Lincoln City

Quoted from NorfolkImp

Funny you mention Conteh, I thought he looked pretty decent for you, but watching him yesterday for Bristol Rovers he was completely outclassed by Ethan Erhahon.

16 goals in 3 games is frankly ridiculous, and the first time ever that The Imps have scored 5 or more in 3 successive games. Good to see 9,000 Imps fans back inside the ground again too.

I honestly thought the Playoffs were a pipe dream a week ago, now with a 13 day much needed break, it’s very much ON.

For the 76 min Erhahon was in the pitch before getting sent off?

Lincoln are playing well and on a run that could see them do well in the play offs, the investment is clearly moving them forward. Their progress will be sustainable whilst they have owners who will sustain, completely different challenge if they do go up though.

I think it’s funny that their supporters come on here giving it the big un.

Quoted from NorfolkImp

Funny you mention Conteh, I thought he looked pretty decent for you, but watching him yesterday for Bristol Rovers he was completely outclassed by Ethan Erhahon.

16 goals in 3 games is frankly ridiculous, and the first time ever that The Imps have scored 5 or more in 3 successive games. Good to see 9,000 Imps fans back inside the ground again too.

I honestly thought the Playoffs were a pipe dream a week ago, now with a 13 day much needed break, it’s very much ON.

9000 fans, on "Kids for a quid" day... probably the wrong day to have chosen that to be fair as I think you'd probably have got the same number yesterday but paying full price.

A 13 day break when you are on a great run, not lost in quarter of a season. I'd have thought the last thing the players and management will want is a break of that length? Keep the momentum going whilst you can. It'll refresh legs, that's for sure, but could perhaps knock a bit out of the momentum.

Quoted from LN8Mariner

9000 fans, on "Kids for a quid" day... probably the wrong day to have chosen that to be fair as I think you'd probably have got the same number yesterday but paying full price.

A 13 day break when you are on a great run, not lost in quarter of a season. I'd have thought the last thing the players and management will want is a break of that length? Keep the momentum going whilst you can. It'll refresh legs, that's for sure, but could perhaps knock a bit out of the momentum.

Let’s give them credit, they are killing it right now. Playoff certainties. Fair play. That new manager is working wonders.

Mind you, if they go up, those £3m annual write-offs the owner sanctions will seem small fry - the Bristol city owner has to sign a cheque for £25m each year, and they’ve never even troubled the Prem. Crazy land.

League 1 is better-the-devil-you-know…….

Quoted from Heisenberg

Let’s give them credit, they are killing it right now. Playoff certainties. Fair play. That new manager is working wonders.

Mind you, if they go up, those £3m annual write-offs the owner sanctions will seem small fry - the Bristol city owner has to sign a cheque for £25m each year, and they’ve never even troubled the Prem. Crazy land.

League 1 is better-the-devil-you-know…….

I am giving them credit!!

Like I say, when you're going well the last thing you want to do is stop which is what they are doing for a fortnight.

Let it or not they have some very good players and the squad probably has a sizeable transfer value .

Quoted from HerveJosse

Let it or not they have some very good players and the squad probably has a sizeable transfer value .

That’s certainly true, but it was so too for Scunny not so long ago. They’ve had some unbelievable players on their books in the last 15 years or so - Billy Sharp, Andy Keogh, Martin Paterson, Gary Hooper, Conor Townsend, Duane Holmes - off the top of my head (there will be more).

Don’t get me wrong, it seems Lincoln are in much better hands than Scunny were under Swann, but you always have to be careful when success is built on a large promotion of inorganic income. It worked well for Bournemouth, it worked a lot less well for them down the A180.

The exit / succession plan will be the ultimate litmus test of ownerships of this nature. It’s not a like-for-like comparison, I know, but Fleetwood are about to be the latest club to find this out.

A very good argument regarding sustainability, and no it really isn’t.

