Timbo

Welcome back to my AFC Wimbledon blog. In my last post we went through a thrilling two legs in the Playoff Semi Final against Leicester City eventually meaning we would make our way to the Wembley final against Swindon Town. If you missed that post click on the link below:

AFC Wimbledon – League One Playoff Semi Final 2014

Vs. Swindon Town (League One Playoff Final)

The Odds

The bookies have us down for losing this game as Swindon Town are the favourites. This will be a tough game and I can full understand why the bookies would think Swindon Town have the edge.

The media also have Swindon Town down as favourites again so we seem to be no ones favourites although the media think we will give it a good go.

The Starting Line-ups

The starting line-ups, my AFC Wimbledon side are in the blue and the Swindon Town side are in the red. I decided to play a 4-3-3 formation which is a risk because it does leave us open on the wings. I have made sure though that we play with a Wide width to use the space available. I have also decided to bring back in Djilali who has came back from an injury so may not last the whole match.

The Result

WE HAVE DONE IT!!! AFC Wimbledon are promoted to the Npower Championship which is a massive surprise. It was on penalties but I am still ecstatic. We did not dominate possession in fact Swindon Town had the main bulk of it but we made it even with our brilliant defending. We created chances yet we could not really get any on target but we did take the lead as Julius Wille put Aluko in on goal and he finished off. It was a great moment 20 minutes in to the final but it did not last long at all as Doherty lost the ball they crossed it in only for Tommy Spurr to be there and he had the fate of scoring the own goal. It was close all the way though. I was happy to go to penalties though but a minute before the end of extra time I thought we had lost it as a cross was put in by them and the shot got diverted on target but some how Alnwick the goalkeeper made a brilliant impact save which saved us from losing. We got it to penalties and managed to outscore them as they missed there last two to hand us the victory, a brilliant moment for the team.

The Reaction

The obvious popped up in the Inbox as it was confirmed we had been promoted the the Npower Championship!!

The fans were left delighted after this victory and promotion. It was good to get some praise from the fans after a tough season.

The board were delighted at our promotion stating it as an ‘Unbelievable’ promotion which I have to agree with as I did not expect promotion this season. I once again am glad they are glad with the job done so far.

A fans favourite getting himself involved, it was Lawrie Sanchez who was ecstatic with the promotion. Once again I am glad he noticed the job done with the resources made available.

The goalkeeper Ben Alnwick who I want to praise went and praised me for the promotion. It is great but we have to remember that the whole team deserve the most praise.

A record high and I can understand considering this is our second season in the league. And to be promoted to the Npower Championship considering the club was formed in 2002 is incredible. The club is growing and it seem fast.

That is it for this post after unbelievable scenes. My next post will be a season round-up looking back at key moments and reviewing the team and my own performance as well as a comparison. Then we will move on to the pre-season report.

What do you think of the promotion? Did we deserve it in all or not? How do you think we will fare in the Npower Championship?

Thanks for reading.

Tim.

Welcome back to my AFC Wimbledon blog. In my last post we confirmed our place in the play-offs in the last two months and we will play against Leicester City, if you missed that click the link below:

AFC Wimbledon – April & May 2014

So we now will go through the Play-off Semi Final both legs against Leicester City:

Vs Leicester City (Play-off Semi Final Leg 1)

I certainly thought this would be the kind of thought. Leicester City are the favourites of course with them been at home that impacts it. This will be a massive challenge for my side but I hope we can just be still with a chance in the next leg.

I have decided to go into this game looking defensive. I decided to match them up playing a 442 formation but I have made sure my 2 midfielders are pushed back in a defensive midfield role. This will either impact us negatively or will close up space behind us and help us catch Leicester City on the break.

I am happy with this 1-1 draw as we are still in it. Leicester City of course had all the possession but we took a really early lead when we were in the game the most. The first goal came from a comedy of mistakes after there keeper just lost concentration and got tackled leaving Mitrovic to finish off. We just could not hold on though despite a decent performance from our defence in the 85th minute after a low cross was finished off. I was disappointed that we could not hold on but 1-1 is brilliant because it means we have a great chance at home.

