Match report (Written by Milly Dore) AFC Wimbledon v Colchester United.

Before the game, I did a 12-6 shift in the pub. As the day went by, the amount of Wimbledon and Colchester fans gradually increased, to the point where every pint was served with a side of conversation about the upcoming game. The overall mood among Wimbledon fans was unanimous: what previously wasn’t a very high profile game on our radar, suddenly became a (completely self inflicted) rather big deal. After the dire, lacklustre, and last season esque performance on Boxing Day, JJ and his boys needed to put a statement out to the world that this was not going to be a regular occurrence, and that we still were raring to go and push for the play offs. And I must say that they bloody did. After my shift I strolled down to Plough Lane, got a sausage roll from MyPie, utterly delicious as per, and I thought if this was foreshadowing for the game ahead we should be okay. 

Then the football began and unlike us we began with a bit of gusto and came out all guns blazing. Josh scored a lovely goal in the fourth minute and everything seemed to be going swimmingly. That was until Colchester’s Joe Taylor found the back of the net. Joe Taylor was a classic example of a player you’d love if he played for you but hate if he plays against you. He is Colchester’s Harry Pell. He was cocky, horrible, and winding everyone up: I was very impressed by him. For the rest of the half we seemed to take our foot off the gas and let Colchester score again, only being saved by the heroic Joe Lewis who scored from a header in the dying moments before half time.

Whatever Johnnie said to the lads in the dressing room it worked, as in the second half we absolutely bossed everything and everyone. It was some lovely football. The result (minus their third goal) was very fair and reflective of the events that took place, it was exactly what we needed. For me the MOTM title is shared between Josh Davison and Joe Lewis. Josh had imo his best game in a Wimbledon shirt. The first touch for his second goal was textbook perfect, and to score from that tight angle well and truly sealed the deal that despite what some people may have to say, he is an important and valuable player within our squad. Joe Lewis was just consistently on his A game tonight, it was very comforting to see him back in the squad where he should be; long may that continue. 

We all know that despite peoples best efforts, the atmosphere at PL can be slightly lacklustre at times, however though on this cold Friday evening, where we were sitting it was actually quite good. Well done to those in the South Stand for getting everyone else involved; it worked! Despite the obvious dislike for their manager the Colchester fans were also on good form which only added to the excitement. Their man getting sent off was slightly unlucky, but that was the final confirmation that the Colchester boys would be returning home empty handed, while the three points were safely tucked away in Wimbledon. 

We are now approaching arguably the most stressful and unsettling period of the season for any football fan, but especially those of the lower leagues: the January transfer window (dun dun dun). For the likes of Colchester and Sutton, I am sure they are excited to rebuild and hopefully improve their squad. However though, when you have a successful squad that you love, as we do at Wimbledon, the window comes with lots of nervously checking your phone, and having your heart skip a beat every time you see AFC Wimbledon have posted on Twitter. Let us all pray that Stockport don’t come traipsing back to us to snatch back their players and that all of the clubs sniffing around our beloved Ali Al-Hamadi do in fact decide to wait until summer. 

Overall what a night under the lights, and what a way to finish off what has been an emotional rollercoaster of a calendar year for us AFC Wimbledon fans. COYD!

The mentality of Bouncebackability

What's better when you're feeling nauseous after too many Jaegerbombs? Is it to lie down, feeling like death and wishing you could die? Or do you prefer the quick, strategic puke to get it out of your system? I'm very much in the second group, let's get it over with has always been my thinking.

As we know from the Lassoesque proclamations of Danny Rojas, "Football is life", and so it is here. There was no lying on the couch groaning by us on boxing day, there was a queue for the carsey as everyone decided to be shite on the same day. All is good, it's out of system.

It's better that way. Much better if we can have a co-ordinated, collective brain fart rather than taking it in turns over an extended period. That leads to bad runs, another carsey metaphor. No, being shite all on the same day is healthy. I wouldn't worry too much about the "Comms" on this occasion either. Obviously Alex Bass, Huss Biler and Jack Currie didn't read the "Let's all be absolutely rubbish on the same day" memo, but not to worry. Next time let's Tick-Tock it out, Snap talk it or something, the kids love that.

So anyway, by now we've all spoken into the big white porcelain telephone and "got it over with", let's re-assess. Forget what you saw the other day, Jake Reeves is still a brilliant player.  He'll boss the game tonight, and whether it's our ratter alongside him or the box to box eightishness of James Ball, we'll win the midfield. Scrub Sutton from your memory, Josh Neufville HAS played football before, and James Tilley DOES run around a lot. Omar Bugiel DOES win headers, and Ali (who is STILL the best player in the league by miles) WILL score. Ryan Johnson (who in fairness only half heartedly joined in with the "let's play shite" narrative) will have his buddy back alongside him. He and Joe Lewis will not only stop THEM from scoring, I've a hunch one of our centre halves will get on the scoresheet.

