December Musing

So the month of Christmas was upon us and the month when the League table gives a good idea of what to expect ..or so some say.

I always think you get a good idea but a lot can change with the transfers in and out in January and the winter months are notorious for injuries not to mention the suspensions kick in so a squad with depth and quality is the squad that will seriously challenge for the Auto spots and the play off spots as well. I think we have a good if not smallish squad and still think we will make the play offs and the lottery that the play offs are. I don't think we have enough to make the Automatics unless the Sheffield's and Charlton badly mess up and I still think as one of the longest serving teams in this division Huddersfield will finally if not get out by Auto make the play off final whether we play them or not remains to be seen I just have that feeling we are going to start next season with the stadium work complete in the same league and like the season we got promoted have a great season in our sort of new improved ground or maybe I am just being too romantic!

First game of the month saw the trip to Underhill and the FA Cup game against Barnet we played the familiar 4-2-3-1 formation although it always looks like 4-5-1 to me but hey ho and the team lined up Martin , Smith, Flanagan, MacKenzie, Lewington , S Williams, Potter , Balanta, Ibehre, Bowditch; MacDonald with Doumbe, O'Shea, G Williams, Alli on the bench Robbo put out a strong team and didn't give the young George Williams another chance of glory ,Martin suffered a dead leg and was replaced by Mcloughlin on thirty four minutes Chicksen came on for Potter at eighty one and Powell came on for MacDonald on eighty six and promptly scored scored two minutes later and we progressed to the third round of the FA cup with relative ease and our old favourite Izale even managed to put one past our Irish under 21 keeper.

The day after the game the draw for the third round was made and we learnt we were to play Queens Park Rangers at Stadiummk I guess the reaction was a bit mixed with some saying we never get a big club and some happy it was another Prem club ,there were some who said an away draw would have been better and some like me who said if we keep the price down we could make potentially more from a home draw, personally I was pretty happy with the draw knowing there are a few QPR fans in MK and that it will attract the interest of the nuetrals and the occasional fan. It will be the first time we have got to the third Round since the 2009/10 season when the then Premier League Burnley beat us at stadiummk.

The tie is due to take place on the weekend of January 7th to 8th meaning our away game at Stevenage has been postponed with a new date yet to be announced so another bloody Tuesday night game it is then ! the prices were later confirmed as starting at twenty pounds with two pound discount for ST holders which was okay I thought to watch a Prem team in the third round of the most famous competition of all.

Martin and Gleeson were absent from training on the Monday after Barnet obviously Martin was recovering from his dead leg but the Gleeson absence was a mystery and lead myself and another fan present to speculate and let our imagination run riot ! I spoke to Karl and he was happy with the QPR draw and thought it would be a good test in fact we had a good chat before he joined in with the training funnily enough about fans reaction to Barnet and how we are playing also what the fans would think if certain things happened !! and I get the impression when we speak he hopes the fans are happy with him and that what we think means a lot to him.

Karl and Jabo were nominated for npower L1 manager and player of the month awards but despite us winning three and being unbeaten we were pipped by Charlton but as our blip started after he won the last one I wasnt too bothered.

On the Thursday before the Tranmere game I saw the second appearance this season of the guest coach Ian Wright (he was here a week later for his third appearance)and his meaty minder at Woughton he actualy did a lot more this time as he arrived before the players and took part in the training game and he stayed back to coach some of the players at shooting and pens although funnily enough Charlie Mac wasnt one I guess they figure his scoring record is good enough and he doesn't need it..well most of his are in the box !!

On Saturday it was the long haul to Tranmere for the team and travelling fans, the team lined up Martin, Smith, MacKenzie, Beevers, Lewington (c)in defence with the midfield of S. Williams, Potter, Chadwick, with the three forwards Ibehre, Bowditch, MacDonald in whatever position they go in in a 4-3-2-1 formation lol the bench saw a return for Gleeson Doumbe Balanta Powell and Flanagan with McLoughlin also back on the strong looking bench. I did think that Gleeson on the bench was a bit of a surprise as if he wants to go Id have thought he would be in the shop window for the sales as it were ! but then thinking about it if he is playing badly we might not sell him come January and we'd be left with an unhappy player till June when he goes he for nothing.

The mystery deepened as Gleeson was named as a sub but then O'Shea took his place and the rumour was Gleeson had a strop about being on the bench, reading various tweets Id wished I could say what I had heard in the week but obviously I couldn't so had to wait till someone else broke the news most of you had probably guessed. The result was a good away win taking us up to third but the stroppy midfielder took up a fair share of the after match discussion, the goals came again from Jabo the on fire striker who seems to be having the best season ever and the natural successor to Gleeson should he leave in January Shaun Williams got on the score sheet as well.

The game against Preston saw Williams co-commentate on three counties and we missed him I thought, with Potter and Gleeson back from the mysterious foot injury seeming to have trouble getting their passes to a fellow Dons player.

But overall I thought Preston were the better team with no manager and the hatchet man Risdale looking to make savings and no doubt get rid of the surplus to requirements players the talented Coutts as captain and his team were playing for their jobs.The towering 6'5 McCoumbe in defence bullying our players off the ball in a game we never really got into despite the superior possession figures, I thought we just looked the second best team on the day and we lost at home,it was going to happen sometime Id just thought it might be to a team above us.

The two Sheffield's were both now above us and I think they will take some shifting I still think Charlton will wobble and Huddersfield to me are the team we need to be matching result wise to stay in the pack Brentford continue to be my surprise package for a play off spot as I have thought they would be all season and will be team that could take our fifth spot come end of season but we cant discount Stevenage who have quietly sneaked up the table while we all watched the Sheffield's and Huddersfield.

Karl and John both had their contracts.. well tarted up a bit ( as they had already extended them earlier in the season )and I guess it just meant they got a pay rise and some better clauses put in which hopefully means we get good compensation should one or both get poached the comments Karl has made recently about one day leaving (lately after the Preston manager went)makes me think we as a club are covering such eventualality when or if it does happen..who knows!

Looking at the home attendance's at the roughly half way point of eleven games I saw we are a thousand up on last season and this despite the number of away fans travelling being down, the natural conclusion is the home fans figure is getting back toward the nine thousand mark baring in mind the figure picks up later in season, at the moment it stands at 8246 average gate if worked out on total attendance this season of 90714 against last seasons 89710.

While I was in a nerdy mood I looked at where our goals have come from after hearing we had scored most goals in all four leagues and was surprised to see we don't have one player in the league list Rochdale's Ashley Grimes was there with eight goals so I had a look at our OS stats and saw the highest scorers are Jabo and Charlie Mac on seven with Bowditch on six even Lewie chipped in with same amount as Balanta on four and I thought what if we had a Jordan Rhodes on fifteen or Bradley W-P on fourteen in the side ! even Preston's Neil Mellor had nine.. where would we be now in the league with a twenty goal a season player.

Many of us were disappointed to learn the kick off time for the Orient game had been moved to 1pm meaning the official coaches would be leaving at 9.30am on Boxing day a full half hour before they would leave for Brentford and three and a half hours before the match started, meaning many fans would have to get up at eight or eight thirty the day after Christmas to make the trip and a lot were put off.Due to the industrial action by transport workers making your own way there was problematic and the only choice apart from the official coach was to drive down yourself.

