The Water Rail Way, Boston.

This is the Boston Belle. She is moored on the River Witham and can be hired for trips up river or down to the Wash. The river beyond the sea gate is known locally as The Haven and once you're in the Wash it can be lovely, teeming with wildlife. The website is http://www.maritimecruises.co.uk/ if you're interested. I'm not on a commission.

The Water Rail Way is a combined footpath/cycleway from Boston to Lincoln although it's part of a very strenuous pan European cycleway for the really adventurous.

We've cycled the Lincoln to Woodhall Spa section which was very pleasant. We stayed at the equally pleasant Stonehouse Lodge, http://stonehouselodge.net/ and cycled back the next day. A night away with a difference. I do hope these people appreciate all this free publicity.

Below is another picture taken from the footpath.

The long and winding road

I'm no different to anybody else, I have no idea how David Holdsworth will do as Lincoln City's manager and that includes the man himself. I do wish him all the very best of luck though as I have done all the managers. I've been keeping this blog for a bit over a year and this is our third manager, the fifth if you count caretaker managers. Five managers in just over a year!

It would be tempting to lay the blame at the boards door as they do the interviewing but the truth of the matter is the overriding difficulty in trying to bring success to Lincoln City is money. We've never had enough.

There are weathy people in Lincolnshire but it has never been possible to persuade them to invest heavily in the team so we languish, now even further down the football heirarchy. In my view we have to think the unthinkable and if Sincil Bank cannot be redeveloped to produce sufficient income to fund a top flight football team then we should consider moving.

A friend recently visited Carrow Road, home of Norwich City and he told me that it was a hive of commercial activity, on a Wednesday. That activity helps fund a Premiership team. Norwich are the club I think City could become if we have the right business model. Norwich is very similar to Lincoln and not a lot bigger yet the fans there are fervent and fill the stadium, they really relate to the Canaries all over Norfolk. Surely we could do the same?

Enough of my day dreams. Here is the article:-

The long and winding road.


That hopefully won’t lead to the trapdoor.



We now know he can talk the talk, what we need to know is can he do the other thing. David Holdsworth has started his reign with a charm offensive with the local media, they seem to have taken to him and we have even seen him on the TV, although that was arranged before his appointment as manager of Lincoln City. We all now need to get down to business and where better than Alfreton where the team came away with the spoils just a couple of weeks ago.

Holdsworth held his first formal press conference alongside a largely mute Bob Dorrian, perhaps a more apt expression might be held court and Dorrian looked pleased to not be taking the limelight and bore the look of a man who might just have cracked it this time. You might say to yourself about time too. Organisation, fight ,passion, those were the qualities the manager outlined and another word he’s used more than once in the context of his new job is method. Does that sound a little like John Beck? Don’t be scared, he did virtually get us promoted and he came into the club with the team in an equally parlous state and produced a renaissance in that side we’re going to need if nerves are to be calmed. Those travelling to Alfreton will get an early taste of the style the manager wishes to play. It’s not expected to be pretty which is what a lot of fans have been calling for.

The aim this season is not to be relegated, the club will be reorganised internally, the new manager stating that he expects it to be of a higher standard. Holdsworth also spoke of loosening the noose of negativity around the club. Did he have a prepared script? If not and it was off the cuff it was mightily impressive. He was far too polite to say but it’s quite clear Holdsworth regards the collapse of this clubs standing as shocking. The eloquence of Jackson and the determination and organisation of Taylor. There is nothing about this man which is remotely redolent of the previous manager. There’s an endorsement if ever there was one.

Describing the treatment room as Butlins, players will be “encouraged” to get fit and stay available for selection, all this with a wry smile that any players considering a sickie will do well to note. Holdsworth put in words what we fans have known for a long time, things at Sincil Bank have got to change if we are to arrest the inexorable slide that has become established. Whether this is the man to do it, time will tell but in the meantime we all wish him well.

BBC Local Radio

I recently found myself being followed on Twitter by a group called save local radio @savelocalradio if you want to follow them back. I think they latched on to me because I replied to a tweet one of the presenters on BBC Lincolnshire sent about the threat to local stations such as Lincs. I followed back, not only because that’s what I would often do but because this is something I believe in.


