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.

29 July 2008

The pre-season campaign grinds on, and last night was yet another "split-team" exercise. This time against the tenants, and a victory with a penalty shootout for once. Actually, we were a lot better than the scoreline suggested, and they got their goal with a 99th minute penalty. Still, we got the chance to practice spot kicks, and they were all put away pretty nicely. Definitely worth the exercise.

Of course, the big talking point was the crowd, or lack of it. 354 really isn't very good is it? OK, there are various reasons for that. It's been a seriously tedious pre-season campaign anyway - the opposition hasn't been exciting, the split-games have taken the piss for anyone who paid £8 to watch them (I'm aware of one old AFCW guy who went last night, found it was £6 for concessions and buggered off again), and it's only really Sutton that is getting people excited. Couple that with a fixture that most of our fans are pretty bored about anyway, and it's no wonder there were as many people in the WUP virtual stadium as in the ground. And it was on a Monday night.....

One thing is certain though - the future of this fixture has to be in doubt, at least in its current form. It was set up as a 10 year deal in 2002 when it was assumed that there would always be 1000 people ready and willing to turn up. I think the last 4 figure crowd was in 2003, although last night was the lowest yet. Bit odd as last year it actually went up from previous years. There may be a couple of ideas to kick-start this fixture, like making it the first PSF or even playing it once every two years to keep it "fresh". But like a couple of other things to do with AFCW, what we thought in 2002/03 doesn't apply now in 2008.

Needless to say, we seem to be getting it in the neck a little bit from Ks fans over us not turning up. I certainly heard two old guys having a serious whinge at us afterwards, there may have been one or two comments made elsewhere, not to mention this. Though I wouldn't say "embarrassed" is the right word, because that would suggest people at AFCW give a toss about the game. If people are talking about getting better turnouts for it, it's because we know it pays our rent for this year and we know we're lumbered with it for another four years.

The ground situation isn't perfect for anyone, and by and large it works as well as can be expected. I believe our board and theirs get on pretty well these days, and it's in our interests to have a healthy Ks if only to ensure we don't pay for it all ourselves ;) Even so, there's still a fair degree of sensitivity, when you consider that Ks don't appear to help out with the KM ground maintenance during the summer - yet apparently help out at RPV's ground instead. I know for a fact there's plenty of harumphing from us lot about having to put in red seats in the Main Stand extension, especially when we have to do it and shoulder the costs ourselves.

Actually, thinking about it, I suppose that's the main reason for why this contractual obligation of a fixture gets so little support. I'm convinced that there just isn't much affection for Ks. We don't hate them but deep down, if we didn't share a ground with them they wouldn't be on our radar at all. Bit like the way Tooting and Mitcham are - does anyone at AFCW really, really care about them either? Whereas look at tomorrow. There's an affection for Gander Green Lane because of the obvious reason (OK, the first ever AFCW game was there in case you've forgotten), and while we won't get 4k there we'll certainly get more than 354. As FCUM away got pulled, this has been the only PSF that gets people reasonably excited.

It's why plenty of us are still so hard-hearted when we say that Ks would cease to exist if we hadn't bought KM off Khosla. While that may or may not be true anyway, we don't have paternal feelings towards them, do we? I've never sensed much of a bond between us and them, not in the same way as many of us have some sort of affinity with Chelmsford or Newport County (note : I said affinity, not love-in...). If there was that, I think many would make the effort for the fixture

Even so, going to KM yesterday was weird. I've been to about one Ks game in the AFCW era as a neutral, and the whole place just felt different. It was exactly the same vibe as last night. It's low-key, in fact much more low key. It's far more of a non-league setup than a surrogate league one you get at AFCW games. You see the kind of clientele that you associate with "normal" non-league that you just never get with AFCW. Chances are you'll also get a far higher percentage of Ks fans who also wear Chelski/Fulham shirts.

So, why do I mention this? Because I just cannot see how Ks will ever get crowds touching four-figures again. I certainly can't see how they could ever buy back KM should we vacate it, and if there's to be the first FA Trophy celebration in the back bar since 2000, it'll be us making dicks of ourselves. But then, if you look back at the Conference ten years ago, or even in 2002/03, you could realistically plan for league football with crowds of 1000. Now, the Conference is effectively League 2.5 and it's only the likes of ourselves that could handle being in the upper reaches these days. Amazing in about a decade clubs like Ks and Margate and others you can think of have been left a long way behind.

Of course, they also beat us in the SSC final a couple of years ago, and I don't think we've ever quite forgiven them.......

Elsewhere, I note that the Unibond TV deal has been scrapped (it's in the digitial NLT edition, find it yourself). What has this got to do with us? Well, remember the Turdey TV concept last season? You know, that bizzare internet based venture where millions of sports watchers would turn off Jeff Stelling on Saturdays, to watch pixellated blobs (aka ETU vs Leyton) on buffered feed. Same mob for that as for the now defunct UTV. Anyway, we ended up with Nuts TV and now Invision (the mob behind the ventures) have finally got the hump.

