Well, I wasn’t going to do a writeup about Robbers 0 Cops 1, and I’m still not 😉 Having listened to/read some of the post match comments, there are a few random thoughts going around in my head..
Firstly, who really, really gave a shit last night? Not just those on the field – any of us. I know for a fact that a lot of people around me were seriously hoping that the game didn’t go into extra time. Not because of a fear of losing it, but because they wanted to get home/warm. Contrast this to the St Albans game where you were wanting just a couple more minutes. No, the team didn’t show much passion, but we weren’t exactly up for it.
We have not suddenly become a bad team in the space of four days. The FAT may have been a false dawn, but we certainly aren’t relegation candidates either. Despite last night, I do think we’re good enough for the playoffs.
Unfortunately, we’ve done exactly what the England cricket team have done post-Ashes in Pakistan. It’s taken the shine – and belief – off the back of Saturday. Hopefully not fatally. I’m not joking when I say that I would have preferred the result to have said AFCW 0 HFC WO last night.
I’d rather we give 110% to the league. Put in for as much as you can for the FAC or FAT. Nice proper cup run in a proper cup does wonders. Elsewhere? Be honest, we don’t need these sort of games. Tactics are being called into question, yet at the same time we only get one training session per week because of last night’s encounters. QED.
I’m not going to start calling for DA’s head, because I simply cannot see the point. Is there anyone better? Is there any other manager who wouldn’t chop and change the team? Is there anyone who would be happy to cope with Conference level pressure without Conference level wages? His reaction last night on the OS was practically the same as everyone else’s, and I’d be far more worried if it was “we played well”. True, it’s his job to motivate players, but he didn’t have a job to get them up for St Albans. Or H&R. Or Fisher. I’m sure you can suss a pattern here….
It’s all about expectation. While I hate the “happy to have a club” mentality (reminds me of the “happy to just survive in the Premiership” mantra which ultimately fucked us up), it does have a point. We are due a relatively bad season. We don’t quite have the strength in depth that maybe we should have. Though I wouldn’t expect us to quite be there in our first “proper” league.
Last night wasn’t anything I haven’t seen before in 20+ years of Dons watching. And will see again in the next 20 years. Anyone who remembers Simod Cups, or Full Members Cups, or the graveyard rounds of the League cups will know what I mean. I’d be more worried if that level of performance happened consistently in the league, and even during our poor run, we weren’t that bad. Pick our worst performances out from this campaign and I bet they’re mostly in cup competitions.
One other thing that has grabbed me about these sort of cups. Everyone keeps saying that they like the cup finals at Woking. OK, fair enough, they’re nice to win and all that. But remember last season? It didn’t really have the same vibe as the first cup final (like the CCL seasons, it was a culmination of many things that you’ll never re-create). Would another SSC appearance spring people into life? Doubt it. In fact, like many things, it will have a slightly depressing air of routine about it…..
So the moral of this story is, don’t slit your wrists over this. Shit happens. Besides, who wants to win something called “Westview” anyway?
Inwards and upwards….
Plus points: Shite.
Minus points: Shite.
The referee’s a…..: Shite. Well, he wasn’t, but you know what I mean.
Them: Not as shite as us
Three’s a crowd: Disinterested shite.
Point to ponder: Was that shite or was that shite?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Shite. (2) Anyone notice how shite that was? (3) Reading reports of other pointless lesser known yet still less valid cup competitions that we’ve been in, it’s worthy to note that they were as shite as last night.
Anything else? Shite. No, serious comment this time. The tea is back to a “normal” 70p, so we can start buying it again. Obviously the SW19 condemnation worked 🙂 While my original points about prices/quality at AFCW still stand – do we really charge £80 for a Matalan quality tracksuit? – it’s nice to see that there is a limit to how much we’re prepared to pay for stuff. Even if the profits goes back to the club. Lesson learnt, methinks. Out of interest, how can you “mistakingly” put the price up to £1…..?
So, was it worth it? Shite.
In a nutshell: Shite.
And finally: Got this far? You’re brave. Or desperate. Basically, from now until about Slough Town at KM I will be at two games at most. TBH I haven’t decided on the immediate future of this site yet, though I have a fair idea what’s going to happen. Best to sign up for the mailing list and find out first 😉