AFC Wimbledon v Bromley, my match report.

On sunny but cold March afternoon, we at AFC Wimbledon were "done the double on" for the first time this season by an impressive Bromley outfit. Earlier in the campaign our South East London neighbours outmuscled us at their ground, here they took the points playing some decent football and in my view narrowly deserved the win.

There wasn't much in it (there never is in our games) and I'm afraid that the unfortunate truth of the matter is that if just about every game you are involved in is either 0-0 or 1-0, sooner or later you are going to concede a daft one and get beat. For sure big Joe Lewis and Owen Goodman won't want to watch the replay back, but unlike the captain who got stuck into the young goalkeeper, they've got loads of credit with me and I aren't going to criticise them. Defending as well as we do is really hard, sooner or later you are going to have a balls up, it's life.

On the occasions when you DO have a balls up though, you're really looking for someone to bale you out with a goal. I'm afraid it's in THIS department that we currently are falling well short. Two goals in the last four matches isn't the stuff of playoff places never mind automatic promortion pushes, we have to get it sorted and sharpish.

From my seat in the West Stand it doesn't look like we have too much wrong, we just too often have a "football by numbers" look about us in possession. Patterns from the training ground are great, but there has to be some spontaneoty, some joy to the game too. The safe pass has a place and is an important part of the modern game, but equally if you continually pass up the opportunity to be incisive you end up playing in front of teams all of the time.

That to my eyes is us. We often work it into great areas but just when we get an opportunity to get a shot off, take somebody on or try and play somebody in, we check back and recycle way too often. We're too "kind" to defenders, allowing them to regroup just as soon as we've ruffled their shape.

By contrast Bromley flooded forward, throwing men at it and causing chaos. For sure we could have scored, but equally they could have scored more too.

It's telling that while I'd have had Cameron Congreve (their 22) as comfortably MOM, I'd be struggling to pick a contender from our side. It was all a bit grey, a bit staid, a bit flat and lacking inspiration.

We're still a very good team, we've just got to kick off the shackles a bit, take off the handbrake and start showing it more. COYD

A few words on Johnnie Jackson.....

Go onto any WhatsApp group of Wimbledon fans and there'll be a debate which keeps on recurring. On one side of it there'll be folks who heap praise on the manager, on the other there'll be a group who sprinkle that praise, their teeth firmly gritted while they're doing it.

For the latter section, phrases such as "In reality it's all down to Craig Cope" and "Dave Reddington has made a massive difference" keep on cropping up. For some, the fact that they were in the "Jackson OUT" group a couple of seasons ago means that they just can't seem to reconcile that with the current job he's doing. Whether that's because they are so determined to be eventually proven right/not wrong or that they genuinely just can't see what he's doing, I don't know. There's no doubt though that for some, Johnnie Jackson could take us to Champions League glory in 2032 while winning a Eurovision song contest along the way (with his self penned composition "That's why I love shape") and still some people wouldn't be convinced.

I myself was firmly in the Jackson OUT camp after the first season. I thought his signings were rubbish, his communication with the fans uninspiring at best and I didn't feel he "got" the club at all. Everything from his "Man at Zara" touchline garb to his totally unanimated persona while on it screamed "Wrong fit!" to me. The results on the pitch only confirmed it. By chance at a club function I met him and I think it's fair to say we didn't really hit it off. I wanted to like him but the impression I was left with was that he was arrogant, dismissive even. From there, like all armchair pundits and experts, I was convinced I had the answer to why he wasn't doing any good. Like everyone I'd played a bit of football, I just didn't think he'd be the type to get the best out of players. Not behaving like that anyway.

Then came the fans forum thing at the end of the season, the "I've got a dog" Mick Buckley one. I think like many people who were there, that was the beginning of my changing my mind about Johnnie. He got absolutely slaughtered (some of it by me). The fans berated him for all the things I've mentioned and more, I remember "hands in your pockets all of the time" being a particular attack line. It was revealed that part of the reason he'd been hired was because he was cheap, I think everyone in the room felt for him. He handled the flak and the somewhat bizarre format of the "meeting" with courage, conviction and honesty. On a human level it was impossible not to be impressed, I personally think it was the making of him.

Let's be totally clear here, in my opinion Johnnie was extremely fortunate to keep his job after THAT first season. Whether the fact that he did was the result of some incredible foresight by the decision makers or whether they just dithered and got lucky we'll never know. The absolute FACT of the matter is though that however they arrived there, it has proven to be an inspired call. Our man improved a lot in the second season, and this time around he's taken it to a totally new level.

Has he been helped by the Craig Cope/Andy Thorne recruitment machine? Of course he has. Has the appointment of Dave Runnington helped? We have to make the assumption that yes it has (Although I must say I love Rob Tuvey, I hope he might be our manager one day). But, but......

I have to ask, who made the decision to bring the new coach in? Given how popular Rob was, how deep his roots are at the club, that was a MASSIVE call. And that call is down to the manager. Then, although great signings help, anyone who thinks that from there it's easy would do well to check out how Chelsea have gone over the last couple of seasons. Lots of good players in a room are just a group of good players in a room. They become a football TEAM only with good management. You simply cannot watch us play and not notice that we are an extremely well drilled unit, a superbly managed football team.

We are a team and a club going places. Unfortunately our manager before too long will be going places too. Once we've gone up automatically (probably as Champions) I should think the whole football world will have him earmarked as a managerial "bright young thing". Start well in League One next season and by Christmas I should think Johnnie, Skivvers & Dave will be studying Rightmove on a daily basis (hopefully Bayzo stays, forever).

