There's already been a downward spiral which was arrested by a South African and an astute/fortunate (take your pick) managerial appointment. This lifted the club in no time from hopelessness to a station above practically anything in living memory.

I'm all for fearing the worst but to claim that a few bad results will lead to "a downward spiral we can never recover from" is... well, I'll leave you to reconsider if you really mean that.

Even relegation, which I don't think will be the case, would not indicate that. I expect an improvement in results in the second half of the season with or without any signings

the downward spiral for relegation for this season - success is staying up but without a decent striker, a robust central midfield and a more mobile defence I do not see us staying up
 
cant see any reason not to like M A . hes straight no airs and graces hasnt complained about refereees budget etc. just hasnt gone his way so far. The cowleys did a great job and have no complaints cant even blame them for leaving once dc started talking about lack of budget the writing was on the wall.. Ma i think will also create his own budget by bringing through young players . hes no mug
 
I've just downloaded the Football Manager 2020 free Demo. I know that the salary's on there may not be exactly right, but wont be far off.
According to this game, we are above average when it comes to what we are paying our players.
We are new to this division and we need to realise that it's going to take time to acclimatise. We have some good players but they need to get their eye in.
I think in January, Appleton will need to have plans in place if players are taken from us.
In particular I could see Bristol City recalling Joe Morrell, due to his fine form. So we would desperately need an experienced, reliable defensive midfielder. We need someone who can steady us and make us hard to beat again- Alex Woodyard- not getting much of a chance still at Peterborough, and his contract is up in the summer. I think we could sign him for a snip and he'd do a job for us, protecting the back 4.
For me, we need to stop pipe-dreamimg about getting to the Championship. I'm more than happy that we are in the 3rd flight, we just need to ensure we stay there.
 
So far this season everything has conspired to make our current position quite difficult. Let's be realistic. The last few seasons have been exceptional. What we are actually experiencing is quite normal. A change in management, injuries it's all stuff that is part and parcel of the game.Providing we can sustain our status in this league I will be happy enough.
 
I predict some of these doom and gloomster comments will look pretty paranoid in a few months. I also think some of these negative comments regarding Payne will also look ridiculously daft.
 
I predict some of these doom and gloomster comments will look pretty paranoid in a few months. I also think some of these negative comments regarding Payne will also look ridiculously daft.
I predict, if things don't improve, parking and ticket availability will improve next season! I'll be able to spend an extra 45 minutes with my old dad before setting off to the game as normality begins to return after 3 beautiful years.
 
you are like the captain of the Titanic, dont worry we are all ok band please keep playing.

The slower you react (change tactics, change players, change manager etc) the more it will hurt!

Lets take your captain of a ship analogy.

The captain at the start of the voyage saw clear water in front of him and made fast progress. He saw the water get more difficult to navigate and chose to jump onto a larger ship, SS Huddersfield.

The new skipper of the Lincoln ship joined as the boat sprang a leak when it hit SS Oxford. He looked around at his crew and saw they could plug the hole and stop it getting much worse but with only the present crew members he would not easily be able to steer the ship through the choppy water ahead.
He soon scanned the water, identified the icebergs and decided to make a plan to go forward in a safe direction with additional crew members in January.

However, some of the first class passengers saw the choppy water and could see the icebergs in the distance. They didn't think the captain (despite having much better qualifications for the job than them) could see the icebergs. They therefore jumped into the lifeboats, some even jumped into the icy water screaming they needed a new captain.

As the night drew on they drifted further from the ship. When the morning came, they saw a few new recruits arrive to bolster the crew but initially the ship did not move. But as the day went on the new crew helped properly repair the leak and now all the crew could concentrate on getting the ship moving in the right direction. The waters were still choppy and the speed of the ship was not as fast as in the clear water but the ship gradually disappeared leaving those in the lifeboats and water gradually getting hypothermia...

...But at least they had their hope and optimism to keep them warm.
 
Lovely story. Concerned that the first half of the story reads like the titanic. Hope we havent signed Edward Smith as our new captain. He took over a very impressive boat and we know what happened then...!
 
