November Blog

The first game of the month was the game against Cambridge City in the FA Cup 1st round.
For a 1st round match this seemed to attract quite a lot of attention and before we all had the chance to buy tickets ESPN announced the game was to be televised.

The club had put into effect the rule used for limited availabilty tickets and so
tickets did not go on general sale till the Wednesday before the Friday game ST holders had from the Monday, so the bulk of tickets went in the two days before the game leaving many thinking we were going to be left with a load left over.

The capacity of ground was 1700 which has been set by the police and the local authority we were alloated 470 I assume there were some left as the club did not give out the away attendance and saw nothing on the OS saying sold out and I got no response when I tweeted the club so apologises for those who check blog for match stats.

I had a look at the City forum and noticed none of our fans had joined to say hello
so I joined up and was followed by one other Dons fan, I was then contacted by a City fan via personal message asking if I could arrange an interview with Luke Chadwick for the match day programme on the night I emailed Andrew Cullen who then contacted Simone Corgan but never heard back from the City fan or our club so not sure whether an interview was arranged.

I got no replies (but 200 odd views)either to a link I put up to our OS interview with Luke (obviously idea was adopted by us as well)and it reminded me why I don't bother with forums anymore lol.
I think in future I'll just ignore requests for help.

As for the game well it did not matter that the opposition was 100 odd places in pyramid lower than us we reverted to the familar way of all the possession but nothing up top, Mick Harford said it was the story of our season and yes we all agreed but also thought goals win games so we better start getting some or else it wont just be the FA Cup we are out of if we lose the replay.
Cambridge City (4-4-2): Man of the Match Zak Barrett, Pepper, Theobald, Chaffey, Brighton; Allen, Prada, A Cambridge (c), Abbs (Marriott 61); Hammond, Bryant (Lester 79).
Subs not used: Ordonez, Midgley, Nightingale, Death, Stynes.

MK Dons (4-2-3-1) Martin, Otsemobor, Kay, Williams, Lewington; Potter, Gleeson; O’Shea (Alli 65, Chadwick (c) (Smith 85), Chicksen, Lowe.
Subs not used: McLoughlin, Kouo-Doumbe, Galloway, Hickford, Rasulo.
Only attendance stat was 1700 which was the capacity I know a few of our fans were held up in traffic and did not make it so figure must have been tickets sold rather than actual people there I did however hear we were 12 short of allocation on the night whether that meant we sold and fans did not get there or that we did not sell 12 I have no idea.
Referee was James Adcock from Nottinghamshire.

During the first week of the month I was down at Leon Leisure Centre with my daughter and noticed there was some Primary school lads there, then the day after some older lads playing on the all weather pitches and had a feeling they were going through some kind of trials.

I got talking to the manager of the centre and was told that it was indeed trials organised by Chelsea FC.
As some of you will know I thought the abolition of the fifty mile rule to in effect poach players and the limit as to what clubs can receive as compensation for young players was a bad decision and indeed Wycombe Wanderers closed their academy as I think other League clubs will do.

I was pleased to hear that there was a man from the Dons there but I dont think in an official capacity as he manages a local boys side.

I know that it is not just Chelsea and all the Prem clubs do it (in fact Manchester City are increasing the size of thier academy probably as they can now cast net wider) but it did make me think that the talented young lads that might have been future Dons will be whisked away to London.

Also those that dont make the grade may just give up on the game at sixteen when they perhaps could have played in League One or Two and had a good career had they not had their hearts broken at not being wanted by a big club or heaven forbid end up like Leon Knight! but I suppose thats all football politics and not really Dons so I'll stop going on except to say I spoke to Mike Dove about it when I saw him and he knew about it and said they wont be there again but did not expand any more.

In other Dons news I heard the screens had all been delivered and came on six or eight lorries there seemed to be a bit of confusion ! or I just did not hear properly, if you thought the screens would come ready made up they don't they come in several parts and are made up on site and are delivered on pallets.

Also the under-soil heating was given a test run ahead of the boiler being set up and running and I was told it needs to go on four days before a game to have the full effect and the system has its own weather forecaster built in and is automatic which knowing how the weather changes so quickly in this country I was not overly confident of it to turn itself on in time ! But I guess there is a manual override somewhere.

Ahead of the game we heard we had signed striker Ibra Sekajja on a youth-loan deal until and including 1st January.

The next game was the League game against Orient the following Wednesday the game was moved by the League at Orient's request although we did object surprise surprise we were ignored and to rub the salt in the O's cup game was cancelled so could have been played Tuesday after all.

Danny Wilson was there ahead of the Sheffield game quite why Nigel Clough was due to be there I don't know but it was nice to see John Motson make another appearance but he did not have his sheepskin on for those wondering and I never got to speak to him this time either as I did not see him till he was going through the door.

As for the game we started brightly and were the better team throughout the first half and really should have been two or three up by half time but guess what, we failed to convert the chances we created.
Allsop was having a great game as goalies seem to do against us lately .

The half time team talk did not seem to inspirational as we looked out of sorts and although again had chances we were never very threatening and I did not think we would get another it had that feel about it.

The O's could have quite easily nicked a point but in truth they were as poor as us in front of goal the game got a bit testy and Slade got sent to the stands right at the end of the game. The win meant we move up to eighth.
Teams lined up
MK Dons 4-2-3-1 Martin, Otsemobor, Kay (Doumbe 83), Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Bowditch (Chicksen 75), Chadwick who was M.O.T.M, Balanta who looked unfit Lowe (MacDonald 81).
Subs not used: McLoughlin, A Smith, Alli, Sekajja.
Booked just Gleeson
A bright spot was the goal by Lowe on 41 which may restore his confidence.
Leyton Orient Allsop, Sawyer, Chorley, Griffith (Cox 74), Clarke (c), Odubajo, Cook, Rowalands (J Smith 81), James, Wagstaff (Lisbie 66), Mooney.
Subs not used: Jones, McSweeney, Baudry, Brunt.
Booked just Cox
Referee was Robert Lewis who was another 7 out of 10 who came from Shropshire.
The attendance was 6,985 with 299 although looked less very silent away fans.

With three home games in a week and this one with Sheffield United coming just three days after the O's match I was not to confident.
United were strong last season and I like many others fancy them to go up automatically this season and when I met up with the match day crowd they were also predicting a home loss.

The game was very entertaining and I thought we played some of the best football I have seen this season Lewie deservedly got M.O.T.M and Im not even going to be too harsh about the missed chances as I thought overall it was the result that counted that day.

Danny Wilson former Dons manager arriving for MK Dons v Sheffield United game.

Back again on loan from QPR Angelo Balanta

Ibra Sekajja on loan till January 1st from Crystal Palace.

Before the game I thought how we played today would give the best indication to date of whether we really are promotion contenders and I thought we more than matched United and although biased were the better team and created the better of the chances.

I thought the referee was perhaps one of the worst I have seen this season getting some major decisions wrong, the linesmen on the east side was flagging for offside's that were not, for both sides and I say this after we won so hopefully it means more !
To highlight just the main bad decision were Angelo Balanta who was turning away from goal when he was brought down by David McAllister a soft penalty by anyone's standard.

Bowditch's non penalty was the worst though when he was brought down by Harry Maguire
and caused a near incident minutes later at half time when the players had to be escorted off by Robbo as some surrounded Darren Sheldrake for not awarding the penalty.

The Dons have now won three league games in a row without letting in a goal and we are looking forward to Tuesday and more of the same we move up to seventh but more importantly was the performance.
Dons lined up Martin, Otsemobor, Lewington, Williams, Gleeson, Potter, Bowditch, Lowe (Smith 58), Kay, Chadwick, Balanta (Doumbe 91). Unused subs: McLoughlin, MacDonald, Chicksen, O’Shea, Sekajja.