Personally, I'm glad we never had to sign up to it, especially as it appears that Invision wanted total rights to broadcast (in other words, clubs couldn't do their own DVDs). Thing is, as my analysis of Ks and our other trips across the country have proven, who really cares about non-league unless you're directly involved in it? If you support a pro club, you tend to watch say Ks because you can afford to get in. You don't seem to develop the affiliation as much, and certainly not to the point where you'd pay to watch it on telly. That's why I'm a bit unsure about this new ITV thing about showing prelim rounds of the FAC. Those clubs who actually have a market for video feed (ie Dover) will do it anyway, and those like Ks who don't won't really see the benefits beyond a one-off payment.

Knowing ITV, they'll only be interested in the bigger ties - Exeter City v AFC Wimbledon will be shown, but Margate v Burgess Hill Town won't. Which will mean more money and more exposure to the bigger non-league clubs like ourselves, the ones with bigger support and more profile. Which will mean a Premiership-style inbalance even down in the reaches of the non-league scene.

And if that prevents Ks from progressing up the leagues, how else are we going to get more rent out of them...........? ;)

26 July 2008

First things first, page 137 of the new FourFourTwo (September edition) might be worth reading...

Secondly, the last time I was at KM for a game, I was shitting myself over yet another likely gubbing in the playoff semi finals. I remember walking out that day somehow feeling worse because we'd won rather than we'd lost, for obvious reasons. Nobody will forget that playoff week, least of all underpant suppliers.

So, a good three months later and no bowel churning, ozone layer destroying nervous parps needed. Instead, we got Merton Abbey 1 Stonehenge 2. Another PSF, another defeat, although there's certainly promise showing. Does the result matter? Nope, although it would have been nice and morale-boosting to say we got at least a draw. Should we shit ourselves over the upcoming season? Not really. We certainly didn't look out of our depth, and you get the feeling with us that it can be tuned into a pretty decent outfit. In fact, before their second goal we really looked like a team that can murder a few outfits next season.

And yet, and yet........

We have two problems that clearly won't be solved by Newport. Firstly, our defence at times leaks more than the Ministry of Defence. It was rather depressing that the kind of goal we let in against Staines was our downfall today. It's as though nothing has been learnt at all in three months, and with at least two new centre backs as well. Last report I did, I mentioned how we have shot ourselves in the foot over the pre-seasons this year. We need another one, probably two against the level of Salisbury, because they highlighted deficiencies that people like Ks, Sutton and Walton Casuals won't. Next week, we're committed to playing Ks, but I can't help thinking this Wednesday we should play a Woking rather than a Sutton.

Not saying we shouldn't have a fixture down at GGL but we'll be playing teams nearer in quality to Salisbury and Woking rather than Sutton almost weekly, and dropping points while we iron out deficiencies ain't going to go down well. After today, we have one Saturday game left to ensure we're ready for Newport.....

Secondly, and another nod to last season - without Main, we've got nothing up front. And it just proves how much of a bind it was that we couldn't keep Nic McDonnel. Last night at Meet The Manager, SC was really working hard on the phone to get somebody in, and up popped Jason Norville. Or was it Duncan Norville? Anyway, maybe we should have seen the warning signs when Cash joked "if he turns up tomorrow". Well, he turned up all right, but sadly in body and not in spirit.

One reason I never criticise managers as much as others is because their job at times is impossible, and I didn't half feel sorry for Cash today. You put all that work in to get somebody and they turn up and they stink the joint out. I don't know whether he had an attitude problem, unfit, or whether he was just shit, but I think I would have rather preferred the triallists we had at Met Police.

So until Newport, I hope JM is wrapped in cotton wool, given an armed guard wherever he goes and is banned from doing anything remotely dangerous. Because I don't fancy our chances of getting anything if he's crocked. We can't rely on Chris Sullivan to immediately be 100% and slot in.

That all said, I quite enjoyed today. It certainly went quickly, which can't be said for all PSFs. Even now, there's still a sense that we're not really 100% tuned in as of yet, but by fuck did we go in strongly at times. True, I wish we didn't for friendlies, but at least it shows the attitude and will to win is there even at this early stage. I think we're not a bad side, despite the results. During periods of the second half we looked like a team, and methinks people like Alan Inns and Tom Davis will be heroes next season.

Suppose really we're waiting for Newport away to get going. And I don't just mean the supporters either...

Plus points: Committed. Some good stuff at times. Kennedy. Alan Inns putting himself about a lot. Tom Davis. Jon Main's goal.

Minus points: Shit at defending corners. Nothing up front without Jon Main. Duncan Norville. Convinced Tony Finn has compromising photos of various AFCW employees.

The referee's a.....: Could have booked their player who went in hard on Tom Davis. Failed to spot a handball and also refused to punish their defender's clearance on Alan Inns' head whilst in the penalty box. At least it proves the referees are now ready for the new season.

Them: Apparently, they've been together two years as a professional outfit, and it showed. They had that extra know-how and "professionalism" that being full time seems to bring. Think they were better today than last time we played them, and should have probably been 3-1 up at half time. Interestingly enough, Salisbury are one of those clubs we look at and I believe we pick their brains on how to do things. When we mention going full time, we always think it'll be in the Conf. Yet they did that in the very division we're in now - and I think they don't have our resources. Christ, we kept saying last night how big a setup we are. Perhaps going full time may happen quicker than you think.....

