Lincoln City struck gold with Mansfield Town transfer - it's a blueprint to repeat | OneFootball

Lincoln City struck gold with one transfer from Mansfield Town, and can learn from it with Michael Skubala now at the helm.

Lincoln City struck gold with one transfer from Mansfield Town, and can learn from it with Michael Skubala now at the helm.

The Imps recruited striker Matt Rhead in the summer of 2015, keeping him in red and white for four seasons before he exited for then-National League South Billericay Town in 2019.

Matt Rhead: From Mansfield Town recruit to Imps cult-hero

Rhead, now 40 years old, joined Lincoln from Mansfield and grew into a cult-hero at Sincil Bank.

Signing when he was a 31-year-old, he brought heaps of experience to an Imps side stuck in the National League.

The installation of Danny Cowley and brother Nicky, saw the Imps escape non-league, with Rhead then becoming a stalwart and cult figure for the club.

He won an EFL Trophy, League Two crown and National League title during his time at Sincil Bank and earned his stripes as a hard-working goalscorer. Rhead was a throwback striker, fulfilling the old-fashioned archetype and fitting it into the modern game.

Through his four seasons with City, he netted 50 goals. The impressive half-century took his 187 games across two terms in the National League and the same amount in the fourth tier.

Rhead’s departure, certainly a sad day for Lincoln, came as the club headed into League One. He was prolific in non-league for the Imps, scoring 35 times for the club at that level.

And while his goalscoring output lessened a division higher, his work ethic and contributions in other parts of the game secured his iconic status in Lincolnshire.

Lincoln City’s Michael Skubala can learn from Rhead’s success

Today, Lincoln sit as a sturdy, if mid-table, League One. They have the ambition of lifting into the Championship, but that would take some level of overachievement.

They flirted with the play-offs last season, only falling short due to a final-day defeat to already-crowned champions Portsmouth.

One of the key aspects of the Imps’ transfer model is recruiting young players, building them up, and later selling them on for profit. That is without a doubt great for development and financial reward further down the line, but it does not always help the team in the immediate term.

Rhead was an example of the other side of that.

And, in that success, there is a blueprint for Lincoln to follow. They did such with the signings of two players at 34 in January.

Ex-Premier League midfielder Sam Clucas and Republic of Ireland international striker James Collins joined the Imps, and while the former has seen very little gametime, the latter has vastly improved Skubala’s team.

The Irishman is the latest evidence that the Rhead mould of signing experienced players does indeed work. It is a method that Lincoln should employ on more frequent occasion, as it would greatly boost their ability to battle higher up the Sky Bet League One table.

However, it is important to recognise that by no means should City abandon their overarching strategy of recruiting young talent and accentuating their sale value. This is a path that is a proven way to run a third tier club, and one that Lincoln have been very able at.