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NEWS

30 December 2007

Now, that's more like it. After what seemed like an eternity, finally a game in the league that justifies the pre-season hype. While we shouldn't get carried away with Twelve Men 2 Eleven Men 5, for once we had to perform well and we did.

If ever a time called for a proper, non-fuckabout type performance, yesterday was it. It was as though the last few weeks had kind of manifested itself, and collectively we said "come on guys, let's go". Whether it was JG before the start yelling out "no excuses" or TB's blast at them post-Carshalton, I don't know, but yesterday I saw a team determined to prove a point, not merely settle for one. Had we even drawn yesterday, I think you could have said that playoff hell beckoned for us this season. Automatic promotion? Stop laughing.

Needless to say, the first 20 minutes were a bit where we left off on Wednesday. Then, we were playing a team who would have beaten us had they been more competent. Yesterday, we were playing a team who were beating us because they were more competent. Like Arsene Wenger, I didn't see the penalty incident, but people were REALLY wound up by it. More on the ref later, but at that time, I just couldn't see any outcome but a plucky draw/defeat at best.

Obviously our players had different ideas. When Beckfield (sic) scuffed his shot and for once didn't go wide, something changed. Really, something did change. Whether we had a sudden injection of confidence I don't know, but you know how games can suddenly alter just like that. Those who've been watching us recently would have seen a concrete footed-laden, going through the motions, dare I say disinterested looking collection of players taking to the field and scraping points. Suddenly, we looked a bit more like a team.

Actually, we looked a lot more like a team, and one that wanted to win as well. After Beard's wondergoal (and I bet nobody got that on video) you really did think a case of how many, not if we'd score any more. I don't wish to sound cruder than normal, but you know when you've been ill and one more heave (so to speak) suddenly makes you feel a lot better? Well, it was like that, minus the tablets and the thirst for Lucozade

Even Staines' equaliser didn't make me think we'd lose it. Strange that I thought in the previous games the oppo scoring was the surefire way of ending our season, yet yesterday a title (stop laughing) chasing rival equalising before half time with us in the ascendancy didn't.

And as the second half proved, I think there was only one winner yesterday. Sadly for the ref, it was us. I don't know what TB said at half time, but he probably didn't need to say a lot. Certainly to Fergie, who went on a blinding solo run and for once actually put it in the rather natty blue/yellow nets. Cue much cheering, smiles of glee and the occasional exchage of body fluids. Probably.

When Webb (apparently) got bundled over, and the impressive Main slotted home quite easily, I would like to say that I was quite relaxed and writing up mentally this report in glowing terms. Actually, I wasn't - I was shitting myself that Staines would somehow nick one back and a 4-4 draw was on the cards. Even another run/shot/goal by Fergie didn't entirely make me think we couldn't blow it.

In the grand scheme of things, this was just one game in a marathon season. We certainly need to repeat that against Hendon on NYD for starters. But it proves we can do it, and as somebody suggested yesterday, maybe TB has found his ideal formation totally by accident? OK, I still think we're best getting money for Jolly, and I get the feeling Danny Knowles won't be with us after the loan spell is up, but as of yesterday, we really did look like a team who could say they are good enough for automatic promotion and actually mean it.

While I'm here, I've singled out Fergie in the past for being shit somebody who just runs a lot and does fuck all with it afterwards. In short, expendable. Yesterday, he showed something I haven't seen from him before. No, not an England shirt but somebody who went on and took it on right at the last. Maybe like the rest of the team, he needed something to click and yesterday it happened?

Whatever the reason, this was the perfomance needed at the time needed. Just make sure we repeat it for the rest of the season, eh?

While we wait for that, here's....

 

Plus points: A win. Away. Five goals away from home to boot. SF. Way we came back after going 1-0 down. Keeping our confidence levels up even at 2-2. Mark Beard's goal. Jon Main's penalty. The committment shown as well as the skill. Jason Goodliffe.

Minus point: Their two goals. Luke Garrard going off.

The referee's a...........: Wonder if he got a load of brown envelopes to buy a new personalised number plate? Would explain a lot if so. Seriously, while penalties are always likely to be contentious (especially when there aren't instant replay facilities available) what I think made this tit worse than the infamous Mr Fish was his "I am always right" demeanour. I'll leave others to list what he got wrong, if I started I'll still be here till Doomsday.

Incidentally, and indirectly on this subject, I've noticed this morning a growing trend towards some critising our fans for giving the dick of a ref an absolutely hard time. My response? Welcome to the real world of football supporting, at least in non-backwater leagues. Actually, I thought the abuse of the referee was quite tame compared to some stuff I've seen and heard, and I sometimes wonder if certain elements of our fanbase are showing their naievity over this.

