The Lounge

[liamwimbo]

Hi Pete, hi John, hi Colum.
Thanks for posting on here despite the poor results. Looks like we have to start preparing for League Two football next season.
I may be over in April so possibly we can drown our sorrows over a few beers.
Take care
Liam

[MacWomble]

Well, maybe we are being too pessimistic. If we can knock four by West Ham, then bottom of the table is not an accurate reflection. I hope Downes can build on this.

[onyadon]

Where did that come from? Listened to the TalkSport call (not bad either) and was astonished and thrilled to hear the Dons score FOUR times to tonk the Premier Leaguers West Ham. You could obviously sense that Wally/Glyn had them up for the challenge, the Hammers were not wanting it as much (particularly for the first hour) and when that fourth goal went in it was sheer bliss to realise that West Ham were not going to reel us in. So many outstanding performances: Dylan Connolly and Scott Wagstaff were outstanding in taking the attack to WH, Kwesi Appiah (who has copped a fair bit of – deserved – criticism up until the arrival of WaG) ran his socks off, playing the lone role up front and occupying the time and space of the WH CBs. Will Nightingale and Anthony Wordsworth were prominent in midfield, Rod McDonald, Deji Oshilaja and Terrell Thomas were stout warriors in defence, I heard a lot of good things in the call about Tennai Watson (another one who has been given stick this season) while Aaron Ramsdale had the opportunity to display his talent to a vast TV audience. All in all, a significant result, the finest by AFC Wimbledon (after all, it was the first PL opponent the Dons have beaten, and emphatically. But the moment that stood out for me was watching the video of Toby Sibbick score and his arms folded goal celebration in front of the Chemflow, the image symbolised (for me) Wimbledon’s crowning achievement and significantly it was sealed by one of our own. I absolutely loved watching it over and over again, and followed by the mass tumble of players realising that Sibbick’s goal had nailed the Hammers. A word on Wally. Would that performance have happened two months ago? No way. Wally’s tactics and motivation had Wimbledon playing like the Wimbledon we all cherish over the years. One for the ages and Vinnie Jones was there as well for BT Sport to give it all a Crazy Gang seal of approval. The money continues to cascade in. That win was worth 180,000 pounds plus whatever we got from the TV money and now we’re in the fifth round of the Cup and a shot at another 360,000 pounds prizemoney. Who knows who’ll we’ll play. We’re soaring at giddying heights. But we still have that little matter of staying up in L1. One thing the Cup heroics showed is that it is there within the group to do it. But has the horse (points) already bolted? It’s the standard they must now aim for.

[Colum]

Wow! Wow! Wow! With cup football, there’s always the chance the minnows can sneak a win, but if anyone predicted us doing it in such style, they’re lying through their yellow and blue teeth.

Walking to the ground 45 minutes before KO, you could hear that Kingsmeadow was already rocking from several hundred yards away. Credit to the fans who never stopped abusing Hernández, jeering every West Ham mistake, and making the place as uncomfortable for those overpaid, unmotivated Premier League primadonnas. “They don’t like it up them Mr.Manwaring”.

Everyone played a part in a historic night for the club. It’s not quite up there with that 2-0 win against that abomination from 60 miles north, but it wasn’t far off. Aaron made some sharp saves, Nightingale and Wordsworth had Noble in their pocket all game, and Appiah and Wagstaff made life hell for West Ham’s defence.

With 88 minutes on the clock and still winning by the odd goal, Deji wins the ball on the left, passes to Wagstaff down by the corner flag. With all those around me screaming, “Just keep it there”, what does he do? He passes to Wordsworth in acres of space inside the penalty area, who delivers a pinpoint cross to the back stick for young Sibbick to grab some headlines. Cue pandemonium.

This morning I’m milking in all the adulation while it lasts. Next Saturday it’s back to the reality of League One survival. Last night showed that we have what it takes to be a League One team. I just hope we haven’t found that out too late.

[liamwimbo]

Hi Pete, just watched the extended highlights of the game. You are in the footage right at the end wearing your yellow and blue wig. Very pleased for you and all Dons fans, after all the doom and gloom recently. And good to get a bit of revenge after the League Cup game. Dare we hope that we can still turn things around in the League? Imagine if we won at the Estadio del Sol🤞

[Windlesham Don]

More topsy turvy times with the Wombles! Possibly the worst performance since 2002 against Fleetwood was followed by definitely the best as we ripped into West Ham and deservedly progressed in the cup. It was a night to compare with, and possibly surpass, Liverpool, Accrington, Fleetwood and Crawley. The atmosphere was pulsating and the match was summarised nicely by Rob and Colum in earlier posts.

This week has been disappointing, an uninspiring 5th round draw which we found out was not to be televised (missing out on a £250k fee) was accompanied by two ‘meh’ additions before the transfer window closed.

Shane McLoughlin could be one for the future. At 21, he has plenty of time to mature. We wait to see whether he is the energetic and athletic central midfielder we have been looking for.

Personally, I cannot see the logic of getting in a striker on loan unless he is going to be good enough to help us escape relegation. Michael Folivi may turn out to be the new Harry Kane, but I somehow doubt it. I just hope that we are not paying anything towards his salary and that we have no restrictions on how much game time we have to give him. If these conditions are both true then his recruitment for a few months is probably worth it.

It was also disappointing that we couldn’t offload some of the existing dead wood (Trotter and Jervis to name but two) who are eating away at our budget but contributing little. By now Trotter must know exactly where he stands with the new management, but he seems content to wait out his contract…

And so to today, and for a side desperately needing to string a set of results together a trip to the Stadium of Light is not a great prospect. If we show the ‘Fleetwood XI’ attitude then we will be in for a spanking, if the ‘West Ham XI’ attitude is displayed then we may get something.

Let’s hope that the West Ham performance was not a ‘one off’, driven by TV exposure and the players’ win bonus pool. Let’s hope that WaG are turning around the attitude and gradually moving towards a young, athletic and aggressive squad.

The supporters will now stand for too many Fleetwood-style performances…

COYD!!

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