The Lounge

[Colum]

Well that was a relegation battle if ever there was one. Just thank Christ it wasn’t in April! We were pretty bad, but Oxford were worse. Talking to some Oxford fans before the game, they said their problem was lots of endeavour with little end product. Sound familiar?

Well this was the day when the roles were reversed. Thanks to a stunning early save by McDonnell, we were still in the game when we scored. Had that gone in, and most near me expected it to, we would almost definitely have lost that game. As it was we fashioned a ball down the left, Barchie did brilliantly to beat two defenders to whip in a cross, Jarvis got a flick at the near post, and Wagstaff did the rest.

Just a note on Jarvis and Wagstaff. I was impressed by them both. Full of running and the way Wagi wanted to get to the ball first for his goal was impressive.

Then out of nothing we went 2-0 up. A nothing ball really with Piggott having little chance of getting onto it. All of a sudden Joe was through on goal and well… happy days! The defending was ropey, but Joe tucked it away with aplomb.

Will the real Wimbledon please stand up! So 2-0 up, but you couldn’t say coasting. Just before half time and we concede a well worked goal. A couple of one twos and Brannagan had sliced through our static midfield and was in the box. Not even Deji’s desperate challenge stopped the inevitable.

Another note on our favourite pantomime villain, Karl. It was noteworthy that for the entire 90 minutes either he or one of his team was haranguing the forth official. Even after the impressive Brannagan got one back he was at it. How he wasn’t shown a red card I’ll never know. Still hopefully he’ll be shown it by the Oxford board soon.

The second half was all one way traffic. We seemed totally clueless to get the ball out of our half. Not that we touched the ball much, except to make a last ditched challenge to stop an almost certain goal. It was truly painful to watch.

For thirty minutes Oxford knocked on our door, but thankfully we stood firm. We were shit, but so were Oxford. For the final 15 minutes or so, they’d run out of steam and we’d run ourselves into the ground.

As the saying goes, it’s better to play badly and win than play well and lose. There weren’t many in the home end who thought we should have got three points from that performance. The sound of a small group of fans singing, “We won a home game, how shit must you be?” as Karl and his team boarded the bus, just about said it all.

[Devon Womble]

Well that says a lot about our performance!
I have to wonder when watching our lot get completely clueless (usually after some complex theories from NA) if they aren’t just being overloaded with too much clipboard tactics.
Sure, there are the basics but, we’re not in the premier league, we just play football (or attempt to). Sometimes those ‘Kinnear style’ GCSE level studies of “Ball, Goal, Goal, Ball.” might just be what we’re missing… Not a six hour lesson in Game-ology.

[Colum]

Last night we witnessed a woeful performance that perfectly highlights why we’ll be in yet another relegation battle this season. It wasn’t as woeful as the Oxford game, but that would take some beating.

To be fair, we took the game to Bradford. The trouble was we didn’t threaten them anywhere near enough. Yes we had one cleared off the line, and they were content to sit back and play on the break. Trouble was we didn’t really make the keeper or defence work for their win.

Up front Joe Piggott tried hard as usual. He wasn’t helped by the referee who hardly gave him anything all game. The trouble is, he doesn’t seem to get the support he needs from those around him. He’s isolated. Our midfield is (well) slow and defensive, so that counts them out.

Our wide players never got into the game. It was only when Barchie came on that we looks like getting decent crosses into the box. Even from set plays the ball would often be overhit and go out for a throw! What a waste.

Their penalty was a given. Once again it was a clear mistake by Oshilaja. He made a mistake misjudging the long ball letting it go over his head. He then compounded his error by getting square on and leaving a leg out. There’s no denying his talent, but he seems unsettled since any chance of a transfer was blocked. Can you (should you) drop your captain?

Finally up front. We missed several chances. Wordsworth snatched at a good chance. But for me the miss of the night was from Appaih. He looked slow and lethargic when he came on, but to miss a free header from the penalty spot so badly is almost inexcusable. He never seemed to get his body in the right position. It just demonstrates how out of sorts he is.

Neal Ardley has some real problems to sort out, and quickly. Perhaps he thinks the boos at the end were directed at the referee, but I can assure you they weren’t. Should we lose on Saturday, we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of his rule.

[Windlesham Don]

In my opinion an accurate summation of the desperate performance last night. I would add that in my view Bradford were the worst side I have seen in League 1, which only proves how dire we were.

In the summer a poster made an astute comment that our main problem wasn’t related to recruitment for this season, but related to the personnel we still had on contract. Two central midfielders who are slow and defensively minded should never be playing in a four man midfield with two wingers, it just cannot be made to work. Soares and Trotter started the season apparently as new men, but as summer has moved to autumn they are reverting back to being wardrobes/the axis of sloth (delete as appropriate). If the manager insists on playing these two then we must have a third in the centre with drive and energy to compensate – the trouble is we don’t have anyone, with possibly only Wagstaff as a candidate to be drafted into the middle.

