My views for the 22-23 season...

Peter Slade

Oct 15, 202256 min read

Updated: May 1, 2023

Here is just my thoughts on the club and what it happening as the season goes on.

Starting late in May 2022 I decided to switch to a new 'My Views' section ahead of players being released, fixture announcement and well ahead of any new signings. We do in fact have a new manager in charge and I will discuss that in episode one below. Shall we begin?

Episode #14 - 1 May 2023 - Who's on contract and who's off...

This is something I’d started last season but with the manager saying that we have such a poor squad I thought I would bring this forward and run through the current position of the squad in terms of contracts and when they expire.

Starting with the loans that will be finishing at the conclusion of the season four that will be going back to their club.

Saikou Janneh [June 2023] (Loan ending this season)
Diallang Jaiyesimi [June 2023] (Loan ending this season)
Armani Little [June 2023] (Loan ending this season)
Sam Pearson [June 2023] (Loan ending this season)

Those players who have contract but are reaching a conclusion at the end of this season. Now this is a bigger group if there is a ‘?’ then I am not 100% of the contract information as this maybe old or potentially signed contract extensions. Here they are:

Aaron Pierre [June 2023] (31/01/2023 signed 6 month deal)
Huseyin Biler [June 2023?] (01/07/2020 signed 3 year deal?)
Chris Gunter [June 2023] (04/07/2022 signed 1 year deal)
Alex Pearce [June 2023] (07/06/2022 signed 1 year deal?)
Dave Fisher [June 2023?] (01/07/2021 signed 2 year deal?)
Kwako Frimpong [June 2023?] (01/07/2021 signed 2 year deal?)
Isaac Ogunden [June 2023?] (01/07/2021 signed 2 year deal?)
Luke Jenkins [June 2023?] (01/07/2021 signed 2 year deal?)
Dylan Adjei -Hersey [June 2023?] (01/07/2021 signed 2 year deal?)
Ethan Chislett [June 2023?] (12/09/2020 signed 2 + 1 year deal?)
George Marsh [June 2023?] (06/07/2021 signed 2 year deal?)
Aaron Cosgrave [June 2023] (05/07/2021 signed 2 year deal)

Next up is those players that I believe are still under contract but may well be in discussion on extensions right now but this may not be announced.

Elliott Bolton [June 2024] (29/6/2022 signed 2 year deal)
Josh Hallard [June 2024] (29 /6/22 signed 2 year deal)
Ben Mason [June 2024] (29 /6/22 signed 2 year deal)
Ethan Sutcliffe [June 2024] (29 /6/22 signed 2 year deal)
Quaine Bartley [June 2024] (Aug 2022 signed 2 year deal)
Harry Pell [June 2024] (24/08/2022 signed 2 year deal)
Jake Currie [June 2024/5] (8/04/2022 signed 2+1 year)
Alfie Bendle [June 2024?](29/01/2022 signed 2 1/2 year deal?)
Alex Woodyard [June 2024] (10/06/2022 signed 2 year deal)
Nik Tzanev [June 2024] (07/09/2021 signed 3 year deal)
Lee Brown [June 2024](28/01/2024 signed 2 1/2 deal)
Paul Kalambayi [June 2024] (17/01/2022 signed 2 1/2 year deal)
Nathan Broome [June 2024] (31/01/2022 signed 2 1/2 year deal)
Zach Robinson [June 2024] (29/07/2022 signed new 2 year deal)

Players that I know are on longer contracts that have already signed and not due to expire for a couple of seasons.

Ali Al-Hamadi [June 2025] (12/01/2023 signed 2 year deal)
Josh Davison [June 2025] (18/07/2022 signed 3 year deal)
Will Nightingale [June 2025] (12/03/2022 signed new 3 1/2 year deal)

Well there we go thats where we are which means (according to my calculations) there are nine regular starters that will be with us next season unless contracts are cancelled, sold or terminated. I wonder how many of the 12 with expiring contracts will be offered something more.

Episode #13 - 30 April 2023 - That's this season done...

If this season is described as any other than awful, then I would like to hear the rationale behind that other statement. It has reached a point where we were in the car ready to head to the game today and my 16-year-old football mad son said, “I really ain’t that bothered about going to the game today.” I gave him some options and then said if you really don’t want to go to the game, we can turn the car towards home and head that way instead. Home, we went. It is halfway through the game as I start this, and everyone sounds bored and wanting to be someone else other than Three Point Lane. Hey why call Plough Lane that name – simple teams with horrendous records come to this ground and leave with three points almost every time. It has been an horrendous season with one or two highs which we come to expect over recent seasons. Not many and not that high either that is what we got. Eleven league wins and one FA Cup win before losing to a team in the Division below us, no wins in the league cup and anyone wants to base a successful season on the Pizza Trophy can equally have an argument with me. Since 2021 we have won eleven league games which have all been this season and here, I am moaning about how bad the season was. It comes with advertising or in this case media from the board, which has shaped the shitness of this season. We were told to expect a ‘bounce back’ season a return to League One and here we are forty-five games into the campaign, and we are 21st of twenty-four and a mere six points about the relegation line. In yesteryear this tally would have seen us relegated. We have a single game to go away at Grimsby Town and to anyone that braves that trip I salute you as there is no way I would be going there to watch a bunch of amateur players competing with professionals. Now that is not the tone of me but that of the manager, who has hung his squad out to dry by saying that he had a real Wimbledon team in December before the board sold all the good ones and left him with the shit ones. I am paraphrasing but that is effectively what he was saying. Added to that they are now talking about how much further along we are this season in comparison to the year before. How do they know is my question? Well shall I get to that in the next paragraph?

Last season was a shitshow from December through to the conclusion of the season. No victories from early December to the end of the season. Yet we were told week after week one win would turn it around. Except that single win never materialised. The result was asking the manager to leave and then frantically trying to find another. One was selected that for me seemed to be the best choice available. He turned things around but could not find that evasive win. So, the season pitted out knowing that we were relegated and probably the best players were going to leave. We didn’t have a permanent manager or really any idea how we are going to be next season. Yes, I would fully expect us to be much further ahead than at this point last season. Its like comparing a broken-down car and a brand-new sports car. It such a stupid statement and just full of misdirection and half-truths. Broken down what does that statement actually mean? It translates to

“we know the players we want to join us,” which them means “we also, know the players which we wish to release,” and with this squad it might well be all of them, but that is the thoughts of the manager. Which means to me it’s like a D’uh of course we are much further ahead than where we were this time last season. WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A MANAGER AT THAT TIME!! It is a politician’s statement yes, it is factually true but it doesn’t actually tell you the full story. Sorry I digress, this wonderful plan that we have does it include some alternatives for when we lose those good players to clubs with bigger budgets and swipe them from underneath us. If that hasn’t been thought through then the same shit will happen again and the internal squabble continues and we scramble around last minute trying to find someone to sign to do a job they weren’t good enough to do. Of course time will tell, but from a fan point of view we have been burned by the bullshit one too many times.

If you believe that statement, then the club is going to tear this team apart (OK they are not a team but hey!) throw away the abundance of dead wood replace with a perfect set of robust players that will see us through the season. This might be a suitable time to point out that is exactly what Robinson was claiming when we started the relegation campaign that turned to shit. It was the fittest side we have ever had, and the players were claiming to be the fittest they have ever been as well. Real important that! We are going to see some early signing then and this team is going to have taken shape long before the season comes around. Good but please forgive me when I say I told you so when it all turns to the brown sticky stuff by October.

Where did this season go wrong?

Hiring Johnnie Jackson.