TBH, if I go to a football match, I expect to hear a lot of stuff I wouldn't hear on the street. That's just the nature of the beast, and I'm sure some bearded bloke with sandals and BO has written a thesis on the socio-political makeup of football supporting. If you're abusing the referee because he's an ethnic minority, or he had a death in his family, or he had a Glen Roeder-style brain op, then you have every right to complain. But condemn calling him a "fucking cunt" because he's performing like one? Get real. Going to football has never been going to church or a WI meeting, and never will be. Football is sanitised enough as it is generally, and it's not like AFCW can afford to lessen the atmosphere any more than usual.

Besides, if a referee blatantly misses a punch that is merely 7 yards away from him, and only gives the puncher a yellow card, are we supposed to clap like sealions and say "well done ref" without a hint of irony? Sometimes, I do wonder...

Them: Shit, weren't they? Even with 12 men, they really got their goals down to mistakes by others rather than their own guile and ingenuity. Piss poor turnout from them as well - when they scored you could have been forgiven for thinking somebody had farted. Did they really pull in nearly 3k recently for their FAC ties? It's not like they don't advertise or have decent facilities either, or a team languishing in the lower halves of the table. Maybe this is what life is really like for the rank-and-file Ryman outfit?

Point to ponder: Going on from that last comment. The point was made to me yesterday that Staines weren't all that, but neither were Chelmsford and the others. OK, I know Chelmsford beat us, but they'd been whipped had they met us yesterday. Doesn't this just add to our frustration generally? And won't it compound the frustration the next time we struggle to beat a team lower down? At the risk of getting accused of being BBB, this season we've put nine goals past Staines and Chelmsford and made them look very ordinary in the process. That's not the sign of a bad team, that's the sign of a team that really can get automatic promotion. If we're not good enough generally, then so be it. But yesterday proved we are, and that's what made Carshalton just that bit less palatable. We can live with being shit, but we can't live with underperforming...

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Staines playing Liquidator before the game. Well, we are in West London after all. (2) Maybe my eyesight is going, but in another act of Chelski-ism, I'm sure I saw a UVF bit of graffiti in the ground. That said, most other people seemed to think that it was in fact somebody writing LIVE very badly. (3) Before the warmup, our man in goal made a save and smugly proclaimed "just like a cat". Shame some wag (?) replied to him "Yeah, Bagpuss".....

Anything else? Maybe a QED moment, but this seemed more of a passionate display by the fanbase yesterday. Granted, the penalty in the first minute might have contributed to that, but it was certainly the best for a little while. I know some will say that it should be that way every week, but it's more complex than that. Certainly a double-edged sword, and other such cliches. Also, the team seemed more with us yesterday. Maybe our team is like a dog* - happy to chase its tail and have a good strain on the pavement when you don't want it to, yet wags its tail furiously when it knows it's pleased its master.

* - at least, I assume that's what dogs do. Personally, I hate them.

So, was it worth it? Certainly a good way to end a rather fraught 2007

In a nutshell: Now, just repeat that kind of play until the end of April....

27 December 2007

There's something I (and judging by a couple of comments I encountered yesterday, others) don't like about Christmas. Xmas Eve is all right, but Xmas Day if you don't have kids is either a lesson in monotomy or the time when Murphy makes his rather unwelcome law count more than ever.

But Boxing Day and the week between this and NYD seems to be the worst. The build up has gone, the decorations suddenly look out of place, the expensive gifts at Xmas are either earmarked for return whence they came, or discarded, and the whole period seems dead and a cultural void, with the only alternative a heavy dose of consumerised gluttony. Bit like living the entire year in Milton Keynes.

Which might explain why Foes of Franchise 2 Friends of Franchise 0 sucked. By all accounts, the dresssing room was the quietest it's ever been after a win. Remember what I said after Ramsgutter below? If you can't be arsed to find it, I'll repeat it:

I can't help feeling we'll scrape through FoF on Boxing Day - we'll either go the inevitable goal down or we'll go 2-0 up after 20 minutes, fail to add the third, concede during the second half and hang on yet again.

Nearly right, wasn't I? Be honest, had FoF not been so totally inept bar some pretty passing, this could have been a tad embarrassing. Well, in all likelyhood it wouldn't as we did show glimpses of what we could do when we were arsed. But the whole experience was just so lackluster. Did our collective hangover kick in at 3.08pm, after Main slotted home?

You do wonder if we're going through a rocky patch that will define our season. The thing is, bar Chelmsford we haven't been playing well yet still picking up points. We should have lost against Gutter but could have actually won it in injury time. We could have lost against FoF if they weren't totally crap. We've got Staines and Hendon next, and to be honest I'm fearing the worse.

Mind you, so does TB by the looks of it. If you read what he said after the game, that's the kind of thing you normally come out with after a defeat. At times it does seem that the mentality of the last couple of years is still there, namely we scrape by when we shouldn't and just treat it as three-points-won-ah-never-mind-we-just-got-it-when-do-we-go-up?

