MATCHWATCH : Lincoln City (a)

[WestYorksRoyal]

I think we'll finish in a similar position to last year. It'll be a pretty depressing 2nd half of the season, with the team left in terrible state for next season unless we finally get shot of Dai.

Hard to have any real hope for the future if I'm honest. 12 months ago I thought it was a storm to ride out and it would be over by now. We did that, we stayed up and helped the team developed. But I simply don't see the ownership situation being resolved any more; he's not going to sell. I think we have enough to survive in L1 this year, but the medium term is very bleak.

[katweslowski]

I think we'll finish in a similar position to last year. It'll be a pretty depressing 2nd half of the season, with the team left in terrible state for next season unless we finally get shot of Dai.

Hard to have any real hope for the future if I'm honest. 12 months ago I thought it was a storm to ride out and it would be over by now. We did that, we stayed up and helped the team developed. But I simply don't see the ownership situation being resolved any more; he's not going to sell. I think we have enough to survive in L1 this year, but the medium term is very bleak.

I'm devastated to say that I agree totally with this

I am struggling now to even have any hope and positivity

I still have. Season ticket but my patience and energy is really becoming tested now.

I don't believe dai will sell and I don't know had that means. Administration? I genuinely don't understand but he's not going to sell

[Hound]

No one seems to know Dai’s long term intentions. But yes unless he sells clearly the only way is down and eventually out. I think everyone realises this

[Snowflake Royal]

No one seems to know Dai’s long term intentions. But yes unless he sells clearly the only way is down and eventually out. I think everyone realises this

Certainly.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Most of 2024 has been enjoyable enough on the pitch to forget about everything off it, but I always knew it was a mirage and our off field situations would overcome us if not resolved.

Going into 2025 feels about as despondent as any point in this saga.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Yeah, the performances and results have been a welcome distraction from the existential crisis and felt like a lifeline keeping us together. I had hoped that the magic of Selles was mostly a psychological thing that Hunt could replace; neither manager to me seem like tactical powerhouses and Reading were climbing the table more on good-feeling fumes and spirit as opposed to quality and nous. But Selles leaving does seem to have ripped the team spirit out of the club and while it might be premature to say it’s gone for good, I do think Hunt’s first set of games were our most crucial test; sadly it looks like we are failing it and I wonder if it’s something we can bounce back from. Feels like th beginning of an unrecoverable slide with only one way off for the players; a desperate jump to other clubs that will have them. I just can’t see us refusing any offers in January; perhaps in a weird way the best thing that could happen to us in terms of keeping together some semblance of a team is a string of poor performances!

On the Dai front, I just think we are so far off his radar that it doesn’t really matter what happens on the pitch or off it. I suspect he has disappeared leaving a price on the table that his underlings can’t be flexible with. We probably enter negotiations with the hope the buyers will budge and when they don’t, with no movement possible from our side, the deals just evaporate. In which case we will probably keep selling assets to cover costs until there is nothing left and the administrators step in. Reaching for a silver lining here, we are fortunate to have the points we do that could handle a whopping penalty for administration, so maybe it would be a good thing? But it needs to happen sooner rather than later, while we have the points to spend.

Feel sorry for Noel. He’s a good bloke, loves football and the club, but the scale of the job he has stepped into is colossal. Selles had time to evolve, while Noel needed to hit the ground running due to the shitty time Selles decided to jump ship with a job half complete and a transfer window on the horizon. I wish I could just hibernate this winter and wake up in the summer to find out how it all resolved!

[Millsy]

Feel sorry for Noel. He’s a good bloke, loves football and the club, but the scale of the job he has stepped into is colossal. Selles had time to evolve, while Noel needed to hit the ground running due to the shitty time Selles decided to jump ship with a job half complete and a transfer window on the horizon. I wish I could just hibernate this winter and wake up in the summer to find out how it all resolved!

Exactly. No surprise Noel is shit so far, but he needs the chance to turn it around. Selles was beyond awful in the league, just as we expected. Until he had time to learn to do an about turn!

[stealthpapes]

I said in a previous thread that people really under-estimated how good a job Selles was doing.
I did not expect it to be so crystal clear so soon.

Anyway, the biggest disappointments in the last two games has been the complete absence of anything resembling tempo. No press. Let the other team play their game.

You can get a long way in League 1 with a well-organised team - indeed, the turn around last season was that organisation starting to click into place for a young side.

Finally, as a young side, we will likely be quite brittle. One or two defeats could easily turn into a long winter.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I watched on Sky and thought at first we looked like we were pressing pretty well. Then I read we weren’t and wondered if I even really knew what pressing meant. Some lass on BBC Berks said we had “no shape”. Again, I didn’t think our shape looked that different to the one under Selles. Then I wondered if I even knew what “shape” was.