Oh, you wanted more?

A manager that dicked us over last season and seems to take more pleasure from annoying opposition that actually beating them. How many times have we lost points from winning positions this season? Let me check… 40 points!!! FORTY POINTS have been lost from winning positions this season. Those points would currently put us second in the table two points behind the leaders and safely promoted. It has reached the point where on group chats, we don’t actually share that we have scored first. Only the second goal or the equaliser gets a mention, because we all know what will happen… and it does nearly EVERY SINGLE TIME!! It is just embarrassing to admit you are a Wimbledon fan at the moment. Which is something I never used to do even when playing in the Combined Counties League but currently I do. You cannot really hide the embarrassment by saying yeah, we are shit but we have one really good-looking stand. It just doesn’t really take the edge of that those does it. Well, no not really.

What is in the Washing Machine?

After the fans had finally had enough and was openly chanting for Jackson to leave did the people upstairs decide to release a statement. Basically, backing the manager and saying what wonderful plans we have for next season. This is the same spin machine that told us that we will be in the Championship in five years. The good news there is that is only three years away now. Maybe four depending on when you count the date of the statement. That’s good news as it means promotion that we will be promoted twice in the next four seasons. Yet right now we are 21st in the fourth division. That is three places above returning to non-league football. That is the real situation and not the smoke and mirrors of the fantasy land of the AFCW board and the media bollocks (sorry for the language but I don’t want to dress it up anymore). I get it well some of it. I have a marketing degree and I know its suicide to say to people it will be a tough old season ahead with lots of terrible performances and bad players unable to muster up a shot on target… please buy a season ticket. However, with everyone outraged and speculating about the problems at the club, when you don’t know you guess, and people draw their own conclusions. For me I have never rated JJ and that little trust has waned even more recently as none of the recent speeches make any sense. Nothing rings true for me. He has hung his players out to dry and now cannot muster up a half decent performance to save his career. Well, there is a board to do that for him. That said others are blaming the board and yes, they have not helped the situation in the last two January transfer windows with their poor decisions. Replacing them with a sugar daddy owner for me isn’t the right course, when you look at the clubs that have struggled in recent years where owners have done weird things. Wigan Athletic, Bury, Reading, Chesterfield, Macclesfield, I could keep going even Charlton Athletic where JJ comes from hasn’t had the smoothest of journeys with the sole ownership model. Now we as a club has punched above our weight. Sadly, the fans expect such an elevated level of performance that when we don’t see it, we get angry. To address that we as fans do not expect great football, passing the ball 20 to 30 times before passing it into the net is not expected. Battle, fight (legally) and determination are what the fans expect. No shots on target or one or two is something we do not accept. You can’t get near the goal shoot from the halfway line but at least *AT LEAST* try. The team of have a go has become the team of cannot hold a lead and crumble week after week. That is why we have turned.

The spin machine is turning and I for one do NOT believe a word of it. All they are doing is passing the focus from the chants to someone else. What the media board people are doing is taking the focus off the manager and putting it on the board. Which for me is a really stupid thing to do. Yes, this is a family and wholesome club which is why I love it. We give people a chance despite the rest of the footballing world being about money we are about people and there is something lord able about that.

Season Ticket Purchase?

Honestly, this was the first time I really struggled to buy one – EVER! I have struggled financially and had to pull some strings and dragged out the purchase, but I have never had a struggle to morally decide to purchase. This post season as I don’t see it as a ticket to watch twenty-three league games a season that would happen with or without the ticket. This is me donating to the club, I don’t have to pay for a ticket I do so because I want to. Now do I trust the manager to spend that money wisely. Honestly No I don’t. That is the crutch of my dilemma.

The Players

Over the past couple of seasons, I give players a score for their performance which I think is a little unfair as I seem to judge them on how good they actually are. Assal would get a 6 where if Saikou Janneh did the same thing, I would probably give him a 9 because the expectation levels are so much different. Subconscious aside here are the average scores based on the twenty-three games I attended this season. Which is home and away, so I missed (or just plain didn’t bother) some home games. I find it ironic that Aaron Pierre has the lowest average compared to Courtney Senior, but Courtney had some better players around him. To add a little fairness, I have included the number of games for each so the 7 average for Nathan Broome is based on one game compared to 7 average for Biler from seven games. Anyhoo here’s the table:

I did score the officials and they averaged 6.17 from the twenty-four games I attended. Oh and before you ask the players in Yellow rather than Blue were seen as youth or not in the first team squad at the start of the season. I left them in yellow to show where the youngsters ranked in comparison to the elite (HA!) players.

Episode #12 - 1 April 2023 - Is the clock actually ticking?

I think I have reach my conclusion that JJ isn’t the man for the job of managing this club. I am a little fed up with people accepting the excuses. I am not saying they are wrong with their opinion but I have had enough. Last week we beat Walsall 2-0 at home on a Tuesday night and the outpouring was enough to make me vomit. I actually believed we won the global world club championship at every sport known to man; it made me realise that I shouldn’t look at social media anymore. However, this appears to be the blip in the road as the place stinks with defeat. We are a team that accepts defeat and doesn’t seem that bothered by it, added to that the supporters don’t seem to mind either. The whole club feels like defeat is the accepted state of affairs and the odd victory is something to celebrate to the hilt as they don’t come along that often. This is not the correct way to be, no we should not expect a victory every week and no we shouldn’t boo when a victory doesn’t happen. When you go 5 games without a win, then go on a great run followed by 18 games with 2 wins that should not be accepted and if we can accept relegation for £300,000 for a single player then paying off a manager to get someone who can create a winning mentality within the club would be so much better investment for this club. There I’ve said it, I have given every manager a chance to win me over and if I am completely honest I was not impressed with the choice this time and there has been little to convince me otherwise. From the 22nd October 2022 to the end of the year we went ten games without defeat and to be honest we looked like a side that could really achieve something. That said, I do not blame the manager for losing two of the better players in Towler and Assal as one was not ours and was lost to parent company decisions, and Assal was sold to balance the books. I understand that frustration but is that a reason why you have won two games since they have left. So you cannot motivate a team to achieve more than two wins in 16 games in the lowest professional division in English football. I think it is important to note that Robinson had an awful run last season, but his results were against Wycombe Wanderers who had just dropped out of the championship. Wigan Athletic, Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Rotherham United, Sunderland, Ipswich Town, and Portsmouth. While JJ’s run of poor results were against – Sutton United, Crew Alexandra, Bradford City, Leyton Orient, Carlisle United, Northampton Town, Hartlepool United, Gillingham, Stevenage, Mansfield Town, Doncaster Rovers, Newport Co, Crawley Town, Barrow AFC, and Rochdale. I singled out Robbo’s list but JJ’s is in full. Yes Robbo did also lose to Morecombe, Fleetwood Town, and Cambridge United but I think you get the point.

The next manager needed to bring happiness to this club he didn’t have to bring promotion he needed some fight and will to win. That is what we were missing not the same shit served a different way. We still play the same formation we still play dull un-attacking football that is only incentive is to hold possession for 70% of the game meanwhile the likes of the worst club in the league Rochdale has two shots, with one on target and win 1-0. I will now look at the bottom of the table and see how we have got on against them. Rock bottom Rochdale have taken 3 points from us, Hartlepool United 2 points, Crawley Town – 3 points, Colchester United 0, Harrogate Town 0 (still a game to go), Gillingham – 3 points, Newport Co – 2 points, Crewe Alexandra – 2 points. All of those teams are below us in the table. That should concern any Don’s fans out there.

