Grandpa Wen and the Royal medals

You may have seen that Chinese Premier ‘grandpa’ Wen Jiabao has recently been on a visit to the UK.  While he was here, the Royal Society presented him with the Charles II medal for his contribution to science and technology (read about it here).  This was because he ‘has overseen one of the most ambitious programmes of national research investment the world has ever seen.’

This got me thinking.  If the Charles II medal is given for contributions to science, what other medals based on past Royals could we be awarding?

The Charles I medal for the most egotistical leader?

The George III medal for the looniest leader?

The Edward VIII medal for leaders who don’t stay in power very long?

The Oliver Cromwell medal for leaders who don’t really want to be leaders but feel they have no choice?

The Aethelred II medal for leaders who just weren’t prepared enough?*

The Harold Harefoot medal for the leader named after the best animal?

Feel free to add your own to the list!

*before anyone tells me, I know that Aethelred’s unfortunate nickname ‘the Unready' actually means ‘ill-councilled’.  It just seemed funnier this way.

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Mes Aynak – Ancient monastery vs Copper mine

It seems that the clash between making money and preserving the past is ever present at the moment.  No sooner had we seen an English Council leader threaten to remove archaeological considerations from the planning process (see my blog post here), then I come across a news story from a lot further away, but no less disturbing.

The rich cultural heritage of Afghanistan has recently been brought to life in a fantastic British Museum exhibition, yet it is once again under threat.  Not from war, but from international commercial mining.

Mes Aynak is an important ancient Buddhist monastery, founded in the first Century AD and located high in the mountains of western Afghanistan, on the profitable silk road.  The site covers a huge area, with impressive standing remains, yet it has been little studied.  The site was used by Al Qaeda as a training camp, and suffered looting first by the Taliban and then by others after they had left.  Despite this terrible recent history, the site now faces its biggest threat – that of total destruction by open-cast copper mining.

Statues whose heads have previously been looted

The name ‘Mes Aynak’ actually means ‘little copper well’, and the presence of the metal has long been known.  It was a major reason for the location of the monastery.  But the metal that once made the site rich now threatens its destruction.  The desire to re-ignite Afghanistan’s economy has led to a Chinese mining company being granted permission to turn the entire huge site into a mine, forever destroying the remains.  Archaeologists have been granted three years to investigate the site – a permission which has led to the largest archaeological project on the planet, as almost 1,000 archaeologists and workers attempt to salvage what information they can about the site.

Yet their efforts may only scratch the surface.  It was estimated that ten years of excavations were required, and the current efforts are little more than a rescue attempt – to take as much away as they can before it is gone forever.  Sadly, this is hardly the textbook approach to investigating such an important site.  The opening of a museum nearby, promised by the government, will sadly seem more of a memorial to the site than a celebration.

The Chinese Metallurgical Group were granted permission to open the mine in 2007, and will be allowed to operate it for 30 years.  The $3 billion dollar deal is the largest in Afghan history.  Chinese workers are already at the site in large numbers, preparing for the destruction to begin in 2014.  1,600 Afghan soldiers, a veritable army, guard the site from further looting.  The irony of such resources being used to protect a site that will soon be destroyed is telling.

The balance between restarting the economy and preserving the past is a difficult one, but the speed with which the excavations must be concluded is shocking.  With more time to properly excavate, the loss of the site would still be regrettable, but at least the damage would be better mitigated.  The present situation seems very much like merely paying lip service to the archaeologists, with the ultimate desire to make money the overriding factor in all things.

Perhaps the most scandalous thing about this tale is that the world barely seems to have noticed that it is happening.  One of the most important Buddhist sites in the world will vanish in a matter of years, and yet it seems like hardly anyone will notice.

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Fenland philistinism and archaeological bunny-hugging

Democracy is a funny thing.  We seem to be fighting a few wars at the moment to get other countries to sign up for it.  China is continually bashed because it doesn’t want it.  But sometimes there comes along a story that makes you wonder ‘do we really want it?’  Because it seems that sometimes people can elect leaders who are, quite frankly, barbarians.

Take, as an example, a speech given the other day by Alan Melton, the leader of the Fenland District Council (basically the boggy bit between Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire).  He was speaking at a Building and Design Awards ceremony (read the local newspaper article here), and set out his plans to boost the local economy by taking away elements of the planning process to make new developments easier.  All well and good, you might be thinking - getting rid of the red tape and bureaucracy.  However, his proposals are, simply, to remove pesky and sometimes expensive inconveniences like the historic environment and the archaeological record.

According to Mr Melton, it is an outrage that building projects should have to spend thousands of pounds having to wait while an archaeologist digs holes in the ground, when more money could be made by just bulldozing through it all and letting the archaeologists inspect it ‘when the footings are being dug out.’  A recipe for learning more about our shared history?  No.  A recipe for letting a few of Mr Melton’s mates get a bit richer?  Absolutely.

An insidious example was provided to support his argument.  Apparently an excavation in advance of a college development cost £10,000 – money which Mr Melton argued would have been better spent on schools and teachers.  But let’s just think about that for a second.  Do developers fund the education service in the fens?  No, of course they don’t.  If every developer was allowed to merrily destroy the archaeological record when building their housing estate, not one extra teacher would be provided for local children.  Rather, the lack of historical information available to local schools would in fact damage the education of local children, while developers get to make even more profit.  I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like stealing from the children rather than giving them something.

