The League 2 Promotion thread

[Son of Cod]

Self deprecation is/was certainly a strength of the Imps - the fan-base version of 'Football's Coming Home'. Difficult to go from one extreme to the other in such a short period of time, mind. I'm still not sure whether to remain cautious or go into full on cock mode. There's always that nagging 'what if' when it comes to Lincoln because these are, in a good sense, bizarre times.

As I say, Vitals is pretty middle of the road most of the time (which is why I've been on there for 12 years or so now) and likewise most of the Imps on here are, too. If you think Vitals is bad, don't look for the main Facebook group whatever you do. Now that is a car crash of a site.

Please don't go into full on cock mode, it's hard enough to deal with GG dabbling in that. What's this version of Football's Coming Home?? Don't think I know about this.

 

[Luke Imp]

Please don't go into full on cock mode, it's hard enough to deal with GG dabbling in that. What's this version of Football's Coming Home?? Don't think I know about this.

I just mean that it's a song based on self deprecation and a piss take of lack of success.

 

[GodsGift]

Yeah, I'd go along with that. The Fishy is ridiculous because it's nature is so kneejerk. Jolley flits between messiah and one game from the sack at an alarming rate. Once you cut through the same 12 page debate about Fenty though, there are some decent opinions. The problem I have with a lot of Lincoln fans online is that they have gone from being this quite unflinching, dare I even say...classy bunch of fans who would gallantly look on as their side floundered to being something altogether more brash and cocky and it doesn't really suit them like it does ourselves. The likes of us, Mansfield and Luton (to use the previously mentioned examples) have always been twats as collectives and are fairly comfortable with that. Lincoln to me don't come across with the same balance of bullishness and gallows humour, they just come across as very smug and quite touchy.

I can't argue with much of that to be honest. I'll hold my hands up and admit to the smugness, but I don't think I've been as touchy as others among our fanbase. As a club we definitely have a chip on our shoulder when it comes to other club's fans/manager's criticising our style of play when I couldn't really care less as long as we're still successful. Historically we've always been a direct side and we got the same shit directed at us when Keith Alexander was our manager and it didn't bother me then either (although saying that, the football we play now is worlds apart to the hoofball we played under Big Keef). If other teams are complaining about us that suggests we're doing something right.

Although I don't post that often anymore, most of the stuff I say is tongue in cheek and I'd expect the same from Grimsby/Mansfield fans if it was the other way around. But as Luke rightly points out we've gone from one extreme to the other, in that we did absolutely fuck all for 10 years but our fanbase (which was obviously a lot smaller back then!) remained in good spirits and just got on with it - hence why we won the Best Fanbase award every bloody year on TFF! Now we're successful, we're not quite sure how to behave and unsurprisingly one or two of us have gotten a bit giddy. So lo and behold we're not quite as popular as we once were, but such is life.

But, here's a question, how should you act when you just know you're going to do well? It's tricky. There's just no modest way of saying you're fucking mint. I've always been a cynic and will never predict Lincoln to do well, but I'm sure you'll remember even I said at the start of the season we'll finish top 3...as it turns out that was a conservative prediction!

As for Vitals, I haven't posted on there for a good 6 or 7 years. I was put off by the racism/Islamophobia which was just brushed under the carpet and seemingly accepted. I've had a quick scan a couple of times over the past couple of months and it seems alright and doesn't appear any better or worse than other clubs' forums, which in the main are dreadful cesspits of kneejerk, fickle nonsense. But as I say, I don't use it anymore so I could be wrong.

 

[Redwhitestripes]

Well said SoC, I completely agree and the bit in bold made me smile it’s that true ah

Lincoln fans, just like the actual city itself have always been this strange out of the way kind.

Out of the way ?

 

[Indian Dan]

The test of any fan base is what happens when the good times stop rolling and become mundane - like it will.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

The test of any fan base is what happens when the good times stop rolling and become mundane - like it will.

We did pretty well with that.

From top of league one to 6th in non league in 3 1/2 years. Home fan base stayed over 5k on average.

 

[dedwardp]

Some people just use forums to vent.

Our main Tranmere forum has a lot of posters that only appear when we lose. The Grimsby 5-2 loss match thread was about 30 pages compared to 8 pages for Colchester away win.

Though 20 pages of that Grimsby thread was probably about the hand of cod.

It's the same for all clubs, but I've always thought it made sense really - after a different people like to discuss what should have been different and what went wrong, but after a win there's no point in pages of everyone just saying: "Nice one, good result today."

 

[Agombar stool]

Some people just use forums to vent.

Our main Tranmere forum has a lot of posters that only appear when we lose. The Grimsby 5-2 loss match thread was about 30 pages compared to 8 pages for Colchester away win.

Though 20 pages of that Grimsby thread was probably about the hand of cod.

Our forum is exactly the same - a win and the match thread is 6 pages. A loss and its up to 20+.

 

[Agombar stool]

It's the same for all clubs, but I've always thought it made sense really - after a different people like to discuss what should have been different and what went wrong, but after a win there's no point in pages of everyone just saying: "Nice one, good result today."

