Well it’s been a relatively quiet week in Impdom although Trevor Carson, Julian Kelly and now Stephen Hunt have signed on the dotted line to extend their stays at Sincil Bank so we must be doing something right. No news on departures though. Steve Tilson confirmed in Thursdays Lincolnshire Echo that he had no enquiries for Joe Anderson or Cian Hughton and did not therefore anticipate that any further players would be going out on loan.
He did not add the words “Mores the pity”, not that it’s personal but the budget must have been exceeded with all of the arrivals and only Drewe Broughton and Albert Jarrett fixed up with loans to AFC Wimbledon and Aldershot respectively. Broughton signalled something of a return to form with a goal and a booking last weekend and not many Imps will begrudge Drewe a bit of action after the frustrating season he’s had. Talking of frustrating seasons Ben Hutchinson must have had a call from his agent as he used the back pages of our august local paper to state he wouldn’t be averse to a permanent move to Lincoln. No comment from this columnist but, as always you can use our message forums to welcome this development or vent your spleen, it’s up to you.
There was no particular doom and gloom after the defeat by league leaders Chesterfield now that the team have put some space between themselves and the stiffs at the foot of the table although management and fans will want to get things going again this coming weekend as it would be all too easy to slip back in to that dark place where none of us want to be. Barnet should provide the perfect opportunity to bounce back and get more points towards the manager’s stated target of 50. The Bees are well and truly in the sticky stuff at the very bottom of the table trying not to look in the direction of the trapdoor that awaits the occupant of that position come May. Try telling them the Blue Square Premier is as good as the league!
Barnet were themselves losers last weekend to Southend finding themselves two goals down after the first 16 minutes before grabbing a consolation goal just before the final whistle. Del and Ashley will be hoping the Bees offer somewhat less resistance than did the Spireites in the last home game and they can help the team get back on track. As has been said before it’s how you react to a defeat that matters, not the defeat itself. Lose again to the Imps this Saturday and it’s difficult to see a way out for the Bees, with no Mariners in free fall this season to save them although Stockport and Burton are doing a pretty good job as stand ins.
The Brewers have games in hand over everyone. Not that they help if you’re not picking up points. The Guardian football league blog had Burton as much playoff outsiders as relegation fodder this week. We shall see. As far as Stockport are concerned their fans are resigned to occupying the second relegation spot if the comments made on the Guardian blog are anything to go by. It’s good to be viewing