Of course, Mr Melton’s background rather reveals the source of his bias against culture.  He is a bricklayer, and therefore seems to see anything that stops someone like him making money as a bad thing.  He even mentions unspecified ‘experiences he endured during his former life’ which seem to have twisted his opinions.  Sadly, he has been elected by the good people of the Fens into a position where he can enforce his uncultured views on the rest of us.

To cap it all, what name does he give to people like us who care about the past?  ‘Bunny-huggers’!  As if to suggest that people interested in preserving the past (and presumably by extension the natural environment too), are akin to some stereotypical hippy commune, preaching about world peace and thinking that the soil has feelings.  Rubbish – the systematic study of the history of this country has been carried out for centuries, and Mr Melton, in his desperate desire for economic regeneration, may like to reflect on how much money tourism and heritage bring to the economy of this country.

But of course Mr Melton hasn’t thought about that, because he isn’t really sure what he’s talking about at all.  For one thing, he seems to be confusing the historic environment with global warming, with his comment that ‘I don’t believe the Polar Bears will be floating down the Nene in my life time or indeed my children’s.’  No, Mr Melton, neither do I, but I don’t think that it’s an excuse for raping the archaeological heritage of your district.  I don’t think that camels will be wandering the streets either, but that isn’t a good reason to start shooting endagered birds.  The two things are completely and utterly unrelated.

Modern archaeology is based on the principle of 'the polluter pays'.  A simple concept - if you are going to profit from the destruction of the environment, then you should pay to have it recorded or studied before that destruction.  Mr Melton would have the archaeological record laid bare at the mercy of any greedy capitalists to plunder for personal profit.  That cannot be allowed to happen in any society that calls itself civilised.

People of the fenland please speak out.  Tell this philistine (whom you elected to serve your interests) that what he is doing is irreversibly destroying your heritage purely so a few of his friends in the building sector can get a little bit richer.  If that is what true democracy is, then give me a benign dictatorship any day.

Addendum 24 June 2011

As you may imagine, I was far from the only archaeologist to be enraged and flabbergasted by the above story.  Various professional bodies, such as the Council for British Archaeology and the Institute for Archaeologists have officially expressed their concern, and archaeologists on the British Archaeology mailing list have been vocal in their condemnation.

Mr Melton, however, seems to actually be rather proud of his boorishness.  In a follow-up newspaper article, an email of his to Conservative colleagues is quoted; ‘I don’t tweet, but what a wonderful day … to be attacked by bunny huggers, historic lefties and the vested interested professional classes. Eric Pickles will be extremely proud of me.’

So, eloquent proof indeed that arrogant local Tory politicians are more interested in lickspittle sycophancy with the top brass than with doing what is right for their community and local heritage.  I hope everyone that voted for them at the last election is now enjoying reaping what they have sown.  Hopefully the important archaeological heritage of the fens isn’t fated to pay the price.

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Travels with Li Dongni – Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, China (December 2008)

The most poignant of museums

I’ve been to a few Chinese museums, and I have to say that, from the perspective of an English museum curator, they tend to conform to a stereotype – anything that could have money spent on it (eg buildings, display cases, AV presentations, lighting effects, computer reconstructions) look amazing, seriously the equal and more of anything the west has to offer.  However, they tend to fall short when it comes to the underlying function of a museum as we would understand it – to engage with audiences. To teach visitors about a subject, yes, but also to expand their horizons, to get them to think more deeply, to view things from a different perspective and to begin to ask their own questions about the past and present of the world around them.  These are lofty ambitions to be sure, and I’m not saying for a second that all western museums get it right, but the basic premise that museums exist for their audiences is lacking in China.  Instead, Chinese museums exist to tell the story that the top brass wish to be told.  There is no conjecture, no open debate.  This is how it happened, and it shows how glorious China is.  End of story.

So how surprised I was that the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, a place that should be the Mecca of Chinese nationalist propaganda and ‘foreigner hate’, managed to somehow to rise above the rest and present a harrowing human story without making me feel that I should be waving a little Chairman Mao flag and singing the Chinese national anthem.

The Nanjing Massacre is quite simply a chapter in history that we should all be made familiar with.  If it had happened in Europe or America, it would be on the history curriculum of every schoolchild in the world.  The fact that it happened in China is no excuse for the world to forget one of the most horrifying atrocities ever committed.  I’ll give my brief overview of the events in a moment, but I feel that I should plug one of the most moving books I have ever read, Iris Chang’s ‘The Rape of Nanking’.  The researching of the book tragically sent Chang into a depression that led her to take her own life, but the work she left behind is a true testament to the victims of the massacre.

