Lincoln Red Imps will show respect towards Lech Poznan but not fear, said coach Bezares

Lincoln Red Imps will face Polish side Lech Poznań this Thursday evening in what will be their second match in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League.

Following their defeat at the hands of Zrinjski, where the Bosnian side were to put five past them, this latest encounter is not seen as one where many expect much more from Lincoln Red Imps. However, this view is not one held by the club itself, who in a pre-match press conference saw Head Coach Juanjo Bezares and player Tjay De Barr warn that their own expectation was to go for a win.

Lincoln Red Imps’ progress through European football has seen them parallel many of the rollercoaster developments of Gibraltar football, although at club level. From their early defeats in the first rounds of the competition to their historic win against Celtic — the latter which many saw as a “fluke” — Lincoln Red Imps have shown that their pathway through European football is anything but a fluke.

A second-time qualifier for the league phase of the Conference League, Lincoln Red Imps have repeatedly produced results where many believed their days in the competition were over.

However, as Bezares pointed out, not only did he expect more from his team than to be satisfied with having reached this stage of the competition, but he also expected his players to expect more from themselves.

Speaking to the media, Bezares was to say that “he had been working for four years with Lincoln Red Imps and knew the players pretty well, and I know that tomorrow they will be competing among themselves. Tjay has to be the best Tjay, Bernardo has to be the best Bernardo, Clinton has to be the best Clinton, and I have no doubt that they will be one or two steps above what we have already seen of them. Why do I say this? Because at the end of the day Lincoln generates a DNA of champions, which it keeps on demonstrating every year, and although they face a tough challenge from a side such as Lech Poznań, they will provide more than is expected from them.”

Having earned respect across Europe from clubs who have played them, there was a question over how Bezares could maintain focus now that the bar had been set higher when competing.

“Gibraltar football has been getting better every year. Lincoln has shown, both in the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, that they are a very competitive team, especially at home. There is no doubt that the backward thinking in the past was about how many goals they would concede. But since we started this competition, we have changed that. We have changed that in that we go out to try and win as many matches as possible. Tomorrow, in the same way as we have played teams who are supposedly superior to ours, we have crossed the line from outside-in, thinking that we can win. At the end of the day, this mentality is one which this club generates — to go and win. Of course, we later have the circumstances, etcetera, etcetera. But we have changed that mentality of ‘how many goals are we going to concede?’ to ‘we are going to win.’ And that is the first mental battle — how are we going to win.”

Bezares believed that just reaching the league phase was not necessarily the end of things. “The human places the ceiling where he feels appropriate for himself, always knowing what we have and what we can offer. We entered this competition always looking to pass into the next round. That thing of walking out onto the pitch and playing to lose by the minimum scoreline is something we have discussed and changed. The mentality is now to believe that we can win. It’s a mentality change in which we go into the next match, of course with respect for our opponents, but also believing that we can win if we try and put in the work. We now know what football is about, and we do have our tools here to make it difficult for other teams, because believing is what is going to give us that edge to achieve more.”

Speaking on the injuries Lincoln face, with key players such as Britto and Torrilla not available through injury, he believed his squad was strong enough to fill in the voids left by these players. Although they were significant and valuable players, Bezares was not using this as an excuse for anything. “Excuses are for mediocre people. We have what we have, and we are going to battle to the end with what we have available. The players that line up and go on the bench will be giving it their all, and I will not hold on to any excuse later on if things do not go well. I am not like that. I am quite direct, and I can assure you that those playing will be at a very high level of preparation.”

He warned that whilst his team will respect their opponents, they will not walk out onto the field “fearing them.” This was one key battle line they had changed.

Tjay De Barr was to echo a similar belief about Lincoln’s prospects during the same press conference. Although rejecting the belief that he had become a “target” for oppositions, stating that he did not see himself as such, he said that he would still be playing just the same — and if he became a target for others, he would look at how to use this in favour of his club.

He did not believe he was the main target, stating that there are a lot of strong players in the squad, but if he became the target, he would “deal with it.”

De Barr believed that Lincoln’s success had indeed meant that teams would now come into matches with respect for them.

Asked what his own expectations were, he said, “My expectations are obviously to qualify. There are obviously games where it is going to be extremely tough; however, you yourself set your own expectations, and mine are high.”

Tjay expressed the belief that to succeed they would need to put behind them the mentality of fearing their opponents and believe that they could win — keeping together and competing to win, as this was the only way there could be success.