Theo Archibald – 101 minutes
Archibald was a player that I was 100% convinced would become a monster for us. He wasn’t ever really given a chance – he only appeared for more than 20 minutes twice in the league during the 2020/21 season. It became clear Michael Appleton didn’t fancy him, but you can see why – we had Johnson, Rogers, Grant, etc, and it was hard for Archibald and Elbouzedi to get into the side.
I think he’s proven since then that he could do a job here. He went on loan to Orient and bagged eight in League Two. We then sold him to Orient, and he scored another five as they were promoted. Sadly, he suffered an ACL injury in early 2024, and then another during his rehab, meaning he’s not played in 18 months.
Max Sanders – 3120 minutes
Whenever anyone talks about players not being given a chance, Max Sanders’ name inevitably comes up. Signed from Brighton, he’d been named as one likely to break into their side, so I felt we’d got a huge player coming in. From the start, things went a bit awry. There was an interview during which he admitted he didn’t know anything about Lincoln when he signed that didn’t endear him to his new manager, Michael Appleton. He played 163 minutes of the 2020/21 season, and then 788 minutes the following campaign.
When MA left and MK came in, it felt like a new start. It was – Kennedy played him for 2169 league minutes, but in that time, we got one goal and one assist. The truth is, he shouldn’t be on this list. Why have I included him? Because in the summer of 2022, he’d been labelled as one who hadn’t had a chance. After getting a lot of minutes, he didn’t prove himself, and he’s since dropped into League Two with Crewe