By Nathan Jackson
March 23 2007

Thanks to the use of a dictaphone, we now have a comprehensive report about Thursday night's Fans Forum at Sincil Bank. Discussions included how much Jamie McCombe was sold for, new signing Peter Holmes, and an important victory for common sense regarding the SW not becoming terracing.

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO POOR SOUND QUALITY OF THE AUDIO SYSTEM WITHIN THE CENTRE SPOT, NOT ALL THE QUOTES ARE 100% EXACT, BUT THE MAJORITY OF QUOTES ARE A NEAR EXACT REPLICA OF WHAT WAS SAID.

 

(To Steff Wright) IS IT TRUE MCCOMBE WAS SOLD FOR £5,000

 

McCombe had a clause in his contract in his contract which meant that if someone triggered that clause, he would be able to leave for a fixed figure, and unfortunately he moved. Unfortunately that was put into place before I took over at the club, and even more unfortunately Jamie left the football club. These things happen when clauses are put into contracts. With benefit of hindsight it certainly wouldn’t have been done and unfortunately we couldn’t agree to retain his services.

 

(To Steff Wright) BASED ON THAT, CAN WE PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT PLAYERS HAVE CLAUSES IN THEIR CONTRACTS ABOUT SELL-ON FEES?

 

We do, and to be a fair we’re pretty good at making sure the contracts that we offer the players are very robust, but there are always two sides to every contract negotiations. We’ll be looking for one thing and they’ll be looking for others. But at the moment we have players who want to play for Lincoln City and we’ve been very pleased to secure players to longer term contracts, namely Lee Frecklington.

 

(To Steff Wright) AT THE MINUTE AT THE CLUB, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW YOUNGSTERS WHO COULD FORM THE CORE OF A SUCCESSFUL TEAM IN THE FUTURE. IS THERE ANYTHING IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THESE PLAYERS ARE KEPT AT THE CLUB WHENEVER POSSIBLE?

 

Steff Wright passed the question onto John Schofield.

 

I think with the young players, under the Bosman ruling we are due compensation so we will get money if they leave for another club. We have a fantastic set up here, and although I hate to keep referring to him, Lee Frecklington is shining example to the youth department.

 

Should a player such as Lee not want to sign a contract after being at the club for 8/9 years, we’re guarded by compensation rights but that’s not an excuse not to offer contracts to young players. We set out at the start of the season and we told them that we would give them a full year of development before we would talk about their future.

 

Players such Lee Beevers who have contracts is up at the end of the season are again under the age of the Bosman ruling, the club paid good money for him and he’s been a good servant to the club. Whilst we’re saying we don’t want him to leave, should the worst case scenario happen and Lee would leave the club, we would still be in a position to get compensation for him.

 

(To John Schofield) I HEARD TODAY THAT SPENCER WEIR-DALEY HAS LEFT THE CLUB WHICH CAME AS A SURPRISE. WE HOWEVER REPLACED HIM WITH PETER HOLMES. IS IT POSSIBLE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED REGARDING BOTH OF THOSE TRANSFERS?

 

We’ll start with Spencer, we only had him on loan and after the first month Nottingham Forest could recall him at any time, that’s their legal right. We would have only had Spencer for the next 2 games anyway because although we’ve been pursuing an extension, the 93 day maximum loan spell rule meant that extending the loan wouldn’t have been possible.

 

Having said that, Forest have decided to recall him which they’re well within their rights to do so. He’s already linked up with Bradford. I’ve already spoke to Spencer and thanked him for his efforts at this football club. If I look at it from his point of view, it gives him the opportunity to earn himself a permanent deal there.

 

We did offer him a contract for next season, it would have meant him seeing out the remainder of the season at Forest before joining us on a permanent basis in the summer. He decided not to, but as a player he’s more than entitled to do so and although we wish him the best of luck, we only want players who want to pull on the Lincoln City shirt. I think you’ve got to agree this year, despite of some indifferent performances, that we’ve never lost appetite, so that’s the type of player we want.

