Imps are awful Accrington thrashing
By Nathan Jackson
September 18 2010
Lincoln produced an awful performance at the home of promotion chasing Accrington Stanley. The hosts dominated the opening exchanges before deservedly taking the lead, eventually making it two and then three, all before Scott Kerr was sent off for a nasty challenge on an Accrington player that got the Stanley players exceedingly riled.
City kicked off knowing that a win would see them move into the Playoff places, possibly as high as sixth if the win was by more than one goal, but the hopes of a first appearance in the top seven since last August were quickly destroyed by a professional Accrington side.
The Imps were on the back foot from the off, with the host side winning several corners without really forcing anything of note on target. They continued to pressure and eventually got their deserved goal when McConville took a clever touch to round an Imps defender before riffling home from range. It didn't take long for it to become 2-0 as Terry Gornell volleyed home from a free kick, City had barely been into the Accrington half with twenty minutes got.
City's first real attack into the Accrington half saw Dunbavin save at the feet of Carayol before City failed to convert the ball from a goalmouth scramble. Jarrett and O'Keefe also went close to pulling goals back for the Imps, but the hosts went in two goals to the good at half time.
O'Keefe shot wide within a minute of the restart before McConville was replaced by Turner for the hosts after getting injured. Unlike the first half, City were having a decent level of possession but they weren't really doing anything with it before Kerr replaced Clapham for the Imps.
Accrington made it 3-0 as Gornell was played through by Ryan and he neatly slotted home from a narrow angle to give Accrington a margin of lead that they had deserved throughout the game. There were several occasions when they could have made it 4 or 5, with only wayward finishing or Anyon saves preventing it becoming a real rout.
With 20 minutes to go, City received their first red card of the season as Scott Kerr went in viciously on Turner and the whole Accrington squad surrounded the referee. He had no choice but to send Kerr off, the third time he has seen red for the Imps down the years.
City couldn't muster even a consolation and Accrington settled for their comfortable 3-0 victory.
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Looking at other comments it looks like Sutton is not the most popular guy. I have some sympathy with him as his hands are tied, but are Accrington not worse off in terms of support and finances than we are.? And we lose 3 0 without putting in any apparent effort?
We are shipping goals at a fairly alarming rate. Why did we sell Kovacs? One minute he was being watched by some decent clubs. The next minute we give him away. He wasn't the most skilful player but he knew how to defend. Pearce is probably our best defender but I got the impression last time I saw him play even he was fed up.
In historical terms I would say that one player has been the difference between staying up and going down in the last three seasons.
1. Jamie Forrester
2. Rob Burch
3. David Somma
Without these three we wold have been down in my opinion.
The last three years have been pretty dire. Lincoln have become a very mediocre side. We are just surviving - nothing more. Without significant investment nothing will change - at least the board are trying to do that. I fear this will be the season we will come under some REALLY serious relegation pressure. And I wouldn't be surprised to see us go down.
Jarrett and Carayol have been good signings, but if the forwards aren't in tune to what they can create we might as well not bother. I don't rate O'Keefe. Kerr is long past his sell-by date and cannot survive through effort alone. Unless we get a solid and creative midfield nothing else works.
As appears usual every September for the past three years, the team is lacking confidence. 5-4-1 for me with Green as sweeper.
Difficult times.
Lee Hendrie - Bradford
Guillem Bauza - Hereford
Tony Capaldi - Morecombe
I can understand Hendrie, I'm sure the Bantam's budget eclipses ours and we couldn't have afforded him. But the other two, one an ex Espanyol and Spain U21 (I think) the other a 29 year old ex NI international. Do Hereford and Morecombe really have more clout, draw and budget than us? I doubt it. Dorrian has said their is budget available so why aren't we in the mix with these sorts of players?
I just wonder what's going on.
My biggest worry is that Sutton just doesn't seem to be much of a motivator. He always seems to be bleating about how difficult it is to attract so-called quality players to the club, but at this level, any successful manager must be able to develop existing talent and get a team of players who are prepared to run through brick walls for each other. How many players have actually improved since Sutton came in? I can't think of any. Even Jackson managed to turn Green from possibly the worst full-back in the league to a player of the season winner. Also, how many players do we have in the squad, particularly in midfield, who are able to pressure League 2 sides and match more physical teams like Accrington? From all the reports and comments I have read, we seemed to have been bullied out of the game, and I for one was not surprised at that. O'Keefe looks no better than Ricky Butcher, Kerr needs shipping out of the club and has done for the last 2 years, Clapham has done as well as he can but is effectively out of position and Keltie is hardly a dominating influence on a game. We need 2 central midfield players, one who is effective at protecting the defenders and with decent passing ability, and another with a bit of skill who is a goal threat.
If we do lose the next two home games, I genuinely fear the effect it will have on attendances and the pressure it will unquestionably create on Sutton's position.
Anyon didn't impress (although he was left exposed)
Hughton couldn't pass to save his life
Anderson was out of position several times
Watts sulked and should have made a tackle for the third
Green was noticable by not noticing him
Clapham was rightly taken off
O'Keefe was dire
Kerr ran around with his heart on his sleave and got sent off
Carayol looked light-weight when not not attacking
Broughton either couldn't control it or couldn't pass it when he did
Hutchinson took too long on the ball and couldn't find space
Jarrett was occassionally OK, but seemed bullied
Other than that, they closed two lanes of the M6 northbound and we missed the first 10 minutes avoiding the 14 mile tail-back and then my 5 year-old wanted a wee, so we missed another 5 minutes.
Quote:Capaldi was managed by Mcilroy when he was with NI, hence that move.welsh_imp
Interesting what you say about Accringtons finances, I was having a very similar thought when I saw the following transfers last night
Lee Hendrie - Bradford
Guillem Bauza - Hereford
Tony Capaldi - Morecombe
I can understand Hendrie, I'm sure the Bantam's budget eclipses ours and we couldn't have afforded him. But the other two, one an ex Espanyol and Spain U21 (I think) the other a 29 year old ex NI international. Do Hereford and Morecombe really have more clout, draw and budget than us? I doubt it. Dorrian has said their is budget available so why aren't we in the mix with these sorts of players?
I just wonder what's going on.
Bauza was on trial at Mansfield at one stage I think.
Grimsby 1 Fleetwood Town 2