FM 2009: Official Lincoln City Thread - Up The Imps!

Welcome to the official Lincoln City thread for FM 2009. This is my first go at one of these so go easy!

A Brief History:

Parts from Wikipedia & bits added my myself

Formed in 1822 as an amateur association, Lincoln turned professional in the 1891–92 season. They first played at the John O'Gaunts ground, however, in 1895 they moved to their current stadium,which is Sincil Bank. It now holds 10,127 spectators.

City's championship honours comprise of three Division 3 (North) championships in 1931–32, 1947–48 and 1951–52 and a Division 4 (League Two) championship in 1975–76 (when future England, Villa & Watford boss Graham Taylor was at the helm.).

It was that 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 statistic. It was the season where, Graham Taylor recalls, "teams were petrified of coming to Sincil Bank". The team was noted for playing a direct approach, with Percy Freeman becoming a Lincoln legend as an uncompromising striker who bagged 23 goals in 35 appearances that season.

Their most recent championship was the Conference, in the 1987–88 season. This season saw the club set an all-time record attendance (which has only just been beaten by Oxford United) for a Conference match, with 9,432 spectators attending the final game against Wycombe Wanderers of, which saw City claim the championship having not led the league all season.

Their highest ever position achieved came in the 1901–02 season, where they reached 5th position in the English Division 2 (now known as the Championship). The last season that the club spent in this division was in 1960–61, they have never returned since. No team has played as many seasons in the Football League (Lincoln are now in their 102nd League season) without ever reaching the top tier.

Lincoln's record in major cup competitions has left a lot to be desired. Their best feat in the FA Cup has been the Last-16 three times, the last time being over 100 years ago in the 1901–02 season; and their best performance in the League Cup came in 1967–68 when they reached the Fourth Round after losing 0–3 at home to Derby County in a replay. In the Second Round of the 2005–06 League Cup, Lincoln narrowly lost 5–4 (aet) to Premiership outfit Fulham at Craven Cottage, being denied a result in the very last minute of extra time by a Brian McBride goal. This was after an impressive 5–1 home victory against Championship side Crewe Alexandra. In the 2008/09 season Lincoln were knocked out in the first round following a replay against Kettering Town, following a bit of bad blood between the sides.

In very recent history, the club have also been in the chase for promotion from the fourth tier via the play-offs five times, twice reaching the finals (2002–03 & 2004–05) and three times getting knocked out in the semi-finals (2003–04, 2005–06 & 2006–07), each time under the guidance of Keith Alexander with the exception of the 2006–07 play-offs. The failure to succeed in five successive play-off competitions is a record. Under Alexander City played a 5-2-3 system and spawned some players destined to play at a much higher level. These included Gareth McAuley (now at Ipswich Town) & Jamie McCombe (Bristol City). This side were effective and always there or there abouts, playing long ball football but not afraid to get the ball down and play either with Dean Keates an excellent ball player.

The last time Lincoln were in a higher league than League Two was in the 1998–99 season where they played in the Division 2 (now League One), after they had gained automatic promotion via third position the previous season.

The world-famous "Dambusters" theme is normally played when Lincoln score at Sincil Bank and supporters of the club can often be heard singing the tune and doing the flying motions when this happens. This is because The Dambusters were based just outside of Lincoln, being formed at the nearby RAF Scampton during World War II, and are therefore at the heart of the city's history.

Other often sung chants for City include choruses of "We Are Imps", "Come on Lincoln" and other widely sung songs.

Club Information

Quick Background

Name: Lincoln City F.C.