On Monday the 19th we played a closed door match with Millwall at the Stadium with the pitch at Woughton being too wet and boggy the result was 3-0 to us with Charlie Collins opening the scoring minutes later Adam Chicksen doubled the lead curling his shot to the left of the keeper, a handball inside the area gave Shaun Williams the chance to score from the spot which he duly did making the score three nil in the first half. The second half saw no goals but it was a good test for the players ahead of the Christmas fixtures and a chance for the fringe players to show what they were made of Lewis Guy was back from his loan at Oxford which surprised me as I thought he'd stay till end of season with McNamee and O'Shea I really cant see he will be needed unless of course Balanta is going back to QPR. The starting eleven were McLoughlin, Ivey-Ward, Flanagan, Kouo-Doumbe, Chicksen, Guy, Williams, Powell, Balanta, O'Shea,Collins

In other news I was surprised to see mkdons online shut down most of you will have read the blog there so not sure how many of you have found this months offering I know from email recieved on Christmas eve that the owner has been asked to develop the MKDSA site and so has rejoined the SA to do so and has closed the other site which is a shame as it was an independent site I will put a link up on twitter @Gunnerdon and http://www.thezonemk.co.uk/phpbb3/viewforum.php?f=106 for the blog and see how it goes.

I had only received a couple of stats for the blog from mkdons online admin but it got 700 hits one month and the last figure I got was for the first two days of October where it had already got 460 plus and that was the last stat I got. For the uncut version I have had 450 plus hits on top of the mkdons online figure and that is where any future blogs will be found so excuse the typo's and bad grammar as its uncut. When I started doing the blog on the old mkdons forum I said Id be happy if fifty/hundred people read it so to be getting nearer a thousand than a hundred is staggering and thank you to everyone who reads the blog and let your friends know lol.

As Christmas approached the boss Karl Robinson along with goalkeeping coach Paul Heald captain Dean Lewington and a number of other players took bags full of presents on behalf of the Club to children at MK Hospital, the whole squad put their hands in their pockets to give gifts for the visit as well an outdoor playhouse for the ward.Awadh Ahmed, Daniel Powell and David Martin were among the other players who delivered Christmas gifts to the Children's Ward.

We also heard that Stadiummk will welcome back the Saints on Saturday 21st January, while we are away to Notts County so another full house that day Id imagine, saying that the sales of QPR tickets are going well with a couple of weeks to go which means the League 1 away fixture at Stevenage has been rescheduled for Tuesday 24th January kick-off 7.45pm which wont be as well attended I fear, I spoke to Karl and he reckoned we would get fifteen thousand at the QPR game.

On Boxing day we played Leyton Orient we lined up in our familiar 4-2-3-1 of Martin, A Smith, MacKenzie, Kouo-Doumbe , Lewington (c), Potter, Gleeson; Chadwick), Ibehre, Bowditch , MacDonald . After what some called a slow start( but was probably more down to a cautious respect of the O's who have shown some form of late) we opened the scoring with a Bowditch goal after a lovely cross from Adam Smith before half time and then there was only one team in it. Smith's screamer for the second was watched into the net by the 362 Dons fans who found a way round the transport strike and Charlie Mac got the third a tap in after a strike from Lewie was saved , having a bit of a soft spot for Orient I wont gloat too much and sometimes the opposition view is a good a way to sum up the game and I found a lovely combination of wit and honesty on another blog

http://www.leyton-orient-blog.blogspot.com/2011/12/leyton-orient-0-mk-dons-3-261211.html

To quote: it seemed apparent that the MK Dons squad had spent Christmas Day drinking protein shakes, doing one-handed press-ups and firing themselves up by watching the famous Battle of Agincourt speech from Henry V. The Orient team, meanwhile, had clearly passed the time with their heads stuck down a bumper-sized box of Quality Street while plumped on the sofa sniggering, burping and farting their way through Home Alone.Goal times were: Bowditch 37, A Smith 57, MacDonald 63 the attendance was 4,162 (362 Dons).

Our next game and the final one of the month was at Brentford and with the loan spells of Beevers and Balanta about to finish we heard talk of Karl wanting to keep both, personally I would not have been too sorry to see the back of Balanta who has not been the same this season and Id have been quite happy to see O'Shea or even the in form McNamee currently at Wycombe given a chance but I think we should not leave ourselves short of players and if both players go I would like to see Karl get cover and keep the squad about the same size.

I wouldn't even mind another Prem rising star in the Adam Smith type mould or a young hungry player like Balanta was last season. Beevers looked a cert to be called back to his parent club of Sheffield Wednesday and Megson cant be criticised too much for not helping a rival for promotion keep one of his players at the business end of the season.

As I alluded to earlier the In's and outs of January can be make or break time for any club and a club like ours which is watching the wage bill expenditure has to get the balance right.

And so the the last game of the year was upon us and there it was no wait and suss the opposition out we came flying out of the starting blocks like a team possessed and scored two goals in less than ten minutes and showed total domination the whole of the first half with Potter and Balanta getting the early goals. Not to be outdone on his former manor Charlie MacDonald did what past players often do and scored against his former club just before half time.

The second half again saw the Dons start the brighter of the two teams but with twenty minutes left the Bee's got a goal back against the run of play but there was worse to come when a penalty was given against us for handball and from being three nil up we were looking to save the three points. But even worse was to come as we entered injury time Legge scored after a free kick and Brentford had pulled off a remarkable comeback , bright side for me was that Id have been happy with a draw before the game but to lose a three goal advantage does hurt and to get the Auto spots I think you just cant do that and we wont make them because we are just not that good in defence, we also seem to lack concentration at key times against the better teams.

In true foot in mouth fashion Gleeson and Balanta had better games first half making me wish Id just not mentioned them this month and I'm sure if Balanta does go back to QPR his past non performances will be forgotten and everyone will just remember the first half at Brentford !

But Gleeson nearly got himself sent off for not being able to shut up after a foul and booking and Balanta faded as the game went on so perhaps I did call it right.

Tthe team lined up- Martin, Smith, Doumbe, MacKenzie, Lewington, Potter, Gleeson, Ibhere, Bowditch, Balanta; MacDonald the subs were:- McLoughlin, Williams, Flanagan, Powell, O'Shea

The attendance was 5,397 with a disputable 420 Dons fans both teirs looked pretty full according to most there.

And the Forrester who came on as a sub for Brentford was indeed our own academy lad Remy's brother so a dilemma that day for our young academy player.

