NEWS
NOTE:
Unless there are substantial sums of money involved, I do not give
permission for other clubs to use my match reports in their match day programmes.
Use your own bloody material.
14 May 2008
It's not that unusual about having a moment of doubt about the whole AFCW thing - is it really the same as the WFC I watched all them years? - and let's be honest, it has affected us all at some time or another within the last 6 years. While trudging up obediently to Buckinghamshire was never an option, we were effectively a new club and sometimes claiming we're the direct descendants of WFC could be a little bit of a self-delusion.
Then days like today come around and you realise that we ARE Wimbledon.
We always had the moral highground, but we also had the memories as well. It's days like today when the "continuation of Wimbledon" thing genuinely means something. These are our memories, these are our experiences - never, ever to get hijacked by a bunch of poisonous leeches. They don't have the memories, or the experiences, or the sheer fun of twenty years ago today. We lived it, they merely read it in a book.
No doubt today we're all reminiscing of that hot, sunny day 20 years ago when WE really did upset all the odds. What did the bookies on the day say we were - 4/1 against wasn't it? Hope some people made a bit of money that day. I'm sure there'll be tales of drunken debauchery (and that was just the players on the night before), at being nervous on the day. Though funnily enough, as a wee 12 year old at the time I really didn't suffer those nerves that I would now. You may remember how hot it was that day, how there seemed to be fuckloads of scousers in our end (ably assisted by Hammam's insistance on selling FAC final tickets to anyone - we should have seen the warning signs then), the absolute wall of noise.
You may recall Vinny Jones' first tackle on Steve McMahon which shut him up for the rest of the game. Remember how everyone made out McMahon to be the one who was going to put our alehouse lot in our rightful lowly place? I don't think he was ever the same player since. Neither was John Barnes come to think of it. Of course, Liverpool were the dominant team at the time, and had their fans not help kill 39 innocents at Heysel would have probably won more European Cups in that era. They also had the cleanest backside in football, with the amount of people who licked their arse at the time.
Remember the press buildup to that game? Had WFC been an individual getting that treatment they would have won millions in slander damages. But it wasn't, so it did the next best thing. Yes, our hearts all sank when Barnes managed to knee that ball instead of shooting, or indeed of Beardsley's disallowed goal. Of course, it was a goal and the ref should have played advantage. But I think I can now mention it 20 years on...
Then Terry Phelan's run that won us a free kick, Wisey's cross, Sanchez's flick on and - well, we all know the rest don't we? Though personally I thought Gibson should have made it 2-0 before the break. Just imagine if he'd had. Funny thing is, if that happened, we probably would have lost it.
As for the penalty, it wasn't then and it wasn't now. Cheating Scouse bastards. No doubt the ref knew he'd fucked up over Beardsley and went to redress the balance. But I'm glad he didn't, because it made Dave Beasant's career forever after that. From then on, I think we knew we'd won and more importantly so did Liverpool. OK they tried to equalise, but I think by then our name really was on the cup.
When that final whistle blew, WFC changed forever (ultimately for the bad) though I will never, ever swap that day for anything. Even for the demise of Franchise. While everyone remembers that Motson quote, he also said something like "they also play football at Wimbledon, and they win trophies......"
It was the end of an era for WFC then, and if truth be told I don't think we ever recovered from Hammam breaking up the team. But on that sunny day, on the 14th May 1988, we were on top of the world and ready to make that step forward.
Fast forward to May 14 2008 and things are different as we all know. Or are they? It's almost slipped off the radar, but today the good people of the Conference South are meeting in an AGM to let us into their league. Barring a last minute gatecrashing by Turdey who has found some archaic rule prohibiting us from going up (and you just know he's tried looking) we'll be officially welcomed into a division that Setanta show occasionally.
This is probably as big for AFCW in 2008 as the FAC final twenty years ago was for WFC. No, it's not in the same sphere publicity wise, but once we finally are allowed in, this club will change forever. We will have to mature, to grow up, and that's certainly no bad thing. All of a sudden we feel much more comfortable about next season. We never fitted in at all in the Ryman (and boy were we reminded of that or what?), but after today we'll know we will be playing at clubs with bigger ground capacities than ourselves. Maybe if Boston United are put in with us it'll be the first ex-league side still in their old ground that we'll play in the AFCW era.
Of course, it won't be like that forever. Give it a couple of seasons. and we'll end up getting fed up of yet another trip to the West Country and Bromley, and will be itching to move upwards to the big boys league. You know it and so do I. But for now, let's bask in our memories of 20 years ago, and look forward to what joys await us in the next 20 months.
Before I go, I'm a bit unsure what to think about Lewis Taylor coming back. I'm never really a fan of players returning to clubs some years on (MG excepted), although it sounds like he's matured a great deal. He won't be the last to join us though. Seems like the Horsham fans are pissed off, some insinuating that it's not much of a step up with us and he should have stayed with them because "we could have got promoted this season as well". This the same Horsham who right royally fucked up even getting a playoff place to begin with?
And Staines are STILL whinging about the playoff. Christ, even their website this very moment has their EOS presentation with a tagline of "controversial" on it. What - the sending off that never was, nor the penalty that never was? While their complaint that their goalie was fouled still doesn't have legs the more you look at it on the replay? Not forgetting their goalie was very, VERY lucky to stay on the pitch anyway. It really is as though there's a memory block over this. Still, it gives them the moral victory I suppose, and it'll probably be used as another stick to beat us with.
Getting slagged off because we refused to do what was right and proper and not "knowing our place" by having the temerity to win games. Is this 2008 or 1988?
7 May 2008
Feels really like summer today doesn't it? Sun is shining, the local wildlife fighting amongst themselves, too many ants about, headlines of "Phew! What a scorcher!" complete with bird with zeppelin-esque wangers on display, that sort of thing.
And the now traditional AFCW cull of players.
Now the euphoria of last Saturday is starting to dampen a little, we're already starting to turn towards next season. The reality is starting to sink in, both on the field and off it. People are excited, more tolerant of what's going on, but tinged with a little bit of regret. Confused? Don't worry, you soon won't be.
Firstly, it's obvious why we're excited. Even little things like getting a BSS logo on the shirts and getting the league positions on the BBC website make that difference. It was always a little-talked about side effect of 28/5/02 that in one stroke we lost little things like checking where we were in the league in the Sun or your preferred newspaper. Or checking on teletext. Or mentions on Sky. You don't realise how much you appreciate that kind of thing until you suddenly find yourself without it. So when the first league table comes up and you'll be checking on the BBC website instead of some amateur site (no disrespect, like), the hairs will stand up for that little bit.
And of course, there's the away trips. Newport County away is the first proper "long" one we've had in ages, although plenty will fancy a couple of trips to Bath. And Weston-Super-Mare if they kick Cambridge City out. Plus of course we might even be playing somebody like Boston United (and if the rest of the Ryman called us cheats over Darlogate, god knows what they'd make of them) or Redditch, or Worcester City. Thing is, most AFCW fans (and I expect both the readers of SW19) have watched a club called Wimbledon play in professional league football, with great media exposure, long away trips and all-seater stadia. Now the Wimbledon franchise of 2008 is in a division plenty of "ordinary" fans have heard of, or at least comprehend. Try explaining the concept of the Ryman League to an average Chelski fan. Actually, scrub that : try explaining the concept of writing your own name to an average Chelski supporter...
I think this step up has made people more tolerant of what's going on at AFCW. By that, I think I mean that people are going to be more willing to give the club some slack when it comes to asking for money. I'll be honest here - I was getting sick to my back teeth of the way we were seemingly getting pestered for money last season. I think that came in part from frustration about being in the RP, spending fuck knows how much on players who weren't really performing and a very real subconscious feel of what would happen if we were still in Turdeyville next season. But a definite release has happened, and now even occasional attendees are considering getting STs. As my old man often says, success breeds success. AFCW have gotten promotion and suddenly people feel good.
Admittedly, I won't be getting an ST for the same reason as I haven't got one for the last three seasons (something to do with paying £170+ up front when I can't afford it), but if the last few seasons I'd done it as a matter of duty rather than the pleasure I would have of renewing this time round. I think it's because we're in a higher league and one that in theory has far more exposure. And because of this, we accept we'll need to do things more "properly". The main stand works this summer suddenly become a lot more necessary (not that they weren't anyway IYSWIM), and somehow it seems more acceptable to do it when we'll be welcoming the likes of Newport down to Theme Park KM.
I know plenty of our fans (too many for my liking) let their idealism get in the way at times, but we're becoming more realistic about AFCW in its growth. Every so often, I used to hear comments about us having to get used to life in the Ryman League, and "I'm not in a rush to get promoted". The reactions after Saturday demonstrated what a crock of shite that attitude is to take. Ironically, plenty of us would be quite happy to consolidate for a year or three in the CS. We've taken on a huge expense now, although in theory it should be easier to "sell" Brand AFCW now we could feasibly be on Setanta next season.
It's quite strange really - for the first time since 2002 I watched a live game last night (Cambridge United v Burton Albion) and I realised we could feasibly be playing either of them in the Setanta Shield. I shudder to think what I'll feel when I watch Eastbourne play H&R in the CS Playoff final on Thursday (live on Setanta) - knowing that this has a direct affect on us next season. Suddenly, these games take on extra significance, which if you've had that taken away from you in the past become ever-so-slightly poignant when it happens...
In human terms, we've gone from a newborn to stroppy 9 year old to somebody who I think is about to discover his first pube. I guess this must be the football equivalent of going into middle school - you're certainly not a toddler any more, and you're starting to demonstrate adult traits, but physically you're still Gary Glitter's dream. We're still going to encounter some growing pains in the next weeks, months and years, but right now they seem easier to take.
Of course, I mentioned regret earlier. And yes, there is some of that, and it's all down to this on the OS:
"Terry Brown and Stuart Cash have today had discussions to clarify each player's situation following the end of the season. When all the players have been contacted a statement will be made - this will be in the next two or three days."
Sounds like the cull has just started. In fact, the South London Press starts naming names.
"ROB Quinn and Steve Ferguson are the surprise casualties of Terry Brown’s end-of-season cull.
"The AFC Wimbledon boss has released the pair, along with play-off hero Mark De Bolla, strikers Daniel Webb and Richard Jolly, and out-of-favour midfielders Karl Beckford and Mark Beard. Defender Will Salmon, who has spent the second half of the season on loan at Fleet, has also been axed. Marcus Gayle has left the club after confirming his retirement.