I bet the players didn't expect to have to do an extra training session as a "reward" for a 2-0 win on Boxing Day. But then, if you're genuine about promotion you have to set your standards a lot higher than just doing the bare minimum. Yes, I know teams always try harder against us, but that's an argument that's starting to wear quite thin now.

It's quite ironic really that in ye olden days the Xmas period was the time of year when we kicked into life. Many a relegation scrap (under OGEM, lest we forget) was averted simply because we got a few decent wins over the yuletide period. Right now, we're gaining points yet seemed to have regressed playing wise. Is that a good thing or not? Guess we'll find out after Hendon on NYD.

While you're finishing off your stuffed bird, here's....

 

Plus points: We won. Suppose quite comfortable really. Were likely to go up a gear if the mood took us.

Minus points: Shit game. MG going off injured. Looking less effective when Jolly came on.

The referee's a......: Christ, he was in a good mood wasn't he? What do you think his wife gave him for Xmas? The clap?

Them: A bit better and they would have beaten us. Though I think that was down to how we played rather than them. Not too bad a turnout from them, really, although I was surprised they dropped the segregation with that amount of away fans there. What this all merely confirms of course is that judging by how current and ex-CS sides fare against us, just how much more difficult getting into the CS is proving to be rather than how well we'd likely to do once up there.

Point to ponder: When was the last time a Boxing Day game didn't suck? Chelski during the mid-90s? Normally, they're quite flat affairs, no matter the time of day. I think it's little things like nabbing a saveloy avec pomme frittes for a Boxing Day lunch that does it. Not that I'm suggesting we should scrap them full stop, they certainly bring in the crowds, and my first ever away game was on St Stephen's. 22 years ago at Palace, if you must know. Back then, I thought Selhurst was a dump, looked even worse in the rain, and thought their fans were typical illiterate Croydon oiks and their team were shit. Not like now, of course.

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Phillo returned for a guest slot on the PA, which felt a bit of a flashback to seasons past. Bit like our play. (2) Speaking of flashbacks, us singing anti-Chelski/Palace songs towards the end, when we knew even AFCW couldn't throw this away. (3) The amount of family and one-game-a-year brigade there yesterday. Why do we always give them a pile of cock in return for their loyalty?

Anything else? Nothing really that doesn't repeat anything I've said. One thing I will say - at least Jon Main proved exactly why we paid £30m for him.

So, was it worth it? Well, at least it finished in time for Glentoran against Linfield on Sky.

In a nutshell: Xmas holidays are over...

23 December 2007

If you'd asked me before Gypsies 1 Tramps and Thieves 1 whether I would have been happy with a draw, I would probably have said no. Wins are far more valuable than draws, even at this relatively early stage.

Yet when I walked out of the game yesterday into the increasingly swirly Kent mist, I felt we'd done to Lady Luck what Man United players do to slappers at Xmas parties. Kenny Richie has nothing on us. From missed penalties - the ball is still heading past Swindon as we speak - to a defence shitting itself every time the opposition came in our half, to Jon Main's goal with his knee from 3mm out, a point felt like three.

Yes, it was that bad.

Before we scored, I was thinking of the consequences of us losing. OK, a lot of it was having to get through Gutter's reaction had it happened , but also what it would have done to our mood. If we're serious about getting automatic promotion (stop laughing), as both TB and one of our players said this week, you don't go to Ramsgutter and play like you've just come off the funny farm, no matter the result.

Yes, their manager was doing his usual "discussion" with the officials, the pitch was shit, and when Gutter say they want a strong ref, what they mean is they want a referee who ignores their players shooting oppo players on the pitch whilst penalising their opponents for farting. But we have to rise above that if we don't want to settle for the playoffs. I wouldn't have cared yesterday if we really did snatch it at the death, but by and large those who were there were happy with the draw. But in truth, we shouldn't be.

Drawing doesn't hide the fact that I honestly did question whether we'd signed Jon Main simply because we could, rather than him slotting into the side. Actually, I'm being unfair, he was at least putting shots in when he could, and I'm sure his goal yesterday will be the first of many now.

In fact, am I being unfair full stop? I suppose the bottom line is, we played shit in a hostile place and we still came out with a point. They had won 7 out of 10 beforehand at their "ground". Perhaps just as importantly, we have enough decent players to make that difference as and when needed. Yesterday, Finn came on and totally changed the game for us. Suddenly, Gutter were finding it harder to cope, and if anything we could (and maybe should) have got it at the end. So does that make yesterday two points dropped then?

