Match Thread: Lincoln City v Portsmouth | Page 17 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Lincoln City v Portsmouth

Thinking back in this run the times we’ve stumbled a bit are we when we took pole position as it were. Easier to chase with the pressure off perhaps.
 
Having raw pace makes such a difference at this level, and can break up the most organised midfields and defences. Would love it for us to re-loan Joe Taylor. But if not possible, at least get a player with similar attributes, preferably two.
 
Jivin Imp said:
I don't even know why I'm going to make these next points....probably because it's a fans forum!
Agree with the difficulty of getting past other teams in playofffs.
I still can't get out of my head a 90+4 equaliser for 2-2 by Hoskins at Northampton on Aug14th, and the 90+8 equaliser by Grant at Bristol Rovers for 1-1on Sept 2nd.......... 4 points lost.
As you can see pointless if and buts. However, much more difficult for the players is high pressure and tempo environments and the need for a larger squad.
Michael Skubala made a point about the effort required to be up for every match with some major reshuffles caused in midfield and attack during his tenure.
IMO we would have waltzed into the playoffs with Bishop, Hackett, McGrandles and Hamilton fit for the run in.
What I will add is its been a terrific season and appreciate what the staff and players have put in. Having a bad run of results, makes a good run much sweeter. Also why a last minute equaliser is more joyous in a 1-1 draw than scoring in the first minute for the same result.
Recruit well in the summer and it could be another grand season.
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In the same "not sure why" vein, one of those two late draws can be offset by Erhahon's added-added time equaliser at Wycombe which started the long unbeaten run.

Also add the 3 points in the replayed match at Orient.

We can 'if only' until the cows come home but that doesn't alter the results.
 
The Portsmouth attendance means that City have now had a run of 143 consecutive league gates over 5,000, 139 over 6,000, and 6 over 7,000, excluding fixtures affected by Covid restrictions. The run of attendances over 7,000 was ended at 129 by the Shrewsbury game (6,842).

Since 3,344 watched the 1-0 National League win over Wrexham on 29 November 2016, the average home league attendance has been 8,603.

The average home league attendance since the return to the Football League in 2017 stands at 8,731 with the average for 2023-24 finishing on 8,423.

Yesterday was the tenth attendance to hit 10,000 since the return to the EFL.
 
The Pompey shit-housing was the most disappointing thing yesterday. They needed nothing from the game, so to act as they did was absolutely classless. No problem with their actions if they needed a point from the game. Then add to it, our entire support applauded them when they walked through our side and the guard of "honour", and it leaves a very nasty taste.
They are a good side and could probably have beaten us without the nonsense. I genuinely hope they get battered next season. And the next time they run out of brass they get their rewards.
 
Scotimp said:
I also thought, "We're going up, you're staying down" was unnecessary, especially as they appeared to sing it for most of the game. Lacks class.
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Before the game I noted it was “we’re going up and Southampton (they used a different term) are staying down”. So may have been that some of the time
 
Not winning in December or January probably cost us a playoff place more than anything, 10 games wasn't it?
We kicked off against Burton in 12th with 35 points from 29 games, some run from that point.
We just ran out of steam, the injuries were just too much.
 
I thought it was a very panicky performance and we only had about a fifteen minute spell after half time when I felt we might actually score and go on to win. So many poor passes and no steady possession for most of the game meant we never really controlled the game. Roughan showed why he is a CB and miles away from a decent WB, he has been excellent lately but so poor yesterday. Midfield was especially poor, Erhahon was well below his best, Mandy not effective and House’s second touch was usually a challenge because his first one was so bad.
To progress as a team I think Skubala wants to play we need a mark up in midfield and wingback/ full back technical ability. Injuries have killed us in those departments lately just as the striker situation did to us pre Christmas. Possession isn’t everything but no team ( other than Leicester) will top a league with an average possession of around 40%.
 
On the subject of stats, I noticed from the league table in today's paper that we've achieved the rare event of finishing with identical home and away records: won 10, drawn 7, lost 6.

No I don't know when that last happened.

Also, that we conceded the fewest goals at home - 17. Derby and Wigan were both next best with 18
 
johnolbe said:
I thought it was a very panicky performance and we only had about a fifteen minute spell after half time when I felt we might actually score and go on to win. So many poor passes and no steady possession for most of the game meant we never really controlled the game. Roughan showed why he is a CB and miles away from a decent WB, he has been excellent lately but so poor yesterday. Midfield was especially poor, Erhahon was well below his best, Mandy not effective and House’s second touch was usually a challenge because his first one was so bad.
To progress as a team I think Skubala wants to play we need a mark up in midfield and wingback/ full back technical ability. Injuries have killed us in those departments lately just as the striker situation did to us pre Christmas. Possession isn’t everything but no team ( other than Leicester) will top a league with an average possession of around 40%.
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I agree with you John. I thought we were very nervous/panicky yesterday - both the players on the field and the coaching staff. Nobody, even Erhahon, seemed to want to hold on to the ball for more than a second, and that contributed to so many poor first touches,

I still think we could have snatched it with a very late goal if we hadn't had taken Mitchell off and instead concentrated on keeping it tight the back, as we had in the previous 80 minutes. With the added time, which was always going to be at least 10 minutes (thanks to a ref who contributed to most of those added minutes himself!), we would have had 20 minutes to sneak a winner. Instead we went gung ho and left ourselves wide open at the back.

All hindsight though, and the table never lies. We were just not quite good enough. Plus I don't think we would have got through the play offs anyway.

We have a super platform for next season however. Skoobs will know who he wants to keep, and where he needs to strengthen. And I have really enjoyed the past 4 months of watching on iFollow, so I am definitely not complaining!
 
Scotimp said:
I couldn't disagree more. All they really did was retain possession - Jensen had hardly anything to save until they scored late on. We had four fabulous opportunities in a short space of time in the second half - the penalty miss, Taylor heads over, House screws wide, and O'Connor blasts wide from what looked like point blank range; on another day, at least two and probably three of those go in, and you have a completely different game. If Mandroiu had scored, I think we would have won.

The standing ovation for Lincoln when Portsmouth scored their second goal tells you everything.
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I don't think they created nothing at all before their goal. Their player somehow missed an excellent chance that was blocked by Mitchell after Jensen had kicked a shot clear and in the second before they scored Jensen produced an absolutely epic save to deny them after he had fumbled a cross he probably should have punched.
 
Sincilbanks said:
I don't think they created nothing at all before their goal. Their player somehow missed an excellent chance that was blocked by Mitchell after Jensen had kicked a shot clear and in the second before they scored Jensen produced an absolutely epic save to deny them after he had fumbled a cross he probably should have punched.
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That was an unbelievable save, I'd forgotten about it till now.
 
Yeah, they definitely spent a fair bit of the game in our defensive third, including the first half hour before it all went a bit daft. They had a fair number of chances and were quite wasteful with their finishing.
 
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