A review of Lincoln City's 2011/12 season



Please note that all of the below is based on my opinions and observations and does not reflect the views of any other party. Unlike others that I could name, I’m not going to try and pass my opinion off as if it’s fact, nor am I going to try and force my opinions on others, please take that into account whilst reading this.

Before I start I would like to say that whilst I am disappointed with the season we have had, but I’m going to try and be fair with all my reflections and I’m not going to abuse anyone at the club, again, unlike certain people I could mention.



So it’s been a long season for the Imps. Back in August we couldn’t possibly have known the rollercoaster that would follow over the 51 games in League and cup that comprised the 2011/12 season. It’s been a year where just as you thought the embarrassments were over, something else would come along and knock the wind out of the fans. Two managers, big wins, big defeats, nearly a whopping 43 players used, infighting, protests and downright viciousness from City’s fans have helped craft this season.

So where better to start this than at 4:53pm (roughly) on the final day of the 2010/11 season? City had just lost 3-0 at home to Aldershot and confirmation of Barnet’s win over Port Vale meant that the Imps had been relegated to the Blue Square Premier division. Manager Steve Tilson committed to the cause and Bob Dorrian said that Tilson could have the job as long as he wanted it, however, that could not be said for most of the playing staff as the squad was torn apart following relegation. Off the field jobs were lost as well as the club prepared for life without Football League funding.

Only three players were offered new deals, one of whom was bizarrely Andy Hutchinson, who is one of the luckiest footballers ever. Never has one person played 22 games and done so little, yet constantly got new contracts. Everyone highlights that most of his appearances have only been from the bench, but just because he’s a sub it doesn’t mean he only comes on for the last 2/3 minutes. He came on for close on 35 minutes against Stevenage towards the end of 2010/11 and didn’t touch the ball once. To say he hasn’t been given a fair chance is a load of bollocks, and to constantly get new contracts is a joke.



Striker Kyle Perry



On paper Tilson bought in a strong squad ahead of the 2011/12 pre-season. Strikers Jamie Taylor, Kyle Perry (right) and Sam Smith all joined from Eastbourne, Tamworth and Rushden respectively, all with excellent goalscoring ratios in the last few years. John Nutter, Josh Gowling and Tony Sinclair all joined from Gillingham, Alan Power from Rushden, Cambridge’s Player of the Year Simon Russell, French trio Jean Arnaud, Jean-Francois Christophe and Francis Laurent, and free agents Nicky Nicolau and Brad Barraclough. On paper it was a fine assembled squad, but as we all know, football isn’t played on paper and Sincil Bank has a habit of destroying reputations.

Doug Lingberg was a sign of things to come in this bizarre season. Tilson signed him as back up goalkeeper but then admitted that if Anyon got injured then we would bring in a loan goalkeeper rather than using Lindberg. What was the point in bringing him here if we weren't going to get anything from it all? Where's the benefit for us in that?

Pre-season results were mixed, thumping wins over Ilkeston and Brigg Town were coupled with defeats to Gainsborough and Nottingham Forest, as well as a strong side struggling to beat Barton Old Boys. The pressure didn’t seem to be on Steve Tilson at this time.

The season eventually started with a 2-2 draw at Southport, not a bad result considering, but consecutive home defeats to Kidderminster and Wrexham saw City laying near the relegation zone. A 2-1 win at Telford was City’s first three points since March 12^th but the fans were far from happy and after the poor start to the season continued, a 4-0 defeat at Tamworth was the final straw as Steve Tilson and Paul Brush were sacked due to fan power.

I was never really a fan of Tilson, he didn’t really do enough for me and in a pre-season fans meeting with Bob Dorrian, Bob confirmed that Tilson had told most of the squad in March that they weren’t going to get new contracts, not realising that those players would be the only uninjured ones by the end of the year, and they weren’t going to give a fuck about a club who had already told them that they wouldn’t be wanted.

On paper Tilson did sign a lot of decent players, but as mentioned earlier, Sincil Bank had a habit of destroying reputations and it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone when it was announced he had been sacked.

He was replaced by David Holdsworth, the former Mansfield manager, and some fans were really against this appointment, an a lot took an instant dislike and the abuse that Holdsworth has had to take is a bit ridiculous, especially as he has actually achieved what he was asked to achieve and stop us being relegated and cut the wage bill. Granted, results haven’t always been great and some of the performances were diabolical, but there was no need for the abuse that the fans gave him. Regardless of whether people think he is good or not or not, he didn’t deserve the abuse he has gotten all season, similar to the Steve Kean situation at Blackburn.