There is simply not a good feeling around the place and creating that is not easy especially when the senior management come out and say we have a 2nd quarter budget. Funding for the team should be between 6th and 12th in the league and we are currently 16th with six games to go. Sadly I am not bothered if I go and watch them anymore this season or not, I could of got to the Walsall game and decided not to. Today I asked my autistic son if he wanted to go and he wasn’t fussed. My daughter and many of my friends were simply not interested in going. I knew that playing the worst team in the League and when playing any team that has any sort of fight about them will mean a L for us meant and low and behold it happened again today. Which highlights the issue now, when you can predict how bad we are going to be then it happens every week, you go through the emotions of getting frustrated and then angry before finally giving up and laughing and then you just give up completely and that is where I and many others are right now. The attendance figures have just nosedived (see I am not alone) people are voting with their feet. I am a season ticket holder and so is my son that didn’t want to go both of us were counted as being in attendance. We were not. So, seeing the pictures of the available seats says there were not 7,380 people actually there today but who I am to judge well I am nobody really. I have given money that I didn’t need to towards this club and I’ve handed it over on the bases that I trust those people I am giving it to, to manage and run the club in the best way possible. I currently do not believe we have the best manager that we can afford and I also believe the heads of this club doesn’t have the ability to fire said manager or want to as its financially unfounded.

That said if the current manager is still in charge at the beginning of season 2023/24 then we had better be having the best season since 2015/16. If we start mediocre then I for one will be tempted to ask for season ticket money back and walking. I admitted above to being a nobody but I invest time and money into this and I don’t have to do that out of a sheer sense of loyalty. I deserve some return for that investment namely some motivated players that are interested in trying to score goals and try and win football matches. I really don’t give two fucks about possession statistics or how many dark arts the players have mastered. I really do not care!! What I care about is controlling a game and moving forward, time after time we play it back which I can live with you are looking for an opening so why play it back there for it to be hoofed up to two massive centre backs who send it back the other way with interest. It just doesn’t work and I am just confused as we keep trying to do it. WHY!! Until I get that answer that one my next ‘why’ question on the list is – Why do I keep going? That is becoming more and more harder to answer.

Episode #11 - 19 March 2023 - The players are on the beach maybe the fans should join them?

Cards on the table and to be completely honest with you I had planned an update around the January Transfer window to say that I felt players were stolen from under the managers nose but to be fair I thought the players that were brought in were the best that we could probably expect with this little notice. I actually felt we could push on and not being defeated in games against big teams for this league so a glimmer of hope that JJ does know what he is doing. Here we are months later and I have just watched our worst performance that I can remember for a long time. My mind was cast back to last season and someone mentioned something that I have now looked at. There is lots of things in my head that I want to unpack. I feel sure that on this weekend I will forget to include something.

One thing we discussed was how different the start of this year was compared to the beginning of last year. Remembering that we did not win a game from the beginning of 2022 to the end of that season which is in May. This year I know we have at least won a game and I was pretty sure we were doing better. Well we aren’t do you want to the difference between the start of 2022 and the start of 2023 is a single point. One point! You could even say one goal, as if you took the single goal out of the Stockport game then the only win becomes a draw and puts Jackson 1 point behind Robinson for the year start figures. I will begin another comparison as I do not think Johnnie is the right man for the job. I think he would be an excellent scout and has a proven record of finding the right players to bring in. But you cannot start complaining about the players being releases and not being able to replace them after you have sung the praises of everything and then after one win in fourteen games then make those excuses. It does somewhat devalue those excuses; Robinson last season could easily make the same claims and he stayed in his position way too long. The difference there was we (the supporters) were being told that things will turn around and we are too good to go down and then we went down. If you know me at all you will know that I love playing with stats so if you look that we have nine games left and if we get exactly the same results as the previous nine games that will result a total of 48 points for the season. Which looking historically would see this team relegated four times in the previous 17 seasons (Teams with 48 points would have been relegated in 2005/06, 2010/11, 2012/13, and 2013/14).

Are we already safe this season, probably yes but they are not playing like there is anything to worry about but losing to teams below us sure helps feed the flames of worry around the terraces. Yes, we performed really well once this season at home to Leyton Orient but that appears to be the outlier and the rest of the season has just been dower dull and keep ball don’t shoot tactics which simply hasn’t set the world on fire. It hasn’t inspired much to be honest. I spent the whole of pre-season saying that if we finish in the top half of the table will be an achievement that is so true as we stutter towards another relegation battle. If you are not picking up points then that is what happens. We have one way of playing and it doesn’t change no matter what else happens on the pitch. If we go a goal up, we stay the same. A goal down we stay the same, two goals down the same which I think is a really long way of saying we have NO game management at all. We are leading against Hartlepool in the final minutes and no-one not a sole joins Lee Brown on the corner flag to play out time they all go into the box for another goal. All glory hunting and not playing for the result or the team.

Before the final paragraph here I thought I would give you some more stats. It is now 50 days or six games since we last won at home, which is shocking at best. It is 8 games and 80 days since our last away win which has not happened since last year. Its been 88 days/17 games since we scored 3 goals in a game which came in a reserve team effort in the Pizza Cup away which was lost on penalties. If you look at League games, it’s been 141 days since we scored 3 goals in a league game. That came at home against Harrogate Town a few days before Halloween and it’s been a fright fest since. I could point out that this is the ONLY league game when we have scored three goals in a single game.

With the shocking poor statistics and apparently, now if we are safe from relegation (I am not totally convinced) and we are definitely safe from a play-off push I thought I would use this paragraph to give my thoughts on what to do now. With that in mind write this season off and focus on next season. There is a lot of dead wood in the squad right now and much of it was panic brought in a window that saw quality leaving and not suitably replaced. Do I blame the board or the team management for that well both. That it mind the board is changing and steadily being replaced, this management team has not worked. I was sceptical at first and I am still not convinced let them go and let’s get a team in that wants the best for this club. Not to simply piss off the opposition but to actually achieve things for the club. I don’t expect titles or miracles what I do expect is effort and a desire to win every week. When it doesn’t happen I want to see players disappointed not shrug and that bullshit comment of we go again. Yes we do but you are getting paid to do that so you go again how about trying something different and not just accept the dull and boring loss after loss just go again. I have had my wick burnt away from the ‘go again’ as we have had a go again season and this team hasn’t. It will be down to other teams being so bad that we stay up not down to us getting great results. I have never felt the way I do this month. I am not interested in going to watch this team play. I am out late on Friday night and I was desperate to work out a way to get to Barrow when shattered. Then I realised I ain’t going because I cannot muster up the motivation to bother. There are nine games left and my attendance means nothing to them so why should I bother.

OK bear with me as I would always sit in the same pose leaning forward and as the game went on I got closer and closer to the pitch. Now I turn up cross my arms lean back and wait. When we score I stand cheer clap and may punch the air then I sit back down fold my arms and wait for this mob to screw up that lead. Its time for a change now and that starts with the leadership of the team and then a whole new restructure of the team. I worked out there was about six players from the current team that I would want to keep, youth players excluded. The rest can go steal a living with another club. In business you want your employees to do the right thing when no one is watching. In football you want your players to want to win no matter what the game meaning is. 3 points, progression in the cup or a friendly you want your team to win. That desire simply isn’t there and that is probably why Charlton Athletic let JJ go as it appears he is accepts mediocre and doesn’t do anything about it. Right now this squad needs a kick up the arse if away at Barrow is 11 youth team players then I would accept a defeat as those kids will run and play for the badge which is more than the rest of the squad. Bassey is available and I honestly do not think he is a manager, but he is an amazing coach, I would be interested in Garrard or anyone else come to think of it. If you give them the opportunity now then they have the whole of off season to put things together their way and start a fresh with their own ideas.