So what happened?  In 1937, the Japanese army invaded China, and quickly took Shanghai.  At that time, Nanjing was the capital but it was decided that it could not be defended.  The Chinese armies withdrew deeper into the country to plan their defence and force the Japanese to overstretch themselves.  The General in charge of Nanjing, Tang Shengzhi, was not prepared to capitulate so easily, however, and gathered around 100,000 men to lead the defence of the City.  Sadly, these were not crack troops, but men with little training and the scattered remnants of soldiers who had fled defeated from Shanghai.  Citizens were prevented from leaving the city through the burning of boats and surrounding villages.  The Japanese army arrived in December 1937 and the makeshift defence quickly crumbled due to low morale and the collapse of discipline.  The Japanese were airdropping leaflets demanding the city to surrender, and eventually a general retreat was ordered.  However, rather than an orderly withdrawal from the city, the Chinese army routed.  Commanders abandoned their men, soldiers stole clothes from civilians in their attempts to disguise themselves, and the streets were littered with discarded weapons and uniforms.  The Japanese army entered the city, and the event that would become infamous began.

Once the City had been taken, the Japanese army engaged in what can only be described as 6 weeks of war crimes, as the soldiers committed mass murder, rape, arson and theft on an inhuman scale.  The true scale of the carnage may never be known, but it is estimated that 300,000 people, mostly civilians, perished.  20,000 women are thought to have been raped, often with brutality and mutilation that I won’t enter into in this blog.  Civilians were rounded up in their thousands and machine-gunned, their bodies falling into pre-prepared mass graves.  Others were beheaded, and there is even Japanese newspaper coverage of a competition between two officers over who could behead the most Chinese.  The winner sickeningly achieved a ‘score’ of 106.  Ordinary Japanese soldiers rounded people up and used them for bayonet practice.  Those thought to be Chinese soldiers hiding as civilians were particularly sought out, and ‘evidence’ such as helmet strap marks under the chin guaranteed a grisly end.

Amid the backdrop of this almost incomprehensible carnage were a small group of Europeans trying to maintain a safe haven for civilians, and who were undeniably responsible for the saving of many thousands of innocent lives.  By a curious twist of fate, the man most responsible for leading the efforts was a German business man, John Rabe, who was a member of the Nazi party and therefore supposedly an ally of the Japanese.  Fortunately his humanist sensibilities overrode political alliances.

The massacre has ever since been burned into the Chinese psyche, and above all other events in the Sino-Japanese war has remained the single incident that sparks tension between the two nations, particularly due to the Japanese refusal to officially acknowledge or apologise for the events, despite the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal executing 4 officers for their actions, including the two who had competed in the beheading competition.

The Memorial Hall was opened in 1985 on the site of one of the mass graves, and it was enlarged and renovated in 1995.  The first thing that a visitor notices as they approach the museum is a huge bronze statue depicting an emaciated and tattered women, in despair over the dead child in her arms.  Visitors should be in no doubt at this point that this museum is about more than buying funny coloured pencils in the shop.

On the approach to the entrance are a further series of bronze dioramas and associated poems, but this time on a more human scale and each dealing with the death of a loved one during the siege.

At the ticket desk, I was asked to step aside by the security guard and answer a few questions.  My ‘China sense’ immediately started tingling, as I expected to be subjected to some ‘foreigner questioning’, but in fact he just asked where I was from, as they liked to keep a more detailed record of their foreign visitor demographic.  As the guard was very friendly, I made a mental note not to be so suspicious in future!

Inside the museum’s walls is a large open area, dominated by more large sculptural works, including a giant memorial cross and a wall with 300,000 written in many different languages.

The most disturbing of these sculptures were definitely the huge head and arm coming out of the ground.  The arm in particular is almost zombie-like, and is the only time I can remember that the museum gives a sense of a desire for revenge rather than simply mourning the dead and asking ‘why’?

The first half of the sizeable museum tells of the Japanese invasion and the political situation leading to the massacre.  The second half, however, dealing with the massacre and its aftermath, is harrowingly memorable.

I should say at this point that I’m used to handling human skeletal remains.  As an archaeological museum curator, the site of a skull or an arm bone is an almost daily occurrence to me, but I’m aware it might not be to everyone.  However, the sight of a mass grave of innocent people, murdered within living memory, is shocking and upsetting on a level I have never before experienced.  The images below show the ‘pit of ten thousand corpses’ upon which the museum is built.  Nothing the museum says in any of its text panels or displays can prepare you for the sight, or leave you with such a profound sense of sadness and anger.

The remainder of the displays tell of the war crimes tribunals and the anger that is still felt that no apology or even official recognition of the event has ever been made.  Comparisons are drawn between this and the new relationships that have been formed in Europe with Germany following the end of the war, because of the willingness of Germany to accept its guilt and rebuild.

There are fewer than 400 survivors of the massacre remaining, and efforts to record their testimony are underway.  In fact, while my wife was studying at Nanjing University about 5 years ago, she took part in a student project to record oral testimonies of survivors, which I know was something that profoundly affected her.

When the museum was renovated, they got as many of the survivors together as they could, and cast their footprints into a walkway running around the outside of the museum.

The experience ends with an attempt at reconciliation, with a large Classical statue of Peace and an eternal flame, both of which are simply but powerfully executed.

I have been to many museums on my travels, but few have had the continued emotional impact on me as this one did.  If ever you find yourself in Nanjing, or interested enough to find out more about the massacre, there are 300,000 very good reasons to do so.