Infact, our season and Blackburn’s have reflected each other both on and off the pitch. Much like Blackburn’s fans, City’s fans have hardly covered themselves in glory this year. Protests against how the club is being run, infighting between fans at away games and a poor season on the pitch tested most fans patience and one of the finest examples of the bitter turn of our fans came after a 2-1 home defeat to Alfreton Town in the FA Cup. An Adam Watts mistake (mistake being the key word) allowed Alfreton to score the winning goal, and then fans on the Lincoln City Banter Facebook group were posting a link to his profile and encouraging others to send Watts abuse.

The sooner Lincoln fans realise we’re not a big side, the better. We’re not even a big club in the Blue Square Premier. There are far bigger clubs than us at this level, Luton, Wrexham and whether we like it or not, Grimsby, to name just three. People need to stop comparing our results and success with the Keith Alexander era. Until another manager achieves what he achieved, some fans will never be satisfied and often this season some fans have turned up to away games and done nothing but shout abuse to the manager and players, even when winning. Fans are finding any excuse to complain these days.

Infact, I’ve noticed the majority of the trouble comes with the brain-dead thugs who seem to only want to trouble and violence. Whenever you’ve heard abuse (and I don’t just mean abuse of “you’re shit,” I mean proper vile stuff) they’ve not been too far away from the trouble, but I’ll get onto those idiots again in a few paragraphs.

Sam Smith - Injured in November

The Imps continued through November and December without really impressing but staying just ahead of the relegation zone. Sam Smith was the man in form but he soon got injured and this was followed by the first example of David Holdsworth’s activities in the transfer market. Never has a manager been so keen to bring in new players so quickly. When you look at the list of players who have played for this club this season, the amount who have played less than 10 games in ridiculous, with four players only making one appearance for the club.

Performances were generally poor. A victory at Forest Green in December proved to be City’s only league win anywhere near Christmas and you see a lot of people refer to that as one of the best performances of the season………that despite Forest Green absolutely dominating and City struggling to create anything before a penalty just before half time. Infact, despite rarely being overwhelmed by the opposition, the performances throughout the season have been generally poor, but as I say, very few sides actually dominated against us.

The ultimate low arguably came in January when the club was drawn against Carshalton Athletic in the FA Trophy. A 0-0 draw at home was followed by an embarrassing exit in the replay. The Imps couldn’t even claim to have been playing a weakened side as the near full strength Imps went down 3-1 at the home of a side two divisions below us. It was a dark night to be an Imps fan.

At that point a lot of Imps fans were calling for the head of David Holdsworth and it was pretty hard to defend him based on his record. When I used to run a website based on Lincoln City I would have joined them, but not having to write about it anymore means that I can sit back, relax and think about things.




A few weeks later and the Imps were losing at promotion chasing Gateshead at half time and those idiots who only go to a small handful of games and only go purely to cause trouble, decided it would be a good idea to start abusing their own fans, with one of the brain-dead thugs actually threatening a fan because that fan clapped at half time. We would eventually get a draw from that game after being 3-1 down, a good result considering.



Gateshead - Scene of our fans fighting each other



Results on the pitch hit a low as a 2-0 win over Southport on January 24^th proved to be the only victory between mid-December and mid-March. A 1-0 home defeat to Alfreton Town proved too much for some fans and that, combined with the poor run resulted in some fans calling a protest that was never actually going to achieve anything. I do respect that they have a right to protest, but 150 or so pissed of fans aren’t actually going to achieve anything if they don’t have a realistic solution to the problem. It’s all well and good highlighting problems but completely pointless without a solution. Simply getting rid of Bob Dorrian (which I heavily suspect is easier said that done) wouldn’t do anything, you need a plan of what to do next, and Bob is not the only person to blame for the club’s recent issues.

I’m not going to claim to be Bob’s biggest fan, infact I could actually write a blog based on why I dislike him, but I won’t because it won’t do anything, it won’t change anything. At the end of the day he’s not a football chairman. He’s a football fan and he happens to be chairman, but he’s not a football man, neither was Steff Wright and to an extent, neither was Rob Bradley, all had their own businesses to all look after as well as the club, and it’s the same with all the other directors as far as I’m aware, and we won’t be in a situation that’s any different if Dorrian did step down because he’d just be replaced with someone who has other things to focus on as well as the club.

That protest came before a home game against Newport, and that was the first of three games that City won in a row to move clear of the relegation zone, and just like Newcastle fans and Mike Ashley, pissed off fans suddenly became very quiet when the team were winning games, but as soon as we lose, regardless of the opposition, everyone ignores that we had won the three games before and was back planning more protests. The word fickle comes to mind.



