Welcome back to the new season. Good, eh?
I guess that this puts to bed the notion that just using the pre-seasons to gain match fitness and little else is a good idea. We had eight of them and we still managed to look woefully unprepared for our first competitive fixture this season.
Cohesion? What’s that? Game plan? Meh. Signs of a likelyhood to improve? That’s an Olympic event, isn’t it? OK, the first game back after such a cull is always going to be a bit tricky, but I honestly can’t put my hand on my ticker and say I got any encouragement from tonight.
Even when we scored, there was no real sense that we were going to come back (the third goal from Stevenage a few minutes later saw to that), and the second half might as well have been a pre-season. At times we were passing the ball in defence like we were winning 3-1 and simply trying to kill the game off…
I was trying to think of a way of summing up what we saw – not only tonight, but in the more-important-than-you-think warm up games – and it came to me around the M25/M4 turnoff.
Pub team.
That might be an unfair thing to say, even when we haven’t kicked a ball in the League yet, but that’s what tonight felt like – the local Dog and Duck. Anyone who could run for 90 minutes without dying of a heart attack could play, and bugger the ability to play.
There was plenty of pass-pass-pass-pass-pass-pass-panic-hoof stuff. Poor Jack Midson was so isolated that if he was an island, he would only be reached once a day if it wasn’t foggy. Nobody could find anyone else, and the less said about Seb’s mistake for their second…
You really do have to wonder what we did during pre-season training. It’s all very well for TB to blast individual mistakes tonight, but given how we all know he finds defence abhorrent to his ideology, that’s something he should have done triple time on during the summer.
We now have that unwritten rule of the ten-game marker for how we’re going to do and what we decide after that. Quite simply, if we play like that (and how we played in the PSFs, especially against Woking and Eastbourne), we might not need until Oxford away at the beginning of October. Or more accurately, we might not have any other option but to act.
See, I don’t mind a team that needs time to gel – it happens every single season in football. What I do mind is the very real sense we haven’t learnt the obvious mistakes. Yes, I know about the budget etc, but there’s still a minimum standard to adhere to. And we haven’t seen that once this pre-season, including tonight.
I didn’t read their programme tonight, but I glanced over somebody’s shoulder and saw one of their bods saying that no matter how well they did last season, they still feel the need to improve year upon year. That’s a fantastic attitude to have, and dare I say one we don’t have…
Something isn’t right with us right now, and we can’t pinpoint exactly where. I mentioned that we seem like a pub team earlier, and while we’re stronger on paper than last season, even at this very early stage it feels like we’ve regressed. And you don’t need to have ten games down the line to have the gut feeling many have at this very moment.
Is it too early to say that? Possibly, but I’m genuinely worried about this upcoming season – and it’s not just the usual SW19 love of humanity. Something really doesn’t feel right. It’s not the same as being excited as we were this time last year, and in many times since 2002, but lest we forget that we’ve lived through the WFC era too, and I don’t recall feeling quite so apprehensive during those times as I do right now.
At least, when it comes to on-field matters.
Fans aren’t stupid, most of the time. They have a sixth sense as much as any manager as how their team is shaping up, and there’s a lot of negativity and apprehension currently about. Games like tonight do absolutely nothing to change that, in fact I think it’s just entrenched some increasingly hard feelings.
I have to be honest here. I don’t know if I’m working for Chesterfield, and I actually hope I am. For the first game of the new season, that is not a good sign at all. A bit like the SW19 reader who said to me tonight that once you expect a performance like we had, that’s the time to worry.
The beginning of the new season should be one of optimism, even if it is misplaced. I just feel as though we’ve carried on from last season already. There were certainly signs of 2011/12 at Broadhall – a lot of shite, a few bright spots (after we scored), but ultimately deflating and a sense of underachievement.