The new bishop of Lincoln was recently interviewed in the Lincolnshire Echo and he said something I had not really considered but it struck a chord with me. He said it seemed to him there are not many people speaking up for Lincolnshire. He’s right when you think about it but one of the few voices there are is BBC Lincolnshire and that voice is in danger of being drowned out.

Those of you in this country will be aware that the BBC generally has got to drastically cut its costs and one of the ways they are planning on doing this is not by slashing the pay or even doing without celebrity presenters although they may be doing that behind the scenes, but by reducing the local output in favour of regional coverage or just pumping out national radio such as five live at non peak times. Not surprisingly this has not gone down well with BBC employees working on local radio.

Does it matter? Well I think it does. See above, who else is there to speak up for Lincolnshire? This is a national thing but I think here in Lincolnshire it will particularly hit home because our identity is being rapidly eroded. The Lincolnshire dialect is barely spoken. If you asked an actor to do Lincolnshire it’d be ee bah gum or worse still, Lancashire. To outsiders we’re up north or should I say oop north and that’s that. The problem with Lincolnshire is, in terms of land mass we’re a region. In terms of population we’re not so we tag along like the plain friend most pretty girls seem to go around with to make themselves look even better, unwanted and unappreciated.

As far as the government is concerned Lincolnshire is part of the East Midlands, there’s an official map showing the regions. We were part of the BBC in the Midlands which, if we were going to be anywhere I didn’t mind too much having been born in Nottinghamshire. I know others don’t identify so readily. I think the one thing we’re all agreed upon is that we’re not and don’t want to be the south although I remember even that was suggested, in terms of general outlook and way of life in a survey a while age. That ruffled a few feathers I can tell you.

Now, the regional map has been artfully redrawn by the BBC and Lincolnshire has disappeared from the East Midlands and we are asked to believe that we are a totally new “region” called Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. Really? As far as local TV is concerned our output is centred on Hull. Hull is a lot bigger than Lincoln so most of the news comes from there. That’s fine, I don’t have to watch it and I don’t. In fact I get my TV signal by cable through Virgin and the default local station is BBC East Midlands and although Lincs and East Yorks is available I can’t be bothered to find it so I don’t watch any local output. Thanks BBC.

What bothers me now is that I do listen to BBC Lincolnshire. I have to say I’d largely stopped doing so precisely because BBC Lincolnshire on the radio was gradually becoming BBC Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire so I stopped listening and moved over to Radio Four and Radio Two. What brought me back was the cycle ride in aid of Children in Need by one of the presenters, a producer reporter and the sports editor from the Lincolnshire Echo. It was epic local radio at its finest, it was about Lincolnshire residents doing something for a national fund raiser and the people of Lincolnshire responded big time.

I heard an interview on the radio with someone from the university saying regional radio could be a lot better because the regional presenters would be more professional and pointed out when Radio Lincolnshire, as it then was, started out the afternoon show was regional which it was, so was the evening show.

I don’t mind if it’s not ever so good, I can do without Brucie or Jeremy Paxton but could we please, just this once have something that is for us, not some phoney “region”, just Lincolnshire, before it disappears forever?

Holland, Lincolnshire.

There are those, Tory backbenchers for example, who don’t believe that the British Isles are part of Europe at all. Weather forecasters, when describing what we can expect at weekends will state, “If your going to Europe this weekend” when they mean the continent. It’s quite a deep seated thing, I think we’re two tiered, a bit like the EC. Those who regularly take their holidays abroad may have quite a continental outlook. Others think Europe is nothing to do with us.


Here’s a couple of pictures that I think show that we’re closer than many people think and have been for some time. It’s the Maud Foster drain, in Boston and the windmill that goes by the same name.

The windmill was built for the Reckitt family, the bleach and household products manufacturers. The drainage all around this area, called Holland, were put in place under the supervision of Dutch engineers proving that Boston has been welcoming foreign visitors for a lot longer than people may think and strange tongues have been heard in this area for many hundreds of years.