Episode #10 - February 2023 - Change leads to a new norm...

I have had a holiday and missed a few games which happens, and results do appear to have changed although performances have not. In terms of tracking table that I have been running all season it is below. I have removed Wally's details as he was long since sacked and it feels like a fair comparison. Johnnie is definitely improving on the table below moving up to second. In an easier division which is what people say to me whenever I mention this table. We still don't have a winning record, but JJ has won more home league games at Plough Lane than anyone else since we were allowed in the ground.

I am not going to say I was wrong and misjudged him as there is still a long way to go this season but players have left the squad. Let me rephrase good players have left the squad in a window where good players are hard to bring in for a club at our level. I think the players signed seem to be able to fill certain roles but they do smatter of panic buys and a window where we are signing players right up until the last minute which has never happened before. There is a slight wift of desperation there but all in all I am more pleased than most windows but it will be a case of lets see what happens. So far so good but my jury is still out and a top half finish is very much looking on the cards and there is even talk of a play off push. I will believe it when I see it but optimism is rising.

Episode #9 - 30th October 2022 - Things can change...

I have already had my moan on the other page of this blog, but I honestly think the issue here and the issue of the breakup in fans and club is due to the media and the messages that ooze out and they were all so positive and promotion and how great we are going to be. Whilst I was writing we will be lucky and have a great effort just to finish in 12th place the club was saying how great this season is going to be. 15th is still below where we were told we would be and yet we win against a team 21st in the table and yes, I am pleased but no I am not going to be going overboard with the celebration. Yes, it will keep me pleased for the week ahead, but it will not stop the fear and worry going into an FA Cup tie against a team two divisions below us. Last season showed us how bad that was as we struggled against Guiseley and more so against Boreham Wood. I honestly have tickets but still thinking twice about going. This is a no win, and it's a win and we should have, lose and it's a shock. Scary for all involved.

Episode #8 - 15th October 2022 - Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock...

Below is the updated table of JJ compared to previous managers in their final season. JJ remains smack in the middle of the pack on 12 points a single point above Neal Ardley after 13 games played. If the next game is important, then it's worth noting that Wally technically won the next game and was sacked with a Won = 3, Drew = 3 Lost 8 Record and was sacked. He was sacked for his betting rules breaches and not for match results.

To make the next game more important if JJ loses, he will not only have the same record as Wally when Wally was sacked but have a single point more than Neal Ardley. Which all that above simply makes me feel sorry for Glynn as he was sacked for a poor result against the scum. He currently was looking better than Robbo and was given little chance in comparison and with less budget than Robbo and he was given so much time where Glynn was not. I will get to today's performance or lack of later and explain why my patience with JJ has run out.

I will openly put up my hands and say I wasn't impressed with the choice in the first place. However, that short fuse has burnt through quickly with the lack of performances to start this season. I said in the match report page that the dull and lacklustre performances are the norm and the occasional battling performances where we win are the exceptional games. I predicted a long hard season and sadly it is coming true. The battle with relegation wasn't completely expected but it will be a season of it to be honest. It's like swallowing something hard and jagged when I say that Steve Evans has performed wonderers with Stevenage and he keeps things simple. Honestly when the teams are announced I don't usually have an idea of how we are going to line up and sadly the players look like that as well. A new system should have been imbedded by now (13 games into the season) and we do not create anything when employing it. Which in my eyes means something has to change and right now it looks like the manager to me. What is plan B? I don't think anyone at the club knows what this is.

Episode #7 - 9th October 2022 - I will just leave that here...

Here is the updated managers table of JJ versus the managers in their final season as Dons manager. I will add that by the twelfth game came around Wally was still suspended for breaking betting rules. No matter - here is the table:

Trying to not read too much into this but Wally had two wins and was then fired because of the betting issue. Which was convenient as Glynn after the initial defeat won three on the trot which is probably why Wally was asked not to return. On the other hand JJ is currently one point behind where Ardley was after twelve games and we do actually know what happened there. I will save further judgement until after the derby fixture with Sutton United.

Episode #6 - 3rd October 2022 - The promised half time conversation and fall out following a home win!!

I promised on the other page that I would share my conversation from half time and to be honest I will not be able to remember the details exactly. At the time it was half-time, and we were 1-0 down to Colchester United who had already sacked their manager and had a new man in charge for their first game. They were fourth from bottom and had one win all season and here we stood chatting after yet another disappointing first half at home. For me and if you have read this blog before the blame for me sat with the new management and they have had their chance and if the score stayed the same then it was done and dusted for me. At this point the current manager had the second worst record of the last season of the previous managers. The only manager with a worst record was Wally who had three points from three draws. Feeling like I was fed up with being back in the same position repeatedly. We were looking down the barrel of one win this calendar year in matches that we actually care about. Losing to this team was a distinct possibility and my patients had basically run dry and my exact comment at half time was that if we don’t get three or four goals in the second half, I will still be unhappy. Even if we win.

Well we won… So?

Yes, I was pleased that we had equalled the same number of home league wins as we did last season, and we are just creeping into October. Was I over the moon? Nah! Now I really hate to say I wasn’t cock-a-hoop and thrilled but honestly, I was not. Happier? Yes, believing that the corner has been turned and we can look up the table rather than down. Well, not this team have only beaten the worst of this league when it comes to those at the top of the table, we have done our usual of throwing away wins into draws or worse. This team has disappointed over and over again for about two seasons maybe more. We are officially the worst profession team in England based on league points since 2017 and it shows now on the terraces. I could point out that in the last 20 minutes people were cheering when we got a goal kick. Added to my annoyance at how low we have dropped the players responded to the cheers for a goal-kick by keeping the ball in the opposition corner flag. We were at home to the team 20th in the bottom tier of the professional game. That is why I was pleased to win but saddened by the level we have actually dropped down to.

I promised that I would keep track of the performances of different managers and here is the new table.

This win takes JJ above Ardley in this table and to be honest knowing what was about to happen. Wally wasn’t really managing at this stage as he was suspended for breaking betting rules and Neal Ardley won his tenth league game and was about to go on an eight-game winless run that saw him sacked. For me, the best comparison would be with Glynn as he was in charge for more than half a season. One thing I know of this club is they don’t make knee-jerk reactions with managers but that is not backed by the statistic of sacking a manager every season since 2017. I do feel that the senior management really try and let managers have a fair crack before pulling the trigger as Robbo was given way too long before wielding the axe. I was not impressed with this appointment but everyone else I spoke to was pleased so I held my tongue and crossed my fingers that everything would go well. I am not the type of person to hope for self-destruction just to prove a point. In fact, I would want the opposite and would love to be proved wrong and everything go really well. I wanted this season to go well and quite frankly this hasn’t happened yet. It feels just like last season with inept performances and managing to find new and inventive ways of throwing points away.

The question I am asking is has the last performance change things dramatically in my mind and honestly no not yet. We are all desperate for this team to do well so I will keep the hope but temper it with the opinion that this team remains where it should be position wise in the table.

Episode #6 - 26th September 2022 - [Colombo] - oh there was just one other thing...

Today will be about tables the first one goes back to my concerns of the manager and the start we have had to this season. I will cover briefly some of the points I had made before. There is a negativity around the club and the victories are just so hard to come by. This current team is just so mentally struggling to get a W really is a worry. This calendar year there are two victories in the league plus two additional wins in the pizza cup. Which to me seeing as its September means this is a bit poor. There is lots of call for changing the ownership but for me we are told he playing budget is the same as it was last season meaning we have a League One playing budget in League Two. If the playing budget is there, then why do we need to change the ownership?