Bottom line is, this was a trip to the dentist and we came out with a filling put in but no major root canal surgery. What this does mean now is that Friends of Franchise have to be executed on Boxing Day. If we don't get 3 points come 5pm then, forget automatic promotion. Then we have Staines away, and quite simply we have to come away from there with a point at least.

In fact, I'll go one step further. Recently, our league performances have been a bit, well, hmm. A quick glance at recent results (bar the FAT) is that we have a psychological trait of making life difficult for ourselves. How many times have we gone behind recently only to come back? While you could praise our ability to somehow keep getting back into games, it's really yet another example of us riding our luck. Here's an idea. How about us taking control of the game early on ourselves, getting the first goal, and using our undoubted talent to kill teams off within the first 20 minutes? Rather that than constantly giving the first goal away then having to yet again kick into gear. One day it won't happen and it'll be 3 valuable points lost - almost like yesterday in fact.

See, it's all starting to get a bit businesslike now. We're getting to the stage, if we're not there already, where it's not just the points that matter.We now have to up our game, and stop conceding the early goals. While we now have a surplus of strikers, we need to stop fartarsing about up front and start putting those chances away. We need that killer instinct now, we need to kill teams off. Literally, if we have to. In short, we need to look like a team who genuinely can get automatic promotion, rather than one that just talks about it. Just like yesterday's performance didn't show.

Am I hopeful over Xmas? If truth be told, I'm not. I can't help feeling we'll scrape through FoF on Boxing Day - we'll either go the inevitable goal down or we'll go 2-0 up after 20 minutes, fail to add the third, concede during the second half and hang on yet again. And Staines? I honestly think we'll end up losing that. Reason why I think that is because we're going to get worse before we get better at the moment, and Staines are doing quite well right now. We might see us kick into life, although I'm more convinced it'll be another Chelmsford - plenty of nerves, tentative defending and a suckerpunch that we just don't recover from. I might be wrong on all this, and I hope I am, but I honestly can't see any other outcomes right now.

Our season certainly won't be over by the Hendon game on NYD, but we could be preparing ourselves for the guaranteed loss on penalties in the playoff final.

And while you bask in the SW19 Xmas cheer, here's.....

 

Plus points: Last 10 minutes

Minus points: First 80 minutes

The referee's a......: Rampant rabbit. No, I don't quite mean that he hopped around the pitch at a rate of knots pausing only to chew on grass and avoid lurking foxes either.

Them: Remind me of H&R, minus the charm and savoir faire. Credit where it's reluctantly due I suppose, things were a lot more serene yesterday. Maybe it's the Xmas cheer reaching even Southwood? Maybe the real ale on sale had some sort of relaxant in it? Or maybe somebody down the Ramsgutter end was dealing out spliffs? But I just can't help thinking in the back of my mind that yesterday was more of an exception rather than a rule. A few more hotheads in the ground and who knows what might have happened? Just hope we never have to find out next season.

Point to ponder: For once, I don't think there is an entry for this. Unless you count the way we were totally the opposite yesterday as we were against Maidenhead. Why? Seriously, why? Maybe there is less pressure on us in the FAT, which may reinforce the view that there is a lot more pressure on us than perhaps any other non-Conf outfit. Plenty may argue that was the case again yesterday. On the one level, we should be flattered, but on another (more important level), I think maybe we would be better off learning to cope with it a bit more..

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Manston airstrip Kent International Airport, which has to be the world's least busiest international airport - it makes Altenburg-Nobitz look like Heathrow. Christ, even Ryanair don't use it (yet). You could see it from one of the terraces, which makes it all CCL like (minus the amount of aircraft coming in, of course). One thing, they always have a 747 cargo plane on the tarmac. Does it actually take off? Or do they just leave it on display to prove to people that it is actually an airport and occasionally they have proper big planes there, like a grown up airport? (2) Decent quality bar-staff, suitably decked out in tight red Xmassy uniform. One of the plus points of visiting chavvy areas (ie Ramsgutter, Harrow, Maidenhead) is that the female bar staff do at least give us old men a reason to poison our liver. Wouldn't recommend the same dress code to our own pullers of creamy head though (3) To give you an idea of how strange yesterday was, I actually found myself salivating at the thought of eating Wimpy fried chicken from Clackett Lane. Needless to say, the bastards didn't have any cooked...

Anything else? No. Trips to Kent always put me in a bad mood, especially when we play shit. Just be thankful we didn't actually lose.

So, was it worth it? Umm

In a nutshell: Bah humbug.

15 December 2007

Well, that's one way of getting the Chelmsford game out of your system I suppose. The only negative I can think of after Conference South 0 Turdeyland 2 wasn't a league game. But then, that's what going to happen every time we play an FAT this season.

Let's face it, this was probably the most complete performance this season so far, and against a team higher up as well. Yes, Maidenhead were crap, but for the most part we made them look crap. I'm not joking when I said this could have been 5-0 - the usual problems up front just kept it down to two, but I seriously doubt they knew what hit them.

