Windlesham Don

Apologies for clogging up the forum, but I thought the following may be of interest to some. I sent my assessment of next season’s squad and tactics to a fellow Womble for comment. He is a UEFA qualified coach who goes to most matches – here is his assessment (apologies in advance for any formatting issues due to the cut and paste):

AFC…[Read more]

All a bit ‘down’ in here at the moment and IMO without much cause. Yes, the season has petered out which is a little disappointing. Yes, NA hasn’t given as many minutes to the youngsters as some of us would have hoped.

But to repeat the much used cliché, if offered a mid-table finish at the start of the season 90% of our fans (with me most…[Read more]

As boring end of season mid-table kickabouts go, today is relatively important insofar as 3 points would take us above opponents Posh and more than likely above the Franchise and into 11th place.

I hope that NA plays a strong starting XI, introducing any youngsters only for the last 15-20 minutes.

I’d like to see Elliott start, as well as…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

Another difficult game tonight against opposition who are in the last chance saloon for making a move into the playoffs. Rochdale play an attractive passing game, but if they try to knock it around on our cabbage patch then we should be able to pick them off (if we play a high pressing game).

Another performance like Saturday will not be…[Read more]

Looks like I picked a bad match to come back after 3 weeks on holiday! :o(

Very poor performance, but sadly a typical match up of mid-table ‘also ran’s versus a team battling to get into the playoffs. We couldn’t match them for desire or commitment. They also had the quality of Nile Ranger and Simon Cox up top and Anton Ferdinand at the back -…[Read more]

Back from three weeks in the Western Cape – didn’t miss anything did I?

An accurate description from Singapore Don, nicely summing up the atmosphere from the evening – it really was depressing to watch.

I feel the performance summed up where we are as a club at the moment. Without 5 key members of our strongest starting XI we really do not have the ability to compete at League 1 level. Add back into the mix Fuller,…[Read more]

Off the pitch there were several incidents which have taken the headlines.

First was the item thrown by the Charlton fans which hit the linesman on the head. This was completely out of order and should result in serious action – of course it won’t. Second, the Charlton fans also let off some form of firework on their terrace, again out of…[Read more]

An incendiary encounter at Kingsmeadow yesterday, the details of which I am sure will be available from press reports so I will not go through the match facts. However, I do have a few random thoughts/opinions on the day which I would like to share.

On the match, it was always going to be lively – a London derby with the first visit of the…[Read more]

An important couple of home games ahead. Charlton and their hated manager tomorrow, followed by Coventry and their disgruntled fans and disinterested players on Tuesday. We need to regain our mojo after a bad few weeks and get to safety as quickly as possible.

Two points must be a minimum from these two games, 3 would be acceptable and 4…[Read more]

Apologies for the test messages, which I now cannot edit for some reason… :o(

We have all been searching for the reasons for yesterday’s capitulation and FWIW I feel it comes down to two issues:
1. Confidence – I feel that the players as well as the rest of the club were hit by the Sutton performances. Missing out on a televised match against…[Read more]

Still having problems posting…

Thoughts on yesterday’s match…

The match at Preston was the 5th time I have seen the U18s this season and unfortunately when the chips were down the boys did not perform. There were some bright spots and I thought that Jayden Antwi and Judah Chapman showed their potential, but on the whole I feel that the boys did not perform as they have been recently. Hopefully the video of…[Read more]

OK, seems like I am now able to post again! :o)

Went along to see the U18s play the Franchise in their final preparation match for the Youth Cup last 16 tie at Preston.

This set of boys are very impressive and the 4-0 victory probably flattered the Franchise, as the score could easily have been 6 or 7 we were so dominant.

Wednesday will be a…[Read more]

A quick test to see if I can post now…