"Every other member of the first-team squad has signed a new deal for next season, except Robin Shroot, who is in ongoing discussions with Brown. That means regulars Jason Goodliffe, Jake Leberl, Luke Garrard, Mickey Haswell, Chris Hussey, Anthony Finn, Sam Hatton and Jon Main are all now contracted for next season.
"There had been some doubt over the future of keeper Andy Little, but he has also agreed to stay at Kingsmeadow for another year. "
TBH none of that is really surprising. Fergie was just too inconsistent to make that step up, and DeB's card was always marked when he walked out on us at half time. No real surprises over the rest of them either. The Shroot one is interesting, and maybe we're trying to sort something out just in case a league side snap him up so we don't lose out.
Those who are staying now are probably the ones who most of us would keep anyway. Hope that Judge and McD are on that list, I know Pullen is. I would also hope we could get Rose or the Cue on a season-long loan (more likely the Cue as RR came on for QPR at the weekend and apparently looked quite good). But for the most part, it's a freshening up that we need but keeping those who have that consistency.
The reaction to Fergie going, though not quite the blubfest that greeted Kevin Cooper and Rob Ursell's departure, is one that has tainted this week for many. Especially as Finn is staying. What I would hope is that people are sad at Fergie going because of what he did on the field, not because everyone had a good laugh with him at KM after Saturday's game. My abiding memory of him will be how crap he was on Saturday. Yes, his pace scared defenders, but he didn't use it often enough AFAIAC.
Football is a brutal game. Yes, Fergie tried 100%, and I won't deny that. But we're in a higher league now. We should be able to get better players in now, and most probably will. Lest we forget that last season we were painfully inconsistent. If you were to name the most consistent players from last time out, the ones named will probably be the ones kept on today.
In the cold light of day, we were lucky to go up this season. Yes, it was great, and yes - as a club - it was when, not if we'd make that next step upwards. But christ, we'd get found out big time next season if we reproduced some of the shit we produced this season. Remember when we played Thurrock a few years ago (or even St Albans) and they had that bit of cunning we didn't have? We'll be playing them next season, and they'll be far more likely to punish us. I'm not suggesting we'll suddenly get relegated, but I think this squad needed to get broken up. No matter how much it hurts some.
One thing that I believe TB pointed out last season was how difficult it was to get players to come to AFCW - not because it was us, but because we were in the RP. If we fans weren't enamoured much by it christ knows what a decent CS or Conf player would have thought. While I seriously doubt we'd get a Leo Fortune-West type player even next season, the likes of Rob Gier suddenly become much more obtainable. The truth is, most of us don't know who's available, who's likely to come and most importantly if they'll do a job for us. TB and SC certainly do though, at least a helluva lot more than any of us put together anyway.
If people do want to start suggesting signing players who we played against next season, then fine. But if you're looking at signing RP players, we'll find ourselves back in Turdeyville. We have to move upwards, we have no other option. I certainly would suggest a lot more stability next season, and I would almost put that ahead of promotion. I said "almost".
Like last year, this will be a fun pre-season and for once we can relax a bit. No doubt we'll firstly be looking forward to who comes in to us, then the release of the DVD of the playoffs, then who next season's victims opponents will be, followed up by the announcing of the fixtures, then a nice chance to grill TB and SC with Meet The Manager (and I hope we have one of those), finally culminating with our first excitedly anticipated pre-season friendly.........
Funny how some things take care of themselves, isn't it?
4 May 2008
Ryman Premier 1 Conference South 2. Sounds good doesn't it?
I think I owe everyone an apology for not believing in omens. When plenty were pointing out that we won the FAC in 88 on a similar day, I scoffed at them. When others were saying "22 years ago I was standing in the pouring rain getting soaked at Leeds Road" I rolled my eyes and thought, yeah. But as I sit here at SW19 Towers, on this overcast yet warmish Sunday, the type you get in May, it's only now my mind is coming together a bit more.
Got to be honest here - it hasn't quite sunk in yet even close to 24 hours later. In the past, when we've been pounding ourselves over getting out of this fucking poxy league, there's always been that anguish that we could be stuck in Turdeyville for eons. We've constantly looked forward to the day we finally go up, that we can break free through that bottleneck. In many ways I think it's crippled our "enjoyment" of the past three years. Now it's happened, in the most dramatic way possible and it's almost "meh"...
OK it isn't. Once everyone starts coming down, when the DVD comes out, and when who we'll be playing next season finally seeps into the conscience, then we'll realise just what we've done. Yesterday, when the ref blew his final whistle, and we all ran onto the pitch in celebration, there were plenty of us wandering round saying to ourselves "is this real? Has this really happened?". I don't think I've experienced such emotion as yesterday, to the point I was the most physically drained after a game than I can remember for ages. Even driving home on the M25 afterwards was that tad more difficult.
I'm certainly having more difficulty writing this than you would envisage (and no, I don't have a hangover). There was just too much to take in yesterday to put into a simple report such as this. So instead, I'm going to quote more or less verbatum from the notes I wrote during the game, in order:
Fuck I'm nervous. My dad said as I'd left "enjoy yourself" - some hope. Real anticipation at ground just like a big event. Slight surrealism about, even 1h30 before kickoff. Saw ST comms director (or whoever she was) trying to let go last spare ticket. Suddenly getting tense a la Chelmsford. Our fans in good voice though. Female fan in front of me had "R Butler 9" on the back of her shirt. Loads of balloons and even a rattle..
Understandably nervy opening. Think we'll be against the ref this game. Nice bit of pressure. Letting them in a bit at the back, two 1-on-1 saves by Pullen. Game finely poised - actually a bit TOO finely poised. A mistake or sublime bit of skill is going to settle this. FUCK - 0-1 from a corner. Shit marking. That was coming TBH. Self destructing? Really not playing like we can. Can't see us scoring TBH. Holding on for HT. 0-1 half time and quite shit. Evil AFCW has returned. TBH can't see anything other than Staines getting a second.
Right, 2nd half to start. Let's go for it. Still feel nervy. Fergie not using his pace. Where's the urgency? Saving the worst till last. I spent three hours queuing up on Thursday, put in all that effort etc to get tickets only to get "rewarded" for this shit. Hope we can keep McD. A goal for us WILL change it. Mark DeB back and made a difference. Our free kicks and corners are shit.
Putting more pressure on now - too little too late. Where's the quality? Where's the cutting edge? Had CERTAIN penalty turned down - even lino flagged. Staines starting to tire - if we score. Gone off the boil. FUCK YEAH. 1-1 10 minutes before end. Now can we do it?
I stopped making notes by this stage. Can't think why. Anyway, I'll now let my memory take over. Once we scored, I think that killed Staines off. They were physically and mentally shot by the look of it. Yes, they were narked at our first goal, but when you consider we had a blatant penalty turned down (so blatant even the lino flagged for it), and their #5 should have been sent off in the first half anyway, maybe we simply got what we deserved after all?
Then, there was the free kick. There are times in football where while you daren't admit it to yourself, you just know. When Mark DeB (who played like a man possessed) put the ball down and the wall walked back, you just knew. When he stepped back, pounced forward and shot low and hard you just..... well, you get the idea.
When it went in, there was just that one-second delay. The ability of the human mind to process vast amounts of information and emotion in such a short space of time (literally less than a second in some cases) is an impressive feat, and when that ball went in, you just couldn't believe it. It was really a case of, "it's gone in the back of the net and we're leading and we've only got 5 minutes left".
Needless to say, everyone was calm, thoughtful and collected in their thoughts. For about a second anyway. Then, the absolute mass release of tension, emotion, jubilation was something akin to a nuclear explosion. Seriously, all the pre-match tension (and if truth be told, the same PMT we've been suffering from since post-Coldseal) just released itself in that split second. Could you control what you were doing in the aftermath of that goal? I couldn't. It felt like a big mosh pit, with grown hetrosexual men embracing each other like it was a gay porn movie. People running around screaming like savage animals (in a good way), jumping like loons and probably at least one person is now pregnant.
From then on, you just know you're going to win. And I mean that. It wasn't like the last 20 minutes of Coldseal where you really did feel that they could come back and snatch it away from us. Even when their goalie ran up the other end when they got a free kick, I just felt they wouldn't get anything. If we saw a seismic shift in the nation's political landscape on Thursday, we certainly saw the football equivalent on Saturday.
The funny thing is, the final whistle going didn't register with me. After the second goal went in, I don't think I had much mental capacity to think beyond the basic functions of life. Just imagine walking round in life in a permanent daze, doing things without even thinking or comprehending your actions and just existing. For a little while, I felt like somebody from Kent. I went on the pitch and like everyone else headed to the players tunnel. Plenty of women were crying, and if truth be told a few blokes were as well. Mind you, that could have just been the aftermath of the second goal celebrations - I'm told it hurts a bit more when you don't use vaseline.
But there was a massive bit of symbolism there at that final whistle which I don't think anyone picked up on. There were close to 1k Wombles on the pitch all chanting "We are going up". Nothing so unusual. But think about it - it was a mass of people directly looking at the Ryman League officials. Yes, the likes of Turdey, Alan Boon and company. It was the ultimate "fuck you" moment, a middle finger if you like. It said that no matter what you think of us, how you sneered at us both last season and at other times, how we're classless bandwagon jumpers, how we should "know our place" and the sheer narky little attitudes we came across, we took one last opportunity to wave goodbye and we took it. The faces of the Ryman officials were a little, let's just say, restrained...
See, I think when it all sinks in, and we remember the Jermaine Darlington affair as well as other things with regards the Ryman drinking club, then we'll start going mental. Getting promoted is always enjoyable, but there's something about this particular one that makes it all the more sweet. The CCL was a nice league, and many still have a lot of time for people there, but it was ultimately two steps up from a pub league. There was something unpleasant about the Ryman though. Maybe it is the "drinking club" mentality that is quite well known in non-league circles. I'm led to believe that the Conference South is a far more professional outfit to be in, and I bet that when we play our first game of next season we'll feel a bit more at home....
For now anyway.
Anyway, the other good thing about promotion is that we now get to see who to take on next season. While we still have a couple of issues from the Conference National sides all being from up North, there's some potential gooduns next season. Obviously we get to do over Chelmsford next season, and get revenge for Fi$her and H&R if they don't go up. Oh, and Bromley as well. But for once we get some decent long away trips. And might even stop the Northern/Western based Wombles complaining they don't have any local games ......;)
How fucking cool will it be to do a long away trip to Newport County? Or both the Bath sides? Or even short trips to Basingstoke? Feels a lot better planning those sort of away days than the seemingly fortnightly trips to Kent and Essex. Christ, I think they started to know me by first name at Clackett Lane services. OK, we'll still make the occasional trip to Essex (Chelmsford, Braintree) and one to Kent (Welling) but it'll be nice now to go along the M4, or out of Paddington, instead of constantly seeing signs for Stansted or Canterbury on our travels.
