The Alfa Romeo Metaphor

Friendly: Luton Town FC v. AFC Wimbledon

Luton is an hour away if the traffic is good, I'm told. We left a bit early because the driver anticipated it wouldn't be good. He was right.

View attachment 420837Everyone was going to play a half. The starters were:

GK: Chris Dunn
D: Cameron Dummigan, Reuben Hazell, Andy Frampton, Jim Fenlon
M: George Francombe, Steven Gregory, Adam Pepper, Simon Johnson
F: James Loveridge, Michael Smith.

I wanted to see how Dummigan would do at right back. He did fine. I couldn't play Thackray as a center back as I wanted to do as I don't have a left back to play the second half. Since Thacks can play there, that's where he's playing today.

In the 13th minute, former Wimbledon keeper Seb Brown hoofed a goal kick over the half line. Hazell won it and directed his header to Francombe. Francombe took a touch and slid a pass past Luton's left-sided center back and into the path of Smith.

Smith took a touch, crossed into the penalty area and mashed a low hard shot past Brown.

0-1

In the 33rd minute, Reuben Hazell forgot about everything we'd been working on.

Luton had been moving the ball harmlessly around the midfield out near the center circle. Then they played a pass up to their striker Kaine Sheppard. This was on Frampton's side. So Frampton scrambles over to shut down the danger. Hazell didn't move over to cover their other striker, Chris Holroyd.

Holroyd shoots from 8 yards out and Dunn makes a great save to his right. Unfortunately, the ball fell to the Luton left mid Phil Chandler who grateful passed the ball into the open net.

1-1

The ball glanced off of Hazell's head for an own goal in the 59th minute. Tough evening at the office for The Haz.

If you look at the chances we created and how many shots on goal we took, I'm satisfied. Seb Brown wanted to show us we were wrong to let him go. While I'm standing by my decision, he certainly played well for his new team.
 
WOMBLEblog.co.uk
Pucci's greatest hits

Thrash
14 July 2014 23:44

View attachment 420807We don't know who made this, but we're glad someone told us about this video of our manager Enrico Pucci back in the days when he was plying his trade in Serie A. When you watch this highlight reel of bookings, sending offs, hand bags and assorted GBH behavior, you might ask yourself what kind of manager the FTB hired.

An awesome one! The English game has lost it's violent side. I witnessed the exploits of the Crazy Gang epitomized by Vinnie Jones. His mentality as a player is exactly what Wimbledon needs.

Seriously, In eleven seasons playing in Italy he amassed 10 red cards and 108 yellows. He was suspended for a sum total of 28 matches.

So I'm just suggesting to our players when they scrimmage and Pucci's taking part, you might want to be careful around him. He's a wee bit psycho.

I mean seriously, at the 0:45 mark of this epic vid when he tackles that Empoli player with a thigh high, studs up tackle, that's worthy of the death penalty any many countries. The fact that he only got carded is unfathomable in England. These days nearly all the tackles on this vid are red card violations.

From what we know of Italian football, I can see why Bologna would want his services to protect their star players. Or at least the potent threat that we'll unleash Pucci and let him sink his teeth into your star players.
 
Friendly: AFC Wimbledon v. Everton FC

One week to go before the season starts. Today, the first team plays Everton in the final preseason tournament. Since chances are we're going to lose, tomorrow we play the loser of the Wigan-Newcastle friendly.

View attachment 420609GK: Chris Dunn
D: Dummigan, Hazell, Frampton, Fenlon
M: Gregory, Francombe, Pell, Pepper, Johnson
F: Loveridge

I was quite pleased with how we played. Everton dominated the possession, but couldn't create the chances. We parked the bus, absorbed the pressure and occasionally counter attacked.

But let's put this in perspective. Leighton Baines, the Toffee left back is worth six times more than Wimbledon. The fact that they couldn't score in the first half makes me happy.

Pepper scored an own goal defending a corner. The ball was pinballing around in a goal mouth scramble. The ball popped up and I'm pretty sure he was trying to head it over the crossbar. Oops.

And Naismith's goal was simply a powerful strike from a top division player.

The players were clear about what I wanted out of them today and they did what I asked.

We'll play Newcastle tomorrow. They lost on penalties to Wigan after a scoreless 90 minutes.View attachment 420603

I can't imagine that Alan Pardew will be all that pleased with his side. They might be itching to take that out on us.

Mostly, I'm looking forward to seeing how much we profited from these three preseason Cup tournaments.
 
