Ahead of the trip to Bristol Rovers, Mark Kennedy outlined why the corresponding fixture last season was a seminal moment from both a positive and negative perspective.
QUIZ: How much can you remember about last season’s match between Bristol Rovers at Lincoln City at The Memorial Stadium? Have a go at our quiz here or further down the page!
You can discuss what Mark Kennedy has said ahead of this match here, or in the comments at the bottom as well as get involved with our pre-match discussion, and many other topics on our 100% Imps forum!
Last Day of the Transfer Window: MK is expecting a very quiet day. If many factors aligned then there is the possibility of a loan signing but he is quite relaxed having recruited aggressively this summer. It is quite nice to be travelling down to a fixture without the distraction of worrying about needing to fill vacant gaps within the squad. The recruitment group meet year-round and that won’t stop, with another meeting scheduled for as early as next week; but it will be a case of simply monitoring the phone today just in case something did develop at this late stage.
As for outgoings, MK made the point of highlighting that previously the board have turned down decent bids for players at late stages of the window if they felt it would cause significant detriment or disruption to the squad. MK remained pragmatic on that score though.
“If somebody comes in and puts a million on the table for player A, I’ll drive him there myself”.
Bristol Rovers Game: MK spoke floridly about the impact and significance of the game at The Memorial Stadium last season, a match he hated. MK sometimes sees coaches ‘dressing up’ games after the fact, but that is not his style.
“It’s probably the angriest I’ve been in a game last year. It was a real horrible game of football”.
Having won 6-3, MK was under no illusion that but for scoring at key moments and some specific interventions, it was a match that the Imps arguably deserved to lose and could have ended up as anything including a 7-7 draw. There were all sorts of problems all over the pitch and Jordon Garrick had to be substituted at half time as he was on another planet in his head.
“I wouldn’t like to see that again this weekend”.
MK concurred that it had been a pivotal fixture for the season as a whole, with the victory in spite of the performance providing a very welcome platform for the remainder of the season. He elaborated that as a first-time coach, MK always felt he had the support of an incredible board that doesn’t like making changes, whilst he always maintained that it would take three transfer windows before the Lincoln side would look like his team. Even so, having just lost away at Cambridge the Imps had found themselves fifth from bottom of the league. The victory against ‘the Gas’ had been very timely following the midweek victory against Derby County – those back-to-back victories shooting the club up the league table resultingly.
“It gives you space, it gives you confidence, it gives you momentum; and we never really looked back. It was probably the turning point in our season for sure”.
Availability-wise, there was no update available on the fitness of Ben House; (neither Paudie O’Connor or Tyler Walker were mentioned).
Sean Roughan Ireland U21 Call Up: Sean should be really proud of himself. Last year he was outstanding playing out of position at wing back. Having been moved inside for this season there was no guarantee he would kick on or fight off competition for his spot. It is therefore impressive he has nailed down the position and is surely one of the top three or four players minute-wise for his age, in the whole of the EFL.
“They’re all on merit; they’re not because we’ve not got anybody else. He’s a real shining light at the club, real asset value, real talent”.
Without getting carried away, MK would like to see the Ireland set up considering Sean for the full international squad.
Notable Competition for the Centre Half Positions: MK responded to a query about his thoughts on the seemingly significant battle within the squad for the three centre half berths, by recognising that there really was high-end competition for that position. He could look at other positions for example, ‘7&11’ where Danny (Mandroiu) and Reeco (Hackett) are playing plenty of minutes. Dylan (Duffy) meanwhile is doing amazingly well and in time is expected to play regularly due to his outstanding talent, but probably understands why he isn’t currently playing. That is not the case for the centre-halves.
“But the centre halves…..if we change any three, they’re all sat there saying, ‘You’re kidding me aren’t you Mark’ “.
Start to the Season: MK is pleased and relieved in equal measure.
“Pleased because we’ve evidenced what I believe we are and how good we can be. Relieved because football doesn’t work like that”
At any time the side can be sitting on a run of defeats or a poor performance, with football having the nasty habit of ‘biting you on the bum’. Take for example losing the last two pre-season friendlies followed up by the opening day league defeat at Bolton. At that point, MK was looking at going into a tricky tie (in the League Cup) at Notts County with a home fixture against a Wycombe side who may have a ‘top 6’ budget.
Writer: hulloutpost
MK: "It's probably the angriest I've been in a game last year."https://t.co/khLzkW0h5U#UTG #BristolRovers #WeAreImps
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) September 2, 2023