And our management team? Very handy that they got their bad day at the office out of the way against Sutton too. Once again though, in Johnnie Jackson, Skivvers, Rob Tuvey & Bayzo we ARE still talking about a group which has built this bunch of players into one of the top four best teams in the league. A management team that went to Stamford Bridge and scared the shit out of Mauricio Pocchetino & his billionaire players, went to Pompey and kicked THEIR arses, we're in good hands.

So I'm here to tell you that not only is there nothing to worry about, but performances like the abject display against Sutton can actually be healthy. Displays like that live long in the memory (or they do if the management are on it like ours are). They are referred back to from time to time, a low point which we never want to revisit. By now the lads will have watched the video, they'll be seething inside that on showpiece Plough Lane occasion with hundreds of first time supporters in, they played like THAT.

Well tonight is the night to put it right. A high energy, high tempo game (PLEASE no slowing it down) is what is needed, from minute one we need to be right at it. We've all puked into the toilets on the same day which is a good thing, now time to collectively get the Listerine out and give it a good swill.

I can't be there tonight, Milly has my ticket. I'm awaiting her match report/player ratings with interest (they're better than mine anyway as you know) but I'm less on edge about the result. We will absolutely batter these if we have the right mentality, and we have.

I'm not changing my prediction even 1% on the season BTW. We will finish AT LEAST in the top five. One shite performance doesn't alter the fact that we are a bloody good team with bloody good management.

COYD

My match report: AFC Wimbledon v Sutton United.

Sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve, that was the case at Plough Lane on Boxing day for both Sutton & AFC Wimbledon. The simple fact of the matter is we are severely flattered by a 1-0 defeat, neither team got their just desserts. Had it not been for Alex Bass's heroics, this could literally have given our neighbours an aggregate win "over two legs" after our 3-0 smashing of them in the early season.

So what went wrong? How DID we come third in a two horse race (we weren't good enough for second) and what could we have done different?

Well first things first. We have been excellently managed for quite a while now and the players have been brilliant. I haven't lost any belief after one game (and remember my "potential top three/playoff  certainties if we keep Ali" prediction) but if this is to be a blip rather than a bliiiiiiip, it's best we nail what went wrong and do it quick.

So let's start with the team selection. Nearly all observations here are WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. Pearcy had huge problems with Harry Smith, and obviously huge problems with anything in behind. Smith played probably the best he has all season in fairness and it's debatable whether a non match fit PK would have done much better. That said, having Alex Pearce in the back four at home does provide a bit of a handbrake to any forward momentum. The fact we hugely missed Joe Lewis was never going to be breaking news, but is it possible we could have mitigated by perhaps playing three midfielders central with James Ball as a 4?

Ball I think is long overdue a game (I mean REALLY overdue), while it's fair to say that bringing Tilley and Neufville into the team didn't work at all. It may have been more productive if we'd got going, but we didn't and it categorically wasn't. 

Our approach and body language was awful. We had the distinct look of a team who thought victory was inevitable, that it wouldn't matter overly if we lost a few early 50/50's. It always matters and it did here, we ended up being second to everything. Third sometimes, they had TWO blokes getting there before any of ours. They wanted it more. It hurts footballers when you say that, but I'm afraid it's true on this occasion.

And we reverted to slowing the game down at every opportunity. Quite why that was, when we are (in my opinion) always a better team when we play with high tempo is a mystery. Plus, I should think being a big, physical set-piece team they would like nothing better than the game to broken down into bite sized chunks. So why we'd slow it down is puzzling to me. Slow it down we did though, every throw in, free kick, goal kick and corner saw the captain imploring the taker to slow it down. Utterly baffling (as I say, to me anyway).

Against route one teams it's always been a given that you mustn't get drawn into playing their game. Like a boxer fighting a brawler, if it turns into a battle the brawler always wins and it was no surprise to discover that Sutton are far better at route one than we are. Unfortunately we got sucked into it and we got beaten up. Not many teams will beat Sutton at their own game.

But it IS only one game (thank God). Hopefully it's the proverbial kick up the arse that the players and the management will benefit from. No game in League Two is a given, we should have known that. We should have prepared better today, we should have been more at it. Equally though, we should have made our substitutions earlier, we ought to have recognized the fact that we were in the shite much earlier than we did. To me it was very obvious before the first half was over that things were going seriously pear shaped. It was a day for casting aside predictable "wait until after the hour" substitions, we left it far too late. Obviously it's just my opinion but there it is.