Stalker boy

After the friendly on Saturday, Gwen and I and several of her friends went and saw the DJ Skrillex at Building Six. Throbbing lights, strobes nearly giving me a seizure, throbbing beats, it was great fun. Gwen explained that dub step purists hate Skrillex because he's not particularly original. I'm no judge of originality, but he does put on a good show.

He played two sets and in between, I sought out the men's room. On my way over, I saw stalker boy standing with what appeared to be friends of his. I'm pretty sure he didn't see me.

After taking care of business, I found a spot where I could watch him. I watched as he finished his drink then indicated to his friends that he was going to go and get another. I followed him.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to say or do. Obviously, I didn't want to get in a fight or anything like that. I could just do something really bizarre. But what?

I pushed my way through to get next to him at the bar. He jumped when he turned and saw it was me standing next to him looking at him.

"Hello stalker boy," I said.

He put a finger to his chest asking if I was talking to him.

"I don't know how you know what Gwen's doing all the time," I continued. "But I'll find out."

Then I leaned in really close making eye contact.

"I've heard that you can get high licking a toad," I said to him. Then I licked his cheek. He jerked back with a look of shock.

"I've always wanted to try. So next time I see you stalking Gwen, I'll let you know how the buzz is."

"You're ****ing mad," he blurted out wiping at his wet cheek.

"To quote Benedict Cumberbatch, 'no, I'm a high-functioning sociopath', have a great evening."

And I walked off.
 
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Friendly: AFC Wimbledon v. Newcastle United

Kingsmeadow was once again packed and the Everton-Wigan match was sold out. Wimbledon will have had a really profitable July, I can't wait to see the final numbers. Hopefully, Erik and I can talk King's College into letting us pay for some improvements to New Malden. We'll see.

View attachment 420508Here's the second-stringers I sent out. Obviously, a few aren't second string players (Hazell, Smith and Thackray), but I don't have enough numbers in defense and wanted to give Smith a full 90 up top.

GK: Daniel Lincoln
D: Thackray, Hazell, Ben Harrison (U18), Ryan Sweeney (U18)
M: Mark Tomlinson, Daniel Barlaser, Michael Woods, Jack Midson, Drissa Dabre
F: Michael Smith

Since I also don't have that many midfielders, I played Woods and Midson in the middle with permission to get forward whenever they want.

Dabre dribbled down the left, played a ball forward into the box for Midson to run onto and Midson crossed into the 6 yard box. Woods met the cross with a flick volley past Rob Elliot and we had a lead in the 4th minute.

Unfortunately, my backup keeper Lincoln twisted his knee somehow. I didn't see when. Dunn replaced. him.

Of course, Newcastle came back. The got the lead just before halftime. My second stringers held on valiantly. I was pleased. I swapped out Hazell with Frampton for the second half but generally kept the same 11 out there.
View attachment 420507
I only started swapping out the exhausted late on. Newcastle got a late goal to make the match look more lop-sided.

Everton beat Wigan on penalties after a scoreless Cup Final.
 
"Good morning, Enrico," Erik Samuelson said as I stepped into his office.

"Yes, good morning," I replied. It was in fact a good morning. It'd also been a great month. I was at Kingsmeadow early to meet with the Chairman and review our finances. I knew we'd filled the stadium 13 times plus generated TV revenue for all but the Celtic match. We had to be sitting quite pretty.

"Let me pull up the financials," he said concentrating on his laptop. Then he spun his laptop around and walked around his desk.

View attachment 420035

"As you can see," Erik said. "We pulled in some 333K in TV revenue. Those 13 high-profile friendlies only generated 76K in gate receipts. Because of the TV revenue, we are far ahead of last year at this point."

"Ahhh," I exclaimed. "5,000 seats just aren't enough tickets, are they. And this is why you're working to move back into Plough Lane or develop the Greyhound track."

"I don't want any of that for players, I think I'm set," I continued. "Can we spend that on improving New Malden? Or do we take this a put it toward building a new stadium or moving back into Plough Lane?"

"Yes, that is the question isn't it," Erik murmured examining it more closely. "As you know this is up to the Supporters Trust. Your input is important, but there's other factors like getting approval to renovate the Wimbledon greyhound track."
 
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Friendly: AFC Wimbledon v. AFC Dunstable

View attachment 419703For our final tune-up, I'd arranged for the semi-pro side Dunstable to visit us at Kingsmeadow.

The first team, except for Kris Thackray, played the first half. I wanted Thacks to get some time playing in central defense.

Keeper Daniel Lincoln and Simon Johnson are both out for a couple weeks with twisted knees.