Whether it was the two week wait to get back into proper action I don't know, but we looked like a team with a point to prove to a lot of people. From JG's last ditch tackle on their forward when it was still 0-0, to MG's opening, to the way we just kept pressing even after 2-0 up, this was a kind of "fuck you" performance.

Excited? Suppose I am really. I actually want to do well in the FAT (though not at the expense of promotion) simply because of last season, and I think we're owed a bit of luck. Last season we kickstarted our season because of what we did, and this season will continue to prove just how easy it will be to play the next level - and just how difficult it is to get up there in the first place.

Still, little bit more on that later. People were singing "we're proud of you" at the end today and they meant it. In fact, there seemed a rapport between us and the players that I don't remember having for quite a while (even during the points fiasco last season). It's obviously far too early to say what effect this one game will have on our season, but if we start gelling into the all-conquering outfit from now that we all know we're capable of, 15/12/07 may be the day we first saw the real glimpse of it.

Obviously, the main thing that will stick in peoples' minds will be Marcus Gayle's first goal in the AFCW era for us. Had he scored 30 seconds earlier I would have been celebrating in front of the hardcore MU support. I'm fucking hard, me. But none the less, his rise to prominence recently seems to coincide with what we're doing as a whole.

Remember, he came to us with an absolute fanfare and a half, and then he never really got going to begin with. Bit like us I suppose. He made a bit of a comeback, then broke down again then came back etc etc. But once Mike Rayner figured out how best to deal with him, he really is starting to show what we hoped he would.

No, he hasn't got the pace these days. If he had, he'd still be in pro football. But it seemed that whenever anyone else wanted to know what to do, they gave it to MG to show them. It's the Mick Harford syndrome - you wish he was fitter, but by god you can see just why he stayed at the top for so long.

Maybe, just maybe, things are starting to go our way a little? Chelmsford lost, and while Staines are coming on the inside a bit we're starting to show promise ourselves. Last year, H&R started off poorly and ended up as champions. There's always a team who starts off slowly yet ends up with the top prize. Maybe it's Staines, or maybe Billy Rickay are about to start a spurt? Or maybe, just maybe, it's us...............?

We'll wait and see. There's a helluva long way to go even in December. For now though, enjoy today's result and while you await the next round draw feast upon this...

 

Plus points: We won. Comfortably. MG scoring first goal in AFCW era. Danny Knowles looking more and more commanding. Defence. SF.

Minus points: Should have been at least 5-0.

The referee's a.......: Like most of them in the FAT, they seem quite competent. Not too sure how he handled a certain incident towards the end (see below) without pinching himself. Or indeed giving out any bookings.

Them: I can see how Horsham stuffed them 4-1. Quite simply, if that's what Conference South standard is like, it just confirms what we already know - getting out of the RP will be a lot more difficult than getting in the top ten of the CS. OK, they were quite quick on the break, but we handled it in probably the best defensive performance I can remember for a while. They have problems, which is a shame as their manager is probably my favourite interview subject. They really did seem like they were playing for the draw 2 minutes in....

Point to ponder: Doesn't today just show how much we need to get out of the Ryman ASAP? It showed a complete lack of gap between where we are and where Maidenhead are. Actually, I'll go one step further and suggest that they would be RP strugglers on this showing.

In all seriousness, doesn't this just illustrate the perverseness of the CS/RP structure? Teams promoted from the RP seem to do quite well - H&R are third as we speak. Likewise, when Carshalton came down you would have thought they would be up the top. They're distinctly ordinary. If Maidenhead, or Sutton come down this season, can you really expect them to rival an AFCW/Chelmsford/Staines outfit? Think we can all make an educated answer on that.

There's a case to be made for two automatic promotions and one playoff from our division (and the Southern) to the CS. You could perm about 10 clubs from our level, replace the bottom 10 of the CS and that division would probably be a lot stronger. I can't remember the ins/outs of the restructuring, but somehow this bottleneck at our level needs to be resolved.

Billy Big Bollocks? Not really. I know some in AFCW are saying that if we get promotion we'll go for a back-to-back promotion the next campaign. From what I saw today, that isn't that far fetched to do. I guess this just adds to the pressure cooker in the Ryman, because we know we can perform at the higher level. To quote a comment made at the game, "if Basingstoke are 7th, this league must be shit".

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The barmaids. Perhaps not quite on the outright filth scale as the Harrow Boro ones, but still worth watching them pour out a creamy head. All of them wore S&M issue belts as well.... (2) Less people than I thought there would be today. Xmas shopping surely isn't that exciting, is it? (3) No Danny Webb. Reportedly had a bit of a Jolly moment against Chelmsford, so maybe he's in the doghouse. (4) One individual out of the mutt masonette is Richard Jolly, who's clearly back in favour. Perhaps a little ring rusty, although I don't think he needs anyone to tell him that. And if they did, he'd only put his fingers in his ears again. (5) Who were the TV camera crew from?