Vs Leicester City (Play-off Semi Final Leg 2)

This is once again not a surprise as Leicester City are the favourites. We have to guide away from this and shock the media by winning. If we can not do that then we will no longer be in with a chance into getting to the Npower Championship.

I have decided to start with a 433 formation. This is because we struggled playing with the 442 in the previous game resulting in me changing to 433 formation in the middle of that game. I will start with 433 in order to attack them although Leicester City may threaten wide with the 442 formation.

We have made it to the FINAL!!! This match was always going to be tough but the pressure was released when we opened the scoring in the 1st minute. It was a big surprise that we managed to take 4 chances to there 2. The first goal came in the 1st minute as Mitrovic passed the ball through the centre and Aluko got on the end of it who just slotted in. In the 28th minute we made it 2-0 which was brilliant as Aluko managed to get past a defender and slotted past the keeper once more. They got back in it though as the ball deflected back off one of our player and slotted in to make it 2-1. In no time though it was 2-2 this before half time as our winger failed to track back and they slotted off to make it 2-2 and that left me slightly unhappy. It took the team talk of the season as I told them that they had played well, this seemed to spur them on into the second half. It was early in the second half as McVey found a pass into Mitrovic who managed to power in his effort to make it 3-2. The stadium just erupted after that goal and then in the 65th minute we regained our 2 goal lead. It was Aluko who took a quick and short free kick into defender Balkestein and there defence did not react and Balkestein powered in to make it 4-2. We kept cool and managed to play out the game and made it. We have made it past the toughest challenge of our season now it is all about dealing with the final pressure.

 

Play-off Semi Final – Other Tie

The thoughts turned to the second leg with Swindon Town Vs. Bradford City. I knew it was going to be tough for Bradford City after a first leg defeat shown below:

As you can see the first leg ended in defeat for Bradford City. I would like to have Bradford City in the final as I believe they would be an easier side then Swindon Town but it is going to be tough for them to overcome Swindon Town away. The result of the second leg is shown below:

So as you can see we will face Swindon Town at Wembley in the Final after they drew 0-0 with Bradford City. It was a close game but in the end Swindon Town looked comfortable all the way.

The obvious message came up that we will play Swindon Town at Wembley in the Npower League One Playoff Final. It will be tough but we have to keep together and overcome a massive hurdle.

That is it for this post…my next post will be about the Playoff final against Swindon Town.

What do you think of the result? Did you expect it or were you surprised? What is your prediction for the result against Swindon Town? 

Thanks for reading.

Tim.

Welcome back to my AFC Wimbledon blog. In the last post we had a decent month although seemed to struggle to string good performances together, if you missed that click the link below:

AFC Wimbledon – March 2014

I have decided to put in the another month to this post just to show the last game of the season which comes in May. It could be a deciding factor if we end in the play-off places.

This post will cover the following from the months April & May 2014:

• The Fixtures + Prediction
• The Results with match analysis from each game
• Round-up on April & May
• The League One Table
• The Player Ratings

 

The Fixtures

The last two months of the season contain seven games with all of them been in League One. We play four at home and three away. The below list states what I believe will happen in these games:

• Vs. Walsall – The first game of the month comes at home against a struggling Walsall. They are just stood outside the relegation zone and will be needing this win but I hope we can win.
• Vs. Northampton Town – The second game of the month comes at home against a struggling Northampton side. They are once again are stood only just outside the relegation zone so will be needing the win but I feel we can win this game.
• Vs. Huddersfield Town – The third game of the month comes away to mid-table Huddersfield Town. They are not really playing for anything anymore but we can never do well against them making me think we will lose.
• Vs. Yeovil Town – The fourth game of the month comes away to already relegated Yeovil Town. They are just playing for respect now so we should be winning this game.
• Vs. Wycombe Wanderers – The fifth game of the month comes at home against play-off contenders Wycombe Wanderers. They will really be determined to get up there so it will be even so I think this could be a draw.
• Vs. Swindon Town – The sixth game of the month comes against another play-off contender them been Swindon Town. It will be tough and I don’t see us doing anything special making me think we could lose.
• Vs. Millwall – The last game of the month and season comes against relegation candidates Millwall. They may really need that win comes this game so it could be tough making me think this could be a draw.