Cue us winning on Saturday…
Seb Brown – the May 2010 sheen is wearing off. This is getting to Bruce Grobelaar calamity-prone levels, after last season’s recurring mishaps, it may be heresy to say it but Jaimez-Ruiz maybe only a couple of Seb disasters away from a start as número uno. Angus MacDonald okay. Cummings – not impressed at all, poor distribution. Mitchel-King looks dodgy in the air, not great when you’re a centre-half . Pim solid and a class apart. Back four not helped by Terry Brown’s annoying dogmatic adherence to “passing it out of the back like Barça” (misquote).
Louis Harris should’ve started in the holding role (why didn’t he start?) and looked good when he came on. Sammy Moore too busy sorting out the shambles at the back, spent most of his time at centre-half.
Stacy Long and Luke Moore tried their best but had to feed off scraps.
Midson ploughed a lone farrow too. Kiernan, a well taken goal but tried too many stupid little flicks and passing was dreadful. Jolley anonymous yet again. Harrison – don’t remember him doing anything when he came on.
In summary, an utterly uninspiring performance. Support from the worried terraces was crap. Wish I was at Derby v S****horpe.
Not at the game tonight (obviously!) but was listening via WDON and agree that we don’t seemed to have learnt anything from last season.
One thing that I’ve picked up from reading and listening to the players this pre season is that our attitude seems off. And by that I mean I haven’t heard one player saying we are aiming to win the league or at least get promotion as a minimum. Sure some have mentioned they ‘hope’ (yes hope not will) to make the play-offs… or they “want to be playing in League One hopefully it’s with Wimbledon”.
And it seems like we play like that on the pitch. We step onto the field hoping that we win, not feeling like we *should* win every f**king game. We need to be bastards this year. Ungracious, in-your-face, horrible c*nts who want to destroy every team not just beat them. This summer was Terry chance to bring that element in and he missed it.
I want Terry to succeed. I really do but right now and for the foreseeable future unless we change our attitude we have reached our potential and we’re in for another long season of disappointment.
Likewise listening on WDon, for free for the last time, and the same feeling of deja-vu. The same defensive mistakes, the same possession but no penetration, the same not making any substitutions until its to late to make any difference. Then I remember the end of season meeting when we were told that we would not be using a full time defensive coach and it all makes sense. Making the trip south for the Bradford game which I am looking forward to. Saw the PNE friendly and players like Stacy Long and our. Number 4 looked good so not panicking yet.
Excellent point regarding full time defensive coaches. Any sane person would see that that is an absolute priority and a necessity.
Ark, Ark, Ark.
As you rightly say, most of the AFC Fans I know are looking at this season with trepidation. The combination of a terrible run last season plus some (might say) irresponsible and irrational comments by TB have taken their toll. It has not taken long for the same old excuses to surface with the blame game already in full swing. Personally, I have to say that TB’s perception of raising the fans’ or the players’ spirits both before, during and after matches is non-existent. He praises the opponents both on air and in the programmes, he makes unbelievable comments during televised games and it is this, above all, I feel has affected both the players and the fans alike. Every other manager I have seen or heard builds up confidence by listening, watching and understanding their own players. Players who respect their Manager, “play” for their Manager and the results reflect this. I think a lot of TB’s problems are down to his own insecurity. Two seasons ago, when we were right at the top but going through a bad patch, all we heard from TB was how good the opponents were, even when they were right at the bottom! Unless the Board take some action soon, I fear like many others that it could be too late, even at this early stage.
The start of a new season, usually I cannot wait. Saturday’s aren’t the same in ‘Summer’ but this year there’s a problem. That problem, I’m sorry to say after all he has done for us, is Terry Brown. As this website has said many times, there is plan A and no plan B And that will not change. A terrible display last night on the back of a terrible pre season which came on the back of a terrible second half to last season. Terry has got us to where we are now, but I think he might take us back there. I’ve never backed against the Dons in 28 years as a fan, but I took the 7/1 available on our relegation come May, I hate to do that and I hope to lose, but at the moment I think I have got a winning betting slip. I’m friends with a Wimbledon playing legend and he too is fearing the worst. We talked at the end of last season and agreed we needed an old head in the squad, young kids are all well and good, but we need a scrapper who has seen it all before. How name times will a Seb blunder cost us, how many times will be hear Terry say our defence let us down and then find a few positives that really weren’t there. I think we should have made a change towards the end of last season, a new manager and a new start. Terry will always be the man who got us into the league, but please don’t let him Bethesda man who took us back. He and us don’t deserve that.