Boston was associated with the Hanseatic league, a trading bloc based in the Baltic and Low Countries as well as Germany. Hamburg was a Hanseatic port as was nearby Kings Lynn so if you think we’ve always been in splendid isolation think again.

I visit the windmill most weeks for my flour, we bake all our own bread and buying it direct from the miller means you know what’s in it. Flour! You can find out more about it by visiting www.maudfoster.co.uk

New Imps Manager holds his first press conference.

David Holdsworth will speak to the press today at 2.30pm much to the chagrin of Leigh Curtis, the Lincolnshire Echo’s Lincoln City reporter as this is perilously close to their print deadline for tomorrows paper. As they are now a weekly if they miss the deadline it’s lost to them.

Fans/readers living abroad might like to consider investing in Imps Player through www.redimps.co.uk it only costs from £4.29 per month and for that you get all the press conferences, match highlights or at least the goals from all matches, after match reaction from the manager and a host of other goodies. The service also carries commentary of games if you are unable to access this from other sources. No need to feel you’re missing out. This is where I get most of my Lincoln City information from so you must promise to keep logging on to my blog!



Picture of David Holdsworth taken from BBC Sport.

Life in Lincolnshire.

Numbers of readers to my blog, whilst hardly a flood are now at quite decent levels and I thank you for either clicking on the links on twitter or generally keeping track. Mostly the contents are my articles on Vitals but just looking at the details of where readers are logging on from it does occur that, whilst most are Imps fans the readership is from far and wide across the world and maybe you are looking for a little taste of the home you left some time ago.

I remember when I first started writing for the Professional Footballers Association website “Give me Football” I received a charming comment from a reader in New Zealand I think it was saying how much my words had sparked nostalgic remembrances of life in Lincoln in the 50’s and 60’s so maybe you would like to hear about how things are in the old country? Don’t forget you can leave a comment on the blog and it would be lovely to hear what you are interested in and whether I can tug those heartstrings a bit and give you a flavour of what it is like to live in Lincoln now.

Obviously you can get all or most of the information on the Imps that I relay from the net but of course you will only get into the mind of an Imp and what it is to be a supporter in this day and age by reading a blog such as this. Similarly the impression you get of life in Great Britain from the British press can be far from the way people live their lives in this country and life in Lincolnshire is vastly different from life in London or Manchester (thankfully)

Financial crises, particularly the Euro continue to grip the British (or perhaps I should say the English) papers but I think it’s fair to say that the majority of us here in Lincolnshire rather let these matters pass us by unless holidays are imminent in which case the currency markets are studied in rather more detail. Those about to retire are also very concerned at the state of the stock market and pensions in particular but, aside from the fact that a pay rise is something of a distant memory for a lot of us life in Lincolnshire is probably better than you may have gathered, provided of course you have a job and the rise in unemployment is a huge worry for those affected.

Locally, you will not be surprised to learn, traffic is once again a problem as the authorities give their attention to Lindum Hill and Lincoln, once again grinds to a halt. The bypass (yes we have one, of sorts) is also affected by road improvements as part of the single carriageway section is dualled. This is at the expense of the developers of Teal Park where it expected that Siemens, a large employer in Lincoln will partially relocate. Those of you who left in the 60’s would now see a vastly changed landscape with the factories mostly gone, in their place out of town shopping centres. Lincoln still boasts a level crossing right in the centre although the great and the good continue to wrangle over what to do with it. In all likelihood the High Street at that point will simply be closed and traffic routed around the problem. We locals will believe that when we see it. Old boys of Sincil Boys School, of which I’m one, will be incredulous that the ready made solution to these woes, the rail bypass or avoiding line as it was called, was ripped up when the second crossing on the High Street was removed. To come back to Lincoln City the result of this was a nice new stand in place of the old triangular shaped one behind the goal. This as far as I could see it was the only advantage gained.

Just finally on the subject of road works the lower High Street is also affected by road works as Lincoln attempts to get up to date by installing bus lanes. There are lots of voices for and against.

Some things never change

That's what I call a low tide.

As a Lincolnian working in Boston its a constant pleasure to study the comings and goings of the tide.