Booked just Chadwick for his trademark late challenge.
Sheffield United lined up Long, Maguire, Hill(McAllister 46), Flynn, Doyle, Porter, Blackman (Miller 73), McDonald, Collins, McMahon (Westlake 25), Williams. Unused subs: Willis, Cresswell, Ironside, Kennedy.
Booked for United was Maguire who was lucky to finish the game.
Referee the bloody awful Darren Sheldrake.
Attendance was 9,835 there were 1,854 United fans though looked more who did not make that much noise surprisingly. The Dons fans were in great voice and were the twelfth man that day which you could say we needed as the ref seemed to be a blade.

Next game up was the replay with Cambridge City
in the FA Cup. And I did laugh when I think it was the Sky camera man was looking for City fans and had to go up to bar in hotel to find some.

When he came back down with a dozen or so he had them walk to the Hotel entrance as if arriving what I thought was funny was that two had on back packs one with a Chelsea crest on the back and one with a Spurs crest and I thought blimey its like the early days at the Hockey Stadium before we got our own identity and fans started buying the Dons gear.

Steve Claridge turned up as did a number of folk from the FA including Peter Braybrook who is a very nice chap to talk to.

I thought when Williams got that first goal it would be three or even four but I did not expect six.

I thought the team played well and was really impressed with Deli Alli who I gave the man of the match to , even Jay said when he collected the award from the match day sponsor he thought Deli was the man on the night.

So we all know who we will face next and I'm not going to go on about it here as there are other matches this month.

MK Dons (4-2-3-1): Martin; Kouo-Doumbe, Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Gleeson, Alli (Galloway 78); Bowditch (Chicksen 61), MacDonald, O'Shea; Lowe (Rasulo 68).

Subs not used: McLoughlin, Smith, Spence.

Goals: Williams 12, 74 (pen), O’Shea 43, Bowditch 45, Alli 75, Chicksen 77

Cambridge City had some brilliantly named players and lined up 4-4-2 Barrett, Pepper who was not to be sneezed at , Theobald, Chaffey, Brighton; Allen (sub was man with six pack Joey Abbs 69), aptly named Cambridge (c) (Nightingale no Florence joke from me 61), Prada one for the ladies (Lester 69), Marriott; Bryant, Hammond.

Subs not used: Ordonez, Midgley, Stynes. The goal by Theobold was on 60

Referee: Neil Miller from County Durham who I thought was pretty good 8 out of 10.

The attendance was not bad for a first leg replay of 4,129 with 579 away fans though I suspect they wont get that many next home game.

The next game was away to Tranmere Rovers who are still top of the league and like the Sheffield Unt game I was again not to confident and again was proven wrong.

The Dons were totally dominant especially in the first half and even in the second rarely troubled. Chadwick seemed to go where he wanted and all the midfield had shots on goal even Lewie had a shot and header on target but we again could not get the ball in the bloody net Lowe missed a gift of a chance when one on one with Fon Williams but somehow put the ball wide !

With the minutes ticking away most of us thought oh well a point on the road is okay when Gleeson toe poked in after some good work from Bowditch found the ball in the crowded box.
Ronnie Moore said Tranmere were out footballed and we got some great comments from neutrals watching the match on Sky , tickets were a fiver and the gate was over ten thousand on the night.
The win took us up to second for a night (as it was Friday night and our rivals played on the following day).

The Dons have played three games in ten days and beaten the two top sides and played again on Tuesday night when they travelled to Shrewsbury Town.
Teams lined up
Tranmere Rovers Fon Williams, Holmes, Taylor, Gibson, Bakayogo, Robinson, Wallace (c), Palmer, McGurk (Stockton 90), Cassidy, Jervis (Harrison 46).

Subs not used: Mooney (GK), M Kay, Goodison, Power, Kirby

Booked: Cassidy, Jervis

MK Dons 4-2-3-1 Martin; Otsemobor, A Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Gleeson, Potter; Bowditch, Chadwick (Doumbe 90), Balanta (Powell 65); Lowe (Smith 54).

Subs not used: McLoughlin (GK), Chicksen, Powell, O’Shea, Sekajja.

Goal by Gleeson on 87

Referee was M Naylor from South Yorkshire who again was okay 7 out of ten.

Attendance: 10,587

After beating the top two sides it was probably always going to be a tougher game than it looked on paper and it proved to be just that.

We had slipped down to 4th after the Saturday games so with a win at Shrewsbury we could have gone up to 3rd so understandably a few of the fans got a bit carried away with their predictions, as it turned out a draw was enough and we did move up to 3rd.

I did actually think we might lose having been on a good run, it would be just our luck to lose to Shrewsbury, another of the clubs you can put in the don't let facts get in the way of a good fairy tale club.

In fact Robbo got very annoyed at the comments in the match day programme which were unprofessional, and a rehash of an article they used years ago but still just as crap.

We really were not at the races on the night and probably did deserved to lose but Bowditch managed to save two points in injury time the goal listed as 90th minute.
After beating the top two sides it was probably always going to be a tougher game than it looked on paper and it proved to be just that.

Teams lined up Shrews Weale, Grandison, Jacbson, Summerfield, Jones, Wright the former Don scored against his former club, Richards, Morgan, Taylor, Bennettt, Rodgers. Unused subs: Anyon, Purdie, Hall, Doble, Goldson, Wildig, Helan.

Dons lined up Martin, Otsemobor, Lewington who appeared to pick up a knock(Chicksen came on and livened us up a bit on 58), Williams, Gleeson, Potter, Bowditch, Smith, Kay, Chadwick (MacDonald came on and again looked like his confidence has gone 74), Balanta (Powell came on and shortly limped off 58). Unused subs: McLoughlin, Doumbe, Lowe, Sekajja still has not got a decent run out. Balanta scored on 46 and Bowditch the M.O.M on 90 so late goals both halves.

Att: 4747 the traveling Dons army totaled 183 on a wet night.

The Referee was Darren Drysdale who let game flow a 6 out of 10 was okay but missed some incidents.

In other news Jay O'Shea went out on loan to Chesterfield the day Powell limped off at Shrewsbury but Angelo's loan was extended till January.

Flanagan returned from Gillingham needing an operation on his ankle.

On Thursday 22nd we signed on loan Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford the 19 year old is here till the New Year.

On Friday we heard we had signed from a winger from Wolves at the last minute of emergency loan window quite why it is an emergency I don't know ! but anyway it is 18-year-old Zeli Ismail.

I met both players on the Friday before Colchester game and both were very polite and happily posed for pictures.
A funny story I can tell you was when the players had finished training they put all the boots in a container to be cleaned ahead of the game and Zeli chucked his in with the rest but Patrick asked Karl " don't we clean our own boots" Karl said well you can if you want then laughed and Patrick threw his in as well. I thought that was really quite refreshing to see, a young footballer who cost Chelsea one and a half million ask if it was okay and not just assume it was going to be done it also showed that he was used to (and said he does)doing his own at Chelsea.

Karl then asked Zeli what he did with his and he replied in the container to which Karl said jokingly "big time charlie" but with more a player banter type comment attached, suppose you had to be there but it was very funny and proved how down to earth these young talents are.

Zeli Ismail on loan from Wolves

Patrick Bamford on loan from Chelsea

And so onto the game against Colchester Gleeson had pulled up injured during training so I was wondering what formation Robbo would use as Gleeson was due to play but he captained the side in Lewie's absence so injury was obviously not as bad as we thought.

The game was like the weather first ten minutes or so pretty dreary but then we started to put some nice moves together.
Chadwick and Bamford seemed to be on the same wavelenght and looked like they had played together for years.

The goal came on 28 after some nice play between the Chelsea loanee and the former Man Unt player after that we kept pushing and making chances until Bamford was brought down and Williams duly despatched the penalty.

The second half slighty swung Colchesters way as Massey came on but not for long as from a corner Otsemobor scored and that was game over.

Just three minutes later the U's got lucky and grabbed a consulation goal but you are never as vulnerable as when you have just scored they say and a minute later Chadwick made it 4-1. Lowe came on and worked hard and was rewarded with his name on the score sheet when he curled his shot into the top corner.