Point to ponder: What is it about ex-Barnet players with us? First Grazioli, now Duncan Norville. Come on, the journey on the Northern line isn't that bad.

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) How nice does the Blue Square sign with "AFC Wimbledon" outside look? And the BS hoardings behind each goal? Wonder what Ks have to do when they play their league fixtures re: Ryman boards? Bearing in mind that after the playoff final, some Ryman branded stuff got, er, caught up in the exhuberance... (2) Fair play to the Main Stand builders, they did a good job with the roof extension. Looked almost as though they hadn't done anything at all, and just put up scaffolding to look busy. (3) Sight of Tintin Haydon lying flat on his back at half time looking like he was getting shagged by a worm.

Anything else? Yup - the new shirts. I got to see them myself in the flesh (or should that be cloth?) for the first time last night, and also had another butchers today. The away shirt is quite nice as it goes - think there's too much blue in it myself, but I can see the attraction. At least it looks reasonably stylish. The home shirt on the other hand.......

Seriously, there's something not quite right about it. I was trying to rack my brains why I thought it was shit, and I've worked out why now : it's neither one thing nor the other. It's not a plain shirt yet it's not a Shrewsbury Town striped effort either. We've never had striped shirts ever, and instead it makes us look like we're wearing a sash. Just hope the dye used in the yellow doesn't turn orange, otherwise our games will start looking like Drumcree.

Either way though, I don't think the home shirt has the "wow" factor. No doubt it will sell loads, and people do seem to buy anything with AFCW stamped on it, but it just looks, well, wrong. Methinks there's a case for getting a proper designer in for future choices, I'm sure we have a couple in our ranks. Also, if ever a justification for the kit suppliers to supply proper samples before voting on it, this is it. Don't think the home effort would have won if that was the case. Still, just be thankful it wasn't the pink kit, the choice of the colour blind everywhere.....

So, was it worth it? We'll see.

In a nutshell: Much done, much to do.

16 July 2008

Just a few thoughts after getting "treated" to us losing 2-0 at the Met last night.

I know we shouldn't read into the result that much, but by fuck that was bad. Even though we played some first teamers and a load of triallists, I think we should have shown something a little bit more in the game. In fact, it was only Jon Main's lob (if you could call it that) that could have counted as an attempt. Oh yeah, our #9 in the first half, whoever he was, shot just wide. Don't think we'll be seeing too much more of him though.

It's times like this though that you wonder if we've gone a bit too far with the triallists. I'm not going tonight, but expect another repeat of last night if you're tempted to make the trip. Namely, the first half with some first teamers in, and the second half with absolutely nobody you can recognise. Suddenly, the tube trip seems just that tinsy winsy bit longer doesn't it? I'm not so bothered with doing it this way, as long as we learn a lot from it. Trouble is though, judging by TB's comments from last night I'm not sure we even did that. In fact, this comment concerns me even more than Lewis Taylor doing his knee in:

"To be honest I didn't get anything out of today - it must have been hard to watch from a supporters' point of view."

Well, we did get something out of last night - another addition to the injury list. Though ironic that quite a few thought LT wasn't quite up to it on Saturday. But right now, I can't help thinking we've wasted an opportunity to get the first XI gelling a bit better. If you put a team of six proper first teamers and five fringe (ie the likes of Gilbert and triallists) then that would make sense to even a humble scribe like myself. But especially in the second half last night, I saw a bunch of 11 players who just didn't know how to play with each other. It was the sort of game that really they should do on the training ground and save us die-hards £5 in the process.

Which is a shame, as I'm fully supportive of having not only a strong first XI (obviously) but a reserve and youth system as well. But we've effectively got less than 3 weeks after Brentford on Saturday to have a first team not only match sharp but to also know what they're doing with each other. What I'd like to see now is get tonight over with, then come Saturday pick a proper nucleus and stick to it, putting in the most promising fringers and trialists in proper match situations. And not just for Brentford but for the other games as well. If we've got two games in the week, make one game a "proper" one and the other one for the type of team we had in the second half last night. Not only will that prepare us for Newport but also gives the fringers a chance to prove themselves properly.

Of course, all this could be the plan anyway, so we'll wait and see.....

But my thoughts remain, I think we've done ourselves no favours whatsoever over this pre-season .I don't think anyone was inspired that much by them anyway, but perhaps more than ever I wonder whether we should have at least one more big one. If only to force us to play a "proper" team. Next week you just know we'll be splitting the sides again, and as last night showed, it's just a waste of a fixture.

OK, PSFs aren't for the fans' benefit, but I'm sure even the players themselves would want a nice juicy fixture to get their teeth into. Most other clubs in our division "need" a top class friendly, because they don't get our crowds throughout the season (so the theory goes anyway). But we sell ourselves short over this sort of thing - do we really do ourselves any favours by sticking this season to Ryman (and lower) sides, with just two sides higher than us?

It reminds me of the time when West Ham had an Intertoto cup campaign and had a better opening season because of that additional focus needed. Players themselves seem to get excited about games as well - if we'd arranged a fixture against, say, Stevenage, it would be something different for most of us, and a decent test for us to focus on

I'm prepared to accept that we might have had our hand forced this time round. We are "obliged" to play Ks (which is no big deal really), but also Tonbridge (again, fair enough) but also I believe Met Police and the return of Brentford and Salisbury. Next year, I really think we should go for a Conference North side instead of those in lower divisions. Maybe two games, one at KM and the other a long trip up norf.