We have Smith suspended for Monday and I wondered if Flanagan or Williams will start with Doumbe going to right back or whether Karl will keep the Centre backs the same and play someone else at right back, Baldock would be good!
Happy New Year to everyone and hope you all had a great Christmas.
COYD

November Musing Uncut

So the month started with the news we are to play Nantwich on Saturday 12th November, and the news was greeted with talk not of the opposition but the price of the game.
Both clubs had agreed the prices were to be £15 for Adults £4 for Under-18s and £11 for Over-65s in all areas except club red where it was £20. There was also rather oddly no under 7's free tickets for this game which made the whole day quite an expensive one for the family considering it was a first round FA Cup match. As both clubs had agreed and Nantwich get a cut I guess they must have thought the folk of MK turn out for the cup matches in their numbers most of us thought a tenner would have been the right price for this stage of the competition.I was told by someone Id better not mention that although it was agreed by both clubs it was Nantwich that asked for the higher price in fact I was told they had asked for it to be sixteen Pounds ! which would make sense if they thought it was going to be a big crowd but more on that later.
Amongst those training the day before the Rochdale game were David Thompson ex Liverpool,Coventry, Blackburn, Wigan, Portsmouth and Bolton player who had retired at thirty with chronic cartlidge knee injury three years ago but has now been told by his Doctor he can play Karl told me he was going to give him a game (closed door)and that Thompson had said he'd play for nothing as he'd had ten years in the Premiership and just wanted to play again although I thought he would probably be on a small wage if he did play David said he hadn't officially retired when I asked him if he was officially retired but he didn't really seem to keen to talk, Karl did joke to him about not being asked for his autograph for a while when one of the fans asked for it which I did think was quite funny( he played later in the month for the first half against Coventry).

The first game of the month was against Rochdale and designated as Armed Forces Day and we had our very own Mark Smith, a Lance Sergeant with the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards with us to present the match ball to the team Mark has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia. Mark was injured after being shot in the arm and the leg and as a result Mark had his right leg amputated. Mark has the Dons crest on his forearm and I'm sure some of you will know him. Mark presented the match ball on Saturday on his new prosthetic leg. I saw Mark arrive and he looked well and also seemed to be walking well on his new leg and when he presented the match day ball and I guess most of us had a lump in our throats watching him walk out.

The game was a convincing three one win and I like many thought Martin had made the howler to end all howlers when he seemed to just let the free kick drop over his head into the net but with the benefit of the replay's on SSN and Football league show I think it was more a case of a very good free kick fooling him, some behind the goal seemed to think it was going over as well but I still think it has to be put down as keeper error in the Seaman style of balls no one thought were going in , as it turned out I think it probably gave us the push we needed and we played well as a team and the score reflected the match overall I even thought Dale played some nice Football in midfield and just need to tighten their defence and get a striker in come January to capitalise on the capable midfield certainly not the worse team I have seen this season.
John took mainly fringe and academy players for the first training session I saw on the Tuesday with exception of Gleeson there were no first team players there, also training with the squad was Stuart Searle who has been injured and is here to get back to full fitness for Chelmsford as he still lives in Milton Keynes which was handy as Ian was on International duty and David only had Paul Heald to keep him company also called up for International duty were Gary Mac and Adam Smith although Gary only made the bench, as an aside Stuart is now fit and back in goal for fourth place Chelmsford and was still training with us as Chelmsford only train twice a week.

Later in the week saw the guest coach and former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright join the team he joined the players for a game and hopefully imparted some of his goalscoring wisdom on our strikers I along with a couple of other fans got to get a picture and say hello I even got a picture of his car a Land Rover Overfinch for those petrol heads interested ! not sure whether he was or wasnt at Brammall Lane but I have not seen him since.

We also heard another four academy players have been given squad numbers ahead of the FA Cup game against Nantwich Town they were seventeen-year-old Leon Lobjoit, 16-year-old George Williams and 15-year-olds Dele Alli and Brendan Galloway they have all been registered with first team numbers with the Football League and Football Association but as I noticed not the academy golden child Seyi Ojo who I understand is looking at four Premiership clubs before deciding which one to join. I spoke to Brendan Galloway and said congratulations on his squad number and wished him well for the game although I did wonder why Remy Forrester wasn't given a number as he really stood out to me in the academy games I have seen.
Full-back Lobjoit will wear 34, young striker Williams (not to be confused with player of same name who has left academy) has been given the 35 shirt while midfielders Alli number 36 and Galloway 37 all four were expected to be on the bench for Karl's 18-man squad for Saturday.
The game as a lot of us thought it would be was a comfortable win and no FA upset although Nantwich held on for twenty seven minutes and went into half time just two down the part timers were never really going to get anything from the game and we cruised through to the next round with goals from Kouo-Doumbe on 27minutes, Bowditch 30 and 54 Powell on 66 ,the back from injury O'Shea on 76 and raising a big cheer on the day young George Williams on 89. George becomes the Dons youngest ever goalscorer the crowd wasn't as bad as some had forecast with 3354 home fans and an impressive 756 away fans made the trip for what was a big day for their club, the only good thing about the smaller crowds I find at SMK is the atmosphere is often better than when we get the bigger gates which is very odd but I still think we would have had a lot more fans had it been made a tenner maybe all our season ticket holders would have come!
Before the game Karl was fuming after what has been called rogue scouts breached FA rules by trying to tap up some of our academy lads at the game at Woughton. Karl was reported to be preparing to make an official complaint to the FA on the Monday morning having recorded a number of agents making illegal approaches to youth players after the game.We have one of the most highly rated academies certainly outside of the Premiership and I think I voiced my worries in a previous blog and predicted this would happen with the new ruling the FA has put in place , one that helps the Prem clubs pick up future talent for next to nothing,the game against Bristol Rovers saw us lose 0-3 .

The draw for the second round of the FA cup saw us pitted against Barnet at Barnet a ground we have been to a few times and not a fixture that gets the heart pumping but a winnable game that could lead to that big day out at a prem club or a good pay day at home.
With a closed door match against Coventry on the 15th the players that wouldn't be playing trained earlier than usual so Joe the groundsman could get the pitch ready for the afternoon game I spoke to Karl before the game and he said he was putting out a strong team with John in charge the game ended 2-2 I asked Karl what he thought and he said he'd seen better any of you old enough to remember will know Steven "Oggy" Ogrizovic he was born in Mansfield and achieved fame during his 16 years at Coventry City (1984 to 2000)for the record of 601 appearances as a player in all competitions and he played in the winning FA Cup team of 1987 and he was here with the Coventry entourage.

Ahead of the Colchester game the players trained in the dome (or the bubble take your pick) at Woughton where to my untrained eye they seemed to be concentrating on fast close quarter passing and keeping the fitness levels up with fast paced short matches.The team travelled on the Friday for the relatively short journey of just over one hundred miles when I asked Karl about this he said it was because they had been caught before in traffic and he wanted to train before the game rather than sit in traffic and have to get off the coach and play but I also suspect it was because we have a bit more money available following news of the Stadium:mk retail development plans, of course another reason might be the sale to Liverpool of Seyi Ojo who completed his move to join Liverpool Academy on the Friday the 14-year-old midfielder who has been here since he was ten and has been capped twice at England Under-16 level this was during their recent Victory Shield campaign was thought to have gone for in the region of two million but that's unconfirmed and was the figure mentioned for the earlier bid of Chelsea.
As we know the Colchester game was a resounding 5-1 win but it wasn't all one way traffic in the first half, we were lucky to go into half time ahead after being one nil down Martin made some good saves tipping one over and chesting one away at what were crucial times .The second half however saw a totally dominant display, with the goal fest we were expecting to see at Walsall the away game before, sadly all the teams above us won their games but a gap is opening below and all we can do is win the games we play and hope those above have a wobble. The U's manager John Ward said after the game the best signing Robbo has made is John Gorman and I tend to agree after watching the work he puts in at the training ground always the first to leave and last to go and I think he and the other coaching staff must get really pissed off when they read Fowler is still here or Wrighty is employed as a coach as if the odd day Fowler did and the one day Wrighty was here has turned us into another team ..when from my perspective we have just done what we have threatened to do all season re the Nantwich and Colchester games.