I feel 3 players are key in January

Bostwick back fully fit and available for the rest of the season
Keeping hold of Morrell otherwise we need a like for like replacement
Signing a striker who can cut it in league 1
 
I feel 3 players are key in January

Bostwick back fully fit and available for the rest of the season
Keeping hold of Morrell otherwise we need a like for like replacement
Signing a striker who can cut it in league 1

Certainly getting Bostwick back into the playing squad will be a big positive.

Unfortunately if we lost Morrell at any stage we are unlikely to get a like for like replacement as he is fast becoming a full international player and they are hard to come by in League 1.

Finding goalscoring centre forwards is like rocking horse sh!t.
Of the two centre forwards we have at the moment all one keeps proving to me is that he isn't good enough for this standard and although the other one will score goals if presented with opportunities I dont think he contributes enough outside the penalty area to play as a lone striker. I know he is still young but he still has an awful lot to learn in terms of hold up play and bringing others into the game. He strikes me as a player who is just going on to the pitch to score goals which isn't a bad thing if you have people around you who are supplying you with an abundance of chances. There is so much more to centre forward play than Tyler Walker is offering us at the moment.
 
Thoroughly depressing (although sadly not surprising) reading comments here and elsewhere. We’ve lost a few games by the odd goal which happens, especially to lower league clubs. The sweeping judgements made on players who’ve previously proved their worth to us is embarrassing.

If you can’t stomach not seeing your team win every week then you should really consider whether this is the right hobby for you - a BT Sports subscription will give you access to all the PSG or Barcelona games you like.

So you think if fans aren't happy they should stop supporting their team?
Utter crap.
Most of us have supported Lincoln for decades. For probably 90% of that time, it's not been good to watch and often dreadful. But we still keep going and keep supporting no matter what.

And yes, current players are not doing well and people are entitled to say so.
So quit moaning about moaners.
 
I'd have Rhead back for Akinde. At least on a short term deal. Don't want to go back to 'hoof', but at this stage, I'd rather have points than pretty football.
I'd have Rhead back for Akinde. At least on a short term deal. Don't want to go back to 'hoof', but at this stage, I'd rather have points than pretty football.
Have you actually being watching this league and the standard. Rheady was a bit part player in league two! You need some new glasses or lenses?
 
Have you actually being watching this league and the standard. Rheady was a bit part player in league two! You need some new glasses or lenses?

Obviously Rheady won't be coming back, but he was far from a bit part player last season.
On pretty much every teamsheet, captain in most cup matches, started or played in maybe 70% of games.
And, crucially, we had some of our best performances up front when he was paired properly with Akinde.

He also didn't do too badly against teams above Lge1 for us, did he?
Arsene Wenger picked him out as our main threat. I'm happy to respect his opinions...
 
Obviously Rheady won't be coming back, but he was far from a bit part player last season.
On pretty much every teamsheet, captain in most cup matches, started or played in maybe 70% of games.
And, crucially, we had some of our best performances up front when he was paired properly with Akinde.

He also didn't do too badly against teams above Lge1 for us, did he?
Arsene Wenger picked him out as our main threat. I'm happy to respect his opinions...
Rose tinted glasses there I’m afraid. Rhead’s effectiveness sadly declined last season to the point he became embarrassing towards the end. We rarely looked like scoring with him on the pitch after Christmas, with isolated exceptions v FGR away and Exeter at home.
 
So you think if fans aren't happy they should stop supporting their team?
Utter crap.
Most of us have supported Lincoln for decades. For probably 90% of that time, it's not been good to watch and often dreadful. But we still keep going and keep supporting no matter what.

And yes, current players are not doing well and people are entitled to say so.
So quit moaning about moaners.

You’ve contradicted yourself twice and completely misconstrued the point I was making. Apart from that, you’re spot on.
 
I was sad to see Matt Rhead let go. To me he was an entertainer. Win, lose or draw I always felt seeing Matt play was worth at least a fiver of my match ticket.
He did give us a plan B as well.
I felt he was let go as Danny was shooting for the moon, trying to assemble a team to get to the Championship, rather than a solid season in Division 1 to get us established. He let Rhead go as he needed to balance the wage budget, and had a deal done to bring Tyler Walker in. He also wasn't getting any bids in for any of our other players.
I think it was a shame, but it was down to business.