As past friendlies against League sides have proved, they aren't really all that. It's not like Brentford will put out a full team themselves anyway (and they lost to Bromley last night as well). So we effectively have one game (Salisbury) that will create that level we need to bring ourselves up to, and IMO that's not nearly enough. Can you imagine if we had a PSF against somebody like Southport or Harrogate Town? Certainly wouldn't put a team of triallists for that......

Whether it would be Stevenage or Southport, we would already be preparing ourselves mentally into these big games without it being the end of the world if we lost. Can you really honestly say you're excited about Tonbridge away? And if we're not, why should the players be? OK, their attitude has to be different, and I'm not suggesting they won't be anything other than prepared. But Newport will be playing Lids United, and even in a friendly they'll be up for it.

They'll have the advantage in preparation simply because they'll be tuned in more for the big occasion come the season starting. For us, playing Newport away in deepest Cymru will be a bit of a baptism of fire, after playing the likes of Tonbridge, Ks and Walton Casuals. Whereas Dean Holdsworth would have tested his players against some real decent opposition and shown them what level they need to be at to compete. Newport won't worry about playing us after Lids, but we'll be more wary come the 9th of August. It's a gamble, and one I'm certain we shouldn't have taken.

If you think I'm talking bollocks about this BTW, look at the pre-season schedule for our Ryman One season (you know, when we pissed on everyone in sight). Dagenham and Redbridge, Brentford, Barnet, G&N, Harrow Borough and Ks - all of them were higher level than us at the time and I firmly believe that little lot put us in a far more competitive frame of mind. As the images of some pretty shit passing last night still linger in my mind, you'll have to excuse me for feeling underwhelmed right now.

Of course, we'll probably win our first 10 games in the CS now.

Few quick other things. Postponing Meet The Manager because Tempest failed to deliver the new kit on time isn't a good start. And considering we're one of their main clients as well. Personally speaking, I hope we're constantly reviewing whether we're getting the best deals for AFCW, and not just price wise either. After all, we were quick to drop New Balance and O'Neills when they weren't supplying us properly. I really cannot imagine our commercial department being too happy with Tempest right now. If nothing else, it just looks bad - think of those who don't know MTM has been moved (and I bet there are quite a few who will turn up this Friday at KM).

As this club progresses, we'll need to take a more robust, dare I say more mature approach to this sort of thing. Lest we forget that Peterborough dropped Tempest PDQ...........

Elsewhere, Micky Haswell's future is up in the air a bit. BHA have sent him back, but it seems like you can't use trialists for more than two games anyway. Brighton haven't said no, but they haven't said yes either. It's one of those things that I hope we get sorted quickly one way or t'other, because I don't really want one of our players distracted like this even in pre-season. Especially in defence. Could be promising, could not for him. If he does go though, I hope we get a sell-on fee and maybe even a PSF.

Typically, as soon as I published this, up popped the SLP with MH. He's staying with us after all. By the looks of it, BHA were being too non-committal for his liking, and bearing in mind he would have to arrange quitting his full time job I don't blame him for making the decision. Guess we'll see him back in AFCW colours tonight, or certainly on Saturday

One thing I didn't mention from what I overheard last Saturday, the Main Stand's extension will be finished in mid-September. That was always the plan, apparently, though I expect it slipped under most peoples' radars. At least the building work doesn't look quite so behind now. On this subject, could we actually play a game (even a friendly) without any seats available? While I assume that at least one block of seats will be available for Saturday, it could prove problematic for some people if not. Never quite sure of the regulations over this sort of thing, and we all know first hand what happens when we don't get it right.

Finally, and if you've gotten this far you'll be glad to hear that, I'm not at Brentford. Je suis en Paris. Therefore, no match report, and I won't be able to put one up until Monday evening at the earliest anyway. Though if it's the same as last night, I think you'll be glad not to be reading it................

12 July 2008

And after 10 weeks of recovering......................

You'll have to excuse the ring rustyness of the first game of this brand new dawn for AFCW, as it's my pre-season as well. Only difference is, I'm not in the position to be pulled off (fnar) and have somebody do the second half of this report.

So, what can I say about CR7 0 SW19 0? Well, er, it didn't rain. And it's nice to get out of the house on a Saturday. And it is nice to see our heroes in blue-with-yellow-trim again. And er, well, um.....

OK, there wasn't much to write about. Basically, this looked like a pre-season friendly. When they have to produce two teamsheets because we use our full squad, you know you ain't going to expect much. For the first 15/20 minutes anyway it really was pretty dire stuff. Players clearly nowhere near match sharpness, though a pitch that looks like the rough at Carnoustie doesn't exactly help. Trying to work out who plays where and how they do it. Lewis Taylor looking like Par Karlsson (remember him?) or Sam Hatton. Sam Hatton looking like, er, anyone but Sam Hatton. At least he managed to sell his alice band to a deserving case. Wondering who the fuck Michael Power and Aaron Wise are, amongst others.

