Sutton Faces Tough Job at Trigger Happy Lincoln City

Gary Moss

Lincoln City are just one of the many teams in the lower leagues plagued by their own ambition. You cannot knock their desire to climb the Football League ladder. In fact, it should probably be admired. But for as much as football is an unscripted game – and this is the reason we love it – there is a number of ways you can stunt your own growth.

I admit there is no set recipe to success. Let’s take the Football League teams I’d consider the most successful in recent years.

Peterborough United have achieved success by backing their manager and investing in the finest lower league starlets hungry to better themselves. West Bromwich Albion have proved they are among the best by playing football the right way. Stoke City have used physical competition as the driving force behind their rise. Wolverhampton Wanderers have spent big money on the players who score goals. Birmingham City have astutely invested in former Premier League players reaching the twilight of their careers to add experience their ranks. Exeter City have kept a solid side season-on-season allowing the players to enjoy the fruits of their own success.

I could go on…

There are many ways to go about achieving what all teams strive for – promotion. But although I have shown there is more than one method of success, one ingredient is present throughout. A consistency in approach. You can have a project. But you must know how you’re going to achieve it.

The Imps have a vision of playing Championship football. People around the club – and others – may go as far as saying their team ‘belong’ at this level.

I wouldn’t agree. You have no divine right to belong anywhere. But no team doesn’t belong in a higher tier. The rapid rise of Hull City is just one example of what can be achieved. You cannot just click your fingers though. You need to draw up a battle plan and trust it. After all, if you’re confident in what you’re doing, you’ll never have doubts. Arsene Wenger has stuck by his guns of nurturing young talent, and he will be successful again, bringing more trophies to the Emirates.

But a lack of method is why Lincoln City still find themselves languishing in League Two. This article is not an attempt to pick on ‘Little Lincoln’. It’s just my general view within the game that has been highlighted with their recent appointment of former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton as manager at Sincil Bank.

Three years ago, City were knocking on the door of automatic promotion to League One with John Schofield as head coach. They were hammering teams for fun. And their secret to success was having a boss who had worked behind the scenes at the club, knew the players and was Lincoln through and through. The Imps went onto finish fifth and miss out in the playoffs.

Two years ago, City were in the drop zone of the fourth tier and Schofield was sacked. They turned to the lower league knowledge of Peter Jackson.

Jackson had recently taken Huddersfield Town out of the same division and was acclaimed to have acquired wisdom at this level. He rescued the sinking City ship, who were charging towards the playoffs, until he was diagnosed with cancer later that season. Jackson recovered and last season, City ended up locked in mid-table. They fell short of their goals but could had something to build on.

And this season, after a hardly dazzling start to the campaign, Jackson was sacked. They were 17th after five games but at this early stage of the term only three points adrift of the playoffs. I’d suggest an overreaction to a start they’d have hoped for a little more from.

Lincoln have now turned to Sutton suggesting a third new method for attaining their goal.

Now the board are looking to a man with no experience either playing or managerial at the lower end of the Football League to guide them to their dreams.

I’m not going to damn Sutton to failure at Sincil Bank. He may be successful. The previous two City regimes proved so in the short-term after all. But when the going got tough before, the axe was wielded, ultimately because the board don’t know how to fulfil their hopes.

Sutton started life with the red and whites stripes with victory over highly-fancied Aldershot. I don’t think the win was anything to do with a honeymoon period. You could see within 90 minutes that the former Blackburn hit-man had made a couple of minor tweaks to the shape of the Imps side, which won them the game. They showed improvement.

Maybe this trend will continue and the managerial change will prove right. But I fear they may have made a big mistake. Not because the risk of Sutton cannot pay off. But because I fear the board will not be brave enough to let it pay off.

Trouble is inevitably ahead. The beauty of lower league football is every team faces periods of struggle. But based on City’s track record, this could land Sutton the sack just a year or two down the line.

I feel sorry for Jackson. I rate him as a manager. And I think he would have turned things around. I’d argue he did leave Sincil Bank with a squad inferior to that he took on. But name me a manager who at the same club wouldn’t have struggled with the loss of players such as Lee Frecklington, Lee Beevers and Dany N’Guessan. They were important players he couldn’t keep hold of when the big clubs came knocking, and in the end the sales of these lynchpins cost him his job.

Jackson made some poor signings in hindsight. He made some good ones too. And this is just lower league football. The transfer market is a gamble, because lots of clubs simply don’t have the money to invest in proven players.

I think Jackson would have got it right. I lived in Lincoln for three years and now I hope Sutton gets it right. I wish him luck, because he’ll need it on the Imps’ track record.