Hello everyone, a genuine Lincoln fan here. I have long been a lurker on RTG, and enjoy its humour and the obvious commitment you all have towards your club under some trying circumstances. I was at the game in January (it has become known as 'the Shackell game' to Lincoln fans) and the Sunderland fans were very welcoming and great to talk to. Sincere thanks for that.
So why am I invading your board?
The conflicting opinions on Danny Cowley are very interesting, not least for the lack of knowledge of him and his career. Apologies for the length of this post, but Danny has achieved an awful lot to date and is a serial winner.
Before I begin, please ignore the very obvious attempt by 'lincolnred' to discredit the Cowleys on Page 35 of this thread. There is not a single Lincoln City supporter alive who would be so ill-informed or use such derogatory terms to describe two men who were essentially the saviours of our club.
Allow me to give you some hard facts instead, then you can make up your own minds.
Danny has managed in every tier between tier 9 and tier 2, always in an upwards trajectory, and been successful at most of them. He has five promotions (three as champions), five play-off campaigns, and four cup wins to his name. Far from being inexperienced, he has been a football manager for 13 years. Both the Cowleys hold degrees in physical education, returning to college after failing to make the grade in professional football.
Here is his record before he arrived at Lincoln:
2007-08 Concord Rangers: Essex Senior League CHAMPIONS (at the first attempt)
2007-08 Concord Rangers: FA Vase QUARTER-FINALISTS (at the first attempt)
2008-09 Concord Rangers: Isthmian Div1N PLAY-OFF FINALISTS (at the first attempt)
2009-10 Concord Rangers: Isthmian Div1N PROMOTED via the play-offs (at the second attempt)
2012-13 Concord Rangers: Isthmian Premier PROMOTED via the play-offs (at the third attempt)
2012-13 Concord Rangers: Isthmian League Cup WINNERS
2013-14 Concord Rangers: Essex Senior Cup WINNERS
2014-15 Concord Rangers: Essex Senior Cup WINNERS
2014-15 Concord Rangers: FA Cup first round for the first time in the club's history
2015-16 Braintree Town: National League PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALISTS (at the first attempt)
Sneer at non-league football if you wish to, but that is a great record for someone also holding down a very busy job as a schoolteacher. His points-per-game return from the period 2007 to 2016 was 1.77 and his win ratio 51%. That is a magnificent return, considering that both Concord and Braintree were tiny clubs punching way above their weight. He took a tiny club from Essex up three tiers to the National League South, and almost took Braintree into the Football League in his one season there. All on tiny budgets.
Now on to Lincoln in May 2016, at which point he turned professional. Far from being disappointed that we were appointing a PE teacher as manager, his arrival was greeted with plenty of optimism. He looked like a winner, and that is what we needed.
Sometimes you have to forget what you used to be, and accept where you are.
In short, he completely transformed Lincoln City within a few months. The club had just finished in the bottom half of the National League for the fifth season in a row, and all hope of a return to the EFL was lost. The club was moribund at best. Cowley immediately set about reconnecting the city with its football club, making huge efforts to go out into the community and persuade people to give the club another chance. He motivated and mobilised the city behind him – take a look at some of the crowd numbers below as evidence of that.
He is a charismatic character, people like him, and has a very engaging manner (for example, he kneels down when talking to children). His eye for a player is good, and he made five or six signings that had an immediate impact on the pitch. His style of play has been wrongly labelled as long-ball or hoofball, usually by teams Lincoln beat or by keyboard experts who have never seen a Cowley team play. He likes to attack, but he is far more than one-dimensional. The Cowleys are heavily into sports science, very analytical, with Nicky sometimes viewed as the master tactician.
He does not tolerate a lack of effort. He is unforgiving with players – there are no second chances for failure – but motivates players to run through brick walls for him. He expects very high standards both on and off the pitch. If that does not appeal to you, I am not sure what will.
Please read part 2 below for his achievements at Lincoln.