But once we started getting into it a bit more, and we started to click a bit better, we didn't look too bad. Even a bit promising. Shame about our shooting though, and we can't even blame Danny Webb now. With luck, unlike last season I hope our effectiveness up front (lack thereof) really is down to just needing to work more at pre-season training, sharpen up a bit more etc etc and just get back into the swing of things again.

Other than that really, it's hard to get a grip on the game right now. I suppose we were never really in danger of our first loss of the new season (and your editor's first stroke), though for about the first 20 minutes their front line really left Inns and BJ looking slow. Could be a decent pairing though, and JG suddenly has a bit of competition. No bad thing though. For about the next couple of games we aren't going to see the starting lineup for Newport - seems like the team in the first half will be at Met Police on Tuesday, while the second half side is travelling up to Northwood a day later.

While you salivate at those upcoming humdingers, here's.......

Plus points: We didn't lose. Clean sheet. More promising than not. Jon Main looking sharp enough. Triallists didn't look too bad.

Minus points: We didn't win. Better shooting in the streets around Thornton Heath tonight.

The referee's a........: First game since Staines and we still get done out of a penalty. Plus ca change. Other than that, it's a pre-season friendly and even I can't get upset at the officiating. Is it true that the lino told their keeper to "shut up"?

Them: Shame that the area around CA's ground is full of chavs and knife carriers, as I normally like going there. Though I don't like it enough to pay £8 for a PSF. Interestingly enough, they've franchised out their catering to a local greasy spoon, so it looked quite decent grub. As for their team, they played well enough, even if they did have two players with "16" on their back in the second half.

Point to ponder: Seriously, is there any point in getting excited about pre-season friendlies? This time last year, we whipped T&M into submission yet then found ourselves scoring less than a eunuch. Other teams have managed to do some stuffings of their own today, and suddenly we feel a bit inadequate. That said, I wonder if some statto type has ever done studies of teams that win promotion/get relegated and seen what their pre-season form was like?

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Being two miles away from the venue where we spent a good 11 years of our football watching life. The traffic has got worse, the surroundings are still shit and yet in April 2002 we would have remained there with glee. How times change. (2) Why did Jon Main go off after 30 minutes? Was it because we had to pay an installment of £1m to Tonbridge if he makes a set amount of appearances? (3) The first use of the word "cunt" of the new season - and not by your editor either - was reported about 4.30pm today. Also, the first bizzaro comment of the new season was today as well - something about Dr Who and regeneration, apparently. I guess you had to be there, although by the sound of it, most who heard it wish they weren't....

Anything else? Yeah. The amount of people who just couldn't wait to talk about the playoff final even today staggers me. It was almost as anticipated as the game itself . I reckon it really has taken ten Saturdays for people to just get themselves composed about it and reminisce with each other once they got the chance. I think PSFs are as much getting in training off the pitch as on it (after all, why would you bother to go to a PSF if it wasn't to get back in the swing of things?). SW19 has certainly had a poor opening campaign though - it's taken me three times as long as usual for me to write this small amount as it does for a "normal" (and far longer) match report. I really do need some more games under my belt....

So, was it worth it? Suppose so.

In a nutshell: Summer is over.

10 July 2008

Hard to think that we're only now two days away from the unofficial start of the season. That kind of self-convincing that the first pre-season game is proof that the campaign is under way already. Watching half-fit players going at 50%. Telling yourself "this season's going to be great" when somebody puts two passes together. The occasional memory jolt that it was only four years ago that we played at Mayfield Road in a competitive fixture. Seeing people who you haven't seen for ages, and if it wasn't for football you would have absolutely no reason to know any of them.

And not forgetting the fun unique to PSFs, where you get to play Spot The New Player. The one who sort of looks like a squad member from last season but is slightly too tall, or has a different stronger foot, or that degree quicker. Although in our case, that isn't quite so unique.....

Actually, it's really hard to comprehend that this will be the first "proper" first team game since that warm, tense day in the very early stages of May. About 2.5 months or so ago, wasn't it? Last night, for the first time since I bought it, I watched the playoff-semi and final DVD. To be more accurate, this was the first time I've seen it where it wasn't on Nuts TV. Even so, watching it now with a cool, almost detatched perspective on it, a couple of things jumped out at me. Firstly, I don't think we were as bad as we thought in those games. In both of them, I really think we deserved it because we had the better chances.

Secondly, how much are we going to miss Marcus Gayle this season? In fact, will we ever get that type of player for us again? There can't be too many of the WFC Premiership squad about now, in fact I'm not sure how many WFC pre-2002 there are about full stop. We might end up with a cameo swansong from a Chris Perry, or a Jason Euell in the foreness of time, but after those, that'll be it for that chapter. Surprised we didn't go for Rob Gier though. I'm not going to say we'll never end up with a former Prem/Championship player ever again - in fact, if you can get one who wants to play for us snap him up. As Gayle last season, and as Mick Harford proved eons ago, the legs may go but the footballing brain doesn't.

But most importantly of all, I realise just how different things are now. I'm not really talking about players moving on (though after some of his crossing against Coldseal, I can see why Fergie went now), I'm talking about how the vibe is now. It's been said so many times, not least on here, but the time around the playoffs (and before) were just so stomach-churningly jittery that I really did wonder how we'd get through it. Now compare and contrast to our trip down to Bath last weekend. Don't we look more self-assured now? Don't we look more of not only a squad but a unit already? Even though we haven't kicked a ball in anger yet?

