Yesterday afternoon on our 100% Imps forum, one of our members, PWould, started a thread called Masking Our Vulnerability, and in the opening post he put the following: “Interesting range of opinions recently ranging from wheels coming off and blowing a once in a lifetime chance etc to temporary blip and all to play for. I suspect we can all agree though that we have shown far too much vulnerability of late. Midfield being overrun, defensive shakiness, fear of playing at home, slow starts to games, conceding the first goal etc, the list goes on . The question is how do we best address these or at least mask them more than we are doing? If I could pick one to start it would be more midfield solidity. Only Mcgrandles currently is playing up to form. Time and time again teams are playing through or over us and we struggle to bandage the gaping wound. Hopefully getting Bridcutt back and up to speed as soon as possible may stem the bleeding?”
In response, Scotimp posted the following:
It is an extremely unsettled side through injury and everything else. Look at the number of appearances made and how quickly the numbers fall away – these are starts only, from 34 games:
Palmer 34 (probably because we have no one else)
Grant 30 – 88%
Hopper 30 – 88%
Johnson 29 -85%
Montsma 28 – 82%
Eyoma 26 – 76%
Jones 26 – 76%
Edun 25 – 73%
McGrandles 25 – 73%
Jackson 23 – 67%
Bridcutt 16 – 47%
Walsh 16 – 47%
Scully 15 – 44%
Rogers 12 – 35%
Anderson 11 – 32%
Therefore we only have six outfield players who have started more than three-quarters of our games, and that may become four after tomorrow night. That is terrible for consistency. That does not take into account the positional changes you mention, which has further impact. We also have eleven players who have started less than ten games each, showing just how inconsistent the line-ups have been.
Compare that with 2016-17 when six outfield players started 40+ league games each – the core was stable and very consistent. This season, we will probably have none making 40+ starts.
This season has been different to any other of course, with a large number of injuries and rotation dictated by the compacted schedule. We should admire how much they have achieved despite those things.
Have a go at our Lincoln City v Gillingham Quiz below:
We Should Admire How Much They Have Achieved Despite Those Things:https://t.co/22f1vfv8go#ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps pic.twitter.com/Wlm1h6O75V
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) March 15, 2021
