Do the Imps have the stomach for the fight?


By Nathan Jackson
February 8 2004

Questions are starting to be asked about if they can stomach the fight without Richard Butcher, arguably the best and most influencial Imps player. He is hopefully back for Northampton but the question is, will the Imps still be in the hunt for a playoff spot or better by then?

LI>With recent form, the Imps fans are starting to wonder, can the Imps maintain a playoff challenge? In the 8 games since Christmas, the Imps have only won 3 games and it's no coincidence that Butcher was in the squads for all those games but out of the other 5 that haven't been won, he hasn't been in the side. Butcher has been the scorer of vital goals this season and is probably the only player challenging Gary Fletcher for the player of the season for Lincoln. His influence hasn' been known to the Imps until recently.

  • The Imps home form has took a significant twist. In the first 6 games, the Imps only won 1 game and failed to score in 4 of those games but the came the home game against Telford in the LDV Vans. A 3-1 victory began the Imps on the way to winning 7 home games in all competitions. The last of those victories was 22nd November in a 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers. The next home fixture wasn't until December 28th where the Imps were winning 2-1 with only a minute to go and then, ex loanee Daniel Webb scored a equaliser that wasn't deserved.
  • The next game saw the Imps dominate a game against Bury but in typical Imps style, the domination wasn't reflected with only a 2-1 scoreline. Since then, the Imps haven't won at home and only collected 4 points from 3 games whereas on paper, it should have been 9.
  • At this current time, it is the away form that is keeping the Imps in the playoff hunt but form of other teams in sneaking in. Both Huddersfield and Torquay are on excellent form at the minute and have both sneaked above the Imps.
  • However, numerous teams look like falling away from the playoff pack such as Swansea and York who were both early leaders but are now in the lower reaches of the top half. A potential danger are an ever improving Leyton Orient who in 4 months, have gone from being relegation candidates to an interesting bet for the playoffs. Although they are still a fair few points away from the Imps, they are quickly closing the gap.
  • So what happens now? Who have the Imps got left to face? Here is a run down of every team the Imps have to face and predictions of the results.
  • SCUNTHORPE UNITED AT HOME
  • To say the Imps have had a good recent history against the Iron is a bit of an understatement. Last season, the Imps beat their Lincolnshire rivals 3 times out of 4 and thanks to a 6-3 aggregate win the playoff semi finals, the Imps went through to face Bournemouth. Earlier this season, the Imps travelled to Scunthorpe and easily beat the Iron 3-1 although the Imps total domination of this match was reflected with the Imps having a total of 32 shots on goal. Scunthorpe didn't lose again for 14 games after that but recent form, has seen them slip worryingly near the relegation zone in terms of points, although they are too good to go down, a playoff place is only a mathmatical posibility but it would take a miracle for them to get back into the playoffs.
  • PREDICTION - IMPS 3 SCUNNY 2
  • YORK AWAY
  • City were the first team to beat York this season when City run out easy 3-0 winners at Sincil Bank. York have very slowly been sneaking down the league and currently lay 2nd bottom of the top half of the table. They are also finding goal scoring a problem at the minute. A season of midtable obscurity beckons for the Minstermen.
  • PREDICTION - YORK 1 CITY 1
  • HUDDERSFIELD AWAY
  • A month ago, I would have predicted a win for Lincoln but recent form, infact, before losing to Darlington on Saturday, they had won 6 games in a row. However, selling Jon Stead to Blackburn has had a very short term bad effect with a suprise 2-0 victory against a team who are quite frankly, deserving of their status as a team in the relegation zone. It was their first home loss in a long time but with their recent form, it must surely be a blip........or could it?
  • PREDICTION - HUDDERSFIELD 2 CITY 1
  • HULL AT HOME
  • The glory supporters of Hull currently sit top of the table and are now getting crowds of around 20,000. Their fans are gloating about their massive crowds which mysteriously weren't there when they were bottom of the league a few years ago when they were only getting crowds of 4,000. However, this season I was really impressed with the way Hull played and it says a lot about a team that hasn't been outside the top 5 since August. Only Oxford have lost more games than them.
  • PREDICTIONS - IMPS 1 HULL 3
  • AWAY AT MACCLESFIELD
  • Macclesfield have probably been the most unlucky side I've seen this season. City beat the Silkmen 3-2 earlier in the season but only a last minute deflected shot denied Macclesfield what was a more than deserved point. They are yet again in the relegation fight but if they play like they did at Sincil Bank, I can't see it staying like that for long.
  • PREDICTIONS - MACC 1 CITY 2
  • AWAY AT CHELTENHAM
  • When I Cheltenham came to SB a few weeks ago, I felt like a zombie because the game was so incredibly dire and lacklusture, it felt like I had no brain as all thought and concentration just left my brain. Cheltenham have had a very bad season after being relegated from Division 2 last season and the most they can hope for is a high bottom half of the table place.
  • PREDICTION - CHELTENHAM 0 CITY 1
  • MANSFIELD AT HOME
