The Lounge

[Colum]

The only positive from today’s game is that we got a point. That said, it should have been three. I’ll wait to see the highlights before criticising Clarke, but it does sound like he’s made a howler, made all the worse that it was so late in the game.

Anyway a point is better than none. We maybe bottom, but I still think it is too early to panic. If we are still bottom in three or four games time, then it is the time to start asking questions.

[Colum]

Lyle Taylor is not truly fit…..Discuss!

He may be a hard worker, but there is something troubling about him having to go off around the 70 minute mark in so many games. If it is just cramp, it is preventable. Maybe he needs to be educated to take on more liquids during games?

[Devon Womble]

Today, I think, was inexcusable.
NA made a huge gaff with his substitution. Time and time again we have proven that with a 4-3-3 we have the ability to take the game to the opponents. With Rochdale down to ten men we should have killed them off with that formation. NA was even gifted the chance to correct his mistake at that point but still chose not to react. Dreadful. He has even stated post match that he thinks Rochdale DESERVED a point! To h*** they did. Sure as eggs is eggs, Rochdale won’t think the same come the end of season dogfights that I am convinced we are already heading for.
So… Barcham got a header in… thanks to Whelpdale’s run. Still not convinced by Barcham. He didn’t achieve much else.
Clarke is useless… in fact the BBC credit Rochdale’s goal as an own goal by Clarke!
…and Elliot doesn’t even appear to have plugged in the right feet, let alone head.
As for Taylor, well there’s a conundrum… He’s not match fit, that I think we can be certain of, but his heart just doesn’t seem to be in it… Maybe there was interest in him from bigger clubs closed season and he couldn’t negotiate his way out of his deal with the Dons. (Most websites seem to suggest he has a contract till May 2017.)
Right now we need Shea back; we need more 4-3-3, Poleon and Barnett need to start, and NA needs to stop making excuses and start managing.
We may have gone up too soon but we are here now and frankly, however critical I am right now, I think we are good enough to stay up… BUT.

[onyadon]

Only five games in and new goalkeeper Ryan Clarke is under the gun as an accident-prone goalkeeper. He has been at fault for a couple of goals so far (as well as the others in defence) and many fans have already taken a set against him. He may find it difficult to cast off that stigma. But will Neal Ardley drop him for the next game? Not if you take Ardley’s post-match comments at face value.

“We would have had a clean sheet today, but for a soft goal at the end. There is loads to work on, but we are certainly positive about what we are doing. I said to the boys afterwards that ‘we do not turn on each other’. Part of what we had last season and what we want this season is team spirit and an unbelievable work ethic. We will try to keep that going.”

There are some who believe James Shea should be given his chance over Clarke on the basis of his strong and vocal performance for a Premier League Cup. Whether Shea has the confidence of Ardley after his tribulations in League 2 last season (before the loan of Kelle Roos) is another matter. If Shea was not considered good enough to hold his spot in L2 what makes people feel he would be able to do the same in L1?
But it doesn’t mean Clarke will have impunity to continue to make costly mistakes. There will come a time should that continue when Ardley will have to make a decision. Does he look for another goalkeeper at this stage of the season? Ardley has already indicated that he plans to bring in a defender by the close of the transfer window on Wednesday following Ryan Sweeney’s exit. Whether that will also include a goalkeeper depends on what is available.

Dismayed that some are talking about relegation for @AFCWimbledon five games into the season and after two away draws.. keep the faith peeps

— wombles downunder (@WDownunder) August 28, 2016

[onyadon]

Fine lines…..

This tweeted before fateful own goal …

Clarke may have just answered his critics! Fine save and rebound bundled away #afcw

— The 9yrs Podcast (@9yrspodcast) August 27, 2016

And this from the Rochdale gaffer Keith Hill on Ardley’s tactics…

“They scored a good goal and I thought their tactics were superb throughout the game. I wouldn’t have done anything different myself to what they did – they nicked a goal and they counter-attacked with one or two half opportunities.”

And more from Hill on his own players and in turn about AFC Wimbledon’s current plight …

“The players haven’t left the building, that’s for sure. They want to do well but confidence is a big thing – it’s the salt and pepper in football. Wins and goals make the feeling so much better. With confidence, you forget about the bad things and that’s what we’re talking about.”

[MacWomble]

From reading the reports, the only decent thing about the score-line being 1-1 was that MacWomble tipped it. I would have preferred AFC to prove me wrong, but clearly the two teams are just as hopeless as each other, so a bit of a no-brainer. But a point is a point and we are, as advised, awaiting the ten game mark before being concerned. We were promoted too early, so if we can just cling on above the relegation zone, then that is excellent. On a different note, I have a questions about attendances and money. Do clubs get 100% of their home gate and nothing from their away fixtures, or is there a different rule?

[Author]

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