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Didn't we have a luvverly day, the day we went to Lincoln

4 April 2017

Any Town fans who tuned in to watch Lincoln dispatch Dagenham & Redbridge last night will have seen not only Marcuses in attendance but also his assistant Mickey Moore and head of recruitment Gary 'Does That Job Title Make Me Responsible For Signing Gavin Gunning?' Whild. I was watching a movie with the kids so missed out on this veritable feast of football but luckily was alerted to it by this tweet from the BBC's very own Matt Dean.

It's easy to poke fun at them, and many of us did (just read the replies to Matt's tweet) but why was 75 per cent of Town's footballing nous at Sincil Bank? Donny's Darren Ferguson was also there, but it's unlikely he was just there to gloat about Saturday or to take the piss out of Mickey's scarf.

It might have just been a social thing, or a way to deal with the tedium of living in lodgings. Or maybe they were there to check out potential summer signings. Putting aside the nightmare scenario of Whild suggesting we make a bid for Matt Rhead, who else would have been on display? 

Nathan Arnold would seem like the obvious candidate, if of course the Blundell Park brains recognise that we are missing a winger with ball control and the ability to shoot or cross accurately. And that's a big if. The Daggers' striker Oliver Hawkins has bagged 18 this season, so maybe he's worth a look? 

Who else would they be looking at? Power, Wood and Waterfall are all pretty familiar to us, but what we won't be familiar with is their style of play. We've seen it in those televised cup games and if we're honest, and can put aside the rivalry for a minute or two, it's pretty impressive. They've ditched the long ball. They've got organised and they can break at speed on the flank. Nathan Arnold is showing the form that earned him a place in the 2014-15 Conference team of the year; skinning a full-back, cutting in and going for goals. 

Maybe that's it? Bignot and his deputies were checking out one or maybe two of our likely opponents next season, rather than potential signings. The Imps might have been knocked out of both the FA Cup and Trophy but after a minor dip they've caught up their game in hand on Tranmere and are sitting three points clear. The Daggers are fourth behind Forest Green. If form going into the summer is anything to go by then a betting man would probably put a tenner on Lincoln rolling us over next season.

God, I hope that doesn't happen. But I want the Imps to get promoted. We need a local rival and rivalry is nothing if we don't play meaningful games. Seeing as Scunny and now Donny have rather unsportingly decided that they prefer the higher divisions, who else can we look to? Don't mess it up now, lads.

Elsewhere in the news, there really isn't much news. While Teresa May and the Archbishop of York have got a right benny on over insufficent use of the word Easter, our very own Marcus Bignot has appealed for realism and patience about something or other. We don't yet know where he stands on the chocolate egg kerfuffle.

Finally, you'll have noticed that the Competition Formerly Known As The Auto Windscreens Shield has been won by once-mighty Coventry City. In the next few days, our gallant figurehead and de facto chairman John Fenty will likely be asked to vote on the future of the competition. The EFL's chief exec Shaun Harvey has been desperately trying to spin disastrous gates as a success and will dangle money in front of Fenty in a bid to persuade him to undermine the very League structure which we made such a fuss about rejoining back in May.

If you care about the future of the game in this country and don't want to see us and our peers annexed off from the higher divisions then drop him a line to remind him what the vast majority of fans want him to do. Maybe write to the Trust too. But be polite, OK?