Our predictions continue with a look at the side who's only pleasure will being top of the table. Well at least some of the table when it appears on teletext.
| Lincoln City | ||||||||||||
| Last Season at a glance | ||||||||||||
| 5th in League Two | ||||||||||||
| *copies and pastes from previous seasons*
Last season, Lincoln made it to the League Two play offs but ultimately fell short. Was certainly a good season for the Imps and they were knocking on the door of automatic promotion for a long, long time.
But we've seen it all before. They make the Play Offs, then they lose the Play Offs. This time it was at the hands of a Rickie Lambert inspired Bristol Rovers. | ||||||||||||
| Summer Signings | ||||||||||||
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| The Manager - John Schofield | ||||||||||||
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He certainly knows the club through and through having previous run the club's Youth Academy. He has just been awarded a new three year contract.
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| Reasons for a better season? | ||||||||||||
| Well at time of writing, they have managed to keep hold of Lee Frecklington. Frecklington is considered one of the best players in the Division, and after being named in the PFA team last seaosn, he has has attracted plenty of interest from higher division clubs. Fortunately for the Imps, he remains at the club.
And as a club, they will score goals. They had one of the divison's leading scorers last season in Jamie Forrester who we discuss further down. A side who can be relied upon to score goals will always do well. | ||||||||||||
| Reasons for a worse season? | ||||||||||||
| That list of departures is looking very long, with some vital names on there.
Jeff Hughes is the pick of the names on that departure list. The left sided Northern Ireland international upped sticks and headed to Crystal Palace in the Summer.
Similarly, defender Paul Morgan has been the mainstay of that Lincoln defence for the past couple of seasons, and he will be a big loss. They've always been a well organised side at Lincoln, and he will leave a massive gap at the back.
The new signings look as if they've raided a Saga Holiday Bus. Croft and Torpey must have had a telegram from the Queen each. | ||||||||||||
| Season depends on.......Jamie Forrester | ||||||||||||
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He's always struck me as a player who should be playing at a higher level than League Two. Skill wise, he's as good as anyone, though his lack of height has always made it look like he's carry a couple of pounds more than he should do.
He grabbed not far short of twenty goals for the Imps last season as he led them towards the Play Offs, and the pressure will be on for a similar return this next season too. But at 33 later this year, has he had his better days behind him or is there still life in the old dog yet? | ||||||||||||
| RochdaleAFC.com Prediction | ||||||||||||
| 13th - Midtable | ||||||||||||
| Reasons for our prediction | ||||||||||||
| We think the Lincoln's long term squatting of the Play Off positions is due to come to an end this season, for the reasons mentioned above. They've just lost too much quality from their squad over the Summer, and we think that they'll find that too difficult to cope with.
They'll still cause problems for team. Forrester on his day can be the best player in the Division, and therefore they will always be capable of causing a few upsets along the way.
But there's been a step back at Lincoln, momentum has been lost and there'll be a few more injuries as the old legs start taking their toll.
Don't get us wrong, we're not predicting a season of doom and gloom for Lincoln City, just one in which they'll drop back a bit with perhaps a push again in the season after. |