Once they sort out who's going where, we'll be able to plan and get excited. Only real bummer for next season is who will we play on Boxing Day/Easter Monday? Especially if H&R go up. Both Hayes & Yeading and Fi$her will be quite tricky to get to on a public holiday if we're away. Perhaps we ought to lobby the CS to re-instate Slutton and relegate St Albans instead? That'll give them something to moan about other than our attendances.
I'll be updating SW19 over the coming days/weeks with more thoughts on what's going on, and everything else, so this won't now be it for the next three months. Yes, it's exhausting. But then, getting to where you want to be never is easy.........
Plus points: Promotion - all else is irrelevant. Not needing to use this for the next SW19 front page.
Minus points: Quite shit for the first 80 minutes. Nothing.
The referee's a.....: Somehow, the forces of Turdey didn't stop us this time. How the fuck he just did not send off their #5 or give the penalty when his own bloody linesman was flagging? Actually, we probably do know, and that's another reason to smile at our promotion. Yes, he maybe could have given a foul on their keeper for our first goal (which watching the Youtube clip suggests he just dropped it) but I think even he knew he wouldn't have been able to get away with it. Though I bet he thought about it.....
Them: You've got to feel sorry for them I suppose. Pretty much the better side for 80 minutes, deserved their lead and maybe should have been 3-0 up at half time. But then, I think it was our turn to have the playoff luck. They'll be strong enough next season and it wouldn't surprise me to be playing them in 2009/10 in the CS. I think had they not knackered themselves out due to their run-in we'd been looking forward to Margate again. I'm afraid that RB is back to being much-maligned due to his inability to stay on his feet. And yes, I know we loved it when he did it for us. You really think football fans are even handed?
Point to ponder (1): Is the big game choking disease now over? That's twice in one week that hoodoo has been smashed. Perhaps this one was the best one simply because we didn't play well. All successful teams learn how to win when they play badly (just cast a glance to Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge), and it's a trait we'd do well to learn. Especially for next season.
Three's a crowd: 2460 and even then I didn't think it was as full as it could have been. I always think that Staines is a nice ground, but like many of these venues, they're not really built to cope with 2400 in them. Mind you, I have my doubts about KM being comfortable at over 3000...
Point to ponder (2): Am I the only one who thinks it won't be a bad idea to consolidate next season or two? From what I've seen of CS sides, there's not much to suggest we'll be struggling too much next season (famous last words.......). OK, we'll need to adapt, but TB's now got what he needs to move this club forward - time. We're in the CS which is a good league to consolidate in, it's not a Ryman backwater, but it's one step away from a division with full time sides in. As a team and as a club, we need to start getting a settled, successful youth and reserve policy going. It's what will keep the club going in the long term, and we don't have a better time to slow down a little. We've raced through the CCL, the Ryman One and now the Ryman Premier in less than six years all without much of a strength in depth in the side. We've earnt that right to relax a little....
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Apparently some racist abuse was shouted at their #10 before their goal, which might explain the celebrations afterwards. No idea whether they were AFCW or not, but I'm not naive enough to believe none of our fans are ever like that. Seriously, if you're the sort to do that I hope your mum is caught posing on "White Chicks, Black Dicks". (2) Sounds like plenty had a good time at KM last night. For those who went and still are feeling the ill effects, I've just had fried eggs, sausages and black pudding, washed down with a cup of Co-Op 99. Just thought I'd mention it to you.... (3) Did yesterday really happen?
Anything else? Apparently we'll be allowed in the Setanta Shield next season. And yes, that does mean we could get on telly. Hopefully we'll get a bit more regular exposure, and therefore a bit more money from sponsorship, therefore meaning less need for the club to keep dipping into fans' pockets. Dare I suggest that Mark DeB's free kick has secured AFCW's mid-term future....?
So, was it worth it? Might be.
In a nutshell: Now, how the fuck do I get to Welling.....?
3 May 2008
Always the bridesmaid :(
Did we deserve to get promoted today? If you took us through the whole season then probably not. The very fact we weren't at KM for the game today just showed our inconsistency that has crippled us.
Yes, playoff finals suck - when you lose anyway. Today, we had the opportunity to just go that one step further. We didn't take it. Today was the story of our season - when it came to the last, we choked. Once Staines netted, I just knew, if that makes any sense? The passing was poor, and we just looked flat and lethargic. Was it a game too far? Was it an inconsistency for once too often? I don't know, but for the third time in a row, we've failed at the final hurdle.
And this one is harder to take than even Fi$her and Bromley. I think it was down to the fact that people like me queued for a good three hours on Thursday, running round getting tix for Wombles, the way everyone came together and we were STILL rewarded with this shit. I'm too emotionally drained right now to argue the toss, but this is just a slap in the face once too many. Once we realise just what we've thrown away, people will get angry. I mean it - there was outspills of frustration towards the end, everyone getting tetchy with each other, and now with yet another fuckup? If I was in AFCW's boardroom, I would start to get scared...
What made it worse was THAT penalty, or lack thereof. Main got upended, the lino flagged and ...... ignored. All worst nightmares and then some.
Remember what I said earlier this week about omens and why you shouldn't rely on them? We did that in 2000 when we had to play Southampton to stay in the Prem. The date? 14 May. For this, when I read this morning that it was 22 years to the day that Sanch netted at Huddersfield to take WFC up to the top flight, my heart sank. Games are never won on omens - they're won by skill, judgement or sheer luck. Right at this minute, I feel further and further away from that fateful day in Yorkshire....
So, now what? We pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and plan for next season. Teams can and do lose in playoff finals and come back stronger than ever - ask Sunderland. We are not a bad team, in fact we're a good side. But today and indeed this season, it just wasn't to be. Que sera sera and all that. Remember that we've had a club stolen from us in the past, and compared to that horrible day (also in May - who'd thunk it, eh?) nothing hurts as much as that.
I won't deny this hurts though. Plenty woke up this morning and thought it was 14/5/88 all over again, and yes, there was an element of the FAC final about it. A warm sunny day in May, year ending in "8".... yeah, you know what I'm going to say. It hurts because after the brave way we handled Coldseal on Tuesday, many really did think our voodoo in the big games had finally been broken. Today proved the Footballing Gods really are cunts who were just toying with us..
That's AFCW right now. A club that will go up to the bigger leagues in time, but not right now. Our progress has been checked.
In a nutshell: Football really hurts.
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
We are going up
Say we are going up
More later when your editor gets some energy back.
1 May 2008
We all know the slogan, and we all know what it signifies. But if TB wants to start handing out bits of paper with motivational instructions on Saturday, he could do worse than above.
It's been a strange couple of days since Coldseal were dispatched. As is traditional with Ryman League playoffs, there's one helluva cockup on the horizon. A few years ago it was the last-minute venue changing (not involving us, we were still a lowly R1 outfit by then). Then there was us wondering exactly who we would play, and more importantly when, literally up to the last day of the season. Last year seemed to go off smoothly enough, but this time the issue of 1500 tix suddenly becoming 1000 tix has really got peoples' backs up.
OK, I've got my ticket (and many thanks to the Teddington branch for a bit of ingenuity), but plenty of others haven't. And more importantly, they're people who should have them but haven't. I know somebody who would have popped over to KM in the afternoon, which by then would have been far too late. What's really pissed people off isn't the actual numbers allocated, it's the way it's suddenly been slashed. Yes, I know that we could have been given 600, which is the minimum. Realistically though, that was never going to happen. 1000 you may think is small, and if we had played somebody like Chelmsford, it's what we would have expected. 1500 was probably a decent and in truth fair distribution - it's Staines' home game and obviously they want to use it to their advantage.
What reducing it down to 1000 has done is this : it's pissed people off to the point that they'll now be motivated to go over to Staines this evening and nab tix that way. Even those with existing stubs anyway are contemplating going, partly to bail out people who have been stung, but also as a kind of defiant "hey, fuck you". I think a lot of people - Staines people included - have missed the point over all this. If you promise somebody a specific allocation, stick to it. If it's 600, 1000, 1500 or even 2450, make sure it stays that way and you won't get nearly as much hassle. There is nothing guaranteed to make people more angry than renaging on a committment like this. Especially one you could argue you're justified in having (let's face it, we would have sold out 1500 by the end of yesterday. Not BBB, just stating the obvious).
If Staines want half the ground for their own locals, then fine. Restrict ticket sales - don't more or less admit that you're happy to sell to AFCW fans tonight and then turn around and bitch at us for taking over their place. We could have at least 70% of the crowd supporting us on Saturday at least, and who's fault would that be? Not ours...
All this of course has proved a distraction for us, though whether it's a welcome one remains to be seen. Perhaps it is a good thing, because right now I'm so fucking nervous you won't believe. Is football supposed to be this psychologically damaging? For too much of the day, I keep thinking forward to Saturday? What will I do if we win? What will I do if we lose? I think I'm more scared of thinking about the former rather than the latter - I mustn't tempt fate. To get myself excited and then lose on Saturday will just be crippling.
And as I said in the last match report, things can go badly wrong on Saturday. We're not there yet, and I really hope that we have put Tuesday out of our minds. Saturday will be 100 times harder than Coldseal - it will be harder for the players because Staines are no mugs, they have a bit more brain than the Essex lot and you know they'll want to do us for the 5-2. Not to mention the fact they're on a pretty decent run of form themselves, and apparently their own game on Tuesday was quite one-sided.
Plus of course there's the usual ex-AFCW factor. The not-so-much-maligned Richard Butler, plus Lewis Cook and Dave Sergeant all have points to prove against us. They'll be up for it big time. Staines won't lie down and in fact I would put them as favourites. Yes, crowd size doesn't matter - if they're good enough to beat us, they'll overcome that.
Right now for many people, it's straw clutching time. I want to believe in omens, but I don't. Or rather I can't - I just won't let myself. Here's my thinking:
If you believe that a repeat of Tuesday's guts will put us through - it won't.
If you believe that it surely has to be third time lucky for us - it won't.
If you're invoking memories of 1988, and of various incidents back then which point to us winning on Saturday - they won't.