What worries me is that there haven't been the performances on the pitch. I haven't seen us perform this season at all. I have been to 7 of the 10 games. We did well against Doncaster Rovers and drew, I am told we did well against Bradford City but didn't win. We beat two teams in the bottom four and sadly well beaten way too many times this season already. To keep the theme going and I have compared the opening 10 games of seasons when the managers didn't finish the season in charge. In comparison all Glynn had the best start of the season with 13 points then surprisingly Mark who I thought had a great start to the season but was on 12 points, even Neal Ardley had two more points than JJ has so far. The worst one was Wally who only had three points to his name after ten games. It was at this stage that he was suspended due to the FA conducting an investigation into some gambling rule breaches. He wouldn't return and the team under Glynn won the next three games taking the tally to 12 points after thirteen games. Here is the table:

Hopefully you can see my concern that when the current manager is second bottom out of list of managers that were effectively sacked with these records doesn't worry you as it worries me. Results need to start to change for this team to have a successful season. To be fair a cup run, and a mid-table finish would see me mildly pleased for the season. All I am saying is that things need to change and for me the clock is ticking based on the number of times I've walked out of a ground so disappointed with the performance, effort and result, time and again. Moving onto the players I have an average based on my player rating from the other page of the blog (match reports) so here are the averages:

#1 Nik Tzanev = 6.00

#2 Chris Gunter = 5.86

#3 Lee Brown = 6.29

#5 Will Nightingale = 6.40

#6 George Marsh = 6.50

#7 Nathan Young-Coombes = 6.83

#8 Harry Pell = 6.00

#9 Josh Davison = 6.86

#10 Ayoub Assal = 6.57

#11 Ethan Chislett = 6.43

#12 Ryley Towler = 6.00

#15 Alex Pearce = 6.43

#18 Kyle Hudlin = 5.75

#19 Paris Maghoma = 6.57

#24 Alfie Bendle = 7.00

#26 Jack Currie = 6.57

#29 David Fisher = 5.00

#30 Paul Kalambayi = 5.50

#33 Isaac Ogundere = 5.00

#37 Paul Osew = 5.67

#39 Quaine Bartley = 5.67

Officials = 5.57

I am told that I am very generous with my scores of the players bases on a good performance in the last game means I think some of these looks harsh, particularly on the younger players but they are just the averages based on my scores post games. There have been many disappointments already this season. Which may well reflect in those scores.

Episode #5 - 18th September 2022 - Didn't expect much else...

I drove for hundreds of miles to attend the Carlisle United v Wimbledon match this weekend and got what I expected. Yet another lack lustre defeat which makes its four on the bounce. Last season it felt like every weekend was the same you could almost predict every game. It was the same every time - positive start conceding to then get back on top fail to score and lose. Worse still was going ahead and then throw it away to gain a point or more often than now lose again. This led to a 27-game period without a win. This season we have won twice, and we go two goals up and then play keep ball. We have no idea how to kill a game off with multiple goals I have seen us once this season come back from a goal down. This weekend in fact and they still managed to lose.

Whilst driving for five hours your mind moves onto to why and how can we correct things. I had a listen to some other fans and there was a similar feeling with them as there is with me. A resignation that we already know what will happen. If we do not score first then we will lose, simple as. If we score first, we (the fans) simply live in panic trying to hold onto a lead that you know just won't happen. It is simply a complete air of sadness, depression and defeat that is simply stinking out the place.

I keep hearing that we need to sell our souls to a big spender to come in and splash the cash around to sort this problem out. I can understand that, but I would also add that this is long term issue which won't instantly solve the problem. We have a budget which should mean we are competitive in this league. We just aren't.

Sack the board is another thing I keep hearing but again this is something that if you compare the leadership of the club comparing the start of this season to last and for me it looks vastly different. The CEO is gone which for me makes the club better. The leadership team that sat around the table telling us that we will be in the Championship in five years are not very visible at the club anymore. The board are effectively voted on and if you don’t like them then vote them off. Oh, feel free to step up to the plate and take over running the club.

All this leads back to the previous statements I have made here before and that is my concerns of the tactical awareness of the team management. I am impressed with the recruitment of the team. I am also impressed with playing hard ball with a want away team member who was clearly mercenary money hungry and not playing hungry. So, he sat in the shadows until the club that wanted him and where he wanted to go to stumped up the cash to make the deal happen. Looking at how that money was spent I was not disappointed with any of the new men. Seeing them play there was clearly talent there and I was impressed on day one of the season. What I cannot understand is why we never look like scoring in games. We never dominate an attack heavy game; we sit so deep all game and try to score on the break. Well, we must defend first before we can do anything else. If you defend a 1-0 deficit you aren’t going to win much.

I am questioning the management right now which made me do some digging and wanted to compare this season with the season where the managers lost their jobs well there is four other managers to compare with. After nine games here is the mini table looks like:

Robbo and Glyn Hodges had identical records at this stage and sit four points higher than the next two. Current manager JJ and club legend Neal Ardley who have identical records at this stage also. While Wally had a horrendous start to his final season winning no games in the first nine games. What I can tell you was that Neal Ardley was about to go into a winless or more importantly a pointless November which saw his long tenure at the club come to an end. Wally was just about to be suspended by the league for breaking gambling rules. Meanwhile both Robbo and Glynn was about to stutter and Glynn would win a few but lose many more. Robbo would become draw champions before swapping that crown for the defeated crown. This makes the next month worth of games all the more important for the current manager. This team simply does not look like a team that is hungry for wins they seem desperate not to lose and they are shambolic at that.

What this club desperately needed this season was full on energy and attacking threat. Dangerous all the time we may well lose 6-4 but hell what a ride that would be. Hell 4-4 is still a point. A blood and thunder 5-0 win would lift the spirits beyond any comprehension sadly what we got was a deep lying side more than happy to keep the ball in their own 18-yard box for ¾ of the game. When they finally poke their noses out of the hole to sniff the air of the opposition half then we will have a go at scoring but if that doesn’t come off never mind, we still have a zero to protect.

The negativity from the fans from a hangover from last season has been met with a negative mindset from the pitch. Long punts up the pitch ain’t pretty and would also see a loss of possession but ‘what the hell’ we are doing that anyway. The new shiny new stadium stinks of defeat and despair as we scramble for a few shots per game which underwhelming statistics brings the already low fans down even further. I am not shouting to sack the manager, but I was not exactly exciting by the appointment in the first place. The low-key appointment was important for both parties as JJ needs this job to go well and we need to bounce back with some positivity around the place. For me promotion was never on the cards the fan in me hoped and prayed but the head and pessimist in me overshadowed the whole thing. I feared this start and travelling to Hartlepool, Mansfield, and Carlisle has just reinforced those fears rather than suppress them. We do not look like a team that will score lots of goals -period. We look like a side that is pleased with two shots on target per game. Even if none go in. This season which is not 20% OLD is already on a knife edge of being good or a complete disaster. We are already looking at damage limitation if this run continues. Sorry but this negative feeling is just spreading to all aspects of the club.

Episode #4 - 3rd September 2022 - As one window closes...

