A month or two into the reign of Chris Sutton and we have an FA Cup 3rd round tie and potential relegation battle to contend with. One thing is for sure, life isn’t dull at Sincil Bank right now.
However it’d be unfair to characterise the Sutton Era So Far with those words. For it has become very clear that Chris Sutton is building his team at Lincoln, and he’s doing it in double quick time.
His first move as manager was to drop captain and last season’s player of the year Scott Kerr. Now Scott has rightly regained his place recently through good attitude and solid performances when given his chance. However several other high profile Peter Jackson signings have fallen by the wayside, and may find life a little more difficult.
The first major casualty has been Rene Howe. Officially the player has suffered from injuries and has been sent back because of this. However it has become fairly clear Howe hasn’t been performing under Sutton and the suggestion may be that his attitude as well as his injury could be a resulting factor in his move. How obviously at LCM we do pay attention to the ‘official line’, but we also like to examine possibilities. There is a badly kept secret that Howe may have been involved in an altercation with fans in Lincoln following our defeat at home to Shrewsbury, where his mildly arrogant attitude shone through. Couple this with a few lacklustre performances and you have the first Jacko man out of the door.
Still with one foot in the door, but very much on the fringes is Lennell John Lewis. LJL should be a great footballer, quick and strong with an eye for goal. However again very much a Jacko favourite, Lewis has shown nothing at all to suggest he is any better than me or you. Another one who’s lost his place, and will find it extremely difficult to convince the new gaffer of his worth. With players like Michael Gordon and Khanu Smith in the side, someone like LJL may soon find himself driving his private regastration Mercedes out of Sincil Bank.
Richard Butcher struggled to hit top form recently and is yet another casualty of Sutton’s reign. Aaron Brown may be suspended now but there is another player dropped. Chris Fagan hit a goal Saturday, but has struggled to force his way into the team. Loan signings such as Joe Heath haven’t feature despite us crying out for a left back.
The truth is Chris Sutton has swept away as much of the Jacko debris as he can, regardless of ability. Kerr was dropped immediately, but has displayed the right attitude to get back into the side. In actual fact it would appear only Rob Burch and our rock Janos Kovacs have managed to be signed by Jackson and retain their place in Sutton’s squad.
So where does this leave us as a club? The interim period has been messy, several poor home results and solid but wholly uninspiring in front of goal. 0-0 with Grimsby, 0-0 with Torquay, 1-1 with Cheltenham… results ground out more through a desire not to lose than to win the game.
However Saturday, live in front of the nation, the side began to show what they can actually do on the pitch. Jamie Clarke (a Jackson signing who has experienced a renaissance) scored two well taken goals but overall the side put in a decent display.
The fear for Imps fans was a mauling on TV by lower league opposition, but in truth a side that hadn’t really been gelling up until then saved face. New signing Chris Herd had a solid game, and Scott Kerr continued his rehabilitation from Jacko Reject to Sutton Stalwart. At the back Kovacs and Burch continued their form as they attempt to also experience a rebranding.
Several of Sutton’s signings also came good on the day. As well as Herd, Adam Watts had a solid game as well, enhancing his worth to the side. Khanu Smith put in another acceptable display, and knowing we have both Delroy Faceys presence up front to come in, as well as the guile and craft of Michael Gordon gives us renewed hope for the coming months.
Indeed the side now look solid enough at the back, and apart from the 3-1 mauling at Morecombe we've not really looked like we will concede a lot of goals. The first job was to stop us losing football matches every week, and he's checked that box.
Next up is to start scoring goals, and his latest signings are geared up towards creating chances. I know Northwich are Blue Square North, but they did stll knock out Charlton before we went along to Wincham, and therefore were no mugs. If Izale McCleod struggles to score past you, then your defence knows how to defend. However we finally showed some clinical finishing and nicked three goals - job number two under way.
So today LCM readers your editors message is simple – keep the faith. I can see the bigger picture, where Chris Sutton is heading with this Lincoln City side. A third round FA Cup bonanza will help him bolster the squad in January, and although this season promotion is off the table, I wouldn’t be so sure that next season will be a flop.