November 2003
Okay, with the season in full swing – let’s check the roster and see how everyone is doing for us:
Code:
Keepers Age Wage Value Top Skills App Con AvgR
Darren Baines 27 £300 £16K Rushing Out,Eccentricity 6 3 7.50
Steve Howarth 18 £275 £16K Determ,Stamina,Bravery,Agility 5 1 7.00
Alan Ryan 24 £550 £18K Kicking,Comm,OneonOnes 3 6 7.00
Defenders Age Wage Value Top Skills App G A MoM AvgR
Andy Davies 21 £375 £16K Heading,Bravery,Marking,Jumping 12(1) 0 0 3 7.30
Martin Gibbons 23 £700 £120K Decisions,Determ,Stamina 9 0 1 1 7.44
Michael Kelly 21 £1.0K £16K Stamina,Finishing,Aggression 12 0 0 0 7.00
David Francis 21 £1.1K £18K WorkRate,Determ,Aggression 11 1 1 0 6.63
Andrew Cross 23 £160 £16K Heading,Jumping,Strength 5 0 1 0 6.59
Ryan Hughes 16 £ 75 Heading,Creativity,Positioning 2 0 0 0 7.50
Andy Hughes 20 £300 £16K Determ,Teamwork,WorkRate 1 0 0 0 6.00
Ian Hutchinson 26 £475 £16K Determ,Marking,Bravery,Jumping 0(4) 0 0 0 6.75
Midfielders Age Wage Value Top Skills App G A MoM AvgR
Richard Lewis 21 £1.0K £16K Dribbling,Acceleration,Pace 15 3 2 1 7.19
Lee Williamson 22 £400 £40K WashingUp,Jumping,Bravery,SetPieces 14 7 5 3 7.35
Gary Webb 24 £1.0K £16K Passing,Technique,Stamina,Flair 11 1 0 0 6.81
Jason Wilson 20 £375 £16K WorkRate,Determ,Aggression,Infl 8(4) 1 1 0 7.25
Mark Oakes 26 £400 £16K Determination,LongThrows,Bravery 3 0 0 0 6.33
Andy Allen 19 £ 90 £16K Anticipation,Stamina,WorkRate 7(3) 0 1 0 6.80
Adam Newman 18 £ 80 £18K WorkRate,Determ,Aggression,OffBall 4 0 0 0 7.00
Lee Harris 16 £ 85 WorkRate,Marking,Stamina,Balance 1(4) 0 0 0 6.59
Paul Warner 16 £ 80 Passing,Heading,Technique,Aggression 2(2) 0 0 0 7.00
Craig Russell 16 £ 90 Dribbing,Heading,Crossing,Teamwork 2(1) 0 0 0 7.00
Jamie Mason 26 £800 £16K Determ,WorkRate,OffTheBall,Balance 1 0 0 0 ---
Forwards Age Wage Value Top Skills App G A MoM AvgR
Alan Jones 18 £ 80 £16K Creativity,Agility,Balance,Infl 12 3 2 1 7.19
Jamie Barnes 21 £550 £28K Pace,Crossing,Positioning,Finishing 7(2) 4 4 0 7.22
Matthew Jackson 15 £ 70 Stamina,Aggression,Bravery,Finishing 6(3) 3 2 1 7.11
Chris Morgan 29 £500 £16K Determ,OffTheBall,Agility,WorkRate 1(1) 0 0 0 6.50
Matt Dixon 19 £400 £16K Aggression,Determ,WorkRate,Agility reserves
Kevin Clarke 19 £650 £16K Strength,Teamwork,Aggression,Determ reserves
So, things are starting to settle into place. We knew that we were going to go through changes in our midfield, but it’s take a different shape than I had imagined. Jason Wilson remains active for us, despite being out of contract for months. Every attempt at a work permit fails, so we just keep using him and getting good results – as long as that can last. e keep rotating in guys like Warner, Russell and Harris – to pretty respectable results so far.
I’m a little surprised on the defensive side. Andy Davies, very little used last season has emerged as a real force in the middle of our defense, and has really been outstanding- pushing Andrew Cross (our solid starter from last year) right aside. David Francis has been a shade disappointing, but he’s been hurt (right when we were really rolling, too) and we expect him to recover form. And as Andy Allen bids for playing time as our left side midfielder, that allows us to use Lee Williamson up front, where he has been lights-out.
In this match, however, we are without Lee Williamson (banned for yellow cards) and also the injured Richard Lewis. So, our offense will be a little bit makeshift, I suspect. We’ll try out Gary Webb in the attacking midfield spot, usually held by Lewis.
We’re at Wrexham, who have gotten off to a disappointing start this season. Predictably, we have little offensive punch – but we remain even with strong defense and good possession control. Matthew Jackson, though, breaks through on a wonderful crossing pass from Gary Webb, and nets the go-ahead score at 67 minutes. He later feeds Alan Jones for another goal, and then Gary Webb gets the finishing shot to set us off.
Lincoln 3, Wrexham 0.
Lincoln City’s Andy Davies has won the Third Division Young Player of the Month award.
Very nice – good effort to really put himself right into the middle of our plans. I decide to pull Davies off the transfer list.
