Lincoln City: From Disappointing Midtable Stragglers to Surprise Play-Off Contenders – Opinion

Fresh off an unbelievable 5-1 win away at Oakwell, Lincoln City might have just found themselves back in with an outside shot at the play-offs. Last week many may have thought the slim chance might have gone with a 0-0 draw against fellow play-off contenders Stevenage in a game Lincoln would’ve needed to win if their play-off dream was in any chance of happening.

However, it could well be on after a magnificent display against Barnsley who hadn’t lost since the end of January and were starting to build momentum to try and get into the automatic spots but that was well and truly put to bed by Skubala’s side. The Imps are now eleven unbeaten, only Leeds United have been unbeaten for longer in the EFL with 12 games, which shows how good Lincoln has been since the turn of the year.

The Interim Period – Tom Shaw’s Lincoln City

I want to start on the 18th of October 2023 when Mark Kennedy was sacked by Lincoln City. This came as a surprise for many fans as people thought there wasn’t a need to sack Kennedy because it was early into the season and were behind him after a good first season but things looked like they were going wrong internally. But also the club hadn’t sacked a manager since Gary Simpson in 2014 and zero under Clive Nates and Liam Scully. Lincoln sat 16th on 15 points after a poor 1-0 defeat four days prior at home to Burton Albion, the club felt it was time for a change.

Tom Shaw was named as interim head coach while the club looked for a new manager. Shaw took charge of seven games winning three, drawing two, and losing two most notably to League Two Morecambe at home in the first round of the FA Cup. Fans were happy at first with Shaw getting off to a positive start giving the Imps a much-needed win at Fleetwood Town, then beating Charlton Athletic 3-1 at home and a solid point away at Exeter City, Shaw had steadied the ship.

However, I don’t think the fans or Shaw thought he would still be in the job for another four games where he wouldn’t win in the league be knocked out of the FA Cup, and, have one win against Notts County in the EFL trophy. Fans were getting restless with the new manager bounce wearing off game by game and the Danny Cowley links being shut down as the days passed a manager was needed.

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A New Coach

On the 13th of November, Lincoln had a new head coach in the form of Michael Skubala. A name that was not one of the bookie’s favorites or even on the list of names, uninspiring ones for some fans. Skubala had worked his way up the coaching ranks from futsal to Leeds United Manager.

Premier League viewers may remember he took charge of Leeds United’s visit to Old Trafford earlier in 2023 where his side gained a vital point in their battle to stay up in a 2-2 draw where his side full of youth and courage surprised many inside Old Trafford that night. Skubala’s first game as Lincoln City boss was away at Playoff contenders Stevenage where his side lost 1-0 to Steve Evans’s team.

But his first win didn’t have to wait long with the next game a massive win away at Leyton Orient with Ethan Hamilton scoring an 89th winner to secure all three points for the Imps. Lincoln then went unbeaten for three games drawing to Barnsley and Wigan and beating Cambridge 3-0 away from home leaving the Imps 10th on 31 points on the 9th of December.

December, however, was a tough month for Skubala and Lincoln as they didn’t win a game and lost four games notably losing at home to newly promoted side Northampton 2-1 with club captain Paudie O’Connor seeing red and fans were left thinking what is the difference between Kennedy and Skubala and were they right to sack him as this was relegation form. A couple of days later the Imps lost to Blackpool 2-0 meaning no win in seven as Lincoln sat 12th on 32 points.

The turning point. Skubala’s squad was depleted by injuries to key players Ben House and Reeco Hackett and having no recognised striker to play he had to start youngster Jovon Makama who wasn’t ready to lead the line at this level and winger Hakeeb Adelakun who was certain to leave in the summer. After the Blackpool game, Lincoln City didn’t play for another twelve days, so after the busy Christmas period, Skubala finally had much-needed time on the training pitch with his squad to get his plans across but also to get bodies into the building and get key players closer to return.

The club recalled academy striker Freddie Draper from an impressive loan spell at League Two with Walsall where he scored 10 in 24 games for the Saddlers, Freddie is a physical striker who can handle himself well against defenders and use his strength to deal with them, a target man is not the best way to describe Freddie because he has a lot more than just wrestling defenders and holding it up. Freddie is fast and great with the ball most notably he can take on defenders and has a cracking finish on him but also being able to hold it up and get his team up the pitch or spin in behind and drive at goal and create chances for the team.

City had been missing a focal point since Striker Ben House got injured and their struggles were down to that as they could not sustain any sort of attack throughout most games because they had no one to hit and hold the ball up and Freddie could certainly fill that gap for the time being. The other loan signing was the impression Skubala was making tactical changes, two up front was the way forward. Joe Taylor was next through the door like Draper who was on loan in league 2 scoring eleven in twenty-five for Colchester United earning him a recall by parent club Luton Town and then loaned to the Imps. Taylor’s strengths are his pace but also his finishing inside the box as you know most of his goals for Colchester are him dribbling at pace with the ball for long periods and finishing or being able to get in the right areas to finish neatly inside the box.Shorten with AI

Lincoln City’s Unbeaten Run

The first game of the twelve-game unbeaten run starts when the Imps travel to Wycombe Wanderers and Skubala names both Draper and Taylor in the side… finally Lincoln has actual strikers again. Although it took a late goal from Ethan Erhahon to take a point, there was a difference in the side, a performance, and energy, something to build on, and Imps fans felt positive about the team and could get behind this but it was just the start.