Here's a picture of low tide at the town bridge. Its not often that low.
------------------

So far so good.

I've just listened to one interview but already I like this manager. Let's hope he can deliver on the pitch the way he did in this chat to Imps Player.

"The fans will want to see commitment and the one thing they’ll get from me and my staff is commitment to this football club." David Holdsworth.

There are no points to be gained from an interview of course but confidence can be and if you subscribe to Imps Player you could do worse than watch David Holdsworths first effort in front of the cameras. Yesterday we wrote about a general sense of uncertainty and if the comments received are anything to go by you agree. Holdsworth, for this writer comes across as confident focussed, driven even. Dare we say it might just be that this time we have the right man.

Here’s just a flavour of the interview:-

“It’s a big task and obviously we want to quickly arrest the results and certainly change the mindset of the players. I want to give the people of the club and the City something to cheer about and get a few smiles back on their faces”

“I was brought up with Graham Taylor who was an incredibly disciplined man who brought discipline to the changing room. Every club must have that. My design would be organisation, hard work and a little bit of aggression as I was that kind of player. I like players to compete and I think the fans do.”

“Driving into the City gave me a real buzz. It’s certainly a beautiful area but this club needs to become a fortress. The fans will take part in that. They’ll get behind the players and will see the ethic, the method and the ethos. All I ask from the fans is to continue to support the way they have done.”

“ The Chairman and the Board have made it very very apparent what we haven’t got financially and the predicament we find ourselves in but I’m not bothered about that. That’s no problem. We’ll work within the constraints and the financial limits that we have, given our position.

So there you have it, organisation, hard work, aggression and Graham Taylor’s name dropped in. All of a sudden things don’t seem quite so bad.

The Imps get their man

So why don’t I feel all that excited?

This is an article from yesterdays Vitals. I do have to say having heard David Holdsworth for my self now I'm a good deal more confident. More later.

There are those, usually glass half empty merchants who will wish you good luck. Then add the words-you’ll need it. That seems to be the sentiment amongst fans at the moment following the appointment of David Holdsworth as manager. Relief that City have a manager, a decent pedigree if you don’t look into it all that closely. A feeling that things can’t be as bad as they’ve been (can they?) and the thought that at least something has been done to arrest the slide.


The City board have made all the right noises, the contract is for the remainder of the season, the club were unwilling/unable to poach someone else’s coach but what we have ended up with is a manager who has nothing to lose. He was out of work, but now he has a job, to the end of the season. It’s a bit like being given an afternoon’s gardening work. A nice bit of beer money and you don’t have to tackle that enormous hedge. Even the announcement on the web site is just nine lines and no press conference. Maybe the appointment of a new manager at Sincil Bank is no big deal anymore.

Having said the above there won’t be a Lincoln City fan who does not hope and wish that David has a long and successful stay in the hot seat. It’s just this writer can’t help but recall that story about a driver who stops to ask for directions and is told, if I were you, I wouldn’t have started from here. There have been times when an incoming manager could have told himself that here is a great opportunity at a well run club to advance the standing of the club and at the same time the manager. It just doesn’t feel like that this time. Bob Dorrian, ever the publicist said, in the run up to the appointment that Lincoln City had no luck in the last fifty years and were due some. Bit hard on Graham Taylor and Colin Murphy who older readers will recall got the club within an ace of the championship. Both those era’s essentially fell to City’s Achilles heel, money. Somehow there’s never quite enough.

Almost 8000 fans at Sincil Bank to try to will the team to survival last May will give more than enough reassurance to the incoming manager that there are enough football fans in the Lincoln area who would rather be at Sincil Bank cheering on a successful side than elsewhere. Few of those fans thought we would be here in October fighting another relegation battle so there is no hard act to follow.

All that remains then is to wish David Holdsworth a lengthy and enjoyable stay. Oh and good luck-you’ll need it.

University Challenge

Another Friday game and I was struck by Grant Browns nostalgic look back to his playing career where he seems to single out breaking his ankle and being clattered by Dion Dublin as highlights. I wove this together with some interview stuff from Imps Player to knock out a build up article.