Truth is stranger than fiction - Saturday Fight Night special: Deserves an entry all on its own. Towards the end of the game, when Fergie missed, my attention was drawn to a little kerfuffle on the pitch. Now, off-the-ball incidents aren't exactly rare, and in the back of my mind I wondered which of our players had decided to slightly sour an otherwise decent day. What I saw will be one of the funniest incidents of the season - their #3 and #5 were really going at it. And by that, I mean having a domestic on the pitch.

Do you remember Graeme Le Saux against David Batty? Or Kieron Dyer clashing with Lee Boywer? It was kind of like that. It actually took one of our own players (can't remember who) to literally get inbetween them and keep them apart. It didn't seem like a sudden flashpoint either, because the #3 (who played shit BTW) really walked around afterwards about to clout the first person to say the wrong thing to him. Wonder what was said? A frank discussion on the defensive qualities of Maidenhead? A passionately held debate on whether Gordon Brown should have gone to Lisbon a bit earlier? Or was the conversation something like, "here, you know that Xmas party we had last night when your mum turned up. Well, urm, I shouldn't tell you this at this very minute but, er, she doesn't just use mouthwash to gargle....."

Anything else? Well, they had two ex-Vermin playing for them. Both were gloriously shit, and one of them was even heard to say "fuck off" to our fans when we reminded him just what we think of his former employers. See, when you ingest the Wankelmann man paste you are forever diseased. Only playing for AFCW afterwards and repenting your past sins can cure you.

Oh, and Wes Daly apparently played today. I say apparently, because I'd actually forgotten he was against us. Must have made an impression then.

So, was it worth it? Yup.

In a nutshell: Now, how about a long Northern away trip for once?

9 December 2007

What a strange weekend this has been. Even though we've had postponements before, this past 48 hours has been even odder than usual.

No, it wasn't down to me thinking whenever people were mentioning Hatton they were talking about young Sam. But as the weather lashed down yesterday, with that rather eery cold feel to it, thing were just outright odd.

OK, Horsham would probably have been off anyway, but even so the great AFCW Conspiracy (TM) was in full effect this week. Whether or not the Ryman really would cancel a fixture for us in a big FAC tie (and I hope from next year that is never going to be an issue) is almost irrelevant. Reactions have been a heady mixture of paranoia and outright mistrust.

In the cool light of day, I don't think anyone would have been surprised if the game had got called off Friday. I think though it was down to the Ryman insisting the game was off about 4 days before, which in itself might not have been an issue had Horsham then said that it was down to the pitch being shit. So already, there were two conflicting (or were they?) stories about why the game was off.

Regardless, AFCW appeared pretty pissed off with it all. My own hunch isn't down so much to the Ryman acting in their usual cack-handed manner, but more to do with us wanting a first team game to get Chelmsford out of our system. Face it, Horsham would have been weakened and chances are this would have been three points to us yesterday. I would guess it's getting denied that opportunity that has really pissed us off.

This ties in with a comment I read yesterday about us - we're not performing as well as we should simply because we've got the weight of expectation on our shoulders, that we should be out of this league. A bit like Aldershot were. Maybe it's because of last season's "fun" that we just cannot abide by anything the Ryman does now. While AFCW themselves have tried to at least warm relations between the club and the league again, the general fanbase wants nothing to do with them.

When you look at yesterday's results, three points would have sent a message back to everyone after last week. It proved that Chelmsford haven't won the league yet, and maybe for once we're not the only side who has to play their opponent's cup final every week? Time will tell if that's the case, or it works to our advantage, but at least we've had more practice at that.

Back to my point. Yesterday would have been a good day for us with three points, and we got denied that chance through absolutely no fault of our own. Yeah, it's us being selfish, but that's the way we've got to be now. While things had calmed down a little bit this season, it reared its head again in quite a strong way. It's not as though AFCW were happy with postponing the game (as some braindead dickwad suggested we should this week).

We all know that promotion is the issue this season, but I think it took something like this to remind ourselves just how important it is. While I can now safely say that we're far better equipped under TB than DA to do that, the old doubts still remain. Can we catch Chelmsford? Perhaps more to the point, will we bottle the playoffs again?

Perhaps more than ever, we have that mixture of determination and fear. Determination because we want to get out of Turdeyland more than anyone else. And that hasn't gone un-noticed either. But fear? Fear that we will slip up yet again. Fear of another season in the Ryman (which as I said last week won't kill us). Fear that the longer we stay in this division the bigger the pressure and/or the bigger the rut we find ourselves in.