Life doesn't work like that. You may think we "deserve" promotion on Saturday, but we don't. We don't have a deity-given right to go up. If we are going to win, we are going to have to play harder than we did against Coldseal. Our attitude will have to be THE best it's ever been : no slacking, no letting Staines get on top of us, nothing. It will be 90 minutes of sheer hell, it will make the last 20 minutes of Tuesday seem like a PSF. I just wonder if the players really know it.
Granted, they took a step forward after the game Tuesday, when they refused to celebrate. The job is only 50% done, although I think it's nearer 30%. It's a final which brings its own unique little quirks, no matter what team you are. Plus of course it's our biggest game in the AFCW era, and we always do shit in the big games.
Now, you're probably getting all het up and yelling at your monitor right now. "Why are you so fucking pessimistic you miserable bastard?" you'll probably be hysterically screaming. Well, a couple will be anyway ;) Here's why - fear. No, not fear that we'll get tonked, or even that of losing - it's that fear of failing to perform. It's that fear of the inevitable fuckup in the one game you don't want it. It's that fear that evil AFCW will turn up on Saturday with a forged ticket, do its worst at our expense, and then dance merrily down the road with Alan Boon and Turdey hand in hand camply singing "The Staines are going up".
It's the fear that it really is shit-or-bust on Saturday, and we may never get a better chance to get out of this division for a while. But it's also the fear I want the players to have.
Why? Simple. With this fear has come with it THE most determined I have ever felt before a game. I hope I'm not alone when I say it's that fear of failure that is pushing me towards wanting to win. Does that make sense? I've got fear, yes, but it's not the same feeling that I had before Chelmsford away.
Games like Saturday are why you support a club. You have to believe at times like this, and whether you cross yourself or you sacrifice sheep on an altar (unless you're Welsh or from Yorkshire, in which case ramraiding takes on a whole new meaning) you find yourself doing it. I think it's times like this even an athiest like myself knows why religion has kept a grip on people for so many centuries. No, you don't go to heaven (or hell) when you die, in fact it's just a load of nothingness for all eternity and you merely become worm food. But your mind doesn't want to know that. It wants to believe there's some saintly bloke with a white beard awaiting you, or a fiery-tempered individual with a large fork awaits your hated enemy. It's a self-coping mechanism
And in this religion called football, it's how all of us cope with these sort of occasions. I'm telling myself we're going to fail because it will make life more tolerable if we do. And yes, I do believe that we are more than capable of fucking up on Saturday. But anything better will be a bonus, and one I will certainly enjoy.
But all this should be irrelvant for the most important people on Saturday - the eleven individuals who take the field in our colours. They got over that first psychological barrier on Tuesday, and now they face the biblical Day of Judgment. They have ninety minutes to prove that they can win. That's it - just ninety minutes. If it takes 120 minutes and a penalty shoot out, so be it, although I would prefer it if they don't. But it's shit-or-bust for them as well as AFCW off the field. If they want people to adore them for ever more, they know what they have to do. They will be nervous like the rest of us, but they must be the most professional, the most focused, the most determined they have ever been in their entire careers.
It really is that simple. I guess in my tense state, what I'm trying to say is, I just want to see AFCW put in more than 110%. Make it 200% or even 500% and I will not complain. This is a playoff final, anything can happen and probably will. It can go wrong, but at the same time it can go right. I just want to walk away on Saturday from the ground with my head held high, and you can read that in any way you like. I want it to be victory, fuck I'm agitated enough to win, but if we are to lose, I want us to go out with honour.
In short, I want us to just do it.
30 April 2008 [MIDNIGHT EDITION]
It's OK, you can relax now for a couple of days at least.
Jesuz christ - Anglian 3 Coldseal 1. Football isn't good for you really. You're supposed to get massive soothing enjoyment out of it, not put on about 20 years of your life in one evening. It reminds me of something Tony Cascarino said about goalscoring - scoring goals was more like masturbation than having a shag, because it's more a relief than pleasure. And right now, plenty of us are tossing themselves sore.
Be honest, we feared the worst before the game. And I think I feared the worst when we were pulled back to 2-1. But I'm going to let it out a bit tonight, I can't keep it in for another four days. That was immense. Actually, that was fucking immense. Did we have enough attacking prowess? No. Did I think we defended just a tad too much for my blood pressure's liking? Yes. But does it now matter? Of course not.
I'm not going to get carried away, because we have it all to do again Saturday, at Staines. Maybe our end of season "form" could have worked against us, and we could have had this at KM, but I think now it becomes academic. If we adopt the same attitude on Saturday that we did tonight, then Staines will have to put on their performance of the season against us - regardless of whether they're at home or not.
For one of far too few times this season, I saw an AFCW that just wasn't going to be defeated. It was a team that I honestly think had a point to prove - not only to us, and our management/staff, but themselves. There was plenty of "come on" type clapping at various points of the game, and not just through JG either. Maybe, just maybe, the players realised tonight just what they could still have and how easy it could be to lose it through their own carelessness.
And carelessness is the expression that I would use to describe this season. Even now, I still don't believe anyone in the RP is unbeatable, home or away (and I do include Chelmsford in that). Tonight, we actually concentrated for the 94 minutes, and bar that one little lapse we came away with what we wanted because of it. That's what I wanted to see tonight, and that's what I want to see Saturday.
See, we can do it. Tonight was difficult - there's no pretending otherwise that when it was 2-1 it was shitting pants time. Coldseal certainly wanted it, as I would have expected in such a pressure game, and at other times of the season we would have gone away tonight with a point at most. But we didn't, and for once we really did show balls of stainless steel. The first half was something else, although I think the second half we maybe thought we had it in the bag by then. But if you want to put tonight into perspective, look at our third goal. It came from the other end, where both Luke G and Pullen had to combine to make one helluva last ditch challenge. The ball broke to Fergie, he got it up to Main who basically proved why we paid £30m for him. Games where you win about 4-0 are great to be at, they're lovely to brag about and easy to watch again on telly. But these sort of games, and how you handle them, are what get you into the playoff finals.
Let's be honest, anyone expecting another 5-2 gubbing on Saturday should stay away. I'm under no illusions whatsoever that Saturday will be THE most difficult match of the season. It will be tense, nervous, any astray pass will be treated with plenty of wind passing, and that's just your editor. I will warn you now, especially after tonight's euphoria - it can still go badly wrong on Saturday : any complacency, any belief that we've got it made will be cruelly exposed, and defeat on Saturday is going to fucking well hurt. It really will be shit or bust, and the old adage of the 94th minute goal off your defender's arse remains truer than ever.
We are only 50% there, although to be fair to people I think the vast majority of us know that. People were jubilant for certain, but not getting carried away. And I do honestly hope our team know that as well - the reaction afterwards was one of relief and job done rather than running up to the TE, throwing their shirts into the crowd and a jig of "We are going up". After tonight, it would be the cruellest of cruelty to suddenly have yet another one of our fuckups. If we do what we did tonight, but succumbed to an 89th minute own goal, it will hurt and hurt big time. But you could at least be proud of them for the way they went about that game. To suddenly fall apart really will be unforgivable, especially after tonight
While us non-STed people work out how exactly we're going to get into Staines on Saturday, feel free to read on....
Plus points: We won. First ever playoff victory in AFCW history. Everyone fighting for it. Jon Main. Marcus Gayle. JG. Playing like they really, really wanted it. Crowd getting behind them. Actually quite a professional performance. Proof that we really can win in the high pressure games.
Minus points: Bit between Coldseal scoring and Jon Main netting. Long-term effect on my ticker.
The referee's a.......: Bit of an arsehole this one, didn't really want to give us much especially in the second half. True, he was no Ron Ganfield but even so, we had to be just that little bit extra wary.....
Them: Almost felt sorry for them at the end. I said "almost". To be fair to them, they battled hard enough but I'm not sure if they quite had that necessary quality. Anyone know what went on between their section and the WB just before the break? They didn't half seem agitated, although one of our lot was led away by nice Mr Policeman.
Point to ponder: Do you think that tonight being a fucking difficult game will help us for Saturday? Had we'd pissed all over them 5-0, we would have taken on that cocky air of arrogance and expectancy that has proven to be our undoing. Tonight, we were made aware that we're going to have to perform like fuck all over again for the second time in a week. The good news is that we can do it. The bad news is that this is AFCW we're talking about.
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Was that Karl Beckford on the subs bench? Maybe he will be back next season? (2) Speaking of subs, I think this must be the first time this season we haven't put anyone on. Suppose that can only be a good thing. (3) TE closed just before the game. (4) The performance of Fatman Scoop's AFCW mix before the second half started. I'm not really into that sort of stuff, but there is a bit of a middle finger about it all...
Anything else? For the first time in a while, the whole of the WB was given over to our fans, and I've got to say it worked quite well. There was definitely a bit of old skool about tonight, and quite possibly it's down to that. The segregation may need fine tuning, but if anyone at AFCW reads this, let's keep that arrangement for next season. I was in the WB end and there was a real intensity that I think helped carried us through (for once). We actually created an advantage for ourselves at home, and we won. QED?
So, was it worth it? Shame it wasn't the final
In a nutshell: Just one more 90 minutes..........
28 April 2008
Yes I'm back. For those wondering, it finished Lokomotive Leipzig 2 Dynamo Dresden 1 by the way, there were about 40 police wagons for about 100 Dynamo fans. And the ones I saw, well, let's just say that I'm not hard but I reckon I could beat up most of them....
OK, I was going to write an article on the game, why Lok are doing what we should be doing (a cursory glance at their programme suggests that they have no less than seventy companies who provide much needed Euros to them), but I, er didn't. I also won't tell you that a couple of locals thought I was Russian. But what I will tell you is that Lok had been playing shitty recently, kind of grinding out results but not too convincingly. They went 1-0 down and almost rivalled us for shitness, but they came back in the second half with two goals in two minutes, and suddenly looked like a team possesed again.
And if Saxony's team in blau-gelb can do it, maybe South London's equivalent can as well?
Actually, it's all a nice distraction for the legitimate Biggest Week of the Season. By the sound of it, I think I did the right thing giving AFC Coldseal a wide berth. Seems like half the players did anyway, and if it wasn't for this week's matches it would have been the less-than-ideal end of season snoozefest we used to have in the WFC days. Remember them? Sadly, I still do.
But so to the playoffs. Be honest, nobody is that confident are they? While we're hopeful, and we know we can do it, we're living in not a little fear as to what AFCW will turn up this week. Will it be good AFCW or evil AFCW? The truth is, we really don't know. That's what makes playoffs great if you're a neutral observer and absolutely pant-cacking if you're not. All that hard work, all that effort, all that stuff you did throughout the whole season really could be ended with a 90th minute deflection off your defender's arse. There's a very good argument for having these playoffs as two-legged (even though I fully understand the financial/squad implications involved), but ultimately this is the cruellest, winner take all game(s). Work hard in the season and you still need just that extra bit of good fortune...