It was as dominant and near perfect performance as you will see anywhere and we move up to second in the league and into the automatic spots.

Still a long way to go but it sets up the cup game next week perfectly.
Teams lined up Dons 4-2-3-1 Martin, Otsemobor, Williams sponsors M.O.M, Kay, Chicksen, Gleeson (c), Potter, Bowditch (Sekajja 85), Chadwick my M.O.M(Ismail 76), Balanta, Bamford JUST pipped by Luke for M.0.M(Lowe 69).

Subs: McLoughlin, Doumbe, MacDonald, Galloway, Sekajja.The goals were Chadwick 28, 64, Williams (pen) 37, Otsemobor 60, Lowe 82

Colchester United (4-3-3) Sullivan, Wilson, Okuonghae, Eastman (Thompson 70),Potts; Bond (Massey 46), Eastmond (Duguid 70), Wordsworth, Henderson, Morrison former Dons loan player, Sears.

Subs: Cousins , Rose, Bean, White, Thompson.

Booked Okuonghae, Morrison Sent-off Massey for the nasty tackle on Chicksen was on 66

Goal: Hendersen 63
Attendance 7443 330 away fans
Referee Darren Deadman and amazingly he was okay for a change 7/10.
Martin, Otsemobor, Williams, Gleeson, Potter, Bowditch (Sekajja 85), Chicksen, Kay, Chadwick (Ismail 77), Balanta, Bamford (Lowe 69). Unused subs: McLoughlin, Doumbe, MacDonald, Galloway.

The next game is the FA Cup 2nd round with us playing hosts to the team from Kingston upon Thames as they have acted unprofesionaly in not giving our club its full name I will not refer to them by the name they use.

The game is looking to be a near sell out as area's will be closed to segregate fans and nuetral sections will not be as used as the club thought they would be.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is AFC have not boycotted as they always said they would (and in fact told other fans of clubs we have played to so do)but have sold the allocation they asked for and indeed asked for another thousand !

I can only think/hope that the AFC fans are not as full of hate as the board members and hierarchy of the club and though will never like us perhaps they prefer to support the team rather than listen to the few elite that run the "fans" club and seem more interested in MK than what the majority of the fans want.

On Sunday 9th December there is a darts night at the stadium in aid of Prostate cancer and S.E.T there will be at least seven members of the first team including Mick Harford.
Adrian Lewis and Steve Beaton will be amongst the darts players there and there will be celebrity guests on the night but I dont know who they will be yet.
It promises to be a great afternoon and night and tickets can be bought by calling box office at MK Dons.
COYD

Winkelman Talks about AFC the Move and his Feelings

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/pete-winkelman-i-m-proud-of-what-we-ve-achieved-1-4476577?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

PETE Winkelman admits he has some regrets about how Wimbledon’s move to Milton Keynes came about, but now, as chairman of MK Dons, he is extremely proud of what the club has achieved.

Speaking to local media after Dons beat Cambridge City to set up an FA Cup second round tie against AFC Wimbledon, Winkelman had a lot to get off his chest, and started by insisting that he is delighted to see the two clubs finally set to play each other.

He said: “It’s a fixture we’ve been waiting for. The whole of football has been waiting for this.

“I didn’t want to get too carried away (when the draw was made) because of course a couple of years ago we were close to this moment and we managed to turn victory into defeat that night, and the game didn’t happen.

“So I absolutely wanted the whole club to concentrate on Cambridge City. If we got the result we could then get around to thinking about what is going to be a massive game!

“To be honest I wanted this game the soonest it could possibly happen. I think it’s great, actually, that it’s happened now because AFC Wimbledon have done the amazing journey into the Football League.

“But in that time of course we have also built our stadium – built a home for our football club, and we’ll be very proud to show that off. So I couldn’t wait to get it done.

“With a bit of luck, for the whole of football, it will enable us to draw a line in the sand and start looking forwards rather than continuously looking backwards. And until this game happened, there would always have been an element of looking backwards.”

With talk of AFC Winbledon fans boycotting the second round tie at stadium:mk – likely to be confirmed as being played at lunchtime on Sunday, December 2 – Winkelman accepts that, regardless of what we says, he is never going to change some people’s opinions about Wimbledon’s move to Milton Keynes.

Despite that, he offered his explanation of how the move happened, and said it was a case of trying to turn a bad set of circumstances into a good thing.

“I’m not proud of the way this club can to be,” he said. “It’s very hard for me to live with that because I’m trying to be a very good chairman of a football club.

“I’m trying to create an infrastructure that could take this club all the way to the Premier League. We are hugely proud of the home we have built for football in Milton Keynes.

“I hope the rest of football will see that, whilst we might have had a hell of a controversial beginning. And whilst it might not have the been the best idea in the world to move a football club – as the owner and chairman of a football club now, of course, I get that – but I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last eight years.

“To most people in football, the way they imagine how the thing happened is so different to the way that it actually did. I suppose the biggest thing about that was the fans did win the battle with Wimbledon.

“We did do a deal with Norwegian billionaires, and we did mistakenly give them Milton Keynes as an option, when they were going to go to Dublin, because I naively thought that might be better.

“But they didn’t really have any other option, and the fans won because they formed AFC Wimbledon, and went and had their first promotion in their first season, and made sure that the club went into administration.

“So actually, it wasn’t the big Norwegian billionaire owners that moved the club to Milton Keynes, it was an administrator that said ‘I’m going to liquidate this club tomorrow unless you come up with the money to keep it going’. And the only way I could come up with the money to keep it going was to move it to Milton Keynes.

“For the first seven weeks of that administration we did nothing. I will never understand why AFC Wimbledon didn’t buy their club. That’s the bit that always confuses me, that we actually had the opportunity to buy the club in the end.

“Once we made that decision – a very difficult decision – we have never taken our foot off the gas. I’ve tried to make a bad decision a good decision by the things that we’ve gone on to do.

“And I think we have done that. It’s about the home we have created, but it’s also about the heart that we’ve created in Milton Keynes.

“This is a monumental happening. There is no other football club with the story of Wimbledon FC. It’s given birth to the most successful fan-owned club in the country and one of the biggest, brightest new football clubs in the country – all at the same time.

“We’ll never be friends. But we are related, and I hope we can go and have a great family get-together.”

Considering fears that the game could generate a potentially hostile atmosphere in and around stadium:mk, Winkelman wanted to ease any concerns from fans, and actually said he wanted the cup clash to be a friendly occasion for everyone concerned.

“I’m hoping every MK Dons fan is going to come out for it,” he said. “I think the irony will be that probably the loudest roar of the day will not be for AFC Wimbledon, not for MK Dons, but for Wimbledon.

“It’s our job to put on the safest, best organised, friendliest game that there has been in football. I don’t care about the result. I think what’s going to be important about this is that the game takes place and we draw that line, so everyone can look to the future.”

October Blog

Sad to see the Back of Jimmy Bullard ! Picture was taken as Jimmy arrived for Blackburn game watched by Karl Robinson sadly Jimmy did not make many appearances in the Players entrance.

The month of October started with the sad but not unexpected news that Jimmy Bullard had been forced to retire due to a recurring knee injury I met and spoke to Jimmy a few times but not as many times as Id have liked and like many fans I would have liked to see him play a lot more here at MK Dons.

Jimmy's career has included stints with West Ham Peterborough Wigan Athletic, Fulham Ipswich and Hull City the midfielder has had a 14-year playing career but has been plagued with injury in later years.

