WDSA April 2005 - PSV show us how it's done

Before the recent Barrow game JJ was asked what he was like as a youngster watching from the terraces. Perhaps his on the terrace behaviour was slightly better than a certain WDSA correspondent. My sources won’t who apparently was caught on TV just after our goal against Salford making derogatory gestures in the direction of a certain opposition manager. Let’s just say he’s slightly embarrassed but thoroughly enjoyed the experience! Whether JJ ever did something like this is best kept in the past, but he knows what a raucous and visceral home crowd brings. He showed real emotion after the 3-0 home demolition of our nemesis earlier in the season. JJ admitted that when the crowd gets behind the team, it really helps them put in that extra effort.

There is criticism of the Plough Lane atmosphere. We talk about a “fortress”, but until recently it occasionally has been made of wet cardboard. There’s no doubt that when the place is rocking, it’s an intimidating place. Players can play their part. I wish more would. There are precious few who do. Josh Neufville is one, and I love him for it. It always gets a reaction. Opposition players say they shut out the crowd, but that’s impossible. Plough Lane crowds are a bit of a mixed bag. There are days when it really rocks, but there are plenty of others where it disappoints. Results have a lot to do with this of course. Lee Finch of the Wombles had a dream podcast regularly travels to Europe to watch football. He eulogises about the atmosphere at grounds, with the pyrotechnics, flags, and singing. It’s clear watching football to him is more about the atmosphere than the game itself, but he has a point. A good atmosphere allows spectators to become as one with the club. It adds that connection that is likely to get them coming back again and again.

At Plough Lane Lee Willett’s team of flag hangers do their bit before a game. The number and variety of flags in recent seasons is impressive. It adds colour, but that only goes part of the way. We need songs, and plenty of them. As someone who also likes a good sign song, the problem for me is getting the right chant. There are some that are turgid, boring, and downright dull. One prime suspect is the “AFC Wimbledon” chant as the teams come onto the pitch. Anyone coming out of a coma as that’s sung will probably go back under. It’s simple but it doesn’t meet the intimidation brief. Maybe we could learn from other European clubs? The recent game against Cheltenham saw 50-100 PSV Eindhoven fans take a detour to Wimbledon enroute to Highbury the following day. Clearly out for a good time, well what else is there to do when you’re trying to overturn a 7-1 first leg defeat, they brought a real European atmosphere to Plough Lane. They may not have been many of them, but they encouraged others around them to join in. Positioned in the north stand, the noise they created attracted some fans from the east stand to join them, despite the best efforts of the stewards. The result was a noisy collective teaching each other their club’s songs and generating a good atmosphere. It was like having two home ends. The proximity to the away fans also created a degree of fan baiting.

Going back to our songs, simplicity is key for one to catch on. It has to be easy to learn and enjoyable to sing. A few new ones have started to catch on at recent games. Mostly they’re short, easy to pick up, and sung in the round. The “bounce around if you love the Dons” is a good one and can even get some members of the West Stand out of their seats. Whilst I’m talking about songs, let’s stop signing the “Champagne” song. I know it’s a right of passage for teens to want to swear, but we’re not Millwall. We do care that people like us, and the song’s lyrics belong more on a bawdry night out in SE16 than SW17. It belongs in the era of lads mags and should be assigned to the same sexist dustbin as them. If we’re to continue to attract families to games, we need to suppress elements of the game that don’t fit this brief. It’s a tough challenge, as it is the passion of fans that makes for a good atmosphere. Now let me go and complete my homework.

I must not make rude gestures to opposition managers.

I must not make rude gestures to opposition managers.

etc.

Stick or bust - How to win a football game

You may not agree, but trust me, football is a wonderful if unpredictable game. It can throw a curve ball at you in the blink of an eye, with the game turning on its head. Normally the curve ball is the result of something that happens during the game, but occasionally it can be something off it.