Last season was so full of rumour and counter-rumour about bitchfests in the squad that I think we were ready to blow. Some people did, and I shudder to think what we'd be thinking right now if the last ten minutes hadn't have happened. Although IMO we wouldn't have done much differently there as we have now. Yet look at the pictures where the management are playing against the squad - dare I say team spirit?

Of course, it wouldn't be an AFCW pre-season without at least one injury. Step forward Chris Sullivan, who was so determined to fit in with his new club that he damaged his shoulder before he signed. OK, I'm being harsh and I would hope that we knew about this when we signed him. If we did I suppose that now is a good a time as any to get this sorted. Maybe we've got better medical facilities so we can get Sully and others fitter and ready to go? Lest we forget Marcus Gayle last season, who was seemingly on the scrapheap by January until we discovered exactly what his problem was. The rest was history...

But just reading that little snippet and if you ignore the usual stuff of how he wants to be here, big support etc etc, the fact he's mates with JG helps enormously. See, even with the playoffs last season, I sensed some of our our players were doing it more for their own pride rather than AFCW's. Some of the stories I heard gobsmacked me (especially alleged stuff that went on between Mark DeBolla and Fergie) and did jack shit for team spirit. Look at the pics from the Bath weekend : how everyone looks intense and focused when the hard work is on, and how everyone is joking around with TB and Stuart Cash afterwards. While I'd never thought I'd write C***y G**g again, there's more of that mid-to-late-80s spirit about now. The days when the CG tag was legitimate before Hammam hijacked it and made it a crappy marketing tool for his own ends.

Now I've written that, expect an 11-man brawl on Saturday with our own players and TB resigning on the spot.

For some of the more desperate amongst us, pre-season has already started. Like 20 other hardcore Wombles, I popped down to Chertsey on Tuesday to see us get whalloped 4-1. Well, that's slightly unfair, because we were 3-0 down after 35 minutes or so with what can best be described as a scratch team. Second half looked more like what I imagine our reserve team will look like in the upcoming season. And considering it was a full-strength Chertsey side (avec Coops, Lee O'Leary and another ex-AFCW player whose name escapes me right now) it looked quite promising.

TB turned up in the second half, so that probably explains why we played better ;) Actually, it might be worth keeping more of an eye out for the reserves this season as one or two of those players I saw in the second half Tuesday may be in our first team squad come the back end of the season. I do however hope that it was just a week too early for most of those I saw in the first half....

Elsewhere, Micky Haswell seemed to do OK for BHA in Athlone last night. Firstly, here's what their local paper said:

"AFC Wimbledon leftback Michael Haswell, who, like Andrew Whing and Jake Robinson, played the whole 90 minutes, did his bid to earn a contract no harm."

All well and good for him, although manager Micky Adams followed up with this:

"He did okay. He worked hard and he showed a bit of promise but I don't want to judge him on one performance. I'll take him to Worthing (on Saturday) and see where we go after that".

He did play the whole game there so maybe he'll sign. Though Adams did sound a little bit non-committal, so maybe he'll be back sooner than we think? Whatever happens, it does prove that we are being looked at by pro clubs, and we may have to get used to losing our better players in this matter. Again, this is why a strong reserve side is so vital this campaign and further down the line. If Adams likes Haswell, we will need to replace him - so up steps Chris Hussey with the minimum of fuss. Painless and ensures we aren't shitting ourselves already

Granted, we'll miss Haswell if he does go, but we've done well enough since 2002 with nobody poaching our players. Just look at it as a compliment........

Finally, the problems with the site going down this week should be OK. I'm looking into a mirror site, and thanks to everyone who offered me new hosting. Don't be surprised if I suddenly start asking for money..............

2 July 2008

Summer is almost over. It's currently raining (or at least trying to) outside SW19 Towers, and the moment of the whole close season that makes it all worthwhile : the fixtures are out. Read them here.

Done that? Good. Let's see what I wrote yesterday:

" I'm going for Braintree away first game of the season, with Basingstoke away the following midweek contest. First game at KM will be Hayes and Yeading, followed by Bishop's Storford. We'll play Team Bath away in September and Bath City in March. Newport will be in November and WSM in April. Webb will score his hat-trick against us in late October, while we'll get to go Beaver stuffing on Boxing Day and NYD. Followed by the glorious end of season anti-climax celebrations at home to Maidenhead United."

And the grand total of predictions I got correct were........................ 0. At least nobody can burn me at the stake now, although some may try for the Webb comment.

In case you don't know already, our first game of the season is away to Newport County. Yes, one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures (if not the one we were all looking forward to) is our very first 90 minutes in the CS. Talk about a baptism of fire.

In fact, once you get "ooh, a trip to Wales" out of the way, it could have been an easier opening couldn't it? We were due to play away anyway, but it's one of the toughies with us having a largely new squad as it is. We don't know how we will perform for long away trips, we'll be facing a pretty hostile crowd with us in the minority. And if Chelmsford was anything to go by last season, we've got to learn how to deal with that PDQ.