Jimmy ruptured the cruciate ligaments in his knee twice in three years once at Fulham and again on his debut for Hull in 2009 and three years on the pain and playing restrictions forced Bullard to visit a consultant the last week of September after the news broke Jimmy said “My old knee injury has never allowed me to get back to where I want to be as a football player; it’s always hindered me. There are a lot of games in this League and I now know my knee won’t allow me to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday, it’s not built for that now.I want to be out there playing but at the same time I know my knee won’t allow me to play at my best and to keep my place in the team. I’m hindering myself more than I am helping myself for the future.” This ended his career just four weeks after Jimmy signed a short-term deal with the Dons.
Jimmy added “I honestly think MK Dons can do something special with the manager and the group of players they have here. I wish them all the best and I hope they realise how lucky they are to be at a Club like this and to play for a manager like Karl, because he’s going to achieve great things for this Club. I believe he is going to become a top manager.

Good Luck Jimmy and I am sure whatever you do in the future it will be with a smile on your face.

Our next game and first of the month was against Coventry a team that not so long ago were top flight , like us they have a 32 thousand seater stadium although theirs is complete.
The attendance's this season have been about the same as ours no doubt boosted by away fans wanting to see the once Prem boys ground..
Sadly the fixture was on a Tuesday night which meant a lot of our away regulars could not attend but 697 of the MK Army did make the trip.

Coventry have had a rubbish start to the season and sat in the relegation zone but under new manager Mark Robins had just picked up a win the Saturday before.


The game followed a now familiar patten with the Dons starting slowly and under pressure and even conceded an early'ish goal.


Gleeson got a goal from a deflected shot after we had a free kick and we were then back in the game but Charlie again missed a sitter when he seemed to get tangled up in his own feet and Powell missed a chance as well the rest of the team seemed frightened to shoot and the game played out to a frustrating one all draw with the whole second half a nail-biting frustrating affair.

I don't think Coventry will be in the relegation zone for long but at the time it was on paper a game we perhaps should have won. I consoled myself with the fact it was a point on the road which I am usually happy with but this pattern of being the stronger team and missing chances is now getting boring.
The teams lined up
Coventry: Murphy, Baker, McSheffrey (Fleck 68) , Barton (Ball 78), Christie, Wood, Edjenguele (Cameron 68), McGoldrick, Moussa, Reckord, Bailey. Unused subs: Dunn, Hussey, Willis, Henderson.Goal was by Wood on 34
Dons: Martin, Otsemobor, Lewington, Williams, Gleeson, Potter, Bowditch, MacDonald (Smith 79), Powell, Kay, Chadwick (O'Shea 73) Unused subs: McLoughlin, Doumbe, Chicksen (why is he not starting ?), Lowe, O'Shea, Allan.
The goal by Gleeson was on 42
Attendance was 9,948 and 697 were Dons fans where have all Coventry's fans gone ?
The draw meant we slipped down to fifth from third going into the Portsmouth game.

On Thursday I spoke to Karl at Woughton and mentioned the missed chances and the fact Id seen the strikers and wingers working on shooting with Wrighty that morning.

Karl said we work on it all the time and that it was frustrating for him watching the players not shooting or missing chances, Id said that it was the tap in's we seem to be missing and Karl then mentioned the players he had wanted to bring in and that he had been told he cant have them.

Karl also said later when myself and another fan asked about Portsmouth that although they are on one month contract's a few are on a lot more than any of our players including Izale ! I got the impression Karl is feeling some pressure although we are fifth in the league and still well placed to push on.

I thought at the start of the season that as a club we seem to be expecting to get Automatic and that this does put a hell of a lot of pressure on the manager and players !



Portsmouth

Portsmouth manager Micheal Appleton signs autographs as he arrives at StadiumMK

I got to the stadium about one o'clock and there were already a lot of Pompey fans about with one coach arriving about half twelve I was told.

I got chatting to a couple of Pompey fans and they informed me of the current situation regarding the administration and likely buyers but did not think that the fan trust option could work but it might be the only one ! they also said they still could not believe they were in third division and said that the Championship was the league they enjoyed most as the Prem seemed to be about survival and they thought it was quite boring knowing they would finish on forty points and just survive.

The game itself started very badly for the Dons and within 4 minutes the Dons all time leading scorer Izale McLeod did what returning players often do and scored against his old club, and this was after a missed pen by captain Brian Howard that Izale had earned Pompey.

And the pressure was on and continued until Gabor Gyepes put us under even more re on 20 minutes when he made it two nil.

The Dons seemed to get over the shock of the mad first half hour of pressure and slowly got back into the game then Webster managed to get the ball in his own net after a cross from Lewie was knocked on from Kay and it was game on.

Second half was altogether a more even affair and Potter slotted the ball in after Powell missed his chance and it was honours even, we kept pressing but again miss having a striker that can actually score even Chadders missed a chance.

I thought Mustapha Dumbuya and Wesley Thomas were the pick of the Pompey players and keeper Andersen incidentaly all are on loan Thomas from Bournemouth the other two from Reading.
The teams lined up Dons: Martin; Otsemobor (Smith 33), Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Powell, Chadwick, Bowditch; MacDonald (Allan 69)
Goals were by: Webster (og) 40 and Potter 72
We had two booked: Kay and Smith
Subs not used: McLoughlin, Chicksen, Kouo-Doumbe, O’Shea

Pompey: Andersen; Dumbuya, Michalik, Gyepes, Webster; Williamson, Ertl, Howard (c) (Buzasaky 81), Harley; Thomas (Obita 81), McLeod
Goals by McLeod 4 and Gyepes 20
Booked just McLeod old habits and all that.
Subs not used: Eastwood, Walker, Compton, Harris, Rodgers

The Referee was David Coote who I did not think was as bad as some thought I probably give him a seven out of ten.

Attendance was 10,409 helped by an excellent 2,552 very noisy Pompey fans.
But it was really all about Izale that day.

Izale McLeod Still MK Dons all time leading goalscorer and likely to remain so on our current strikers form.

Before the Preston game there was a behind closed door match against Brighton, as it was at the Stadium we did not get to see it but reading the two clubs reports it seems both clubs were happy with the performances and no injuries were sustained.

We had two trialists playing but neither have been named one came on and set up Alli and then scored himself I often hear who the trialists are but most of the time nothing comes of it so I don't bother and really think its not fair to name them unless Im told it does not matter.

Dons played a mixture of returning from injury players, trialists and players who haven't had a game for a while along with some of the academy players.
McLoughlin had a good game by all accounts and the teams lined up
Dons in the usaul first team 4-2-3-1 formation: McLoughlin; Osae (Trialist 46), Hickford, Doumbe, Chicksen, Galloway, Alli; Osei-Addo (Summerfield 77), Allan, Trialist; Lowe.

Subs not used keeper Charlie Burns.
Goals: Alli 47, Trialist 58

Albion used a 4-3-3 formation East, Sampayo, Dunk, Jones (Akubuine 66), Painter; Richards (Peake 83), March, Gray (Wiltshire 60); Barker, Goodwin, Agdestein. Subs not used: Keeper Smith .

There was good and bad news later in the week when we heard Gary MacKenzie would be out for three months but that Doumbe was unscathed from his run out against Brighton and was fit to play on Sunday against Preston North End.

Our next game was against Preston and we have never beaten them so expectation's were not really high.
The game was on Sky but it probably was not the best game for the viewing public as the teams cancelled each other out for the better part of the game.

It was a typical Dons performance in many ways and we again lacked the killer blow in the final third I commented on twitter through the game that we seem to have a player missing ! by that I mean we get those crosses in the box and there is no one there to tap in usually because we are not playing 4-4-2 or in the second half at Deepdale because when we do we have no fox in the box.


Sodje missed a couple of sitters and if truth were told Preston had the better of the chances although I thought we were slightly the better team..but I think we have heard that a few too many times this season.

The most controversial decision of the game I thought was the blatant penalty that was not seen by either the referee or the ideally placed Linesman, or assistant referee as they like to be called but in reality they rarely assist.

MacDonald was clearly brought down by Stuckmann but the referee bizarrely awarded a goal kick and more surprisingly not booking McDonald who he obviously thought dived.