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2010-11 the relegation season review

Let’s face it – a review of a relegation season is not going to be pleasant reading.  You have been warned!  But I don’t want this to be a depressed, whinging review, or one that proclaims that the world and everything to do with the club is in a state of abject turmoil and all the players and management should be lined up and shot.  I want this to be a genuinely frank and personal appraisal of a season that was ultimately terrible, but came so close to being merely on the poor side of average.  I also want to look forward to think about what the future holds for the Imps.

Let’s be honest from the outset, this relegation didn’t start on May 7^th 2011 against Aldershot.  It didn’t even really begin on August 7^th 2010 against Rotherham.  This slippery slope to relegation started a few years ago.  It started after Keith Alexander left, even though most agreed it was time for the Imps and Big Keith to part company.  Through the successive reigns of John Schofield, Peter Jackson and Chris Sutton, City have been slowly edging their way into obscurity, gradually slipping further and further away from being a team that inspired any real expectations of greatness from fans.  Sadly, under the reign of the current incumbent, Steve Tilson, the Imps have also failed to show any spark of creativity or togetherness.

Having said that, this season could so easily have remained just another season of bottom half of the table drudgery.  In fact, with a dozen games to go, nobody really expected the Imps to fail to pick up the handful of points required to guarantee safety.  I would ascribe the end of season collapse to a number of things (in no particular order):

1) The season-ending injury to Delroy Facey, the hardworking and bustling striker who had inspired the mid-season revival that so nearly put City safe.

2) The departure of Scott Kerr to York in January.  Whatever the reasons behind it (and I’m sure that idiot fans constantly moaning that he wasn’t good enough didn’t help), the loss of our one and only committed and battling midfielder had a massively detrimental effect.  Although the team’s good run of form happened after Kerr left, I’m certain that his qualities would have shone through when backs were to the wall.

3) The lack of one single, consistent goalkeeper for the season.  One that actually knew what he was doing.

4) The inability of the management team to instill a sense of fight in the team before the situation became desperate, and the complacency of the players when they should have realized that they were slipping down the league and needed to fight harder.

5) The return of loan players to their parent clubs, and the fact that their replacements in the team were lacking both confidence and match practice.

6) The suspension and injury to Grimes, which seemed to put an end to his goalscoring touch.  For the final few games, Grimes looked unable to score, and by the very end seemed desperate to be anywhere but Sincil Bank.

Looking back over the ebb and flow of the season though, it’s easy to forget that City, although in the bottom half of the table all season, spent decent chunks of time a good few points and places above the relegation zone.  The chart below shows how far away from the teams in 23^rd and 24^th places City were over the course of the season.

Click to view full size

It’s immediately obvious just how far from danger City’s revival had put them, and equally how static they were for the remaining dozen games.

In terms of memorable moments, sadly it’s the massive home hammerings that stand out.  Having been beaten 5-0 by Bury, 5-1 by Shrewsbury and 6-0 by Rotherham, it’s not surprising that players and fans alike were filled with an amount of trepidation when home games came around.  Of course, the reaction of the fans to poor home results and performances was cited by some players as a reason for their continuation.  I can see both sides of the fence here.  I understand fan frustration at poor performances, and let’s not forget that these players are professionals – being paid to do a job that they are supposedly good at, and getting paid more each month than the average fan in the crowd, even at their lowly league level.  However, footballers are only human, and confidence plays a big part in being successful.  If players are afraid that trying and failing a particular pass or shot will result in groans and boos, then they are more likely not to play it.  It’s a two-way thing in football, and both players and fans need to be pushing in the same direction for success to be achieved.  That will be more true than ever next season.

One issue that perhaps hampered the season, especially towards the end when the pressure was on, was the lack of experience in the team and the lack of leaders, especially when Facey and Kerr were no longer playing.  The team would play OK at the start of games, but would then make a defensive error, lose confidence and stop playing football, leading to more pressure and more goals conceded.

Next season the most important thing must be being hard to beat.  A team of hard working, well organized players is a better foundation than malcontent primadonnas, even they do have a bit more talent.  Get a core of committed players and then start to add more flair to it, not the other way round.  We might not get promotion at the first attempt, but we will stop the rot and provide a solid foundation to build upon.  We absolutely cannot afford to get a load of players in this summer that are mere journeymen on one year contracts.  We need hungry young players that we can depend upon for the next two or three years at least, tweaking the team each year not rebuilding it again from scratch as has been the case for the last 3 or 4 years.

Of course, the summer will be full of transfer rumours, as every released player is linked to us in the media, especially if they have ever played for, or even holidayed in, Southend.  Some will be exciting, others depressing.  Some, no doubt, will be wildly optimistic.  One thing all fans need to remember is that the budget will be tighter than ever, and splashing it all on a few big signings is not likely to be the first step on the road to success.

Many fans will point to one obvious weakness that needs addressing in the summer – the goalkeeper.  We’ve been blessed with keepers in the past at City. With Barry Richardson, John Vaughan, Alan Marriott and Rob Burch we’ve had a succession of very solid stoppers.  This season we’ve had 3, all of whom have been shakier than the Millennium Bridge and have inspired absolutely zero confidence in the defenders in front of them.  I’m a firm believer in building from the back in football, from the ‘if you keep a clean sheet you’re guaranteed at least a point’ school.  Getting a good, confident shot stopper who can command his area must be the first item on Tilson’s shopping list.