Whatever happened to Saturday football?


In terms of higher learning establishments they’re way over the horizon and they’ve been around the top echelon of non league football for a while now, Lincoln City very much struggling with the role of freshers at the moment what with all the initiation ceremonies and pitfalls no one told us about. Yes it’s Cambridge United next and yet another Friday night game, moved from Saturday at the insistence of Cambridgeshire police. No doubt the prospect of us nasty polytechnic boys with our oikish ways having the dons spluttering into their bone china tea services. The prospect of another afternoon with Jeff Stelling or the shops is starting to lose it’s attraction though.

Not too many give us much chance against the U’s but stand in manager Grant Brown (or should that be A.N.Other there have been that many hints dropped) waxed lyrical about the old days telling the press:-

“Looking back I had some great battles with them, in fact I broke my ankle against them once and I was smashed a few times by Dion Dublin too”

A little insight into the fond memories of the hoofer par excellence there. What about the bad times Grant?

Talking of fond memories young Karl Cunningham had a go in front of the Imps Player cameras and told BBC Lincolnshire’s Su Whittaker the demise of Steve Tilson had given players such as himself a chance he had not expected so soon. Asked about the appointment of Brown the son of former Imps great Tony Cunningham said:-

“Yes, I was quite happy, obviously I’ve had him as my coach for the last four years, I know how he works. It’s quite nice to have someone you know in charge of the first team.”

Karl was asked if Dad Tony had given him any advice about his fledgling career,

“He just keeps, more to do with how to cope with the pressure stuff like that he keeps telling me to just go out and enjoy yourself and take your opportunity when it comes”

Maybe some of that sage advice would not go amiss on the rest of the team Tony.

And the new manager is…………………..

You didn't really think I was going to be first with this did you? Here is todays article on Vitals, doing well on News Now as well it might with that headline, yesterdays effort is still at number one which is gratifying given that the new weekly Echo is out today. Good luck to them. We've really missed our daily Echo and I'm not sure whether the weekly will sink or swim but I really hope it does well. I do feel even more "small town" without a daily local paper.


Not to be announced this week. Sorry about that.


Early risers may have heard Michael Hortin on BBC Lincolnshire concede that no announcement was expected just yet. Bob Dorrian had said that he hoped a new man would be in place if not in charge by the time City squared up to Cambridge on Friday.

However the Lincolnshire Echo’s website this morning stated that the club will be interviewing on Sunday morning. Earlier reports of the salary on offer are said to be wide of the mark with the Echo putting a figure of £50000 forward. This is understood to be for both manager and assistant though, assuming the new man will want that luxury.

According to the Echo the shortlist is Steve Thompson, David Holdsworth, Martin Foyle and, tantalisingly, A N Other.

Can we play you every week?

Here is todays reaction to last nights game, now on Vitals.

Stags fans turn out in numbers – unlike Imps.


It’s perhaps a measure of the relative seasons Lincoln City and Mansfield Town are experiencing that lead to Stags fans making up almost a third of the crowd last night at Sincil Bank. You’d think that the return of this local fixture might fire up Impish enthusiasm but then again perhaps not as City fans preferred champions league on the telly to live action. On a cold night there was plenty of that with saves, great saves even, from Joe Anyon who even got into the stats with an assist (well he said it was) to get Gavin McCallum on his way for a very well taken opener, the ball walloped out from near the touchline, helped on by a defender for Gav to volley in.

As night follows day Mansfield got what most Imps would concede a deserved equaliser in the dying minutes with Paul Connor having a big part in it, no doubt he was pleased to be able to show the Sincil Bank faithful what he could do. There was a record broken too as at 16 years and 71days Jordan Thomas became the youngest player to appear for City’s first team. Fans might have been happier to wait for that debut in favour of a defender though, Danny Hone was on the bench, as no sooner had the youngster been welcomed onto the pitch than Connor put a good ball over from the left for Matt Green to score. That and Friday night’s substitution won’t look very good on the CV Grant! That having said four points from three games is hardly catastrophic and the stand in manager has been able to keep things ticking over for the new man whoever that may be. Mind you the caretaker will do well to keep up the momentum with an away trip to Cambridge looming this Friday.