After that win, we have moved into a great position on the league table. Here’s a summary:
Code:
W D L GF GA Pts
Boston Utd 10 1 3 29 12 31
Lincoln 10 1 3 24 10 31
Rochdale 10 0 4 37 27 30
- - - (auto promotion line) - - -
Tranmere 9 2 3 28 13 29
Port Vale 9 2 3 28 14 29
Mansfield 8 2 4 29 14 26
Dag & Red 7 4 3 23 13 25
- - - (promotion playoff line) - - -
Bury 8 0 6 26 21 24
Rushden 8 0 6 25 21 24
Very tight, indeed. But I’m very pleased that we are living up to our form – playing tough defense and allowing the fewest goals in the league, without even employing a deliberate defensive-minded strategy in regular course.
We are at Bournemouth, who get the lead in the first half off a well-executed passing setup. Williamson and Morgan do a nice pass-off setup in the second half to get us even, and Morgan kicks in a later rebound to get us ahead. In the 68th minute, Chris Morgan finishes off his unlikely hat trick, and powers us to a 3-2 lead. At 81, Bournemouth draw even again at 3-3 – and that’s how it ends up.
Lincoln 3, Bournemouth 3. Morgan, our man of the match, has earned himself a spell with the first team, after coming on to replace the injured Matthew Jackson.
Now we host Southend, and are hopeful for regained form. But Southend strike quickly against our defense, and get ahead 1-0 after only three minutes. The lead holds for a long time – we’re making subs late to try to pull even, but despite our best efforts we come up short.
Southend 1, Lincoln 0. It looks like the CM roller coaster is heading downward again.
16 y/o striker John Garner has been getting raves from our reserve squad staff, and I decide to give him a call up to the big squad. We’ll see what he can do, as we have a few injuries among our regular attackers. Garner has been on our transfer list for a while, but we haven’t gotten any takers on the youngster.
We are at home for Boston United – a huge match with the top club in the league right now. This is the first round of the FA Cup, and we’re taking it fairly seriously, as we are already out of the other two competitions. We slip behind, but john Garner tips one in to get us even right before the half. Richard Lewis scores, but then gets hurt again. Garner tallies his second goal in the later second half, lofting one past the keeper to put the win away.
Lincoln 3, Boston Utd 1. Our chairman will be pleased. We will get to host Port vale in the second round.
Next, we are home for York, back in league play. Our defense gets a workout early, but we hold them off – and then get Williamson a feed for the lead after 26 minutes. York get even on a weird play, a double-bumped shot that just rolled in past Howarth. We can’t get the lead again, but our defense works overtime to keep it even.
Lincoln 1, York 1.
And quickly, we are off to Rushden, to face off against another contender in the Third Division. We are scoreless through 45, and Darren Baines makes a huge save in the open field against a runaway attacker to keep it that way. We get a penalty kick at 52, and Michael Kelly delivers it home—his first goal for us. That’s the first chance we’ve gotten to use his solid penalty skills. Rushden get another wide open chance, and they bury it for the equalizer after 74 minutes. But Morgan sets up Lewis for the go-ahead after 77, and we are on top again. We get a couple chances to extend, but cannot convert. We still hold on to get the win, though.
Lincoln 2, Rushden 1.
I make an offer to a veteran German forward Markus Dittrich, who looks like he ought to be playing. He’s not thrilled with playing at my level, but I put up as much cash as is practical for us, and hope to be surprised. I also make an approach to Neil Hooper, a conference player with Yeovil who seems to have some potential – and could play in the left midfield spot along with Williamson. He’d require 45,000 in compensation, but he might well be worth it.
Neil Hooper prefers or offer to Yeovil’s, and we get to agreement over his contract. however – once again, it’s the limit of our transfer budget that sticks this up. We only have £35,000, and Yaovil would be compensated by £45,000 – so this one falls apart. Drat!
We host Carlisle, and are looking for another three points with a win here. Morgan blows an opportunity, but comes back and finished his next for the early lead. He then feeds Jackson for a nice score, and we look very sharp. We get chances all day, but that’s all we can do – fortunately, our defense holds them off admirably, and that’s plenty.
Lincoln 2, Carlisle 0. Another clean sheet for Darren Baines.
As November is wrapping up, I need to look ahead for contract expiries. Jamie Barnes is up for a new deal, but I’m trying to shop him rather than re-sign him right now. Jamie Mason is our only other player whose deal runs out after this season – so we’ll be able to put our wage budget to good use, hopefully. I don’t have to make any expensive extensions, but am able to sit back and keep the cash flowing in. We’re about £3,500 under our wage budget for the year, and that give me flexibility to bring in an expensive addition if we want to (and if we can get anyone of any quality to sign with us).
Jason Wilson has signed a new contract with Lincoln. The deal will keep him at the club until June 2006.
Out of the blue, Wilson finally qualified for a work permit, and is formly on the roster. This is fabulous news!
I had all but given up on him ever being eligible to pay for us (other than just lingering on his month-to-month deal). But this should erase his unhappiness, and let him focus on his play in the middle for us. Suddenly, with Wilson re-signed and Gary Webb playing pretty well on the right side, I’m not nearly as worried about my midfield as I once was. And we really didn’t move mountains to get here, either.
the agent for Jason Wilson has said his client is satisfied with the terms of his contract.
Happy, happy.