Football Season Guide

Lincoln will have to start their first season outside the Football league since 1996 and it promises to be a bumpy ride for the Imps. The last time they dropped out, 14 years ago, they managed to bounce straight back as champions and remain in the Football League for a while. Now such a scenario looks over-optimistic for Lincoln who will face a major challenge even getting into the play-offs. Steve Tilson stayed on as a manager despite overseeing an incredible collapse in form in the last two months of the season that culminated in a painful relegation in the last day of the season when things were in Lincoln's hands but they blew it with a spectacular 3:0 home defeat to Aldershot. As a result, they join the cohort of former Football League clubs that are now stuck in the Conference and are desperately trying to get out. It is a tough thing to do with just two teams going up and the odds are definitely stacked against Tilson's men. The cost of relegation mean that any transfer spending has been extremely limited and most of the new signings are quite underwhelming given the stature of the club. Gillingham trio Tony Sinclair, John Nutter and Josh Gowling could definitely improve the defence but midfield seems to be lacking flair and creativity. None of the attacking players comes with a great goalscoring record too and one must wonder where the goals will come from for the Imps who relied majorly on on-loan Ashely Grimes last season to do that. In conclusion, the picture does not look too promising for the team from Lincolnshire who will face a difficult period early on adapting to the rough play and unwelcoming grounds while at the same time Tilson will have to construct a new side almost from scratch which is bound to take time. And with the quality of the competitors in the league, the play-offs seems like a long shot for Lincoln who may have to settle for just a place in the top ten.