Ali Maxwell

operating smartly for a number of years and sometimes you can see the clubs that aren't necessarily going all out buying a new team every summer to try and get promotion that season taking a longer term approach and getting the benefit of having a squad of players that maybe have played each other played with each other for two years they understand each other's games a little bit more than when you buy a whole new starting eleven and

That's been the story of Lincoln City from the National League upwards.

Incredibly smart people run the club.

They understand who they are and they understand, as well as any other team I've seen, how to punch above their weight by being smarter and more patient than other clubs and getting the benefit of that as a result.

And obviously they made an amazing manager hire in Michael Skibala.

And, you know, he should get so much credit for what he's done and this team.

But I think he'd be the first to say, and, you know, Wayne who's managed before will probably speak better on this, but, like, he walked into a structure that was set up to support him, a club that was moving in the right direction, that had the right momentum and people to help him do what he's done so well.

What does that feel like?

He was, yeah, his background is in coaching and even worked in schools as a PE teacher, I think, when he was younger or something similar.

And so he's come up through that pathway and, yeah, he coached the England futsal team.

So small-sided games, smaller ball,

more about technique in small areas.

The interesting thing is his Lincoln side play incredibly direct.

They go back to front very, very quickly.

They get on second balls.

They've got the kind of... He has got quality technical players, Moylan and Hackett, who play off the wings but come inside kind of actors number 10s and then generally two up top as well.

So he's been very adaptable and that's been key to their success, the way that they play.

They've even talked about it like...

they know that teams change the way they play when Lincoln come to town because of their strengths, particularly aerially and from set pieces.

And so in their mind, they've already got a win of some sorts.