Walker one two and City’s losing streak is passed.

I suppose when you’ve been treated to Everton’s high tempo passing game and Lincoln City’s spirited response to it midweek, sitting through Joey Barton’s poor mans version is likely to be less of a pleasure.

I bracketed Barton and Forest Green Rovers manager Mark Cooper together as two managers who like to criticise Danny Cowley’s teams as crude and workmanlike and it would be churlish to deny that their two sides are easy on the eye yet in their visits to Sincil Bank and in Coopers case several games against the Imps for all their possession the net result of their efforts is, literally, pointless.

Barton is a great one for controversy although his after match comments as told to the Blackpool Gazette seen fair enough to me but I’ll just share with you his final thoughts:

“We came here and barring a 90 second period taught them what the top end of League One is all about”

Well, as that great manager Brian Clough and our own local sage Chris Ashton have said football is all about putting the ball in the onion bag. City did that twice and for all their possession Fleetwood did not. Oh, and the last time I looked which was two minutes ago Lincoln City are more at the top end of League One than Fleetwood. If that’s the case at the end of the season I’ll be a happy man. For all my griping Fleetwood look to be a very good side and if we’re ahead of them we’ll have done well.

Yesterday was not Joey Barton verses Danny Cowley though it was Lincoln City verses Fleetwood Town and whilst the game did not reach the heights of Wednesday evening in terms of excitement and City looked decidedly second best until that double strike, the Imps stopped the rot of those two away defeats and, this being the beginning of the season rocketed up to second in the table. Still no start, in fact no game time at all for Cian Bolger who must have been bitterly disappointed after another excellent outing midweek not to face his former employers and, for the moment the game plan incorporates cameo roles for one of last seasons stand out players, Bruno Andrade and record signing (as far as we know) John Akinde. You have to say though, whilst neither player must be exactly delighted at playing bit parts they are most effective when coming on to shore up the team as the final minutes tick by.

All in all then a game to savour the result rather than the performance perhaps but none the worse for that.