 

The Results

The first game of the month was a game in hand and we managed to win 3-0 against Walsall quite comfortably in the end. I was worried we may not get the win because we were missing far to many clear cut chances. Mitrovic though slotted in the first goal in the first half, while it was 1-0 we just could not rest and I worried but James Spray got onto a long ball and got past the keeper and scored and then McVey scored from a cross heading it in to give us the 3-0 victory. A very good win which helped for morale which will hopefully keep our way to finishing in the play-offs.

The second game of the month and I was pretty confident again and we claimed a win again. It did take time to get the winning goal but it came after many opportunities for both us and also the away side Aluko managed to score from the edge of the area in 83rd minute. It was late but it was great and that was the winning goal, this is an important period for us because we keep on winning now at the right period giving us a great opportunity of a play-off place.

The third game came against a tricky Huddersfield Town side as we went in search of another victory, it wasn’t to be one but we did get a draw which I was extremely happy with considering we seem to struggle against them. They dominated the game but we had a slight stint in the middle which was vital to the draw. Huddersfield Town took the lead on the 45th minute after a cross took the slightest touch and it went into the net. We knew we had to improve and we did in the second half as Dominic Kennedy headed in from Tommy Spurr corner kick. We then took the lead 6 minutes later as Watt was played through and slotted away with ease. We looked like we were on the way to a victory but they slotted away after finding space in the box to make it 2-2. That was the final score which I was happy with considering there clear cut chances were 5. It was good to hold out for the draw as we look to consolidate our place in 4th spot.

The fourth game of the month against already relegated Yeovil Town and we got a loss at the wrong time. We just looked all tired and this shock loss has came at the wrong moment. I think I came into this game to confident but in all fairness we took the lead through loanee Bunjaku, that lead lasted so long that I began to lose patience with the team. I was looking for my team to collect more and we just allowed them to attack us far to much. I changed tactics and that is where we went wrong as we backed off them and allowed them to cross the ball in and finish off. It was a horrible five minutes for us as they did the same and took the lead. We just could not get back into the game and pretty much finishes us off for a chance of automatic promotion.

The fifth game of the month was going to be tough but we came out on top with two pretty good finishes. It was a shaky start for us as we could not get going really but we grew into the game and managed to take the lead as a deflection got the ball in space in the box and Kyle McVey thrashed the ball into the back of the net. It took its time for the next goal but I was patient and it paid off as a free-kick found Jim McNulty at the back post to hit it into the back of the net. The final score was 2-0 and that was great for us with two games of the season left. This game meant also that we confirmed our place in the Play-off positions.

I came into this game with hope that we could win but unfortunately we never really got going and Swindon Town managed to collect the win. In the first half we got off the hook several time considering the chances they had but in the second half they came out and converted the two chances they had. It isn’t nice to lose this as I need morale to stay up but there is one more game left of the season before the play-offs so we can look to gain our confidence back from that.

The final match of the actual season and we did not win it, we wasted a few chances and really should have came out with a win but Millwall had there chances because they were fighting relegation. They though got relegated because of this draw and we also had the worse case scenario for the final table as you will see in a little bit.

Round-up On April & May

Overall I think the two months went decent, still not good enough but it was enough to land us a play-off spot. The start of April gave us real hope and we were actually getting close to the automatic spot but the draw and loss in game 3 and 4 pretty much finished us off there but then in game 4 we had a real chance again but losing to Swindon Town meant we were out of it completely. Overall I am happy enough with how the months went.