It's for this reason that I've got a mixture of outright trepidation and maybe misplaced confidence. We haven't played well recently. We haven't really done ourselves justice in the league. We have rolled over and died over keeping second spot. We have definitely underachieved this season, we haven't really shown the consistency we need. But will it ultimately matter? The reason we're so fearful is the same reason why we're so hopeful as well. Think about it - what will hurt more? Us losing with the recent "form" we've shown recently? Or us losing when we've been on a good run-in to the playoffs?
Defeat tomorrow would suck, and would probably hurt more than even the last two years, but it's nothing we haven't experienced before. We'll dust ourselves down and plan for the more yoof-oriented approach next season. But just imagine us finishing on a high and then doing our usual fuckup tomorrow. Or, worse, on Saturday. That could be a near-fatal bodyblow. If that was to happen it would say to us that no matter what we do, or how well we play, or no matter what winning runs we put on, it's a roadblock. And a mental one at that. It's almost saying we'll never progress, and fuck only knows how morale would plummet.
Yet AFCW right now is a strange one. Perhaps our form recently has quelled some of the usual excitement we normally get before our usual fuckup a big game. I think we were a little bit pessimistic going into the first game against Fi$her, but last season I really do think people believed we could progress. Even when in hindsight the team/manager was falling apart at the seams we believed we could do it. This time, there's an air of resignation, almost expecting the inevitable...
You know and I know that we're capable of putting in a barmstormer which I genuinely believe can blow everyone away. Though tomorrow I'd take a scrappy 1-0 win if I was offered it. This season has given us Leyton, Boreham Wood, ETU, Harlow Town and the pre-Torquay slump to give us nightmares. Yet almost forgotten in this oilspill of gloom, this season has also given us Ramsgutter first game of the season, Staines away, Horsham away, Ashford Town away, Hendon home (for the most part anyway), the seven game unbeaten run or the five consecutive league victories, and doubtless a couple of others that have slipped my mind.
It's almost impossible to predict - actually, scrub that : it IS impossible to predict. So I think it's just really a case doing of whatever praying ritual you're into, be it a confessional with your local priest, a quick natter with the rabbi, a quiet word in silence in bed at night, or drinking the spurting blood of freshly slain oxon in a darkened room with a Deicide live album playing in the background (otherwise known as a normal night for your editor). Personally, I don't believe in god or any of that bollocks, but for once being spiritual won't hurt. Hell, you're just as likely to predict the result tomorrow with an ouija board as a form guide.
Every year, when any sort of playoff comes around, the same points are made : league form counts for jack shit. From now on, if you're lucky, it's just two cup finals. It doesn't matter if you win ugly, as long as you do so. I'm sure some bright spark has analysed all the playoff winners from the last 20 odd years and worked out which ones didn't have the best run-ins. It's not something we should rely on, of course, but if anything that's just released some of the tension. The team in the worst position tomorrow won't be us, but Staines. They've basically got to keep their good run going against a side (Ramsgutter) who as we know ourselves are right bastards. As we know ourselves, winning runs can and do end. We're not on a winning run.....
OK, it's hope, and some kind of inbuilt protection against how shit we've been recently. But we need a lot of that right now. And I think we need to show a bit of hope tomorrow at the ground, although more than a "bit" would help. I've certainly noticed a lot of tetchyness at AFCW recently, and I've got to be honest that games at KM have really been unpleasant recently (and not just because of the results). There's a new bit of segregation which in theory should work in our favour (stop laughing), so we can get a bit of atmosphere going (I said, stop laughing). KM is quite simply too damn accomodating for away teams, it's as though we stand on a street corner sticking our arse out and offering whatever you want for £50. If we're going to get fucked from behind tomorrow, let's at least give Coldseal a dubious itch that will cause much grief at the STD clinic....
Anyway, I've said my bit, it's time for the players to do theirs. I'm not WDONing tomorrow (at least, I hope the email I sent arrived) so I can swear for once. But by fuck everyone, just remember how many times we've said we want to get out of the Ryman Premier. Tomorrow is the first big chance to prove we mean it. I want to see us bust a bollock or two (whether our own or not is irrelevant), I want to see us put in a performance that makes everyone proud to be a Womble. And I want to see the good AFCW, the one I've seen far too few times this season.
Of course, if we play shit and go 3-0 down after 10 minutes, I'll probably fuck off to the bar and stay there. And will avoid all sharp objects afterwards......
19 April 2008
Sorry, I just don't know whether to laugh or cry at the moment. I mean, Turkeys 1 Hawks 2?
I think I'm speechless. No, really I am. This was just, well, wrong. After the euphoria of Wembley came a performance that was all too reminiscent of those nightmare games at Leyton and Boreham Wood. Back then the squad was unsettled and not kicking into life. Today was..... well, OK, point taken.
Seriously, I don't just know what to say. What do you want me to say? That we were fucking shit, everyone was a bunch of cunts and the sooner the entire AFCW setup resigns and fucks off to MK the better? I could do. I suppose I could also take the other approach and suggest that at least we had that sort of game now rather than a week on Tuesday.
In truth, my thoughts are somewhere sitting uneasily in the middle. I've been angry before, I've even been serene after losses, but I just can't remember the last time I was stunned like I am now. It's not a case of, we absolutely mullered them but they broke away in the 93rd minute with the luckiest, most undeserved goal in the entire history of the world. It was just how quickly a squad can suddenly turn in two different games in just seven days.
OK, we woke up in the second half, and their goalie deserved MoM all by himself. I think I made the comment "it's one of those days" by about 3.17pm. Even our goal came about after we'd hit the bar. Everything that went right against Ashford went wrong today. To concede a goal in the opening minute is sloppy. To go 2-0 down is shocking. To not even look like coming back is outright scandalous.
Before I go on, I want to address why I didn't write up Wembley. No, I didn't think my attempts at ticket touting would have made an interesting enough story, and if truth be told I lost my notes anyway. But towards Wednesday of this week, I felt anti-climatic and a bit low after that weekend. I wasn't the only one feeling that either. And I think that's why we lost today. We were due a major, major fall after strutting round last weekend about how wonderful we are. Planet earth, meet AFC Wimbledon. Don't think you meet too often. If the first minute didn't wake us up then nothing did.
But I suppose we saw it coming. Be honest, were you really up for today? I know I wasn't. In fact, I had a very, very odd feeling about the whole thing. I suppose there was a bit of Lord Mayor's Show about it. Nobody could really pass the ball that well, nobody got going sufficiently enough, etc etc. Maybe we knew about it but didn't want it to happen? Maybe we just blocked it out of our mind, and just concentrated on the memories of Wembley? Suddenly, today starts to make sense, even if it's particularly unpaletable.
I've become more scared of the playoffs than I was before. At the back of my mind last week, I was concerned that the evil AFCW would turn up. The evil AFCW is the lazy bastards, the ones that just don't click. The surly AFCW, the AFCW that decides it can't be bothered. Or strops when things don't go 100% its way. The AFCW I saw today was the evil AFCW, popping its poisonous little head up and stinking the place out by shitting on your carpet.
I wanted to see the good AFCW today. The swashbuckling AFCW that really would murder any team. Last week at Ashford, we saw the good AFCW. We haven't seen much of the good AFCW this season. Sure, we see it in glimpses, like last week, the second half vs Billy Rickay and even second half at places like Wealdstone. I'm scared because after games like this, I don't believe the good AFCW exists. I'm sure those rampant games are just a figment of my imagination. Or if it does, it's been locked in a secret cupboard somewhere while evil AFCW runs amock.
If you're feeling positive, you're probably saying that this is the last we'll see of evil AFCW this season. Surely it can't ruin our summer by turning up unannounced and letting Karl "Uncle Urchin" Williams wipe his cock over us. Good AFCW puts us in a decent mood for that week, evil AFCW makes us question everything and everyone to the nth degree. Good AFCW will be the ones to carry us through the playoffs to the Conference South. Evil AFCW will ruin our summer.
I'm not sure if I want to write much more TBH. All I'll say is this : we have one game to piss about in, then it's time to get serious. I'm not in the mood to put up with evil AFCW any longer, and by the sounds of it neither is anyone else............
Plus points: Getting the theme tune to Weekend World played just before the second half.
Minus points: 3pm to 4.50pm today. Crossing shit.
The referee's a......: Christ, he didn't like us did he?
Them: Fair play to them, they wanted it and got it. Certainly the Harlow bods in front of us looked very relieved to get those three points. Their goalkeeper effectively kept them in it, and sometimes there ain't nothing you can do. I just hope that's the last decent goalkeeping display we have to put up with this season. As for the rest, they seemed a nice bunch of people, more of their fans turned up than I thought would, and seemed quite vocal without being cocks about it. Shame they had to bring a bloody drum...
Point to ponder: If I've been waxing lyrical about good AFCW vs evil AFCW, wonder what the Staines/Coldseal equivalent is right now? I'm going to put my head on the line - the team we should fear in the playoffs that isn't called AFCW is whoever finishes fifth. It could be anyone from Hendon (hmm), Ramsgutter (gulp), Tonbridge Angels (can we throw away another two goal lead?) and Ashford. And I wonder if they'll now roll over for Chelmsford like their manager allegedly promised us earlier this season?
Meet the manager: Here's the latest MP3 of his post-match interview. Got to say, I'm pretty concerned that he still hasn't found his favoured XI, but then again, he does point out that whenever he thinks he's found the answer the players go and fuck up in the next game. Maybe he's banking on evil AFCW getting delayed by traffic for the playoffs as well. Dunno why Lewis Christon was rested today TBH, but as the return of Mickey Haswell has shown, putting in "favoured" players doesn't always have the desired effect. Maybe we will just be giving certain players a runout next week just in case. IYSWIM....
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The TV gantry. Looks like the Plough Lane one, bar the vertical ladder. (2) A certain election candidate canvassing again on KM grounds. And again, the question gets asked. Is AFCW endorsing this, even by implication? Would a non-"named" AFCW fan who may represent the BNP (who hold quite similar views to Respect/Left List in many instances) be allowed to canvass even in the bars? Let alone get free publicity in WUP? What I do know is that a lot of people around me were pissed off by this - any negative fallout over this is clearly the club's own doing. (3) Was this really the last regular season game at KM this season?
