PWould
Vital 1st Team Regular
Pinch me and one day i will wake up and its all been a dream that has been too good to be true. Back to the reality though and my passion for the imps certainly does not wane. Long trips to the Ricoh from Somerset, though begin to take their toll at my age, particularly the trip up the M5, M42 and M6. More on that later though. I have been supporting the club throughout my life, through thick and thin but i have observed a marked change around me.
To whom do we attribute the most accolade for said change. There are a few worthy candidates but i will not plump for the obvious dynamic duo despite their rightly, god like status in my and others eyes. For me everything changed the day that a certain Clive Nates walked into the club. This tin pot underachieving mess of a club ( i still loved them though) started to transform before my eyes.
I have to say i had my reservations at the time or at least mixed feelings. We had our fingers badly burnt by Swann, and a South African hedge fund manager who did not even support the club did not completely " float my boat". The corollary of this was though in many ways of course i was just relieved that someone wanted to put investment, not stupid money ( yes i am talking about you Scunthorpe and Mansfield, to name just two) in my beloved club. It was when i had the privilege to meet Clive in the early days that i was quickly taken with his unassuming character, genuineness, lack of ego and real desire to change things for the better. He probably would not like this said as he appears to be a very modest fellow, but praise is long overdue in my book.
We all spotted little things, but quickly the club seemed to be running better and more professionally. Not over night as we had been pared to the bone staff wise and even Clive did not have a magic wand.
We will never know the exact machinations but clearly the Cowley brothers were in some ways headhunted and Clive had his fingerprints all over it ( in a good way if you are an imp). The 60% win ration was clearly pretty attractive, and remarkably still exists on their record after two years of managing us. This then has been the true catalyst for the imps onward and upwards trajectory. Who could have predicted it? Back to the Coventry game, yes it was worth it even though the journey up took almost twice as long as google maps indicated. The performance on and off the field from the players and fans etc was a joy to behold. I just got in, in time to see the Kick off and of course a monster of a goal from a certain Mr Rhead.
So THANK YOU , Clive Nates for the journey we have all been on. I remember saying to him that we were a small, loyal but passionate bunch of supporters. Well i got that right only in part, as the amount of fans continues to grow. What a connection we now have with our fan base and community. I particularly like to see the number of women and children who are jumping aboard the "Lincoln Loco" It sounds as if there are a few more positive twists and turns yet. I think Clive along with the brothers have fallen in love with our club and their association will be lenghened. I will be going to my grave a happy man.
To whom do we attribute the most accolade for said change. There are a few worthy candidates but i will not plump for the obvious dynamic duo despite their rightly, god like status in my and others eyes. For me everything changed the day that a certain Clive Nates walked into the club. This tin pot underachieving mess of a club ( i still loved them though) started to transform before my eyes.
I have to say i had my reservations at the time or at least mixed feelings. We had our fingers badly burnt by Swann, and a South African hedge fund manager who did not even support the club did not completely " float my boat". The corollary of this was though in many ways of course i was just relieved that someone wanted to put investment, not stupid money ( yes i am talking about you Scunthorpe and Mansfield, to name just two) in my beloved club. It was when i had the privilege to meet Clive in the early days that i was quickly taken with his unassuming character, genuineness, lack of ego and real desire to change things for the better. He probably would not like this said as he appears to be a very modest fellow, but praise is long overdue in my book.
We all spotted little things, but quickly the club seemed to be running better and more professionally. Not over night as we had been pared to the bone staff wise and even Clive did not have a magic wand.
We will never know the exact machinations but clearly the Cowley brothers were in some ways headhunted and Clive had his fingerprints all over it ( in a good way if you are an imp). The 60% win ration was clearly pretty attractive, and remarkably still exists on their record after two years of managing us. This then has been the true catalyst for the imps onward and upwards trajectory. Who could have predicted it? Back to the Coventry game, yes it was worth it even though the journey up took almost twice as long as google maps indicated. The performance on and off the field from the players and fans etc was a joy to behold. I just got in, in time to see the Kick off and of course a monster of a goal from a certain Mr Rhead.
So THANK YOU , Clive Nates for the journey we have all been on. I remember saying to him that we were a small, loyal but passionate bunch of supporters. Well i got that right only in part, as the amount of fans continues to grow. What a connection we now have with our fan base and community. I particularly like to see the number of women and children who are jumping aboard the "Lincoln Loco" It sounds as if there are a few more positive twists and turns yet. I think Clive along with the brothers have fallen in love with our club and their association will be lenghened. I will be going to my grave a happy man.