Wimbledon season recap 2021-22 part 2. The emergence of Jack Rudoni.

At the start of the season, all the AFC talk was about the new signings, I guess it always is with most clubs after the Summer. Luke McCormick came in and it was instantly obvious that he's a good player, ditto George Marsh. Henry Lawrence lit the place up for a month or two, Aaron Pressley showed fleeting glimpses of potential, while our own Ayoub Assal snarled his way to an England under 21 training session call up.

Back then, few would have noticed the awkward, leggy, flop haired teenager mooching around at left midfield. You'd certainly never have heard Jack Rudoni bellowing at his teammates, or rowing with the ref. He's always had that "such a nice lad" look about him, the kind of young bloke you'd be happy with if your daughter brought home from the school disco. Equally, he perenially has that not too sure about himself gait, like an apprentice who's been sent down the shop to get some stripey paint but kind of twigs it's a wind-up. 

As the season progressed though, young Jack grew both metaphorically and literally (if my eyes don't deceive me). He began to get more sure of himself as time went on, demanding the ball more. In his passing too he began to get more ambitious, he started to hold the ball a fraction of a second longer, to wait for the moment.

It was in his arrivals into the penalty area though that he really started to shine. The goals came at regular intervals, and equally encouragingly there were plenty of missed chances too. It showed Jack was learning, sussing out that moment to get there like a wardrobe falling down the stairs. Sure, inexperience led to snatched shots pulled wide or blazed over, but as the season progressed it was rare in a match for young Jack to not either have at least one chance to score or to set one up for someone else. And all the while the Duracell workrate continued, the tackling, along with the racking up of the stats.

Jack ended the season with 12 league goals, including no penalties or set pieces. He scores all types, shots off both sides, tap ins, arrivals. He's good in the air and scored a few in that way too. He finished up miles clear of all the under 21's in the league for goals scored, and not forgetting (though it pains me to say it) Wimbledon weren't the best team in the league. Five assists was right up there, along with seventy tackles won putting him third in the league. Paddy May at Fleetwood is a good player, but such was the rate Jack was improving at the end that his non inclusion in the League One young player of the year shortlist felt like a travesty of justice.

He'll will be off this Summer, he's not signing a new contract and it would be a crime for him to go down to league two. Whoever gets him is getting in my opinion by miles the best young first team player outside the Championship. He'll end up being a goal-scoring box to box central midfielder, all action, and he is already in my opinion AT LEAST good enough for the Championship.

Infact so much has he improved, even in the last three months, he could well play at the very top level before long. Buyers should form an orderly queue, for a player who won the Wimbledon young player of the year, the Wimbledon fans player of the year, and the Wimbledon player of the year.

Jack Rudoni, worth an absolute fortune before too long, and a small fortune now.