I can't say I'm all that pleased with our performance. We kind of slept-walked through the match. At least Smith and Loveridge scored as well as Midson who will be a back-up this season.

What's surprising is how many fans turned up. 1400 is not bad for a preseason friendly against a semi-pro team.
 
"Alrighty, let's talk about Mansfield," I said. "We've got two days to prepare."

"Let's start at the back," Lil Fucillo began. "They've got young keepers and a slow back line. Smith and Loveridge should push them around. They should be vulnerable to crosses."

"They've got fast wingers, but only one of them, the left mid Colin Daniels, seems particularly dangerous," he continued.

"So put James Fenlon on his side?" I asked. Lil nodded.

"They will probably play a 4411 and none of their strikers seem all that dangerous," Lil said. "Anything good that happens seems to go through their right mid Angelo, no, wait, Sergio Torres. He's Argentine. Or through Lamisha Musonda. He's a Chelsea Academy washout of Belgian extraction."

"They seem most vulnerable at right back, in other words, our left flank. With Johnson out, we need someone to exploit that weakness."

"Do we try to clog the midfield to prevent them from playing or do we try to exploit their defense?" I asked.

"Exploit the D," Lil replied.
 
"Hey, Daniel, how are you," I asked. I'd pulled him from the drill he was doing to chat.

"Fine, thank you," Daniel Barlaser replied.

"I pulled you out for several reasons," I began. "First, because I want to compliment you on how hard you're working. I've noticed, keep it up. In the lower leagues, hard work and tireless running goes farther than occasional flashes of skill."

"Second, I want you to know that you're the back-up right midfield," I continued. "If George gets hurt or loses form or needs a break, you're his replacement. Now, in the meantime, you'll be playing with the U18s. I want you playing every weekend not getting splinters in your **** riding the pine."

"Riding the pine, sir?"

"Heh, sorry, that's American. I mean sitting as a rarely used sub."

"Oh, okay."

"Third, I want to develop you into a central midfielder. You've got the ball control and long-range shot to play in the center and that's where I see you having a career. So Wools and Robs will start working with you on this."

"Okay."

"Any questions?"

"No sir. Thank you."
 
Mansfield Town FC v. AFC Wimbledon

Well, here we go. My second season as a manager and my first real test with my new club. Mansfield is 3 hours away, just north of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire. Pretty much a straight shot up the M1, more or less.

I haven't remarked on it, but it seems notable that the Wimbledon bus is quiet, rides smooth, has AC and a working toilet.

View attachment 500928Field Mill is a nice enough stadium. Seats a little over 9K. It's going to be a nice day for footie, 77 degrees and overcast. No not-quite-game-fit players fainting in the heat today.

GK: Chris Dunn
D: James Fenlon, Reuben Hazell, Andy Frampton, Kris Thackray
M: George Francombe, Steven Gregory, Adam Pepper, Jack Midson
F: James Loveridge, Michael Smith

Subs: Billy Bishop (U18 GK), Pat Baldwin (D), Chris Arthur (LB/LM), Mark Tomlinson (M), Harry Pell (M), Daniel Barlaser (M), Charlie Strutton (F)

View attachment 500929I'm sorry, I failed to mention that I signed the central defender I wanted. Pat Baldwin is an experienced campaigner with decent enough skills and willing to be a back-up defender. He can play in the center or at right back.

"Here we are guys," I began my first official team talk. "It all starts today. I know you all saw what the BBC wrote about us. They say we're relegation fodder. I say **** them. Let's show them what we're made of. I have faith that you guys know what to do out there. Let's just go out and apply everything we've been working on."

"Mansfield is slow on defense; we can exploit that," I continued. "Be sure that Musonda doesn't get any time on the ball and be sure that to give him and their forward Donnelly a nice, thick application of special sauce."

"Clear?"

"YEAH!" a chorus of shouts greeted me.

Smith got things going straight away blazing just wide after Francombe played a ball into him.

We kept the ball but couldn't generate much in the first 20 minutes. We certainly not giving them any room to play. Thackray and Francombe were warned just before the 30 minute mark for their exuberant tackling.

In the 43rd minute, Mansfield broke on the counter attack. This is the first time in the whole match so far that I felt nervous. Their striker Donnelly ended up crossing far post to their left midfielder Colin Daniel. Thankfully, his volley went straight into Dunn's arms.

At halftime I urged them to keep playing solid defensively. I told Pepper to get forward more and told Loveridge and Smith that I believed they'd get a goal if we all kept working hard.

