Michael Skubala shouldn’t feat current Mark Kennedy comparison at Lincoln City | OneFootball

Michael Skubala must shake a surprising Mark Kennedy comparison, as Lincoln City hit poor run of form.

Michael Skubala does not have to fear a surprising Mark Kennedy comparison as Lincoln City try to right a poor run of form.

The Imps have won just one of their last six games, losing 1-0 to Burton Albion in their most recent game.

That was Skubala’s 73rd match in charge of Lincoln, which was the same number former Swindon Town boss Kennedy managed at Sincil Bank.

Michael Skubala and Mark Kennedy's Lincoln City records look similar

The comparisons get even more curious when you realise that Kennedy’s 73rd and final game at the LNER Stadium was a home clash with Burton, which also ended 1-0.

The Irishman was dismissed in the following days, with a number of different factors blamed for the decision. Reports continue to fight with one another, and a consensus has still not been found on why Kennedy’s time in Lincolnshire was cut short.

Style of play and development of young players were flagged as the reasons by Imps CEO Liam Scully, while issues over the words he said relating to Danny Mandroiu were also culpable. Kennedy called out Mandroiu's discipline in the aftermath of the Burton defeat when the winger was sent off.

The record Skubala has after 73 games is 1.49 points per match, just slightly ahead of Kennedy’s 1.47. The current Lincoln head coach has won 30 times, losing 24, while Kennedy had won 28 and lost 22, with the former gaffer drawing more frequently than his successor.

Michael Skubala must does not have to fear Mark Kennedy comparison

With Lincoln slumping towards another mid-table finish in Sky Bet League One, they are not following up their heroic push towards the top six last season with the same energy 12 months on.

Skubala has steadied the Imps' ship after Kennedy became the first boss to be dismissed in nine years at the club, with his predecessors either leaving by mutual consent or being poached by another side.

The sacking of the former Manchester City and Liverpool left-sided player was not a purely results-based decision, and that is a good thing for Skubala. His record is very similar to Kennedy, scarily so in terms of defeat to a struggling Burton side on home turf.

The current Lincoln head coach, who took his first step into EFL management with the Imps, has shifted things during his reign. The club has conceded in the fight over signing experienced, older players, recruiting Tendayi Darikwa, James Collins, and Sam Clucas this season, all being over the age of 30. That was a victory for Skubala.

While comparisons will be made given the strange coincidence of their 73rd games being nearly identical, Skubala will escape being tarred with the same brush as Kennedy ahead of a visit to Barnsley.

He may have lost some goodwill of the Imps fanbase over recent weeks, given a poor run over the festive period and a lack of goalscoring prowess all season long, but his position is not under threat.

And, nor should it be.