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Forum full of snowflakes :D

They are very defensive about their style of play, but when they say if you’ve got Rhead or, now, Akinde in the side it would be stupid not to play to their strengths, they are ignoring the fact that their manager bought these players in to specifically play the long ball way.

Nowt wrong with that as it will almost certainly get them out of L2. The problem is what next. In L1 that style may be good enough for mid table but that’s it. Changing style doesn’t seem to be an option for Cowley as it is the only way he knows. Maybe it is this that has kept clubs from higher up the food chain approaching him.

It is, IMO, a shortsighted strategy. Exactly my problem last season with Flitcroft - the ‘what next’ scenario.

Exactly.

Think we may end up losing by a couple here but hope to be proved wrong.

Got a result there with 10 men for the majority of the match last season so you never know. Could be made for someone like Alzate to make the difference.

Biggest concern is obviously right back as we don't have one now. But if we're expecting a bombardment maybe it's worth asking Nelson to do a job there as he appears the sort to love a battle.

I'll be happy with a point.

It worked for us under Macari and it worked for Cambridge United under John Beck who destroyed us in the 2 league games when Hoddle was manager (although Hoddle, to his credit, sussed out how to beat them when we whooped them in the cup the same season....). We almost made it to the old Division 1 under Macari playing long ball and Cambridge very nearly made it under Beck. Both (especially Cambridge) had similar styles of play to the current Lincoln team. Not pretty, but effective, although I'd say the Swindon and Cambridge teams had some talent in the teams as well. They are pretty much all lumpers in the Lincoln team.

I'm not so sure you could directly replicate the Wimbledon/Cambridge approaches in the modern game, not with the way Academies have gone.  You can't get players with real talent to drop that low and play that way - Cambridge had Dion Dublin who went to Man Utd for example.  I could see them being ok in L1 as well, provided they can sprinkle some extra ability if they did go up.  The thing with Lincoln, as it always will be, is how long can they sustain the squad before bad times come again.  They are like a slightly bigger version of Bury in recent years - sporadic bursts of relative success, offset by near collapse as a club as they don't have the base, or endless supply of owners funds to support it long term.

 The idea that you shouldn't play direct football because you might not be able to do it at a higher level is ludicrous.  It has always been difficult for clubs in the lower reaches to elevate up to the higher orders.... still just about possible eg Bormuff and BHA, and usually done on the back of stadium change.

 These days for lower order clubs like ourselves it's as much about avoiding losing league status and worse..... all you need to do is look at a season like 06/07.... this was Div 4...

 1    Walsall    
2    Hartlepool United        
3    Swindon Town       
4    Franchise    
5    Lincoln City    
6    Bristol Rovers    
7    Shrewsbury    
8    Stockport County    
9    Rochdale    
10    Peterborough United    
11    Darlington    
12    Wycombe Wanderers    
13    Notts County    
14    Barnet    
15    Grimsby Town    
16    Hereford United    
17    Mansfield Town    
18    Chester City    
19    Wrexham    
20    Accrington Stanley    
21    Bury    
22    Macclesfield Town    
23    Boston United    
24    Torquay United    

Of those only 1 Franchise, has had a season in Div 2, in the 11 subsequent seasons, prob due to new ground.

7 are currently at the lofty heights of Div 3.   3 are in the Conference. 6 are lower than the Conference.

The only reason for not playing long ball is if you don't win matches... tomorrow should give us a clue as to whether it works or not.

It is not ludicrous to suggest that currently, the way the game is structured, a Wimbledon, a Cambridge, a Lou Macari Swindon is far less likely.  The data does not support it being anything other ludicrous.  The only teams I have seen play this way in recent years are in this league.  There are teams who mix it up, teams who are more direct, well organised etc.  There are very few Lincoln's.

This is true, another point of note is that the Lincoln way of battering teams with tough tackling and niggles off the ball etc would go unnoticed in L2 with the poor standard of refereeing, the higher up the leagues the less likelihood there is of that sort of thing going unpunished or not noticed by the refereeing team.

From Danny Cowley.

https://lincoln.vitalfootball.co.uk/dc-were-expecting-swindon-to-be-a-really-good-side/

No it is ludicrous, because what is being suggested is that you shouldn't try and win games in Div 4, by playing a suitable way, because that way may not work at a theoretical highher level that you're not at and may never achieve.

You even mention yourself there are teams in the Prem who "mix it up" oddly it is when these clubs like Bolton, Stoke, WBA, under the likes of Pulis, Allardyce and Pardew forego what is essentally old skool English direct football that they go back down.

It's a little known fact that Great Briton no 73, Aleister Crowley changed his surname when he foresaw the coming of the Cowley brothers and their impact on English football.

Any right minded football fan should be shitting themselves at the prospect of a confrontation with the Cowleys.

It's not an argument, you are just contradicting me, or so someone once said.