The League One Table

The final table and as you can see we ended in 4th place and we were actually quite close to 2nd. I am happy with that position as pundits said we were on for a tough season. The bad scenario is that we play Leicester City in the play-offs. This is going to be really tough and it was something that was not flowing through my mind until the 85th minute of the Millwall game when I came to notice that Swindon Town had scored which changed the table. It will be tough but we must adapt and knowing that we drew with them on both occasions this season gives us hope.

Player Ratings

The player ratings are not as good as they were earlier in the season but I am happy that most of the ratings are above 6.80. I think these players can be enough but I am worried with our small squad. In the last month most of our loanees left because of there short term loans but we can come together and keep going. I am also happy with the morale although in all fairness it could be a lot better.

Main News

This Job approach came through just before the Yeovil Town match. It was nice to be offered it but I as you know rejected it because Millwall were down there and I could not leave AFC Wimbledon. It was right obviously because Millwall got relegated.

I thought I would just confirm that we play Leicester City in the Play-off semi final. This is going to be tough but if we can come together as a team and get out of the away side without too much damage I think we could do it.

That is it for this post…my next post will be on the Play-off semi final with full match analysis.

How do you think I have done this season? What is your prediction on how the Play-off semi-final match will finish? Can I reach the final?

Thanks for reading.

Tim.

Welcome back to my AFC Wimbledon blog. In my last post we experienced a strange month, it seemed poor but we only lost one. We seem to lack the fluid play we previously had, if you missed that post just click the link below:

AFC Wimbledon – February 2014

This post will cover the following from the month March 2014:

• The Fixtures + Prediction
• The Results with match analysis from each game
• Round-up on March
• The League One Table
• The Player Ratings

 

The Fixtures

This month is a full month with seven matches set to be played. This included our match at Wembley in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final. The below list states what I believe will happen in each match in the month:

• Vs. Plymouth Argyle – The first match of the month comes away from home in League One against a team that is looking to make there way in the play-offs. This will be tough but I think we can come out with a draw.
• Vs. Crawley Town – The second match of the month comes away again in League one against a team currently in the relegation places. I reckon we can win this match although will be tough against a team we seem to struggle against.
• Vs. Leicester City – The third match of the month comes at home against a team searching for a automatic spot. This is going to be tough and I reckon we may be very tired in this match so a loss is on the cards.
• Vs. AFC Bournemouth – The fourth match of the month comes away in League One against a team once again looking for a place in the play-offs. It will be tough but I do think we can draw this game.
• Vs. Preston North End – The fifth match of the month comes at home in League One against a team currently top of the league. I just am not that confident for this game and think we will lose.
• Vs. Shrewsbury Town – The sixth match of the month and our final League One game of the month comes against a team currently in the relegation places. I feel we can win this game.
• Vs. Chesterfield Town – The final match of the month and it would be nice to win this one as it is the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. It will be a tough match against the 2nd place team so in my eyes I think this game is ending a draws sending us to penalties.

 

Prediction for March – D  W  L  D  L  W  D (P)

The Results

The first match of the month was a real disappointment as it is finally beginning to make me stop believing because we just don’t look like we looked a few months ago. The first half of the match was a real improvement as we dominated play yet we just could not finish off and in the second half we just did not look right at all. In the 57th minute we went and conceded and really the momentum was gone and we could not get going again although before they scored the 2nd Watt hit the post leaving me more than unhappy. The game ended 2-0 and I was really angry but did not say so to avoid any possible moral drop so I just said we were unlucky which in fairness we seemed it.

It took us a good time to get the winner but we got it and once again the performance was just not like it use to be but oh well we got a win for once against Crawley Town. The first goal came through Afobe as he finished off from a Spurr cross in. They levelled just before half time as we were not marking up good enough and Barnett headed in the back of the net for 1-1 at half time. We were back ahead though in the 46th minute as Vellios scored from the edge of the area although the goalkeeping was poor. They levelled though 22 minutes from time as our defence opened up from one pass and Ansah finished off. We went on the hunt for a winner though and 2 minutes from time a free-kick was put in from Spurr and Kennedy then headed in. That made it 3-2 to us and that was the win for us. I am happy but still we don’t look like our old selves.