Thankfully we conceded two goals and didn’t score any, to which I felt fairly confident in my conclusion that this “wasn’t good”. Checked online and sure enough, I hadn’t lost all understanding of football.

My hunch, which I have clearly proven to be rather meaningless, is that the players have probably dropped their heads, the adrenaline from the shock that might have carried us through the Wycombe game has dissipated and the reality of “no Selles” has kicked in. It could still be something we can bounce back from and we have the points to cover a transitional dip. Whether we will have the players to cover it, who knows. If we lose Bindon, Knibbs and Wing, maybe not. If we keep two or even one of those? Maybe that will be enough!

[morganb]

If it is only about style of play then why did Hunt even change it? Surely by now the players instinctively know how to play Selles's style so why not simply let them continue with it? In fact the players could teach Noel how to do it

[Elm Park Kid]

If it is only about style of play then why did Hunt even change it? Surely by now the players instinctively know how to play Selles's style so why not simply let them continue with it? In fact the players could teach Noel how to do it

You have to change your tactics and mentality for every different team you face. A good manager does that whilst retaining the overall style.

[Snowflake Royal]

If it is only about style of play then why did Hunt even change it? Surely by now the players instinctively know how to play Selles's style so why not simply let them continue with it? In fact the players could teach Noel how to do it

You have to change your tactics and mentality for every different team you face. A good manager does that whilst retaining the overall style.

We've also had player changes. And if Hunt runs different drills and does different prep/analysis it will also have an effect.

We're still firmly in the territory of this could easily have happened under Selles though.

[WestYorksRoyal]

https://staceywest.net/2024/12/22/happy ... 0-reading/

Sympathetic and fair assessment by a Lincoln blog here. They strike me as a decent bunch, a few morons but we all have them.

[AthleticoSpizz]

https://staceywest.net/2024/12/22/happy-christmas-imps-2-0-reading/

Sympathetic and fair assessment by a Lincoln blog here. They strike me as a decent bunch, a few morons but we all have them.

Lovely stuff (if a 2-0 reverse can ever be lovely)….a fair and accurate assessment.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I think we'll finish in a similar position to last year. It'll be a pretty depressing 2nd half of the season, with the team left in terrible state for next season unless we finally get shot of Dai.

Hard to have any real hope for the future if I'm honest. 12 months ago I thought it was a storm to ride out and it would be over by now. We did that, we stayed up and helped the team developed. But I simply don't see the ownership situation being resolved any more; he's not going to sell. I think we have enough to survive in L1 this year, but the medium term is very bleak.

I'm devastated to say that I agree totally with this

I am struggling now to even have any hope and positivity

I still have. Season ticket but my patience and energy is really becoming tested now.

I don't believe dai will sell and I don't know had that means. Administration? I genuinely don't understand but he's not going to sell

It’s been this way for over a year now.

[Snowflake Royal]

I think we'll finish in a similar position to last year. It'll be a pretty depressing 2nd half of the season, with the team left in terrible state for next season unless we finally get shot of Dai.

Hard to have any real hope for the future if I'm honest. 12 months ago I thought it was a storm to ride out and it would be over by now. We did that, we stayed up and helped the team developed. But I simply don't see the ownership situation being resolved any more; he's not going to sell. I think we have enough to survive in L1 this year, but the medium term is very bleak.

I'm devastated to say that I agree totally with this

I am struggling now to even have any hope and positivity

I still have. Season ticket but my patience and energy is really becoming tested now.

I don't believe dai will sell and I don't know had that means. Administration? I genuinely don't understand but he's not going to sell

It’s been this way for over a year now.

Yeah, I mean we all liked Selles, but to from seemingly fairly content to utter despair in about two weeks just because he left is pretty kneejerk.

Couhig’s takeover collapse has to be the despair point. I mean as soon as it became clear a takeover wasn't happening results and league table position became all but meaningless except to enjoy what we could while we could.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Tbf, 12 months ago I'd have said we wouldn't last a year without a sale, let alone be in 7th. The club has proven to be resilient beyond expectations. It can't last forever, but it can last longer than we all expect. Let's see how we look in a few months instead of rushing to conclusions. We only need to keep going 6 months or so more for there to be a more powerful body to protect clubs.

[Sutekh]

Tbf, 12 months ago I'd have said we wouldn't last a year without a sale, let alone be in 7th. The club has proven to be resilient beyond expectations. It can't last forever, but it can last longer than we all expect. Let's see how we look in a few months instead of rushing to conclusions. We only need to keep going 6 months or so more for there to be a more powerful body to protect clubs.

Which of course will be engineered to have retrospective powers to be able to apply to clubs with existing problems, as it’s the only way we’ll be able to finally get the clown out.