  • When I try and remember the Mansfield game, all I can think is the Butcher goal from 30-35 yards. Mansfield were nothing special and didn't deserve to score that penalty which in essence, was their best of the game. They have had a good season so far and are almost certainties for the playoffs.
  • PREDICTIONS - IMPS 2 MANSFIELD 2
  • SOUTHEND AT HOME
  • The Imps have already played Southend twice this season with 2 incredibly different results. City won 2-0 at Roots Hall in September but they returned in December for the 2nd round of the FA Cup. City caught them in their best form all season and a lackluster performance from the Imps saw them lose the chance to face Scarbrough and then possibly Chelsea. Their form has return to normal though and they are currently struggling to pull away from the relegation zone.
  • PREDICTION - CITY 3 SOUTHEND 0
  • AWAY AT LEYTON ORIENT
  • Earlier in the season, it looked like Orient would struggle to stay in Division 3 and that still remains but in a different way. When the Imps played them in September, for a then relegation 6 pointer but by this game comes around, it could be a playoff 6 pointer as Martin Ling has improved Orient's fortunes a lot and I for one am not looking forward to going back to Orient.
  • PREDICTIONS - ORIENT 2 IMPS 1
  • KIDDERMINSTER AT HOME
  • Although performances have improved since the return of Jan Molby, the results in general haven't and after initially getting back to mid-table, they are quickly getting back to being relegation candidates. They remain as one of only 3 sides that City have come from behind to beat in the league under Keith Alexander.
  • PREDICTIONS - CITY 1 KIDDY 0
  • ROCHDALE
  • Unfortunatly, Dale aren't managed by the munchin anymore and results have started to improve under Steve Parkin and are now a lower-midtable team. However, their form is incredibly inconsitant and their form is like City's at the minute - irratic.
  • PREDICTION - DALE 1 CITY 1
  • TRUNDLE CITY AT HOME
  • Trundle/Swansea City were dominating the league earlier in the season but the Imps were the first team to take any points from the Vetch this season and that seems to have put their season downhill. They rely too much on Lee Trundle and here's an interesting fact, they haven't won when he hasn't been in the side. If we can keep him quiet or if he's injured after eating too many Burger King meals then it should be a Imps win. Their form away from home is also very poor and the main reason they are low in the top half despite of an excellent home record. However, I must congratulate them on being the last 16 of the cup and wish them every luck in getting into the last 8.
  • PREDICTION - IMPS 2 SWANSEA 0
  • AWAY AT NORTHAMPTON
  • Northampton are a lot like Weaver's goal against Scunny in the playoffs, no-one noticed he was their until it was too late and Northampton are slowly sneaking up the league and are suprisingly in the top half now. They were one of the poorest sides to come to Sincil Bank this season and didn't have a single shot on target all game long. This is also Richard Butcher's target gam back from injury.
  • PREDICTIONS : COBBLERS 0 CITY 2
  • AWAY AT CARLISLE
  • 2 months ago, Carlisle were dead and buried, they were at the bottom of the table, 16 points behind Darlington and their fans were looking to see where conference grounds were. However, a suprise win against Torquay has boosted their season and they are now in with a chance of escaping again. They didn't offer a lot at Sincil Bank and the result should have been more than 2-0 but that was before this run started.
  • PREDICTION : CARLISLE 1 CITY 2
  • DARLINGTON
  • I have spoke to many Darlington fans who claim Darlo don't deserve to be in the relegation zone but from what I saw of them earlier in the season, that status of relegation candidates is throughly deserved. Infact, the only reason the Imps probably didn't win that game after dominating was because it was the first game since Keith collapsed and let's face it, everyone at City was thinking more about Keith than a result at Darlington.
  • PREDICTIONS : CITY 3 DARLO 1
  • AWAY AT BRISTOL ROVERS
  • Bristol Rovers are the team version of the old kids book "Where's Wally?" If you asked me the exact position Rovers are in, I couldn't tell you to save my life but I know they have had a good season compared to last season and got rid of Ray Graydon. City easily beat Rovers 3-1 at Sincil Bank earlier in the season and Rovers were lucky to get 1.
  • PREDICTIONS - ROVERS 1 CITY 2
  • YEOVIL AT HOME
  • What a game this could turn out to be, both teams in the playoff hunt and with Yeovil's dodgy form recently, this game could turn out to be a last day decider of who gets the last playoff spot. Yeovil were deserving 3-1 winners against the Imps earlier in the season despite of their first 2 goals needing cheating to be got. Incase you didn't notice when they were on TV against Liverpool, they take their corners about a foot outside the little quarter circle but were allowed to get away with it twice against us and scored both times.
  • PREDICTION : CITY 1 YEOVIL 1
  • THEN WHAT? Well, from my predictions, we will end up on 32 points, I think that might be a bit optimistic on my part as that would leave us on 79 which would guarantee us with at least a playoff place and possibly even sneak the last automatic spot. However, the Imps will seriously have to improve their home form if they want to maintain a playoff challege. When Butcher gets back, that should give us a spur to get a lot more points so we can hopefully maintain and grab our playoff hunt but the question is, WILL BE STILL BE IN THE PLAYOFF PICTURE WHEN HE GETS BACK?
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