The third match of the month saw us face the tough task of Leicester City. We did not play good enough yet we managed to grind out a draw but we struggled towards it. The first goal was for Leicester City as they scored in the 13th minute as Gallagher rose and headed in. We had to look to respond but really we never managed to as they kept putting pressure on us. We managed to head in on the 62nd minute after Spurr put a free-kick in and Kennedy headed in exactly the same combo as last match. A good draw overall which I am happy with so we just need to look at getting more in the game before I am happier with our players.

The fourth match of the month and we gained a decent win. It was a close and quite a boring game but we got the only goal of the game as Dominic Kennedy again headed in from a free-kick this time though from Callum Kennedy. It is good to see that someone is scoring but we need our attackers scoring some more for us but overall I am happy that we won. We still need to look at improving performances but I am pleased that we won.

The fifth match of the month and it was not the best match ever and the result was poor as we went on and lost 1-0 late on but in all fairness we were not good enough and fully deserved to lose it. If we are to have any chance of finishing in the play-offs our attack needs to start showing some grit and determination. We have no chance at all without the attack showing what they are meant to be showing!!

The penultimate match of the month and we managed to get a 2-0 victory which I was very happy with. The first goal of the game came in the 2nd half as the ball looped up on the edge of the area and McVey headed in. Then we had an advantage as they got a player sent off for a second yellow card. We though finished the game off as striker Afobe scored from the penalty spot to send the away fans home happy. It was good to get the win in this even game and now we will hopefully keep going on.

We managed to get a win on penalties just as I predicted as we have done many times in the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. I was delighted for my team as we went ahead through a long shot from Aluko but in the last minute they got a penalty and scored. We went through extra time and no real chance for both teams but in the penalties we managed to get a great penalty win. The fans and board were delighted with the win but we need to remain grounded and concentrate on the league now.

Round-up On March

I am happy with this month and remain content with the team. It is just when we win it seems to feel like we are losing because of the way we perform now a days. It will be interesting to see if we can keep on going from the win in the final. I hope we can get more wins but in order to do that we must get attackers that will do well for us but at this stage in the season I think we will be down to bare bones for that and that is what I shall pay for following the mass amount of loanees that came in.

The League One Table

As you can see we have a casualty in the league with Yeovil Town already relegated and Preston North End have confirmed there place in the play-offs. We must keep on going as you will notice we are in 5th position with a game in hand over 4th. I am happy enough with this as once again I must remind you my soul intentions were just have an improved positions from last season so very happy I am.

The Player Ratings

The player ratings in my eyes are descending which I am just so unhappy about because they were really on a good role but performances of late have deserved the drop. I need to keep morale high though in order for us to stay in with a chance to progress a lot this season. I hope we can keep going and push on in these last month for improved performances.

Main News

The takeover is finally done, like I said nothing special was ever going to happen although I would have liked a massive investment but it was never going to happen. Anyway lets hope he can bring something better in the club.

That is now it for this post. A much better month for us and hopefully we can keep pushing on.

What are your thoughts on the month? Where do you think we can finish? Also do you have any advice on what I can do for improving performances?

Thanks for reading.

Tim.

Welcome back to my AFC Wimbledon blog. In my last post we started January well but in the last few games the performances dropped and results were poor. If you missed that click the link below:

AFC Wimbledon – January 2014

This post will cover the following from the month February 2014:

• The Fixtures + Prediction
• The Results with match analysis from each game
• Round-up on February
• The League One Table
• The Player Ratings

The Fixtures

In this month we have six games, five games in league one and one game in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Section Final Leg 2. The below list states what I believe will happen in each game of the month:

• Vs. Carlisle United – They are in the bottom half of the league and have an average home record. I think with morale not at is best we could scrape a draw.
• Vs. Colchester United – They are currently on course for a top half finish and retain a decent away record. I think this game could go out to be a draw.
• Vs. Swindon Town – We managed to draw 0-0 in the first leg having kept it tight at the back and they are also having a season like ours been in the play-offs. It will be tough but I think we can scrap a win.
• Vs. Bradford City – They are currently on course for a top half finish and they have a good home record. I think we may have a bit of fatigue from the Swindon Town game, so I think we could lose this game.
• Vs. Rochdale – They are currently just a place above the relegation zone although they have a pretty good away record. I think though we can win this game.
• Vs. Exeter City – They are currently on course for a top half finish and have a good away record. I think this could be a draw.