 

As for Holmes, he comes in from Luton. He’s played in the Championship this season and also several games with Chesterfield. He’s 26 and has experience at a couple of divisions higher up, including helping Luton to the League One title 2 years ago. I think you got to agree that the four midfield players have done well, so hopefully this added quality will help us out for the remainder of the season.

 

Hopefully this will also help out Frecklington and help him learn. A lot of people forget that this is Frecklington’s first full season and he will hopefully benefit from Holmes’ experience. If we’re going to continue to improve we will have to continue to bring better players into this football club.

 

(To John Schofield) WHO OUT OF YOURSELF AND JOHN DEEHAN MAKES THE FINAL SELECTION ABOUT WHO THE STARTING LINE-UP? ALSO, WHY WAS SIMON RAYNOR NOT GIVEN MORE OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPRESS.

 

I’m responsible for team affairs, John (Deehan) takes the broader picture. He takes some of the weight of my shoulders, making sure that the club is going forward. John also has a big influence of the training ground. I find that there are times that the team doing well is the most important thing, and the new training ground has helped.

 

As for Simon Raynor, much like most of his predecessors he’s behind arguably the best goalkeeper in League’s One and Two, and I don’t want to let Marriott go so that other ‘keepers can get a chance. I don’t think that’s taking the club forward. Marriott’s worth about 15 points over the course of a season, and unfortunately for Simon, his opportunities that he has had here have been enough to displace Marriott.

 

He had the opportunity to go on loan and play a few games. It could be beneficial for us as it prepares Simon even more if Marriott gets injured in the future, but it also gives us a chance to look at other ‘keepers for the future.

 

(To John Schofield) WHAT’S THE SITUATION REGARDING MARK STALLARD AND JAMIE FORRESTER’S INJURIES?

 

I won’t reveal to many details about this, and although some fans do think I hide things from them at times, but I don’t see for one minute why we should give any club an advantage over us, so we play it a bit “dumb” once or twice.

 

(To John Schofield) WHAT’S HAPPENED TO RYAN SEMPLE?

 

Ryan came from Peterborough, he picked up a slight injury after having the inappropriate treatment on a previous injury at Peterborough. This was possibly because their physio was made redundant last season. Ryan didn’t get the treatment on his injuries that he picked up.

 

In pre-season Ryan was doing very well, but so were other players and this continued into the season. We let him go on loan to Chester and he picked up another injury. It’s unfortunate but these things happen in football. He’s doing light training at the minute, and when he’s back full time we’ll take another look at him.

 

(To John Schofield) ON THE MATCH DAYS WE’RE ALWAYS FREEZING IN THE STANDS, AND YET YOU’RE IN SHORTS ON THE TOUCHLINE. WHY IS IT THAT YOU DON’T SEEM TO FEEL THE COLD LIKE THE REST OF US.

 

I think the only feeling after a footballing career is that you don’t feel the cold anymore after 15-20 years of running around in it. I never wore anything more than a t-shirt. One of these days I might end up wearing a suit on the touchline, but that’s a few years off yet.

 

(To John Schofield) IN RECENT WEEKS I’VE SEEN SOME GREAT PERFORMANCES AGAINST WALSALL AND HARTLEPOOL. THE ATMOSPHERE AT BOTH GROUNDS, AND I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN APPEALING FOR NOISE AT SINCIL BANK. IN YOUR OPINION HOW VITAL IS THE HOME ATMOSPHERE TO THE TEAM?

 

I think when you’re at home, you come down and you’re going to your own patch, you turn up with watch the game in a good stadium with the odd pint or two. When you’re travelling away from home, you’re going to someone else’s patch and it’s more of an occasion for the away fans. It makes the fans a lot more vocal. I appreciate that we can’t control what happens outside the dressing room, but what we do is give the game a go every week, we give 100% each week.