On the Tuesday before the Wycombe derby we played a friendly against Watford another of those behind closed door games in a field and there was literaly a man and his dog among the crowd ! We played what I guess is our reserve side bar two or three the result was a 3-1 win for the Dons with Watfords goal being a gift from McLoughlin who seemed to catch the ball and drop it in his net it may not have been that bad but I was as far away as I could be at far end of pitch(well actually in clubhouse)but it looked an easy save.

Bowditch got the first and MacKenzie the second with his head ,the third was a Bowditch free kick Watford had a mix of first year pro's and reserves with a couple of first teamers returning from injury .We were the better team and a blatant handball was not seen and a couple of chances missed otherwise it would have been five or six Balanta and Guy played well as did Baldock at right back who told me after the game he liked playing in that position, in fact no player had a bad game and we looked very comfortable on the ball John was in charge although Karl was there with the Watford manager Sean Dyche as Ive said before I'm awful at match reports so that's as good as it gets from me and I have only attempted it as I haven't read about the game elsewhere .

Paul Heald put his gloves back on Friday in aid of charity at Newport Pagnall FC to raise funds Robbo also had a bit of a run out and scored one as well Peter Leven was also there watching( and probably wishing he was still a part of the Dons looking at Oxfords recent form but he got the signing on fee and same wage so perhaps he just likes League Two) and over £1200 was raised for the worthy cause I spoke to Paul before the Wycombe game and he was still aching.

Friday was a busy day as the last day of loan window closed we heard Lewis Guy has rejoined Oxford on loan and was set to go straight into the side winger Anthony McNamee has joined our Buckinghamshire rivals Wycombe Wanderers till January 7th and Charlie Collins went to Kettering Town on loan for about three hours then was sent back as Kettering have a transfer embargo put on them which is bad news all round.

Which brings me neatly to the Wycombe game and memories of the away day when we drew with nine men, we haven't seen that much of Wycombe as they yo yo between L1 and L2 John Gorman has a connection with Wycombe as a former manager but apart from that there is not a lot of love in the air when we meet so I was looking forward to the game(well I look forward to every game but ..)and hopefully a good sound drubbing of our Bucks rivals but it was far from that and we were lucky to come away with all three points again Martin made two good saves that probably saved the three points but he still worries me at times.
The defence looked much weaker without the young Smith and Im glad he is here till end of the season Flanagan showed his age and inexperience with some bad decisions but Beevers across goal pass to him that resulted in a Wycombe goal was worse than anything Tom did,Doumbe again showed us why he is not first choice right back Lewie probably pick of defence but not his best game. Gleeson still nowhere near his best and still undisciplined Chadders ran his socks off as usual Potter showing signs of wear and tear Charlie did everything but score Bowditch looked class Jabo my MOM for his sheer work rate and enthusiasm deserved the sponsors award.I'll have some pictures up on http://gdmonthlymusingsuncut.blogspot.com/ later in the week so keep checking, the next game is Barnet where all the seats are sold out so its standing room only.
COYD

October Musing Uncut

So we move into October and the onset of the Autumnal weather, well usually but the month started unseasonably warm and the first game saw us take on our former manager in conditions that were more befitting the start of the season.
The mad dog was back in town with another of our former employee's Jude Stirling also present among the Notts County entourage so good and bad memories for me.
Allen arrived with the Notts players but did meet up with his family at the Stadium and his own mad dog a black Labrador who seemed very excited to be here although I don't know how happy he was at the end of the day baring in mind the score and the fact he was left in the people carrier on such a hot day albeit in the shade.

Mad Dog's Mad Dog in background

We played most of the game against ten men and the score probably didnt reflect fairly on the game as the last two goals came late on and the 3-0 made it look more a walk over than it actually was.

In other news we heard that both Harry Milton and George Baldock had gone out on loan to Averley in Ryman Prem and Northampton respectively with Karl going over to Northampton to watch George along with his brother Sam later in month.

Karl also managed to go and see his old mate Didi who now manages Stockport in fact its amazing how much football Karl does watch I often ask him where he is going and most times he says he is going to watch a game somewhere or other. Paul Mitchell as our scout See's even more and is out watching games most of all covering hundred's of miles a week often sleeping in his car .

With our game against Oldham moved to the following Monday Karl gave the players three days off and they returned to training on the Wednesday with a closed door match against West Ham arranged for the Friday which if anyone didn't know we lost.
I suppose the big news at that time was Karl being linked to the Forest job with the bookies making him odds on favourite at one time despite Karl himself saying he was flattered but not interested , I spoke to Karl about the job and speculation and he said to post up on the forums that he was staying and wasnt going anywhere.
Id told him I didn't post that much anymore but would put something up on the Zonemk Which is the only forum I actually belong to these days which I did.

The Monday night Oldham game saw us lose only our second match of the season after a horrendous blunder by Martin where he seemed to come out change his mind then fall over and Doumbe's less than convincing performance cost us the second to be fair the weather played its part in the first goal with wind and rain actually washing the lines off the pitch.
Morrison got a consolation goal but it was too little to late, Karl was fuming after game and told me he didn't remember what he said post match but after watching match back he said it wasn't as bad as he thought but he was still disappointed .

The players were called into training on the Tuesday after the match but were given Wednesday off on the Thursday we had all our players training MacDonald Jabo and O'Shea were not in main group but it was good to see the whole squad at Woughton.
I had a chat with Morrison who is very funny and one of the squad that you notice as being quite a character, he was talking about the forthcoming Sheffield Derby and he thought that it would be a fiery affair and he thought there would be trouble, I asked him when his contract was up and he said end of the season with an option to extend which he wasn't going to do as he didn't like it there and wanted to stay here I said we couldn't afford your wages, he laughed and said if you want to get promoted you have to spend I said we had been down that road with other managers and not got promoted and I didn't think the Chairman would spend more than he has. Clinton sort of agreed but agreed it might be better to take a pay cut than be without a club when managers then start looking at your age, I was very diplomatic and didn't feel like he was going to belt me he was smiling most of the time anyway.
I wont say what he said about certain people but I guess some of you can imagine what I'm sort of not saying here !
I asked Lewie about Swailes (yes Im still trying to find out) and he said he was talking about him recently to Nav (Alan Navarro) and he couldn't remember whether he had a job yet but that he thought he was playing non league football but not at any level we'd know of.

Bournemouth legend Stephen Fletcher

Ahead of the Cherries game i had a chat with Peter Cork from the old Wimbledon days who has been either here or at Wimbledon for 35 years and he was telling me about the old days when he joined Wimbledon after talking to Ron Noades who asked him to become a director there. Peter was a branch manager at Lloyds and Ron was impressed with the way Peter could talk to anyone and put them at ease and offered him the job this was back in days before Wimbledon were even in the league and a long time before the FA cup win of 1988. Peter had been with another non league club and had founded the old Central Division where they still play for the Peter Cork Cup which he is very proud of, if you ever get the chance to speak with Peter do so as he is great to talk to and travels here from Weybridge for every game.