Our pre-season becomes even more vital now. We need to click, not only to get a fast start but also to keep that initial momentum and good vibe up. I suppose though nobody is going to object (too) much to us coming away from southern Cymru with nothing. It'll be part of this season's learning curve, and by the time we finish against St Albans the last day of the season (in front of a 10,000 crowd of course) we will probably have learnt a lot more about ourselves than from 2002 to today combined.

For the first time since maybe our first CCL days, I'm looking down the list and I just can't predict how we're going to do against people like Newport, H&Y, Bath City etc. It was quite easy before - we could look at teams and predict that we should beat them (and sometimes we did). Now, I honestly don't know whether we'll have 9 points from the first three games or none. We do have some inklings though - teams that come up from the RP have more or less been playoffs to about 10th place, so none too shabby. The AFCW that lost to St Albans and Thurrock back in the day is a lot stronger and has a bit more nous these days. And lest we forget Maidenhead last season....

But the truth is though, you ain't thinking about that. You're thinking "fuck, yeah". People are up for this, I can tell. Suddenly, things feel normal again, if that makes sense. Whether it's because we've actually heard of people like Newport County or Bath City I don't know. Maybe it's coming across something like this which does it? And be honest, who here has inadvertantly checked out whether Setanta will be showing any CS games this season?

The big problem for any AFCW fan who watched WFC is that since 2002, we've been in the twilight zone up until now media-wise. You really didn't realise how much you missed getting reports in the Sunday papers, occasional live Sky game, Ceefax etc until one day that really all went. No, the Conf South ain't the Premiership, but I think non-AFCW fans really can't comprehend what finding out our fixtures on the BBC website does to us.

Even checking train times now becomes that much more exciting. Funnily enough, the tickets on trainline.com went pretty quickly, although there are other places to get them, apparently (I think I'm going to have to drive this anyway now though). Even so, if it's us lot buying up the cheapies, that's a very promising sign. No, I doubt if we'll get 1000 there (though it would be kewl if we did), but it would be good to say to the doubters that we can travel beyond the South East in numbers. Including one or two of our own fans.....

And judging by this sort of thing, they're quite happy about us in the valleys as well. There's something different about sides like Newport, H&W, CCFC, Bath City etc. They seem clubs that are more self-assured than what we've been used to. They'll see us as rivals, of course, but without acting like they're opposing us for the sake of the whole culture of non-league football. If we were to play Newport in the playoff final, would they start mouthing off about us being classless bandwagon jumpers? Doubt it. Of course, there'll be the usual England v Wales barbs and one or two more club specific things, but that's "normal". This is more like how football watching really is - most football watchers watch from the Prem to the Conf and some of our games next season will be as close as ever to those sort of ties. I don't like this rather smug "real football" tag that non-league watchers give themselves. Just look at the clubs in financial shit...

Oh, and I forgot about mentioning sheep, holiday home burning, a language that makes Polish look decypherable and the Manic Street Preachers. Ah, the old days when SW19 used to abuse different parts of the country. Bashing Essex/Kent got boring after a while, certainly. Not to mention Deano of the Franchise himself, a certain Mr D Holdsworth as Newport's manager. Rest assured, I shall be looking at plenty of Linsey Dawn McKenzie photos for a suitable front page nearer the time.........

With all this excitement going on, it's easy to forget we have another 40 or so other matches to look forward to. Got to admit surprise that we're at home the following Tuesday, to Furrock. Mind you, as said earlier, last time we played them at KM they showed us pretty much the difference between Conf South and R1. It will certainly demonstrate how far we've come in about 3 short seasons.

Our Xmas fixtures surprise me as well. Hands up who thought it'll be H&R? Mind you, I always like going down to Fi$her, although I really miss their old Surrey Docks stadium. Those wanting a trip to Bath get a nice trip to Twerton Park in late August (Bath City). Isn't that Bank Holiday weekend? Mind you, Bognor Regis away in early January will sort out the men from the boys. That said, you can look at them yourself but there aren't too many standout fixtures that rivals going to Newcastle in January in the snow.

Other standouts? Danny Webb will certainly be looking forward to November 1st, anyway. Don't think it'll be the pressure cooker last season at MP was, and I hope we do ourselves more justice in this particular fixture this time. My hope is certainly that we'll be settled, a lot fitter and dare I say even having a better idea of how we play? In fact, we get to play H&W 10 days earlier, so we might be settled enough by then to give them a decent game as well. And won't the run-in be fun with Bromley and H&R in the last two trips on the road of the season?

The most important fixture will of course be Dorchester away. Shame I'll probably be out of the country.........

Anyway, I guess the anticipation will die down until the first PSF on Saturday week. Before I go, while we're looking forward all excitedly, spare a thought for the diseased vermin up the M1. Their second phase of the Wankiedome is in deep shit after M&S pulled out, and with at least four important backroom staff going this week, their glorious return to League One doesn't look so glorious after all.

But hey, they're about to get yet another big name. Yes, Roberto Di Matteo - a man who probably didn't even know League One existed, and with as much managerial experience as myself. I swear that Wankie is starstruck by having these "names" managing his lifelong club (sic), but then that just sums up their real lack of security. Mind you, Di Matteo allegedly wrote "Fuck off" on a kids cap in his Chelski days, so he does at least has the class and conduct to manage the Frenzies...........