 

The fans rightly expect to be entertained after paying their money. I don’t think anyone expected us to see the goals we scored earlier this season to last all season. Earlier we were trying back heels, they came off and we scored, now it goes to the opposition. That’s where we need the fans to stay with us, when we score the place becomes deafening.

 

That doesn’t affect us as a team, we see each game as an opportunity to get 3 points, and whether we have a hostile atmosphere either for or against us as a team, we’re going to go out and trying to win. However, it is always pleasant to have a great atmosphere from your own fans.

 

(To Steff Wright) HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING PROACTIVELY WITH THE SUPPORTERS TRUST TO IMPROVE THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE GROUND?

 

Well it’s something that we’ve looked at and we’ve passed it back to the Supporters Trust. We think that it’s not our job to manipulate a false atmosphere from the fans, it’s the fans job to create an atmosphere and it they don’t want to do that then there’s nothing we can do. We are a club that are closely associated with the Trust so we are more than welcome to ideas from the Trust.

 

I don’t know which club it was that was pumping crowd noise through the speakers, to me that would get us absolutely slatted. We get slatted enough for allowing the DJ to play “Always Look on the Bridge Side of Life” you’re never going to please everybody. At the end of the day the atmosphere is going to come from the fans, and it’s up to them to create it.

 

The Hartlepool fans were fantastic, even when they went 1-0 down they didn’t turn on their team because they haven’t lost in 20something games. We’ve had a fantastic season but over the course of the last 15/20 years we haven’t had a constant success. We need to stick by the team during all the times and create the atmosphere, you’re in the stands and need to go in with enthusiasm.

 

(To Steff Wright) JUST RECENTLY WE’VE BEEN DEBATING ATMOSPHERE AND THE STACEY WEST AND CO-OP FANS STRUGGLE TO HEAR EACH OTHER. WE NEED THE BAND TO STOP PLAYING UNNESSACERY SONGS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FANS TRYING TO CHANT SOMETHING ELSE. WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO HELP DO SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING THE STACEY WEST AND CO-OP FANS TO SING TOGETHER?

 

That’s something we’ve been discussing recently and that’s something that we’ve spoke to the band about. They’ve said that they’ll play if the fans sing, but then the fans always complain about the band interrupting the fans during the middle of a chant, it is a difficult situation.

 

We’re looking at bringing in an anthem, something for all the fragmented fans to join in with. When our fans are all together signing, we are amongst the loudest in the division, and we’re looking into making it easier to create that more often at home.

 

(To Steff Wright) IT THE CLUB GO BACK UP, WILL THE STACEY WEST STAND RETURN TO BEING A STAND FOR THE AWAY SUPPORTERS?

 

When I first got involved with the club the Stacey West was for away fans, and we changed that in 2002 because we thought it would give us more of a chance to win games. That’s got to be what we do if we get promoted, we will aim to give ourselves the biggest advantage possible.

 

Virtually all clubs will put away fans in the worst stand because it helps the home support, and in each club’s eyes the home support is more important that the away support.

 

There has also been talked about making the Stacey West into a terraced stand. If we want to fulfil our ambitions then we have to keep the ground at an all seated status, so there are currently no plans what so ever to make the Stacey West into a terrace and that’s the way it’ll more than likely stay.

 

(To John Schofield) GOING BACK TO THE CONTRACTS, AREN’T YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE OUT OF CONTRACT PLAYERS BEING TAPPED UP??

 

*said in a comical manner* That’s illegal isn’t it?

 

There are different types of management. I said to the players the first day I was given the job that you might not like what you here and that’s the way I’ve always been. Over the long term you will lose 1 or 2 players but just like in any other industry, if you’re not a nice person to work for then virtually everyone will find out.

 

We’ve spoke to the players and we’ve told them we’ll speak to them later on in the season regarding their contract. There are some that won’t be offered new contracts, but when you tell them they’d still put in the exact same performance that they would have done beforehand.