In the 50th minute, Francombe took a knock. Whitney signaled that he needed to be subbed. So I sent Daniel Barlaser on.

In the 52nd minute, the Mansfield central midfielder Jay Harris unleashed a guided missile that thankfully was aimed at where the crossbar and post meet. Thackray cleared to safety.

In the 60th minute, I pulled of Loveridge and Midson. Neither had done much of anything all match. I put on Arthur at left mid and Strutton at left forward.

It paid dividends in the 65th minute. Arthur and Strutton worked the ball up the left then passed back to Thackray. Thackray sent the ball straight back up the field to Strutton who crossed into the middle. Smith just missed the header and the keeper only managed to get his fingertips to it.

Unfortunately, the ball fell to a Mansfield defender who skied it clear.

But Thackray won the header (a great thing about playing a central defender at fullback) and sent the ball into the left corner. Arthur controlled the header and crossed near post for Strutton. His glancing header hit the side netting.

Mansfield's Daniel chopped down Barlaser in the 70th minute. Barlaser popped straight back up and jogged toward the box. Adam Pepper placed the ball and waited for Frampton and Hazell to get forward.

Pepper's ball into the box was poorly hit but Arthur got to it first and played it straight out to the sideline for Pepper to run onto. His next ball into the box was much better. Barlaser met it with a sweet volley that the Mansfield keeper couldn't stop despite getting a hand to it.

0-1

What an amazing debut for Barlaser!

Mansfield responded by winning a foul just at the left edge of the box. A foot more and it would have been a penalty. They played a ball back and across the box. Musonda made his first contribution of the match by unleashing a 30 yard screamer. Fortunately, Dunn was there and held it comfortably.

Mansfield soon began lobbing balls into the box. We defended well and only gave away a few corners which we cleared.

In the 78th minute, I switched to a 451 so that Gregory would sit deeper and we could defend the lead easier. I asked Smith to move into the midfield and kept Strutton up front since he'd done more in 30 minutes than Smith had done all game.

After holding them well, we did exactly what I didn't want them to do: lose track of their striker Donnelly. In the 87th minute, they played a succession of quick passes up the field and Frampton didn't react quickly at all to a ball into the channel.

Dunn bailed us out again with a brilliant save to deny Donnelly the goal to draw Mansfield level.

And Sergio Torres nicked the outside of the post with his header from the resulting corner. We'd dodged yet another bullet.

I started hoping they had a six shooter and were running out of bullets. I could see we were tiring and I just had to stand there and hope we held.

In the 89th minute Smith won a tackle in the midfield and passed up to Strutton. Strutton turned and started running at the 3 defenders he had in front of him. He eventually had the ball nicked off him at the edge of the Mansfield box.

What I thought was a clearance upfield turned into a breakaway for Mansfield's star winger, Daniel. Fenlon completely misjudged the clearance and couldn't catch up with the speedy Daniel.

Dunn bailed us out again by tipping the shot onto the post. The ball rebounded off and lay there invitingly. Thankfully, Frampton cleared it to safety.

I kept my hands in my pants pockets. This was getting tense and we were starting to play stupidly.

The fourth official raises his board and signals there would be 3 minutes of extra time. Would we hold?

The ref issues his first yellow card of the match to a Mansfield player. This takes us past 91 minutes. Instead of playing a short pass and keeping the ball, Dunn thumps it up to the opposing keeper. This kind of **** isn't helping!

Both teams are now playing kickball. They lump it forward, we win the header and lump it back. I've decided not to say anything. It can wait until we watch the video tomorrow.

At 91:30 they get called offside. I'm shocked we got the call, the linesman was completely out of position.

Finally, the stadium clock rolled past 93 minutes. The ref put me out of my misery and blew those three sweet blasts on his whistle. I'd won my first match in England. I think I was more relieved than pleased after our performance in the last 15 minutes.

"Congrats to Dan!" I exclaimed in the changing room. "First match, second touch, first goal and the game winner. We should all also recognize Dunn for saving our butts out there. Great job between the posts."

"We had some moments we played well today," I said. "We handled defending corners really well. We got those three points which is so vitally important away from home. We also have work to do on keeping possession. We could have made those last 15 minutes easier on ourselves."

"The Don is right, lads," Captain Frampton chimed in. "If we bring the ball up in control, we keep our shape and they can't counter against us."

View attachment 419601
 
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"Sweet Mary mother of God I'm exhausted," I said.

"But they pulled it out, so that's good right?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah but they'll make me bald and gray before my time if they keep playing like that."