Another one closes... I was planning on doing an update about the transfer window and all those exciting last minute season defining window beating transfer’s just as the clock ticks down to zero. Summed up in a word – underwhelming. Yes, we signed a defender from Bristol City which was probably required but the stunning dynamic game changing midfielder or twenty-five goal a season striker from a premier league club desperate to hone his skills. Well, that didn’t happen, meaning that I will be going back to my favourite moan of this season. We just ain’t that good. Sorry but it is true. I know the season we went up Ardley moulded a team that ticked along through the season before around the middle it suddenly all kicked in and everything seemed to come off and we sprinted up the table to nip into the play-offs as the last placed team there and then shocked everyone by beating all in front of us. I hope that this is the case for this season, which is different from what I was predicting as I said more of below, but we will struggle all season and if we do really well, we will be sitting around the twelfth-place mark. At this moment in time that is what it feels like. Sorry folks but that how it feels to me. I keep hearing lots of talk of promotion and lots of talk of how we are in a lower league than last season so it will be a cake walk. Sorry but it just does not work like that. There will be lots of hard work and we need to start getting results and not just beating the teams in the bottom five (yes, that is all we have done so far).

With that in mind I thought would be interest to compare last season with this considering what a fantastic start we had. Then I was thinking that comparing those two seasons would really be fair seeing as we finished 23rd which would mean relegation again this season. This is one thing I am really worried about but get to 52 points and we’ll be safe. Sorry, I digress – anyway I have brought in the year before as well without remembering it too well, but it will give a good comparison, I think. We have three different managers in Glynn Hodges in 20/21, Mark Robinson in 21/22 and then JJ in the current 22/23 season. I will go with a mini table after each game *Spoiler alert* Robinson’s season falls off a cliff and hits every tree as it falls to the ground below. It is also worth noting that both the previous seasons were at a tier three level, where now we are in tier four. Which apparently will be much easier. OK let's have a little look see...

It may not be a fair comparison, but we are currently in the worst position than at this stage in the last two seasons. In fact, we have the same record as Glynn Hodges did when kicking off his campaign. He was sacked at the end of January that season. The only difference being this season we have scored one less and conceded one less as well. It is a little unfair at the moment to compare with last season as Robinson started the season like a rocket (which burnt all of its fuel before it reached 50 ft in the air). I have the info as above for the rest of the season obviously not for the future, but I will keep this going although I am not completely sure what form this will take going forward.

It is hard to imagine that we were actually fourth at one stage last season and I think we were winning one of the draws and at half time we were sitting second of course we threw the lead away and dropped to fourth. That said, last season was so bad that at home we have already won half the number of victories that we had in all the league games last season. Little did we know that by this stage last season we had already won half of all the league wins we would see full stop. That is actually tough to realise that seven games into the season we would only see three more league wins for the rest of the season. Wow that is really tough to swallow. I will move on to other things to moan about now.

We currently have lots of attacking options, we have so many that we can send Zach Robinson out on loan to Dundee in the Scottish second tier who has racked up 4 goals in 7 games.

Meanwhile we have 8 goals from the entire team. The social media related to Dundee are all their fans clambering to make him a permanent signing and seeing if they can find a way to raise the cash to buy him. Yet not good enough for us in the fourth tier of the English league. Nope doesn’t make much sense to me either. This leads neatly into the next question of if we bring Zach back who do we dump out of the team as the attacking options do appear to be pretty good. However, we never really look to dominate teams and I am including the games we have actually won as well. We seem to be more than happy to frustrate the opposition but never have a plan B when the shit hits the fan. If we concede, then we are done. In all games (including pre-season) under JJ we have never come from behind. Not once. We have had teams come from behind against us and then we have gone on to win (well in a trophy game) but once we have gone behind, we lose, simple as. The depth of the defeat varies but we don’t know how to chase a game full stop. Under Neal Ardley once we took the lead, we never lost it. The problem there was we hardly ever took the lead. I have had my concerns about JJ and don’t want to start something against him which is why I will limit to these pages as no one reads them anyway, but I am yet to be convinced that we will achieve much this season. JJ is still young and what this club is very good (or bad) at is giving their managers plenty of time. To give you an idea with previous managers, Glynn had a record of 5 wins, 7 draws, and 13 losses and it wasn’t until he dropped into the relegation zone that saw him sacked. Robinson on the other hand was asked to leave when his record was 6 wins, 15 draws and 18 losses in the league with an FA Cup defeat to a team two divisions below us and no victories all year. The club still waited until there was just seven games left before deciding to make the change. JJ is still a young manager and still learning which means there will be mistakes and decisions will be confusing.

The improvement I would like to see is the match management side of things as I think the prep-work seems ok. Managing the squad does as well. Tactically mind you is where I cannot see the logic. We have a single frustrate and then score on the break tactic and if we go behind then switch to a 4-4-2 and try and attack. In the defeat today we had no shots on target in the first half. Then being a goal behind we switched to a 4-4-2 and came out with an attacking mindset and we had a single shot on target (according to the BBC). This was against a side that like us is finding its feet in a new division, as they have come up from non-league and have mustered up a single victory before beating the Wombles.

Honestly, I don’t want to be negative, but I cannot see this being a season where we will be promotion chasing that we keep getting talked about. This season is going to be a slog and a tough one at that, I mentioned months ago that if we do well 12th would not be a bad season and with each result it feels like that will be the case. We win and talk about promotion and lose followed by we are the worst team ever comments. I try to keep level as much as possible but as a fan that is not always that easy to do and you are high after a win and down after a loss. The issue is that we are facing a month of some tough games with current league leaders up first at home (where we don’t win) we will be full of fear and trepidation. Followed by free flowing and attacking Northampton Town on the Tuesday night. Then the long, long journey to Carlisle United for a side that doesn’t travel well. Then we have to come home ready for a reserves team clash in the trophy against Crawley Town. This will distract us from another tough journey up to Bradford City where big spending Mark Hughes will be planning on getting their season back on track as they plan on a promotion chase (rather than just talking about it). The Carlisle game will see us complete the first 10 games of the season which is a typical yard stick to measure how the season is going. It will be interesting to compare the first ten games with the last two seasons at this stage. It goes without saying that I hope I am wrong, and we are going to be flying this season, but we will just have to wait and see won’t we.

Episode #3 - 31st July 2022 - And... they're off!!

We are now one game into the season and my tune is starting to change. It won't be dramatically changing for some time yet, but I have to say that we are one game into the new season, and we have already won half the number of home wins that we did last season. I thought it a good time to size up the squad in terms of the new players coming in and having my first opportunity to see them.

After yesterday's performance I will begin with a player making his first league game for the Dons except he was no new signing for Wimbledon this season. The fact he was hidden from the first team makes it feel like he was new signing bursting onto the first team scene.

Jack Currie was fourth or fifth choice left back last season. Behind Lee Brown, Nesta Guinness-Walker, Henry Lawrence, and Paul Osew. Yet in his first game (league game he has played in the EFL Trophy before) he was the official Man of the Match and was mine too. Compared to what we watched last season I saw more potential in his first league game than any of the others mentioned above. He won challenges, intercepted countless number of passes, won headers and was up and down the pitch for the full ninety minutes and I have to say he was superb. I cannot think of a more deserving player to notch on the scoresheet as well. One player who I personally rated last season Cheye Alexander was released and signed for Gillingham was the man stood static as Jack pelted past him to header home the goal that sealed the win. Proving that I also know nothing. Now I know you cannot judge anything on just one appearance, but I really hope he is not a one game wonder and that he builds on this and doesn’t get buried by it.