Fleetwood - A ground where city effectively secured
Blue Square Premier football for another year



A 5-0 win over Darlington on Easter Monday was followed by an excellent 2-2 draw with Fleetwood (who were crowned Champions the next day) meant that the Imps were as good as safe, and safety was confirmed on April 14^th as Mansfield Town, a club with a few ex-Imps, beat Hayes and Yeading to mean that only Newport and Telford can be caught by Hayes, and the Imps were safe.

Now it’s time to assess and one thing we must realise is that there’s no reason to panic about struggling in our first year of Blue Square football. No team has gone straight back up since 2005 and far better sides than us have also struggled in their first few years before then challenging for promotion (York and Cambridge being the main examples). We don’t have an automatic right to do well and yes, I agree it’s been a bad season, but we have come through the rough seas and have had a half-decent end to the season.

So now we can start planning for next season knowing that the remaining two games of the season are pretty meaningless really.

Whether David Holdsworth is the man in charge is next season is another matter. He has a very hit and miss record with his transfers, but then again so did Keith Alexander. Everyone forgets that as well as signing some very good players, Keith did also sign a lot of shite…..Niall McNamara anyone? Holdsworth’s signings are similar, either they are very good, or they are shocking.

My personal opinion is that the best player he bought in is Danny Lloyd, I really rate Danny Lloyd. Danny is the sort of player the aforementioned Alexander would have loved, his energy is fantastic and I personally think that had he started on a more regular basis then we would have been safe a long time ago. I also think we did well to get players such as Richard Hinds at the club, however briefly.

On the flip side some of his signings have been diabolical and/or pointless. What’s the point of bringing in loanees such as Louis Almond and Matt Pearson and never play them? It’s no wonder their parent clubs called them back. Then there’s not to forget Jason Beardsley (who I hear many of you say…..exactly). Then my own personal jury is still out on Paul Robson, Rob Williams, Tyrone Thompson and one or two others.

With contract length seemingly not worth having meaning these days, we’re effectively working from a blank slate, but here is my brief summary of whether I would keep players or not (please note these are done in squad number order).

Joe Anyon - Many people's choice for
Player of the Season

Joe Anyon – Easily the player of the season for me. Unlike 2010/11, he hasn’t made a major mistake this season and has been our one truly consistent player. I would definitely offer him a new contract but he’s too good for the Blue Square Premier and will more than likely receive a lot of offers.

Karlton Watson – I’m unsure what to think of Karlton but he’s young and has done reasonably well in his appearances for the club. I would personally offer him a six month contract.

John Nutter – I would personally get rid of him. He started off reasonably solid but as the season has gone on he has gradually got worse. His distribution and decision making, especially at set-pieces is shocking most of the time, and he gives the ball away quite often. There are better, and more importantly cheaper, left backs out there.

Josh Gowling – I’m undecided on Josh as I don’t think he’s actually that good, but I think he is a decent leader on the pitch. His main problem is inconsistency. Against the ridiculously poor sides he looks competent, but whenever we come up against anyone half decent he struggles.

Danny Hone – I’d personally get rid of him. Everyone keeps saying he should be given a chance but whenever he is, he makes a mistake and costs at least one goal a game. We can get far better defenders.

Jamie Taylor – Until recently I didn’t see much in Jamie Taylor. Granted he has spent a lot of time out injured but has still managed a fair amount of games, and his goalscoring record in the League is generally poor, however, he has started to show in recent games why he almost single handedly kept Eastbourne in the division. I’d give him another year.



Alan Power



Alan Power (right) – As the season has gone on he has got worse. He started out really well and was arguably our best player early on, but his form has gone seriously downhill. His distribution is terrible and he does quite a lot of moaning. He’s a bit like Scott Kerr in that respect….but without the clapping. I wouldn’t keer Alan because I don’t think he’s good enough for a side that is better than relegation fodder.

Kyle Perry – Talking of players who started out really well and got worse, hello Kyle. Kyle started off in great form this season but then everything changed, he just wasn’t really doing anything except falling over. There was one particular incident that I saw at Wrexham where one of their defenders nudged him in the lower back and he went down holding the back of his head. I wouldn’t keep him.

Jefferson Louis – I was not happy when we signed Louis, he had a generally poor record everywhere and I had seen him several times and never been impressed, however, he has surprised me and done really well since joining. He’s a good all around striker, he can use his feet and his header really well. I’d keep him.

Francis Laurent – Francis is a frustrating player because he’s so ridiculously injury prone that offering him any sort of contract is pointless because he never plays more than four games before he then spends several months out injured. He showed what he was capable of whenever he played but unless you wrap him in bubble wrap, you’re never going to see him for more than 1/3 of the season.