Nickname(s): The Imps, Red Imps

Founded: 1884

Main Rivals: Grimsby Town (A lot of coppers out for that one!), Boston United (dwindled following their financial plight), Scunthorpe United

Other Rivals: Peterborough United, Mansfield Town, Notts County, Hull City

Fans' Favourite Players: Andy Graver (All time leading scorer), Percy Freeman, Grant "HOOF" Brown (Leading Appearance Holder), Gareth Ainsworth, John Ward

Media Prediction: 10th

Team Captain: Scott Kerr

Vice Captain: Stefan Oakes

Staff

Manager: Peter Jackson

Assistant Manager: Iffy Onuora

Coach: Frank Sinclair

Coach: Grant Brown

Youth Coach: Tom Spall

Youth Coach: Simon Clark

Physio: Michael Wait

Physio: Kevin Oxby

Scout: Jeff Lee

Finances

Estimated Value: £1.3m

Balance: 309k

Transfer Budget: £7k (Winner), £ 6k(Title Challenge), £6k (Promotion), £5k (Top Half Finish)

Wage Budget: £17.5k (Winner), £17k (Title Challenge), £16.5k (Promotion), £16k (Top Half Finish)

Current Wage: 15.62k

First Team Squad

Goalkeepers

1. Rob Burch

13. Ayden Duffy

Defenders

2. Paul Green

4. Janos Kovacs

5. Lee Beevers

6. Frank Sinclair

16. Danny Hone

Midfielders

3. Aaron Brown

7. Stefan Oakes

11. Scott Kerr ©

12. Dany N'Guessan

18. Martin Pembleton

Forwards

9. Kevin Gall (LOAN)

14. Lennell John-Lewis

15. Ben Wright

17. David Graham

23. Adrian Patulea

Assessment

In real life I think City's best side is this. When fit it is probably what Jackson would pick, with Oakes coming on for Frecklington. City's new signing Horsfield has replaced the leaving Gall and Graham but we won't have them until the end of the season.

I suggest playing 4-4-2 as well, but with the current side on football manager a team like this will me more appropriate

Another possibility is trying to incorporate three of your best players, the three central midfielders. To do this, you should use a system that hasn't worked for Lincoln very well over the last few months, a 4-3-2-1. This would look like this

So who to buy and who to sell?

Keepers

Burch is a decent enough League Two keeper but Duffy is poor back up. In my opinion, you should look at replacing Duffy with a better keeper at the end of the first season, possibly moving Burch to back up.

Defenders

Your assistant manager is a big fan of Frank Sinclair, but with him being 36 you need to look at better options for the future. In real life Hone & Kovacs are an excellent partnership and you can do worse than persevering with them, but a Championship/ PL loan isn't a bad shout. Left back could do with another option, with Brown being poor defensively. Olivier Bernard is certainly not a bad candidate.

Midfielders

The Gall loan situation is up to you. As a Lincoln fan, I've terminated it because he's been useless for us. However the £0 cost of wage means if you're playing to do as well as you can on FM, I'd keep hold of him, because John-Lewis isn't a good enough starting AMR. One area that doesn't need strengthening is central midfield, with Oakes, Kerr and Frecklington providing one of the best units in League Two.

The loan market is likely to be a place to do your bidding, but if you have enough money from your opening choice (I'd go for promotion at best), then Fleetwood from Charlton is a candidate to score the goals you need, (5k/6k asking price.)

Closing Thoughts

Although City undoubtedly possess a decent League Two side, Jackson's squad trimming and overhaul leave you needing one or two quality acqusitions to challenge up the table. The low budget is a disappointment, and a mid table finish would be an acceptable feat before you can mould the squad into your own shape.

shame you have had no feedback yet, im a dundee utd fan, i usually go them but in my new game im looking for a league 2 side to play along with them. i will give Lincon city a wee go and let you know how i get on in a season or two.

Nice opening post mate. Well done.

Hope you are getting on ok Johnny! I'm looking for a different challenge having played with Lincoln or a team where I can throw money about, so I might have a go with Dundee. FM 2008 was much easier to play with Lincoln I think, mainly because it was pretty easy to get out of League Two at the start with a few decent signings. I am looking forward to the next update, when Elding and Horsfield will be Lincoln's strikers. Can't even edit it on FM 2009 without faffing about, because Horsfield retired in the summer!

Good Luck

just started a new game with Lincoln in FM11. Shoyuld I keep it in this thread or make another one for FM11?

scrap that, 5 games 0 goals no shots on target lol

time for a new team