(cont)

[Windlesham Don]

(continued from previous post)

Three in central midfield would also disrupt NA’s desire to have two strikers unless we go 3-5-2 and to do this we would need wing backs instead of full backs. Watson may be able to cope, but Purrington or Garrett would be a liability.

Up top Appiah looks lost and although the Pig battles gamely opposition know that he is our only threat and put two on him.

What to do? Frankly, I have no idea. The squad lacks pace and has lost the ability/confidence to pass the ball. Deji has either had his head turned in the summer or is struggling as a new father – whichever it is, he his making more and more costly mistakes and it is affecting the entire defence, as Purrington is also getting worse with ever game that passes. There is no leadership in the squad and unlike last season I doubt there are the characters in the squad to win a relegation battle.

Unless something turns around quickly it is going to be a long winter of struggle…

[Singapore Don]

In the cold light of today’s bleakish Wednesday post-Bradford morn, pre and early season seems now to have been nothing more than a blink of the eye blip of buzz and excitement, which has well and truly given way to our usual state of frustration, disappointment and dejection. Watching Wimbledon in August really was fun. It was so odd but liberating back then coming out of games we’d lost or drawn (which we should have won) and not feeling downhearted or doom laden. Quite the opposite: it was exhilarating watching us playing energetic, entertaining, attacking football – the team to a man demonstrating flair, passion, and almost a joyous pleasure in sharing unadulterated “have a go” football. Boy it was good.

I then disappeared at the beginning of September for three weeks on a work trip abroad, and monitored from afar the slow and painful return to our customary state of underachieving, underperforming and generally underwhelming Ardleyball. A return to misery. My first exposure to the old state was after seeing us miraculously get three points against Oxford after one of the worst Dons performances I’ve seen in a long, long time. We were terrible. And then Tuesday night. A first half of some promise perhaps, but you could see the change. Trotter and Soares were back to their wardrobe worst. Deji has morphed from the being the bedrock of a solid defence to being another weak link in a shaky back line. It was his schoolboy error which gifted an appallingly bad Bradford their goal, and the most unlikely of victories. Purrington who looked so good at left back in the first few games of the season now looks perilously fragile. Young Watson over at right back looks even weaker, dare I say almost a liability. And Appiah? Just shockingly bad. He was dreadful against Oxford, strolling around oblivious to fast pressing opposition players stealing the ball from under his nose. As for last night: no pace, no ability – and a shocking miss from seven yards at the end. He offers no threat at all and is a real deadweight in terms of options up front.

The only rays of some hope in the last two home games I’ve seen are Joe McDonnell looking solid in goal and making some truly excellent saves; Wagstaff having really energy and a degree of creativity (of which we need to make more use); Jervis showing some pace and determination; Pinnock last night looked good for 50-60 mins, really good, then as seems to be his wont trailed off in energy levels to his inevitable substitution; and of course Pigott, who manfully powered around up front looking constantly threatening. It really was the tightest of angles for him to have squeezed home that effort last night, so no real criticism there.

There felt to be a sea change in atmosphere after last night’s game. The booing at the end was not for the referee and his bizarre and shockingly bad decision to award a free kick rather than a penalty for a trip on Barcham well inside the penalty box. No, it was aimed at the manager and team for failing again to put to the sword the weakest of teams you’re likely to see in this Division. Yes, individual players missed golden chances, and Bradford had their luck, but strategically the team just looks to be set up wrong. Persisting with the two wardrobes in the centre of midfield is just inexplicable when their return to poor form is so evident. The shape and energy of the team is crying out for Wordsworth or Hartigan to start. And it really is in the midfield, in my view, that the rot has set in and is spreading. At the pulsing heart of the team, we have two sluggish, lethargic, uninspiring deadweights who fail to ignite the spark to set the rest of the team on fire. Watching the ball being constantly passed sideways or backwards is just dull, dull, dull – and doesn’t offer any chance of us attacking and scoring. That central core of the team is crying out for some energy, creativity, attacking momentum, some flair. Right now, it’s limp and static at best, at times just non existent. Yet Ardley insists on sticking with these two deadweight favourites.

I’ve been a stalwart Ardley supporter and fan for many, many years, but even for me the worm is turning. Anything other than a scintillating performance in Plymouth and a point at the very bare minimum, and that exit door should be opening. Like any company, a corporate lethargy and lack of direction can only be changed by bringing in fresh blood and fresh ideas. You need change at the top, however hard and unpalatable that may be. We all love Ardley I’m sure as a Wimbledon diehard, but for our reinvigoration and survival something has to change. The club’s ultimate bosses I suspect are unlikely to bend: the fairytale narrative is written for a Dons legend to lead Wimbledon out at the new Plough Lane and so complete the circle. But now is the time to ask: head or heart? DO we stick with the romance of the Wimbledon story, or roll up our sleeves and get on with the grubby, practical work of creating a successful football team. The decision on that – now – could well determine whether we are a League One or a League Two team when we do finally watch our team again back home in Plough Lane.

[Author]

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