We ARE though still a good team, and we STILL have a good manager. This was a bad day at the office equivalent to the office burning to the ground, with Boris the office cat still inside, but we can rebuild.

It must start on Friday. At it from minute one, fast tempo, and absolutely smash Colchester. COYD.

My match report. Crawley v AFC Wimbledon

Average teams find excuses, killer teams find a way. If we were an average team, we wouldn't have had to search too hard to find reasons we didn't win or even had lost this game. As I suspect most are now beginning to appreciate however, we are far from being average. What we are is a very good team which is evolving into being a killer one. It's happening quickly too, right before our eyes.

For the first hour last night we were utterly dominant. That domination and swagger had begun an hour before kick-off. Johnnie Jacksons three striker team selection had "We are not here to arse around" written all over it. We were getting off the team bus, kicking the door in and having the points, simple as that. I loved the team selection and our attitude. No more "difficult place to come" and "great clean sheet" mentality, we tore into them from the off and could have been four or five up by half-time. The only barrier to us destroying Crawley at this point was a card happy referee who was in the early stages of what was to become an utterly extraordinary performance. In the first half he disallowed a headed goal from a corner for offside, sent off our manager into row G of the stands (the back row, it's a small stand) and booked everyone connected with our club. By now I was eating a not too Shabby (Alonso) meat pie which had been heated to a nuclear temperature. I burnt my hands on the thing and cursed, the ref flicked me a glance as he was booking someone else and for a moment I thought I too was walking a tightrope. We made Crawley look utterly abject, and Josh Davison justified his selection with a fantastic first 45 minutes.

As we contemplated why there is never any half time beer at Crawley, most of the chatter was that our only danger was the referee. Just when we thought that he couldn't possibly surpass his first half exploits though, he decided in the second half to completely put aside any concerns of obvious bias. If Kim Jong Un played football in North Korea, the ref would officiate the team he was playing for in a similar way to how this ref handled Crawley last night. Each time we went near the ball he gave a free kick and carded someone, each time Crawley committed a foul he tried his best to ignore it. It was all getting a bit "Kes" when Brian Glover won a self awarded penalty for Manchester United, but still we were the better team. Just when it looked like we were about to kill the game off, Joe Lewis made the mistake of committing a foul. Not a bad foul, not an assault nor a shirt pull, just a foul. That was enough though, before he could say "Aw come on ref FFS" he was off.

Cometh the hour though, cometh Alex Pearce. As is his usual way he emerged off the bench like a fella who had been folded into the back seat of a mini Clubman for two days, but we needn't have worried. When it's all hands on deck there is no better warrior, and along with the rest of the lads who hadn't yet been sent off, he dug in and dug us out.

We couldn't have done it without our goalkeeper who made some magnificent saves. I've felt a bit sorry for Alex Bass these last few weeks. He's had that "bloke in charge of the crazy golf at a seaside resort in November" look about him recently. Here though, those who hadn't been sent off were pretty much all booked so Crawley surged forward looking for Edward Woodward (think about it). Sensing their numerical advantage and the fact that we seemingly weren't allowed to tackle anyone, shots rained down. Alex Bass was magnificent, his saves got us over the line. There were heroic blocks and slides all over the pitch, and gradually the clock ran down. Right at the end the ref realized that in all the chaos he'd forgotten to book Jack Currie, so thirty seconds before the end carded him while our brilliant left back was taking a throw in. Nobody knew why, but by now the whole thing had descended into Christmas Panto farce and at least Jack didn't feel left out, so no matter.

That belief pill that I've been talking about for a while is really kicking in now, it's a Mitsubishi. Even the most sceptical of fans are starting to believe, how could they not? I'm not tempting fate when I say that we will smash Sutton on Boxing day, I'm merely stating a fact.

I stick with my prediction of a few weeks back. If we keep this team together, we are a live bet for automatic promotion. We are also in my view certainties for the play-offs. What a night. COYD

From Bad, to Good, to Very Good, to Killer. One stage to go.

The above is our team when we were beaten 5-1 at home by Swindon in April. Fast forward eight months and I think yesterdays starting line up would eat this one for breakfast, there's been massive progress. The team in the picture won once in the last nineteen league games, this seasons version is gutted to "only" draw 0-0 at Salford. 

Quite who all that progress is down to, depends upon who you ask. If you're asking a "Jackson out" devotee who is unshakeable, it's all down to Craig Cope and his shrewd eye for talent. If on the other hand you're asking a "Where are all the Jackson haters now?" merchant, someone who "knew all along" that even during that run of one win in nineteen that he would come good in the end, then it's all down to the manager. This observer thinks it's down to a combination of things. Better players certainly, but being managed better too. There is no question in my mind that this seasons version of our manager would do far better with last season's players, albeit given that our team back then wasn't that great.