The pundits Ronnie Moore and Peter Beagrie in the Sky studio both agreed it was a stonewall penalty as did many Preston fans, in fact it was hard to find anyone who thought otherwise.

Another draw and although almost always welcome on the road at this quarter way through the season stage one has to wonder if the Auto spots are a realistic target !

Yes we are playing at times some nice football no hoofball and no dirty tactics but we are not getting those results that are the difference between the teams that get promoted and the also rans.

The teams lined up Preston North End: Stuckmann, Keane, Laird, Wroe, Huntington (Robertson, 35), Wright, Monakana, Welsh, Beavon, Sodje (Cummins, 82), Hayhurst (Mousinho, 46). Subs not used: Simonsen, Amoo, Cummins, Procter, King.

Dons Lined up: Martin, Otsemobor, Lewington, Doumbe, Williams, Gleeson, Potter, Bowditch, Smith (Lowe, 64), Chadwick, Allan (McDonald, 64). Subs not used: Chicksen, McLoughlin, O’Shea.

Attendance was 8,327 with 177 annoyed Dons fans.

The referee was Craig Pawson who up till the penalty appeal was not too bad well for what we are used to in League one anyway.

We stay seventh for the second week and next up we have a local Derby with Wesley's former team high flying Stevenage

Stevenage Manager Gary Smith

Next up was a home game against Stevenage who have had a great start to the season with just a minor blip the week before.
In fact they have had the sort of start we wish we had.

Stevenage also get my newly created award for the friendliest players and manager to come to Milton Keynes, all the players stopped and chatted and Robin Shroot even got a couple of tickets for one of the fans.

I was chatting to one of the fans and his mum and they said they are always like that and couple of players even knew them by name and said hello as they arrived.

As for the game well it was same old same old we probably deserved a draw but the headers and shots we did have were weak and the keeper made good saves and held on to the ball to deny any tap in we could have got.
To make things worse Gleeson will be out for up to three months after a foot injury.

Robin Shroot

Mark Roberts

We now moved down the table into eighth place as other results helped us not slip down any further, few boo's at the end and even odd shout of Robbo out which is a bit over the top considering we were playing a good side.
But the frustration of a toothless strike force and a loss at home and the high expectation of fans this season seemed to boil over.
As a crowd we were the quietest I have (not) heard all season made worse by the as always noisy Stevenage lot.
Teams lined up
Dons the not working 4-2-3-1: Martin, Otsemobor (Chicksen 62), Kouo-Doumbe, Williams, Lewington (c), Potter, Gleeson, Chadwick, Allan, O’Shea (MacDonald 62), Smith (Lowe 62).
Subs not used: McLoughlin, Kay.

Booked just Chicksen according to OS but Otsemobor got a yellow as I remember.

Stevenage also lined up 4-2-3-1 but got a goal: Arnold, Gray, N’Gala, Roberts (c), Charles; Tansey, Dunne; Akins, Morais (Rogers82), Freeman (Risser 72), Haber.

Subs not used: Day, Ball, Iro, Lopez, Shroot.

Booked Charles according to OS but I thought there was another but couldn't find record of it on BBC match report and can not be bothered to look elsewhere.

Referee: Andrew Madley from West Yorkshire who was okay seven out of ten.

Attendance: 9,190 1,019 noisy away fans.

The FA Cup first round draw saw us get an away draw at Cambridge City which has gone down well with everyone including City fans who are buzzing about the draw the only downside was the amount of tickets we were allocated due to the size of the Milton Road ground.

So after the home loss it was back on the road to newly promoted Crawley for the Tuesday night game.
But just before the game came the news that Angelo Balanta the QPR winger had signed up for his third spell at the Dons by agreeing a one-month loan move.

The 22-year-old, whose last senior appearance was for the Dons last December ,Angelo was available for the trip to Crawley.

However he will not be allowed to play in the FA Cup first round tie at Cambridge City on 2 November.

Balanta played 49 games during his two previous loan stints at Stadium MK and scored 12 goals.

Angelo's QPR appearances have been few and far between and last played in April 2010 but he has signed a new two-year contract in the summer.

But even the return of Angelo was not enough to change the fortune's of the team and we lost 2-0 Karl said after the game he was sounding like a broken record and I feel the same writing about the matches lately, better team missed chances etc etc we have now slipped down to tenth in the league and look more like a pretty football playing mid table team than a promotion chasing efficient one.

The fans are getting restless and more annoyed by the week and I think the reasons are clear for us all to see, the system is not working ! we have not got Keith Andrews or Lloyd Dyer or even Peter Leven to get goals from midfield and the strikers we have got are not capable of playing to any effect the lone striker role.

The teams lined up
Crawley Town: P Jones, Sadler, McFadzean, Akpan (Torres 86), Clarke (M Jones 90), Alexander (c), Simpson, Bulman (Connolly 86), Adams, Bryne, Davis.

Subs not used: M Kuipers, Connolly, Forte, Hunt.

Booked: Clarke, Davis

Goals: both by Clarke on 21 and 89

MK Dons: Martin; Otsemobor, Kouo-Doumbe, Kay, Lewington (c); Potter, Williams; Powell, Chadwick (Smith 74), Balanta (Chicksen 65); MacDonald (Lowe 46).

Subs not used: McLoughlin, Gleeson who's injury was not as bad as first thought, O’Shea, Allan who now return's to his parent club.

Booked: Just Williams

Referee was Simon Hooper the attendance was 2,853 with 249 Dons fans.

So it was off Scunthorpe a team that according to Karl have a third of the budget they had when in the Championship and judging by the attendance on the day about a fifth of the fans they had then.

Languishing at the bottom end of the table it was a good time to play them at their place the fans are unhappy and the manager under pressure and Scunthorpe's problems seem massive compared to ours going into the game.

But you still have to win the games and with our recent worries I was not that convinced when I saw the starting line up with Doumbe left out and Chicksen left on the bench again , we seemed to be relying on lone striker Alan Smith who has scored twice in five years to get us on the score sheet.

Apart from a few spells we bossed the game and for a change our recent and usual dominance resulted in goals with MOTM Luke Chadwick grabbing a brace and Smith getting a tap in (although it came off a centre back last). Luke's first was a bit on the lucky side with Slocombe fumbling his save and giving Luke the chance to bury the goal but we have not had that bit of luck of late so I'll take it, his second was featured on SSN as possible goal of the day but his hatrick alluded him as Slocombe guessed right and saved the penalty.

I think that game was quite a turning point and fully expect us to push on in the League where we climb from 10th to 8th and the Auto dream was alive again and definitely within reach of the Play Off's.

The teams lined up
Scunthorpe United: Slocombe, Ribeiro, Walker, Mirfin, Reid (c), Jennings (Ryan 71), Duffy, Collins, Newey, Hawley, Prutton (Grella 64).
Subs not used: Severn, Kennedy, Gibbons, Canavan, Keegan.

Dons lined up: Martin; Otsemobor, Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Powell (Chicksen 37), Chadwick (O’Shea 84), Balanta; Smith (Lowe 75).
Subs not used: McLoughlin, MacDonald, Alli.
Booked: The usaul suspects Kay and Smith
Goals by Chadwick were on 17 and 30, and Smith on 60
Referee was Dean Whitestone
Attendance was another low one of 2,737 with 164 very cold Don's fans.

Man of the Match Luke Chadwick

So one win in the whole of October and a frustrating time for many of us but such is the League this season with no real runaway leaders we are still up there.

Stevenage lost and Tranmere drew losing points, in fact point wise we are still up there with the pack chasing Automatic, and right there with the play off contenders.

Crawley are up to second which makes our loss there seem a bit more bearable in fact none of the League one teams won at home on Saturday 27th.

But at the end of last month I wrote that we were third and had seventeen points one behind Notts and just four away from Tranmere with nine games gone.
We are now eighth with twenty three points 15 games into the season.

We are 2 points behind Notts and are now 8 points behind leaders Tranmere and 6 points behind second and third place Crawley and Stevenage.

