Many unhappy returns.

Last week we had the rather unfortunate return of Kyle Perry to Sincil Bank when the burly striker rammed the taunts of his detractors straight back down their throats. This week it’s David Holdsworth’s turn, returning to his former stamping ground, Mansfield. They are not particularly backward in coming forward in Mansfield and Holdsworth had already said he was expecting a warm reception and by that he didn’t mean a nice round of applause.


Stags were in no mood to put the welcome bunting out and City returned to Lincoln with nothing to show for their efforts. Six hundred and twenty seven, that’s right six hundred and twenty seven Imps were at Field Mill to see yet another capitulation, this time at the hands of resurgent and rampant hosts. We can only hope for such resurrection as this, Stags having suffered in the past but are well and truly on the up and with Grimsby Town showing every sign of making their stay in non league football as brief as possible even the local angle looks like being taken from us before long.

David Holdsworth talks a good game and he seems as confident as usual. The number of Imps sharing that confidence dwindles as each game passes. Five games without a win have now passed with just three points gained from those five matches. Eerily and frighteningly reminiscent of last season, looking back to Christmas and the last twelve games the situation looks even more desperate, just one win and eight points gained from a possible thirty six.

Rob Bradley (how we could do with his steadying influence now) made a telling comment on the day Steve Tilson was sacked. When asked whether Tilson should have been sacked on the last day of the season, Bradley stated that many a chairman would have wielded the axe before the end of the season to secure the necessary points needed to ensure survival.

City need points and at this rate no guarantee that they will be gained. The present manager’s lack of a contract the one plus point in all this. City’s record in appointing managers lately is one of the many minuses and before anyone is accused of being smart after the event we all have to hold our hands up and admit that many if not most of us approved of the appointments.