The important thing though, whoever deserves all the plaudits, whoever was "right all along" in amongst the fan base, is that we are currently a very good football team. I've seen us up and down the land this season, and I am absolutely certain that not only are we very good but we are improving week by week too. It is my contention that at the moment, along with Stockport, Mansfield and Wrexham, we are one of the best four teams in the division. I'm not drunk, I genuinely believe that we will comfortably make the playoffs and have a live outside chance of automatic promotion.

Anyway disagree all you like (in my best Catherine Tate voice, "I ain't bovvered") let's look for a moment at how we can improve from here even more.

Goals. We HAVE TO find a way of scoring more heavily away from home. One goal in the last five away games ain't the stuff of Champion nor killer teams, so how do we change it?

Well one aspect of our game which is frankly rubbish, is goals from our centre halves. I love (in a manly way) Ryan and Joe, they are in my opinion THE biggest positive change to our line-up this campaign, but they have one goal this season between them. THAT let me tell you (and them as well if they're reading this nonsense), is shite for two players as good as them. Now I was right behind Jake Reeves when he was delivering second half corners yesterday, the problem isn't the corner itself. He gets good whip, dip and pace (sounds like a trio of kids entertainers in yellow jumpsuits) on 'em, so that ain't the issue. We look to attack it from just about the edge of the box it looks like (which is probably a yard or two further than I'd go for TBH but anyway), but for whatever reason we don't seem to get there. Whether that's because we don't get any blocks in or something I don't know, (I don't study video, I've got a pub to run) but it's an issue. I remember both James Ball and Harry Pell scoring with set-piece headers, so maybe there's a case when chasing a winner for chucking the big lads on. I know it's a bit league 2 two point oh, but it's not "how" you score it's how many. Anyways Skivvers was a demon at getting on the end of a dead ball back in the day, I hope he and the big lads are working on some "Piano falling down a flight of stairs"/"attacking the ball" routines.

Goals from midfield. Jake Reeves takes a cracking penno and scored a screamer against Ramsgate. Armani Little broke the net against Swindon (then a few floodlight lamps at Salford) but neither I don't think will ever score heavily at this level. I know Armani has a bit of history and is the more likely out of the two, but neither have so far looked like they are about to get ahead of the ball or even be there for a cut-back across the six yard box. Although he has barely played and has only one goal so far, to my eye James Ball looks by a distance our most likely central midfielder to score a goal. He's that type, I'd have given him at least twenty minutes yesterday and I hope that when Johnny DOES give him his chance, he takes it. We've looked to me to have played him in a kind of 6 role, I'd like to see us go with the big lad as a genuine box to box 8. Just to be clear, our two central midfielders are playing great and I'm not on about chucking one of them out of the starting eleven. I just think if we are going to become THAT team, we've got to utilize our potential cutting edge a bit better when needed. It was needed yesterday.

Our full-backs have gotta chip in too, yes even away from home. I'd like Jack Currie to appear unmarked at the back stick more often. He has done it to great effect occasionally, I'd challenge him to do it more often. He's a superb player and easily good enough to get back, it's time for him to become a weapon going forward. Huss Biler, I want to see those check back inside and dig from distance moves we saw away at Colchester last season. Another fine player, he's fully fit now and easily good enough to chip in with a goal or two to go with his terrier defending.

See we can't rely on Ali all of the time. I know it's hard to believe sometimes, but he IS human and sometimes he DOESN'T score. Yesterday being an obvious example. Omar is a fine foil for him (what a signing), but he's always going to a setter upper more than he is a finisher offer. We can't depend on those two every game 

You see "Killer" teams get the job done. Nineteen times out of twenty when they are as on top as we were yesterday, they win. They find a way. They get a goal from a centre half, a full back scrambles one in, a sub diverts one in off his arse, it matters not. It's never been about how, it's always been about how many.

See the evolution from "very good" team to "Killer" team is the hardest step of all. It's not about any one player stepping up, it's about the whole squad making that 3% improvement which swings games in your favour. Centre backs get a goal here and there, full backs push on ten yards further, the subs come on ten minutes earlier then make an impact. Killer teams find a way to kill, then they get it done.

