The Lounge

[onyadon]

There is a dangerous drift permeating our club. Six straight defeats, players accused by coaching staff of letting down their manager, an inexorable slide into the relegation zone amid fears of being cast adrift from the rest of the league and the manager seemingly helpless to arrest the slide. And then there’s the emotional toll it’s leaving on Neal Ardley as fans demand something be done. The cause to avoid relegation is not irreparable (at this stage) under another manager, but something needs to be done and soon.

#afcw #afcwimbledon #dons pic.twitter.com/4lu5KtXCHl

— smilelikeyoumeanit (@pedwards72) October 27, 2018

[Colum]

Here is an item of discussion that was doing the rounds on Saturday. Were we right to reject recent transfer requests for players? Let’s say we were offered £500k for Oshilaja, couldn’t we have done some better transfer business? Same with players like Elliott and Taylor. Should we have let them go when clubs like Charlton and Millwall initially came looking, instead of waiting and letting them go on a free. Maybe that’s a risky approach, considering they were the ones who more or less single handed kept us in League One, but it would have brought some much needed funds into the clubs coffers.

[Devon Womble]

Well, there you have it… Eric has spoken.
https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2018/october/an-update-for-supporters-from-ceo-erik-samuelson/

It’s clear from this that a change of management is not imminent. Yet, many will continue to believe that, contrary to Eric’s statement, NA HAS lost the squad’s respect and needs to go. (The twitter feeds of drunken players cannot possibly have been ignored.)
Eric has no doubt weighed up the pros and cons of the situation; so I find it extraordinary that the solution is considered to be psychiatric.
(Thinks… wouldn’t it be fascinating to be sat by the couch? I wonder if NA will be first to lie on it?)
I can see it all now….
“You are in my power…” “Make earlier substitutions.” “Do not confuse players by constantly changing their positions.” “Do not praise the opposition over our own squad.”
As for the players…
“Get ball in net. No not that net, THAT net.”… “Pass ball to player in same shirt….” “The goalkeeper is NOT the target.”
Come to think of it… I wonder if the psychiatrist can work on the referees too?
Oh well, glad I didn’t buy a season ticket to idontfollow.

[Colum]

Eric’s statement was interesting on a couple of levels.

1. It appears to have come about because of supporter unrest at the radio silence. Surely it should have happened organically without the need for the fans to let their feelings be known. This does somewhat back up the feeling that the FCB and DTB are aloof from most of the fan base.
2. Reading between the lines, it seems that one reason why Neal hasn’t been sacked is financial. We can’t afford to get rid of him, or pay an inflated salary for a replacement.

So it looks like we’re stuck in this rut for awhile longer. One thing we can all agree on. The next transfer window is going to be critical for our survival as a League One club. But will the average supporter’s patience last until then, or will there be open warfare?

[Singapore Don]

The greatest danger to the club might well be a rotting apathy. Expectations at games are zero, fans are numb to defeats and less angry now because there are no hopes any longer to be dashed. There’s a general air of resignation to failure. The will to fight on and off the field is diminishing it seems. The malaise is palpable. All this is reflected in the falling crowd numbers. People are fed up and not bothering to subject themselves to more pain or boredom. Bleak times indeed. “We’re all doomed Mr Mannering, doomed I say”!

[Cape Cod Womble]

Hi Guys :

Sorry I’ve been inactive for such as a long time. I have however followed the events of the past two months on the fb account and can say that I have never seen such a stream of vitriolic abuse directed towards one man (Neal Ardley) and his team as well as the board and I am totally sick of it. This bad run in my book has really sorted the wheat out from the chaff with our fans. At Blackpool (the game I missed thanks to Trans Pennine Express) Super Dawnie said that a section of our away support really spoilt it for the rest by abusing NA and anyone who was brave enough to sing for him.

As I have heard a lot recently there has been identified a group of our supposed fans who are right dipsticks and that to me is really disappointing. I’ve always prided myself on following our club with some the best quality fans in football but now I’m having to temper that. A small portion of us are no different to those ingrates 56 miles up the road.

Anyway today’s combined posts by Colum and Singapore Don strike directly at the heart of the problem. No money to sack NA, Cox and Bassey (my guess is between GBP 150-200 necessary to do so) or get anyone in who will accept the type of package that AFC could offer. Your average lower leagues journeyman like Russell Slade won’t even don a tracksuit for what AFC can put on the table. And the attendances are definitely suffering.

I’m still a NA man and support the board (Erik in particular) but I stood on crutches in the Chemflow through the worst three points that I have ever seen in that win v Oxford. After we went two up, the only plan NA Had was to put ten men behind the ball in the second half and give 95% of the possession away. It was kind of a humiliation to sit through that to hear a muffled murmur of applause when the final whistle blew. Is that the way we play at AFC?

It is a test of everyone’s character and nerve right now. COYD.

[Author]

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