I kind of get that to a degree, but people still should be able to find discussion points to talk about after a victory.

Of course, there is always pages of knee-jerk reaction straight after a defeat, whereas after a win I guess people's first port of call is somewhere other than their club's message forum

 

[Conker]

Out of the way ?

Lincolnshire as a whole, it feels like a frontier with its abysmal infrastructure - I’m not going any further in this football related thread though!

 

[Indian Dan]

We did pretty well with that.

From top of league one to 6th in non league in 3 1/2 years. Home fan base stayed over 5k on average.

That’s not quite what I meant. Those 3 seasons in non league had you challenging each season so you’d expect attendances to stand up fairly well.

My point was when a club stagnates over a number of seasons - those bandwagon jumpers soon disappear when the fun factor goes.

We’ve lost about 1500 from our L1 days, although attendances are holding up in L2 at around 6500. If our spell last much longer in the basement I’d expect that to decrease - as any club’s would.

Obviously, a good proportion of lost fans can be attributed to significantly lower away followings.

 

[Enzo Scifo's Right Foot]

It’s obvious why you would view your own clubs message-boards and unofficial forums but why spend time looking at other clubs message-boards ?

I just don’t get it surely there is almost endless wealth of much better things to look at and waste your time on the internet than Lincoln City or any other League 2 message-board?

 

[birkenhead tranny]

james norwood named player of the season ! if we get promoted then we must be team of the season , might as well go for the treble , best fans of the season .........oh best song also . tequila !!!!!!

 

[AnotherStagsFan]

That’s not quite what I meant. Those 3 seasons in non league had you challenging each season so you’d expect attendances to stand up fairly well.

My point was when a club stagnates over a number of seasons - those bandwagon jumpers soon disappear when the fun factor goes.

We’ve lost about 1500 from our L1 days, although attendances are holding up in L2 at around 6500. If our spell last much longer in the basement I’d expect that to decrease - as any club’s would.

Obviously, a good proportion of lost fans can be attributed to significantly lower away followings.

You could say something completely unrelated to football and a tranmere fan will remind you of how massive they are.

 

[Stringy]

It’s obvious why you would view your own clubs message-boards and unofficial forums but why spend time looking at other clubs message-boards ?

I just don’t get it surely there is almost endless wealth of much better things to look at and waste your time on the internet than Lincoln City or any other League 2 message-board?

I went on the Exeter board after we beat them 4-1 the other week. I didn't post anything but they seemed very polite to say they had lost 4-1.

I don't really like Stagsnet. Posters are very rude to one another especially towards anyone who has an opinion that isn't 100 per cent pro club in every scenario.

 

[Redwhitestripes]

Lincolnshire as a whole, it feels like a frontier with its abysmal infrastructure - I’m not going any further in this football related thread though!

Coming from london up the A1 its dualled all the way and quicker to lincoln then mansfield when you hit the A46 , if you come up the M1 and hit leicester its more or less the same travel time , or you can travel by train from london to lincoln direct or 2 changes if we go to mansfield , maybe we should get lincoln council to spend millions on building new roads so that opens up the land for all these big business to build on a bit like sherwood way that must be full of warehousing and offices by now with all your infrastructure that mansfield has to offer.

 

[Conker]

Coming from london up the A1 its dualled all the way and quicker to lincoln then mansfield when you hit the A46 , if you come up the M1 and hit leicester its more or less the same travel time , or you can travel by train from london to lincoln direct or 2 changes if we go to mansfield , maybe we should get lincoln council to spend millions on building new roads so that opens up the land for all these big business to build on a bit like sherwood way that must be full of warehousing and offices by now with all your infrastructure that mansfield has to offer.

Thanks for proving my point re Lincoln fans by turning it in to a 'Lincoln VS Mansfield' debate you sensitive soul

 

[Son of Cod]

I can't argue with much of that to be honest. I'll hold my hands up and admit to the smugness, but I don't think I've been as touchy as others among our fanbase. As a club we definitely have a chip on our shoulder when it comes to other club's fans/manager's criticising our style of play when I couldn't really care less as long as we're still successful. Historically we've always been a direct side and we got the same shit directed at us when Keith Alexander was our manager and it didn't bother me then either (although saying that, the football we play now is worlds apart to the hoofball we played under Big Keef). If other teams are complaining about us that suggests we're doing something right.

Although I don't post that often anymore, most of the stuff I say is tongue in cheek and I'd expect the same from Grimsby/Mansfield fans if it was the other way around. But as Luke rightly points out we've gone from one extreme to the other, in that we did absolutely fuck all for 10 years but our fanbase (which was obviously a lot smaller back then!) remained in good spirits and just got on with it - hence why we won the Best Fanbase award every bloody year on TFF! Now we're successful, we're not quite sure how to behave and unsurprisingly one or two of us have gotten a bit giddy. So lo and behold we're not quite as popular as we once were, but such is life.