1 July 2008

Is it me or has this close season gone quite quickly? It only seemed like yesterday when we were just getting over the playoffs. Now, we're in the week when the fixtures are released, pre-season training has started and even the Blue Square boards have gone up around KM.

A few things to do in the meantime. Firstly, in case you haven't noticed on the front page, I'm in the process of selling a load of WFC programmes (plus programmes of other clubs) as SW19 Towers is getting more messed up than usual. Click here to read what I've got. Hopefully the whole thing is self-explanatory, I just want to get shot of them with hopefully a few quid in my pocket so I can continue to do this site ;) Also, if you know people who trade them, or anyone else who will be interested who isn't an AFCW fan (you may have a Chelski mate for example), feel free to contact me. I do however refuse to sell to Franchise fans.

Actually, it's quite interesting looking at who we were playing about 10 years ago. In 1998/99, we were about to embark on playing the likes of Spurz, Liverpool, t'Leeds, Newk etc etc, and back then there was a kind of resignation that these sort of games would suck. Selhurst would be over-run with away fans, we'd feel like the away team (which we were for about 14 years, lest we forget), and the foreign wholesaling of the Prem was just starting to bite, causing a real gap between those who could afford to pay shitloads each week and those who couldn't. This all said, if you told any of us that a decade later we'd be playing Bath City, Hayes and Yeading and Weston Super Mare in competitive fixtures, we'd be laughing too much to answer.

And if you'd told us afterwards that we'd be looking forward to playing them even more than the likes of Spurz, we'd probably broken a limb in answering.

Speaking of damaging body parts, some of the money I'm raising from the programme sales will go towards a new jaw. Why? Because it needs major reconstructive surgery on hitting the floor at a great rate of knots, after finding out that Danny Webb has gone to Chelmsford. Yes, you are reading that right. Of all the players you wouldn't expect to have even had a club next season, to see him work his way to deepest Essex is a bit gobsmacking.

OK, the guy tried hard for us (though with the amount of money he was apparently on, he should been trying), and he was starting to become a bit of a cult hero towards the end of last season, but he was Leaburn-esque. Somehow, we were relying on him to just once, finally show why he should be wearing football boots. The memory of him that defines his tenure with us, for me anyway, was away at Boreham Wood last season. It was early on in the campaign, and we'd got a penalty after playing shit. Webb went up to take it and promptly weakly and painfully "shot" it at the keeper. His body language said it all, and come to think of it so did ours. Don't think he (or we) ever recovered from that. Had he scored it, he probably would have been an AFCW player today.

Might be worth keeping a close ear out for comments about him. "He's a good player", "He's good in the air", "He's got that physical presence, just what we need", and the classic "He just needs to be in the right team with the right manager". Sounds familiar? Rewind close to a year ago and that's exactly what we were saying. Along with a "He must be quite good, he played Champions League football just recently". How many clubs has he had in the last few seasons? There's your warning signs right there.

I remember TB signing him on the basis that the Yeovil boss at the time saying that Webb was the second best finisher at the club. Sadly, they only had one striker at the time. But also, he did well for Woking in one game, and at the time there was a slight whiff of panic over needing a target man...... Still, all this said, you just know he's going to score a hat-trick against us now. Think of Reggie Savage with attitude.

Enough of players past, let's look to players of the future. Few more signings since my last update - expect to have to learn to spell Belal Aiteouakrim's name properly, along with Elliott Godfrey and youngsters Steve Gilbert and Kennedy Adjei. I might have missed somebody out, sure somebody will gleefully point out who anyway ;) Suddenly, the squad is starting to take shape quite nicely. There's no real pressure this season to absolutely, positively go up. OK, there's some comments about us aiming for the playoffs, though one wonders if there's a degree of lip service in that. But what's telling to me is that us signing young players is almost treated as a big a deal as the more senior ones.

Of course, the way we're approaching this upcoming season can go wrong. We could struggle, although the vibes around suggest we won't. But here's a thought for you : predictions of playoffs have only come about in the last week or two. Before then, cautious optimism but nothing more. I wonder if this is to do with the squad settling in, in the manner it has? What I mean is, last season we had to build up from scratch with TB not really knowing how the RP's land lied. This year, we've got a game plan from the offset, we're signing players that have actually played in this division the season before (no Conf to RP jumps here this season) and a lot less pressure full stop. Wouldn't it be ironic if we performed this season like we were supposed to last season?

Anyway, we're still a good five weeks away from finding that out properly, but in the meantime it's only Saturday week until it all starts again at Croydon Athletic. And summer is most definitely over when the fixtures come out. Me, I'm going for Braintree away first game of the season, with Basingstoke away the following midweek contest. First game at KM will be Hayes and Yeading, followed by Bishop's Storford. We'll play Team Bath away in September and Bath City in March. Newport will be in November and WSM in April. Webb will score his hat-trick against us in late October, while we'll get to go Beaver stuffing on Boxing Day and NYD. Followed by the glorious end of season anti-climax celebrations at home to Maidenhead United.

And if any of that comes true, I may let you burn me