It's about the fans too by the way. Young Josh Davison is paying a very high price for being not quite as good as Ali Al-Hamidi isn't he? It isn't HIS fault that after we signed him we then picked up a bloke who is miles too good for the division. It's isn't HIS fault that while he was playing very well for us in his first season, we got a bloke in who us even better. Ever seen him moan about being on the bench though? Ever seen him not give absolutely 110% when he's called upon? You never will, give the lad a break and stop the groans, he is a good player at the level and pretty soon we are gonna need him. Killer teams have killer fans, sometimes it's THEM who give the players an extra 3%.

If we can collectively do all of that, in April 2024, exactly a year since we got battered 5-1 by Swindon, we'll be getting roared on by banks of fans wondering where we'll finish up. They won't be wondering about relegation this year though, we'll be asking ourselves if we'll go up automatically or whether we'll have to "settle" for the playoffs.

Becoming a killer team. It ain't easy but if we believe, all of us, we can do it. See you on Friday at Crawley. COYD

My Match Report. Salford City v AFC Wimbledon

Sometimes in life you don't get what you deserve, and to quote Danny Rojas from Ted Lasso, "Football is life". So it was on a beautiful day in North Manchester, even the pink sky joined in with the referee and the cruel hand of fate in favouring the home team.

I suppose if you had to sum the game up as a Wimbledon fan in one word, you might go with frustrating ("bollocks" might be a viable alternative). The truth is that Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Phil Neville, your boys took a hell of a beating. But it was 0-0!

There was so much to like about our performance, from the way we shut out Matt Smith and Elliot Watt to the way we carved out at least three second half clear cut chances. We were much the better team here from minute one, we just couldn't on this occasion put the ball in the onion bag.

Am I worried after predicting recently that we'll finish in the top five? Not even 1%. If Ali Al-Hamidi gets three one on ones per game and the other team doesn't muster a shot, we'll win plenty.

In truth I saw absolutely nothing here to convince me that I was wrong when I said we are currently one of the very best teams in the league. We came, we saw, we conquered, but we didn't score. It won't happen often, we move on and go to Crawley. They'd better watch out, if we play like this they could very well get a good hiding.

Scouting report: Salford City-Watt's all the fuss about?

Salford made the playoffs last season, I'd be very surprised if they did this time. Ask their fans and I'm sure there are a number of reasons, ask me and I'll tell you it's because Elliot Watt hasn't played very often. To my mind the best number six in the league is very sorely missed when unavailable, it wouldn't do us any harm if he misses tomorrow too.

Speaking of "misses", I hope someone has gotten hold of Armani Littles phone during the week. Our chief ratter always plays his best when he has the red mist visibility down to three paces, a few bogus messages to HIS Mrs (see what I did there?), "Hi Mrs Little, love you, Elliot, mwa mwa" should do the trick. After his total demolition job on Swindon last week (including a leg snapper on Jake Young), hopefully our snarly little terrier has been locked in a darkened room all week, been fed raw meat and with thrash metal blaring out of the speakers 24/7. If Watt plays, Armani needs to get a "restrictor" in within the first ten minutes or so.

Other than Elliot Watt, the big problem Salford pose is Matt Smith. I'd back myself against him over ten yards even now (I'm 57), but if we let them put crosses in, me, Johnny, Rob and Skivvers wouldn't stop him between us. I suspect our centre halves won't stop him either (excellent though they are) if we let them put loads of crosses in. Our full backs are going to have to get out quick, snap the tackles in and encourage a re-cycle.

The good news is, if we can stop Elliot Watt dictating the game, and if we can stop loads of crosses, we really ought to be OK. I DO like the young centre forward Junior Luamba, he's started getting to get a look in (VERY pacey) but not that much else. Incidentally Luamba (before Salford got him) would be the exact profile of player Id be looking at for our "we need another striker" conundrum.

They sometimes play a three at the back, with Adrian Mariappa as the middle one. He's 37, if they do that this time then my advice is to take the 80/1 available for an Ali Al-Hamidi hat-trick. I already have just in case, and even if they play a four I suspect that just like everyone else, they'll REALLY struggle to contain him. I like Theo Vassel for them in defence, but if we play as we should they're in for a hard day.

I've said a couple of times that we are a "belief pill" away from being one of the best teams in the league (for what it's worth, I think we currently ARE the best team in the league). It's time to take that pill tomorrow. It's not a "hard place to go" for us, it's not a "good point" if we draw 0-0. We are a MUCH better team than Salford currently, if we go there and believe it then we will win.

Defend high (Keep Smith out of our area), press high, be brave and get men forward. I think we'll get home with something to spare, 3-0 or 3-1, and Ali will score AT LEAST once. I'll be there cheering us on. COYD.

My match report: AFC Wimbledon v Swindon Town.

