Fans Forum Summary - Part Two - Vital Lincoln City

Last night saw the rearranged fixture between Lincoln City Management Group versus the fans (aka the Fans Forum) take place, following the Covid induced December postponement.

You can discuss what has been said in this article HERE (you can also watch the fans forum on that link), as well as many other topics on our 100% Imps forum! Every page view helps raise money for Lincoln City Football Club!

If you missed Part One of the Fans Forum Summary, you can read that HERE!

Lady Imps: Everyone is very proud of what the ladies are achieving and the progress they are making. They are seen as central in the thoughts of the club and are discussed at every board meeting. It is desirable to see how they can continue to become integral and not franchised. The possibility of them playing a game at LNER is an aspiration but has to be balanced against the facts of putting a game on at the ground costs somewhere in the region of 45k.

Player Recruitment: Michael Appleton outlines to the recruitment team the profile of players that are a good fit for Michael Appleton and the Lincoln City model. It is a constant process with every transfer window under review months in advance and some players identified as targets for loan or signing up to two years in advance. ‘Mark’ is out every day scouting games. ‘Joe’ watches 4/5 games a day on video. From that numerous players are identified and the next stage is to bore down into the details of their contracts, affordability, and availability. Once done a list of five or six players for every position is presented to Michael who makes the final decisions. Two years of work can be undone by another club snatching a player at the last moment.

Often, Lincoln get contacted by clubs looking to loan out their players when they aren’t really ready and the Imps are honest with them about that. Conversely Lincoln will approach clubs about players that are not ready to loan. Groundwork with video presentations and meeting with donor clubs to pave the way for future loans is a big part of that process. There is massive competition for the same pool of players amongst rival clubs.

Recent Form: Michael Appleton has seen the recent upturn in results coming for several weeks. The green shoots were seen during the first half performance at Crewe backed up by a spirited second-half performance when down to 10 men.

What happened during the Cheltenham and MK Dons games was unfortunate and undeserved – probably down to the players having a mindset of not getting over the line previously.

Once the Oxford result was achieved the players were able to take that into the Sunderland game and build confidently on it immediately. Naturally, the return of Anthony Scully and the incoming Morgan Whittaker helped with that but the last two wins have been ‘coming’ for 4/5 weeks.

Injuries: Some have just been bad luck. There will always be soft tissue plus impact injuries; it is part of the game. Undoubtedly the short return after the play-offs plus players being signed later in the Summer have impacted badly though.

Additionally, there have been some quirky issues this year such as the extended concussions for Adam Jackson and Freddie Draper.

However, the players are an honest group. Most footballers rarely perform pain-free and it is important to recognise that Imps players get the balance right between welfare, managing their injuries, and still playing with an acceptable level of pain.

Covid Issues: The resolute commitment from Clive, Jay Wright, Harvey Jabara, and others was recognised as ensuring that the Imps had remained viable and competitive throughout the Covid crisis, backed up by the fans not taking their season ticket money out of the club. That had been supplemented by Premier League and government financial support.

The issues with Covid are ongoing such as inflation of wages due to staff shortages and the various health protocols.

The biggest lament echoed by several of the panel, is the impact on fan connection that Covid has had. Prior to the pandemic, the club had engaged in something like 150 annual community interactions and projects – one of the most undertaken by professional football clubs. It was very sad that fans had not been able to fully enjoy and embroil themselves in the thrilling events of last season which had probably caused a bit of a disconnect when results had not been as consistent this season.

On that subject, the fans positive support at recent games like Cheltenham and Oxford should never be underestimated and is incredibly important for the young players during actual matches but also in aiding recruitment. The players genuinely take note of the atmosphere and when the fans are behind the team it is a massive boost. The recent positive support is much appreciated, please keep it up.

One example/anecdote involved Tayo Edun. Jez George intercepted Tayo as he was on his way to another club and invited him to watch a home game against Ipswich. He was blown away by the atmosphere and a full ground which led to his signature.

Players and Transfers: There have been no bids for Lincoln players in this transfer window thus far. Michael Appleton is always wary of losing players like Anthony Scully but he expects such players to still be at the club in February. He also spoke confidently of at least two more players being added.

MA has no plans to recall Theo Archibald. Having missed 2 years out due to injury it is a very good thing that he is getting a full year of football in at Orient. It emerged that Theo is actually contracted for another 18 months.

There are no plans to loan out Freddie Draper at this time. He is still recovering from concussion so by the time he is ready it would probably have to be to a National League side. Being candid loans to that level are usually to toughen players up and that patently is not an issue for Freddie. Freddie is doing well and is ahead of schedule. He will remain around the first team with MA expecting him to go on and be very successful.

iFollow: Imps got £8.33 per person for iFollow streams.

Club policy going forward is that Saturday 3pm kick-offs should be protected. Oxford was a one-off to recognise Covid difficulties for fans.

1,400 fans streamed the Sunderland match.

Scholars and Youth Players: The level of football in the context of the low population to large area dictates that young local players will always have to be supplemented by taking older scholars from outside the locality.

Young players have to live within an hour of the training facility, extending to one and a half hours at an older age bracket. There are however some good Lincoln youngsters emerging but the reality is they need adding to from beyond.

Season Tickets: There will be an early bird option – probably end February/early March lasting a month or so to cover fan’s wage days.

Elite Performance Centre: The training ground is a huge boon to the club and MA was keen to recognise the vision to implement it prior to his arrival. It has a significant impact on attracting players to sign and it should be noted that some ‘big’ clubs still train on a patch of grass out of a Portacabin.

The facility continues to be upgraded with huge improvements seen in pitch quality. The academy sides are involved at the EPC where possible. That in conjunction with more office space being required means that the next phase will involve extending the buildings. Thankfully there is plenty of space at the facility.

There are also plans to provide noise and wind screening from the A15 and prevailing SW winds.

Writer: hulloutpost