Mustapha Carayol stands at the crossroads of his season and perhaps even at the watershed of his career at the Imps as a whole. Since his transfer from Torquay (£35,000 plus sign-ons is big money for us) we have only seen him in fits and starts. A goal and two assists in the Hereford home game in November and the two powerful contributions leading to the Oxford own goals on Tuesday, are his only two cameos thus far at far from fortress Sincoil Bank.
In both instances his contribution over 70 minutes shows what Steve Tilson is looking for, an hour or less interwoven with magic, as opposed to 90 minutes of mediocrity at best. Mustapha would admit he owes the Imps and is eager to repay the faith with a run in the side guaranteed with Luke Howells 3 weeks on the sidelines with a torn hamstring. He is up for this one and the opportunity as a whole, but we must be their to help, not give our wingers the hard times we have in the past.
He just needs to believe and get the ball to feet then we, the Passionistas need to roar him on. If he and we do our job, he is unplayable, gliding around players like cones on a training ground. Like Dany N’Guessan and Geoff Hughes before him he has the ability and is quite literally unplayable on his day. For these are the players fellow Imps that make the Sincil Bank pilgrimage worthwhile. Forget teams and schemes it is the moments of pure skill, glimpses of gold that are talked about for decades after the defeats have faded.
Perhaps it is nerves for, bar the two home highlights against Hereford and Oxford already mentioned; his best performances have been away from home. Three of Carayol’s four goals have come at Rotherham (A 1-2) in a promising opening day start, Wycombe (A 2-2) and at Hereford (A - 2-2 FA Cup). Though the stats say he only has two assists we know these games saw him make far more telling all round contributions.
But like the team as a whole we need to start seeing it at Sincil Bank if the faithful are to warm to his charms. A little magic and a few wins in our own back yard is what is needed to make those turnstiles click.
Imps Aps 2010/11
| Competition | Apps (as sub) |
Goals | Yellow Cards |
Red Cards |
| League | 16 (8) | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 3 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| League Cup | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mins On Pitch 1796 | ||||