Next up the magic of the FA Cup and away to Cambridge City the game will be on ESPN on Friday night if you can not be there for any reason and it will be a nice pay day for City.
COYD

September Blog Part Two

The month of September so far up to the Yeovil game had been commented on a lot and on reflection there was almost a sense of mid season pessimism about our progress.
I was probably amongst the disappointed but not in the were doomed club, after the Glovers game I looked at the table and results and it did not look so bad ! six games in with ten points and only four behind the leaders who were not Bournemouth or Sheffield Unt as some had predicted.

In fact Bournemouth were nearer the bottom than the top of the table and that is with Harry Rednapp there giving his services for free .. allegedly.

So after the euphoria of the Glovers win had subsided and I was in more reflective mood I thought really the only bad result was Walsall, a draw at Bournemouth and the loss to Swindon over the season are probably the kind of results one would expect.
Of course the sore point is the red cards and I think that more than the results was what most of us were upset about.

The first game of the second September blog is the home game with Notts County a team who have spent a bit and seem to have a decent budget and are also ahead of us at this early stage in the league table they also have 29 players which is a big squad these days.

Looking at Notts recent past with Allen and Ince and now Curle it seems we have an old established set up with the same manager through their managerial crisis's in fact it seems like Robbo has been here forever.

The fact we are the youngest League club and they are the oldest in the world does seem to laugh in the face of the old traditionalists that say history is all in important , when you consider the recent problems Notts have had with the phoney businessmen and banks promising them Prem in three years the arrival of Sven and Sol and even hastier departure our grumbles about cladding and car parks seem quite petty.

The Infamous Lee Hughes arrives at SMK

The manager Kieth Curle arrived with the players but sat on the coach for over twenty minutes before getting off in fact I got bored waiting and went for a coffee I remembered Warnock did the same thing when he came with QPR and Curle who was his assistant must have learnt that off him lol.

The game itself was Id imagine for the neutral quite good Jamal Campelll-Ryce being the pick of the Notts players for me which was annoying as the BBC said he was unlikely to play.

Both teams had their chances and both keepers made crucial saves and overall Id say the draw was a fair result Notts seemed to be happy with a draw from the off with the keeper lucky to not be booked for time wasting we again were not clinical in front of goal and this is really the story of the season so far.

Karl said after the game much the same thing and that the boys got him out of trouble and reverted to a 4-4-2 with Lowe and MacDonald up front something the fans have been saying we should play for a while and especially on the road,so it was strange to hear Robbo say that for home matches! at home we have more room and if the 4-2-3-1 system was going to work that is where it would be most effective.

Notts star player Jamal Campell-Ryce

The teams lined up MK Dons 4-2-3-1: Martin; Otsemobor, MacKenzie, Kay (O’Shea 54), Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Powell, Williams, Chadwick (Lowe 64); MacDonald (Smith 81).
Subs: McLoughlin, Bowditch, Chicksen, Bullard.
Booked: Lewington, Potter ,Otsemobor and OS only listed two bookings !
Goal: O’Shea scored on 68

Notts County: Bialkowski, Kelly, Bishop (c), Leacock, Liddle, Judge, Zoko (L Hughes 78), Arquin (Showunmi 87), Labadie, Campbell-Ryce (G Hughes 65), former Don Regan.
Subs: Bencherif, Spiess, Wholey, Hollis.
Goal: Bishop 21
The OS didnt list the Notts bookings but BBC listed the appropriatly named LaBadie
I thought there was at least another booking but hey ho.
Referee: Eddie Ilderton who was average and not helped by his linesmen who missed a lot of offsides and saw a few non offsides as off.
Attendance: 7,121 with 650 away which was not too bad considering it was champions league night on the telly.

Next up was an away trip to bottom of the table Bury and we were all hoping for our first away win of the season.

In truth the Dons were never troubled by the Shakers and dominated the game throughout, there was a nervy few minutes after the never knowingly undersold John-Lewis (sorry couldnt resist)got a late consolation goal in the 80th minute
but when Bowditch scored just after we had played half an hour and Bury needed to come forward more the result was not in much doubt.

Bowditch then added two more goals second half to put the game to bed and I was then hoping for the clean sheet which never knowingly put the damper on.
Chadwick our top goal scorer not to be outdone grabbed an injury time goal to make the score 1-4 and take us up to fourth in the League at this early stage of the season.

Bury were managerless and bottom of the table but we beat them comfortably and thats all you can ask for.
But more importantly we have our first win of the season away from home and that is always a nice thing to get before heads go down and it becomes a monkey on the back.
The teams lined up
Bury: Carson who probably saved it from being seven , Skarz, Lockwood who was injured in clash with Charlie Mac(Marshall 39), Sweeney (Worrall 59), Schumacher (c), Carrington former Don was kept quiet, Sodje, Hughes, Jones, Healy, Hopper.

Subs not used: Byrne, according to OS John-Lewis which is strange as he scored, Elford-Alliyu, Cullen, Belford.
Goal was by John-Lewis on 81 even though he was an unused sub lol

MK Dons lined up 4-2-3-1: Martin; Otsemobor who pulled up injured on 45(Kouo-Doumbe , Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Bowditch was subbed to take the applause (Powell 71), Chadwick, O’Shea; MacDonald who got a gash that could not be stiched in time(Lowe 41).
Subs not used: McLoughin, Smith, Chicksen.

Chadwick the only booking.

Goal times were Bowditch 33, 55, 67, Chadwick 90

Referee was Mark Haywood who was for a ref pretty decent

The attendance was a lowly 2,321 with 179 Dons fans.
The game itself was Id imagine for the neutral quite good Jamal Campelll -Ryce being the pick of the Notts players for me which was annoying as the BBC said he was unlikely to play .
Both teams had their chances and both keepers made crucial saves.

Martin O'Neill signing Autographs for a couple of lucky fans.

On Tuesday 25th the much anticipated game with Sunderland was upon us and I have to admit that I did not think we would win this one.
Sunderland under Martin O'Neill put out a strong side and I think want to go as far as they can in the Capital One Cup and unlike some Prem teams O'Neill has respect for the League Cup as I still like to call it.

For Cup games I like to go in club red as a little treat to myself and while I was there I ran into Peter Leven who actually remembered me and said hello and he told me he was still living in MK and had been injured recently so had not been playing, he was there as guest of Gary McKenzie I said are you keeping him out of trouble and he laughed and said that's impossible ! before anyone gets the wrong idea it was a joke and Gary is quite the gentleman off the pitch.

Also floating about was Jabo but I never got to speak to him but he was not in Bury as some had suggested.

As for the game I thought we played well first half and did not look like a team two division below in fact I heard some reports from various media sources saying we looked the better team.

When Cattermole was sent off after just half an hour I thought we could win this and knowing that it was likely we would go two up front second half a cup upset was on the cards.

But then just nine minutes into the second half Gardner scored from a free kick that left second choice keeper McLoughlin rooted to the spot this seemed to be the catalyst for the Dons to fade from the game and despite changing the formation to two up front we never looked anywhere near as good as we did first half.

The second goal came and although did flatter the visitors we never looked like we were going to score but a one nil defeat would have reflected the game better I thought, we were not for the first time this season toothless in front goal and we really need to find someone who can take the chances we create personally unless we can get someone in on loan or buy in January Id play Bowditch up front.

So we are now out of the cup both JPT and League and await the FA draw though realistically it is not a competition we are ever likely to win or go past the fourth round in and will probably field a weakened team and concentrate on the League campaign.
The teams lined up
MK Dons 4-2-3-1 McLoughlin, Chicksen, Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Powell (O’Shea 78), Chadwick (Lowe 62), Bowditch; Smith (MacDonald 62).
Subs not used: Burns, Kouo-Doumbe, Alli, Spence. Kay was booked.

