Ipswich Town v Lincoln City
Tuesday 9th March 2021 – 19:00
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
Not The Start We Were Hoping For.......
A limp & toothless display away to Gillingham was hardly the way we all envisaged Paul Cook's tenure as Ipswich Town manager was going to begin but alas the Boy's in Blue seldom fail to disappoint these days and so the hope and promise that had built up in the previous few games seem to all evaporate just like that. Cook went into the game having only arived 3 days earlier and having stated it had been a manic few days getting to know everyone etc he also stated he didn't want to change to much following Three wins on the bounce and he was true to his word with only Alan Judge missing due to a family bereavement, we all send our condolences to Judgey.
So just what went wrong, well for One we didn't seem to stick to our game plan and style of play from the off, against Hull, Doncaster & Accrington we went about it in our own way and without being great we ground out results, against the Gills however we seemed to get sucked into how they wanted the game to be played, something Luke Chambers touched on in his post match interview. He also said having got back on level terms against the run of play we then contrived to beat ourselves with ridiculous individual errors which I won't touch on the who and why as a certain player just makes my blood boil. The timing was awful as following Chambo's goal we did for a few minutes at least look the most likely team to go on and win it so despite being far from our best it could well be a case of a massive opportunity missed, especially when you look at Portsmouth getting thrashed at Northampton & Posh coming unstuck at Burton, we have to start taking advantage.
When I looked at the fixtures a few days ago I highlighted a fair few games in the closing weeks that I feel we can win, thankfully Gillingham away wasn't One of them as I just had no confidence in gong there and turning them over and so it proved, nor did I put Lincoln at home as a definite win and it is they we come up against Tuesday evening at Portman Road, a win in this One would right a few wrongs but we need individual players to be on their game, something that wasn't the case Saturday. It has been well documented just how important it is to have James Norwood in the starting line up and while that is the case I believe I justifiably gave him a tough time Saturday, frustrated he might have been but from the opening couple of minutes he was giving away fouls left, right and centre to give up simple possession and territorial advantage time and time again, just imagine Toto giving away that many fouls around our box, for me it's the same thing. Of course it was far from just him, Josh Harrop looks hopeless, Dozzell had a mare, Bennetts was just well, Bennetts, Parrott huffed and puffed and try as he may it just didn't come off, Bishop took ages to impose himself on the game, Holy was at times erratic and kenlock had his least effective game since returning to the side so it was hardly surprising we struggled.
I usually hate the saying "we'll park that one and move onto the next game" but on this occasion I totally agree, Paul Cook will have seen at first hand a few things we all know already and a few days more on the training ground will help, I get the feeling we won't be seeing another poor performance like that here and some kind of reaction is a must. Incredibly we are still in a decent position to force our way into the play off picture and while some are saying let's not worry about that this season I disagree, you would and should always take a promotion no matter when or how it comes, to do it this season would be a massive plus given how things have been so every game is important from now on in. Lincoln are no mugs for sure, their league placing says so but try as I might this is Lincoln City for god sake, coming to Ipswich Town as the favourites to win ? Sorry I can't be accepting that and never will. Town win for me and the Paul Cook era is properly up and running. COYB'S
The Opposition – Lincoln City
Having formed officially as an amateur association in 1884 after the disbanding of Lincoln Rovers (formerly Lincoln Recreation).
Lincoln soon helped to form what was then the Second Division in 1892–93 season, as an increasing number of clubs wished to join the Football League. The first game at Sincil Bank was in 1895, after moving from the John O'Gaunts Ground, was a friendly draw with local rivals, Gainsborough Trinity.
Up until the 1920s Lincoln spent most of their time swinging between the Second Division and the more localised leagues, the Midland and also the Central league. After then, however, in the 1921–22 season, Lincoln, along with several other clubs from the Central and Midland leagues, founded the Third Division (North). The newly founded league and the Second Division would take turns in becoming Lincoln's home up until the early 1960s where they would drop a further division to the Fourth Division in the 1962–63 season.