 

I only want players who’s hairs stick up on the back of their neck when they put the shirt on, that’s what happened to me and I was proud to wear the shirt, and I want the players to be the same.

 

(To John Schofield) WHAT’S THE SITUATION REGARDING YOUR CONTRACT, ARE YOU GOING TO SIGN A LONGER TERM DEAL IN THE FUTURE.

 

I don’t think it matters what term of contract that I have, whether I had a year or a week left, I would do the job exactly the same under any circumstances. I’ve been here for 7 years on the non-playing staff and obviously as a player before that. In football you don’t always get what you want, I would love to sign a 10 year contract but it isn’t going to happen.

 

If the chairman offered me a 5 year deal, all of a sudden the players might stop playing like they did and you’d be in danger of losing your job……but I wouldn’t mind a 5 year deal.

 

(To John Schofield) THE PITCH HAS GOTTEN WORSE AS THE SEASON PROGRESSED, HAVE YOU EVER TOLD THE PLAYERS TO JUST PLAY THE LONG BALL?

 

We’ve tried to be adaptable and we’ve tried the long ball. The ground staff have tried their best, but there will be an investigation regarding why the pitch went the way it is during the season.

 

I always seem to want to blame the pitch when we get beat, and I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses because then the fans will just point to the opponents winning in the exact same conditions that we had.

 

At Hartlepool we were the right team on the right type of pitch, and it was like that at the beginning of the season. We do play long ball when it’s needed, but that doesn’t suit us as we have a team of footballers and on the ground is how we want to play.

 

(To John Schofield) PLAYING 4-4-2 I WOULD EXPECT THE WIDE PLAYERS TO GET AROUND THE BACK OF THE DEFENCE, BUT THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO HAPPEN A LOT, WHY IS THIS?

 

I think we do try and get in behind, that’s my opinion but it depends on what angle you’re viewing the match at. When you get down at pitch level it’s a different game. Our game is about getting the ball into the front two, then making sure we have plenty of pace and power. Our two wide players have had a fantastic season but obviously things don’t always go your way.

 

I think we’re quite patient and we often try and get from side to side. We don’t want to try and put the ball in front unnessacery angles as the goalkeeper will only have to come and catch the ball.

 

If you distribute all the games that we haven’t won recently and scale it up against all the other results we’ve had this season, then we’re still in an incredibly strong position.

 

(To John Schofield) WHICH PLAYERS ARE UNDER CONTRACT FOR NEXT SEASON?

 

From last Saturday’s starting line up. Marriott, Moses, Green, Hughes, Freck and N’Guessan are all definitely under contract. Ryan Amoo has triggered an appearance clause which means we have to offer him a new contract. Junior (Mendes) and Nicky (Eaden) have their loans expiring but we’ll look into that. Nat Brown, Lee Beevers and Scott Kerr however have all yet to be offered new contracts for reasons mentioned earlier.

 

(To Steff Wright) WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL OPINIONS ON THE PENALTY SHOOT-OUT IDEA?

 

We all went to a meeting last week with all the other 71 Football League chairmen and everyone gave their opinions. The first 7/8 people asked all slatted the idea and it was eventually concluded that this idea wasn’t feasible. However, we all agreed to look into ideas to make football more exciting, and there will be more news about that in coming weeks.

 

Such ideas are additional points for an away win, or scoring more than 3 goals in a game.

 

(To John Schofield) OWAIN WARLOW SEEMS LIKE AN EXCITING YOUNG PROSPECT, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM HIM?

 

Much like Frecklington last season, people are constantly wanting him to come on the pitch to see what he’s about. He’s been involved around the edges of the first team, having little 5 minute spells here and there to get him ready for first team football. That’s how we develop players.

 

When we took the young players on, we told them that they would get a chance, and we aimed for 30 games between them and we’re above that target off the top of my head. They’re here because they’re good at football and all the youngsters have the potential to be a first team regular.

 

 

After this, John Schofield went on to compare this season to previous ones and then the meeting ended.