Were the Imps dreadful yesterday? No not really we didn't take our chances, Wycombe did and that was that. We need a new keeper ASAP. Anyon let in another soft goal just after we had taken the lead. His confidence has been shot to bits (as would most keepers' playing behind our back line) Another centre back to play alongside Watts when he is fit is also needed.
Even if we do stay up there are bigger problems.
Last night after the game i fed the Guinea pigs and headed straight the pub. With only the bottom of my pint glass for company, i tried to work out the reason why the club has gone from perennial play off contenders to odds on relegation candidates.
In order to see why a club is failing you need to look at successful clubs to see what they are doing and what your club isn't. To get a broader view you need to look not only at football but across the world of sport.
Glasgow Rangers are the most successful football club in the world. The Pittsburgh Steelers have more Superbowl titles than any other NFL team. The New York Yankees are by far and away the most successful baseball club in the world. Manchester United and Arsenal have dominated English football for the last 20 years. In F1. (The pinnacle of world motor sport) Ferrari and Maclaren have always been there or there abouts.
Rangers Ibrox park
Now lets look how they are managed. Sir Alex has been at United for 20 plus years. Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal since 1996. The Steelers have only had 4 head coach's since 1966. Only four different men have sat in the Rangers dugout since 1990 and only 5 coaches have been at the Yankees in the same time. Of course these teams haven't had it all there own way. The Red Sox have won a world title. Chelsea have nabbed a couple of Premiership titles, and Celtic have given Rangers a run for their money since 2000 but they have been one off sucesses built on a huge injection of cash instead of careful long term planning.
There were years when Man Utd won nothing. Did they panic? Did they sack the manager was the club put up for sale? Nope, nothing of the sort. Arsenal have had a barren time in recent seasons but now have no debt, a cracking stadium, and a healthy balance sheet and the best youth set up in England. Rangers have taken a long term view by letting Ally McCoist serve his apprenticeship under Walter Smith thus to ensure a smooth handover at the end of the season. When the Yankee's missed out on the playoffs they refocussed and won the world series the next year. In Mike Tomlin's first season the Steelers bombed out in the wild card round. The next season the Superbowl was won.
So all the evidence points to the fact that if you stick with you manager and give him time you will reap the rewards. In the 2009-10 season Lincoln were going through a sticky patch with Jacko at the helm. We weren't adrift but the board pulled the trigger. A year later after wrecking the club Chris Sutton (who had about as much of an idea about league two as John W Henry knows about football managers) walked out. Had the board stuck with Jacko and backed him i firmly believe we wouldn't be in the shit that we are in at the moment. In Steve Tilson we have somebody who knows the lower leagues inside out and has had success at this level. A bit like Peter Jackson really.
Jacko and myself
Looking at the wider picture it becomes clearer. Everton have stuck by David Moyes and you will struggle to find a club that is better run. In league two Accrington Stanley continue to punch above their weight with John Coleman at the helm for 10 years plus. This season we have seen many pointless sackings; Chris Houghtons reward for getting Newcastle back into the Premiership and getting them into the top half with great wins at Arsenal and Chelsea along the way was... the sack. Newcastle's reward? A 3-1 kicking at league two Stevenage in the FA Cup. Aston Villa had been building nicely under Martin O'Neil until they replaced him and are now hovering above the drop zone.
For me the worst sacking of the year was without a doubt Roy Hodgson at Liverpool. After the "Yanks out" campaign the owners were replaced with ermm more yanks! Who in my view are just as bad as the other ones. They haven't managed to overturn the Yankees domination of Baseball despite being there for ten years and their NASCAR team can't overtake Jimmy Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports team for love nor money.
I must admit i am a big Hodgson fan. He took Inter from the bottom of the table to the UFEA Cup final in the late 90's and playing some cracking football along the way. Inter President Massimo Moratti speaks very highly of him and has said there will always be a job for him in some capacity at Inter. I for one would welcome him back to Inter with open arms. Most Liverpool fans say that what was acceptable at Fulham wasn't acceptable at Liverpool. So they wouldn't "accept" a seventh place finish and a Europa league final appearance this season?
To add to the mess Liverpool have now put footballing dinosaur Kenny Dalglish in charge till the end of the year. The same man who quit on them last time and oversaw the Jolly John Barnes era at Celtic. The results so far? Defeats at Man Utd and Blackpool.
Are there two worse run sides in the country than Liverpool and Lincoln? Is it fair to sack a manager after six months? The two chairmen at Lincoln and Liverpool seem to think so.
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