The Imps go top

Three wins in three sent relegation favourites, Lincoln City, top of League Two. A convincing 2-0 win over Macclesfield started off the Imps' League Two campaign but a trip to Peterborough in the League Cup resulted in a 3-0 defeat, bringing The Imps back down to earth after their dream start. Lincoln loanee Jacopo Sala epitomised The Imps' dismal performance, missing from the spot in the second half.

Lincoln bounced back from their capitulation at the hands of Peterborough with a spirited win away at Southend. Lincoln showed real determination as they fought hard to hold on to their lead. On-loan centre back Paul Downing got his second of the campaign from a well-worked corner and Ben Hutchinson (on loan from Celtic) sealed the win on 72 minutes.

Despite his poor performance against Peterborough, Jacopo Sala showed why he deserved a second chance against Southend, scoring a sublime goal in the 40th minute and dominating the right wing throughout.

Lincoln entertained Northampton at Sincil Bank a week later and impressed with a 3-1 win. The Imps dominated right from kick off and that pressure was rewarded when Ben Hutchinson struck from range, giving Lincoln an early lead. Star centre-back Ben Tozer picked up a knock early on and had to be substituted. His replacement, Moses Swaibu, made an immediate impact, scoring on 28 minutes from a well-worked corner. Michael Whitwell, who signed for the Imps on a free in the summer, capped off a superb Lincoln move to make it 3-0. Lincoln couldn't keep a clean sheet and conceded in first half stoppage time when Mingoia was given too much space down the right and easily slotted home.

Ben Hutchinson's injury sustained late on doesn't look too bad and should only keep him away from the first team for 10 days or so.

Once again, Jacopo Sala wins the man of the match award for his impressive display against Northampton, creating two of the three goals.

Lincoln now sit top of the table, two points clear of Burton Albion. Hopefully Lincoln can continue their league run and try and extend their fragile lead.

Macclesfield 0-2 Lincoln City

Lincoln City have started their League Two campaign under new manager Edward Harrison with a convincing win away at Macclesfield Town.

Both goals came from set pieces with the two on-loan centre backs Ben Tozer and Paul Downing nodding in from close range. Macclesfield were frustrated in front of goal and saw many shots saved by keeper Joe Anyon, but did come close to pulling a goal back when a long range effort hit the cross bar and went out.

Ben Tozer - following his loan move from Newcastle in the summer, centre back Ben Tozer put in a man of the match performance in the game against Macclesfield.

Tozer received a match rating of 8.5 for his role in the 2-0 win over Macclesfield and his early headed goal helped cap off an impressive display.

The 20 year old looks like a promising prospect for the future and with key attributes in all the right areas (heading, marking, tackling, positioning, jumping and strength), he looks like someone to hold onto.

During his post-match interview, Lincoln manager Edward Harrison rated Ben's performance as outstanding, which should give a little boost to the defenders confidence ahead of the next game.

Should Tozer continue to impress, I'd like to extend his initial 3 month deal until the end of the season.

Darren Currie - a special mention goes out to veteran winger Darren Currie who had an impressive league debut for Lincoln City. The 35 year old signed for Lincoln from Dagenham and Redbridge in the summer for around £2.5k and following an encouraging pre-season, scoring once, took up position on the left wing. He looked comfortable out there receiving two assists for the pinpoint balls he put into the box for the young centre backs to head home.

The Lincoln fans were delighted with his performance and hope Lincoln's very own 'golden balls' will continue to provide for our players in the box.

Despite his age and lack of pace, the skillful winger has all the technical attributes needed to perform well as part of a team. His key attributes include flair, technique, composure, creativity, passing, first touch, crossing and corners.

Lincoln City: Pre-season results

Lincoln City began the season with a mixed bag of results, earning three wins, a draw and suffering three defeats. Several signings were made following the encounter with Lincoln Reserves and despite the poor results, it was encouraging to see that Lincoln were able to score in the games against much better opponents. However, it worried me that we had conceded eleven times in six games and with my wage budget spent on attacking players, I would have to try and sign a few defenders on loan.

Ben Tozer (Newcastle United), Paul Downing (West Brom) and Joe Dudgeon (Man Utd) were signed on three month loan deals in time for the Middlesbrough game and despite a 2-0 defeat, performed well.

I felt we played well against the Championship side and were unlucky not to take something from the game. After Middlesbrough's victory, their manager, Tony Mowbray showered praise on their defeated opponents. He enjoyed our passing game and thought we fought well.

A solid 2-0 win over Eastwood brought our pre-season preparations to close with the fans looking forward to our first game of the season against Macclesfield in League Two.

Why Lincoln City?

I chose Lincoln City FC as the team I wanted to manage because it's the closest team to where I grew up (the closest team to where I was born is Queens Park Rangers) and I've seen them play the most out of any other team including following 'The Imps' all the way to the League Two Playoff Finals at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff on two occasions.

They are currently bottom of League Two and on the game are predicted to finish in last place so I thought I'd do something to save my local club by stepping up as manager!

Welcome!

Thank you for stopping by my brand new blog about my exploits with Lincoln City FC on Football Manager 2011.

I'm an experienced blogger and. I enjoy football management games and have been playing Championship Manager 2008 for around four years now so I thought it time I upgraded to a more recent game. I'm an experienced blogger and write about my hobby in great detail, including stories about the things I get up to so I thought 'why not create a blog where I can document my managerial career on football manager and add a bit of excitement and a story to it?'. And here it is.

I'm not entirely sure what style to write in, whether to do it as a solely news-based blog or to add in my personal opinion and what I'm thinking as I'm playing through the game (to make it more human rather than just report results/signings etc). But anyway, any thoughts or feelings are always welcome and feel free to 'follow' this blog!