The last time we had such an attitude was if anything in the first CCL season. Then, it was a case of showing the world who we were, what had happened and what we could do. At the same time, although nobody ever really mentioned it, there was a real fear that if we'd fucked up everyone would laugh at us and we'd trapse with tails between legs up to Buckinghamshire.

While things are not like that now, the fire in the belly is starting to stoke up again. Maybe it's because of our history, but I really do think that our fans need something to fight against. Whether it's moves to Selhurst, staying in the top flight, Dublin, Frenzyville, or last year's exploits, that's really what makes us tick. I don't think it's in our DNA to sit back and enjoy the football, to be happy at being where we are.

The reactions this week might be petty and a little bit cringeworthy to some, but it's probably this attitude that has got us this far in the first place.

As for the other RP sides and the FAC, how many people will really be happy to see another side in our division doing well? Can't say I will be overly upset or fearful for "our" league's stature if Horsham return from South Wales tomorrow with a 5-0 drubbing.

Anyway, we didn't play, and that's that. Which in hindsight may not be such a tragedy. OK, we're going to get a fixture pileup, and by the time we play Ramsgutter Chelmsford will still be a million points ahead of us. But TB last week was saying how glad he was to have two training sessions to work on our forward line, and yesterday has given him another chance to further work on it.

By the time we go back down to Horsham, our front line might will have an idea of how to play with each other. Jon Main might will be firing, and Richard Jolly might will either be gone or have knuckled down and look like a 30-goal-a-season striker. Marcus Gayle might will be firing for his swansong and Andy Little might will be back giving us confidence again. A bad thing?

There's a good opportunity on Tuesday to put this week's training into practice, and I hope we take it. Yes, risking our top strikeforce for a minor competition isn't something I'd usually do, but I'd prefer to think of the Dulwich game as an important training session. We could almost take the same attitude for the Maidenhead fixture on Saturday, but after last year I'd want to make a real fist of the FAT. Besides, I'm a firm believer that playing higher division sides brings out the best in you.

Risking, say, JM on Tuesday might be better than not giving him valuable playing time. If he breaks his leg, it's a chance we take. Ditto with Danny Webb, Mark DeB and MG to name but three. In fact, give Danny Knowles a bit more game time as well, it really can't hurt. We'll have to wait just before Xmas before we play in the league again (and isn't a trip to sunny Ramsgutter just so inspiring before Xmas?), but there's a lot we can be getting on with before then.

Anyway, I'm off to Germany and Luxembourg for a couple of days. Research, and all that. Assuming my plane doesn't crash I'll be back for Maidenhead. I just wonder what the next reason to vent our spleen is going to be.....

1 December 2007

Typical. Absolutely bloody typical. A must-win game and as sure as Chelski get a dodgy goal at Stamford Bridge, it finishes Smash 0 Grab 1. Suddenly, all hopes of actually finishing top are extinguished, and the very real possibility of heartbreak in the playoffs yet again returns to its gut-churning worst.

I should shrug my shoulders and say "ah well, these things happen". But this sucks. Actually, it more than sucks - it swallows, gargles and occasionally spits it out as well. I think it's because we all know the stakes this season (although I will state here and now that not going up this season won't kill us), and even at this relatively early stage results like this can mean a nice easy end of season or a further two fixtures (if you're lucky) of bowel-clenching stomach churning tension that won't make you sleep a wink. And that's just getting tickets for the playoffs.

If I'm being honest though, I think I kind of expected it. Yes, I would have happily settled for a draw today. A win would have been better, of course, but I don't think anyone really entertained getting 0 points today. It just won't happen, right? Just like baby boomers never think they're going to die, or Franchise fans never believing they're educationally subnormal.

That's what I think happened today. Last time out, we won 4-0, and yes, it was a good game. But I reckon we were too expecting of a repeat performance. We didn't get it, and of course we know what happened. Dare I say complacent? To take it one step further, I do genuinely think we've been riding our luck in recent weeks. We got lucky in the second half against Coldseal because they were so shite. We got lucky against Northwood because they ran out of steam and we were able to go up a gear. Same with Hastings. Today, we rode our luck once too often, and now we're however many points behind the leaders.

By "ride our luck", I mean not doing the things that got us the 4-0 win in the first place. Today we just couldn't cross to save our lives, I can't really recall any clear-cut chances nor were we likely to get any. Put it this way - I stood behind TB in the first half, and one of his comments was "Get your arse in gear". Needless to say, I think our poop tunnels were a bit too cold for any movement...

OK, Goodliffe hit the post right at the end, and you could pass it off as one of those days. But if we're serious about getting promotion (be it automatically or via the playoffs) we can't have many more "one of those days". What have we done this season? We've lost to Chelmsford, we've drawn against Staines, two of the top teams who we should be getting wins off. OK, Staines was in that tricky early season spell we had, but today should have been a draw - even when we were playing badly.