Whether the new boss will be in the stands at Cambridge “in place if not in charge” to quote Bob Dorrian we don’t know but it would seem whilst Grant Brown does have it in him to be a manager perhaps now is not the time although there are plenty of Imps ready to champion the former defender. The club have said that an experienced manager will be chosen. Hang on though – they said that before Chris Sutton was appointed didn’t they?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

Yesterdays article on Vitals which I didn't get time to download.

Onwards and, well not exactly upwards but tonight at Sincil Bank brings one of the few advantages of relegation as Mansfield Town visit for the first time for a few seasons and one of several derbies to be anticipated this season. Stags’ experience is a bit of a reality check for any relegated league club thinking they’ve a divine right to go straight back to the relative big time although we’ve had long enough to come to that realisation after the start City have had.


Of course it’s not just any local derby it’s an Alan Marriott local derby and no doubt fans, even though it’s been a while since we went our different ways, will wish to let Mazza know that he still occupies a special place in our hearts. Not to the extent of letting Stags have any points you understand. Paul Connor is also with Mansfield but of course his injury stricken stay did not allow us to become too familiar with the striker but he seems to have settled in well.

It’s difficult to comment on Friday night’s defeat without sounding churlish and in the end City were well beaten but this writer would prefer not to have to watch too much football like that. Brian Laws once described City’s football as ugly and that comment came to mind as the Bash Street Kids proceeded to take our sweets off us. The team are certainly going to have to learn to stand up for themselves if Fleetwood are the benchmark for success in this league. There is also the small matter of taking your chances and Fleetwood showed their quality in that regard although, as usual the Imps showed some generosity in defence.

Stand in manager Grant Brown met with the press yesterday and dealt with a wide range of questions, handled confidently by a man not used to being in front of the microphone. When asked what the new manager would inherit he listed a club with a good potential, really good surroundings, good facilities with a group of players that are desperate to do well, who know they have under achieved and a club that has under achieved for the last three or four seasons. Good facilities eh? Not what we’ve been hearing. Oh well, not long to wait now.






Onwards and, well not exactly upwards but tonight at Sincil Bank brings one of the few advantages of relegation as Mansfield Town visit for the first time for a few seasons and one of several derbies to be anticipated this season. Stags’ experience is a bit of a reality check for any relegated league club thinking they’ve a divine right to go straight back to the relative big time although we’ve had long enough to come to that realisation after the start City have had.




Of course it’s not just any local derby it’s an Alan Marriott local derby and no doubt fans, even though it’s been a while since we went our different ways, will wish to let Mazza know that he still occupies a special place in our hearts. Not to the extent of letting Stags have any points you understand. Paul Connor is also with Mansfield but of course his injury stricken stay did not allow us to become too familiar with the striker but he seems to have settled in well.



It’s difficult to comment on Friday night’s defeat without sounding churlish and in the end City were well beaten but this writer would prefer not to have to watch too much football like that. Brian Laws once described City’s football as ugly and that comment came to mind as the Bash Street Kids proceeded to take our sweets off us. The team are certainly going to have to learn to stand up for themselves if Fleetwood are the benchmark for success in this league. There is also the small matter of taking your chances and Fleetwood showed their quality in that regard although, as usual the Imps showed some generosity in defence.



Stand in manager Grant Brown met with the press yesterday and dealt with a wide range of questions, handled confidently by a man not used to being in front of the microphone. When asked what the new manager would inherit he listed a club with a good potential, really good surroundings, good facilities with a group of players that are desperate to do well, who know they have under achieved and a club that has under achieved for the last three or four seasons. Good facilities eh? Not what we’ve been hearing. Oh well, not long to wait now.

Time to wheel out the secret weapon.

Fridays article on Lincoln Vital. Didn't do a lot of good either in terms of numbers or the result.

A couple of days ago we had a bit of a giggle at Bob Dorrian’s expense. He had not chosen his words very carefully and told BBC Lincolnshire that City were looking for a manager on the cheap. Not the message we thought us fans should be hearing. Well Bob’s back, and this time it’s personal.


