Life in the spotlight. Not always easy.

You may consider the life of the professional footballer something of a cushy number. Pay well above your average employee and very favourable hours, if you don’t count Christmas.

What about when it all starts to go wrong though? When you get to the end of your career and you just can’t do it anymore. Not the way you used to. The fans are critical, worse than that. The manager calls you in the office. You know where this is going, Jason Shackell.

Shacks is arguably the finest centre half Lincoln City ever employed, yes I was around when Paul Morgan graced the Sincil Bank turf but in my opinion, no Jason Shackell, no promotion to league one.

The writing was on the wall at Carlisle last season in my view. A very large number of Imps assembled, me included expecting a coronation. What we got was a reality check and confirmation that our much vaunted captain was a mere mortal. If my memory serves me correctly a second bookable offence, very shortly after the first.

Not that I blame the sending off for the loss. Promotion, for me was achieved in as comprehensives away performance as you’ll see, at MK Dons. After that, the highest point of the season the rest was a slide over the line. City were duly promoted but displaying relegation form.

But Shacks trooped off the pitch at Carlisle and, with the benefit of hindsight, that was the end of a glittering Imps career. He was still good, but he had been superb. It’s a great shame. Someone once said a Prime Ministers career invariably ends in failure, you could say the same of footballers, the really good ones at least.

Now. We hear the club are in negotiation with Shackells representatives to end his City career. No send off, no final bow. It’s a great shame but indicative of the clubs new approach. No passengers.

Of course the worry is the other end, with the injury to Tyreece John-Jules. The goings on in the transfer window not looking such a good thing now. Somebody up there seems to have abandoned us, at least for the moment.