"So my bald, Italian friend," she replied. "I'm going to assume you're not up for dancing and clubbing into the wee hours?"

I lowered my face into my menu and pretended to snore.

"How about a movie then?" she asked.

"Anything playing that's stupid and violent?"

"Let me check. Since you're the Italian, I'll let you choose dinner," she said and picked up her phone.

"Here's a Wimbledon connection," she said after a few minutes of searching. "Vinnie Jones is in a movie called Reaper that just came out. With Danny Trejo. It looks excessively violent. Probably meets your requirement of dumb."

"Hey, I haven't asked all week, but how's stalker boy?"

"Like a rash."

"Hmmm, can I see your phone?" I asked. "John, Wimbledon's all things computer and internet guy suggested I check something."

I went into the General Settings and scrolled down to the Bluetooth Settings. There was one one app named Facebook.Why would Facebook need bluetooth? I terminated the connection.

Just below Bluetooth Sharing was Twitter and Facebook. When I selected Twitter there was an app named Twitterjack.

"Do you know what Twitterjack is?" I asked. She shook her head. "Okay, I'm killing it."

When I selected Facebook, Facebook was listed as well as ".Facebook" which was probably the hack stalker boy was using. I turned it off.

"John did a little research and suggested I download an app for you," I said. "The app will prevent anyone from pairing with your phone. It's pretty obvious that stalker boy is also a phone hacker boy."

We ordered our food then I installed the app.

BTW, Reaper is must see for you Vinnie Jones fans out there.
 
Sunday, 3 August, 2014

"Gentlemen, we pulled it out yesterday, but I must confess that it was so stressful that I've lost all my hair and gone bald," I said once everyone had sat down in the conference room at New Malden. We were meeting an hour before the players showed up at 1PM. The plan was to spend an hour watching video with the players then stretching and a jog followed by some tactical work.

"Um, I texted George this AM," Whitney said. "He said he's fine."

"Good to hear," I said.

"I'm concerned about the lads picking up the system," Sean said. "It was obvious once they got tired they just started thumping it as far forward as they could."

"I suggest we work on tactical 5-a-side games immediately after we do some hard sprint work," Dave Wilson, the fitness coach, suggested. "Make them try to think when they're gassed."

"So talk tactics, running, small-side game situations in which to apply the tactics," I said. "That sounds like a plan. What else?"

"I'll work with Dunn on his distribution," Rachubka said. "We don't need him punting it all the way to the opposing keeper."

"It seems to me that aside from putting ourselves under pressure late in the game, all those matches defending against big clubs paid off," I said. "There was only that chance just before half time at 43 minutes when I got nervous. Aside, of course, from the last 15."

I wasn't going to add that I spent entire matches on the Cadiz technical area frightened every time the opponents advanced on my defense.

"What can do to beat Wolves on Tuesday?" I asked Lil Fuccillo, my chief scout.

"If you stay in front of Kevin Doyle, we can stop him," Lil began. "They play a 442 but I'm not impressed with Doyle or their other strikers runs. If we defend deep and clog the midfield, we can stop them."

"So how do we beat them?" I asked.

"Well, it'll be tough and we'll need some luck," Lil admitted. "They are generally faster than us and their defenders read the game well. So our chances will come from set plays or on the counter when they are disorganized."

"I'm concerned about Pepper," Wools said. "Adam didn't boss the game liked we'd all hoped. And Loveys looked lost."

"Yeah, but how much of Loveridge's poor game was lack of service?" asked Sean (Asst Mgr).

"Maybe the gamble of playing Midson at the left mid failed," I added. "I was hoping he'd attack their right back but it didn't work out that way."

"Pepps can play as a left mid, too, why don't we try him there and bring in Harry Pell?" Sean suggested.

"Let's play Pepper and Pell together in the middle and reward Arthur's hard work with a start at left mid," I said. "We've got to play a 451 and hope to clog the midfield against Wolves."

Everyone nodded.
 
Capital One Cup, First Round: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. AFC Wimbledon

It's a 3 hour bus ride up the M40 past Birmingham to Wolverhampton. As Lil said, our only hope is to catch a rusty, off-their-game Wolves on the break or from a free kick. Considering I don't have a free kick specialist, it'll have to be on the break.

Sean interrupts me watching the scenery rolling by to tell me that Wolves have posted their line-up and we won't face Kevin Doyle. It'll be the speedy Leigh Griffiths and the experienced but far less dangerous Jamie O'Hara.

Thackray was too tired to start, so Pat Balwin get his debut.