The very first signing of the post season was the aging captain of the Lions (Millwall) who only played six games last season before being released as the season came to its conclusion. I was worried that we were relying on a player who wasn’t good or fit enough to complete a Championship season. On watching him for just a single game I clearly had this wrong. Alex Pearce is a centre back and is currently the centre of a back three. He marshalled his troops well and although terrifying the fans with passing between the three of them along with the wing backs and defensive two who dropped deep to pick up possession, they wore the attackers down. To the point where the chasing and following the ball just stopped, they and stood with hands on their hip. This waring down allowed them to ability to start attacks by passing more freely and could affect the tempo of the game. Brilliant.

New right back Chris Gunter who is still a Welsh international. All we heard from Charlton Athletic fans was that his legs were gone, and he isn’t up to it anymore. Well based on a mere 90 minutes he was up to it without too many issues. It could be a case that he is playing at a lower level, but he did his job well enough, and it was down the right that the decisive goal came from.

We have two Brentford players joining on a season long loan and defensive midfielder Paris Maghoma was the first to sign. He was with the Brentford-B team that played in many small competitions and many more friendlies all season long. Watching him he was assured in nearly everything he did. When he lost possession there was almost a panic to get that ball back which was refreshing to see. He battled hard all game and picked up a yellow for simulation in the penalty area which from my angle looked but from other angles looked justified. Having seen both I think the important thing to note there was the knees as the defender’s knee hits his which knocks him to the ground meaning I don’t think it was a dive but just a clash of legs so arguably not a penalty either. Sorry side-tracked again! He was the same type of player as me when I donned a pair of boots and graced the green and white. I will also add that I was never anywhere near as good as this chap. A box to box player picking up the ball deep in their own half travelling with the ball or (more so with myself) passing to players more up the pitch. Win it and give it someone else, he did this but could continued to search for the killer pass to set the forwards going.

Next up is a forward who scored fourteen goals for Solihull Moors he was scouted and was a target for Man City (apparently). We were keen on him as well (again apparently), but Kyle Hudlin eventually signed for Huddersfield Town. They also signed “our” Rudoni, and I believe it sweetened this deal of Rudi going that way and Kyle joining us for a season long loan. Being eighteen foot tall this striker has a unique talent that he uses. I have seen footage from his season at Solihull Moors and he does much more than just head the ball. He links up play, he is obviously a target man, score goals and get many assists as well. Clearly, he hasn’t done so at this level which is only one tier higher than he was at last season, so my hopes are high for him. He was subbed on in the 87th minute and I didn’t see him get a touch of the ball. However, three players marked him each time we moved forward.

The other Brentford man who scored a whopping thirty-five goals last season was NYC or more correctly Nathan Young-Coombes . That said you may need reminding that many of those games are friendlies. He did get a run out in the first team and is extremely highly thought of at Brentford which includes the fans that I spoke too as well. He got on the pitch after the 90 minutes mark so do not expect much of a write up here. As I am all done by now.

Having the opportunity to watch the highlights of an EFL trophy game of Forest Green Rovers where I was really impressed with a small forward who was leaning all over the back line. Winning possession and giving it to fellow teammates every opportunity to score and make use of the space created. He was striker Josh Davison who was purchased from Charlton Athletic. That said he was on loan at Swindon Town for all last season and has connection with the new boss JJ. So, in the opening fixture I had a keen eye on Josh Davison, and I will tell you that what I did see was exactly what I hoped for. He was the annoying forward that defenders hate. The annoying person happy doing the shit-housery stuff that everyone did to us last season and we had no reply to. We desperately missed that last season, and he has that in abundance. From standing in front of the keeper trying to set up his wall for a free kick he made the defence uncomfortable all game. Since Palmer was sold there has been no one that would compete for every header and chase down anything played anywhere near him. Could I tell you about the goal he scored? No, as he didn’t get one! How about all the shots? Nope, can’t remember any of those either but there was enough in this first fixture for me to start to like from this new forward.

Episode #2 - 16th July 2022 - The Season is Nigh

We are a mere fortnight away from the start of the season and my own personal hoped have not really increased. As I write we have 14 days left to the opening game and off the top of my head we have made three new signing and have three players on trial. More and more players have left, starting with the released list which is shown elsewhere on these pages. This was followed by hearing that players have been offered contracts which four of note Hartigan, Osew, Guinness-Walker, and Robinson. With Robinson being the only one that I actually give a shit about. Two have gone, namely Guinness-Walker has gone and no one knows where and very few care right now. Anthony Hartigan has joined Rotherham United to face a Championship relegation battle which I am sure he will be really up for. Based on his sheer will to win, that helped us so many times during our relegation run in last season. All of those determined performances will stand him in great stead ahead of that grit needed for the season ahead. Guinness-Walker who's agent was telling the world how many Championship clubs were desperate to sign him all season was offered a contract and turned it down has yet to announce which club has snatched up his services. We have been unable to convince Osew to sign a contract which may explain why we have been unable to sign more than three players all post season. Meanwhile, Robinson who is being woo-ed by the Director of Football at Reading FC to sign for them we continue to be in negotiation with. Yet to see what the conclusion of that story is. Rather than dwelling on those leaving lets have a look at who we have here to get us through a long and tough season.

From the squad from last season we have not signed any keepers so I guess the status quo is Nik Tzanev is the starter and Nathan Broome will be warming the bench unless its a EFL trophy game. Shall we go through the positions? My best guess is that our JJ will look to play 5-3-2 maybe? So we have a left and right wing-back who will be asked to bomb forward. Three midfielders that'll be more central before having two up top. These are based on my best guesses. Left backs we have Lee Brown and Jack Currie whether that pair is strong enough to get through the season is something I am really not sure of. The right side has seen the departure of Alexander (who I rated) and some loan players who really didn't work out later we now have Isaac Ogundere, Huseyin Biler was joined by Welsh international Chris Gunter who has the experience and ability but does he still have the legs? Central defence saw the departure of the best centre back of the season of Heneghan who has joined Sheffield Wednesday who will be near the top of the table again this season. We have all been crying about what a great signing of Alex Pearce who was Championship club Millwall's captain. Wooooow! He played six games last season. Erm really as the captain? Really? He will join long contract holding Will Nightingale, Paul Kalambayi, and Luke Jenkins which means three starters for three centre-back positions. Lets assume that we will not have any injuries in the defensive positions then.

Midfield wise was one area where we actually had some green shoots of future hope. With Rudoni, Assal, McCormick, Frimpong, Bendle, Marsh, and Woodyard. With the exception of Woody the rest are all young and upcoming which should spell good news for the season after Rudi, Assal, McCormick, and Marsh playing most of last season they should use that experience to improve this season. OH yeah Rudi has been sold to Huddersfield Town for an unreported £800,000. Leaving two attacking midfielders from last season. Do we have enough talent here to survive the season honestly I don't think so. That said I don't think we are that far away either.

Now the major issue from last season was the goal scoring. We took the money option for Ollie Palmer and then didn't replace him really. No disrespect to Cosrgrove but he was out of his depth in League One which surprised us all. We then had to turn to the back up options in the squad. One was a loan from Brentford who simply wasn't up for a relegation scrap he was happy to come in when we were flying at the start of the season but when the chips were down, so was he and off he went for a holiday in the med mid-season to recover from an ankle injury. He never came back. Leaving us with a player we wanted for this season who looked impressive until he was injured minutes into an away Tuesday night game against Gillingham (he didn't return) we went with the youth option with Robinson who had been on loan at Hampton & Richmond for most of the season before the recall put him straight into the starting line-up. To be completely honest he was the only one that looked like a striker and most importantly he looked up for the fight. Most of the goals came from midfield with Rudi creating and converting many of the chances. That said as part of the deal to sell Rudi to Huddersfield we have loaned their forward who they have just signed from Neal Ardley's Solihull Moors. He is 6ft 9 and we were watching him before he was snapped up by the Terriers. On paper he looks like the perfect signing, I will get to the concerns in a moment or two. He scored 14 goals in the National League last season as well creating chances and linking up play. The concern is that we will expect too much from him and he has never been tested at this level and most importantly from what I have seen from him he needs support and players making runs and slinging crosses into the box. This is something we simply didn't do last season. With Robinson up top with him would be decent, with another recognised forward up there would be better. Assal up there could potentially work but they need games together under their belts which won't happen in 14 days.