Their championship honours include three Division 3 (North) championships in 1931–32, 1947–48 and 1951–52, a Division 4 (now League Two) championship in 1975–76 (when they were managed by future England manager Graham Taylor).
It was the 1975–76 season where the club broke the record for most points for a whole season when 2 instead of 3 points were awarded for a win with 74 points in total (this was and still is the record amount of points achieved under the 2-point system); the record of winning the most games (32) and losing the fewest (4), was also set. City also become the first club in nearly a decade to score over 100 league goals (111 in total). They also won 21 out of 23 home league games in this season (the other 2 were drawn) and also won 11 games away from home, another impressive bout from the club. It was the season where, Graham Taylor recalls, "teams were petrified of coming to Sincil Bank".
In 1982 and again in 1983, Lincoln narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division. In 1985, Lincoln were the opposition at Bradford City when the Bradford City stadium fire claimed the lives of 56 spectators – two of them, Bill Stacey and Jim West, were Lincoln fans, and subsequently these fans had the Stacey West stand named after them.
Lincoln were relegated on the last day of the following season, and the year after that they became the first team to suffer automatic relegation from the Football League. This was a dramatic decline for a club who had almost reached the Second Division four years earlier and has been linked to the trauma arising from the disaster. This marked the fourth occasion on which Lincoln were demoted from the Football League, a record that still stands.
They regained their Football League place automatically via promotion as champions of the Conference (beforehand it was done by re-election) at the first attempt with a long ball game devised by eccentric manager Colin Murphy and held on to it until the end of season 2010–11. On 8 September 1990, Lincoln were the opposition when David Longhurst suffered a fatal heart attack during the first half of a game against York City at Bootham Crescent.
On 3 May 2002 Lincoln successfully petitioned to go into administrationbut the financial crisis would leave the first team squad bereft of players as the day saw five senior players –released at the end of their contracts with a sixth, departing for Leyton Orient. A hectic day finished with confirmation of Keith Alexander's official appointment as team manager.
In 2002–03, Alexander was given the task of keeping the team in the football league, he proved the many pundits and fans who believed that Lincoln would be relegated and sent out of business due to financial irregularities wrong. With a team made up of cheap ex-non-league players and the lower paid members of the previous season's squad he managed to take them to the play-off final which they lost to Bournemouth. The team were rewarded with a civil reception in Lincoln, and an open-top bus ride through Lincoln, an event usually preserved for the winners of such competitions, but was awarded to the team because of the massive achievement.
In 2003–04 Alexander again confounded the critics by coaching the Imps to another play-off position, this time losing to eventual winners Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals. Alexander, one of the very few black managers in the Football League, had a very serious brain injury (a cerebral aneurysm) halfway through the season, but made a full recovery. In the 2004–05 season they again qualified for the play-offs, for a third year running, and in the semi-finals Lincoln beat Macclesfield Town 2–1 on aggregate over two legs but lost in the final against Southend United 2–0 after extra time.
In the 2005–06 season finished 7th in League 2 after only losing 3 games since the new year. Lincoln were to face local neighbours Grimsby Town in the play-offs, a side they had beaten 5–0 at Sincil Bank earlier in the season. However, once again it was not to be, as Lincoln lost 3–1 on aggregate to become the first team ever to lose four consecutive play-off competitions.
Keith Alexander left his position as manager of Lincoln City by mutual consent on 24 May 2006 stating that he could take the club no further, and shortly after on 15 June John Schofield was appointed his successor. For the fifth year in a row, under a different manager, however, Lincoln City reached the League Two play-offs after finishing 5th in the league (the highest position that they have qualified for the play-offs in). Once again, however, they lost, this time to Bristol Rovers in the semi-finals courtesy of a 2–1 defeat away and a 3–5 defeat at home. The failure to succeed in five successive Play-off competitions is a record for any club.
