Can somebody pinch me? Please!
It genuinely feels like I am in a dream! My club, Lincoln City could go into the second tier at the end of this season, we are in sensational form.
On that note, let’s begin our journey:
Lincoln City were a non-league club as recently as the 2016/17 season.
Chris Moyses had overseen the dark days and deserves a lot of credit for the work he put in during that time, before Danny Cowley arrived at Lincoln from Braintree Town.
The 47-year-old was successful in double promotions from the National League to League One. He also had success in the then EFL Trophy, beating Shrewsbury Town 1-0 at Wembley.
What a great day out that was for myself and thousands of likeminded Imps fans.
After several seasons of stability in League One, this could be our year!
Let that sink in. This year, we could go up to the Championship, the second tier. My word.
Trips to Bramall Lane, Pride Park and possibly even The City Ground, should Nottingham Forest be relegated. Wow.
The Imps are currently in second place, just two points behind Cardiff City, after accumulating 61 points across just 30 games. That’s an average of 2.03 points per game.
Michael Skubala’s side are unbeaten in 13 games in League One, with the last defeat coming all the way back in November.
Even then, that was a close game where Wycombe Wanderers snatched the win away from the Imps at the death.
Since then, Lincoln have beaten sides also vying for promotion such as Cardiff (2-1), Bradford City (3-0) and Stockport County (2-1) as they look to reach the second tier for the first time since 1961.
The Imps recorded a brilliant 4-1 win away at Plymouth Argyle at the weekend, and Michael Skubala is a wanted man with several Championship sides seeking the 43-year-old’s signature.
One thing that is evident at the LNER Stadium (Sincil Bank) is that the board back the manager and the staff.
Interim Tom Shaw is still an assistant to Michael Skubala and the experienced Chris Cohen left but returned after a stint at Stoke City as assistant to then manager Steven Schumacher.
This is Cohen’s third stint with the club. Something obviously feels like home to the former Nottingham Forest man.
The Imps owe Clive Nates a lot, with the South African stepping down recently but remaining as vice-chairman, following the sale of the club to American Ron Fowler and his Liquid Investments business.
Lincoln hope that bringing Fowler into the club can aid them in taking the next step.
Nates has backed managers such as Danny Cowley, Skubala and Michael Appleton to name but a few.
Times haven’t always been easy, however, with midfielder Danny Mandriou and manager Mark Kennedy having a confrontation during their time at the Imps, before both departed the club.
Wickens signed from Fulham and has been solid in goal for Michael Skubala’s side, with the 24-year-old gaining 21 clean sheets from 68 games as he becomes an established number one in Lincolnshire.
The keeper’ has saved 70% of the shots he has faced and has won 81% of his duels in this campaign. Wickens has also played every minute in the league.
Bradley has been sensational in League One with several defensive blocks from centre-back whilst also scoring a quad of goals for the Imps from set-pieces. He also has an assist this campaign too.
However, this wasn’t always the case with Derby County fan Holly Wright stating: ‘[Sonny] Bradley isn’t good enough for the Championship’ whilst he was with the Rams prior to joining Lincoln City.
Darikwa is a solid right-back who gets up and down the field. Defensively he is sound, whilst going forward the 34-year-old has six goal contributions this season.
He also had nine goal involvements last season, emphasising just how important the Zimbabwean is to the promotion contenders.
Reach was a free agent at the start of last summer and has now proved himself to be integral at the LNER Stadium.
The 33-year-old has played 25 times this campaign and has four goals and four assists, whilst also not neglecting his defensive duties.
McGrandles was somewhat overshadowed by both Ethan Erhahon and Ethan Hamilton when he joined in the 23/24 season. Since the departure of the duo, McGrandles has really stepped up and scraps in that midfield for every single ball.
The Scot has had 81 tackles, blocked 13 shots and he’s made 159 recoveries. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old has also won 188 duels and had 18 successful dribbles as he looks to push Lincoln City further up the field.
Hackett is a goal-scoring winger who is the clubs top scorer with nine goals. Additionally, he also has four assists. The St Lucian has won 41 tackles despite being not being in the centre of play.
He’s also not afraid to take his man on, with Hackett managing 25 dribbles this season alone. Furthermore, The 28-year-old isn’t afraid to have a shot, with him succeeding in having 46 shots, with a shot on target conversion of 33%.
As stated at the sub-heading, Lincoln City are by no means a one man team and players such as.. Tom Hamer, Ivan Varfolomeev, Tom Bayliss, Freddie Draper (second top goalscorer with seven), Ben House, Jack Moylan (third top scorer with five), James Collins and Ryley Towler also deserve their flowers too!
Lincoln City have the spine of a solid team already. The players mentioned above are experienced enough to see what the bigger picture looks like in the second tier.
With a few signings, it is my belief that the Imps could stay up and look to solidify in the Championship, although even if we came straight back down I wouldn’t be unhappy, I’d just enjoy the ride whilst it lasted.
If this form continues there’s no reason we cannot go up! I’m just going to book my transport for Sheffield United away!
There’s a sentence I didn’t expect to say at the start of this season!