In an interview in today’s last ever daily edition of the Lincolnshire Echo and also carried on BBC Lincolnshire Dorrian lays his cards on the table and, in some detail, gives his views on the Sutton and Tilson eras and spells out his and the boards side of the story. The message is clear and stark. The board share our fears and frustration at the situation faced by the club, are working hard but have no magic solution, just like we knew all along.

You may think the board are doing a good job, you may think the board are doing a bad job but the plain fact of the matter is that unless gates improve there is very little possibility of progress on the pitch. The Tilson reign is over and we start a new chapter in our supporting lives. For the moment we have a true Imp and a favourite son at the helm, Grant Brown. At times like this the board can work as hard as they like but, and it was always the case, at times like this the club can only turn to us, it’s supporters so we suggest you give Strictly Come Dancing it takes two, Zoe Ball and all a miss and get yourself down to Sincil Bank tonight. Your club needs you.

Grant Brown cut a confident figure when he faced the press, in contrast with the previous incumbent and issued his own rallying call to the fans to return to the fold explaining even Fleetwood’s manager was surprised that City have found themselves in such a lowly league position. Those of us who have witnessed the whole sorry saga are maybe not so surprised. Let’s hope for better things to come.

Two sides to every story.

Bob and Grant give quotes to the press.

This article went on Vitals yesterday. It's just a nothing thing really something I picked up on when looking at the press in the morning. It spent 24 hours as most read story on News Now which I certainly didn't expect given everything else going on at the minute.

How nice to relax in front of the radio or whatever means you keep track of the Imps. Maybe you were at Alfreton, plenty were, and have a good solid, not much doubt about it away win. That said if City could not win there then there really was little to look forward to but they did and we all rejoice at that.

Stand in manager Grant Brown told the Lincolnshire Echo:-



“Hopefully we can do something similar in the next two days to get the fans back onside. It would be nice to have a few more come through the gate against Fleetwood on Friday”



That’s right Grant, bums on seats, that’s the name of the game and it’s a manager’s job to get the punters in. You’re a quick learner.



Meanwhile Chairman Bob Dorrian was interviewed by BBC Lincolnshire:-



“I would hope we have a manager in place, if not in charge, by the end of next week”



Excellent.



“I think in reality we have to look for a manager with non-league experience”



Yes?



“With non-league contacts”



We’re listening.



“And who is cheap”



Thanks Bob mate. On the phone right now to book a ticket for Friday, totally inspired.



It might just be of course and it is the outsidest of outside chances, that we have a manager in place and in charge right now. Just a thought.

Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

Here is todays article from Vital Lincoln. I gave it the sub title "The board have bowed to the inevitable-What next?"

What with all the articles available and going on mid morning it didn't perform as well as usual on the News Now website but still spent much of the day in the top ten Lincoln City articles so, really can't complain and thanks to my regular readers.

Not for a moment suggesting that our plea for some statement from the club yesterday had anything to do with it but, typically for the way things have been run at Sincil Bank lately the manager yesterday gave a press conference for tonight’s game, renewed a loan signing and was then promptly sacked. It’s tempting to imagine the scene in the boardroom, finger pointing at the dynamic duo and the immortal words “Steve Tilson and Paul Brush, you’re fired!” but the reality was probably the masked executioner taking five or six swings of the axe to dispatch the hapless victims, such is the air of farce surrounding the club.

Former chairman Rob Bradley was on BBC Lincolnshire this morning and, as usual there was much good sense spoken. The general tone seemed to be that replacing the manager is only half of the remedy; the club needs to find a total rebirth and reconnection with the fans and the wider community. Not many will disagree with that whatever their view on City as a Community Club. Rob also offered the opinion that many chairmen would have replaced the manager before the end of last season in order to secure that one point needed to escape the drop. He did not draw a comparison but the inference certainly was that maybe that single minded, ruthless even, determination is not there on the present board.

