By Michael Hortin BBC Lincolnshire sports producer

Chris Sutton took charge of the Imps in October 2009

At the turn of the year I suggested that it would be a pretty good achievement for Chris Sutton to secure the Imps' league status, and so it has proved to be.

True, the path to safety has not been entirely smooth but all that matters is that the Imps are now over the line and safe.

In recent weeks some have texted BBC Lincolnshire saying that Chris has been a "lucky manager" to have guided City to safety.

But sidestepping Napoleon's line about lucky generals, for me that is unfair on Sutton and his management team.

City's survival has been down in no small part to good recruitment of players which is an important part of a manager's job.

Davide Somma, with eight goals in 12 starts, has been a great signing but other clubs must have looked at him.

Yet it was Chris Sutton who took the plunge and signed him on loan and has been his manager for the last couple of months.

And whilst Somma has been an obvious success we should also not forget other loan signings that have played their part like Nathan Baker, Chris Herd and Eric Lichaj.

The Imps manager who has done well to secure City's Football League status now needs the board, who clearly believe in him, to give him a bit more backing BBC Lincolnshire sport producer Michael Hortin

What Chris Sutton has also shown since taking charge is that he can change his mind on players if he feels they make a case for inclusion.

If you had said to me a few weeks into the manager's tenure that Scott Kerr was going to become a major figure for the club again, I would have disagreed.

But as he settled into management the Imps boss quickly recognised that the midfielder's leadership and combative skills, something that many of us admire about Kerr, were what his team needed.

In the past few months Sutton's detractors have also often pointed out to me that the Imps have relied this season on short-term and loan deals this campaign.

Whilst that is true, I have no doubt that that was a product of necessity, as he needed to get a disjointed squad away from relegation.

The other thing we have learnt about Chris Sutton is that he will act decisively to move players on, if he feels they have no role to play.

Even though Jamie Clarke, Aaron Brown and Stefan Oakes had contracts to run, a way was found to move them on.

Davide Somma has scored eight goals since joining on loan from Leeds

Looking to the future, I know Chris Sutton is acutely aware that the solutions for the last six months are not the way forward long-term.

He has been clear that, be it through permanent deals or season-long loans, in order to progress he will need to have a more settled team next season.

The other equation going into the summer is what sort of budget the Imps will have to spend.

I have lost count of the times City fans have called on the club's board to show a little more ambition in backing the manager.

They, like me, respect the sound if conservative job the Imps board have done in putting City on a very firm financial footing, but they also want to see a bit more ambition.

After Lincoln's recent win against Bury it was interesting to hear the Imps' outgoing chairman Steff Wright hint that maybe it was time for the club to push the boat out a bit more.

Don't expect huge amounts of money, relative to League Two, to be splashed this summer by City - but maybe the fans will see the club's new chairman backing Chris Sutton just a bit more.

For me the Imps manager, who has done well to secure City's Football League status, now needs the board - who clearly believe in him - to give him a bit more backing if they want to stand a chance of getting promotion out of League Two.

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