We've been threatening it for a while and hinting at some kind of extreme potential, but on a wet and freezing Saturday in December, AFC Wimbledon kicked the front door into the door marked "Playoffs" and shouted "WHO F*#***G WANTS SOME?!" 

It was all very well playing really well and smashing Ramsgate. It was even something different to capitalize on some kamikazi defending against Notts County. But to completely dismantle a team of such obvious quality as Swindon, to utterly dominate them from minute one was a statement performance in neon sign capital letters. Ive been saying for a little while now that we are a belief pill away from being a REALLY good side at the level, surely after this the gag reflex is surpressed and we can push on. This is a very good team we are watching, managed by a man who is visibly improving, right on the top of his game (get the contract sorted). I called "Top five AT LEAST" a couple of weeks back, I'm sticking with it.

Our utter control began very early in the game, Ali denied an obvious penalty in the first few moments by a predictably poor ref. VAR would have given that but we don't have it (Thank God). To be fair the dreaded Stockley Park would probably have disallowed our opener seconds later too. Two players lay stricken in the box but the ref "evened up" his earlier error to allow Omar to celebrate in front of their fans. It came from a nifty little Joe Lewis assist, the big man was magnificent from minute one. Our other big man Ryan Johnson had blood spurting out of his head. He didn't care overly though, we just bunged a big slop of Polyfilla on it and he was good to go. He's like that is Ryan Johnson, my kind of centre half and we are very lucky to have him.

From there we set about them and really should have been further ahead even before Connor Lemonheigh-Evans struck a post. We were outnumbered in midfield but it mattered not a jot. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, nor in this case the number of dogs in the fight, it is and always has been the size of the fight in the dog. Jake Reeves schemed as he does, but our chief ratter Armani Little was absolutely fantastic at doing what HE does. He left a straightener on the dangerous Jake Young from which the top scorer in the league never recovered, then bristled with intent and aggression all game, kicking everything which moved. He was THE dominant force in the match, I've never seen him play better.

Our defence kept the much vaunted Young and Kemp utterly quiet save for a few yelps when we smashed them, while our two wide men pinned their 3-5-1-1 firmly into a 5-3-2. Josh Scorched the earth while Connor Lemonheigh-Evans schemed and probed and leapt like a salmon. What a header of a football this lad is by the way.

Up top Omar was Omar, Ali thank God was Ali. Fittingly Armani Little smashed in the goal of the game with an absolute screamer. Ali bagged another brace and terrorised the Swindon back line. He is ridiculous at this level, just miles ahead of everyone else. Being the bandwagon jumping glory hunter that I am, it will surprise few that our performance against Swindon was comfortably the best I've ever seen AFC Wimbledon play. 

Long before the end their players had chucked the towel in, even their excellent support had exited stage left. Mick Flynn was the latest manager to say "In truth it could have been more than four". Like the Notts County manager, he wasn't lying either. My guess is that before the seasons end, many more will be saying it too. Utterly superb stuff 👏

I know. It's only Jacksonball and I like it.

If you get a bloke around to do some plumbing and he floods your house, you bin him off and get a new plumber. If you get a sparky in and the first time you switch the lights on you get a shock which makes you look like the bloke out of Beetlejuice, you get a new electrician. Course you could I suppose say "Tell you what Pavel, give it another crack mate" but few of us would do it given the option.

It's much the same with football managers. Once a fella has mucked it up to a lesser or greater extent, that's normally that. Even when the team being rubbish isn't really their fault, the manager normally bites the bullet when things go pear shaped.

Rewind to the end of last season. After one win in nineteen games I'd say the vast majority of fans would have pulled the plug on the manager. He HAD mucked it up, there WASN'T to my mind any sensible excuses for  a run THAT bad, and it seemed only a matter of time before there was a picture of the mythical "Cowley brothers" holding our scarf aloft on the OS.

The fans forum came and went. I'd say anybody who was there couldn't help but feel a bit of human sympathy for the manager. It wasn't just that he'd lost his better players in January, it was that we got a picture of the structure surrounding him. I spoke with him myself afterwards. I'd been impressed by his bravery in showing up, taking it on the chin. Under some quite extreme questioning from the floor (some from me) he retained his dignity, spoke with conviction. During the quick chat afterwards I told him that I would personally have pulled the trigger, but now that the club had backed him, so did I. I said I wanted to properly get behind him, but "Sheesh Johnnie you gotta win some football matches mate". He knew the score, he knew that he had a few weeks at the start of this season to avoid the chop.

And now this season. Imagine if THIS season had been his first. A trip to and an excellent performance at Chelsea, a cup win against Coventry. Some brilliant performances in the league, the team looking (to me anyway) to be in with a great chance of the playoffs. Just imagine this season had been his first, infact don't "imagine" it, pretend that it actually is his first, forget about last season altogether.