I never mentioned anything at all about it being a style that could not get you out of this league, I even went further than the opposite of that said I thought they'd do well in the next league above us.  I suggested it wouldn't go much further in the current footballing climate for a couple of reasons - the players won't take it further up anymore, and haven't been schooled that way, plus a team like Lincoln usually can't sustain it - recent history for them is boom and bust.  The fairy tale of up and at them on a budget isn't possible all the way up.

Pulis teams play direct, it isn't pretty, but it isn't what Lincoln do.  It's also worth noting your point about what happens once they move on from him, I agree, but his ilk get moved on because the teams, players and fans won't take it season after season like they would have done in the past.

 ;D

Yes it is!

 The argument goes back to this from Audrey....

 
 It is my contention that all evidence points to that in the modern game it is very diffcult to get up to higher than Div 3, if you've been scuffing around in Div 4 for a while... not impossible but difficult, therefore a club's concern should be what is in front of them. So for example of current clubs in Div 2 only Hull, have had any time in Div 4 since we were last at Div 2 level. Hull's rise as I pointed out with a few others came on the back of a new ground rather than style of football

What next for us is get out of Div 4..... the same for Lincoln. If we hope to progress beyond Div 3 then it will likely come on the back of a stadium redevelopment

I make it 15 clubs have gone from the bottom division to at least the second since 2000 (most of whic did so off the back of significant investment)

Interesting, who are those clubs? Did they hang about for long?  I know for example Burton and Yeovil, have done it, but with ground capacity of around 6K, hardly surprising they couldn't sustain it

Yeovil didn't sustain it because of lack of investment and their board spend hardly a penny on team investment keeping their Championship budget almost the same as the budget they had in L1, they pocketed all the money (their fans view not mine) they never expected to get there so took every penny out of the promotion to line their pockets and pay back the loans the club took out when it was struggling, that money has never gone back into the playing side hence they suffered 2 relegations in quick succession.

Awww I seem to have angered most of their "snowflake" fans :D

Ah well looks like they got quite offended by my post, my work here is done.

I really find such inter-forum spats to be rather childishly banal. It's not as though either side is going to be completely impartial, we had might as well just be calling each other names for all the value it holds. I like to read opinions on the actual football but other than that it's all very trite.

I think its very funny, petty and childish that everyone gets offended by everything on the internet, not just forums - everything.

People have feeling Peter and I'm now offended by your remarks.

I got
Bournemouth
Brighton
Cardiff
Huddersfield
Brentford
Wigan (possibly not quite fit the criteria)
Swansea
Hull
Doncaster
Peterborough
Scunthorpe
Blackpool
Burton Albion
Plymouth
Luton (see Wigan)
Yeovil

I thought money/budget didn't mean anything regarding success :)
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who gives a crap if the Lincoln fans don't like how we describe their style of play. They've even got an air raid siren FFS, yeah , yeah dambusters, but even so.

I'd take it if it got us up. you don't get bonus points for style, and I've never understood the 'nice passing' thinking it's somehow superior. wins come first.
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on another point, shame Scampton is closing. But I guess cutbacks are inevitable

:D

Why do Luton and Wigan not fit the criteria? What's possibly just as interesting is that over half of those have also gone to the Premiership in that time.

unchanged team!

I knew they’d risen from at least the third division since 2000, wasn’t sure whether they were in the 4th or not

Don't think Luton or Wigan fit.

So the sides that have managed to sustain it have done so on the back of new ground or as Bormuff partly a redevelopment.

Some like Donny also raised their profile by a new ground, Brentford and Scunny on the back of wealthy owners, although I believe both have a new ground in the pipeline.

What about Darlington Reg...they had a new ground and investment and everything...

 :hmmm:

It's a good question... always had a bit of time for the Quakers, what with Stockton to Darlington..and we signed Jimmy Lawton from them and Alan Sproates went the other way. Alan went on to play 300+ games for them Jimmy didn't for us.

Further Feethams was like the CG, a traditional ground with a cricket pitch attached.

I liked the epic LC encounter when we lost 3-0 at Feethams, OK they broke Dave Bennett's leg, but shit happens. When we turned the two legger around at the CG 4-0 and Shaun Close got the winner, I thought this is what Shaun needs , he''ll go on to greatness.  :no:

When we won 2-1 at the Reynold's Arena in 06, little did I think they would implode... very sad  :(

A London Red once recounted being asked, pre-match, in a no nonsense, norvern pub:  "so where are you from, lad?"  He had two answers, Swindon or London and opted for the latter.  Got a good kicking for being a "cockney bastard". :)

Dave Bennett was a great loss, dear Shaun, less so.

Remember that game.
Ground capacity about 25,000. Attendance 4,571.

Asked someone to move because they were sat in my seat.
The funny look took a while to register.  :doh:

If the evictee is reading this, then I'm sorry. :)