GK: Chris Dunn
D: Pat Baldwin, Reuben Hazell, Andy Frampton, James Fenlon
M: Steven Gregory, George Francomb, Harry Pell, Adam Pepper, Chris Arthur
F: Michael Smith

Subs: Billy Bishop (U18 GK), Kris Thackray (D), Cameron Dummigan (D), Mark Tomlinson (M), Daniel Barlaser (M), Charlie Strutton (F), James Loveridge (F)

I don't know where Hanks got his information, but O'Hara is starting at left mid and Jake Cassidy is up top. He's quick and a decent player (at least for a Championship club, I'd love love love to have him).

"Good luck tonight," I said. "I have faith that you guys are solid defensively. Let's create an opportunity or two. Now go out there and **** some **** up."

Wolves had the ball but couldn't create any early chances. In the 12th minute, the linesman missed an obvious, glaring offside as Griffiths played in their right midfielder Zell Ischmael. His weak shot from 10 yards puttered wide left.

In the 17th, Wolves switched fields and got the ball over to the left and got O'Hara isolated against Baldwin. Sadly for us, O'Hara went right past Baldwin and smashed a near post shot past Dunn.

1-0

Not exactly the start I wanted. We hadn't even really gotten hold of the ball, yet.

In the 28th minute, Wolves left back Stephen Ward hoofed a long ball over everyone's head from his own penalty box. Griffiths got their first which isn't surprising and raced goalwards. Hazell raced as fast as he could back and managed to cut him off at the pass.

Unfortunately, when Griffiths tried to go around him, Haz missed the ball and got all ankle. The ref may have been 40 yards away, but it was a penalty from anywhere in the stadium.

Griffiths sent Dunn the wrong way and the Wolves fans into a frenzy.

2-0

This could get pretty one-sided.

In the 32nd minute, Gregory intercepted a pass and quickly played it to Baldwin. Baldwin had time and options, but hoofed a long-ball over the top. Oops.

But Wolves hoofed the ball back upfield and we regained possession. Pell played it out to Arthur who played a ball up to Michael Smith. Smith held up the ball and laid it off to Pell who had run upfield. Pell took a few more steps and cleared the ball to safety. But at least wayward shot was our first attempt at goal.

After Francomb gave the ball away far to easily in the 38th minute, Ward advanced down the left flank and Baldwin never pressed him close enough. Cassidy volleyed the ball past Dunn.

3-0

Oof.

I told Thackray to be ready to start the second half.

"Fenlon, switch to the right," I said once everyone was sitting shell-shocked in the dressing room. "Thackray is in at left back. Listen, that didn't go the way we wanted. This one is over. Let's move on. Instead, let's get set up for Saturday's home match against Walsall. Show me something different in the second half. Show me you won't have a hangover from this. Show me something else."

We started out the half in the Wolves' end. Gregory blazed over from 30 yards. After some kickball, we eventually got the ball and worked it in to Smith who set up Pell for a shot from the top of the box. Unfortunately, it went just wide left.

In the 50th minute, Arthur charged upfield and past several defenders before blazing a shot that Wayne Hennessy tipped around the post.

This was more like it.

In the 55th minute, Wolves got tired of us trying to play and upped their work rate. It only resulted in a longe-range shot blazed high over the bar.

In the 56th minute Smith out-jumped Hennessy but his header grazed the top of the bar.

In the 59th, Smith had his shot blocked and Pell's follow up shot was well wide.

But we were playing now, at least.

Fenlon and Smith were looking the most tired so I replaced them with Dummigan and Loveridge respectively.

In the 73rd minute, Dummigan played a ball into the channel for Loveridge. He shot wide.

Wolves had taken the pedal of the gas and Hennessy wasn't happy. His cursing echoed around the stadium.

In the 78th, Arthur played a ball into the corner for Loveridge. Pell headed his cross directly at Hennessy.

Francomb turned Ward in the 79th minute, raced into the penalty box and slipped a pass all the way across the 6 yard box for Arthur to blast into the net. We'd gotten our consolation goal and proved to ourselves that we weren't pushovers.

3-1

Substitute Doyle scored a late on, but who cares.

I told the players not to worry about the result. They looked like they were worried. I hope this loss doesn't have a hangover effect this coming Saturday.

View attachment 419197
 
AFC Wimbledon v. Wycombe Wanderers

Kingsmeadow was packed for our home opener. Not much to report in the build-up to the match. Chris Arthur gets the start at left mid after his hard work against Wolves.