The reason I say that is that I still sense there are those who are struggling to fully row in behind Johnnie Jackson. Perhaps there's a reluctance to be proven wrong, I get that. The thing is though, I'm not sure that those of us who said last season was a disaster and nowhere near good enough WERE wrong. It WAS both a disaster and nowhere near good enough, but once the board decided to roll the dice and stick with the manager, it became irrelevant. If you're gonna back the manager, you've got to back the manager.

And people who say "I just can't take to him", once more I get it. His public stuff last season, from the no socks Zara clobber to the hands in the pockets demeanor to the prickly, defensive interviews were almost as bad as the results on the pitch. Once more though, that stuff is a million miles away from where he is now. It's club gear these days, he spends half the game squaring up to the fourth official with veins on his neck the thickness of hosepipes. I love that. In interviews he is more engaging, in person he is living up to the "tell you what, he's a lovely fella" billing that those who know him tell me.

Most of all though, I've always liked an underdog story and this a classic example. I thought it was a bonkers decision to keep him on, but as soon as we'd made it I wanted him to succeed. It can't have been easy coming into work when he knew the fans were against him, and when the players let him down not just on the pitch but at the end of season do as well, he must have wanted to lock himself in a dark room. It would have been really easy for him to walk away, go back to coaching, but he didn't. He stuck at it, he kept going and I like that.

And here we are today. I'm only a recent Wimbledon convert but the Johnnie Jackson story reminds me of when they were in the Premier League, beating the big boys with players that everyone had written off. He was damaged goods at the end of last season, had he gotten the bullet he wouldn't have gotten another gig anywhere else as manager. But he kept going, he kept listening to the fans, stayed humble and this season he is doing a fine job.

Whether or not you think I'm right about him getting a new contract is by the by. More important than that in the short term is finding a place in your heart to appreciate a fella who has dragged himself off the canvas when everybody thought he was finished. I think he gets AFC Wimbledon now, and I think he deserves every scrap of success he gets.

Scouting report, Swindon Town. It's not JUST Jake Young & Dan Kemp you know.

Swindon are a good team who seem to have gotten over their blip and have won their last two league games. Excellent wins as well, being the first team to beat Mansfield this season (2-1 at home) before winning 4-3 at Accrington Stanley. The last result is deceptive. They led 4-0 on the long trip up North, only a couple of stoppage time goals for Accy made it look close. As we know only too well, John Coleman's men are a good team, while Mansfield are one of the favourites for the title. So let's get this straight, this is a proper team we are playing tomorrow.

They seem to have settled upon a quite funky 5-3-1-1 formation. The "1" and the "1" are Dan Kemp (MK loanee) and Jake Young who is on loan from Bradford. Both, much as it pains me to admit it in Kemp's case at least, are excellent footballers. The thought process seems to be to give those two the freedom to go wherever they see fit. Given they have TWENTY SIX goals between them (Ali and Tilley have fifteen for context), you can see why. Young is more the fox in the box poacher, Kemp pops up everywhere and will hit it from distance. They are VERY dangerous and appear to have a bit of football chemistry.

It isn't JUST them though. In number 8 Saidou Khan they have arguably the best in his position in the league (him or Stockport's Will Collar for me), and it's easy to see why Wrexham are willing to pay 350K for his services. George McEchran at 6 was the best player on the pitch when they smashed us last season, and while I'd prefer Salford's Elliot Watt over him he is once again an excellent player at the level. Liam Kinsella as the other midfielder is a republic of Ireland international, an excellent player who knows his onions.

The wing backs are both pacey up and downers, almost regardless of which ones they play. Rameoao Hutton though down the right is one I like and especially good at the level, Jack Currie will need his wits about him.

So they are a good team. I like the young centre half Harrison Minturn, And the young lad to his right Udoka Godwin-Malife is promising too. He's not frightened of marauding forward with the ball.

So they are a very good bunch of players. Any good news?

Well, Swindon try and play. They WILL try and bring it out from the back, pointless them launching it to Kemp and Young. I think if we're brave enough to defend high enough (neither Kemp nor Young will burn us for pace) I think we can get properly in amongst them. I'd be getting Armani Littles phone off of him, send a few bogus text messages to his missus from "Dan from Swindon" before kick off. Our chief ratter is going to have to get in and around McEchran as well. The ex Chelsea man is slippier than Boris Johnson in the dock though, catching up with him ain't easy. I'm looking for Omar to drop in and get amongst Saidou Khan, when the Swindon man breaks forward with the ball Jake Reeves needs to be engaging him early. The full backs (particularly Jack Currie this time) are going to have to be bang on it, and our communication when we're passing Kemp over as he drops into pockets is going to have to be really good.