AFC Wimbledon's game last night against Swindon Town was a case in point. Swindon's manager Ian Holloway decided to play their centre forward in the middle of their defence. That's akin to Rory McIlroy deciding to play every tee shot with his 9 iron. When asked why he did this, he responded that he wanted to see the look on his opposite number's face.

Whether this is true or not, the tactic worked a dream. Not only did it fool Johnnie Jackson, Wimbledon's manager, but their defenders had to rethink everything they'd prepared for. Having their main target at the other end of the pitch meant they had to deal with the unexpected. The fact they largely did, says a lot about their ability, but the tactics also perfectly demonstrated the difference between the two manager's.

Having gone 1-0 down early in the second half, Holloway almost immediately made three changes. 12 minutes later he made another two. All of a sudden half his side was compiled of players with fresh legs. Wimbledon by comparison made one half time substitution, but then waited until the 89th minute to make another. By this time they had conceded an equaliser. Quite what a new player was expected to do with a minute left on the clock is unclear.

Wimbledon's substitutions have been an area of debate amongst fans all season. They're often conservative, and happen comparatively late in the game. Often they're like for like with little or no tactical switch. If the substitute is to play the same way as the player they've replaced, then they're unlikely to be as good as them otherwise they'd have started. The result is ineffective substitutions.

Swindon's substitutions changed the game in the same way Wimbledon's half time change brought their goal. Having five fresh players playing against a tiring side was key. So was having their centre half, sorry striker, changing position with 20 minutes left to play in his normal position. Suddenly our tiring defence had a lot of issues. These mind games aren't new to Holloway. He's often found taking educated risks to outflank the opposition. By contrast Jackson's natural caution played right into his hands.

As for the game itself, the Swindon win with two penalties in the last five minutes was painful to all Wimbledon fans. The management complained about the referee, but I didn't think he had a bad game. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge when you've been out smarted. Holloway did that to a tee. If Wimbledon don't at least make the playoffs, there'll be increasing calls for Jackson to go. Wimbledon had more to lose than Swindon last night, but that shouldn't result in conceding five goals from winning positions in their last three games, all coming in the last 10 minutes of each game. If Jackson is still Wimbledon manager next season, he must learn to trust his squad to do the job.

WDSA February 2025: Craig Cope and the ghosts of AFC Wimbledon

The transfer window an unsettling time for a football fan from a club in the lower leagues. As fans we all have our opinion about which players should go or stay at all costs, but it isn’t always that easy. If you’re a bigger or richer club looking to push on in the second half of the season, getting your recruitment right is of paramount importance. Get it right, and you avoid relegation or gain promotion. The fans are happy, and you did your job. Get it right wrong, and the fans are on your back and the board are asking questions. Who’d want to be a Director of Football?

The ghost of seasons past

In recent years, the transfer window has had a negative effect on our season. A bright start in August has disappeared in January when our best player is sold. Think of Ollie Palmer going to Wrexham, Ayoub Assal going to Al-Wakrah, and Ali Al-Hamadi going to Ipswich. It may have made our bottom line look healthier, but them leaving had a detrimental effect on the pitch. Those three leaving saw our goals per game ratio dramatically reduce. That’s OK as we’ve always been a selling club. Ever since I’ve been a Wimbledon fan, the importance of having young, talented, and hungry players in the squad could not be underestimated. We need to have players that excite football agents enough to want to give us bags of money. It is how clubs like ours manage to survive right?

The ghost of seasons present

Well maybe there’s a different strategy. Could we not continue to develop our talent, but decide that we should keep them? Why should we do all the hard work only for some other club reap the benefit of it? In other words, let’s stop acting like a small club. We are Wimbledon, not some feeder team for a Championship or Premier League club.

That’s the shift in attitude I’m seeing from our Director of Football, Craig Cope. That doesn’t mean we don’t sell our players. It means we only do so when it is right for us. It’s a fine line, but we’ve seen a backbone since he’s arrived with the likes of Jack Curry and others. Craig is generally regarded as one of our biggest signings in the AFC Wimbledon era. Many fans probably would walk past him without knowing who he was, yet his influence and impact is massive for us on the pitch.

