The Lounge

[Devon Womble]

Good to see LTB re-signing, but, one has to question the rather downbeat interview he gave after signing up; clearly he was hoping for something bigger elsewhere. Thus, I somehow just don’t see him being the striker he was last season… at least not until he comes to terms with being served the reality check of being back at Wimbledon for a while longer… if indeed he ever does.
NA was also rather mundane too. Perhaps his open comment about how good strikers are rarely available, hints at a sacrifice he may have had to make on his plans for another defender. Who knows?
Time will tell if, whatever arm or leg we had to mortgage to keep LTB, pays off.

[Singapore Don]

Devon, I didn’t get that impression from the LTB interview. Yes, he may have been hoping for a big move, but it didn’t happen and he seems genuinely happy to have signed a new contract. He clearly gets the club ethos and history and knows he can write himself a place in that history. He’s obviously ambitious and would like to play at a higher level, but I think he’s accepted he’s now got to knuckle down and prove himself as the real deal League One striker – rather than a League Two hitman. I’m hoping this contract will clear the air and allow him to get his mojo back with a decent goal tally in the games ahead. His interview makes me think he’s ready to get down to business.

[Colum]

Another two goals from Mr Poleon and £10k prize money into our coffers. A good night’s work from the B squad, and a few selection problems for NA come Saturday. Will Poleon play instead of Taylor? Probably not, and I think it may be the right decision. Now that any uncertainty over his future is out of the way, I’d give Lyle Taylor Baby a couple of runs out to see how he reacts.

As for the talk about Clarke versus Shea, I think our options are depleted. It is obvious what signal Clarke’s signing said about NA’s opinion of Shea. If Clarke doesn’t work out, there is no plan B apart from buy someone in. Can we afford another wage, especially as Clarke is presumably on a fairly high wage?

[onyadon]

Lyle Taylor Baby signs an extended contract.. time for speculation on his future to end and some goals to start going in …

Ardley on LTB – important we invested in him & he's invested in @AFCWimbledon. Now he can just focus on his football" …now for some goals!

— wombles downunder (@WDownunder) August 31, 2016

LTB – 'Now the contract is signed it finishes all the speculation on what is going to happen with me.' @AFCWimbledon pic.twitter.com/IYxaVpWtmo

— wombles downunder (@WDownunder) August 31, 2016

[Windlesham Don]

I attended last night’s match, which had the atmosphere of a PSF. I don’t support the competition, but I felt that after our start to the season the team needed some backing. I was also interested to see how the fringe players performed.

The first thing to mention is that if all Premier League youth teams are going to treat the trophy with similar dis-interest to that shown by Swansea, then the competition will die a death without any fan protests. Frankly, they were woeful. Occasional nice tippy-tappy passing in midfield, but soft at the back and toothless up front.

On the other hand we were excellent. All the fringe players put in performances which will have the management team taking notice. Most eye catching were Poleon and Parrett, who could both legitimately be knocking on the manager’s door before Saturday.

Clarke had little to do, but what he did he did professionally and calmly – 1 goal conceded in 3 matches now. Will Nightingale was as solid as ever, and it certainly would not be a worry if he needed to step up to the first XI for a spell. Francomb played 90 minutes at right full back and looked to be back to full fitness. Parrett was once again solid, and a more attacking option than Bully in the heart of midfield – I do feel that he deserves a starting place, but where to play him is still the conundrum! Beere also showed that he has a good engine and can also do a job in the first XI if required. Up top, I was pleasantly surprised with Tyrone Barnett – I was expecting him to be slightly dis-interested, but he also put himself about and gave the Swansea centre backs a hard time, much as Tom Elliott has been doing for the first XI. Standout however, was Dom Poleon, who looks to have real quality and an eye for goal. He only missed a hat-trick when a fizzing 20 yard strike went slightly too high. He has pace and strength and I am hoping that Lyle Taylor watched him closely, as this performance should be a kick up the backside to our newly contracted but mis-firing star striker!

Overall, it would be an irony if the competition which we have campaigned against since the start, were to kick start our season! I doubt that NA will change the starting line up for Saturday, but I would hope that if things are not going well at half time then he will have the courage to introduce the likes of Parrett, Poleon and Barnett sooner rather than later.

[Windlesham Don]

Deadline day is upon us and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we did not get our signing over the line. NA was definitely downbeat in his Lyle Taylor contract interview, but I wonder if it was due to a failure to get defensive cover over the line?

I am pretty cynical about Lyle’s signing. He can talk the talk alright, but we all know that the only reason the contract took this long was that he was looking for a better deal elsewhere. For some players you can blame their agent, but I suspect that Taylor likes to take control of his own destiny. Taylor may be a fans’ favourite when he is knocking in the goals, but he will never have a place in our hearts next to the likes of Barry Fuller. He needs to start looking like he wants to play for us and to start hitting the back of the net and sharpish!

To be honest I will be comfortable if no signing emerges. At centre back we have Will Nightingale waiting in the wings and if we had to then Bas can cover in the middle. We even have young 17 year old Kalambayi, who could play the odd game in an emergency. George Francomb showed that he was back to fitness last night and he would be a very able replacement at right back if Bas had to cover in the centre.

In my opinion we have a squad with enough cover to get by until the mid-season window. If we keep our powder dry then we may need to have funds then to strengthen…

Roll on Saturday. Is it too much to ask that a season’s run to date of LLLLDDW were to continue it’s positive path?

[Author]

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