Will Jacko sign a new contract with The Imps?

At the end of September of this year Lincoln City manager Peter Jackson agreed to an extension of his current managerial contract. The Imps had had an indifferent start to the season and were languishing near the bottom of League Two at the time Jackson was offered the new contract by the Imps board.

What was bizarre about this situation was Jacko himself allegedly stated that he'd only sign the contract when Lincoln started picking up League Two points. On the 6th November it was announced that Jackson had been named League Two Manager of the Month for October for a fine run of results, so it was assumed that Jackson would sign his new contract. Well, it's now December 10th and Jackson still hasn't signed the contract. However, since winning the Manager of the Month award, Lincoln have gone on a terrible run of form, being knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Kettering Town and also not winning a single league game. Apparently he was due to sign the contract the day after we got knocked out of the FA Cup but this was postponed because of the timing.

Will Jackson sign or won't he? There are rumours that he may go back to Huddersfield - this I don't believe, because at the moment he is struggling with a team in League Two. Jackson is out of contract with Lincoln City at the end of the season. He has publically stated he is very happy at Lincoln, but nothing lasts forever and the word loyalty does not seem to exist in the world of football anymore.

Some fans are starting to question Jackson's ability and his man-management skills but a manager is only as good as the set of players he has at his disposal. Lincoln City still have a very average League Two squad. In my opinion only a couple of players could make a name for themselves in a higher division at the moment. They are Danny Hone and Lee Frecklington. Jackson did bring in eight new players in the summer and of these, only Rob Burch appears to be earning his wages.

Whatever Jackson decides to do, it is going to be a long hard winter for Imps fans!

The Rollercoaster that is Lincoln City

It has been a good 6 months since I last posted on this blog. However, not wanting to make any excuses I have been extremely busy with work.

After a summer involving lots of hype from Lincoln City manager Peter Jackson, the expectations to say the least were quite high for most Lincoln City Fans. During the summer months Jacko had dipped into the transfer market and signed his 'fantastic seven' - these were seven players who he felt would most definitely strengthen the squad. They were also said to be his first choice transfer buys. In the past at Lincoln City we have been used to signing players who no-one else seemed to want!

The seven players in no particular order - all signed as free transfers were:
Aaron Brown, Rob Burch, Frank Sinclair, Kevin Gall, David Graham, Stefan Oakes and Janos Kovacs. He also signed Sam Mullarkey from non-league Lincolnshire team Grantham Town.

When these signings were made each player was hyped up by Jacko to make it sound like we had signed a team of world beaters! It made for an exciting summer as a Lincoln City fan, just for a change!

Rob Burch was brought in as a replacement for Alan Marriott who was controversially not given a new contract which would have seen him given a testimonial match as he would have passed the magic ten year barrier playing for the same club. Disgruntled fans Internet message boards wondering what their local hero had done to not deserve a new contract. The jury was definitely out on Rob Burch as he would be scrutinised by the 'Marriott mafia' for the first few months of his Lincoln City contract. I think he has done a good, consistent job from the start. He commands his area well by shouting at players constantly, collects the ball from crosses easily, is a good shot stopper and his distribution skills are also top notch.

Frank Sinclair was brought to Lincoln with hype surrounding him that he was the best signing Lincoln have ever made! That has since been proved to be a load of nonsense as 19 year old Danny Hone, son of former Imps player Mark Hone has kept Frank out of the team. Danny came through the Imps ranks as a Youth Team Player and has become a fixture as a centre back this season. He has a contract with Lincoln City until 2010 but i likely to be snapped up by another team by then as scouts from Championship clubs have been watching him this season.

Janos Kovacs has been paired with Danny Hone at centre back. He has made one or two errors of judgement but has performed reasonably well.

Stefan Oakes arrived at Lincoln with the reputation as having one of the best, if not the best left foot in the lower divisions. Jacko claimed that his left foot can peel carrots! We hoped for good things from this midfielder who on his day commands the midfield like a lower division Steven Gerrard, but who has mostly disappointed this season. He has regularly been out injured and when he has played he has with doubt played some wonderful left footed passes but has in my opinion appeared to look lazy and uninterested for the most part.

Aaron Brown was brought in to fill the left back slot. He started as left back at the Don Valley Stadium on the first day of the season but was soon found to be out of position quite regularly. Then he got injured and his slot was fill by the industrious Lee Beavers. Lee has taken his chance and claimed that position for now. Aaron has played fleetingly in the first eleven - up front and on the left wing. I think we can use the term utility player here!

That brings me onto the last three signings - all strikers! Kevin Gall joined on a loan spell until January but has recently been informed that he will no longer be needed at the end of the spell.
David Graham helped get Torquay United promoted to League 1 back in 2003/04, and scored over 20 league goals in the process. Since then his career seemed to have been hit by controversy. However, Jacko was willing to give him a chance to repeat his goalscoring skills of his first spell at Torquay United. So far he has only played a few times for Lincoln and like Kevin Gall has scored no goals yet which considering they were both brought in as strikers is pathetic to say the least.

Sam Mullarkey has just turned 20 and in the few appearances I have seen him wearing an Imps shirt he seems to have the potential to do well.

It would seem that the much hyped 'fantastic seven' haven't really turned out to be that fantastic at all. It all sums up to a poor season for the Imps so far. Some onlookers will say Jacko has won a Manager of the Month award - that may well be true but we haven't won since then!