10. Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh started 46 matches in a three-year spell with the Imps, but was eligible for 171 through that period, meaning he featured in 26% of City’s games during his tenure.
In those matches, he showed a tenacious ability on the ball, a ball-playing defender with some old-school centre-back traits. We lost 19% of the league games Walsh played in, compared to a season average of 28%. There’s no doubt we were better with him, and had he stayed fit, who knows, he might have helped steer us into the Championship with panache.
9. Liam Bridcutt
I toyed with not putting Liam Bridcutt on the list, because were it not for his injury problems, there’s no way we’d ever have signed him. He was a fine footballer, a cut above League One every time he stepped out onto the pitch. When he joined in 2020/21, I felt we’d signed a difference maker, and in my eyes, that was the case.
I won’t do the numbers for all the entrants on the list, but here are some facts – like Walsh, our loss ratio of 28% was reduced when Bridcutt played (down to 22%). Between February 9th and March 16th, his period of injury in 2020/21, we picked up 10 points from eight matches, an average of 1.25, against a season average of 1.76.
He played 45 matches across two seasons, just 39% of those he was eligible for. Had he played in 75% of those matches, I firmly believe he’d have been the captain who led us to the Championship, and maybe even an EFL Trophy win.