Lincoln then faced high-flying Derby County at home and the welcome return of winger Reeco Hackett who had been out for a long period but there was a tactical tweak with Reeco from Skubala as he had another week on the training pitch with his team, City kept a clean sheet the first since the 9th of December and held Derby to a 0-0 draw a solid point for the team but the fans could notice this was not similar to Kennedy anymore and were ready to back Skubala he just needed time and key players back on the pitch to set his team up how he wants to play.

Peterborough then came to the LNER where it was another 0-0 but the performance was good Lincoln had a couple of good chances through Joe Taylor who may on a different day and scored won Lincoln the game but after another good performance something was brewing. Lincoln City then won away at Burton a massive win with 10 men as Alex Mitchell was sent off inside 30 minutes which he shouldn’t have been and the only goal in the game came from Reeco Hackett as that was the first win since the 28th of November and the good performances finally got what they deserved and the return of prolific striker Ben House.

This was then followed by a 2-1 win against relegation fodder Fleetwood and a 1-1 draw away at revitalised Charlton under new manager Nathan Jones which was his first home match. The next two games were back-to-back wins 2-0 against Port Vale and 3-0 against Shrewsbury Town and the Shrewsbury game was Skubala’s best game so far (before Barnsley) as Lincoln City dominated the game from start to finish as Ted Bishop ran it. Then drew to Mr Evans,  Stevenage’s side 0-0  in a battle for the playoffs, and then the unreal 5-1 display against Barnsley Jack Moylan certainly made his mark.

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The tweak I was on about is that Lincoln’s formation how it looks is a 3-5-2, and why I highlight Reeco is that he should be playing as a wing-back but he is predominantly a winger but Hackett played sometimes at Portsmouth as a wing-back and Skubala used this to his advantage. Out of possession, Lincoln City set up in a 4-4-2 where Reeco will stand right next to Sean Roughan who plays on the left of a back three and Reeco is helping him out against wingers and fullbacks tracking them at all times. This is a good tactic from Skubala but credit goes to Reeco because he is willing to put the work in and defend in a low block and cover a lot of ground for the team as a lot of attacking players do not like defending and trying to track other players as they normally just don’t follow them once they’re not in sight.

How the tactic works is when Lincoln is in possession and attacking they will always have an overload with Reeco because he will play as a winger and not a full-back and will always have space to affect the game. But recently what has helped Lincoln City and Skubala is how flexible they are in games and that is due to work on the training pitch and Skubala getting his ideas across and the players understanding their roles more and more and it means the team is fluid if games and not going in the teams favor they can switch to a different formation to put more of the balance of the game towards them and confuse the opposition and create more spaces for the team and this is more of a modern way of coaching but Skubala is the new breed of coaches and many top teams can switch between formations throughout games.

Transition is massive for Lincoln City and that’s where a lot of their goals come from when they break fast especially with Lasse Sorensen who is a great runner with the ball especially when he gets going and breaks down that right flank and can either cross the ball into the House or Taylor or hit into the channel where either of them is more than capable of receiving the ball which then creates space for players like Reeco who can have a touch then shoot like his goal against Shrewsbury or pull it back for Teddy Bishop on the edge of the box.

I think what Skubala has done with Teddy Bishop is amazing Bishop was always highly thought off but injury problems had ruined any chance of momentum so he was always in and out of the team and he hadn’t shown any of the promise he was supposed to live up to. Bishop has been pulling the strings in recent games been given the freedom in the number ten role to run games and create chances personally he has been Lincoln’s best player in this run as he gets targeted a lot by the opposition and constantly wins fouls similar to what Jack Grealish did when he was at Aston Villa and I can see a lot of resemblance between the players.

What also helps Skubala  is being able to tactically mould young players according to Transfermarkt the average age of Lincoln’s squad is 23.1, which is quite young and most of them can be taught how to play because they haven’t been developed properly yet and Skubala has a great level of experience with moulding young players at England and Leeds and that is how after a few weeks on the training ground Lincoln City are a much more aggressive side that play with a tempo and an intensity that was nowhere to be seen under Mark Kennedy.

Lincoln City’s Ben House not ruling out League One play-offs

Key stats on the unbeaten run 16 goals in eleven games, seven clean sheets, and top of the League One form table with 14 points and a goal difference of 10.

So on October 18th if you would have told any Lincoln City fan that on the 10th March you would’ve beat Barnsley 5-1 at Oakwell been unbeaten since the turn of the year and flying towards the playoffs, and they would like to have what you were drinking. This team now has a belief and fast aggression led by a man who has got players firing and knowing their roles and got many teams not wanting to face his team and a fanbase right behind them and surely that must mean only one thing for Lincoln City.

PLAYOFFS!

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