Last night, City took on Morecambe (again) at Sincil Bank, this time fighting for a place in the RO16 of the Papa John’s Trophy.
I’m going to be completely honest; I didn’t go last night. I don’t have a massive problem with this competition. It earns us good money, and we could potentially have a day out at Wembley at the end of it, but it was a game I felt comfortable missing last night. The Formula 1 season has just ended, and my work surrounding that has been hectic lately, so I wanted to get some of that done and I sacrificed the opportunity to go. However, if you are a loyal reader, you will know I haven’t gone to a EFL Trophy game this season and while I think it is a good money-maker, I don’t agree with certain factors of the competition. Mainly, the U21 sides being implemented. I don’t hate young footballers or the Premier League but there is a bigger picture than Lincoln City drawing Manchester United’s U21 side in the cup. The talk constantly for the last few years has been about bringing ‘B Team’s’ or ‘Under-21/23 Sides’ into the football pyramid and that would be for me the death of our football pyramid or at least the way we know and admire it.
Pep Guardiola has been at the head of this discussion with his comments a few years back reading:
“They should play every day in Championship of League or League One. That should be the best level for English football, that would be the best.“
I am a big admirer of Pep and his coaching methods, I am a big believer in the way Manchester City play and his philosophy and, in all honesty, I don’t blame him entirely for these comments as he grew up, played and managed in Spain and their lower divisions do have ‘B teams’ in them. I’m trying to give you some wider context here. The Papa John’s Trophy/The EFL Trophy isn’t the issue but if we start getting massive crowds against the Premier League’s young sides, we will then be viewed as being in favour of the changes happening. If you want to go and support the club in this trophy, then you can. I have been to many games in the competition myself but what I am trying to get across here is the reason that so many people do not go, and the attendances fall.
Like I said I have been to EFL Trophy games, and I will go again, but with the introduction of U21 sides threatening the football league you can see why people do not want to attend. On top of that, we are in a tough place as a country at the moment and there are plenty of fans that would miss a cold November Tuesday night against Morecambe, even if it was a league game. This isn’t a debate just between Lincoln City fans, but every single League One and League Two club’s fans. I’ve said it before, and I will stand by my point, this competition is important. Sam Long and Ellis Chapman, just to name two, have made their debuts in this competition and the latter has over one hundred EFL appearances to his name now. I am not going towards one big final point on this issue, but I felt like laying out my personal opinions and the ones of those I have spoken to about boycotting this competition and feeling threatened by the big boys in the Premier League.
Obviously, I do not want to move away from the game that we played last night, and it was a successful night for Mark Kennedy’s side as we reached the next round and got ourselves some money for it. Mark made a few changes to the side that beat Morecambe on Saturday, the main one saw Tom Hopper come back into the starting eleven upon his full return to the side. A change in system saw the three in midfield return, Tashan Oakley-Boothe came into the side after his impressive cameo at the weekend alongside Lasse Sorensen as the other returnee in midfield. Sean Roughan returned too as did penalty specialist Jordan Wright in goal.
The first half was a low quality one, and it almost seemed like we’d already played ninety minutes against the same team just days before. We took some form of control early on, but we allowed Morecambe back into it, but they also struggled to create any real chances of quality. There was one moment for Morecambe, but it wasn’t one they made; it was mistake from us. A poor clearance from TJ Eyoma saw Regan Poole have to make an excellent and crucial block. Bar a few shots from range by Sorensen and Diamond, the Imps looked toothless.
City started the second half stronger and, on the front-foot. Set pieces were causing problems for the Shrimps and we could have had our first goal through Paudie O’Connor, but his header wasn’t enough for the lead. Just a few minutes later however, Charles Vernam whipped in another quality ball, and he got his rewards with Tom Hopper heading home from close range on his return to the side. There was more positive news on the injury front for City, with Ted Bishop returning and replacing Hopper. I’ve said it before but, if we can keep Ted fit, we have one of the best midfielders in the division.
Despite having chances, City failed to put the game to bed and that came back to bite us with the dangerous Cole Stockton equalising for Morecambe. That gave the momentum back to them, and if anyone was going to get the winning goal in the last twenty, you’d have had to say it was Morecambe. Luckily, defensively solid City held on for a penalty shootout.
I don’t like penalty shootouts. I’m told it is something to do with being English, but we’ve done well in them so far this season. We put all of our penalties away, while Wright saved two for them continuing his impressive record in shootouts. We progressed to the next round and that’s important, we also have more confidence in shootouts with this win and who knows if we go to penalties against Southampton, Wright might just have to be the hero again.
I apologise for the lack of real analysis on the match action, but I’ve managed to put together a few opinions after talking to people that attended and watching the extended highlights this morning. As I’ve said in the article, the competition certainly has its haters and there are reasons for that, but it is another game won and potentially even a chance for a trip down to Wembley at the end of it. We now move onto a much-needed break, with no game this weekend before we head to Shrewsbury Town for our first fixture of December, which should be a good and enjoyable match.