Off the pitch, change is required too.  I’m not one for knocking the board, but they have to find funds from somewhere to enable the squad to be rebuilt.  Obviously, the amount of money coming in from the football league will now drop, and difficult decisions have to be taken.  Personally, I think that the existence of the youth programme has to be very carefully weighed up.  With few exceptions, such as Jack Hobbs and Scott Loach, the youth team has produced very few gems for us over the years, and the sale of such players to higher clubs has not reimbursed the club for development costs.  The two players mentioned above didn’t even really grace the first team before leaving, meaning that as a team, Lincoln benefitted very little.  If hundreds of thousands of pounds can be freed up to strengthen the first team, then I believe it must be top of the agenda for consideration.

So, to sum up, it’s been a strange season but I want to end on some things to be positive about:

1) We have a chance to rebuild.  Let’s face it, if we’d have survived on the last day, next season would have been more of the same - a poor basic squad supplemented with loanees struggling along near the bottom.  I don’t believe for a second that a playoff push was realistic.  Like Oxford, Exeter and others before us, we have a chance to put the club back on the right track and not only come back into the league, but do it on a wave of new optimism.

2) We still have a club.  Let’s ask Chester City fans if they’d like to swap places with us, shall we?

3) When we get knocked out in the first round of the FA Cup we can officially consider it ‘a cup run’.

4) Despite the fact that we may never have heard of some of the teams we’ll be playing, next season does offer something new from the usual trip to Torquay and visit from Hereford.  And of course, that leads onto the biggest positive:

5) We actually have some derbies again!  Granted, we’d all prefer for our local teams to be back in the league, but at least the games against Mansfield and Grimsby give us some good atmospheres to look forward to.  It’s almost a shame that Boston didn’t manage to get promotion too.

Player reviews

1. Joe Anyon

City’s starting keeper during the early part of the season was sidelined by injury in January after some shaky performances.  He was replaced by Trevor Carson and never regained his place, going out on loan to Morecambe in March.  Although still in contract, he’s been made available on a free transfer and I don’t think many City fans will be sorry to see him go to be honest.  He wasn’t here long enough for anyone to form an emotional tie to him, and he simply made too many mistakes. After this season’s goalkeeping shambles, a completely fresh face between the sticks is essential.

Season rating: 4/10

Contract status: still in contract.  Made available on free transfer

Chance of being here next season: low

2. Paul Green

The injury prone but versatile defender causes debates among Imps fans.  I’m in the camp that has valued his service over the years.  After not playing for much of the season, Paul returned to the starting 11 in mid April and kept his place until the end. Steve Tilson has decided not to offer him a new contract, though Oxford are rumoured to be interested in signing him.  Although he has problems with injuries, I will be sorry to see him go and wish him all the best.

Season rating: 6/10 purely for his effort in the final few games

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

3. Joe Anderson

City’s left back is another player who has divided fans this season.  Dropped as soon as Tilson could get a replacement in on loan, Anderson only came back into the side at the end of the season.  Often caught out of position, it was clear on a number of occasions that any team with a pacey right winger would cause havoc against us.  To be fair, Anderson occasionally looked a decent player, but for me that was not often enough.

Season rating: 4/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

4. Adam Watts

Adam Watts has sadly not been the same player since he broke his leg in the season before last.  He has been an honest, hardworking defender though, and I’m still a little unsure why Watts and Hone weren’t a more solid defensive pairing this season.  Although guilty of a few costly errors, Watts would always have been in my starting 11 this season, and I’m a little surprised to see him made available on a free transfer as I think he can still offer a good return as part of a more stable defensive unit.

Season rating: 6/10

Contract status: under contract.  Available on a free transfer

Chance of being here next season: low

6. Danny Hone

It seemed as if Hone’s Lincoln career was over at the start of the season under Chris Sutton as he was sent out to Darlington on loan almost immediately, to general disbelief from fans who had seen the youngster make such a solid start to his professional career.  He returned to City in January and took his place in the starting lineup for the rest of the season.  He was unbelievably dropped for the fateful Rotherham game (for the appalling Kanyuka) and the result says volumes about Hone’s importance.  He has been offered a new contract and I really hope he signs, but wish him well if he doesn’t.  He is one of the few players who can hold his head high this season, and is one of the few who I’m sure the relegation will really matter to.

Season rating: 7/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: fair

7. Mustafa Carayol

At the start of the season, Carayol looked to be a player that City were right to fight to have.  With Carayol and Jarrett, City seemed to have ability and pace on both wings.  As the season went on, Carayol slipped in and out of the side, and seemed to lose his ability to really deliver an end product and harm the opposition.  I think most fans can imagine that Carayol could cause some problems for opposing fullbacks next season, but as it seems that he wants to go, and Tilson no longer wants him, it’s probably better for all concerned if he leaves.  Hopefully somebody will be willing to offer some money for him to recoup our losses.

