The Big Debate: Is our current squad better than 2003/04?

Strikers

2003/04 Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Simon Yeo, Francis Green, Marcus Richardson Aron Wilford

2018/19 John Akinde, Danny Rowe, Jordan Roberts, Matt Rhead, Shay McCartan

I’ve tried to be as fair as I can with the matches here, and I know that there’s going to be a cry of ‘foul’ before we get to the end. I’m going to have to defend one of my picks. I know it.

GTF v John Akinde is a no-brainer. John is a good centre forward and pivotal to what we’re about, but GTF in full flow was a sight to behold. Any team would have accommodated him at the time, he had craft and poise. He didn’t always turn up of course but he scored 16 in 42 matches that season. 

Simon Yeo and Danny Rowe. Get ready to shout me down, but I’m giving it to Rowe. Why? For a start, Yeo started fewer games that season than Richard Liburd and whilst he did have a goal in him and could spring a real surprise from time to time, his golden age was yet to come. He’d spent best part of two seasons as a bit-part player and hadn’t reached 20 goals in two years. In Rowe I believe we have a Championship quality footballer who will severely impact the rest of our season. That’s my choice and I stand by it.

I’ve not seen enough of Jordan Roberts to say he was better than Franny Green and I liked Green, so that’s 2-1 to the classic side. The modern-day lads get one back as Matt Rhead is, obviously, a better choice than Marcus Richardson. let me tell you though, Richardson was a good player and someone not given enough credit for the impact he had that season.

Finally Aron Wilford, scorer on the final day of the 2003/04 season, faces Shay McCartan It’s another win for the current squad, 3-2.

Conclusion

I score it 12-7, with the current side coming out on top. Even taking into account some of the matches, what is evident is the current squad has no filler. Could 2004 Simon Weaver, Aron Wilford or Richard Liburd earn a contract with the current squad? No. Not one of the current players would struggle to get a place on the bench in Keith’s side which suggests a better squad now from then.

That isn’t critical of Keith’s team and if the cost to assemble and wage bill as taken into account you might have a sound argument for saying the better squad in terms of value for money was his. Keith’s team emerged from a very different background, one of austerity and struggle, not cup runs and Wembley appearances. Lincoln was a harder sell and to even have seven players then better than their 2019 counterparts is testament to the hard work our legendary manager put in.

That doesn’t change the argument though. Pound for pound, player for player, this is the best Lincoln City squad we’ve had in my lifetime. It would be very hard to argue against it being the best ever in terms of numbers, even if the Murphy side of the eighties would win 90% of the individual battles, in terms of depth, variety and options it really does win out.

Who knows, Danny might not even be done yet.