GK: Chris Dunn
D: James Fenlon, Reuben Hazell, Andy Frampton (C), Kris Thackray
M: Steven Gregory, George Francomb, Harry Pell, Adam Pepper, Chris Arthur
F: Michael Smith

Since Wycombe were going to playe a 451, I set us up playing our 451. There would be no way through the middle for them. Since their only option was the flanks, I told everyone to give their outside mids and extra helping of special sauce.

"Alright, listen up," I said. "We have the chance to show that the first half against Wolves was an anomaly. Don't let Wycombe play their game. Kingsmeadow is our home, we play our way, everyone adapts to us."

After playing keep-away for the majority of the first 5 minutes until Gregory played a ball up to Smith. Smith turned his defender, took a step and walloped a shot that the goalkeeper got a hand to but couldn't keep out.

1-0

In the tenth minute, Haz headed Francomb's corner goalward only to have a defender clear it.

Fenlon headed the clearance back upfield. Pell controlled it, passed it to Pepper. A defender dove in and took the ball and Peps but the ball rolled into Pell's path. Pell tried to curl it far side, but their keeper snared it.

In the 27th minute, Fenlon got beat by Wanderer's left midfielder Myles Weston. But he didn't let him get past and was booked for his take-down.

Pell was booked in the 30th minute for his 3rd foul.

In the 35th, Gregory intercepted a pass, tapped it to Pepper who looked upfield and fed Smith. Instead of feeding the ball to an advancing teammate, he turned and tried a shot from over 30 yards. It went wide. He apologized as we reset for the goal kick.

In the 40th, Frampton chopped down Hewitt from behind and was carded. From the restart, Gregory grabbed Hewitt's jersey and was carded. At least we weren't letting them play.

At halftime I told them they were playing well, but could do better. Specifically, keeping the ball more. Wycombe had too much of the ball in the last 20 minutes of the half.

In the 52nd minute, Francomb their left back chopped down Francomb rather than get beaten.

As I screamed at the ref and berated the fourth official, Whitney ran out and soon signaled that George's day was done. Sean had read my mind and gotten Daniel Barlaser up to loosen up. Whitney propped up George and helped him off the field and Danny Boy was ready to come on by the time George was off the field.

"Ankle," Whitney said as they hobbled by.

Remarkably, the ref decided not to show a yellow card. I kept at the ref and fourth official until he told me I'd be sent off if I didn't calm down.

They kept the ball around our box for about a while, but couldn't find a way through. In the 58th, Dunn tipped a goalbound header over the bar.

In the 70th minute, Pell nipped the ball away from a Wycombe mid and played a ball into space for Smith to run onto. Smith kept easing rightward. Then as he crossed into the box, he cut back inside fooling the defender and had a clear shot on his preferred right foot.

Unfortunately, he screwed the shot wide left.

I realized several things. First, Pepper and Smith were tiring. Secondly, so were the Wycomb defense. So I replaced Smith with Loveridge. Here was an opportunity for Loverboy and his speed and his dribbling ability to shine. I replaced Pepper with Tomlinson. Tomlinson would provide some energy and tackling in the middle of the park.

Smith was furious and stomped right past me and over to the bench. I'm not going to tolerate that kind of behavior.

In the 76th minute, Mark Bloomfield (Wanderers central midfielder) blasted just high from 30 yards. We were holding them pretty well so far. Let's see how they do compared to Mansfield.

In the 79th as we moved the ball methodically up the field JUST like we'd talked about, Pell was fouled.

As I screamed at the ref, they broke. The ref actually looked over at me and pointed. I guess that was my warning.

Hazell let their replacement striker Matt McClure dribble all the way to the penalty box them let him shoot.

1-1


WTF, Haz?

My palm met my face. This was Yellow Submarine defending.

The question now was would we collapse. Gregory was tiring so I had him switch with Tomlinson who had plenty of energy to spend protecting the back four.

McCoy tried to break down the Wycombe right, but Arthur fouled him in the 90th minute rather than let him past. Dunn and Frampton were screaming at their teammates to get organized for the upcoming free kick.

We were well organized and the free kick sailed high over the crossbar.

We'd played well, but one moment of indecisive defending from Hazell and we gave up two points.

View attachment 419087On the way down the tunnel, I made sure to walk next to Smith.

"Great play today," I said. "Nice shot on that goal."

"Thanks, Don Pucci," he said.

"You know we're going to have to talk about your reaction, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"No worries, that's for tomorrow, great game," I said.

I told the players that I thought the performance was good.