Season rating: 5/10

Contract status: still in contract.  Put on transfer list

Chance of being here next season: low

8. Clarke Keltie

I have to confess that I have something of a love/hate relationship with Keltie.  I thought he was shocking when he first arrived at City, and was outraged that we actually gave him another contract last summer.  After his long injury layoff this season though, he came back into the team for the final few weeks, and actually looked like he gave a crap.  That made me slightly re-assess my opinions of him, but ultimately I still think we can, and must, get players of a better calibre at the club.

Season rating: 4/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

9. Gavin McCallum

Looking back of McCallum’s season, it seems to have been one of two halves.  He was in and out of the side at the start, as he didn’t seem to be willing to put in the effort and play to his potential.  During the second half of the season his attitude changed and he deservedly started most games, though he still failed to deliver enough in terms of decent crosses and goals.  I was surprised to see him transfer listed as I thought he might be useful next season.  The only negative point for me was his comments regarding the fans in April.  Perhaps he has the tendency to look for excuses and Tilson has decided that he is better off without that kind of influence at the club?

Season rating: 6/10

Contract status: still in contract.  Put on transfer list

Chance of being here next season: low

10. Drewe Broughton

Ah, Drewe Broughton.  What to say about the footballer who has had more clubs than Tiger Woods?  When he was re-signed by Sutton in the summer, it seemed that he also intended to sign David Somma, or someone of his ilk, to feed off Broughton’s hold-up play and knock-downs.  Without that other striker, Broughton has looked old and tired, and has sadly added nothing to City’s season.  Ironically, of course, he went on loan to in-form AFC Wimbledon in February and actually scored twice.  I don’t think there are any surprises that Drewe is being cut loose, especially not with the rumours surrounding his salary.

Season rating: 1/10 (an extra point for winning a few headers)

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

14. Josh O’Keefe

I confess to being slightly surprised that O’Keefe is being offered on a free transfer.  He was not the worst of our midfielders last season and always seemed solid enough to me to be in the squad.  I don’t think, with the number of players that we need to buy over the summer, that we’ll get many better, and O’Keefe always seemed to have a good attitude and ability to support the strikers.

Season rating: 6/10

Contract status: under contract.  Available on free transfer

Chance of being here next season: low

15. Luke Howell

Luke Howell was perhaps the one good signing for Lincoln this year, and I very much hope he re-signs.  If that does happen then Tilson has to learn from last season and play him as a central midfielder, not as a winger where his passing ability is lessened.  I have been impressed by Howell’s touch and workrate this year, and I hope he will be our midfield lynchpin in the Blue Square Premier.

Season rating: 8/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: fair

16. Julian Kelly

After arriving in January, the Reading fullback was a constant in the starting 11 until the end of his loan spell.  Looking back, I suppose that he did a steady job overall, but I am always slightly disappointed when players supposedly worthy of playing at a higher level don’t particularly stand out.  Kelly had a reliable enough spell at City, I don’t remember him making any particularly horrendous errors, but likewise I don’t remember thinking that he had ever done anything special either.  He came in, did a job, left, and I think we can find a fullback who is equally as good for next season.

Season rating: 5/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Reading

Chance of being here next season: none

17. Karl Cunningham

The youngster had his first taste of the first team when he was an unused substitute against Crewe on 16^th April.  Strangely, despite us only naming 6 subs in subsequent games, he never got on the bench again.  Maybe Tilson thought he wasn’t sitting right?  Whatever the reason, it’s impossible to assess his impact, and I’m unsure as to his contract status.  However, as a youngster with historic family connections to the club, if he has enough talent to do a job for us next season, then I’d gladly welcome him being given a professional contract.

Season rating: N/A

Contract status: Released?  Still on youth contract?

Chance of being here next season: ?

18. Delroy Facey

I almost feel that I owe Delroy an apology.  When he first signed I groaned slightly, expecting him to be a slightly over the hill striker trying to hang on to the last vestiges of his playing career.  As it turned out, the energy and workrate shown by Facey has been exemplary, and his appointment as captain certainly Tilson’s best decision so far as manager.  It was obvious to all that Facey took his role very seriously, cared about the team, and was prepared to lead from the front.  Sadly, a dislocated shoulder in March in the dying minutes away at Macclesfield ended his season, and ended Lincoln’s good form.  I confess to being shocked and disappointed that he hasn’t been offered a new contract, as I’m singularly unconvinced that Tilson can find a player as physical and committed to replace him.

Season rating: 8/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

19. Jamie Clapham

Clapham was in and out of the side during the season, as may be expected from a player of his age.  However, Clapham showed his experience and professionalism on more than one occasion, always giving his best whether he was being played at left back, where his lack of pace was clear to see, or in midfield, where his brain was obviously still working.  Ironically, the last game of the season was probably Clapham’s best game, and it was plain to see that he was working hard to create things for the team.  It’s perhaps not unsurprising that Clapham is not being offered a new playing contract, but he has lots of experience which the side is sorely lacking in, and I wonder if a move into coaching wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Season rating: 5/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

20. Paul Musselwhite

City’s ageless goalkeeping coach spent another season sat on the bench as reserve goalkeeper, until Anyon returned from loan to warm the bench for him.  I’m unsure as to the state of Musselwhite’s contract, but it may well be that a goalkeeping coach is a luxury we can’t afford in the Blue Square Premier.  If I was being cruel, I would suggest that whatever coaching was being done to our goalkeepers this season was far from successful.  However, with so many players to buy, will buying two new goalkeepers prove too expensive?

