By Kate Jackson
August 8 2013

The new season is finally upon us and the Imps have got a very tricky opening month, starting with a trip to Woking. City didn't beat the Cards last season

Well here we go again, a new season, a manager about to commence his first full season in management and a new squad for the fans to get optimistic about.....where have I heard this before? This season there does seem to be genuine hope for the future of the club, the finances are slowly stabilising, the squad has looked promising in pre-season (although that is obviously irrelevant) and there is a genuine belief that although we have a difficult opening month (more on that in a bit), there is virtually no-one who seems to think that the Imps will struggle (as in other clubs, newspapers, etc) to avoid relegation.

That is, in part, due to the way that the Imps survived. On April 9th the Imps put in a pathetic performance away at Luton and everyone who was there that night genuinely felt that the club would be going down, there was no optimism at all. I've been on the supporters coach after we have lost Playoff Finals, been thumped by local rivals and even at the defeat against Oxford in the penultimate game of 2010/11 when everyone was resigned to going down....but none have been as silent as that trip back from Luton.

A dramatic win against Tamworth was followed by a game at Hyde, and rather than tell you what happened, I'll be nice and let you watch......

So the Imps survived with a resounding victory, but it will be a very different Imps side that will probably take the field against Woking. Jamie Taylor (Sutton) and Vadaine Oliver (Crewe) have both left the club, taking with them a 30+ goal partnership, but they have been replaced by a LOT of new strikers, making it very hard to predict that opening day front two.

The new squad will certainly have a hard test against a Woking side who did well in their return to the Conference. Woking ended the Imps' unbeaten league run that stretched throughout October and November last season, a run that also saw an FA Cup win at League One Walsall, and the Cards also took the lead in the reverse game extremely early. In terms of difficult opening games, there are few as hard as a trip to Woking.

It is the start of a very difficult opening run of games for the Imps, with games with Macclesfield (home), Forest Green (home), Cambridge (away), Wrexham (home) and Dartford (away) to follow. It is a run that contains a title favourite (Forest Green), last year's losing Playoff Finalist (Wrexham) and a side that everyone is predicting will do very well, although I don't fall into that group of people (Cambridge).

Whilst there are no easy games in this division, the Imps couldn't really have been handed a tougher start.

Gary Simpson is about to piss a lot of players off. A lot of players impressed in pre-season and nearly all the strikers had a healthy return in front of goal, so picking just two of them will be exceedingly trick. Despite playing some part in the game against Boston, Tom Miller is likely to miss out to avoid risking his injury.

Some players who were regulars last season might also be struggling to get into the starting XI, but at this early stage it is very hard to predict....but we'll give it a go anyway.

OUR PREDICTED STARTING XI
PLAYER	NOTES
	The only player that is virtually guaranteed to start. After a mixed 2012/13, Farman will be hoping for a more consistent new season.
	If fit, Newton will be virtually guaranteed a start given that he is the only left footed defender at the club. Will be making his debut for the club.
	Boyce will be under pressure to perform this season after an inconsistent 2012/13. With numerous defenders now at the club who have played higher, Boyce will have to cut out the simple mistakes he made last season if he wants to stay in the first team.
	For me, Foster is the best defender that we have and his signing after being released from Preston will be a coup. Starting his second spell at the club
	Nat Brown will become a rare breed when he takes to the field this season as he will become a player who has played for us in three separate spells. I highly doubt Brown will keep his place in the first team once Miller is fully fit.
	After a poor start to the 2012/13 season, Alan Power was a far better player after an injury and became one of the first names on the team sheet. Power is now the only survivor from our opening game back in the Conference two seasons ago.
	Making his debut, Rowe has the potential to be a game changer and has scored several stunning goals in pre-season. He will more than likely play either on the wing or as an attacking midfielder.
	Debutant Nolan has shown a touch of class during pre-season and has shaken off the stigma of being relegated last season with Stockport. In terms of technical ability, he could easily be the best player at the club.
	Completing the midfield and likely to play on the wing is debutant Adi Yussuf. Gary Simpson described signing him as a "risk" but he has impressed during pre-season and now someone who people expected to be a squad player is likely to start.
	Yet another debutant is striker Nick Wright. Wright is the only proven consistent goalscorer that the Imps signed during the pre-season and scored a hatrick at Harrogate. I'd be surprised if he doesn't start given the fuss that Simpson had to go through to get him and the aforementioned scoring record.
	Completing the set is yet another debutant in Waide Fairhurst, signed from Macclesfield. A favourite of Simpson's from Macclesfield, Fairhurst joins after enjoying a good start to 2012/13 before a major injury laid him off.

