Mark Kennedy spoke to the press ahead of our season opener against Bolton on Thursday and the head coach discussed two big bits of business that happened during the week, and reflected on pre-season.
The final week of build up has been a busy one for the Imps, with Ethan Hamilton signing on a permanent deal on Tuesday, and Ben House signing a new contract on Wednesday. Hamilton joined on a three year deal from Accrington Stanley, further strengthening our midfield ranks, while House agreed a new deal lasting at least until the summer of 2025, securing his future with the club but also giving the club some much needed security, tying down on of their most lucrative assets. Mark was really pleased with how them two deals strengthened his squad ahead of the new campaign.
The first deal of the week was Hamilton signing for the Imps on a permanent deal, and Mark thanked the recruitment team for getting the deal over the line for such a fantastic player.
“He’s a proven player at this level and he’s really good technically. His understanding of the game is very strong as well as having good athleticism and physicality. I think as an all-round player, he has a lot going for him and I’m really grateful the club have got that one done.”
House agreed a new contract on Wednesday, which looks to be one of the best bits of business the club has done this summer but while Mark was really pleased to tie House down to a new deal, he did acknowledge that the striker is destined to play at a higher level.
“It feels like we are signing a new player. Ben was outstanding last year, he’s well respected within the group and I’m really pleased with his new deal – he deserves it.
“Firstly, I’m delighted because he is a fantastic player but more importantly for the club, we’ve got real asset value. I want him to go on and have the best career he can, if it’s with Lincoln that’s brilliant but if he moves quicker than we do, then good luck to him. He definitely has all the attributes to play higher.”
Mark touched upon the changes within the squad, and claimed that he is extremely proud of what he is building at Lincoln, and explained how pleased he is to be working with the group of players he has at his disposal now.
“The team I look a now, I’m really proud of the players individually and collectively, of who they are as both footballers and people. That’s probably a million miles from what I started out with last year. I’m really pleased, privileged and proud of what we have now.”
Mark also spoke about the new refereeing changes, and while he understood the added change time, he couldn’t get his head round the change regarding the number of first team coaching staff allowed in the technical area during the game. As well as that, Mark claimed that most of the issues with player and coach discipline wouldn’t happen if the standard of officiating was where it should be in professional football.
“It’s all well and good telling us off but it has to be reciprocated at the other end – it has to work both ways.”
Finally, Mark touched upon the squad at his disposal tomorrow and throughout the season, claiming that it is much stronger than the one that ended the 22/23 season.
“The strength of the squad is a lot stronger, when everyone is fit and available, we should have a very powerful squad.”
Analysis and reaction to Bolton Wanderers vs Lincoln City will be available over the weekend at AllLincoln both on www.alllincoln.co.uk and our Instagram page.