The Lounge

[Windlesham Don]

An odd game yesterday, with it all done and dusted within 11 seconds of kick off. Without Tom Elliott up front we looked toothless, with Poleon once again lacking his early season spark. In midfield Bully and Reeves were as busy as ever, but Meades has had better games and the bumpy pitch made it difficult for the lightweight Egan to show his skills – the match really passed him by. Parrett and Soares were both absent, and they were missed.

In defence, Kelly had a match he will want to forget and George was George… Will was generally OK, but does occasionally dwell on the ball. Although Reeves took MotM, Robbo should have got it IMO for a solid display at the heart of defence.

Personally, yesterday demonstrated our lack of cover when we are missing key players. We are not good enough to survive without the likes of Elliott, Barcham, Parrett, Soares, Charles and Fuller in the starting line up…

[Windlesham Don]

Just finished reading the latest edition of the WDSA Newsletter. Particularly enjoyed Singapore’s emotion filled rendering of the recent ‘Franchise bashing’ evening – for those of us who had stupidly booked a holiday before the fixtures were announced and found ourselves at the other end of the world as the match took place, it painted a vivid picture!

I also agreed with most of Iain Sandford’s opinions regarding our end of season retained list. Perhaps my only doubt is regarding David Fitzpatrick, who has shown little in the games I have seen and I expect him to be released. Perhaps, if he is on a cheap contract then a six month loan to a League 2 club would allow him to develop whilst not harming our budget? Interesting that Tom Beere has evidently blotted his copybook so badly at Gateshead that he didn’t even make it on to Iain’s list! Definitely a thumbs down for Tom from me.

Any others with opinions on who stays and who goes?

[Devon Womble]

This is always such a good forum for informed views. I sometimes wish I had some of my own to contribute!
However, having already said my piece on who I think goes and who we should keep, I’d just like to add that on reading Erik’s report about NPL progress, and knowing quite a bit about the planning process and the construction industry; it strikes me that NPL may be costing the club more than we budgeted for. Those reports and studies Erik talks about are not cheap. I also suspect that the building estimates will come in at twice what we expect, especially given the current climate of a booming sector. Therefore, one has to wonder if we, let alone our players, might be tempted by a good offer for them.
With little sign of our rising stars getting time on the pitch to prove themselves, next season potentially (IMHO) has all the hallmarks of truly being a leap into the unknown.

[Windlesham Don]

I think you are spot on with your view that NPL is costing more than expected (although I wince at the thought of 2x building costs and fear for the consequences if you turn out to be correct).

There have been several warnings regarding the budget available for NA during the close season and this can only be due to having to put aside more for NPL than anticipated.

On the face of it our finances should have been good this year, with crowds almost certainly above Erik’s conservative budget, a decent cup run with televised games and the ‘unused’ budget originally assigned to the dear departed Ryan Clarke!

We will certainly need 4 or 5 new faces through the door and we will not be able to cut back on numbers with a ‘skeleton’ squad size already.

We may have to throw in a few kids and hope that they swim rather than sink, although as you rightly point out we haven’t seen much match time for them so far. I would also caution that in my view I haven’t been impressed with Fitzpatrick and Alfie Egan is currently too young and small to be thrown in the deep end.

Gulp…

[Windlesham Don]

Here’s some further musings on the club’s strategy, if (as me and Devon believe) the finances are going to be tight for the next few seasons.

Looking at the core of our squad, the strong areas seem to me to be centre back and centre midfield. At centre back we need to pray that Will now remains injury free. If he does then I see us playing 3 CBs more often next season, with Robbo sitting behind Will and Darius, allowing them some freedom to move wide and forward to cover. Kelly can cover, with the youngsters Kalambayi and Sibbick being introduced gradually to the squad. Barry Fuller has also been know to play on the right side of a three if necessary. I can’t see Robertson being retained.

In centre midfield we have Soares, Reeves and Parrett as key figures. I expect Bully to be offered another year, but probably more as a squad player. Meades can cover this area and Alfie Egan can also be introduced gradually. I think that Tom Beere has blotted his copybook and will be released. Dan Gallagher has also not made an appearance and his future must be in doubt.

If my guess is correct, then these two strong areas can be utilised by playing 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 for much of the season. However, to do this we will need to utilise wing backs, rather than tradition full backs.

Left wing back is an issue, with Jon Meades lacking pace and Andy Barcham lacking defensive awareness. Kelly is also limited in his abilities in this area. Seth Owens will hopefully develop, but I see this as a problem area for us.

On the right we have Bas Fuller, who will hopefully be rejuvenated after a long layoff. He isn’t a natural wing back, but he could do a job. Then we have the much maligned George Francomb! I’ve always preferred George as a full back rather than in midfield or as a traditional winger, but I feel that he has the engine and defensive awareness to perform well at wing back. Toby Sibbick has also played on the right side for the U18s and so he could also learn this role.

Up top we have big Tom, LTB, Dom Poleon and a replacement for Tyrone Barnett (who must surely be out of the door). If we choose to play with three up top then Barcham is comfortable in this role. I feel that we also need to start introducing Toyosi Olusanya and Jayden Antwi into the squad at some stage. In my view there is no room for Fitzpatrick, who has shown little, and Whelpdale needs to depart, if only to free up a place on the treatment table!

Finally, goalkeeper, where in my view we desperately need someone to give Shea real competition. If we are going to struggle next season (and I suspect we will find it much harder than this season) then we need to have a quality stopper to rescue some points over the course of the season. I may be at odds with many supporters, but I feel that Sheasy makes too many mistakes to be a regular starter. To me he is a good League 2 keeper and a good backup for a mid-table League 1 team.

So that has sorted the squad and tactics for next season! It would be great to get the views of others, if only to shoot my opinions down in flames! :o)

[onyadon]

Thanks Windlesham for those thoughts…

I am a little uncertain about the Club futures of Tom Elliott and Jake Reeves, given their standout seasons for the Dons. While agreeing there needs to be some squad bolstering, it is also most important that we try (if we can) to hold on to both these two going into next season, but I am also mindful that the Club doesn’t have the financial resources to match substantial bids, also coupled with our rightful focus on Plough Lane. Indeed, it looks a challenging off-season for Neal Ardley and Erik to maintain a L1 standard squad. I would think Barnett, Whelpdale and Robertson will be released, Barnett and possibly Whelpdale would be on good contracts by AFC Wimbledon standards. Let’s hear from the rest of you….

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