Season rating: 0/10

Contract status: coaching contract?

Chance of being here next season: good

22. Andy Hutchinson

The young striker is still relatively unproven, having been given few chances in the first team this season.  When he has played he has shown energy and a few nice touches.  He has been offered a new contract, which I imagine he’ll accept.  Where else would he go?  I would worry if he was a starting striker next season, but he’s eager enough to have earned a place in the squad and deserves more of a chance to show what he can do next season.

Season rating: 3/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: high

23. Stephen Hunt

The fullback arrived in January, on loan from Notts County, and was ever present in the side during his loan spell.  Although he never did too much wrong and his distribution was competent, I always felt that we could do better and have a fullback that offered more in terms of supporting the wings when attacking.

Season rating: 5/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Notts County

Chance of being here next season: none

24. Elliott Parrish

As football league debuts go, Parrish’s first game, the 6-0 home defeat against Rotherham in March, must rank as one of the worst.  Although I wouldn’t even particularly hold the youngster responsible on the day (the defence in front of him didn’t really give him much chance), it set the tone for the rest of the season, in which Parrish failed to keep a single clean sheet, and was responsible for a number of goals through poor positional play.  He may go on to be a dependable keeper for someone, and I actually hope he does, but for the Imps, having an untried young goalkeeper with no confidence between the sticks for a relegation battle was close to suicidal.

Season rating: 2/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Aston Villa

Chance of being here next season: none

25. Cian Hughton

Cian Hughton is a player who fell out of grace under Chris Sutton and struggled to regain his place in the starting 11 under Steve Tilson, only coming back into the side at the end of the season when the loanees had returned to their clubs.  Although often played as a full back, Hughton’s strength for me was in a more attacking role, and I wish we had seen more of him on the wing this season.  It was little surprise when Hughton was not offered a new contract, but I still feel he could have been a useful squad player.  Hughton gave us an interesting insight into the retention process when he tweeted that he had only found out that he was not being offered new contract on a website.

Season rating: 4/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

26. Tom Kilbey

Pompey loanee Kilbey’s first game was against Rotherham in March and he played a fair quantity of games from then on, though was occasionally dropped, most notably for the final game of the season.  I had high hopes for Kilbey when I heard he was coming – thinking that we had obtained a big, strong central midfielder to be a ball winner and inject some grunt into the midfield.  Sadly, considering he’s from Portsmouth, he didn’t really show anything for me in terms of physical presence or ball skill.  Even though he’s young and it must have been tough coming into a struggling side, he didn’t really show any signs of higher league quality, and by dropping him for the final fight, I think Tilson was acknowledging the same.

Season rating: 5/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Portsmouth

Chance of being here next season: none

27. Ben Hutchinson

Ben ‘million pound’ Hutchinson has, I think it would be fair to say, a less than heroic status among Lincoln fans.  His lazy style and lack of goals have caused frustration amongst supporters, a situation not helped when Hutchinson made derogatory comments to some fans during a match.  Basically Hutchinson is a luxury that few teams could afford, especially ones fighting for survival.  Celtic will be less than delighted to have him back, and it will be interesting who they manage to ship him out to next.

Season rating: 4/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Celtic

Chance of being here next season: none

29. Ashley Grimes

Ashley Grimes was almost this season’s David Somma – a loan striker who single-handedly scored the majority of the team’s goals.  Sadly, unlike Somma, Grimes’ goals were not enough to save City.  His 17 goals earned him Player of the Season, but it was disappointing not to see him reach 20 goals, especially as the last 3 goals could have been more important than many of the other 17.  His best spell of form occurred in the good run after Christmas, and especially when Facey was there to support him.  Towards the end of the season, although disrupted by injury and suspension (caused mainly by Grimes’ petulant streak), it looked at times like Grimes was incapable of scoring.  If I was cruel I’d say that he seemed to drift off when the going got tough.  It’s undeniably true that without his goals we would have been in dire trouble a lot earlier, and I feel ridiculous criticising our top scorer, but I have a nagging suspicion that once he knew the game was up he switched off, and that’s unforgivable for me (Gary Taylor-Fletcher I haven’t forgotten you either!).  His goals for City have not been able to secure him a new Millwall contract, so his future next season is uncertain, but seems likely to be at least with a good League 2 side, if not in League 1.

Season rating: 8/10

Contract status: none.  Released by Millwall

Chance of being here next season: none

31. Ali Fuseini

Fuseini arrived in January, signing a contract until summer 2012.  Regular readers of this blog will know that I have had little patience for Fuseini and saw him as a weak link in the side.  His passing was occasionally acceptable, but he required far too long on the ball and gave possession away too easily.  I would be very disappointed to see him here next season as I don’t think he is good enough even for the conference.  Hopefully someone is willing to take him off our hands.