Let’s not get too downbeat just yet – it’s mid-August and we’re betting on relegation?!?!
I hope that we do learn the lessons of last year though, and hopefully a poor pre-season and likely terrible start (as opposed to a misplaced sense of optimism off the back of a few good results) will allow us to re-evaluate our position quicker than we were able to last season.
Should we embark on a awful run early on, it gives us that time to make the changes we were too sentimental to make last season. The board knows what will be required should this happen, and without the buffer of a few fortunate early points, we’ll be forced to make any changes early enough to salvage our league position.
Hopefully we won’t need to do any of that, so let’s get behind them for now. The players need to realise they’re a playing for a proper team with the fans behind them.
Don’t worry Sean, we won’t be negative when we get started. I justhave concerns which I really hope are unfounded. I would prefer to lose my bet than collect the winnings. Another reason for the bet is that whenever I bet on The Dons I always lose. I’m using some reverse pyschology. Once a Don always a Don and hoepully a League Don for many years……
I’ve said this before, probably in a WUP article:
Change for a team comes in two ways: most clubs will sack a manager and bring another one in. Others – perhaps it could be argued the more successful – allow the manager to change the team around 3-4 core players. Good examples of this are Ferguson at Man U; Gradi at Crewe, and Cloughie at all his clubs.
Of course the latter only works IF the manager is up to it and results are the only measure of success.
I suppose TB is trying to be one of the latter.
But I fear – listening and reading all that has been said so far – unless things do work out for him over the first 10 games (where I would suggest he needs to be at the absolute minimum achieving 80% of last year’s points by then)he may well be joining the first group!
Having not seen a game so far I am beginning to dread Saturday and a return to watching the same mistakes happening over and over again like they did last year.
With practically a new team, how can this be happening again?
Well, the only constant factor is the management of the team.
TB at meet the manager suggested they had learnt from last year.
From peoples’ comments so far it looks like an empty soundbite so far.
Totally agree with the match report. Although I was not at the Stevenage game I saw almost every pre season game. Nothing much has changed since the very first match against Reading. We were terrible. The second half bordering embarrassing. There was talk about not being fit. Why not? They all suppose to be pro footballers and know when the new season starts. There is definitely something wrong. For me nothing or very little has improved so far. There could be serious trouble. Always talking about defence mistakes, which is very well, but if the midfield and the rest would play better and not lose the ball when trying to go forward then the defence wouldn’t be under pressure half as much. Too many of the new so called senior good players are not coming up with it. I would say that 2-3 of the senior signings appear to be a mistake. Some of the home grown young players have been performing better then the older players. They must be sh… themselves because they must know and can’t carry on in denial for much longer.
Despite a massive change in playing pesonnel during the close season, nothing appears to have changed.
We have taken on board few of the harsh lessons, which should have been learned from the 2nd half of last season’s campaign.
The management team again even before the commencement of a new season sound like a ‘busted record’.
I agree with Pisti’s comments.
I have only been to 2 of the pre season games, and it was abundantly clear as early as the 2nd half of the Reading match, be it against premier league opposition, that the defence was very poor.
The management team appear to have done nothing to address their defensive naivity.
If they don’t possess the defensive capabilities in house, then logic should have made them bring in a specialist defensive coach.
Curtis Osana has looked a good acquisition before he got injured.
The remainder of the so called ‘Experienced Signings’, Pim excluded, have not impressed me to date.
The youngsters that have come in have done well, but you can’t expect them to take the place of some the senior players released last season from the off.
Playing the percentages game, Terry has now got to ensure that the vast majority of his experienced signings are going to move the team forward.
With a limited budget we can’t afford to be saddled with other people’s cast offs, or lame ducks.
“Poor Jack Midson was so isolated that if he was an island, he would only be reached once a day if it wasn’t foggy.”
Sorry Rob. I didn’t get any further than this peach.