Chris Sutton is new Imps Manager!

Lincoln have appointed former England striker Chris Sutton as their new manager.  This was a bit of a bolt from the blue but, as you can see from the photo to the left, he's really excited about it.

Sutton will be assisted by former Blackburn team mate Ian Pearce who will also be registered as a player.

Their first move has been to sack Simon Clark who has been in charge in a caretaker role for the past four matches.

It's Sutton's first managerial post so the club are gambling but experience is no guarantee of success - Jacko proved that!  First game in charge is Aldershot on Saturday - COME ON YOU IMPS.

Ivy's Christening

Spent the weekend in Bucks for Ivy Maeve's christening.

On Saturday afternoon, K and I travelled down to Emma & Tariq's new house in Amersham.  They've got a lot of work to do but I'm sure it'll be great when finished.  I was meeting baby Leila for the first time and she is very sweet and extremely smiley.

Saturday night we picked up a curry from the local takeaway and watched Strictly and Match Of The Day.  Rock and roll!

Sunday morning we headed over to Northwood for the big event.  Ivy was very well behaved and looked great in her new frock.  There were two families christening four babies at the same service and suffice to say it was noisy.  That was before they handed out the tambourines and maracas.

After the service it was back to Tony's golf club to extend the celebrations.  I bagged a table by the patio doors so I could criticise everyone teeing off on the first.  Food was great and plentiful and T had stuck some cash behind the bar - K even drove me home!  Nice.

Great weekend and look forward to seeing them all again soon.

A Load of Balls

Spent the day playing golf with Ross and Lewis. First time I've ever taken a whole day off to play golf, also the first time that I've played 36 holes in a day. Absolutely brilliant!

We started off at Forest Pines near Scunthorpe. Without doubt the most prestigious course I've played and the amount of trees and water, and the speed of the greens made it a daunting prospect. We had a 7:50am tee time (eek!) but it was worth it, for the first 7 or 8 holes we hardly saw another golfer. It was like we owned the course. I'd asked Dad for any tips for the course - he said "take plenty of balls"! I was prepared to lose a few in the trees but I ended up finding one more than I lost so there was a net profit there.

I made one par (on the 2nd hardest hole on the course!) and went round in a total of 116. Given that my usual score on much easier courses is around 101 or 102 I was pretty happy with that. Lewis won the morning session with a 115 so I was still "in the hunt".

After lunch at the Inn On The Green in Ingham it was on to Laughterton for round two. This is a course I'm much more familiar with and I started off well with a bogey on the 1st and par on the 2nd. It all started going a bit wrong for a few holes after that and I ended up on 50 for the outward nine - about average. The back nine however was a different story, I suddenly moved up a gear (I wish I knew how!) and the pars and bogeys were coming ten-a-penny. My score coming in was just 44 (7 over par for the back nine) giving me a total of 94 which equals my best ever round and is only my second ever score under 100. Lewis got 97 so I won the round by three and the day by two.

It seems I need 27 holes (or 166 shots) to get warmed up then I start playing well. I've really got the bug at the minute so am going to Normanby Hall on Saturday with Alan and Craig. Fore!

Langley's Charity Quiz Night 2009

I was on one of Danwood's teams at Langley's (Solicitors) Charity Quiz last night. We've been taking part for several years and last year ended up in third.

This year we fielded two teams and I was on Danwood 2 aka "667, The Fax Number Of The Beast". Despite having only four team members we finished in the top half. The best bit was beating Danwood 1 and Lincolnshire Tourism (both of whom had six members).

It was still a winning night as one of our team won six bottles of wine in the raffle and he dished them out to his team-mates. Thanks Ian!

Nearly £1000 was raised for children's charities so they were the real winners.

Happy Birthday Dad!

It's Dad's fifty-fifteenth birthday today (whether he wants it to be or not!).

Yesterday, K & I went with mum and dad for a late lunch or early dinner at the King's Head in Navenby. I had scotch broth followed by monkfish and accompanied by a couple of pints of Tiger. Brilliant!

Happy Birthday Dad - enjoy your pension!

Dicko's party (hosted by the Walkers!)

Dicko hosted a party last night - I say 'hosted' but he actually managed to invited everyone round to the Walkers'. His reasoning was that they would have to get a babysitter otherwise but I think it was just an excuse to avoid any washing up.

In attendance were S&P, C&E, K&me and G&A. George did the starter (mushrooms in creamy sauce), Emma did the main (sausage casserole) and Patricia did the pudding (chocolate meringue), my contribution was to provide a quiz for after dinner entertainment. It was boys v girls and the boys just nicked it.

K and I drank way to much and wobbled home on our bikes at about 2:30am. Great night out, can't wait for our Munich trip with the same crew.

Ashbourne Camping

Camping in Derbyshire this weekend. K and I travelled over to Ashbourne on Friday after work. It was a nice drive - top down all the way. Arrived at a very busy campsite just north of Ashbourne. Took us a little while to queue up and get checked in but then found the pitch and got the tent up in double-quick time. The Walkers, Hickertons and McGinns were already there and set up.

We headed to the onsite pub for dinner but there was going to be a 90 minute wait for food and, as the kids were already hungry, we didn't want to wait. Instead we nipped to the cafe next door for pizzas, chips etc. We ate outside and I really enjoyed it.

Next morning, we discovered we had a slow puncture in our airbed and we woke up lying on the floor - ouch! After a communal breakfast, M&C and K&I walked into Ashbourne (about a mile) while the others took the kids to the pool. We had an ice cream on the way and then had a couple or three pints in the town before walking back. It seems a nice little place.

We arrived back at around 6:30pm and the BBQ was almost ready. Everyone had brought a selection of food so it was all slung on and devoured. Then we sat up chatting and laughing until about 11 when we turned in. I think it's the fresh air but camping always makes me want to go to bed early. I pumped the airbed up really hard in the hope that it would retain a bit more air during the night but no joy and we woke up aching again.

Another communal breakfast and we drove back to Lincoln - roof down once more. Top weekend.

Jacko Sacko

Shock news, Jacko sacked. City have had a pretty average start to the season but this, coupled with the last few months of last season, has been enough to prompt the board into decisive action. It wasn't a surprise as large sections of the crowd have been on Jacko's back for a few games now.

No news as of yet as to who will take charge with Mark Cooper (Kettering) and Gary Brabin (ex Cambridge) seeming to be front runners. Gareth Ainsworth, John Ward, Ronnie Moore, Stuart Bimson, Keith Alexander, Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all are also being mentioned as candidates.

For the time being Simon Clark is caretaker manager although how he can combine team affairs with sweeping the dressing room and making sure the gates are locked is beyond me. See the Echo for the full story.