Before I start on the second half, I could offer some excuses. We’ve now played seven games in 21 days, one of which may or may not count. That’s a lot of pressure on a squad with no strikers, as well as having had Danny Mandroiu injured, having had Alex Mitchell and Adam Jackson out for short periods and now with Lasse on the bench. Of those matches, four have been away from home, one all the way down to Portsmouth. The cup game against West Ham will have taken a huge amount out of the players, and they’ve got to get set again for Wolves Under 21s this Tuesday. It’s a mad schedule.
Does this explain the lethargic showing in the second half? It could, but nothing can explain the individual mistakes that have led to the two goals. I don’t like the saying individual mistakes, and whilst their opening goal was a belter, it was entirely avoidable. We were on the attack, but a sloppy pass allowed them to break at speed and punish us with a stupendous strike. From that point on, I felt we were really poor, offering next to nothing against a Posh side that I’m not convinced have what it takes to get a top six finish.
They do have good players, individuals like Ajiboye and Mason-Clarke who can light up a ground, but they’re nothing special. We played without a striker, but they had one on the field who barely got a touch all game. I’m not sure what I’d be more disappointed with – a winger playing up top badly or a striker Bristol Rovers were willing to pay a big six-figure sum for not really causing any trouble. Mind you, they got three points and we got nothing, so I guess I’m clutching at straws.
Their goal just killed us off completely, and what’s really angering is there was no need. They were okay but not great, and I think had we been at our first half levels there could have been a chance of something. Sadly, just like in the game on Tuesday night which obviously we haven’t analysed, we weren’t able to find that gap, that bit of space we needed. When we did attack, it was hurried, disjointed and as dangerous as a snake with no head. That’s pretty much what our attack is without a striker, but in the first half it wasn’t as evident.
Their second goal was poor, although I don’t see the poor decision that Mark alluded to in his press conference. My feeling is Jensen could do better, but it’s just too simple from that position.
Two shots we managed in the second half, two in front of the superb travelling support. One was from Haks, a shot that had an xG of 0.25 – one in four times an effort from that position results in a goal. In this instance, a rushed shot came closer to knocking out a supporter in the stands, slashed horribly wide. The other effort we had was a speculative drive from Ted Bishop five minutes into injury time that I’m sure won’t have registered as an effort with anyone watching the game.
Is that a reflection of our striker issue? Surely, if two-thirds of the field are as strong as we can be (given the odd absences, such as Lasse) we should still be creating something? How can a team be competitive in the first half, hitting an xG of more than two goals, and drop off a cliff so badly in the second period? At one point, arms were being waved at each other, players looked to bicker, and it all just felt really awkward. I’ve seen some comments along the lines of ‘what has gone off in the dressing room’, and whilst I don’t for one minute think anything has, I can absolutely see why people might think that. In the first half, we looked like a team. In the second half, we just collapsed.
It wasn’t all bad – one or two players continued to work hard. Had we stopped putting in effort, as many suggested we had, then Posh would have scored more. Players like Paudie O’Connor and Adam Jackson can never be accused of lacking spirit and commitment, and I thought Jack Burroughs scrapped hard throughout as well. It just wasn’t enough, and Posh secured their third consecutive win against us. Unlike previous seasons, I can’t say they were streets ahead of us – the Posh side we beat 2-1 at the Bank on New Year’s Day in 2020 was much better than the side that beat us yesterday.
That’s what is really maddening, I think. This Lincoln squad has talent, there’s no doubt about that. I know lacking a number nine is a massive problem, and I think it excuses some performances and results, but that second half had nothing to do with lacking a striker. As Mark Kennedy said, it was about lacking decision-making skills on the day. We lost 2-0, many of us expected to lose 2-0, but after 45 minutes, we could have been 2-0 up, turning the home crowd and on our way to a famous win against a team considered as local rivals.
Mark Kennedy hinted that there’s light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to Jack Vale, and he’ll discuss that in this week’s press conference. Mide Shodipo will be a big boost to us, allowing us to play Reeco centrally and get back to having players in almost the right roles – Reeco has played through the middle before. I’d like to think we’d see Mide for 65 minutes or more on Tuesday, and Wolves U21s is a game we should be winning – getting a ‘W’ on the board would be nice, just to break up all of those ‘L’s that have come out of the blue. I’d like to think with Burton and Fleetwood coming up, we could give ourselves a nice four-point leg up the table and move closer to a time we might have some bodies back, thus putting this game out of our minds.
Still, it’s fair to say the tremendous travelling support deserved better than that second half and judging by Mark Kennedy’s post-match interview, I think he feels the same.