Conal Platt – Who remembers Marcus Richardson and how he played when on loan from Hartlepool? He was awesome when on loan and then his form went to shit after it got made permanent, which is exactly what Conal Platt did. Conal was awesome on loan but as soon as it got made permanent, he just lost it. The creative midfielder with an eye for goal turned into another body on the pitch that wasn’t really contributing. I’d keep him because he showed that when on form, he can be brilliant.

Tony Sinclair – The owner of a dodgy moustache has had a mixed time as a City player. Before he got injured he never really stood out, never had a bad game but never really had a good one either. He was just there. I’d keep him because he’s better than Paul Robson.

Sam Smith – Another one who seemingly needs wrapping in bubble wrap, Smith has been out injured since November. Sam showed he could certainly finished and 8 goals before his injury was a good return, but other than finishing he was an atrocious football. His first touch is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Just for his goalscoring ability I would keep him, but he would seriously need to work on that first touch.

Simon Russell – Another one who got worse as the season went on. Early on he was providing plenty of crosses into the box and it was obvious why Cambridge fans voted him as their player of the season, skip forward to mid-season and he wasn’t really doing anything other than occasionally wearing a coat that is far too big for him whilst warming up. I’d be surprised if he’s here next season.

Richard Pacquette – Started off well before disappearing really.  He had a decent finish on him, such as his goal against Southport, but I can’t really comment further as he hasn’t really made enough appearances and they were all too long again to actually remember what he’s like.

Nicky Nicolau – Nicolau’s one of those players who’s just there, he doesn’t really do anything. I can’t actually recall how he’s played. I know he has played, but I can’t recall if he played well or not, which says it all.



Danny Lloyd - From the Lincolnshire Echo



Danny Lloyd – I am a big fan of Danny Lloyd’s, he is an awesome young player. His  enthusiasm and approach to the game reminds me a lot of Chris Herd, and that is only a good thing. I would definitely give Danny a new deal without even thinking about it.

Brad Barraclough – It was hard to get an opinion on Brad because he didn’t play much for the Imps but his record on loan at Buxton has been fantastic. He’d be worth a new deal, even if only for six months.

Nick Draper – He appeared to be a good young keeper in his few appearances. Can’t really comment further but won’t do any harm keeping him.

Andy Hutchinson – Deserves a new contract about as much as Hitler would be welcome at a Jewish only party.

James Wilson – Hasn’t played a first team match so can’t really give an opinion either way. If whomever the manager is doesn’t intend to play him then there’s no point in him being here.

Karl Cunningham – He made an impressive handful of appearances under Grant Brown. It’d be worth keeping him as he looks like the first talent to emerge from the youth team that’ll actually be worthwhile since Lee Frecklington.

Paul Robson – If ever being out of position becomes an Olympic sport then Paul Robson will no doubt represent the UK. The amount of times the left winger of the oppositon finds themselves unmarked is ridiculous. Distribution is terrible and there are far better right backs out there.

Jean Francois Christophe – I don’t rate Christophe. He plays like Marcus Richardson (after he had been made permanent) and that’s not a good thing. Distribution is again terrible and I can’t recall one game where he actually played well.

Jordan Thomas – Played a few games under Grant Brown, didn’t really have a chance to make an impression.

Peter Bore – I remember being quite pleased with the signing of Bore but he’s been largely uninspiring. Much like several other members of the squad, he is there but not really doing a lot. We can get far better.

Nialle Rodney – I know he has played but I can’t actually recall him playing, surely that tells it’s only story.

Mark McCammon – Another that came to the club with a reputation for not scoring but has done okish in the beginning of his City career. I think Holdsworth will try and keep him but whether he will settle for not being a first team starter is another matter.

Tyrone Thompson – Accumulating nearly 30 games and yet he hasn’t actually played well in many of those games. First touch is appalling but he does have sped, something we haven’t had in central midfield for ages. I heavily suspect he will be here next season because him and Holdsworth are quite close and apparently travel in together.

Tom Miller – Good, solid defender who doesn’t mess about. Our recent good record started when he arrived and I think he is the best defender we have at the club. I would definitely try and keep him beyond this season.

Jake Sheridan – I thought Jake started really well and you could see why Eastwood fans were gutted to lose him, however, since then he’s not really done a lot and has just been a passenger in a lot of games. Not brilliant but not the worst player we have by a long stretch.

Tom Richardson – “One for the future” apparently…….not that we know as he was loaned out as soon as we got him in.

Reece Thompson – See Jordan Thomas