It was announced earlier that The Imps have sold John Akinde to League One side Gillingham for an undisclosed fee, reuniting him with Steve Evans having worked together at Crawley Town in 2011/12.
We would like to thank John Akinde for his time with The Imps and wish him well for the future.
Views from Scotimp: “25 goals from 52 starts plus 29 from the bench despite playing an unfamiliar role for most of his stay. That is a pretty good scoring record, and his accuracy from the spot was a huge contributory factor to our League Two title: those penalties won us 8 points we would not have had. Given the problems we had from the spot before his arrival and also this season, we should be very grateful for that. Made the PFA League Two team of the year, so obviously a better player than some people on here would ever be able to give him credit for.
As I have intimated before, Akinde was signed largely to get us out of League Two, and he did that at the first attempt. His days at Lincoln were probably always numbered in League One, but I am glad we had him. He played a full part in the journey of the Lincoln Loco, and he has my everlasting thanks for that.”
Squad update following the departure of John Akinde.
More views from 100% Imps:
Luke Imp: “Can’t argue with being the top scorer for a title-winning side, admittedly only 5 of his 17 from open play. Sacrificed parts of his game here, so he probably didn’t hit the heights people expected.
But, his technical shortfalls are exposed at L1 level, and as I’ve said previously, I think he’s short at this level from that point of view.
An Evans side will probably suit him more than here under MA. A good move for all parties.”
sedgleyimp: “Best wishes to John. I always considered him to be a decent player capable of the odd piece of ‘what the heck was that?’ moment but he’ll to me always be our top scorer in a Championship winning season and I thank him for that contribution.
Nice that he got those two late goals in his last match for us which hopefully will be the lasting memory for supporters.
When he comes back at the end of February I’ll give him a round of applause and I hope that the whole stadium does the same.”
Chesterimp: “Sad to see him go, Big John has been a terrific asset for us with those coolly taken penalties and determined performances in a role as a single striker which suited the team set up more than his own individual strengths.
Ironically the set up in recent games seemed better suited to him and that cameo v Bolton has turned out to be a good way to sign off.
A player who opposing supporters wanted in their team more than a few on here, a shame as most of us recognised his strengths and sacrifices last season and this.
Best of luck – except when back here!”
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"He played a full part in the journey of the Lincoln Loco, and he has my everlasting thanks for that."https://t.co/JrjhhFSPnJ#Gills #ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) January 24, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/VitalLincolnCity/posts/2679235408779354