I DO though think Ali will scare the shit out of them (Why should they be any different?) and if we're brave enough to press high, I think we can nick the ball and kill them.

They beat us 5-1 here last season, it won't happen this time. 3-1 to us, Ali with AT LEAST two goals.

I'm calling it now.........

"It's too early to say" must be one of the most overused phrases in football. When I said after seeing him three or four times that Ali was miles too good for League two, loads of people either said I was mental or that it was too early to say. Of course if you never want to be wrong about anything in football, you're far better off never predicting anything early. By now you'll be convinced that Harry Kane is a pretty good striker, that Mo Salah will score lots of goals, and you might even be coming around to the idea that Ali Al-Hamidi is perhaps too good for League two.

I've never been a "wait and see" merchant and I'm not going to start now. So with that in mind, I'm going to make a couple of predictions here and also say what I think we ought to do about it.

1. We WILL get into the playoffs this season if we keep Ali Al-Hamidi in January.

Yep, forget all this "We'll finish mid-table" nonsense, it ain't gonna happen. We've got the best striker (by a country mile) in the league, a solid defence, a good keeper and an aggressive midfield. If we win our game in hand we'd sneak into the playoffs as it is, but I expect us to markedly improve as the season progresses. We are a very good team, and I expect we will comfortably get in if we keep Ali, probably top five.

Disagree all you want, but that's what I think. If we don't keep Ali in January (and I personally wouldn't even answer the phone for less than 1.5 million quid), then it's a completely different ball game. If we make the play-offs without him, it would be an excellent achievement.

By the end of Feb, I expect we will have developed our style into a more fluid 4-4-2.

We've seen glimpses of subtle little tweaks becoming more frequent as the season has progressed, and my guess is that our style is something of a work in progress. The Notts County performance showed both that the management team is tactically astute enough, the players plenty intelligent enough, to make some quite dramatic alterations if the situation demands it. Johnnie Jackson built the team spirit remarkably quickly this season, but we oughtn't to forget that it is still almost a completely new team. Patterns, nudges and tweaks take time. Despite the defeat at Gillingham, my impression/hunch is that we are a team who is improving as the season progresses.

We ought to offer the management team new contracts.

I said a couple of weeks ago that we were approaching the point where we ought to offer, in my mind we're now well and truly there. I know not everyone agrees, but to return to my "It's too early to say" point, we can't wait until the end of a very successful season then expect an out of contract manager to re-sign with us. It ain't in my opinion gonna happen.

If I'm right on us getting into the play-offs, on us developing our own style, improving as the season progresses etc, our manager is going to have lots of offers which financially dwarf anything that we can offer. It's not even as if he lives in SW London, so we ought to do the sensible thing and give him a new contract now, before it happens.

There'll be folks reading this and saying "You're off your head mate", but to those folks I'd urge you to forget totally about last season. Erase it from your mind. If you were to say "He shouldn't still be here after THAT" then I agree he was very fortunate, but he IS here and as I always say, "If you're gonna back the manager you gotta back the manager". 

But put that aside and look at THIS season. We're much higher in the league than most predicted, we beat Coventry and had a great effort at Chelsea in the League Cup, and on Monday night we'll beat Ramsgate and go into the third round of the FA Cup. But for a few missed penalties we'd be higher in the league than we are, and like I say I'm pretty strongly predicting we'll improve as the season goes. To those that aren't happy THIS season I'd be asking what exactly is it you want?

And do I agree with everything the manager does, everything he says? No of course I don't. I think we should go for it more, be less fearful of losing and commit/risk more in order to win. I think his interviews are a bit boring, but then he does get asked the same monotone questions every week. I'd get Morgan Williams back sharpish and give him minutes, and I'd play Aaron Sasu more. I'm not at training every day though, I'm pulling pints, so with the greatest respect you can take my opinions with a bucket of chicken wings.

AND, I've a hunch that once the manager gets a contract, we'll see him become a better manager. There's a natural tendency when someone is fearful of their job to play it safe. Like a golfer who needs to make the cut in order to pay the travel expenses and sort out what he owes the caddie, he'll always lay up short of the water. The one who has already won twice this year though, banked two million quid and guaranteed next year's tour card ain't laying up. He's getting the big dog out of the bag and going for the pin. Every time.

Give our fella a contract and my guess is it'll be the end of him laying up. We might splash it into the water a bit more often, but we'll win more often too. As I keep saying, it's all about winning.

It's not too early to say it, let's get the management team signed up.