The grass is rarely greener – why leave Lincoln City?

I wouldn’t like to include Alan Power or Terry Hawkridge in this discussion, neither were offered great deals by the club by all accounts and both got good moves elsewhere. The irony is the players we didn’t actively try to keep have gone on to do very well, Power has been exceptional for Kilmarnock and earned himself Player of the Year there, whilst Hawkridge made 29 starts for Notts County, scoring three times. Okay, he wasn’t their best player, not by a long way, but he did have a decent season with plenty of football. Adam Marriott got lots of game time too, another player who turned down a deal, but he shouldn’t be at that level anyway. Him playing for Royston was akin to me going and playing for an under 14 team (okay, under 12, some of those 13-year olds are big lads you know)

Looking back, very few players in recent times have move up and enjoyed success. Ben Tomlinson switched to Barnet and effectively ended his career, but Tom Miller did alright at Carlisle. He is without a club now though, but you wouldn’t bet against him finding another one quickly.

Then consider players who moved to Posh looking for their big chance. Danny Lloyd, Ricky Miller and Joe Ward all spring to mind, similar to Alex in that they were stars at their club, had excellent spells in the National League or below and threatened to be key players in League One. All three were lauded as the next big thing when they arrived, but arguably only one has shown any real promise. Miller was out of favour pretty much straight away and looks odds on to end up at Port Vale, but it seems a move back to his home town was fairly toxic. Joe Ward, a cracking player who was massively under rated when with us, started nine league matches since his January switch. If rumour is to be believed, his future lies elsewhere too.

Danny Lloyd had more success, 17 starts with a further 19 as a sub and eight league goals, 13 in total. He disproves the point I’m making, but then there are exceptions to every rule. Players who step up are going to do well, Jack Marriott did alright for Posh this season after his move from Luton, didn’t he? Marcus Maddison went there from Gateshead and did well too, but Posh are all about churning out players like stock. Buy low, speculate and then cash in. Alex has just spun the roulette wheel of Peterborough United, but will he end up leaving them in the black, or in the red?

I’m not saying Woodyard will flop, not at all. He’s a talented footballer who I firmly believe is good enough for that level, but the omens are not good when you look at the recent Imps who have had their heads turned elsewhere. Lee Angol is a player who brings all three parties together, Lincoln, Posh and Evans. One decent season with Peterborough wasn’t enough and he was farmed out on loan to us. With a permanent deal in the bag he could have been a part of the Lincoln success story, instead he decided Steve Evans and Mansfield Town were his route to glory. Has he flopped there? He fell out of favour with the larger than most manager quickly and only seemed to get going once David Flitcroft took over.

Lincoln City are a team on the up and the older players who are committing prove that. Neal Eardley and Michael Bostwick could well be playing at a higher level, but both committed their futures to Lincoln City. You’re more likely to see that from an older player, once they’ve got families and experience they covet stability and a good working environment. After all, what has Neal Eardley got to prove to the world? He’s represented his country, played top flight football and yet he chose to remain with us for the next two years. Michael Bostwick is obviously settled in the area, but if that alone was the factor in him coming here, why leave Posh at all? Why not negotiate a new deal there?

I’m not worried about the departure of Alex and I wish him all the best. Whenever he spoke to me he was always very level-headed and honest and I confess I have a lot of time for him. He even came and asked if he could buy a copy of my Who’s who book, because he wanted to know more about Lincoln players and history (I gave him a copy, obviously. I’m not that tight). I know there are people who have said they don’t care about him, he’s not our player and all that, but once the bitterness dies down everyone will realise he has been a huge part of two wonderful seasons and he should always be respected for that.

For us, life goes on. We’ll reshuffle, Danny will hopefully not hamper the search for a new striker by insisting on the very best deal for the club, I mean that in the nicest possible way. After all, if we do have £100,000 to spend on Kristian Dennis, Jayden Stockley or Mikael Mandron, lets just get it spent and be done with it, irrespective of whether we might be able to save £10k on an agent’s fee. I look at it this way: when Fe and I wanted to buy our house, we went straight in with the asking price. Another bidder offered less, but on hearing our bid he upped his offer. The seller stuck with us because we’d paid what was being asked straight away. You know why we did that? Because we wanted the house and saw no reason to try and haggle. We had the money, it had a price and we’re going to livehere for many, many years. We have to look at the striker purchase the same way.

I’m convinced that replacing Alex is going to be a tough job, Michael Bostwick is a player in the same position but not of the same ilk. Will we look for another defensive midfielder, or will we take the opportunity to try a new system in which the ball retention happens further up the pitch? Will the transfer focus now be on another central defender, ensuring Bozzie doesn’t have to drop back at all? Will we ever get the striker, or two, that was the difference between seventh and third last season?

As for Alex, his battle starts all over again at a team where he doesn’t have his own song, he doesn’t have a manager who understands him completely and he does have the weight of expectation on his shoulders. I won’t be making much more comment on his move, as many have said life goes on and he’s not our player now, but it did seem very odd seeing him in a Peterborough kit. He’s been virtually ever-present in our two amazing seasons and although his choice of team upsets me, I do sincerely wish him all the best and hope he proves what a good player he is at London Road. At least there will be far fewer home fans on his back if things go wrong, seeing as they average about 4,000 less than us at present.

Now, I don’t expect any other high-profile departures, despite the obvious interest that will be shown in Luke Waterfall and players of that type. Danny said every club is a selling club and he’s right, but players thinking of leaving should read this article and understand the grass is rarely greener on the other side of the fence. League position isn’t everything and all being well, we’ll welcome Alex and Posh to Sincil Bank in 2019/20 after winning the League Two title this coming season.