Lincoln City recorded another defeat against Burton Albion at the LNER Stadium yesterday, a result which saw them slip to 16th in League One. With just seven points separating the Imps and 21st-placed Fleetwood Town, should they be considering a managerial change?
The East Midlands side began the campaign as an outside tip to make the play-offs after solidifying their stay in England’s third tier in recent years. Despite one of the division’s smaller budgets, Lincoln have been smart in their recruitment and this past summer proved no different. The acquisitions of the likes of Reeco Hackett, Ethan Hamilton, Jaden Brown and Tyler Walker were all seen as shrewd signings and they started the season in excellent fashion, losing just one of their opening seven fixtures.
A series of injuries – namely to attackers Walker and Ben House – have halted their progression though, and they have picked up just one league win since beating Blackpool on August 26th – with that coming against rock-bottom Cheltenham Town at the end of last month.
Yesterday’s 1-0 reverse against a rejuvenated Burton was a huge disappointment, especially following the moment of madness from Danny Mandroiu which saw the attacker dismissed for a horror tackle. Manager Mark Kennedy was scathing in his assessment of the player after the game, saying;
“He’s a really, really good person. What’s disappointing for me is that I’ve had multiple conversations with Danny this week, going through multiple things, so to get the red card so quickly after my conversations, because I’ve had hard conversations with him, is mind-boggling for me to understand. But we’re here to educate him and help him, and not destroy his talent.
“Danny’s future is simple to me; I don’t know where he’ll be in five years, he could be in the Championship, he could be back in Ireland. So if he changes his mentality and his structure to his game, he’s got incredible talent, he can go wherever he wants to go, but if he doesn’t change that, he’ll just be another statistic.”
However, it is Kennedy who will be starting to feel the pinch, with grumbles from the Imps supporters starting to become more vocal. There will be a feeling that change needs to happen to halt the slide down the table and next Saturday’s trip to relegation-threatened Fleetwood could prove to be a huge six-pointer come May.
The bottom line is that Lincoln need a goalscorer. The aforementioned injuries to Walker and House are obviously playing a huge part in Lincoln’s barren spell, but there is frustration over summer signing Jack Vale – who arrived on loan from Blackburn Rovers. The 22-year-old has yet to set foot onto the Sincil Bank pitch due to an injury of his own, although initial assessments claimed that he would be fit for the middle of September.
Kennedy will of course point to the fact that he has yet been able to field what he will feel is his best team this season, and Mandroiu’s upcoming suspension will only worsen matters. He is likely to be safe for now, but points are the nature of the game and unless he starts picking some up very soon, he could well find himself out of a job.
Writer’s View
Lincoln are a club that traditionally stick with their managers and they are likely to do the same here, particularly after the huge squad changes throughout the summer. The big turnaround in players was always likely to cause disruption, but constant injuries to key players has also hindered the situation.
However, club legend Danny Cowley remains without a job and is one name that many Imps fans continue to mutter. The nature of his departure to Huddersfield Town in 2019 did somewhat spoil his relationship with some of the supporters and even the very mention of his name will unravel a huge debate.
On paper, Lincoln look too good to go down and it is perhaps far too early in the season to start talking up a relegation scrap. Kennedy needs to halt the slide quickly though and needs to find a way of getting the best out of the players he has at his disposal. He cannot afford to wait for his injured and suspended players to return – simply put, he may not have that much time.
Head of Writing