Season rating: 3/10

Contract status: until summer 2012.  Put on the transfer list

Chance of being here next season: low

39. Scott Spencer

The former Southend striker arrived in January and has barely featured in the first team.  Evidence from the few times he has appeared seem to show the reason why – he is absolutely terrible.  Why Tilson signed a player who he must have known was awful is beyond me, and Southend must have been laughing at our utter desperation.  His most memorable moment was the miss in the dying moments against (ironically) Southend, when he fluffed his shot over the bar.  Basically, Spencer is not a footballer, he never had an impact on the games he was involved in and was, in short, a complete waste of valuable wages.

Season rating: 0/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

40. Patrick Kanyuka

Football fans like to compile lists from time to time, especially concerning the best and worse players ever to wear the shirt.  City’s team of shame is not short of players, but I feel that Kanyuka may well have guaranteed a spot in the starting 11 after this season.  He arrived in January, on a season long contract. Thankfully his appearances were limited, but his most memorable moments were in the defeat to Rotherham, where he stood out as the most horrific participant in a terrible performance, by being personally responsible for 4 goals and then getting sent off.  Players like Kanyuka makes me seriously worried about Tilson’s ability to spot ability in players.  Another complete waste of a wage and a player that no fans will bemoan the loss of.

Season rating: 0/10

Contract status: out of contract.  Not offered new contract

Chance of being here next season: none

Trevor Carson

Carson arrived in January to replace the injured and out of form Anyon.  Despite a shaky first few games he settled in OK, and was in goal for the good spell of form after Christmas.  His record was slightly marred, however, due to the nature of his departure.  After Sunderland withdrew him because of a supposed lack of goalkeepers, they instantly sent him straight back out on loan to Brentford.  How much the player knew about it is not known, but the introduction of Parrish before the Rotherham defeat set the tone for the rest of the season, and may even be seen as a catalyst for the collapse.

Season rating: 7/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Sunderland

Chance of being here next season: none

Scott Kerr

I think I’ve already made it quite clear that I have rated Scott Kerr during his time at City.  It was obvious this season that the games in which he was left out (as he was by a succession of managers) left us weaker than the games he played.  On a number of occasions, the return of Kerr to the side after a few matches absence led to an immediately improved performance.  We will see Kerr again when we play York next season, and I hope that he doesn’t feel the need to prove anything against his former team.

Season rating: 7/10

Contract status: none.  Already released by mutual consent

Chance of being here next season: none

Albert Jarrett

Albert Jarrett might possible represent the fastest fall from grace in City history.  At the start of the season, it seemed that Jarrett was one of the better pieces of business we had done in a while.  A pacey and skilful winger, who had played well against us the season before, and whom Barnet seemed reluctant to lose.  The early part of the season seemed to confirm that feeling, as Jarrett’s ability to take on his man and deliver dangerous crosses were causing opposing teams severe headaches.  The only trouble was that at that time our strikers were not of a calibre able to take advantage of the service they were being provided with.  As time went on, Jarrett seemed to become more frustrated, and by the time that Facey and Grimes were playing well and desperate for decent crosses he was out of form, and in and out of the side.  Tilson sent him out on loan to Aldershot for a month in February, and with rumours of Jarrett being a disruptive influence his time was up, his contract terminated by mutual consent soon after his return.

Season rating: 6/10

Contract status: none.  Already released by mutual consent

Chance of being here next season: none

Moses Swaibu

So much has happened since Moses Swaibu was in the team that it barely seems like it happened this season.  Thinking back on it now, it was a bizarre sequence of events.  On the playing side, Moses was responsible for a number of costly individual errors, but he wasn’t alone in that.  It was an off the field incident that seems to have affected his concentration, and ultimately led to his departure.  A certain chicken related supermarket incident made newspaper headlines (far too many to be honest) and affected Moses’ performance.  It was a shame for his City career to end in such a fashion after being a reliable servant for a number of years, but he was becoming a liability.

Season rating: 3/10

Contract status: none.  Already released by mutual consent

Chance of being here next season: none

Gavin Hoyte

Arsenal loanee Hoyte was undoubtedly a contributory factor to City’s good run of form, and had injury not cut his season-long loan short, I would even venture to suggest that we wouldn’t have conceded the number of goals we did towards the end.  A solid fullback, rarely flustered on the ball, with good positional sense and work ethic, Hoyte was a player that actually looked to be of a quality above League 2.  I hope he finds first team football somewhere at a higher level.

Season rating: 8/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Arsenal

Chance of being here next season: none

Josh Gowling

I’ve rarely been sadder to see a loan player return to his parent club than when Gowling went back to Gillingham after they suffered a defensive injury crisis.  He only played 6 games for the Imps but made a big impression in those games.  We took a player that Gillingham didn’t want, got him playing really well, then gave him back only to have him score against us.  Gowling was released by the Gills at the end of the season, and was of course instantly linked to the Imps.  As much as I would dearly love our central defense next season to feature Gowling and Hone, I feel that the fluffy-haired defender will, sadly, find himself a club at a higher level.

Season rating: 7/10

Contract status: none.  Returned to Gillingham

Chance of being here next season: none

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