The Bournemouth game was a disappointment to me I was expecting us to win comfortably even though I knew Bradbury had said in as many words they were coming for the draw and would set up a defencive side hoping to get something on the break.
But to me we gifted them two goals Big Mac literally passing to the Cherries player Wesley Thomas while the whole defence was to blame for the other, it turned out to be a point gained rather than two thrown away in the end as we failed to capitalise on chances we had Bowditch heading over the bar Gleeson(who I thought was poor by his standards)and Chadwick both shooting straight at the keeper and the worry is that we are over complicating things by passing too much .
By that I mean we are trying to be too clever in the area with little step overs and letting ball run when to be blunt we aren't that good ,better than last season but not in the Barcelona mould, sometimes a shot can be the best option rather than trying to play the ball into the net which I do feel we do too much of , other managers have sussed it and get players back while we are buggering about emulating Messi and the like.

Maybe Im being too harsh after the disappointment but there you are, I may feel different after we win a game.
We also heard that Chelsea were to pay £2m for one of our 14-year-olds Oluwaseyi Ojo Chelsea we were told have agreed to pay a staggering £2million to make the player the most expensive 14-year-old in football, Id heard about this the day before the Oldham game and asked Karl who said we'd have a job keeping him but as far as I know the deal hadn't been done then.

On the subject of the academy I was pleased to see a few more of them making up the numbers for the training game the players have as part of the normal training session I didn't see Oluwaseyi but was told by Bobby Winkelman he was on pitch half time during Bournemouth match getting his England shirt but I was in the concourse keeping out of the sun so I'll have to take his word on that.
Karl had two of the academy lads putting a smaller goal within the larger goal for the players to practise hitting the corners he told me it was something he taught eight year old's at Liverpool and that he was fed up with the players fannying about and not shooting so not just me then! he said he heard us described as like Arsenal and I said we do tend to over complicate things (see diplomatic again)and he was aware that we need to shoot more which I was happy to hear but he also wont change the style we play so I suppose we are going to have to wait and see how that pans out.

It was the Citizen family fun day for the Scunthorpe game and it turned out to be real sleepy affair and not much fun at all with the Iron keeper rarely troubled in Morrison's last game here. I suppose they were in the Championship last season and the one before but we created very little for Clinton to get his teeth into and say goodbye the way he would have wanted. We slipped to sixth and other results helped us not slipping further but the feeling amongst the fans I speak to is that we are looking stale and lacking any sort of back up plan, Gleeson again had a poor game and seems to not want to be here sometimes, I dont want to single him out but when he or Chadwick play poorly we seem to lose that cutting edge.
On the plus side the gate was 10,554 with 589 away fans I just wish when we get the big gates the performance is a little better as I would like to see the occasional fan come a bit more often but I suppose we all wish that !

On Monday 24th the under 16's played a game against Tottenham which I went along to watch and almost the first person I walked into was Trevor Brooking who is now with the FA but we wont hold that against him, the new ruling about players being able to go for next to nothing to the big clubs meant the scouts were out in force ready to poach all our young talent for nothing, but with the promise of maybe one day sitting on the bench along side all the foreign players that will undoubtedly flood the English game as it wont be worth running Academies in this country the youngsters will have their heads turned I'm sure.

Anyway I wont go on to much about that! the game itself was a cracker and we were easily the best side I sat next to a reporter from a Spurs website and he said were a tidy organised outfit the goal of game was a stunning free-kick from Remy Forrester in front of an impressive 1,641 Dons coach Dan Micciche was unable to select the golden child of the academy poster boy Seyi Ojo, who was on international duty with England or at Chelsea in the million pound deal you decide.

On Tuesday night the first team were off to Bramall lane and changes were forced upon Karl with MacKenzie out with knee injury, Doumbe was unable to cover due to injury( but not the same one that kept him out before at start of season) so Flanagan was drafted in Balanta was dropped after poor performance's recently giving Williams a spot, I thought Karl might drop Gleeson as he has been worse but then we might not have got the solitary goal we did get in what was the expected result or the season so far for me, the team lined up at Bramall Lane for the 2-1 defeat (4-3-3): Martin, Smith, Flanagan, Beevers, Lewington (c); S Williams (Balanta 70), Potter, Gleeson; Chadwick, Ibehre (MacDonald 70), Bowditch (Powell 70)we finished with ten men as Smith got himself sent off for two yellows in front of a rather impressive 16,367 gate.

It was much the same story for the under 18's back at SMK on Wednesday with them again getting knocked out of the FA youth cup at the first hurdle by the same team that knocked them out the year before Walsall,I thought we were the better team but lacked the finishing touch with the post saving the young saddlers after a good break that split thier defence apart only 500 odd watched this though due I think to the lack of advertising, the team lined up (4-2-3-1): Bragg; Spence, Ivey Ward (c), Walster, Plowright; Gyasi (Mo Ahmed 71), Lobjoit, Fuad Ahmed, Powell, Awadh Ahmed; Williams (Osei-Addo 86)and the unused subs were Burns, Hickford, Galloway.I managed to have a word with George Baldock about his loan at Northampton and he is enjoying playing first team football there but that it was totally different to the style we play I asked him about Sam and he has bought a house down in leafy Epping and is settling in there so our Sam is now an Essex boy!

Karl had some of the young academy players training with the team again on Friday before Walsall game and when the senior players left John Gorman stayed behind to coach them further,Karl said he had also been to watch Seyi Ojo play at Cheltenham for England U16's and was surprised no other managers were there and it got me thinking how many managers actualy bother to watch the youngsters their club produces let alone bring them into training sessions with senior players I said as much to him and he said some of the fans are too short sighted and he is thinking about the club in four years time as well as now and the proudest moment he had at Cheltenham apart from seeing Ojo play was fact that two of the team were players he signed as seven year olds when he was at Liverpool. I genuinly believe Karl wants this club to be successful and loves the club and I would hate to see him leave over the budget which has been cut from last season, after all the bench at Sheffield cost more than our entire team and our budget is tiny in comparison.
So the last game of the month was against Walsall and a game I think most of us were thinking had to be a win or else we were going to slip away from the pack with some fans saying that we were now never going to get Automatic promotion and the most pessimistic saying play off's were unrealistic and this all before November! As for the game for me it was another unconvincing performance where despite Walker the Walsall Keeper being sent off we failed to trouble Lee Beevers deciding to kick the ball into his arms and make the defender look good at every possible chance we got, in fact if Gnakpa ball hadn't hit both posts before being kicked to safety and Walsall had kept the ball on target we could have had an embarrassing scoreline against ten men and a defender in goal.