Was today a catastrophe? No, but life just got that little bit harder at 4.50pm. We are Wimbledon after all, and we don't do things the easy way. Would be nice if we did though.

If there is one good bit to come out from today, it's this. When the players were warming down, they looked as fucked off as we were, certainly JG had his hands behind his head in a "fuck, we've blown it today" manner. Well, next week we're down at Horsham. They beat us in the FAC, and their minds will be on their trip to South Wales (and can you imagine the Swansea fans up against the Lardy Boys?). It's perfectly winnable, and certainly now becomes more must-winnable than even today was. Our players have a perfect opportunity to bounce back next Saturday in deepest Sussex. If they're serious about going up this year, they have a perfect chance next week to show it.

Last time I said I was going to kick the nearest dog, I got in major shit for it. This time, I'm off to kick the nearest Franchise fan. It might take me a while to find one, so read on...

 

Plus points: Knowing we can play better.

Minus points: We lost. To probably our biggest challengers for the title. Playing shit. Worst game for a while, and at exactly the wrong time.

The referee's a........: Dildo. Actually, perhaps a butt plug would be more accurate, on the basis that after a couple of minutes they both smell of shit.

Them: Bit, ahem, physical. Had a point to prove to us today, and unfortunately they proved it. I think they're a........ oh, fuck that. Let's not be churlish here and instead give hearty congratulations to Chelmsford on winning the league today. It must be a record, winning the title of your division even before Xmas. No wonder their fans were celebrating like they did at the end, it was after all something we never could do even in the CCL days. Fair play to them. I understand that they're away at Heybridge Swifts on Boxing Day, but no doubt they'll award the trophy at their next home game a couple of days later, ironically against Billy Rickay. If that doesn't bring a capacity gate then nothing will.

Question is, what now for them? They're out of the FAC and FAT, they've now won the league, what's their motivation? I would hope they're professional enough and beat Staines/Horsham/Hendon like they did us today. And when we play them at their place in mid-March? Well, we did stuff them 3-0 there last time, and we must be careful they get bored after yet another Saturday with no need to win.......

Point to ponder: Seems like Fergie was his usual ineffective self again, and inbetween Webb going off and MG coming on, we offered practically nothing up front. Poor Main and DeB can't do it on their own. So how long will we be seeing Fergie about in a blue-with-yellow-birdshit-splodges shirt? When we signed him, none of us could believe why Woking let him go. Now? Well, he runs a lot, and he, er, well, he runs a lot. And he "gets" the club, apparently, which is all well and good. But really, apart from running (which is what he's very good at doing, in case you don't know) what else can he do? At least people are now noticing how effective the not-quite-so-much-maligned-but-the-jury-is-still-out Webb is, especially when he came off today. People are reckoning Jolly will be the first one on his way, but why do I get the feeling that TB isn't a fan of the Jock...?

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Apparently, some German punk was played over the PA today. If so, can somebody tell me when? I think I might have had a little to do with it.... (2) Radio 2/5 theme tune played as well. Hope the PRS/ITV/BBC don't get wind of this and levy a copyright breach on AFCW. That might be harder to get Jim Sturman to win....... (3) Guy in Werder Bremen scarf (complete with German-style AFCW scarf around wrist). Assuming he was from the Fatherland, I hope he didn't get offended at my choice of music. (4) 3124 there. If my research is accurate, that's the fourth biggest turnout since Ryman One days. Barring a home playoff/FAT semi final, that won't be beaten this season. Is that a cause for celebration or a cause for concern?

Anything else? Things could be worse I suppose. While thinking of something to write for this section, I was listening to a couple of Geordies bemoaning about yet another failure at Newcastle. I know that the size, scale etc of the Barcodes compared to us is practically incalculable, but this point still stand - especially after today. Today, AFCW lost a game, and it feels like the end of the world for a little while. But we know that we can pick ourselves up, and we have that vibrancy that will eventually take us up. May not be this season, but it will happen. We have prospects, and legitimate ones as well

Now, just think if we were a club with the same problems as a Newcastle (or a Villa or somebody like that). Just imagine pouring loads of money into an outfit and you just stumble from one crisis to the next. How would we cope if we kept bringing in managers all the time, only for them to get ousted after about a year. Continue that throughout the whole club (not just team), and you do wonder how we'd cope if we were ever like that. Has that ever happened to a club called Wimbledon? I don't mean the MK shit or stuff like that, I mean proper genuine inertia. We've always done something. No matter how much today was a pisser, we are capable of moving onto to that next stage. Plenty of other clubs can't.....

So, was it worth it? Yes, if you support Chelmsford. They won the league today after all.

In a nutshell: Gah.