But, here's a question, how should you act when you just know you're going to do well? It's tricky. There's just no modest way of saying you're fucking mint. I've always been a cynic and will never predict Lincoln to do well, but I'm sure you'll remember even I said at the start of the season we'll finish top 3...as it turns out that was a conservative prediction!

As for Vitals, I haven't posted on there for a good 6 or 7 years. I was put off by the racism/Islamophobia which was just brushed under the carpet and seemingly accepted. I've had a quick scan a couple of times over the past couple of months and it seems alright and doesn't appear any better or worse than other clubs' forums, which in the main are dreadful cesspits of kneejerk, fickle nonsense. But as I say, I don't use it anymore so I could be wrong.

Good post. I don't, and haven't ever, had any issue with long ball or the actual football that Lincoln play. The majority of sides that go up from this division are able to mix it up, which is what Lincoln have done this season very effectively. It's the gamesmanship that is the bit, I have a conflict with. It is part of football now, so part of me wishes we'd also partake a bit more but then the yer da part of me tells me to berate it whenever possible.

With regards to your question, I honestly can't say I have ever started a season confident that we would go up. I mean, after we won at red hot title faves Crawley in our first match down in the Conference we were obviously gonna piss that tinpot league but other than that I've never thought we'd go up so not really sure how I'd play it. Probably similar to how you have, admittedly.

 

[Conker]

I went on the Exeter board after we beat them 4-1 the other week. I didn't post anything but they seemed very polite to say they had lost 4-1.

I don't really like Stagsnet. Posters are very rude to one another especially towards anyone who has an opinion that isn't 100 per cent pro club in every scenario.

Stagsnet is just like the current political climate, nobody in the middle of the two extremes is really talking. So it's just people who literally get very upset at any criticism of the club, Flitcroft, Radford etc or those who cannot wait to have a dig.

 

[Son of Cod]

Lincolnshire as a whole, it feels like a frontier with its abysmal infrastructure - I’m not going any further in this football related thread though!

Is Lincolnshire much different to Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire or whatever county Mansfield is in??

 

[AdamStag]

Coming from london up the A1 its dualled all the way and quicker to lincoln then mansfield when you hit the A46 , if you come up the M1 and hit leicester its more or less the same travel time , or you can travel by train from london to lincoln direct or 2 changes if we go to mansfield , maybe we should get lincoln council to spend millions on building new roads so that opens up the land for all these big business to build on a bit like sherwood way that must be full of warehousing and offices by now with all your infrastructure that mansfield has to offer.

Apart from the train Mansfield is really easy to get to, as you mentioned - though maybe sarcastically - that’s exactly why so many businesses/warehouses have set up close by given the links to the M1.

It still seems infrastructure goes back 20 years east of Newark

 

[AdamStag]

Is Lincolnshire much different to Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire or whatever county Mansfield is in??

East of the a1 yeah. It’s like the place that time forgot road wise east of there.

Like Mansfield to Grimsby is a very easy drive, on a good day you’d be able to get to Grimsby - 70 miles away - faster than Lincoln which is only 40 odd

 

[Tranmerewhite]

You could say something completely unrelated to football and a tranmere fan will remind you of how massive they are.

Compared to Mansfield, sure.

 

[Conker]

Is Lincolnshire much different to Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire or whatever county Mansfield is in??

Like I said I don't really want to get deep but in my opinion having travelled for personal and work around those areas a lot, yes it is. I would like to add Lincolnshire is fully of gammy little villages with caravans too, and the lack of signal everywhere is very annoying

Mansfield is very much Nottinghamshire SoC!

 

[AdamStag]

Compared to Mansfield, sure.

We’re in the promotion places, you aren’t.

We’re better than you.

That’s all that matters

 

[Tranmerewhite]

We’re in the promotion places, you aren’t.

We’re better than you.

That’s all that matters

On a really big fishing trip aren’t you?

 

[Redwhitestripes]

Thanks for proving my point re Lincoln fans by turning it in to a 'Lincoln VS Mansfield' debate you sensitive soul

Not sensitive at all just pointing out that all roads dont end at rainworth bypass .

 

[RLC]

That’s not quite what I meant. Those 3 seasons in non league had you challenging each season so you’d expect attendances to stand up fairly well.

My point was when a club stagnates over a number of seasons - those bandwagon jumpers soon disappear when the fun factor goes.

We’ve lost about 1500 from our L1 days, although attendances are holding up in L2 at around 6500. If our spell last much longer in the basement I’d expect that to decrease - as any club’s would.

Obviously, a good proportion of lost fans can be attributed to significantly lower away followings.

In fairness, we had stagnated for close to two decades before relegation to non league yet our fan base held up pretty well. In addition, in our first season in non league we did not really mount a serious challenge and in the last one we were seventeenth in December.

 

[AdamStag]

On a really big fishing trip aren’t you?

Just stating facts.

 

[Indian Dan]

In fairness, we had stagnated for close to two decades before relegation to non league yet our fan base held up pretty well. In addition, in our first season in non league we did not really mount a serious challenge and in the last one we were seventeenth in December.

Yeah. In the 80s I remember you struggling around the 2000 mark.