A Director of Football’s job is not all about keeping players. It’s about getting them through the door too. Craig responsibilities now include the youth setup, but what if those players aren’t ready for first team football. Craig’s connections, particularly with the likes of Chief Scout Andy Thorn, has seen us start to reap the benefits of their collective talents. In his two years with us, we’ve seen a sea shift in strategy and professionalism in the way our recruitment is handled, with the results laid bare on the pitch.

For the first time in years, we’ve a real prospect of at least a playoff place going into the transfer window. As I write this there’s a week left of this season’s window and there’s no sign of any major event that would derail that prospect. There must be clubs sniffing around the likes of Lewis, Ogundere, Bugiel, and Stevens, yet there’s not a sniff of anything likely to see them disappear. Our backbone seems to be radiating an aroma of “We’ll start talking when we’re a Division One team.” Not only does that please us fans, but it also means potentially more transfer money in the future.

The recruitment of players like Joe Lewis and Ronan Curtis were master strokes last season. This season he’s matched that with the likes of Sam Hutchinson, Romaine Sawyers, and Marcus Browne. From what I saw of them, each had something new to offer. Sawyers and Hutchinson were never both likely to stay, and I wasn’t surprised to see Sawyers leave and Hutchinson stay. Sawyers had the more flair and options, and Hutchinson made more business sense. I’ve only seen Browne play 15 minutes so far, but his signing signals an intention and direction for the remainder of the season.

The ghost of seasons yet to come

Perhaps the biggest problem we have with Craig is keeping him. There must be clubs in the Championship or above keeping a close eye on him. If an approach was made, what then? He’s been with us two years, and made a massive difference. It’s clear that he wants the club to progress. A promotion on his list of achievements wouldn’t do him any harm. However, a word of caution. What if we don’t get promoted this season and our top players leave? There’s a fine line between success and failure in football. Ah sod that! I’m an optimist. Provided there isn’t a curve ball out there heading towards me, I really can’t see why we can’t reach the playoffs as a minimum, and we’ve got Craig Cope to thank for that.

WDSA December 2024 - Dons Trust Restricted Actions

Who’d want to be on the Dons Trust Board? Thankfully there are plenty of candidates in the forthcoming elections, but whoever gets your vote will inherit a to do list most of us would baulk at. Throw in a dysfunctional club governance structure, and the challenges faced are huge. Recently the focus has been on the Board’s attempt to get a mandate to implement restricted actions and reduce its equity holding. Hardly trivial matters, yet they’ve come in for a fair degree of flack in the run up to the votes.

A major criticism was not providing a vision of what the future looks like, and what it would mean for the club before the vote opened. There was a slick strategy document, but it left as many answers and questions. Talking to individual board members it becomes clear, to me at least, that the debt is the issue. We’ve indebted ourselves up to the eyeballs to call Plough Lane our home. Now we’ve got to repay it, and it becomes much harder to do so as a non-league team. Maintaining our league position must be a priority, but doing so with the debt on our backs makes that more difficult.

The club’s financial position is interesting. The recent 2024 PLC accounts show a loss of £0.7m, although that was caused by the auditors asking for a massive depreciation cost on the stadium facilities. We raised £3.3m from player sales, and there are other profitable areas. If only we could get rid of the £8.5m debt. Imagine what we could do with that money.

The first SGM in late September failed to adequately communicate the seriousness of the club’s predicament. Part of this was due to a previous motion that called on the Board not to make a recommendation on how members should vote on motions. That’s a bizarre policy. If you can’t have those in closer to the issue advising you, why the hell are they there. You may not agree with their stance, but you’ve the opportunity to hold them to account.

