Lincoln City started and finished their FA Cup journey on Saturday as they were embarrassed away from home to Vanarama National League side Chippenham Town.
Mark Kennedy named a number of changes to the side that drew with Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night. In positive news, Ted Bishop returned to the side after a timely lay-off and slotted into the right of the attack. We started with a back five, and that was my first sign of trouble. I understand that a back three or five (however you want to look at it) can be a positive system. I’m actually a very big fan of the system and I enjoyed the games we used it in last season, with Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Cohen Bramall as explosive wings-backs but I personally believe we don’t have the personnel to execute it in a free flowing and attacking sense.
I would even go as far as saying we had the players on the pitch to execute a four at the back. I think Mark should have recognised that and potentially moved Roughan out to full-back, Bishop into the midfield and Jamie Robson onto the wing. Robson obviously isn’t the ideal option in a front three, but it would allow us to be potentially more on the front foot and make more chances in the first forty-five.
There are plenty of places you can read about the whole match and the chances we had, so I’m not going to sit here and dissect every single City attack, but I’m here to give you my honest thoughts following the game. I’m a very optimistic fan and I always will be, that is the way I operate, and I will always support the management staff and the players until the end, some prefer a different way and I have no problem with that but even for me yesterday was a hard one to get any positives out from.
I could sit here for hours and put players down for things that happened but at the end of the day we have all either watched the game or at least seen the highlights so what good is that going to do. One thing I have picked up on though is the need to abuse players after a loss. I go to games, and I will always clap the players no matter the result. I don’t have a problem with fans making their opinions known, I’m actually a fan of that, and at the end of the day it is the reason we all follow football and Lincoln City. However, some of the abuse yesterday I have heard was unacceptable. We can criticise and trust me everyone involved in that game yesterday deserves to be criticised, but it should never be made personal.
I thought we created a decent number of chances, but not ones we were ever going to be dangerous from and threaten the opposition goal. We paid the price for our lack of ability to stamp our authority on the game in the early periods and we conceded. I made a point of this before the game, these lower clubs in the non-league live for games and moments like yesterday and that was what made it so difficult for us. The further Chippenham got with the score at 0-0, the more they started to believe, and that belief gets even bigger when they get into the lead of the game. The goal we conceded was poor and it was almost a carbon copy of what happened against Accrington. We need to stay switched on after the corner has been taken and defend the second or third ball better, it’s school football basics.
For all the people complaining about the five, we changed to a four at half-time with a change that saw Tashan Oakley-Boothe replace Roughan and the change did work to be fair to the management team. We created more but we had an inability to put the ball in the back of the net and that cost us. We did have the ball in the net, but it was disallowed for a foul, it wasn’t a foul but at the end of the day we should have won the game despite that.
I know this a shorter piece than usual, but I have put my point across, and I hope we can, at least, improve on Tuesday night against Bristol City. We need to move on and put this behind us as no one can take pride from their individual performance except Regan Poole, who showed everyone how it should be yet again.
Finally, I’d like to congratulate Chippenham. They put everything into the game on Saturday and I’m struggling to think of another fanbase I have come across that have been so welcoming. I personally will be following their FA Cup journey and I hope you will too.