Latest news with #Imps
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Imps to be 'adaptable' in left-back bid
Lincoln City will have to be "adaptable" in their search to replace left-back Sean Roughan, says Imps boss Michael Skubala. The 22-year-old Irishman left Lincoln for League One rivals Huddersfield Town at the end of his contract in early July, but the move generated a compensation fee for the Imps. Skubala has made finding a replacement for Roughan his focus in the remaining weeks of the transfer window, even though he says they "don't have the luxury of going for a like-for-like" replacement. "We have a plan," Skubala told BBC Radio Lincolnshire during the club's pre-season camp in Portugal. "It might not look exactly the same as it did last season because Sean was unique in the way he played the game. "The reason he got the move and the reason we got what we did for him is because of how he performed the role." Skubala discusses transfer targets and style of play Huddersfield sign defenders Roughan and Low Summer arrival Ryley Towler is a centre-back who is capable of playing at left-back when needed. Left-back Zach Nolan, from League of Ireland side Bray Wanderers, has been with the Imps in Portugal as a triallist alongside right-back Marcel Lavinier, a former Tottenham and Chelsea youngster who most recently featured for Yeovil Town in the National League. What Skubala wants are players capable of seamlessly picking up different roles in different formations, be it with a back five or back four. "It's important that we have adaptability, and maybe part of our strength as a club and as a team is being adaptable - it makes us harder to scout and harder to work on us," he said. "We definitely want to have a core way that we do it, what our principles are, what we want the team to look like, are definitely things that don't change, but in terms of system we can adapt. "We need to get the bodies in the building to allow us to do that and we have to be smart with how we go to work with that."
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Barrow bring in ex-Lincoln City striker Walker
Barrow have signed former Lincoln City striker Tyler Walker on a one-year deal, with the option of a further will join the club on Tuesday, once his contract with the Imps has officially 28-year-old only played eight games across his two seasons with Lincoln, while he had a loan spell last season in the National League with to Lincoln, Walker, the son of former England defender Des, came through the ranks at Nottingham Forest before moving on to Coventry City."I'm grateful for the opportunity and can't wait to get going," he told the club's website, external.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Cambridge sign Lincoln defender Bradshaw
Cambridge United have signed Lincoln City defender Zak Bradshaw on a two-year was still under contract to the Imps despite not having played for them, but the clubs have agreed on a free transfer 21-year-old spent last season on loan at Tranmere Rovers, making 27 League Two appearances for the club, 11 of them starts."I am ready to knuckle down and kick-start my career properly. I have had a lot of loans and racked up a lot of games, so now I want to be able to call a place home," Bradshaw said., externalCambridge will start the new season with a home game against Cheltenham Town on 2 have now made five summer signings since being relegated from League Neil Harris said of Bradshaw: "He is a young player with a lot of potential, but already has experience of playing football in League Two."He adds real competition for places across the defensive unit and we look forward to working with Zak to enable him to grow into a player that has a long-term future at the club."
Irish Daily Mirror
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shamrock Rovers' Danny Mandroiu on 'strange and bizarre' Mark Kennedy comments
Danny Mandroiu felt his reputation could have been tarnished by Mark Kennedy's barbed assessment of him at Lincoln City. But while he branded the jibe 'strange and bizarre', the Shamrock Rovers ace claims he has no lingering beef with the former Ireland was snapped up by the Imps from Rovers in 2022 and was a regular in League One, making 56 league appearances and scoring 14 goals. But in October 2023, then Lincoln boss Kennedy let rip at the Dubliner after he was sent off in a home defeat to blasted Mandroiu, claiming he would 'become just another statistic' unless he changed his approach to the game. Kennedy said: "We're here to educate him and help him, not destroy his talent. I don't know where he'll be in five years, he could be in the Championship, he could be back in Ireland. If he changes his mentality and there's structure to his game, he's got incredible talent and he can go wherever he wants to go. But if he doesn't change that, he'll just be another statistic.' Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Kennedy was sacked three days later and Lincoln's chief executive Liam Scully admitted the Mandroiu comments were a factor in his exit, not just poor results. Scully said: 'I don't think it was helpful in terms of our characterisation of Danny Mandroiu. Is that part of it? Yes. Is that the reason? No.'Lincoln rated Mandroiu and yesterday the player - who was also at Brighton - admitted he had options higher up the leagues in England, but they didn't come off. Asked if he had been worried that Kennedy's comments might cloud the opinion of other clubs, Mandroiu said: 'In a way, that could tarnish you with some teams. It obviously did. They'd obviously go to Mark Kennedy for a reference or whatever and I don't know what he's given. Lincoln know I'm a good lad so if they go to them…it was a bit strange and bizarre.' Mandroiu continued: 'He was entitled to his own opinion. It's false, it wasn't true whatever he said. It's not me. It was quite strange when it came out. It was really strange. "I didn't even know it until three days later when someone rang me and said there was something in the paper. I was in Ireland at the time actually. I read it on the Monday and I was 'Jesus'.'We were fine day to day. It was just very strange. I got sent off in a game. He started coming with 'he could be in the Premier League or nowhere' something like that. It was bizarre. He could come out with comments in the heat of the moment and then regret it the next day.'In the end, it was Shamrock Rovers again who won out for Mandroiu's signature as he returned on a short-term deal last August, before signing a longer contract this year. And the ex-Bohemians ace said: 'I had options everywhere, every time. I've never been released, I've had contracts on the table. It was just my own decision.'The teams I wanted to come in didn't come in, and I wasn't going to settle for anything less. I love Rovers, I love the gaffer, the team, we were in Europe at the time as well.'A recurrence of a hamstring injury rocked Mandroiu in the opening league game of this season, against Bohs at Aviva Stadium in February. But he is back fit and said: 'We can do whatever we put our minds to. We're playing some unbelievable stuff and long may it continue, in the league and in Europe.' ************************************** Stephen Bradley would love to see another All-Island clash in Europe. Shamrock Rovers could face Belfast giants Cliftonville in the second round of the Conference League - and Bradley hopes it and NIFL Premiership champions Linfield are already going head-to-head in the Champions League qualifiers on July 9 and 16. And the Hoops will face Cliftonville on July 24 and 31, providing the Reds beat St Joseph's of Gibraltar in the first qualifying said yesterday: 'You're hoping we get Cliftonville in terms of the travel and it becomes a lot easier, weather and everything else.'So hopefully we get Cliftonville because of the connection between both clubs and both sets of fans, that would be a great know a lot about Cliftonville, obviously, as we follow that league quite closely.'Rovers are no strangers to facing Irish League clubs in Europe, having won 4-1 away to Larne in the Europa Conference League league phase in Shamrock Rovers are not involved in the first European qualifying round this summer, they are lining up some home friendlies added: 'We've had offers from away as well, but a lot of teams wanted us to travel which is not what we want at that definitely stay local, whether it's up north or staying here, we definitely won't be travelling.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.
Daily Mirror
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Meet the innovative EFL club using AI on set-pieces and binary code
EXCLUSIVE FEATURE: Lincoln City are an EFL club who push boundaries to try and punch above their weight in League One with their Innovation Lab and lots of fresh ideas Lincoln City are one of the few clubs in the English Football League who are not afraid to march to the beat of a different drum. Innovation is championed above the status quo in the corridors of power at the LNER Stadium as they attempt to brainstorm new ways in which the Imps can thrive in League One. And in era where clubs try in vain to replicate models which have born fruit elsewhere, it turns out Lincoln do differently rather well. As with most things in football, that isn't by chance. They are the only club in England to employ a Director of Innovation; only four clubs across the whole of Europe are believed to do so, including Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt. And perhaps there is no better example of the club's willingness to embrace the extraordinary than the utilisation of AI in their set-piece planning. AI software which analyses thousands of set-pieces from around the world - coupled with the execution of said ideas from Scott Fry, the club's goalkeeper and set-piece coach - has seen the Imps establish themselves as the set-piece kingpins of English football. No team in competitive English football got near the 30 goals Lincoln scored via set-pieces from both first and second phases during the 2024-25 campaign. Arsenal are among those who have made set-pieces sexy again. But even they and the esteemed Nicolas Jover were nowhere near the total that Fry and Co cooked up for the Imps this season. It should come as no surprise that Lincoln and Michael Skubala, their forward-thinking head coach who started his career as a PE teacher before leading England's futsal team and then moving into senior football, are open to the unorthodox. After all, the landscape in the third-tier has changed drastically since Lincoln returned to the division in 2019. Birmingham City, last year's runaway champions, splashed in excess of £10million on a single player in Jay Stansfield. In a league littered with fallen Premier League giants, clubs like Lincoln have to work smarter and harder. Their approach goes beyond the 90 minutes on a Saturday and success on the pitch. The jewel in the crown is their Innovation Lab which, as Futers explains, has all of the club's stakeholders and the local community at the forefront of its mind as they seek new opportunities for growth. "What we're trying to do with the Innovation Lab is help start-ups get to market as quickly as possible in a way that helps the club, our community and creates value over