In summary my opinion of struggling to reach mid-table has not changed. Just a rough estimate but around 19 players left from the squad last season. 3 have joined which according to my mathematics is a squad size reduction of 16 players which haven't been replaced. Now quantity is not that important compared to quality but I don't see the quality in the squad either. The defensive and attacking third was a real concern at the end of the season and I cannot see that much of a dramatic change from what we had last season. The pre-season has not helped build much more confidence with the team losing to anything from tier 5 or higher. Losing to Eastbourne Borough and getting outclassed by Ipswich Town today. We have beaten Bedford and Farnborough of a lower level and I also know this is pre-season and these are friendlies and I have no idea what the manager is looking for from these games. Compare the start to last season to the pre-season then was worlds apart as the season started fantastically yet there was no goals from free play and no wins pre-season. At least we have won this pre-season.

My fears and worries for this season have not been improved upon this season. From a manager that made me so angry when we played against him last season to the wafer-thin squad going into a much more physical and less finesse 48 serious game season. Now the problem I have with the club is the crap that comes out from their media campaigns, and I don’t mean the match reports about the games as I actually find those surprisingly honest and much less bias than nearly every other teams’ website I have seen. The problem I have is everyone talking about us being a promotion favourite and being at the top of the table and fighting for promotion. We have finished in the top half of a table once since that play-off final penalty shoot out against Luton Town in the National League. That is not an exaggeration we have not finished in the top half of a table twice since joining the league, yet we are told to expect a successful season. That whole Championship in five years media output was the greatest pile of tripe I’ve seen, and I am still holding the club to it. If you wish to put that dribble out in the public domain, then I am going to hold you too it. There are a few comments I remember making last season which simply hasn’t changed. We have not recovered from the decision for Erik to retire. I know it was his decision to appoint the new CEO which was basically his idea of finding a replacement for himself. Person opinion here – he was not up to the job and so many issues happened from the season ticket problems to ticketing throughout the season. Taking the money for Palmer which never happened in previous years. A young squad screaming for leadership and mature players dotted about them. A decision process slower than me doing a 400-metre run without St Johns Ambulance support. No plan B for anything, a hidden debt of £5m just appeared halfway through the season, oh yeah! Whoops we forgot to mention that great gapping whole in the finance plan. Which is why we had kids playing against men all season long without any chance of changing things up or improving the squad.

Do I want to go into this season negative? No, I don’t want to but what I fear is when the season begins it will be 234 days since the last competitive game victory for this club. That could be lifted instantly on day one of the new season and all will be forgotten. However, that run without a win will loom and continue to loom the longer it continues. The good news is that 19 of the squad from last season simply won’t be their season to keep that hang-over feeling continuing. The worry is that the squad is so thin that this season is a survival one for me and the only positive that I can see is that only two go down. I will also point out that someone with 51 points have been relegated from League Two before. 52 points has seen a safety line for at least the last 15 seasons (without Covid-19 stopping games). I think I should start with a 52-point count down on this blog… Yes, I will do that!

Right, that is enough negativity for this episode so I will just stop here then!

Episode #1 - 22nd May 2022 - Preparations for the season

The horrendous season or second half of a season is over an done with I will add this early on in the piece that come the start of the season the clock would of ticked onto 234 days since we last won a competitive game. That means that this year we have not won in 2022 for some added context. We had a Wimbledon man in charge who has been at the club for an age and knew the club inside out but ultimately the good will meant that he stayed in position potentially too long before making a switch. With a month left in the season we brought in Mark Bowen an established manager who also couldn't manage a single victory in his games in charge. The season finished and a list of people that could have fill the Royal Albert Hall of potential new managers before the name of Johnie Jackson was named as the new manager to guide the team through the off-season and sign/release the players ahead of leading a promotion bid for the new season.

That said I will reiterate that I cannot see us having a promotion chasing season. If we reach 12th then that is a good season as I can see us struggling again. I don't think we will be second bottom like we finished this season but I think that should we start the season poorly the panic will set in much much earlier than this season. If the season starts as badly as the last one ended then we will be looking at a new manager before Christmas. That said I think Johnie is a good manager and he isn't a bad choice for a manager but our ever fickle fans seem to ignored the fact that he names a certain Mr Robinson as one of his icon. Johnie says he learnt so much from the current Oxford United manager. When Charlton Athletic manager he ensured our match was postponed due to Covid-19 in the Charlton Athletic camp. They couldn't get a team together to face us yet had a squad double the size of Wimbledon. That postponed game took all the momentum out of the Dons season and it began the run of no wins in 27 games. From the Addicks fans I know also pointed out that they couldn't get a team together to play us but could still have a Christmas party. Did that see us go down? No, probably not but it is worth pointing out this early in the new season.

As for the season ahead we are now in a division that has the highest number of clubs that I haven't been too so it could be a good season where I can tick off a few from the 91 list. Potential clubs to visit Barrow, Carlisle United, Harrogate Town, Hartlepool United, Leyton Orient, Rochdale, and Salford City. These are all possible targets to visit this season along with the loser of the play-off final as I haven't been to Mansfield Town or Port Vale. I have been to Stockport County before so won't be adding them but I haven't been to Wrexham, Solihull Moor, and Halifax Town, so depending on who comes up will be interesting to me also. There are teams in this division that are very good and will be strong again next season. Northampton Town, Bradford City, Swindon Town, Sutton United, Leyton Orient, Colchester United, Walsall, and even Carlisle United are all good enough to construct a challenge let alone the new teams joining the division from either direction. Which if all of those mentioned finish above us that leaves us between 13th to 15th. Which highlights the level of where we need to be in any type of condition we need to be in to be able to organise a promotion chance. Next season will be a strange one as the World Cup is kicking off in November and whipping out December for the level we are at we will continue to go straight through. I can't see us having the number of international players to have games called off.

Sadly my hope for the season is to not be in a relegation scrap and I am not convinced that will be easy to achieve. That is how low my expectation levels are, now don't get me wrong I would love to see a promotion push but we have had a season where whatever the club has said just simply hasn't happened. Should I be holding them to the being in the Championship in the next four years? That particular released propaganda or marketing video really did come back and bite them on the bum. It was just a random thing to throw out there based on no actions demonstrated behind the scenes. I don't claim to have the inside word at the club but I thought we would struggle to January and then be able to sign some players to recover the situation. No. How far from the truth was I? Miles and miles is the answer. For the situation at the club it will be really interesting to see where we are in the budget stakes this season. As one thing we heard week after week was how we had the lowest budget in the Division and I believe it wholeheartedly. What story will be peddled on that side will be interesting. Are we going to claim to be paupers when we are near the top or just when things are going against us. Salford will be big spenders but every division will have the same types of clubs in terms of cash but building a strong side for the future is the important thing and that should of happened this season yet we now find ourselves a year behind the target. A slow start for me will be accepted but for the fans the patients for what happens on the pitch may not be so sympathetic towards what is happening on the pitch. Wins are crucial early on and we will be waiting desperately for that first one.

WOMBLE REVIEW