Prediction for December –  D  D W L W D

The Results

The first game of the month started with a bit of a wimper for us as we played poor throughout and got a loss we deserved. It should have been more really but thanks to there poor finishing we kept the score-line down. Ben Alnwick scored an own goal and it is one of the most ridiculous goals I have seen as it should have easily been kept out. We got a penalty though and managed to get the goal back through Aluko. In the second half though they dominated and managed to get the winner through a header. We had one chance at the end but instead of passing Spray shot from a stupid angle, a disappointing way to start the month and to make it worse Djilali got injured and will be out for 5 months.

In the second game of the month we managed to hold on to a 0-0 draw. The play was still not good enough but I am happy that we managed to get a point out of what was a tough match. We still need to be looking to improve though and we will finally get a win but this now pulls it to 5 without a win. I am sure we will eventually get there but we just are not competing as well as we were earlier in the season.

The JPT match was a very poor spectacle as we scraped through to the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy after winning on penalties. We still remain to look very poor and will need to up our performances to get anything out of the matches from now on. In no way or form am I happy though because we need to be performing much better and getting more goals. I do not have a clue why the team are playing poorly but I will be reviewing the way we play at the end of the month and see if any improvements are made.

This has to be the most important match of the month as our month has not looked good but we got a much needed win and hopefully confidence will be beginning to go back up now after this win. It took us through to the 55th minute until we scored as loanee Marc Pelosi scored  from a header. We still did not look good  enough but the win is important away from home so I hope that we can get going this month and get a run going.

The second to last game of the month against Rochdale and personally I feel let down by my team that we could not win this. Once again we did not look as good as we have been despite going in front through a Watt penalty. They though went onto go ahead as poor defending let them in twice to score to make it 2-1. We equalised quickly though as loanee Huertas scored a good goal. It was a tense finish but we held onto a 2-2 draw. This for me is still not good enough and once the month ends it gives me time to analyse what is going wrong.

The final game of the month saw us finish on a 0-0 draw and it seems we just can not get going right now. It was a pretty even game with us edging the game but what made me unhappy was finishing was so poor as we only got 2 shots on target out of 9. We were just not good enough in this game and it seems that the end of the month is coming at the right time.

Round-up on February

This month turned out to be a poor month in my eyes. We really should be performing better but from looking I can start by saying we are struggling to score in the games showing we are lacking the fire power. The home form has not been good enough and can do with improving. I will look at implementing some new tactics in the team to try and get us back on track. As you will notice we played Soccer AM just to get morale up and since then in all fairness we did not loose a game but I was a little unhappy that we managed to concede 2 against them, we need to look at tightening up.

The League One Table

We somehow remain 4th in the league following in my eyes an unsatisfactory month. In all fairness the position is still good and finishing play-offs is now the main priority after coming to terms that automatic may be a step too far. We are 10 points away from 2nd now so it would take a very good run for us to catch them. Overall though I am delighted at our position.

The Player Ratings

In all fairness the player ratings are going down and I can understand why because of the poor form but we have to look to improve that. We also have to improve moral and as you will notice Pim Balkestein is Abysmal and you may wonder why and I can give you the reason because he was injured for 8 weeks meaning he will be out of the final at Wembley.

Main News

Well this was added in as a final bit of news because this popped up in the inbox. We are in take over talks, I doubt it will be a massive difference but it will be interesting to see what the new board will do.

This is it for this post and after a poor month we will be looking at improving the form in the next month.

Thanks for reading. Tim.