"This early in the season it's about making sure we're generally doing things right," I said. "We'll fine tune things as the season progresses. Little details are what's critical and we only made a few errors. This is a very positive sign."

I saw a lot of heads nodding in agreement. Apparently, my post-match talk had gone over well.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 419086Enrico Pucci @enricopucci - 40 mins ago
I hope nobody gets alarmed about Michael Smith's anger at getting
subbed. Passion is alway good. He & I are good. #Wimbledon
 
"I could get used to not having my shadow around," Gwen said late Saturday night when we'd walked to a quieter part of the club to rest from some over exuberant dancing.

"I haven't seen him either," I said. "Cheers."

"To no more stalker boy," she toasted. We polished off our drinks.

"John wants to renegotiate his reward," I said. "By the way."

"Well it would all depend upon what kind of rewards he wants."

"He wants a photo shoot with you and two friends."

"What kind of photo shoot?" she over enunciated while raising a manicured eyebrow and gratuitously adjusting her bra.

I started giggling then couldn't stop.

"What kind?" she demanded.

"Not that [snort] kind, Lord Almighty," I finally replied. "You know ... one with ... you know ... clothes ... on."

"What? Like he's serious?"

"He's got a vast collection of cameras."

"Don't see why not then."
 
Sunday, August 10, 2014 just minutes past noon.

"Alright, what we got going?" I asked.

"Well, I've got the specialist's analysis of that Jack Redshaw's knee tendonitis," Physio Jon Whitney said. "Should be cleared up inside three weeks. His last club kept giving him shots, told him to get on with it. He's had 'em scoped. The specialist suggested acupuncture."

"His fitness is crocked," Dave Wilson, the fitness coach, added. "It would be a bit before he'd be available."

"Define a bit?" I asked.

"Second week of September," Dave said after looking at his phone's calendar for a moment.

"So no long-term worries?" I asked. "No red flags why we shouldn't sign him?"

"He should be fine," Whitney replied. "He's only had one other injury six seasons as a pro."

"Thanks for following through on this, I appreciate it," I said.

"Right, um, Johnson, Simon Johnson should be ready to train Wednesday," Whitney continued. "Might be able to give a few minutes Saturday off the bench. Same for Daniel Lincoln though he may not be all that ready for Saturday."

"And you won't see Drissa Dabre, I told him to stay home with his cold," he concluded.

"Thanks," we chorused. There's nothing like a bug racing through a squad to really screw things up.

"I placed Michael Woods on the loan list," I said. "He's not in my plans, why not loan him out. If we get Redshaw, I'll do the same with Jack Midson."

"So you all know I've scheduled a friendly for Wednesday," I said. "A chance to get our offense firing on all cylinders. We are away at Morecambe this Saturday could use some offense, right?"

"I spoke briefly with Smith after he stormed off the field," I said. "We'll talk more today. Lil?"

"Right," Lil Fuccillo, Chief Scout said. "Morecambe are bottom after shipping 6 in 2 matches."

"It's hard to pinpoint their weaknesses and they were absolute rubbish yesterday," he continued. "Their defense is slow. The only decent player appears to be their right back, Andy Parrish. Their midfield isn't playing together. Their wingers are slow. The play a lone striker who gets no service."

"Their morale is low and they gave up early goals in both their league matches," he added. "They were taken apart by Middlesborough, but that's to be expected. We need to hit them hard early. The match is still two days away and they are on the ropes already."

"Thanks, Lil," I said. "Who else has stuff?"

"What about our central defense pairing?" Sean asked. "Haz had a bad match. What about putting Baldwin in?"

"He looked hopeless against Wolves," Rachubka said. "I'm not sure his confidence is very good right now."

"I want to give Baldwin time in our midweek friendly," I said. "Let's see how he does."

"And then there's Pepper in the middle," Sean added. "Hasn't been running the midfield, I think we all agree."

"Part of it is his lousy footwork," Wilson interjected. "It's pretty apparent nobody's worked with him on it. He'll get quicker, I just need time."

"Here's the deal with the middle," I said. "I want to try Pell out as the pivot in the first half on Wednesday. He's shown flashes, let's see what he does. I am going to try Danny Barlaser in the second half. I think eventually he'll make a great pivot. He's got potential, let's see how they do on Wednesday."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think we should start training Pell on switching fields more," Matt Woolley said.

"You go," I replied. "Sounds good." I waited for anything else. "That's it? Well they'll be here soon. Let's get ready. Agenda for today is watch the video then 20 minutes of stretching. Then 30 minute jog followed by tactics work. Clear?"

Everyone was on board.
 
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