Anything else? Yeah. There's something symbolic about the ticket arrangements for the playoff semis. Basically, they went on sale. Then they didn't. Then they did. Eventually they weren't but those who did buy tickets could get a refund if we aren't at home after all. Cue many pissed off people. And it does seem to sum up AFCW generally right now - inefficient and in places quite shambolic. You either sell them or you don't - want to sell them today? Fine, go ahead and sell them, and accept responsibility for any fallout if we're suddenly away. Don't want to tempt fate? Simple - make the decision to force people to either phone up or come down to KM on a separate day once it's confirmed. It'll inconvenience some, but at least it's "fair". Don't keep making last minute decisions that leave everyone confused and wondering just what the hell they've bought.
After the tix fiasco at Wembley last week, it proves something I've felt for some time - the communications at AFCW leaves something to be desired. Actually, scrub that - it's pathetic. For a club that likes to show how professional it is to the outside world, it hasn't half been making a pigs ear of things recently. We all know that the OS basically exists to flog KM Live (actual news items relating to AFCW seem to go in spurts). It failed to get any sort of clarification over Wembley, even the Player of the Year presentation seemed a little bit haphazard in its organisation. I know we have volunteers and they all work very hard etc, but seriously AFCW - get a fucking grip. We have looked distinctly amateurish recently, and ordinary AFCW fans are having their patience tested. Try putting emphasis on working smarter rather than harder......
So, was it worth it? No.
In a nutshell: Here we go again....
And finally: Thankfully, this is my last regular season match. Next weekend, I will be here, watching the return fixture of this. I'm right hard, me. Therefore, while I'll be back for the playoffs, I'm going to require somebody who's off to Coldseal to do me a match report. Please? I may even give you a special present of a burnt out firework.
12 April 2008
Remember when you were a kid there were always situations your parents used to worry about? No, I don't mean when the kindly yet strange bloke nearby kept offering you sweeties providing you kept it a little secret. I mean whenever there was a big occasion coming and you used to play up? Well, I'm sure you were all well behaved juveniles, but there was always a nervousness that you would go to your aunts for a nice occasion and subsequently shit your pants or throw up in her company. And then stand over your "work" whilst sniggering away, as your blushing parents shouted blue murder at you
OK, certain people would argue I haven't changed much in over 30 years, but I really had that feeling today. With Wembley on the horizon, surely we'd do our usual of underperforming. Surely, surely, we'd let everyone down again in the league in letting ourselves get distracted by a glorified friendly. Surely, surely, surely?
True to form, it finished Terminal Five 1 Morden Depot 4. And so much for that theory.
Actually, I'm not sure whether it's the more plausible belief that we play better whenever we're not expected to do well coming into play, but I'm having a job thinking of something that was wrong today. We scored 4 goals - and Shroot got a hat-trick - in pretty lousy conditions. We defended well, we went up the gear when needed, and for one of the all-too-few times this season we did look like a team justified in being in second place.
The game first. We started off well, nearly scored then did score. They went up the other end, just after about 2 minutes, and netted. Cue much rolling of eyes, shrugging of shoulders and huffing of "here we sodding well go again". We kept a foothold, but the game got a bit scrappy. Suddenly Shroot went on a run, and unleashed a 35 yarder that the keeper just did not see. To quote, "Dare I say that was Ursell-esque?". I'm saying nothing. It didn't quite kill the game off then, but you felt that Ashford kind of had the stuffing knocked out of them after that.
And when the second half arrived, it was basically more of the same. I don't think Pullen had that much to do, anyway. Our forward line was though. It wasn't really a surprise when Shroot netted his hat-trick, and it was certainly deserved. And then Rose netted and that really was that.
So, what? Well, it's nice that we're going into the playoffs with a bit more confidence than a couple of weeks ago. We have two regular season games left now (and is it really down to that wire already?) and it's not impossible for us to remain unbeaten now. I think our record for consecutive wins is about six this season, so if we equal that, we're up. Actually, we could afford to drop points in the next two games anyway, as long as we continue to play to what we can do. Even getting in third (should Staines overtake us) won't faze me. There's a caveat in all of this, and when you read on you'll twig immediately what it is.
I'm trying hard not to get carried away here, but every so often I do think "yeah, I think we can go up". Today, Staines away and Horsham away were the three best performances of the season, and every time I've gone away from those games I've said those exact words to myself. This team can do it. Today was a potential banana skin, one of those ones where you maybe wouldn't be surprised had we lost, and the result today speaks for itself.
This does explain why I get so fucking angry when we do play poorly (and especially when we lose). If we're not good enough I accept it. But it's when you get an ETU, or Boreham Wood, or even Horsham at KM, and then you compare it to today's pretty good performance, I'm surprised that I'm as calm as I am when it happens. We are not shit - today proved it.
No, I can't be churlish about today, I don't want to be, and yes - we have justified our trip to Wembley tomorrow. I can't deny I would have preferred it at the end of the season, and I certainly would swap it for promotion, but it's going to be a good day out for a lot of people. Hell, even I might pop along now, I don't feel I'm having the piss taken out of me so much this evening...
Plus points: We won. Away. Quite convincingly in the end. Shroot finally justifying the hype. Defence looks a bit more solid. Knowing we have players to return from injury.
Minus points: Their goal. The weather.
The referee's a......: Seemed to enjoy giving Ashford plenty of free kicks for no obvious reason. Maybe he had a spread bet on how many he could award.
Them: What was it, they've won 10 out of their 11 home games, really on fire recently and we made them look that ordinary? Looks like it. Even their goal was offside so that doesn't really count. Nice to see their goalie having some, ahem, "banter" with our fans in the first half. Shame he went off injured in the second, but it can and does happen. Curse of the Wombles, I believe it's called. Nice enough setup, they seem better organised than many places. And is there anything more romantic in football than the Kerosene Storage Tanks End? One day somebody is going to shoot wildly and the ball will puncture one of them. Oh, and if we do play there next season, do you think they'll finally get a PA mike that works?
Point to ponder: Doesn't this just prove the theory that the team we should fear most of all in the playoffs is ourselves? The AFCW seen today, and for too few times this season, would and should still be snapping away at Chelmsford's heels this season. We all know why we're apprehensive going into them, and even after today there's no reason to think otherwise. But really, doesn't a professional performance like this make the almost expected fuckup just even more galling to swallow?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Sight of TB five minutes before the game walking on his own to the dugouts. Entschuldigung Sie bitte, aber warum? (2) The weather. Sun/rain/hail/sun/rain/sun/hail/rain/sun/rain. Might have missed out another bit of rain inbetween sun and hail, but you get the idea. If this is April showers I'd hate to see what a full-on thunderstorm is. (3) Anyone else think that Ramone Rose wasn't going to be with us any longer? As much as I support having the likes of him and the Cue learning their trade with us (especially when they're that effective as well), it doesn't half get confusing. Not to mention opening up opportunities for the occasional conspiracy theorist to strike.
Anything else? Not really if truth be told. I suppose the only thing that could count as a bummer was Franchise getting promoted today. What - they didn't? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Sadly, it's only really delaying their inevitable rise, but just imagine if they really did right royally fuck it up. I mean, fall out of automatic promotion and then fuck up in the playoffs. We'd love it if it happened, but if it didn't and they do go up, remember this : they took a league place in the Championship and are now in the bottom tier of professional English football. No matter what they do, they blew their golden opportunity.......
So, was it worth it? Yes, if only to see the planes take off.
In a nutshell: Wemberley, Wemberley.....
5 April 2008
No notes taken, half the time my headphones in the WDON battery hen compartment commentary box didn't work so I really couldn't work out what was being said (for those who thought I was shit in there today - apologies), and a really strange (ie shit) first half hour.
But hey, it finished Suburb of London 2 Suburb of Chelmsford 1 and I really don't give a flying fuck what anyone says right now :)
Seriously, with everything that has been written this past week and beyond (including on here), by about 3.30pm today I was fearing the worst. Not just for the game but for the season. I mean, lose it today, with the shite that's been going on around recently, and I really did shudder to think how this season was going to end. Certainly play off semi-final defeat was inevitable, and compound that with Franchise bound to get promotion all mental health physicians in the SW London region were about to be put on full alert.
People may say that MG's goal was the turning point of the game, and that's not an unfair assumption to make. But actually, it was Pullen's save soon after the Rickay goal that defined today. Think about it - had it gone in, we would have collapsed. More to the point, that would have ended our season right there - want to know why? Simple - with all the changes this week, with all the last minute change of emphasis, to have gone behind like that again would have been too much to take.
And let's face it, this past couple of weeks has seen a fair amount of bloodletting. We usually tend to navel gaze after a poor defeat, and the recent period has seen it more than we have done for the past couple of years. But after Pullen's save, we got back into the game a bit more, maybe should have done better with a couple of chances and started to show a bit of, you know, confidence. Don't tell me we would have done that if it was 2-0.
The rest of the match is history. As we all know, a damn good save was forced straight before MG's goal, Nic McD looked like how we want Danny Webb to be like, and there's nowt better than a last minute goal. Especially one when you feel our rampant attacking had petered out and there was that slight back-of-mind niggle we were going to let it slip late on. Seriously, if the Main Stand showed signs of an OAP trying his first viagra, god knows what it was like behind the goal. Even the John Smiths Stand almost stopped berating everyone in sight and smelling of piss for one moment. I said almost.
So, what caused the seven-day turnaround? Well, after last week, everyone needed a well aimed foot in the anal passage region and maybe, just maybe, things got through today. Although I'm more inclined to believe that the new signings made a difference. We looked a lot, lot fresher today. Maybe it was the new attitude shown by the likes of Buchanan, McD, Christon and even the return of the Cue that has changed opinions in a mere seven days? We all knew we couldn't continue as we were.....
If there's some doubt that such a major influx at this late stage was a good thing, just look at peoples' collective mood tonight. Suddenly, we can win in the playoffs after all. Strange how it so compared to last week. Guess that's football for you - there must be some established players right now thinking "hang on, they've managed to win without me". Nobody in football is irreplacable, and I think we've just proved it.
Should that demotivate the drifters, so be it. They'll be out on their ear come the summer if so. Right now, our squad is fighting for the opportunity to wear the AFCW shirt next season. While we're going to lose the Cue, Rose and MG anyway, the rest are getting told to stake their claim. Today, they proved they deserve new contracts. And that's all we want - if we're shit, at least work your nads off. But we're not shit, in fact we never have been shit in talent. It's just our attitude that has stunk like a 10 day old turd doused liberally in the Berrylands sewerage works. Just think if we'd applied this attitude throughout the whole of the season..........