With Charlton now ten points clear and Huddersfield seven with the two Sheffield's just behind them it could be argued that the top four is how it will be come May we certainly need to start finding the net more to be troubling the top four for their place that's for sure.
COYD

September Musing Uncut

After the great August we had in the league we were all looking forward to the month ahead with some tough games  against some of the more fancied sides in the league.
First up was the long trip to Carlisle and a place that hasn't been a happy venue result wise but we continued the run we were having and came away ending what some called the jinx with a 3-1 win.
As you can imagine the mood amongst the players and and management was really buzzing and the training ground  in particular so it was a bit of a surprise for me to see Ugochuku "Ugo" Ehiogu at Woughton accompanied by a friend of his who also joined in the training I never found out his name but he looked like a wrestler, huge guy Id guess a CB but he wasn't very fit in a football sense.
The reason I say I was surprised was after his trial with us last season Ego retired,I asked Karl about it and he said Ego was here to keep fit do a bit of training with us  and offer some coaching to players while he was here.
On transfer deadline day we saw arrival of some new boys, first centre back Mark Beevers joined on a four-month loan from our League 1 rivals Sheffield Wednesday .
Mark rose through the ranks at Hillsborough and made his debut for the Owls as a  17 year old. He was a first team regular in the Championship but was out of favour when Gary Megson took over as manager in February.
Our young keeper McLoughlin was called up to Republic of Ireland Under-21  and played in their win while Adam Smith our Spurs loan was called up and came on as a sub in the England match.
Another bit of good news was the contract extension signed by MacKenzie although Gleeson has been offered an extension he is holding tight an has expressed a desire to play in Championship next season so Id think he will go for free if we dont get promoted,as we know with Leven that tactic doesn't always work and you can find yourself playing a league below where you were but in Stephen's case I think he would find a Championship club wanting him.
Another of our Irishmen Sean Williams also extended his contract a further year proving his versatility in defence and Midfield has not gone unnoticed.
Doumbe and O'Shea were the only injury concerns with Doumbe telling me he was bored now and wanting to get back, but the physios have to hold him back in training as he tends to go at it a bit hard and risks set back Doumbe is one of those players that is one hundred percent all the time which is great on the pitch but not so good when recovering from injury.
Karl and Lewie went off  to Wembley for the citizen of the year award after one training session, it had been pouring with rain and they both got in Karls new car both of them soaked which was quite funny as they had nothing to cover the seats with.

I spoke to Karl just after it was announced he had got the manager of the month award and asked him if he was worried about the curse some say comes with it ,he said he wasnt but said he did have some superstitions in Football but that wasn't one, I said to him at the time it never seems to effect Sir Alex and he wins it more than most.
It must just be a League thing and not a Prem thing as Karl did indeed suffer the curse losing the next game to Sheffield Weds in a strange match where we played the better football against Megson's hoofball and ugly tactics yet came away with nothing but a red card and a nasty injury to Gleeson that went unpunished.

I spoke to karl and Big Mac who both said they tried to bully and and kick lumps out of the team Karl said we stood up to them and Gary said apart from Stevenage to a lesser degree they were a team full of big players who relied on that and long balls and long throws and didn't even try to play football which Gary thought was a shame as they had good players.
As a result all bar Martin and Williams of the starting eleven missed training on the Monday due to knocks.
Another  familiar face showed up at Woughton in the shape of a chubby Nathan Abbey a former keeper here not so long back.
Nathan turned up in a brand new Audi sports coupe and I thought "well he must doing alright", as it turned out he is now selling cars for a living so I guess it probably wasn't his.
I asked about Danny Swailes as a follow up to the news I brought you last blog that he had retired but no one seems to know what he is doing now but I'll keep digging.
Another big game in shape of Huddersfield was next and the grading of the game as an A ensured it was one of the lowest attendances of season instead of one of the highest at  8,243 with 1,284 of those being away fans I heard a couple of fans I know go regularly and actually thought were season ticket holders(may have been buying additional) come out of box office moaning about the price and saying it was taking the piss. I without doubt think  the grading system has done as much to discourage the occasional and once a month type fan as anything else with possible exception of the abolition of under seven free with adult ticket , as I have in the past banged on about on the forum people are not going to join young Dons schemes as an occasional fan.
Our Cup match with Burnley saw a depleted squad with ten players unavailable through injury or suspension or being cup tied one fact Karl commented on was that we took ten academy graduates  both David Martin and Dean Lewington from the Wimbledon academy  and the others from the MK Dons Academy to Turf Moor the one's we are least likely to know were Milton, Gyasi, S Powell we lost 2-1 with Dan Powell getting our goal.
I spoke to Mike Dove at Woughton two days later and he had his own injury worries with a game coming up but was still smiling about the way his young charges have made the step up I said how well Chicksen had done playing as a right back when he is primarily a left back and I said I wondered how Lewie would adjust if asked to play there.
Mike said that Charlie Collins had been keen to tell him he had made a defencive header as Mike had often joked he never made them in the academy.
I know a few of us fans like to know what the old players are up to and I asked Mike if Igor Coranado had got anything sorted and although he isn't with another club he is still in touch with Mike and recently got married Igor has been back to Brazil since he left us and can actually speak three languages which is totally irrelevant but i thought id tell you anyway!

Karl told me that although Mark Beevers was fit he wouldn't automatically pick him as Tom Flanagan had played so well and his way was not to drop players if they were playing well and everyone had to fight for their place.
With the injury to MacDonald we saw the arrival on a month-long loan of Sheffield Wednesday striker Clinton Morrison the 32-year-old forward made the switch and went straight into the team despite not even training with the first team at Bury and came on second half at  Gigg Lane .

Morrison like many of our current squad  has represented the Republic of Ireland in Clinton's case 36 times and has played for Crystal Palace, Birmingham, Coventry City and Sheffield Wednesday in his career and he will be with us till at least 22nd October.

The last game of the month saw an end to end game against Charlton in what was one of the best games we will see at the stadium  and I hope Martin Allen and Danny Wilson who were watching enjoyed the  very decent performances from the academy graduates Flanagan and Chicksen as much as I did they certainly held their own against the table toppers .
So the month ended with us taking six points from a possible fifteen not the greatest tally but when looked at more in depth we see only one loss in six in a match we played well against one of the teams tipped by many to take an Auto spot and we did it with many enforced changes .
October will see more disappointments I'm sure but also some good football with key players returning and the squad in general looking good even the fringe players looking as though they can come in and more importantly fit in.
COYD

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: Pre Season Musing Uncut

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: Pre Season Musing Uncut: Well the Gunnerblog has been put to rest in its weekly form. I was asked to start it again by a lot of people but when the old MK Dons Fo...

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: July Musing Uncut

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: July Musing Uncut: So my second monthly musings starts with a quick round up of the pre-season games against Ampthill and Oxford United on Saturday 23 rd ...

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: August Musing Uncut

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: August Musing Uncut: So August draws to a close and what a month it has turned out to be with the Dons failing to lose a game home or away including the game at ...

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: Pre Season Musing Uncut

GD's Monthly Musings Uncut: Pre Season Musing Uncut: Well the Gunnerblog has been put to rest in its weekly form. I was asked to start it again by a lot of people but when the old MK Dons Fo...

Pre Season Musing Uncut

Well the Gunnerblog has been put to rest in its weekly form.
I was asked to start it again by a lot of people but when the old MK Dons Forum closed down (due to the actions of some of our more stupid fans) I decided to stop the blog as well.  I was asked to continue the blog on the Zone MK forum when most of us found our way there, but I decided the blog was so synonymous with the MK Dons Forum that I would let it fade away as the forum did.

