AFC Wimbledon – Npower Championship & FA Cup January 2014/2015

Welcome to my AFC Wimbledon blog and in this post we will see how January went in the Npower Championship for my side.

This post will contain the following:

• Fixtures
• Results
• Review of results
• League Table
• Player Ratings
• Other

Fixtures

This month we will be playing six games, three will be at home and three will be away. The first match is against Leeds Unite at home in the FA Cup 3rd round who are experiencing a decent season but I think I can win this. The second game is away in the league to Preston North End, they are having a poor season so I think I can win. The third game of the month is away to Crystal Palace who are having a good season so I think we will lose. The fourth match of the month is at home to Middlesbrough which I think we will draw. The penultimate match of the month comes at home to Swansea City who are doing very well so I think we will lose. The final match of the month comes away to Wigan Athletic who are mid-table but are looking strong so I think we will lose.

Predicted Results – W  W L D  L  L

Results

AFC Wimbledon Vs Leeds United – Match Postponed – Rearranged For Tuesday 6th January & Preston North End Vs AFC Wimbledon Rearranged For Wednesday 21st January.

A match in which I wanted a win turned out to be harder than I wanted but we got it non the less. Leeds United’s first goal came within 12 minutes as a nice passing move was finished off from close range. This was then made to be 2-0 when a ball was played through and was lobbed in. I decided to change tactics and we got a goal in added time of the 45th minute as Grondin played in Ivan Klasnic the new signing and finished off. We made it 2-2 in the 56th minute as Lansbury played the ball in and the keeper fumbled for Shaken to finish off. We got the winner in the 71st minute as Shaken took the corner and Manucho headed in. This was a brilliant ending to the match and it meant we go through to the next round to play Blackburn Rovers.

A brilliant victory against Crystal Palace although we did not play as well as the score line suggests but with 3 shots on target we scored 3. The first goal came in the 10th minute as Lansbury passed to Klasnic and he finished off. We doubled it as Shaken ran with the ball and then passed into Manucho. We made it better as in the 61st minute Lansbury passed the ball into Manucho who finished off into the net. A great result for us and if this continues we may finish in a play-off spot but for now I am happy enough.

A 1-1 draw was not what I wanted but maybe that is me wanting to much so I am happy enough with this draw. It took 10 minutes to get the first goal as Sammon played it into Manucho who lobbed it over the keeper. We could not hold on though as they scored on the 45th minute. Overall I will take this because Middlesbrough had the most part of the game so it is a good draw.

It is disappointing that we finally lost but the match was poor for us and Swansea City deserved there 1-0 victory. It was close in the score line but come 85 minutes they scored from a simple finish. We need to improve against teams above us to have any chance of getting in the play-offs. Overall a poor result and hopefully we can respond in a positive manner.

This is a disappointing result as we should really be playing much better against Preston North End but at least we took a point out of the game. We took the lead in the 28th minute as Woods played through Schaken who slotted away. It was made 1-1 in the 60th minute as a long ball over was finished off. This  was disappointing to say the least but we must move on and look to improve from our previous three results.

This is probably the luckiest win of the season following so many chances for Wigan Athletic we came out of it with a win showing we can take our chances. The first goal came in the 5th minute as Roberts crossed in for Bodde to slide in for the goal. From then Wigan Athletic had so many chances and missed them that until the 71st minute when the ball was tapped into the net. We though responded to that Lansbury played a pin point pass to Sammon to thump into the net. The final score was 2-1 which was lucky but sometimes you need luck on your side and we got it to get our first win in four.

I was happy enough with this 2-2 draw which will take us to a replay by to my place. They took the lead as a cross was headed in. We though got straight back into it grabbing an equaliser on the 26th minute as a Lansbury corner was tapped in by Michael Woods. We took the lead before half time as Lansbury played across to Manucho who powered in. They made it 2-2 though as Kennedy made a mistake allowing there player to tap in. This was a good results as Blackburn Rovers should really have added more but still I will take this and hope we perform better in our home match.

Review Of Results

We played alright in what was always going to be a tough month. We made our way into the 4th round and remain in with a chance to get to the 5th and gained 8 points from a possible 15 so that is decent collecting a loss on the way. We didn’t play as well as previous months but still gained some good results which was good to see.

Npower Championship League Table

As it stands our League position is 7th and that is outstanding to say the target was to avoid relegation. We shouldn’t need to worry about relegation fight anymore as we are on 47 points. It may be to soon to say but we could be in with a chance with play-off battle but I would be happy with mid-table to be honest.

Player Ratings

The ratings are not something I really concentrate on this season but here they are. Lansbury had an outstanding month and Klasnic coming in seems to have got some goals. Manucho has also done well and the surprising Schaken has done well getting the most assists.

Other

The board some more wage budget which I spend to get Ivan Klasnic for 6 months, Greek midfielder Alexandros Tziolis also came in and then I got Joe Slattery in on a free so he is going to be a back-up player.

That is it for this post now, following a decent month we find ourselves still in with a chance to get to the 5th round of the FA Cup going into February. My next post will be on the month of February 2015.

Thanks for reading.

Tim.