Brothers Danny and Nicky Cowley have been on a remarkable journey together up the football pyramid since Danny took over as Concord Rangers manager in the Essex Senior Football League in 2007 whilst Nicky was still a player.
With Danny as manager and Nicky becoming his assistant (though really they work as a pair), the two of them secured three promotions in eight years at Concord Rangers, which was followed by a brief but impressive spell at Braintree Town in the National League in the 2015/16 season.
However, what they have achieved since joining Lincoln City in 2016 has been nothing short of miraculous. In their first season they were promoted to League Two as champions of the National League whilst reaching the quarter finals of the FA Cup. The following season they won the FA trophy and only missed out on promotion after losing in the 2018 playoffs.
They were to come back even stronger in 2018/19 though, being promoted from League Two as champions and taking the club into the third tier for the first time in 20 years. This Cowley Brothers tactical analysis will look at some of the tactical elements that contributed to the Cowley brothers’ incredible 2018/19 season.
Formation
Lincoln tend to play in a 4-4-1-1 or 4-2-31 formation. In this system, the target man, normally John Akinde or Matt Rhead, is partnered by a deeper-lying forward who gets back to pick up the ball in deeper areas like loanees Danny Rowe or Shay McCartan.
Wing-forward Bruno Andrade provides plenty of flair from the left with his long-range goals, whilst Harry Anderson plays the role of a more traditional winger on the right as he looks to get to power forward and supply crosses from the byeline.