As we know the Moocamp Forum closed shortly after the MK Dons Forum and two new sites (The Concrete Roundabout and The New Moo) sprung up together with a section of the Zone MK Forum which was a well established local football website.  The Zone added a Dons section to kindly accommodate us old MK Dons Forum folk that needed a home, so out of two came three forums.


I initially joined The Zone as a moderator but posted under another name in case any of the undesirables decided to follow and cause trouble.  But after a few weeks all seemed quite quiet and everyone seemed to find out my moderator alias was in fact me.  Actually I got the idea from another Dons forum where the owner posted under another name and moderated under an alias.

I stepped down as a moderator when The Zone became the most populated of the three forums despite the fact it was never advertised in the immediate weeks following the closure of the Moocamp and MK Dons Forums by the MKDSA site giving the other two site a good head start.
However it still managed to become a popular site which is a great reflection on those that posted regularly on The Zone and the MKDons forum before it.

But enough of all that last season stuff and on to new season.  So another pre-season begins.  A pre season is like the new season but not really if you know what I mean.  Like last season we had a manager in place, a luxury we are getting used to.  And this season Karl Robinson had more time with contracts expiring to really put his stamp on the team and mould it into a fully fledged Robbo squad.

Something that was also evident was the preparation for pre-season.  In a conversation I had with Karl just before the Posh game at London Road I asked him where the team would be going in the summer.  Karl said that he was arranging games with Drogheda and St Patrick during a training camp in Ireland.  As we know now, St Patrick had Europa Cup commitments and had to pull out which is why the clubs involved didn't make it public knowledge the minute things were talked about .

Close season we saw two new signings arrive in the shape of Darren Potter and Dean Bowditch, which of course led to speculation that players who play in same position were leaving.  With Sam Baldock and Peter Leven both having been subject of interest from other clubs in the past, and with Peterborough making an offer for Sam most of us were thinking they would probably go.

Posh seemed very keen on Gleeson as well, but the double offer Posh made was rejected which in turn caused Posh to up the offer for Sam alone.  MK Dons as a club then allowed him to meet with the Posh.  Then it really got interesting!  With what seemed like a done deal between the clubs Sam went to meet Fergie Junior and before we could start arguing about which striker would start for us on the opening day... the deal was off !

According to MK Dons Online sources £1.6 million was offered for Gleeson and Baldock which was rejected, and the revised sum of £1.2 million for Sam on his own was the one that ended when Sam and Darren Ferguson couldn't agree.  (On what we’ll never know).

As for the players that we signed, Dean Bowditch joined us from Yeovil after rejecting an offer to extend his contract there.  The twenty five year old  scored fifteen goals in forty one league appearances for them.  Dean has been capped at three different international levels for England and is a player many fans here have expressed interest in during the last few seasons.  The question is, will he be the strike partner for Sam (providing of course Sam is still here and no other more offers come in).

Another close season signing was Darren Potter who left Sheffield Wednesday by mutual consent.  Darren has been capped many times for Ireland at youth level but comes with mixed reviews from the Wednesday fans.  With Leven not signing an extension, Darren is thought to be the replacement by many.  As a  Liverpool lad he is well known to Karl and has been given the number eight shirt (at least untill official player shirt presentation).

I understood Karl was also looking at other young talent and I know he was also keen to get Balanta back.  But at time of writing, this prospect was looking unlikely.  The first day back from close season saw an unfortunate injury to Charlie Collins resulting in him being unable to travel to Ireland.  I spoke to John Gorman and he was upset for Charlie as the youngster was raring to go and make his mark on the team.

With the ever increasing ways of getting information about teams and players, blogs (other than daily types) are becoming almost as old news as printed newspapers, and at MK it is no different.  Several players and staff are tweeting regularly about what they are up to.  This was particularly evident during the players trip to Ireland where as fans we had very little information from official sources during the first few days of the ten days the squad were there.  

Another topic that is pretty much seasonal is the panic over squad size.  Even in June, as players left, there were some fans that worried they wouldn't be replaced in time and we’d start the season with whatever was left from previous season.  I never worry till August as these things have a habit of sorting themselves out, and with Karl putting the feelers out before the season had even finished I was less worried than I have ever been.

But we are a third division club and we have to wait for the big boys to decide what they are doing and who they are loaning out or releasing till we can add final touches to the team.  From what I have seen and heard, Karl has some good contacts and knows how to get players.  He may be criticised by some for no plan B on the pitch, but he certainly has plan B,C,D and E when it comes to getting a squad together.

One of the debates we have as fans is the size of squad, and I always say about 25-28 should be enough to cover the season with cup runs, injuries etc and always look back to seasons under Allen and Ince (Part 1) when we had upwards of thirty players.  I have also thought of the Ince (Part 2) time when we seemed to have injuries galore and had trouble getting a bench such was lack of fit players.

But times have changed and all clubs have cut back, with reserve teams all but a thing of the past outside of the Premier League and Championship.  This has led to ever decreasing squads and I was not surprised to learn that it is likely we will have our smallest squad for the coming season.  I'd guess from various conversations that we will go for quality players and less numbers rather than lesser quality and bigger numbers.  When I questioned this I was told that amongst other things it creates a small bonded team and that we will use the loan market much more when needed.

Of course budget plays a significant part and I'm sure that if he could, Karl would love a reserve team and a squad of thirty.  But even in the Premier League he would be limited to 25 under current rules.  I have to admit to not being entirely convinced that a squad of say 20 is enough but have definitely re-thought my previous player number requirement  which goes to prove that even an old dog can learn!

The first pre season game resulted in a convincing win at St Neots which was then followed by what were really Dons Xl games as the players from the senior team went to Ireland.   That being said, the Marshall Cup was regained at Newport Pagnell which is always a good addition to the trophy cabinet.

The first team and a number of trialists had an intense ten days in Ireland with the emphasis being on getting the player fit.  The two games we played (against Bangor Celtic and Drogheda United) were a chance for Karl to look at his squad and try different systems using all the players available to get match time under their belts.

The results in these pre-season games are not really that important as some players won't be here come the start of the season.  But it its something we need to do, if only to get players match time and of course to see if any of the players on trial will be suitable for the coming season.  At the time of writing we still need to fix our right back problem and have used Baldock (the younger) in one of the Ireland games to fill the role.

We have a pre season game with Oxford United this week and then the eagerly anticipated game with a Spurs Xl.  I think Harry will put out a decent team and we will see as Dons fans the team we will start the the season with.

We then have the very strange game against Buckingham Town which is like a late pre-season friendly as the season will be under way.  I just hope we dont pick up any injuries in what (although for a good cause) seems a strange match to be playing with the season ahead.  I suppose its the same as having a behind closed door match, but with the squad as small as it is this is still an odd decision to me.

Personally I think we will see more players come through the season on loan and don't think our youngsters will be rushed into the team with the likes of George Baldock Tom Flanagan Harry Milton and Charlie Collins going out on loan.  Maybe not all four of them at once, but I dont think they will be sitting around on the bench all season.

