This is the ‘Bubs Gallery’ page, but as I seem to be powering through the words I thought I’d spill into this page too. The overriding emotion coming away from the ground was one of disappointment, not at the performance but at us not having something to show for our endeavour. We weren’t excellent, that would be too strong, but we played well. We were much better than the last three games and in my opinion, we were better than we were against Bolton and Shrewsbury. It’s clear that losing Toffolo and Walker has hit us hard though: we haven’t got the same vibrant attacking threat down the left as we had before and I have a strong feeling had Walker been on the field we’d have bagged the late chance Anthony Scully created. It was another disappointing night for Tom Hopper too, he came on to little effect late on, although time wasn’t on his side.
Moving away from the negatives though, Liam Bridcutt had a strong debut, although he looked like he fancied showboating a bit in the later stages. When our play worked we looked good, Grant, Hesketh, John-Jules, Anderson and Morrell all combing well in the first half. Bridcutt is like a huge bolt that ties the attack-minded players to the defence and he’s going to be important, as is consistency. Hesketh looked good in flashes, but he also drifted out of the game at times. He certainly left John-Jules looking isolated but he does have quality on the ball.
Michael Appleton, speaking to the club’s official site, felt a little differently to me about Jake, as did plenty of fans. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s a game of opinion. The boss certainly shared my opinion on the others though, saying:
“(Anthony) Scully came off the bench and did everything I said he would, he is a little pocket rocket but the bigger picture for us is way down the line,” explained Appleton. He is the type of player where you think the opposition will take it off him, but he has great strength and is an incredible kid, the Lincoln City fans will absolutely love him over time.
“Liam (Bridcutt) is a good player with experience and that is what we wanted to play the way I want us to do. Him and Joe (Morrell) played well together and having Liam in there allowed Joe to get forward more than he usually would, so the balance was good. Young Jake (Hesketh) looked back to his best at times and he had some good spells in possession.”
I can see what we’re trying to do, just as I could before the good run at Christmas. I think we need four wins to be safe and whilst we’re struggling to find them right now, I firmly believe they’ll come if we keep doing things the right way. I’m sure that between now and May we will get that little bit of luck, we’ll face a keeper down on confidence or get a referee who feels like offering us a lifeline in a game. I think some of our players will rise to the occasion, and I think the addition of Bridcutt will give us additional steel.
Luckily, or perhaps maybe not, we get to put the disappointment behind us on Tuesday where, if we play as we did last night, we’ll surely be in with a shout of ticking off one of those wins we need. Especially when you consider the side we got beaten by, the one we matched and should have beaten, are top of the league and heading for the Championship.
Superb game to watch and Bridcutt looked a cut above. Shame we couldn’t finish the chances but we matched a team that’s far in front of us in terms of experience. Great effort and Scilly looks a good fit too.
Exciting times if we have patience!
No Walker no strikers. No strikers no goals. No goals no points.
Tyreece is not up for it yet. Hopefully he will be at some point this season but as it stands he is very poor. Nothing from him. Maybe it’s time for Hopper to step up his game if he can ?..
Not much from Hesketh neither. But that is hardly any surprise…
Positives ? Bridcutt. If we keep him fit then him and Morrell will be the key to staying up.
Bright short cameo from Scully.
MK dons on Tuesday big game now.
Oh, and where is our Irish wing wizard Zack ? Fell off the bench and injured himself ? ??
Agreed. If you just want to moan, do it elsewhere FFS.
Why misogyny sucks in 2020.
Oh don’t be sexists guys, what knitting ?? That was good for my grandma… ? Maybe it’s not very humble ok, but I need to defend myself here. I do know something about football. I had no choice as I practically grew up on the terraces. Entitled to my opinion too.Try to respect my view as I respect yours… What moaning? It’s all facts in my comment above. Tell me where I was wrong? Hesketh? Rubbish… Tyreece? Rubbish… Zack? So far just funny.. ? (early days I know). Bridcutt? Could be a great and important signing. Scully? Promising. At which point I showed lack of football knowledge ? I know I can sometimes overreact and jump into conclusions to quick but most of the times I’m right and this is because I know ,,your” game.. Peace.. ?✌️
Feminist misandrist!
Haha pretty far from it.
Not doubting your knowledge, not being a misogynist, I am however saying that you are hardly ever constructive in your criticism. I’m sure the team love reading all your posts.
Not always constructive? Agreed. Sometimes I should just calm down before write a comment.. Team love reading my posts? I know? how could they not haha
Apart from the all too regular Shackell Short-Passing Horror Show or How to Give Easy Goals Away, I thought we put in a decent performance. By rights we should have had at least a point out of the match. Somehow we must start to put our chances away – which we can’t do it at the moment. But I’m upbeat about the new side. Scully and Bridcutt look really promising. So, lads,don’t throw cold water on my enthusiasm and blow it on Tuesday. And Shacks – PLEASE – no short give-away balls! Three (better four) good wins and we can all feel secure and positive that next season will bring rewards.
Spot on as usual sir.
No crtisism anywhere about Harry Anderson! Irrespective
of his industry… and indeed set piece goals that miss cost us big time last night. He is technically nowhere near!
Scully could be another Forester !
Agree George. Anderson was a liability as their fullback was creating havoc.he missed two chances he should have put away and the result would have been different.
Great game to witness though!!
I thought we played some of our most exciting football for some time. The 2 first half misses would have been goals of the season if converted.
Certainly Bridcutt was at the centre of most of it and he looks a fabulous buy.
Harry seems to have lost concentration and can be seen wandering about in the wrong place at times. Very bad miss but balls bouncing off his shins is part of his game!
Shack is stil a key member of the defence: positionally good, cool and a good organiser. He is being asked to play the ball out from the keeper and this is new to him, I suspect. BUT it is an essential skill of a class football team. Pep introduced it into England and Man City gave away loads of goals in his first 6 months – it paid off though!
Sadly I was not at the match as I was away with work. But it seems from conversations and reports on various platforms there was much to be admired in the display.
I seriously think a sharp dose of reality is needed here . Three great seasons under the Cowley’s but lets face it we couldn’t sink much lower when they arrived and yes I have been watching them for many many years.
MA is absolutely the right man for this period in the Imps development, it is clear where we are heading with a clear way of playing some exciting football and although results have not gone in our favour just recently, I actually think MA is ahead of where he thought he would be in terms of squad development at this stage.
One or two more tweaks in the summer and I really think we will surprise a few people both at the LNER and away grounds in this division.
In MA and the board we trust. I personally would rather have a club in the current form than one which may have been bankrupted by over spending on the playing budget.