Lincolnshire Echo’s City reporter, Leigh Curtis also gave an insight into his own relationship with the manager, citing several spats with the media in his column this morning and stating that, with everything that has been going on at the club, Tilson had never been heard to utter an apology or even admitted he got anything wrong. Sorry may indeed be the hardest word and there are none sorrier than us, the fans for the state we now find our club in. Tilson and Brush will go on to other things as will the individual board members leaving, as usual the fans. To use another corny song link. Everything changes but you.

The undeserving poor.

My sub title for this was "A four nil defeat to a part time team. How much worse can it get?"
The only comment so far was to say someone thought Tamworth weren't part time but even meaningless comments mean more cash for the web site which can be used to invest in the Imps so thanks for that but I would prefer to hear if people agreed or disagreed. Hey ho!

Judging by the comments on Twitter on Saturday evening you’d have thought someone might have made some kind of statement on Monday morning or before but, as if Monday mornings weren’t bad enough we have the deafening silence that we are becoming used to now as our beloved club sinks ever further into the mire. Only Joe Anyon man enough to stick his head above the parapet and admit that the fare served up by this team is embarrassingly short, indeed spectacularly short of that required. Joe tells the Lincolnshire Echo:-

“Lincoln City are a big club and everyone wants to beat us”

This writer has been watching professional football for more years than he cares to remember and in all that time all the teams City have played wanted to beat us, well almost. That is the nature of sport. Don’t the other teams want to beat each other? One would think they do. Are City such a big club that they can’t ask a local school or college if they would mind if the team trained on their pitch a couple of mornings a week? This correspondent claims no specialist knowledge but surely a team afforded the luxury of full time training spends the week generally on the type of surface encountered on a Saturday afternoon. That’s not rocket science is it?

There’s the rub. It’s a good excuse having to train on the Astroturf isn’t it? Having to play in front of fans who want them to win and groan if they don’t, that’s another as is not having enough money to stay in a hotel before a game far away. Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s what we can look forward to dear fellow supporters. Or does someone have something to say?

No quarter given or asked.

Thursdays build up article now on Lincoln Vitals. Things seem a little calmer on the Lincoln City front and a name from the recent past re emerges.

It came as quite a surprise to realise that we are more than a quarter of the way through the season and City sit uneasily in 19^th place in the division. Three defeats, one draw and two wins does, one supposes represent a miniscule recovery in form but, extrapolated over a whole season an almost certain relegation on the evidence of the first six fixtures has now been replaced by a suggestion that the Imps might collapse over the line with one or two points to spare. How inspiring.

The week in Impdom has been enlivened not only by Steve Tilson getting a bit shirty with the local media but more interestingly, the publication of Chris Suttons autobiography “Paradise and Beyond”. Presumably we’re in the beyond section. No doubt a lot of supporters will be adding this tome to their Santa’s list in the hope of learning more about, particularly, Suttons departure from the club which until now had remained shrouded in mystery although anyone with a red and white affliction will be aware that City’s long and not always distinguished history is littered with financial woes so it’s really no surprise to hear tales of inadequacy on the budget front and moved goalposts, if you’ll forgive the football metaphor, when it came to stumping up the proceeds of our magnificent cup runs.

There are those amongst the fan base who cannot bear to hear the name of our former supremo let alone boost his pension pot but there will be many, this writer included, who will want to see for themselves what one might suppose to be fairly uncomfortable reading for our present board of directors if the tempting titbits thrown to us by the Lincolnshire Echo are anything to go by. We all read, after the resignation, that Sutton was begged to stay by the chairman. Now we hear Sutton claim that said chairman, having blamed the former Celtic and Blackburn goal machine for relegation also stated that had he stayed then the club would have avoided the drop. Of rather more pertinence we also learn that the club have been attempting to sue their former boss. Curioser and curioser. Can’t wait to find out what that’s all about.

To the present now and Chris Sutton used to have a favourite saying, we are where we are. Well where we are is perched precariously above the relegation places. Tamworth are next and the good news is that they have Patrick Kanyuka in their ranks. This is balanced by the bad news, they also have Paul Green, pronounced surplus to requirements by the Imps so no clean sheet there then. After that Alfreton, glimmer of hope and away too, followed by Fleetwood. Hope abandoned. So much for us being everyone else’s cup final.