The young Ipswich and under 21 Irish international keeper seems to be favourite for the reserve keeper role and I think of the keepers we have looked at McLoughlin looks to be favorite for that role.  Another familiar face cropped up in the form of Carl Magnay who has been with us before in 2009 but went back to Chelsea after not impressing our manager.

So we have played and won all our pre season games so far.   I will be back for Part 2 of my pre-season musings and the start of the season thoughts in August.  Many thanks to MK Dons Online for asking me to do the Monthly Musings piece for them.

COYD

August Musing Uncut

So August draws to a close and what a month it has turned out to be with the Dons failing to lose a game home or away including the game at Carrow Rd and attaining the top spot in the league on goal difference.

But back to start of the month and Karl was looking at the England u20 squad and following their progress  he had told me and couple of other guys at Woughton that he was trying to get in Adam Smith for the right back position but couldnt until his England duty was over.

During the week before season started I spoke to various people including Karl ,John ,Angelo, Sam, Jay O'Shea and it was Sam who told me about the closed door match on the Tuesday before Hartlepool game but I didnt get an invite !

A lot of things Im told and hear I wont say who said them even though Im rarely told to not repeat it I just think its a bit wrong,anyone who reads my blogs and knows me will  know I usauly say I heard etc so you'll have to work out where I got it from from the people I name as speaking to.

I did manage to have word with the Chairman and he was pleased Karl was with us another season and said that Robbo knew the vision he had for the club and understood the budget restraints he has to work with Pete said he'd like the budget to be less than Robbo would but that they worked well together.

We spoke about past managers including Wilson and Allen and how things have changed.

I remembered when the team stayed in an hotel before the Wycombe game such was the money available to Allen and feel Karl is suffering for those extravagances now, under Ince Pt 1 we stayed in hotels even for trips to Southend.

At Yeovil this season the team made the trip there and back same day.

I had an interesting chat with James Burridge from Look East and he has been impressed with Karl and the way the team plays and thought he was a good manager we would be lucky to hang onto I get to speak to a few of the media crews that come to cover the club ahead of games and its always good to pick the brains of them about thier views of the club and what they think of other teams and clubs.

Most think we will get into play off's this season but that other bigger squads with bigger budgets will take the Auto spots.

I heard from one that the best thing about Norwich was Delia and they were an awkward club to deal with and that surprised me as I always think of them as a model for this club in the respct of thier work in community and the evidence of young fans they seem to have but just goes to show.

The things I heard about Posh are pretty much what we guessed Fergie is moody MacAnthony often wont talk to media etc

We had Chris Hughton son Cian training with us pre season and this was due to Karl friendship with his father and as I understood he was never going to actualy sign.

As we know Doumbe and Collins both picked up injuries and Charlie has only just started back training this week before the Stevenage game and Doumbe is still not training.

As the big day arrived and Hartlepool rolled into town we learnt that Durso was to referee so any thought of a win soon disappeared from my thought .I was actualy at players entrance when he arrived and one of our fans asked for his autograph and another said lets hope it only time you put anything in a book today Durso replied that will be a first..I kid you not.

Karl arrived in his wife's car as he was giving it a run out for her so I nearly missed him he was happy and looking forward to the game our old friend Motty turned up to watch  as well and as any of you who read the blog on other site will know he is quite a regular here.

It was around about the eighth of the month that the first of the rumours surrounding Sam surfaced with Watford and Burnley the names being bandied about the impression I got at time was Pete was going to cash in on Sam this window and that the various comments made were to get the offers in and start a bidding war.

Karl had said to a few of us pre season that we would be lucky to hang onto Sam and I took from that he knew about interest and clubs intentions.

The school holidays have meant a lot of kids have been at the various football summer schools at Woughton and it has become a bit of a ritual for them all to come over on the Friday for autographs and Karl happily walks the line of often forty kids chatting and signing he  then sends the players over at the end of thier training its all very noisy and friendly and  good to see .

On the 15th of August we finaly saw the arrival of Adam Smith and I managed to have a word with him and wish him well he's another player that is polite and happy to talk to fans and I have been impressed with his game so far and think he will be good player for us this season.

Robbo told me the day he arrived he would go straight into the team and we talked about the how the back four has changed since Karl arrived here the first time it was then I found out Danny Swailes has now retired due to injury which was sad to hear but seeing as he is still listed as a player probably and exclusive for anyone reading this.

I wont  dwell to much on our results and match performances as others do it better and we all know by now anyway but I have been impressed by the way despite Doumbe being out and Williams playing in an unfamilar position we have still not lost and Lewie has looked much better in the centre back role this season when he has played which adds weight to thoughts he may move to that role later in his career.

Adam is certainly a better left back than right but not sure whether he is the finished article as a replacement just yet.

I have spoken quite a lot with the players and in particular George Baldock who is very much like Sam in the way he speaks as well as his looks and movement, by that I mean he is intelligent and articulate and a credit to his parents and the club.

I said to George how impressed we were with his goal against Buckingham and he was giving Sam something to think about he replied Sam has scored much better goals and was generaly better funnily enough Sam has told me in the past he thought George was better and that is the way they are just really nice young men who support each other.

George had told me the older brother was a good player but gave up football to follow a medical career and is now a Doctor at a local Hospital when Sam went to West Ham George said before the Stevenage game it seemed wierd seeing him in a West Ham kit I joked that he'd be alright for a loan now and he might get Sam's car as a hand me downs.

As we know Sam choose West Ham over Southampton but he did go down there for talks ,but I think the meetings he had had with Big Sam Allardyce and probably the recommendation of Big Sam from Karl swayed it I had been told at the start of the week it was likely he would be gone by Friday but it was still sad to see one of own leave in what was a club record fee .

With John Gorman in particular working with the young players we have from the academy Im sure we will soon have another home grown product amongst the current crop to fill the gap left by Sam, my money would be on George who I think is a very good player and who knows he may well smash the club record in a few years.

I spoke to Lewie about the academy and how the old Wimbledon academy produced players that progressed to first team he said from his days there were seven and he is a big supporter of our academy and does look after the young lads as they come through .

Funnily enough we lost some of the seven Lewie spoke of to West Ham but for a fraction of thier worth and it shows how far the club has come from those days when the administrater sold the players not the club I know a lot of fans moan about Pete not throwing money at Karl for players but I think he very mindful of those dark days and the pickle other clubs have got themselves into that he is the way he is now and his desire to get the club running in budget without Inter Mk I think is one of his key plans.
The draw for the Carling Cup took place before the Stevenage game and I watched it with Andrew Cullen and others in the box office as Andrew reminded me I was with him last year at the same place when we drew Birmingham and our reaction to Burnley was about the same as it was then it was all very Deja Vu but we have had Norwich this season and a reasonable pay day there so we concluded we shouldn't be too greedy ..well we groaned and said why couldn't it have been Liverpool really but ....
The JPT game saw us battle the second half with ten men after a foul on last man by Williams which see's him pick up a one game ban and will make our  game with Carlisle that bit harder .
The game was decided by penalties and we missed two of the five and have waved goodbye to another Wembley day out.
And so we wait to see what players Karl will bring in during September a centre back is his priority so lets hope there is a good one out there we can have,Doumbe is due back in three weeks but we still need cover as I feel Flanagan after Brentford game is not ready for first team yet.
COYD