End of term report: Must do better.

There we are then. The final home game finished with a loss, a completely avoidable loss but one which sums up the Imps season. Press press press, defensive lapse (x2) and City are chasing the game. They emerge from the break, no doubt with the managers words ringing in their ears, get level in a spookily similar fashion to the way they went behind, press for the winner but instead concede. The youngsters in the corner couldn’t even summon up the enthusiasm to run on to the pitch at the end, not that I’m condoning that. I don’t like to see it at all.

The player of the season awards went the way they were expected although I almost didn’t see them due to a typical City mix up that left the prepaid ticket hut unmanned and someone telling people they had to go for a ticket at the office rather than paying cash. Of course they could have done, the turnstiles were deserted and a playoffs style queue built up outside the office.

It was an entertaining enough game. Much as I tell myself I ought to get real I still smart from getting beaten at home by the likes of Woking and, reflecting on the season as a whole, discounting Saturday where I can see us either upsetting the odds or on the end of a pasting, only marginal progress in our quest of no longer having to play the Wokings of this world. One can only hope that the presence of Clive Nates, our major investor, at the interviewing table might produce an improvement on previous appointments to the hot seat, it can hardly be any worse than in the past.

I’m ending the home season on a downbeat note, sorry for that but as I’ve said previously there are grounds for hope. A new manager can come into the job with at least part of the groundwork done and a decent squad to start work on. I’ve always tried to support the manager and, despite what you may surmise from my words the board too for that matter, always recognising what a difficult job they have.

On reflection, although I’ve said on previous occasions I’d have liked the manager to stay. What with this present alarming loss of form and slump in points gathering, maybe the enforced change in manager will turn out to be a good thing for all concerned. We must just hope that the reasonable state of the club financially and squad wise will produce a better calibre of applicants for the manager’s position and finally someone will emerge capable of galvanising the club and the supporters and give us all something to cheer about. As I’ve said the foundations are there and there must be many potential fans trudging around town of a Saturday afternoon looking for something more stimulating to do. Despite my mood at the moment and occasional acerbic pronouncement I can still recommend Sincil Bank as a far better prospect than the shops and probably a lot cheaper in the long run.