Dare we dream that Danny is chasing a League One striker?

Everything that happens at Sincil Bank recently seems to scream League One’, especially player recruitment. We seem to be focused on bringing in players from the division above, perhaps with a view to ensuring that is the level we’re at next season. Danny keeps talking about how tough back to back promotions are, but crucially he does keep mentioning back to back promotions. many fans didn’t dare, but it is our leader and messiah who keeps bringing it up.

If it is to happen, if we are going to be top seven or (dare I say) top three, we do need one or two more bodies in. Danny has spent the best part of eighteen months looking for strikers, Matt Rhead is now the only player in the first eleven left over from Chris Moyses’ days. Whilst Rheady does a great job, we do need some legs around Matt Green, whether to alleviate pressure on him or perhaps even increase it a little.

We’ve all got our favourite opponents whom we’d love to see at Lincoln. Ricky Miller is one, a player possibly destined to always be the modern-day Michael Bridges, constantly linked with City but never actually showing up at our door. Others want Christian Doidge, a proven scorer with a £1m price tag which, with respect, is a long way out of our price range. Simeon Akinola is a name that keeps getting floated around although given the fact he was in a Lincoln City training top six months ago, it has gone awfully quiet on that front.

A name that has got my pulse racing recently is that of Lyle Taylor, the AFC Wimbledon striker with 12 goals so far this season. On the face of it, we shouldn’t be talking about him. He’s 27, bang on form and possibly at the height of his career. He scored the goal that knocked City out of the FA Cup and he’s got eleven others so far this season.

That afternoon in Kingston-upon-Thames he was nothing short of sensational, had he remained on the pitch for the full 90 minutes I believe they could have won by three or four. He’s mobile but also strong and direct. He seized upon Rob Dickie’s mistake to give them an early lead and effectively ran their forward line until his 29th minute injury. After that, we asserted our dominance and were thoroughly unlucky not to at least get a draw.

Now I keep hearing his name mentioned in hushed tones when talking about our new recruit. whereas once upon a time we’d be looking at the reserve squads of League One sides and assessing who might b available, the bar does seem to have been raised somewhat. Bringing in James Wilson, Michael Bostwick and Lee Frecklington has convinced me that Danny or Nicky have hypnotic powers, designed to entice quality footballers to drop a division and join their revolution. In Lyle Taylor, they have a head start.

It was Danny Cowley who took Lyle Taylor to Concord Rangers after his release by Millwall as a teenager. He banged in 34 goals for Danny in his first season and earned a move to Bournemouth. Whilst he didn’t set the world alight at Dean Court, it did provide the stepping stone for him to eventually wind up at Falkirk where he played in a Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibernian, winding up losing 4-3 after being 3-0 up at half time. He scored 29 times up north, getting a move to Sheffield United once the season concluded. In July 2015 he settled at AFC Wimbledon where, it is fair to say, he’s been pretty good, scoring 49 times in three seasons.

He’s a focused young man who attributes his desire to being released as a youngster. In a 2016 interview with the Daily Mail he said; “Genuinely, being a young kid of 18 or 19, I don’t think I worked hard enough, but I think that’s something you learn as you grow up in the game. You learn things every single day and that’s one of them. Millwall released me and I went to play for Concord Rangers in the Ryman League for a year. Being released isn’t nice, no matter how it happens or what’s happened previously – it’s a real kick in the teeth. But it was that day I sat down with my step-mum and she said to me: ‘You can drop out of football or you can prove them wrong. It’s as simple as that. You’ve got two choices – one or the other. Make a decision’. The biggest motivator for me was to prove the manager, Kenny Jackett, wrong for releasing me. But looking back on it he was definitely right to do it. I wasn’t ready, I hadn’t learned enough and if someone doesn’t see you willing to learn or showing enough promise, then they are not going to give you another contract. That was down to me, not the coaching or the manager, so I have to take responsibility for it.”

It isn’t just the Danny link which provides the fuel for this particular rumour. Wimbledon signed a striker yesterday, Joe Piggott from Maidstone, which could be indicating that they’re willing to move one on, or better still have already agreed to move one on. Secondly, he’s out of contract at the end of the season and it doesn’t appear any new talks have taken place. In 2016, with his deal set to expire at the end of last season, he negotiated and signed a fresh contract in August. It’s getting rather late in the day for an extension this time around.

There may not be any truth at all in the rumour, but it does have a certain appeal. He fits the demographic of our recent signings having played at the higher level for the majority of his career. He’s exactly what we’re looking for, he’s big and strong, possibly as a result of playing as a centre half until the age of 16. He’s quick and direct, we saw that first hand during our FA Cup exit and he’d provide both an alternative for Matt Green and a wiling partner too. I’m not writing Rheady off, but imagine the trouble Green and Taylor would cause defences from the off? Then, with half an hour left, the big man comes on when the defenders legs are tired and is twice as effective as he would be starting the game.

Also, having read his Daily Mail interview, it seems he is of the same mind as me when discussing match officials. Rather controversially, when asked about the one thing he’d change in the game, he said “Referees. Half the time I genuinely think we could referee the game better ourselves. The thing that winds me up the most about referees is the arrogance. Sometimes they are so arrogant, it’s beyond belief. It’s almost like the game’s all about them. You can’t talk to them or discuss anything with them. They are a nightmare when they want to be, but occasionally you’ll get a really good one and everything’s great.”

Normally, I wouldn’t believe pulling of a move for Taylor was possible, but a very influential man once told me (and a lot of other people) that impossible is just an opinion. Therefore, I will believe that we could be in the hunt for Lyle Taylor and I firmly believe if we were, he could be the final piece of our League One promotion jigsaw.