There was also confusion about the two motions and how they are connected. The restricted actions vote was to put protection in place to protect the club’s assets, namely the ground, name, and FA status. This seems like a no-brainer, until you realise that if we ever had to reduce our equity to less than 50%, they’d be meaningless. They’re really only a short term solution. It is widely expected, including by members of the Dons Trust Board, that the day will come where we can no longer fund the fan ownership model.

As for the equity reduction, if the motion passed it would give the Board a mandate to look for a benefactor willing to give us a sizeable amount without with little say on how the club is run. However, to my knowledge there was no benefactor lined up. Plus if we do end up having to go below 50% equity in the future, it doesn’t make us less of a viable option.

I didn’t vote on either issue, something I regret doing. If I had, I’d have voted in favour of the restricted actions and abstained on the equity reduction. I’m not against a reduction in equity, so why did I not vote in favour? Put simply, I was unclear what the club’s strategy was. It is only in recent conversations with board members that I’ve started to understand the challenges faced.

I feel for the Dons Trust Board. We must acknowledge they’re volunteers spending their spare time wrestling with big issues that affect the club’s future. Could they have communicated things better? Yes. I’m surprised so many Dons Trust members voted on the motions. Much has been made of the vote’s democratic success. 58.56% of members voted on the restricted actions motion and 58.45% on the equity reduction motion. Reasonable numbers, although hardly a ringing endorsement on such a pivotal vote. If a clear position had been communicated, I suspect more members would have voted in favour of both motions.

So what now? I fully expect the restricted action vote to pass at the next SGM. I’ll certainly be voting in favour. As for reduced equity, we’ve kicked the can down the road, only to go through this all again at some point in the future. The only saving grace is that when that happens, the membership will be better informed. It’s a shame we weren’t this time.

Match report: AFC Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers

There's nothing like the feeling of being pummelled by an opposition team for 89 minutes, and sneaking a winner in the 90th minute with a miss hit shot that defects past the keeper. We'll all experienced games where we've won but deserved to lose. This was not one of those days. Today was different. AFC Wimbledon beat Doncaster Rovers in a six pointer that decided who'd cement a play off place in League Two.

It was clear from the start just how important both teams judged this game to be. With Wimbledon just below Doncaster in the table, and both teams looking to move towards the automatic promotion place, a win would set a marker for the teams in a similar position. The form table suggested there was little between the two teams, something that became apparent as the game started.

The early exchanges were mainly in the Wimbledon half. Some pretty nervous defending from the Wimbledon back line and some pretty woeful Doncaster marksmanship saw honours even. As the first half wore on, Wimbledon got more into the game, creating a couple of chances to take the lead. Hutchinson and Smith in the midfield started to break up Doncaster's play and get Wimbledon going forward.

Doncaster could, indeed should, have been ahead before going behind. Twice in the first 20 minutes gilt edged chances were spurned. The worst was Hurst's lob where it seemed easier to score than miss the far post. Seeing him hold his head in his hands said it all. He knew what a big chance it was, and that wins are made out of fine margins. So it was that on 27 minutes Josh Kelly chased down a lose Donny pass, took the ball wide before crossing for Matty Stevens to nod the ball home.

The remainder of the game was a midfield war of attrition. Both sides battled to get control, but it was Wimbledon who won the battle. The impressive Hutchinson signed last week on a short term contract was the stand out, winning plaudits amongst the home fans. The standout stat shows Doncaster failing to register a single shot on target. Wimbledon only managed two themselves, but they made one of them count. Fine margins.

Despite the 1-0 score line, Wimbledon never really looked likely to lose. Yes Doncaster asserted increased pressure as the game went on. Attacking subs were brought on in an attempt to grab a point, but they met their match. O'Neill and Johnson at the back dealt with the arial threat well all game. Without the ball, Wimbledon harried and closed down in packs. Doncaster just couldn't get going.

You could say this was as one sided a 1-0 win you're likely to see. Once ahead, Wimbledon never really looked likely to lose. The home fans sensed this, getting behind the team. At the final whistle the euphoria of the win was evident. This game may not have been as big or emotional as some others this season, but it meant a lot.