I think all Imps under the age of 70 (that’s probably 99%) just want 1 season in the 2nd Tier because that’s how long we’d last. Becoming a yo-yo club like Rotherham would be an attractive proposition though come to think of it. Promotion (as Champions preferably) one year, relegation the next.

Time will tell of course, my main concern is how long Skubala will last before he is snapped up, which he undoubtedly will be if he carries on like this?

Quoted from NorfolkImp

A very good argument regarding sustainability, and no it really isn’t.

I think all Imps under the age of 70 (that’s probably 99%) just want 1 season in the 2nd Tier because that’s how long we’d last. Becoming a yo-yo club like Rotherham would be an attractive proposition though come to think of it. Promotion (as Champions preferably) one year, relegation the next.

Time will tell of course, my main concern is how long Skubala will last before he is snapped up, which he undoubtedly will be if he carries on like this?

The issue with fans is they are fickle and don't always care for the situation apart from what goes on , on a Saturday between 3pm and 5pm . Rotherham are a prime example they are running at a sustainable small loss but getting torched every week with 1/4th the budget of everyone else in the league . Their fans are not happy but what can you realistically expect ?

It's a bizarre and unique scenario when the better you do , the more you have to lose in terms of capital investment . The only recent examples are Rotherham & Wycombe who have not gone potty up there and neither lasted /will last long . Even the so called smaller clubs Brighton , Brentford , Luton and Bournemouth had heavy heavy investment to go right through .

How Lincoln would go about The Champ if they got there could be interesting I suppose , whether the owners would be willing to plough in 15-20 million to potentially still be in a relegation battle without getting much back ; I doubt that's something they would do  .

It makes me laugh when you see fans saying that their club is 'too big ' for certain leagues - Bradford , Derby and Sunderland fans being primary  examples . There are no big or small clubs anymore it's: the rich , wrong uns , the reckless and the sensible sometimes a variant of all 4 but the game has changed immeasurably to how many of us recognised it ,even in the last decade .

Quoted from Poojah

That’s certainly true, but it was so too for Scunny not so long ago. They’ve had some unbelievable players on their books in the last 15 years or so - Billy Sharp, Andy Keogh, Martin Paterson, Gary Hooper, Conor Townsend, Duane Holmes - off the top of my head (there will be more).

Don’t get me wrong, it seems Lincoln are in much better hands than Scunny were under Swann, but you always have to be careful when success is built on a large promotion of inorganic income. It worked well for Bournemouth, it worked a lot less well for them down the A180.

The exit / succession plan will be the ultimate litmus test of ownerships of this nature. It’s not a like-for-like comparison, I know, but Fleetwood are about to be the latest club to find this out.

The Fleetwood situation is weird because he's effectively still running them from behind bars with his offspring the majority shareholders on the books .

Quoted from NorfolkImp

A very good argument regarding sustainability, and no it really isn’t.

I think all Imps under the age of 70 (that’s probably 99%) just want 1 season in the 2nd Tier because that’s how long we’d last. Becoming a yo-yo club like Rotherham would be an attractive proposition though come to think of it. Promotion (as Champions preferably) one year, relegation the next.

Time will tell of course, my main concern is how long Skubala will last before he is snapped up, which he undoubtedly will be if he carries on like this?

You have a great chance of going up. Your momentum is tremendous at the moment.  It is certainly worth getting into the championship because you are bound to have a few truly memorable away days win lose or draw. When we were up there we won at Chelsea, Newcastle, Wolves, Sheffield United, and many others. I can scarcely believe that now.

Starting in 1980 we actually spent 17 of the next 22 seasons in the championship. I think that is more or less impossible for a club of our size now. What really did for us was the ITV Digital fiasco. We were promised millions, brought in expensive players in expectation of getting the funding, and were then left high and dry when the TV companies pulled the plug and the inept EFL had neglected to get a parent company guarantee. It's been pretty much a downward spiral since then.