Lincoln City defender Paudie O’Connor has called on the club to build on this season’s respectable 11th-placed finish by adding to their squad over the summer, in a conversation with club media.
The 25-year-old joined the Imps last summer from Bradford City and has enjoyed a stellar first campaign at the LNER Stadium. He has been a big hit with the fans and was voted the club’s Player of the Season last week, just as he was at Valley Parade in 2021.
Who is Paudie O’Connor?
O’Connor began his career with his hometown club Limerick in the Republic of Ireland before signing for Leeds United in 2017. He made just four appearances for the then-Championship club and headed out on two loan spells during the 2018/19 season, first with Blackpool and then with Bradford City during the season half of the campaign.
The Bantams were clearly impressed with what they saw during his temporary spell with the club and he was signed on a permanent basis in the summer of 2019 on a three-year deal. The defender was offered a new contract last summer, but opted to head to the East Midlands with Lincoln City.
He proved to be a shrewd addition by Mark Kennedy and the 2019 League Two champions were a tough nut to crack, conceding just 47 goals all season – the same amount as champions Plymouth Argyle.
Can Lincoln Build On This Season?
Lincoln returned to England’s third tier in 2019 for the first time in 20 years and reached the play-offs in 2021, losing to Blackpool in the final at Wembley Stadium.
It’s fair to say that they overachieved in that season and they followed that with a 17th-placed finish last season. The Imps have seen an improvement under the stewardship of Mark Kennedy this season and they became known as the draw specialists of League One after picking up one point in 20 of their 46 games.
A busy summer may be needed in order to build on their mid-table finish, particularly following the loss of club captain Regan Poole, who rejected a new contract in order to seek a move to the Championship. Star goalkeeper Carl Rushworth will return to parent club Brighton & Hove Albion following the end of his loan spell, as will Luke Plange, Matty Virtue, Harry Boyes, Mide Shodipo and Tashan Oakley-Boothe.
Speaking at Lincoln’s end of season awards, O’Connor was hopeful that signings will arrive as well as targeting a second successful season at Sincil Bank.
“I wanted to test myself against the better-quality players at this level, it has gone well and coincided with the team playing well which is a massive positive for the club.
“I was bought in to help the lads keep as many clean sheets as possible and we’ve managed to achieve that over the course of the season.
“In terms of next year, I want to build on that by keeping myself in the team and hopefully we can push on with some new additions in the summer.”
Writer’s View
Lincoln City manager Mark Kennedy will be as keen as Paudie O’Connor to build on this season’s respectable finish and possibly push for a play-off place.
It will be a tough ask for a team that will not be able to compete with the budgets of the bigger club’s in the division, but they have a good base to start with after wisely tying down a number of first team players to long-term contracts over the course of the past couple of years.
There is likely to be focus on loan players again over the summer, but youngsters such as Dylan Duffy and Hayden Cann could play a big part.
There is no doubt that O’Connor has big ambitions next season and you can guarantee that they will be shared by both the manager and the board.