While you think about that, here's...
Plus points: We won. At KM for once. RS's last minute goal. New boys fitting in well. Notable change in approach/attitude. Defence got better as the game progressed.
Minus points: First 30 minutes.
The referee's a......: Well, I thought he was all right meself.
Them: Lovely lot aren't they? Gave it the predictable MK shit and basically sounded like a bunch of drunk chavs in a Magaluf night club. And that was just the players. Weren't they the same mob who claimed last season they were going to field 16 ineligible players from now on simply because we managed to overturn a rather stupid rule? How conveniently they forgot to do that..... Actually, they seemed a decent footballing side, although it's always nice to outplay these sort of sides ;)
Meet the Manager: One good thing about being in the press box in a game is getting to interview managers. If I'm still allowed to do WDON this may become a regular feature - here's what TB said after the game (WAV file). Wonder who asked him the question about Ramone Rose?
Impressions? Well, firstly I got the impression TB thought this sort of performance should be standard practice, and not one to be celebrated from the rooftops. It's good to know that they at least appreciate what the supporters have had to put up with recently (haven't bothered checking the form guide, but is this really our worst run this season? Good time to have it, I don't think).
I did like the fact he described us as "patient". Obviously doesn't hear what goes on in the stands or on t'internet. You can hear the rest for yourself, but I do get the feeling TB knows where the right direction is. Maybe he's now getting the players to agree where it is as well...
Point to ponder: Apart from wondering why we haven't done this all season long? Just really a case of, can we keep it up until 5pm on the 3rd May 2008? Also, was it me or once it settled down, our defence looked more solid than it has at any time this season? Even MG didn't look like a 100 year old man after 5 minutes. All I ask is that we just keep it up, especially for the final two games of the season....
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Your editor getting interviewed for five minutes by Nuts TV because - seriously - they thought I was good value last time. They're not that desperate, surely? (2) The weather. Cold. Sunny. Wet. Sunny. Still cold. All in about 30 minutes. Global warming, eh? (3) Actually having a squad today that looked like they gave a shit. (4) Tintin Haydon trying to shake the hand of a pissed off Rickay player right at the end and getting told to fuck off. Not too sure what's worse : losing in the last minute or getting stalked by a giant bit of cloth afterwards.
Anything else? Yup - we will have a yellow away kit next season. Thankfully, good taste prevailed and we have been spared the wanky pink outfit. Seriously, there's a reason why no club keeps a pink kit for long : it's because it's a horrible colour for a football shirt. Blue works as a football colour. So does red. Some teams have yellow. Others may employ claret. A few awkward bastards have stripes because they can't make their mind up. But you never see a brown shirt. Or a grey shirt. Certainly not a black shirt. And definitely, definitely not a pink.
Yeah yeah, Palermo wear pink. Difference is, they're hard as fuck Italians and you wouldn't dare call them out over it. We're AFCW and if we wore pink we'd make it look camper than Graham Norton and Larry Grayson at a Mardi Gras parade in San Francisco. And no, real men don't wear pink. Those who claim otherwise are either those fucking annoying "professionally queer" types or splitarses.......
So, was it worth it? Yeah, probably.
In a nutshell: Is it too much to ask for this to be a bit more typical of our season?
1 April 2008
It's been close to 24 hours since our five-man (if you include the Cue returning) transfer sweep, and suddenly things are looking up a bit. Already, internet messageboards are speaking highly of signings like McDonnell and Ben Judge to name but two, and right now the talk is of the much needed arse-kicking exercise this squad has needed for a long time.
I've got to admit, I was pretty shocked and stunned myself when I read the OS and saw all these names listed upon there. It's undoubtedly a gamble by TB - there's been enough comment about the AFCW revolving door, how we should instead be looking to get back people like Mark DeBolla and Beckford instead. If it fails, expect more bloodletting in the summer. We all know we needed a settled side for the playoffs and we're still shipping in new players. It's the football equivalent of shock-and-awe, minus the physical damage.
And yet, cast your mind back to last Saturday. Remember how the mood was? For the first time, even some members of the Positive Posse were admitting to themselves that deja vu had come back to haunt us, that we would once again get dicked by somebody like Staines in the playoff semis, and the circle of failure continues for another season. Now?
Well, OK, enough glimpses of optimism. We haven't actually played our next game yet. But we all knew that something had to be done, and it's quite a shock that we've gone and done it. It's been mentioned plenty of times before over the last day or so, but we really didn't have much choice. If last Saturday was a one-off, then it's a one-off. But was it a one-off when ETU done us over? Or indeed the Chelmsford game?
And come to think of it, before that as well? We beat Hendon 2-0 before then, but we were sailing very close to the wind after we went 2-0 up. Lest we forget that one big criticism this season has been us going 2-0 up then just sitting back and unable to kill the game off enough to relax. Seriously, just read SW19 reports from this season and you'll see a pattern forming. Even when we beat Hastings 4-0 a few weeks ago they still hit the bar enough times to make it brown trouser time with better accuracy.
On the surface, bringing in almost half a team in one day is one helluva move to make, and can smell of panic. Dig deeper, and the only surprise is how TB hasn't been able to do it sooner. Let's face it, even if the rumours of Finn storming out at Carshalton are bollocks, things haven't been well at AFCW for some time. True, we're second, but we'd probably still be pushing the champions-elect even now had we been more of a collective unit.
So, what will this do to us? We'll wait and see, but if this doesn't ram a deservedly well-aimed foot up the arse of some of our players, nothing will. Perhaps electric shock treatment, although I doubt if the Ryman rules would let us do that somehow. We urgently needed a (metaphorical) spark of life from somewhere and maybe we've now got it. When TB was smashing a few tea trays about after the game on Saturday, I did wonder just where we would go from here. And I mean, a real doubt of our future direction. You know on occasions when things get so low that you just can't see any way back?
Granted, that might be a melodramatic way of looking at it, but let's face it - our squad has been locked in the dressing room far too many times this season (hell, far too many times over the last month), and if they're out of a game from now on, who's fault is that? It's not as though they've never been given game time.
OK, I have to feel a bit sorry for Danny Webb if McDonnell takes his place, but his easier-to-score-than-miss opportunities at Carshalton probably curtailed his contract for next season. I'm certainly not saying the guy doesn't try hard, christ if only every player had his work ethic. But I think we need to move on now. If TB had the choice of signing people like Webb, Hatton and one or two others right now, with what he's learnt about the RP in 2007/08, would he have done so? The list of recent signings may suggest he probably wouldn't.
This all said, the attitude things continues to come back. I don't expect every player to like the manager, or to be his best mate, but we're chasing second spot - a second spot which we should have nailed down comfortably by now but haven't. If we play any playoff games away, it's our own fault. Not only that, but with that second spot a very important shot at automatic promotion. You would expect at least the players to realise this and bust the proverbial bollock (and literal one if need be) to secure that even if they can't stand who gives the team talk. Christ, the head coach of the 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team said one of his tactics was to make the players focus on one thing - hating him. The idea was that if they didn't play for him they at least played for each other. It worked for them, certainly, and you can't say it's not working for us at the moment.
From reports, it seems as though McDonnell and Judge are what are known as "100% players". In other words, they are prepared to lose a body limb in the process of winning. Now, if true that will gladden the ticker of many a pissed off Womble. How many times have we seen Jason Goodliffe try and gee up our players recently, only to see heads drop when we go 3-2 down? If he could find a brick wall, he'd be giving himself even more of a shiner with repeated headbutting. Now, he might have some other players on the pitch who may not only listen but may themselves gee others up. And it's a bit better having two players giving encouragement than just the one...
The most important thing from now until 5pm on the 3rd May is to remain unbeaten. Do that and we've got promotion. You have to be cynical and brutally ruthless right now. It doesn't matter where they come from, how long they're here for, whether they'll leave in the summer - what matters are four more league games and two playoff games. If we fail, we start again with a brand new approach when the close-season ends. If we succeed, we'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.
Has our season been kickstarted into life again? Billericay will tell us that. But I for once can't wait for training tonight....
29 March 2008
What a time to make my WDON guest summariser appearance. A throat sorer than Jenna Jameson's after a hard days work, absolutely crap weather and a "treat" of Low Fat Spread 2 Lard 4.
Fed up? Yes. I'm going to try my hardest and not burst an artery today. Though personally, I'm getting concerned that people just come onto SW19 and watch me explode for entertainment, a bit of the Simon Cowell syndrome if you will. If that really is going to be the case I think it's best that SW19 ceases publication, on my own health/sanity grounds alone. Not joking either.
No, it's true. I really don't have the energy to risk another stroke. Instead, I'll tell you a little story. For the first time in ages, I was in the KM press box (it's still as cramped as it ever was) and I decided, straight off my own back, that I would listen to what TB had to say. Typically, I forgot my dictaphone, and my hands were too cold to make copious notes, but his words were "Now I'm off to fucking hang myself".
Whilst I'm sure some of the kneejerk brigade will right now be hanging him the rope and rubbing their hands with glee, it's what else he said that caught my ear. We've been shit since Chelmsford - no, really? We need a settled side now, especially at the back, and we'll be using Ramone Rose a fair bit for the run in. Not exactly rocket science.
But the first thing he said - at least, what I think he said - was that we need to go back to basics. Even if he didn't, he should have done. No, I don't mean in a John Major way either, although if Rob Quinn gets caught shagging in a Chelski shirt....
But something is now clearly missing. And for the first time this season it's not just me thinking the playoffs are beyond us now. It was the way people walked out not angry, but resigned. We've seen it all before, deja vu all over again, that kind of thing. I've waxed lyrical on this a lot recently, but there's no other way to describe it.
This "back to basics" thing is nagging me right now. Yes, the team needs to certainly do that - it needs to get out of its complacency. I think TB needs to be brave in dropping players regardless of how much they're paid. If one plays well on £50 and the other plays badly on £500, drop the high earner. It's obvious he ain't earning his keep. Nine goals conceeded in our last 4 games? Remember how we had about 6 games with clean sheets? Seem like another era, don't they...
But as more worry comes that history is repeating itself time and time again, another pensive thought. If the team has to go back to basics, shouldn't AFCW itself? No, I'm not trying to shit-stir for once, I drove away today thinking exactly that.
In fact, I'll tell you something else. I had to come back via Plough Lane/Durnsford Road, and seeing the massive construction going on there. Believe it or not, it doesn't hurt me as much passing there as it used to. Maybe it's because the massive carbuncle there now just puts a bit of finality on it, or maybe having OUR honours back in Merton softens the blow a lot. But if we like to think we're the continuation of WFC, shouldn't we start acting like it?