The joint-record winners of the FA Trophy returned to the Conference after a year absense last season, recording a highly respectable 12th placed finish.

Forms in 1889, Woking are one of the best known sides in non-league, partly due to a highly successful run in the FA Cup in 1990/91 that saw them reach the fourth round, beating West Bromwich Albion 4-2 along the way, before eventually bowing out to Division One (now the Premier League) side Everton. This was followed the next year by promotion to the Conference and they twice finished runners up in the mid-1990s, although whether they would have made it into the Football League due to their strict ground regulations is another matter (this was before their large stand behind the goal was bebuilt).

Another impressive run in the FA Cup in 1996/7 saw them beat Division Two (now League One) league leaders Millwall and Cambridge United from Division Three (now League Two) before losing a replay to Premier League Coventry City.

The 90s were no doubt the peak of Woking's history and although it hasn't been a complete collapse since then, they certainly haven't enjoy their time on the pitch as much since. Financial struggles followed in the last decade before relegation to the Conference South in 2008/9. Several failed Playoff attempts followed before eventually winning the Conference South title quite comfortably in 2011/12. A highly respectable 12th place followed.

They are managed by Garry Hill, a highly successful manager in the non-league, almost gaining promotion with Dagenham several times, including being the team that lost out to Boston despite the Pilgrims' financial irregularities, and then becoming the first ever manager to lose a Conference Playoff game as his side lost to Doncaster Rovers in added on time. In his time in charge at Woking he has gained promotion.

Despite a slow start last season, Woking soon kicked into gear and scored goals consistently, including a thumping 6-1 win over Nuneaton, 5-2 over Telford and a 5-4 win over Macclesfield late in the season, however, they were certainly capable of conceding a lost of goals and they became the first side in history to win 7-0 one week and then lose by the same scoreline in their next game, with those results coming in games against Farnborough and Hyde respectively.

Woking ended their 2012/13 season with a run of just three wins in thirteen games, although one of those did come against eventual Playoff Finalists Wrexham.

The most common time for the Cards to score is in the first fifteen minutes, or the 61-75 minute mark, with 15 goals coming in both of those periods for them, with the 15 minutes either side of half time being the least prolific, scoring eight and nine respectively.

Garry Hill's men have enjoyed an impressive pre-season, beating Dover, Bournemouth, Gillingham and Eastleigh, drawing with QPR and losing to Staines.

Current Woking players Gavin McCallum and John Nutter have played for Lincoln. In the recent past Ian Hamilton, Luke Cornwall, Jefferson Louis, Jamie Taylor, Nicky Nicolau, Tony Sinclair, Luke Medley and Jamie Hand have also played for both.

Last season the first meeting between the clubs came at Sincil Bank. The Imps were in form, unbeaten in the last for two months and had secured progression through two rounds of the FA Cup, about to go to a replay with Mansfield for a tie to play Liverpool. Despite early Imps pressure, Woking opened the scoring through Kevin Betsy's early penalty before Bradley Bubb secured the win for the Cards.

The return game on March 2nd was Lincoln's first game with Gary Simpson as manager, but he couldn't have gotten off to a worse start after Johnson gave the hosts the least extremely early. Vadaine Oliver did equalise midway through the first half and both teams would have felt unlucky not to walk away from the game with all three points.

Match Preview : Woking vs Imps - Here we go again

Discussion started by theimps.ka (IP Logged), 08/08/2013 09:21

theimps.ka
08/08/2013 09:21

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