time," says Jason Futers, the club's chief growth and innovation officer. "That can be on or off the pitch. You can imagine as a club the activities that we get involved with across technology on a retail, commercial, fan engagement level. Plus things like nutrition and science in sport. "So areas that we're working in anyway, but the Innovation Lab is really designed to enhance those and you know help start-ups, as I say, get to market as quickly as possible, which obviously helps them from a funding perspective and creates value for us." That ethos is already having a positive effect in terms of business. Futers explains that partners and sponsors are looking at the club in a different light due to their efforts to innovate. Quambio Sports, a joint venture with the Swiss sustainability firm, is the heartbeat of Lincoln's plan to reduce their carbon footprint and a perfect example of the type of initiatives that can add the future value that Futers speaks of. The collaboration also encourages and supports the club's stakeholders - be it employees or fans - lower their own carbon footprint. With Lincoln owning 50 per cent of the venture, there is also scope for the club to profit financially in the future. "What [Quambio] do is incentivise the reduction of carbon footprint, so that helps us in terms of our environmental sustainability," Futers adds. "We're not trying to save the planet in terms of environment, but we do want to move things forward and then we could get a financial benefit and of course ultimately it really helps out our fans and our stakeholders generally." In terms of what Futers and the club want to do, Quambio is just the tip of the iceberg. As Liam Scully, the club's long-serving chief executive, so aptly puts it, Lincoln are effectively "taking on nuclear submarines in a canoe". Though they are no minnows, they are, in the current landscape of League One, a relatively small fish in a large pond. Initiatives like Quambio Sports, should the club's ultimate vision come to fruition, has the potential to help them level the playing field over time against clubs with far vaster resources and deeper pockets. Others have followed, including Purendure, a real fruit energy gel collaboration which Lincoln announced at the end of last month. "We as a club are always going to have to be overachievers - and we don't like the term underdogs, we'd rather see ourselves as overachievers - and it's about finding those ways that we can do things differently that will give us a chance of further success on the sporting side," he says of the challenge. "It's [about] accepting that we have a unique place in the geography of this country, we have a catchment area around us that's relatively ours so there's various things at play that make this [approach] unique and right for Lincoln City." READ MORE: Inside Derby County's academy success as Championship club eye next generation The club's Elite Development Pathway is the key to unlocking the potential of that catchment area Scully speaks of. There is an appetite to ensure that the best local talent can grow in sync with the club; something that has not always been the case. Ryan Yates of Nottingham Forest is an example: the midfielder was born in Lincoln but at Forest's academy from a young age. Lincoln's mission statement underlines the desire to give "all boys and girls across Lincolnshire" a platform to grow and develop as people, not just footballers. 11 talent centres - all of which are targeted to be open by September - will be crucial to said mission. Crucially, the Imps have a burgeoning reputation for player development: their total of 18 per cent of league minutes played by academy graduates is the best among all category three academies. At senior level, Morgan Rogers and Brennan Johnson are just two examples of young players who have developed and gone on to play for top Premier League teams after loan spells. On the pitch, innovating the way they approach their set-piece tactics is just one area of the club's 'game model' that has been refined. Other ideas are already in the pipeline to try and get ahead of the curve as football itself continues to evolve. "I think the game is massively changing," Scully adds. "In three, five however many years time, one of the things I personally believe is that we're not going to see head coaches on the touchline that much anymore; I think people are going to be higher with elevated access to more in-game data, because I just think that's the that's the way the game's changing. "It's part of the evolution of football and as the industry matures, teams will continue to try and find different ways to compete with each other and and get those three points for a win on a Saturday." On the pitch, the goal remains the Championship after finishing last season in the havens of midtable. Off it, the aim is for innovating to be "in the DNA of the club". Lincoln unveiled their new home kit on Friday with a tribute to the city's own mathematician, George Boole, with the inclusion of binary code. Said code spells out We Are Imps and underlines the sense of community Scully and Co continue to foster from the top. In an era where clubs in the lower echelons of the pyramid have made a habit of imitating those at the top table, Lincoln are happy to continue thinking outside the box. "Technology innovation we're not quite there but for many many years the club has been innovating," Futers concludes. "We push the boundary with great courage, we try new things. We would like to have innovation as a key thread throughout our thinking and decision-making on a day-to-day basis. I think on that front, we're pretty close."