No, I don't mean shunting off AFCW to Corby and alienating everyone in the process, although at times that thought can cross my mind. I mean, how did WFC get to where it got to in the first place? By that I'm referring to becoming one of the top non-league clubs and then eventually up to the highest level in English domestic football. WFC was the most un-prima donna outfit ever to exist in the top flight. It never got covered weekly in a TV show, nor did it get invited to prestige events at the national stadium. It just cocked a snoot at everyone else and just got on with it.
What is AFCW in 2008? A fiercely ambitious club, certainly. But it's also one that just needs to be seen. It's a club that just has to ram itself in everyone's face. It's a club that never misses the opportunity to say "look at me, look at me. Aren't I wonderful for what I've done?". And the consequence of that is, people then start to look at you. They start to probe you, maybe in ways you don't like. Some may not believe entirely what you say about yourself. In short, you invite loads and loads of pressure onto yourself.
And guess what? We can't cope. We've always known we can't cope, even if we daren't admit it. It's very difficult to move a club with 2500 fans onto a level it may not quite be ready for yet. It certainly can't cope when it's constantly telling itself - no, constantly winding itself up - that it has to push onto the next level. Then the next. Then the next. This is a club that is so shit scared of failure that it's stifling success in the process.
Not for the first time, today we went ahead then they went ahead and then our heads dropped. And then they rose again and dropped immediately afterwards. And stayed dropped. Today proved once and for all we have a terminal illness at AFCW and one that just cannot be cured. Yes, we're second, but for how much longer? Sack TB? Yeah sure, why not. Let's get some fresh ideas in, a fresh approach to the club. Er, hold on, wasn't that what we were saying last year? I won't mention it again, I've gotten bored of mentioning it for about the last 200 times. And people constantly doing that are doing my fucking head in.
But I will ask if the approach of AFCW is causing us damage. Not on the field, but off it. Are we collectively showing just how utterly naive we really are in running a football club? Yes, I'm sure we manage ourselves well on a business setting but are we doing the right thing football-wise? The people who run AFCW are collectively accountants, management types, a few trade unionists here and there, that sort of setup. I ask, are they trying to run AFCW like a management consultancy firm or a branch of USDAW? Are they using man-management skills that you can get away with in an office yet actually cause great problems in something like a football club?
I don't know, I'm only guessing here. I know I shouldn't say this but I'm actually quite looking forward to the close season now, and I'm not sure if us going up or not is going to change that. Sure, I'd love to go up, but like last season I'm getting fed up of the constant browbeating that is everywhere you turn right now. The club was at it again today, with its big mock-up posters with MG/TB on them, telling any passing punter to JOIN JOIN the Dons Trust, or BUY BUY your Golden Goal, or SIGN UP SIGN UP to the Dons Draw. Assuming of course you haven't CHOSEN CHOSEN your new kit so you can BUY BUY the new strip when it comes out.
Pretty intensive stuff isn't it? Especially when it's helped by a nice bit of hysterical screaming like IT'S YOUR CLUB or an insinuation thereof. I really could notice the intensity of AFCW generally today. If the poor average fan is getting an in-your-face bombardment almost before he's even got off the bus, what's happening in the football side? I mentioned it a few months ago, but it's even more relevant today. I would have given TB a three year contract rather than a two year one. The reason why I say that is because if TB doesn't succeed this time round, he basically has one year to save his job. And if he's constantly getting told to get us up at all costs, of course things are going to break down. Especially if you consider that if we finished second but don't go up the season will have been seen as a TOTAL DISASTER. We are not mature enough as a club to handle that additional pressure.
AFCW needs a new approach. If, and this is purely an idle thought on my part, there is undue pressure on our players and staff by our club, IT MUST STOP RIGHT NOW. AFCW will forever underachieve if it's under constant fear of failing. And again, purely an idle thought on my part, if there is external pressure on the squad and managers where there should not be, IT MUST STOP RIGHT NOW. Times are fraught enough in the dressing room as it is, without a club barging in and telling its main business section it's a failure if it's not promoted at the end of the season. From now until the end of the season, TB must be allowed to do his job. SC must be allowed to do his job. The players should be allowed to do their job. If they are, and they fail, it's their fault and theirs alone. But if there's any external pressure that isn't necessary, or isn't warranted, go and do one right now. You're not helping. And you certainly won't help us getting promoted.
Were Horsham beatable today? Of course they were. Was it our fault we let them back in? Of course it was. But when the latest post mortems finish, just ask yourself what hasn't been examined with a fine comb......
Didn't write too many notes, obviously, but....
Plus points: At least we'll be at the same level as Sutton next season.
Minus points: Everything. Again.
The referee's a...... : Actually, he seemed quite a friendly bloke in the changing room area afterwards. Even shaking a couple of hands, and a comment of "see you in the Conference South next season". And no, he wasn't taking the piss or shaking the hand of a Horsham official...
Them: As usual, had a number of players out and did what we can't do. Depressing ain't it?
Point to ponder: Is there one?
Truth is stranger than fiction: Just your editor doing 90 minutes as guest summariser on Radio WDON and not swearing once. Tell you what, I hope I didn't sound as nervous as I felt. Seriously, I've never had to talk for a set amount of time and make it sound remotely intelligent and with no re-recording available. Still, I might be invited back next week...
Anything else? Yeah. RS is in the Norn Iron squad for a tournament in Portugal. Bet he'll be wishing he'll stay there at this rate.
So, was it worth it? No
In a nutshell: Fuck off.
24 March 2008
OK, it wasn't pretty. It was pretty hard work and laborious at times. But thankfully, it was SM5 0 SW19 2. And after Friday I think I would have almost accepted a 90 minute scramble off Marcus Gayle's nob to win us the game.
You could really sense the relief when Fergie netted right at the end. I'm not going so far as to suggest that a weight has been lifted off our shoulders, but at least something from Friday got out of our system. There were times in the second half when CAFC could have snatched one back. Not because I think they were significantly better than we were but because it's the sort of thing we do. Remember last season?
Got to admit, when Pullen failed to hold onto it right at the end following a corner, my heart was in my mouth and my shit was finding a final resting place in my pants. Can you imagine the fallout had any of it gone in? I'm not joking when I say that could have permanently damaged our season. To balls up one game a week (Chelmsford) is one thing. To then throw another game away (ETU) five days later is unforgivable. To have thrown it away today.....
Thankfully we didn't. I've no idea if the players read SW19's "advice" willfully dished out to them after Friday, but Fergie might have done. Wonder if he'll point to the bench this time? Maybe after today I can pass that off as just outright frustration. Things obviously got to a point (again?) after ETU - reportedly the players were very quiet in the dressing room afterwards, as well they should be.
There is one thing that I do want to address though. Today, Tony Finn reportedly had a clash with Stuart Cash and drove off home. Yes, you read that right - touch of the Mark DeBolla there. At least this time Finn wasn't blocked in. This came after a comment on Facebook by one of our players (and I'll come onto that later) that the two clashed after ETU. Or rather, Cash "went for" Finn.
Now, I've no idea what "went for" means, but I can guess it wasn't a Blind Date type selection. But it's not as though Finn was exactly undroppable was he? Especially recently, when you consider that Finn was recently getting slagged off for his lack of distribution amongst other things. Remember what I wrote on Friday about having the players' bluffs called? Maybe Finn got his on Friday and again today, and you can guess the rest.
If he did walk out just like that, then fuck him. We don't need players like that. We don't need any players that will disrupt things at this already tense time of the season. Not too sure why we don't recall Beckford, but you can forget about DeBolla coming back (you'll have to trust me on this one). We all know about Jolly. I'm not naive enough to think that our dressing room is all chummy, but if we're getting rid of whingers, backstabbers and other disruptive elements, then bring on the cull. We should have enough to get that vital second spot, and come the playoffs we need everyone on board.
Oh, and Facebook - are our players who use it thick as fuck? To put messages that should be private on public view (I don't use FB myself so I've no idea quite how it works) is really going to endear themselves to their public I don't think. Not to mention a passing journo or two. Whilst I would hope the players wouldn't need to write such messages even privately, when you get a situation like Friday it does make a tense situation even worse. Somebody at AFCW should just tell the players that at the very least they're on public display, or even better keep them away from their computer..
Back to today. If truth be told, this sort of performance won't win us the playoffs. We don't really look like we'd gelled at times. And the less said about Danny Webb's regression into an invalid old man when he was one-on-one the better. Hatton continues to be as unimpressive as a Franchise fan trying to talk about the history of WFC. And as I keep saying, our defence really isn't that good.
But hey, we won, and I'm content enough. Satisfied even. I would hope TB now has done what he needs to about who needs to stake their place and where, finds a starting XI and stick with it. Even if it's this XI that won us the game today, keep them all together and make the others come in and displace them. OK, I'd probably start Rose instead of Webb, and for the life of me Hussey doesn't deserve to be dropped at all (Haswell and Hussey on the same wing? Interesting...), and I've said what I've thought about Hatton. And we need a new CB....
.
UPDATE: Urg, wrote all this up before TB's comments went up on the OS. Can't be arsed to rewrite it. Anyway, it's good that he's finally admitted in public that we need some cover at CB. Whether that will mean a loan signing or a more permanent replacement I don't know. Funny thing is, I actually thought our CBs had a better game today.
I do get the impression he's at the end of his tether though. After all, it is his job that is ultimately on the line, and should we not go up this season he'll effectively have one more season to gain promotion (OK, I hope that isn't the case, but if AFCW have given him two years...). The alleged strop by Finn really can't have helped matters either, and to echo what somebody wrote on the Other Site, our players are semi-pro footballers. They are nowhere near as important as they think they are.
We could do with a couple of days off now, just clear our heads and refocus again. Just think, if we had beaten Chelmsford and ETU, and the champions-elect results hadn't changed, we would have been three points behind them this evening. I doubt if I'm the only one at AFCW who now realises that.
Plus points: We won. Away. Clean sheet. Banana skin avoided. Alfie Potter. Fergie's bollock busting runs. Far more effort put in today. Did look promising on the odd occasion.
Minus points: Friday's smell still lingers
The referee's a......: Did Danny Webb shag his missus over Easter? The ref really hardly gave him anything at all, especially in the first half. He even missed Matt York's stamp on him - then again, the referee would have joined in if he had seen it.
Them: Do we still call them Friends of Franchise or not? At times I do wonder how they were ever a Conference S