Sunderland lined up Westwood,Rose, Cattermole (c), Kilgallon, Colback, Vaughan, Meyler, McClean, Saha, Sessegnon (Johnson 85).
Subs not used: Mignolet, Campbell, Wickham, Dong-Won, Fletcher, Egan. The captain Cattermole was sent off on 31 and Colback was booked the goals were scored by Gardner on 54 and McLean on 82 the referee was Stuart Attwell who I thought was pretty good to be fair.

The attendance was 10,489 bolstered by a very good turnout from Sunderland listed as 2,978 but looked and sounded more Sunderland have loads of fans in the South of England and a large supporter club in London but Id imagine a fair few travelled down from Sunderland as well.

Sunderland's Craig Gardner

Sunderland's second goalscorer James McLean.

Adam Chicksen Dons M.O.T.M just after getting the award.

On Thursday we were told that "Jabo Ibehre’s chances have been limited this season and that manager Karl Robinson felt it best to allow the 29-year-old to link up with the U’s on a 93-day loan, which will run until 27th December" we will play Colchester before his loan deal is up but Jabo will not be allowed to play I'll miss seeing Jabo around he was always cheerful and always said hello.

Rochdale trained at Woughton ahead of their game against Gillingham.

On the Friday before the Crewe game I was over at Woughton and managed to speak to Karl before the players trained he was still looking for players and I mentioned Jabo but he did not expand on the loan deal anymore than the OS had told us already.

Friday before a game is usually a light session with some shooting practice at the end, earlier in the week Karl had his windscreen broken by one stray shot and he had moved his car from its usual spot, Paul Heald was even more cautious and left his in the public car park.

Just as I was about to leave the Rochdale team turned up which was not that unusual as they have been here before and were using Woughton to train ahead of their game with Gillingham last time they came it was before their game with Crawley but it still seems weird seeing another team on our hallowed soil !

But as they say onwards and upwards and our next game and last of the month was against Crewe and I think Karl can put it far better than I could when after the game he said to MK News " the first half we were like Brazil, the second more like Bridlington".

It was the strangest game to watch as both halves were so totaly different.

Before the game we learnt we had signed signed West Bromwich Albion and Scotland U-21 midfielder (yes another International player )Scott Allan on a one-month loan deal.
The 20-year-old looked very lively when he came on and had a shot on goal which second half we seemed to be lacking.

Allan has made 10 appearances for Scotland U-21s and will be available for the games with Coventry City, Portsmouth, Preston North End and Stevenage before playing his last game away at Crawley Town on Tuesday 23rd October .
Sadly he could not inspire us to score again but I thought for a debut and considering he had only just met the team let alone train with them he looked pretty good.

To make matters worse after the goal drought against Crewe I heard that Jabo had scored twice at Colchester, I thought why could he not do that here we had again failed to capitalise on the numerous chances we created and were lucky to get all three points with Crewe hitting the post and Martin blocking a certain goal in a one on one situation.
Teams lined up
MK Dons (4-2-3-1) D Martin, Chicksen, Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Potter got MOM, Gleeson, Bowditch, Chadwick (Allan 71), O’Shea (Powell 61), MacDonald got our first half goal (Lowe 82).
Subs not used: McLoughlin, Otsemobor, Kouo-Doumbe, Smith.

Crewe Alexandra A Martin, Tootle (Turton 79), Davis, Ellis, Clayton (Colclough 68), Murphy (c), Leitch-Smith (Pogba 63), Moore, Mellor, Robertson, Bond.

Subs not used: Garratt, Guthrie, Ray, Daniels.

Attendance: 11,037 with 768 away.

The Referee was James Adcock from Nottinghamshire who was one of the better ref's I have seen and I dont think he booked anyone either.

Anyway overal not a bad month we are up to third with seventeen points one behind Notts and just four away from Tranmere with nine games gone, not in the Auto spots but pretty damn close.
COYD

September Blog Part One

Jimmy Bullard before MK Dons V Carlisle United game

So into September we go and I thought Id comment on the various rumours that started on twitter at the end of the month of August.

It started with an interview Karl did for MK News and he said when asked if we were getting anymore in "that there might be people going out " I was listening to the interview with a few other fans so heard exactly what he said and to be honest the reporter and the camera man from Anglia I think it was were there as much to get an interview with Jimmy Bullard as anything.

This got picked up on twitter and it then got speculated on that we were selling players and Daniel Powell's name was mentioned, a Derby fan then said they wanted him and it became Powell was going to Derby.
I was then quoting the article from the MK News but it did not the stop the rumours then a Huddesfield fan chipped in and our Daniel was linked there as well I was expecting to see Sky Sports News reporting it but that never happened the other funny one was Micheal Owen being spotted at Cranfield in his helicopter but no one fell for that.

Then next day the other MK paper the Citizen reported that "Robinson had previously hinted that possible departures could be on the cards, but now it looks set to be an uneventful day at Dons" and I wondered if that was a reference to yesterday or Robbo had given a different interview to them because he certainly said people might be going out as it turned out George Baldock went out on loan to Tamworth (who we seem to be building a link with) until 31st December when Bullard's deal is up coincidentally ! George joins teammates Charlie Collins and Jordan Ivey-Ward in Staffordshire for his second stint with the Lambs.

Anyway back to the Jimmy Bullard interview Jimmy is a funny bloke and his resemblance to the Chairman was mentioned and he said he has got that nickname amongst the players and both media outlets that were there that day joked about his hair. Jimmy was joking its insured and that he uses wash and go and both interviews were very funny especialy the one Dan from MK News did.

I can imagine Jimmy is a right laugh in the dressing room and I have been lucky enough to speak to him a few times now and he is very approachable and friendly and has that personality that reminds me of a naughty schoolboy .

Mike Edwards Carlisle Defender


On Saturday 1st we had Carlisle so technically the above news is August but Id already put that blog out so forgive my liberty taking lol

I do like Carllise and their players always seem to have time for the fans when they arrive and I even got to say hello and shake hands with Greg Abbott as he arrived I wished him luck but was just being polite and didnt mean it of course, but he is such a nice bloke I dont like to be rude.

One of the fans I hang about with on match days knows the Carlisle keeper Adam Collin and Adam came over for a chat as well, perfect opportunity for a photo I thought only to find when I took it Adam was laughing and the picture was even more blurry than my normal attempts at photography !

As for the match it was a bit like the Oldham game in that we looked comfortable and not in any danger of losing apart from a few minutes second half when the Dons fans really raised the noise level and support and
cheered the team through it and Karl was quick to give the crowd praise for it post match.
Chicksen got M.O.T.M which I thought well okay Id have probably given it to MacKenzie but perhaps the sponsors are bored with him winning it every game.

I thought all our players were good and wouldn't have wanted the job of picking one out to be honest.
Chadwick again got on the score sheet and Lowe added to the goal tally of the day which would have been more had it not been for some fine saves by Collin who I thought a good game although Abbott seemed to notice his mistakes rather than his saves in the post match comments.

It was good to see Lowe score his first goal at home from open play on 64 and hopefully he will now get a lot more .

But a surprise for me anyway was the appearance of Jimmy Bullard who I thought we wouldnt see on the pitch for another week at least and he also raised the noise level when he came on he showed some us some lovely touches and might well of scored.
The teams lined up Dons 4-2-3-1: Martin, Otsemobor, MacKenzie, Williams, Chicksen; Gleeson, Potter; Powell (O’Shea 85), Chadwick (Bullard 72), Bowditch; Lowe (MacDonald 72).
The subs not used were: McLoughlin and Kay none of the young lads and just the five on the bench
Jabo and Smith were not at the game Smith is banned so understandable but Jabo missing was a concern for me !
Goal by Chadwick was on 11 Lowe was on 64
Carlisle United lined up Collin, Robson (O’Halloran 65), McGovern (Symington 73), Murphy (c), Noble, Cadamarteri, Edwards, Potts, Berrett (Thirwell 37), Jervis, Chantler.
Subs not used: Simek, Madden, Beck, Gillespie.
The attendance was 7,227 with 381 unusually quiet away fans.

