Much to Jack Mulhall’s delight, I have ‘cosied up’ with former boss Chris Sutton to talk about Lincoln.
I actually haven’t as such. I got a chance to ask him some questions, but it was through a third party, so we didn’t get to talk face-to-face, which is much like when he was the manager here.
However, I firmly believe he was ahead of his time in terms of the football he wanted to play and the players he wanted to do it with. I was keen to ask if he thought the same, but he skilfully avoided a direct answer.
“I don’t know how you can really judge that,” he said. “Football is about players, of course. When I took over at Lincoln, it was in League Two. I think they’d lost nine out of the first 12 games. I went in, and there wasn’t money to spend, so you have to manoeuvre.
“Fortunately, Martin O’Neill was at Aston Villa as manager. He gave us some good loan players, Nathan Baker and Eric Lichaj. Leeds United gave us a guy called Davide Somma, whose goals ended up keeping us in the league. So, I think there can be a balance there.”
Of course, we now know he left in a row over the money he was being given from our FA Cup run, which culminated in a 4-0 defeat against Bolton Wanderers, but he gave a little glimpse into what might have followed had he not jumped ship early the following season.
“The dream of every manager is to develop youngsters from your own academy, nurture them, and get them into the first team. But in this day and age, football is so short-term, and fans think it’s about instant results. So there certainly is that balance.
“In terms of possession-based football, it’s about winning games, however you do it. Some of the best managers over the years may not have had the best players but found a way of playing. It can be more direct or whatever, but they find a way of winning games of football.
“That’s the most important thing. From a supporter’s perspective, supporters want to see the beautiful game played, but if your team’s winning, they’re not really that fussed. It is all about winning.”
Sadly, the team didn;t win enough under Sutton for him to keep his job, but had he stayed, I think we’d have stayed up. He didn’t, Tilson arrived and things went even further south than we thought possible.
I was speaking to Sutton courtesy of Best Online Poker Sites.