After a run of nine losses and a draw in the final ten games, Lincoln City were relegated from League Two on the last day of the end of the 2010–2011 season, finishing in 23rd Place.
Following relegation to the Conference Premier, Tilson released all but three members of the squad, telling them they had no future at Sincil Bank. By early October, Lincoln were one point above the relegation zone and the management were coming under fire after a run of one win in four; Tilson was sacked as manager on 10 October 2011 and Grant Brown was put in temporary charge.
Brown remained in charge for four games, winning the first but none of the subsequent three, before former Mansfield Town manager David Holdsworth was confirmed as manager. Holdsworth managed the Imps to safety but only by 8 points.
On 17 February 2013, David Holdsworth left the club by mutual consent following twelve games without a win. On 27 February 2013, Gary Simpson, a former assistant of Keith Alexander during his time at the club, was appointed manager until the end of the season. Safety was secured on the final day with an away win against Hyde.
After a good start to the 2013–14 season, Lincoln went on a run of just two wins in seventeen games, which saw the Imps embroiled in relegation trouble once more. From the start of February to the end of the season, Lincoln lost just three games, and finished 14th in the league, their best placing since relegation.
Gary Simpson was placed on gardening leave on 3 November 2014. Assistant manager Chris Moyses was placed in temporary charge and then appointed permanently on 8 December 2014. Lincoln finished 15th that season. 2015–16 would prove to be largely a season of mid-table stability, eventually culminating in a 13th-place finish. Just before the season ended, Moyses announced that he would leave the club in order to focus on his business interests outside of football, and was subsequently replaced by Braintree Town manager Danny Cowley.
City started the 2016–17 season with mixed form, winning two and losing two of their opening four games. This was followed by a run of victories that resulted in the Imps sitting top of the table after a victory at Tranmere. The good form continued into the New Year as the Imps gradually started to pull clear of the group. Despite a bit of a dip of form in March, Cowley would go on to lead the Imps to a National League title and a return to League Two for the first time since their relegation six years earlier.
In the 2016–17 FA Cup, Lincoln beat Championship side Ipswich Town, in a replay, before defeating Championship leaders Brighton and Hove Albion at Sincil Bank to make the fifth round of the FA cup for the first time since the end of the Victorian era. On 18 February, Lincoln went on to beat top flight side Burnley 1–0 to historically go through to the FA Cup quarter final, the first time a non-league club had progressed to the last eight since 1914. In the quarter finals, they were defeated 5–0 at Arsenal.
In the 2017–18 season, on 6 February 2018, Lincoln beat Chelsea U21s in the semi-final of the 2017–18 EFL Trophy, taking them to Wembley Stadium for the first time in the 134 years of the club. They went on to win the final against Shrewsbury Town on 8 April 2018. They also qualified for the semi-finals of the League 2 playoffs, but were knocked out by Exeter over the two legs.
Lincoln won League Two, on 22 April 2019, after a 0–0 draw against Tranmere Rovers, having been top of the table since 25 August 2018.
Last season the Imps finished in 16th place in League 1
The Manager – Michael Appleton
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches, currently in 8th place with 50 points
20 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Oxford Utd
23 Feb Hull City 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
27 Feb Ipswich Town 2 - 1 Doncaster
02 Mar Accrington 1-2 Ipswich Town
06 Mar Gillingham 3-1 Ipswich Town
Lincoln City Last 5 Matches, currently in 3rd place with 60points
20 Feb Wigan Athletic 1 - 2 Lincoln City
23 Feb Lincoln City 2 - 2 Swindon Town
27 Feb Plymouth 4 - 3 Lincoln City
2 Mar Lincoln City 1 - 2 Fleetwood
6 Mar Lincoln City 3 - 0 Crewe Alexandra
Match referee – James Oldham
IPSWICH TOWN 1 LINCOLN CITY 0
It is more about the division in my opinion. The quality, and lack of it. 
Is that a typo?