September is a busy month and we now have an extra game against Sunderland so the JPT game with Northamton is probably something Robbo could do without but it is for us fans a competition with happy memories and tickets for the game were selling well ahead of the Tuesday night game and by Monday morning we had sold our allocation according to a Northampton forum, on Monday afternoon the OS confirmed we had sold out our initial allocation of 950 tickets and received a further 300 that afternoon.

Some other news ahead of the game was that Ian McLoughlin our 20-year-old reserve keeper linked up with the Republic of Ireland U21 team on Monday 3rd September and played against Hungary on Thursday 6th September a game which the Republic lost.

Also Gary MacKenzie joined up with Scotland on Monday night and missed the MK Dons JPT clash with Northampton and also our League 1 match at Walsall but never made the bench.

Back to the Northampton game and as we know we lost to a wonder goal from Robinson that caught out Martin and although we were arguably the better team we could not a find a way back into the game despite a few good passages of play.

Mason Spence from the academy had a good game and looks to be a good prospect and did not seem fazed by the occasion.
But the JPT campaign was over and we don't have to think about that again this season.
The teams lined up
Northampton Town 4-4-2 L Nicholls, East, Langmead (c), Charles, Widdowson; Demontagnac (Wilson 71), Tozer, Moult (Nicholls 82), Robinson (Turnball 76); Akinfenwa, Mukendi.
Subs not used: Snedker, Dias.
MK Dons Martin, Spence (Ibehre 66), Williams, Kay, Chicksen; Bullard (Chadwick 66), Smith (O’Shea 69), Gleeson (c); Bowditch, MacDonald, Powell.
Subs not used: Lowe, Galloway another academy lad, O’Shea.
Booked: Kay, Spence
Referee was Carl Berry from Surrey and the attendance was 3, 444 with 1,349 loud Dons fans.

On Thursday 6th we heard that teenager Mason Spence had been called up to the Wales Under-19 squad and I thought is there another team in League One with so many Internationals in the squad ?

And so thoughts then turned to the upcoming game with Walsall, last season at the Bescott we had Beevers starting with McNamee and Balanta on the bench all three have now gone but one of the goalscorers that day Lewington was due to return from his three game ban and that triggered the memory of the game last season when we all thought we were going to score a boatload with the whole second half playing against ten men but it turned out to be a case of forty five minutes of frustration and we didnt had to our first half tally the Saddlers had veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Walker sent off for handling outside the box which meant full-back Lee Beevers went in goal and I wondered if we would fare any better this time round.

But that was then and it was back to the Bescott Charlie Burns the Academy keeper was given the day out I thought he'd get last game and there were changes from the Northampton game as the team looked more like the first team we know.

But just as we were settling in Walsall were in front after Jamie Paterson's corner was poked home by Dean Holden on seventeen minute's and it was catch up time.But despite having most of the possession we went into half time one down we made all our substitutions but nothing changed despite fourteen corners and the better possession we were again toothless in front of goal and it was Northampton all over again.

Saddlers have made changes this season but no one of any note we have made changes and the players we have brought in are supposedly better , but we did not get the result we did last season ,should we be worried ? maybe because we should be winning these games if we want Auto.
Not time to press the panic button just yet but we need to be getting something occasionally from free kicks and corners but we don't.

Understandably most fans were disappointed some angry and Robinson said after the match “The boys will go away and it’s their duty of care to the badge and the Chairman to put a performance in and that’s me included, I have a duty of care to the Football Club to up my game as well.” which I thought was at first hearing a bit OTT but afterward thought it is the thing a fan would have said and actually quite good to hear a manager say it.
The teams lined up Walsall: Grof, Butler (c), Holden, Featherstone, Cuvelier, Paterson, Hemmings (Taundry 86), Purkiss, Bowerman (A Williams 90), Baxendale (Jones 77), A Taylor.
Subs not used: C Taylor, Benning, Downing, Jones.
Booked: A Taylor
Goal: Holden 17

MK Dons the unsuccessful away from home on small pitches team lined up 4-2-3-1: Martin; Otsemobor, Kay, Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Powell, Chadwick (O’Shea 68), Bowditch (Smith 75); Rowe (MacDonald 61).
Subs not used: academy keeper Charlie Burns, Doumbe, Chicksen, Ibehre.
Booked: Lowe, Kay, O’Shea
Referee was the rather incompetent Patrick Miller from Bedfordshire the Attendance was 3,657 with 437 very frustrated Dons.

And now for some news on the players we have out on loan, at Tamworth FC George Baldock went straight into the starting eleven for the Lambs fixture with Mansfield Town and also played in midfield the game against Barrow the 19-year old helped to create chances for the Blue Square Premier side but they have fallen to 13th in the table after two defeats.
Academy graduates Charlie Collins and Jordan Ivey-Ward were on the bench for Tamworth and both players came on Ivey-Ward had a chance but his effort sailed wide.
Defender Tom Flanagan made his sixth appearance for Gillingham in their 3-1 victory over Barnet at Underhill Tom came on to replace the injured Matt Fish in the 84th minute and Tom helped to secure the win for Mad Dog’s team who remain at the top of League Two and are one point clear of Burton who are in second place.

And even better news was to come when on Wednesday the 12th George Baldock put pen to paper on a new two-year deal with the Dons keeping him at the Club until 2014.
Karl Robinson and I have spoken a few times about George so I thought if Karl had anything to do with it
George would stay.
George had spent most of the summer with Icelandic side IBV and made 19 appearances and scored once during his three month loan spell there.
George’s loan deal is up on December 31st and he will return to fight for a place in Karl's side.
George said: “I’m really pleased to have signed a new deal, this Club is the perfect place to be for a youngster, whether you are playing or in and around the squad because there is so much talent here to improve you as a player.

Yeovil manager Gary Johnson

And so it is the final match of this blog and we have Yeovil at home the game comes as we are having something of an early season wobble.
The games away from home are at best frustrating and at worst a sign that we are not going to make Auto.

Former Dons from Fulham loan player Keanu Marsh Brown

So this game with Yeovil was eagerly anticipated by those of us that want to get back to winning ways and those that want to keep in with the Auto shout.
The Yeovil team arrived by the same coach firm as the fans arrived on although it looked like it was a bit posher.

Then followed a game between two teams who looked to be as good as each other with both missing the chances they had but both playing some quite nice passing football but both seemed toothless in front of goal although both keepers did make a couple of excellent saves.

When Lowe was subbed for MacDonald I thought well Lowe has not got on the end of two lovely crosses and I was not convinced Charlie would either but he proved me wrong and found himself one on one with the keeper and after a change of direction placed the ball nicely into the net.

The it was squeaky bum time as we held on in the final few minutes and even managed to have a goal disallowed in injury time.
Our home form continues to be good just the away form to work on now.
MK Dons 4-2-3-1: Martin; Otsemobor, MacKenzie (Kay 12), Williams, Lewington (c); Potter, Gleeson; Powell, Chadwick, Bowditch (Bullard 82); Lowe (MacDonald 67).
Subs not used: McLoughlin, A Smith, Chicksen, O’Shea.
Only Don booked was Williams and Charlie's goal was on 75

Yeovil Town lined up: Stech; Ayling (former Dons loan player Marsh-Brown 76), Hinds, Webster (c), Ralph; Young, Blizzard another former Don player, Upson, Foley; Hayter (K Smith 62), Ugwu (Reid 62).
Subs not used: Stewart, Ince a cousin of Tom so therefore a relation of former manager Paul, Nkumu.
Booked: Ayling, Ugwu, Webster

Referee was the rather fussy and often confused (but equally so for both sides) Carl Boyeson from East Yorkshire.
Attendance was 7,235 with 322 away fans.

As this is a month with a lot of games I am doing two blogs this month which I'll probably regret as a lot of you regular readers will not check till October lol but hoping the Dons fans on twitter will spread the word.

COYD