When that happens though, I should think he'd go with EVERY fans best wishes. In many respects it's been a perfect example of a mutually beneficial football arrangement. Our "cheap" and inexperienced manager has learnt on the job. From humble beginnings and a slow start he has grown into it and become an excellent operator. It's been a journey, and the club is now on that journey with him.

So even if you WERE a "Jackson Out" merchant, open your eyes now along with your heart. You are watching a young manager go through the gears and become an excellent operator. Johnnie Jackson (I've met him since a few times) is neither arrogant nor dismissive. He's a good fella. We are on a journey together, get on the train and enjoy the ride.

My match report: AFC Wimbledon v Crewe Alexandra.

Yes we were brilliant and completely dominated the game. Yes the referee helped us a bit with the sending off (they wouldn't have scored anyway once we went 1-0 up though),  yes Marcus Browne is too good for the level. Yes Joe Lewis is the best centre half in the league, yes Jake Reeves is the maestro, but I aren't going to talk about ANY of that.

No, in this match report I'm going to talk about one thing and one thing only.

So here it is. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Aaron Sasu. Seriously, what the actual f*** was that? A kid who is 100% (in my eyes) a centre forward gets bunged on at right wing back with 20 minutes to go and turns in the kind of jaw dropping display which absolutely warms the cockles of everyone who was lucky enough to see it. For months he's been like a shy young kid, totally unaware that he's got magic in the old football boots. He's mooched around, laid it off when he could have sprinted, half heartedly gone into challenges for fear of hurting someone, not tried stuff for fear of letting his mates down. He's played it safe, kept it simple, desperately wanting to fit in and be accepted by the big lads. He's laughed at their jokes in training, done as he's told, anything to become truly one of the boys.

Little has he known that all along he's destined to leave those big lads, those experienced pros behind at some point in the very near future. He's been oblivious to the obvious fact that far from them "accepting" him, far from him "belonging" in League Two, his ultimate destiny is much higher. Those teammates who have nurtured him so superbly, the coaching staff who have worked so expertly on him have no doubt known for some time what they are dealing with here. In the future, this kid will feature on their "best players I ever played with/worked with" lists when they are down the pub, he's that good.

And tonight he showed it. There's many an AFC Wimbledon fan who has called me idiot because of my belief in this kid over the last few months. That's OK though, they laughed at me when I said that Ali Al Hamadi was too good for the level before he scored too. They were wrong then (not about me, about HIM) and they were wrong about this kid too.

There has always been something. Even when as a gangly teenager he was all arms and legs with little substance, you could see it. There was something in the way he glided accross the turf, something about the way he had an awareness of the football. You had to really look, but it was there. Tonight though the talent was obvious. Like a Piccadilly circus neon sign, even for those who only take a passing interest it was unmissable.

This kid was superb, after tonight I think that even HE realizes it. That's always the breakout moment. Enjoy him while you can Dons, he is going to be an absolute monster.

Oh and while we're on the subject of people laughing at me. I told you a month ago we had a shot at winning the league title this season. We do, we are the best team in League Two right now and will take some stopping. COYD.

What a day, what a season, what a team (and what a manager).

Firstly let's be absolutely clear here, at the moment AFC Wimbledon are the best team in League Two. That may well change as the season progresses, (it wasn't the case earlier on in the campaign) but right now if you took a snapshot we are clearly the best team. 

We proved as much again yesterday. Bradford came into it on the back of their best run of the season and although they were beaten "only" 1-0, we did it with plenty in hand. Like a jockey on a horse which is far superior to his rivals, we coasted over the line while our rivals toiled and shoved themselves breathless. The result was never in doubt once we'd gone in front, it rarely is.

And as I saw our potential subs warming up, it dawned on me that our superiority was not just on the pitch, it was off it too. Their lightweight attack in the absence of Andy Cooke cried out for a Joe Piggot type, he'd walk into their team. They totally lacked the searing pace & emerging star quality of an Aaron Sasu, he too would easily start for them. I think Jonjo O Toole would have handled Omar Bugiel far better than any of their centre halves did, Myles Hippolite would stroll into their starting eleven in midfield. Don't even get me started on Marcus Browne, he's got no business whatsoever being at this level for them nor us, he's a ridiculous addition.

They would likely have the biggest budget in the league two, and our squad is a county mile superior. And we showed it. I felt a little sorry for Owen Goodman, bugger all the do other than kick it sometimes. The defence is absolutely watertight, the midfield combative & creative in equal measure, the front three bristling with intent, aggression and skill.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we have a shot at winning the league, not just going up. The top three ought to be easily within our grasp, but I think we can go for the title.

And who's it down to? For sure Craig Cope has done an incredible job. He's very handy for those fans (like myself) who were Jackson OUTers, he gives us an opportunity to go "AHHH, but if it wasn't for Craig Cope". No doubt there's something in that too, but let me tell you for nothing that this is an extremely well managed group of players. The shape is great and drilled down to the finest margins, they work for each other like they are brothers in a pub kick off and they have a huge desire to do well.

Yes the manager has been handed an excellent squad, but he is doing a superb job. Fair play Johnnie Jackson, you have proved a lot of people to be utterly wrong, me amongst them. COYD

AFC Wimbledon, some thoughts....

A few Crewe fans came onto social media last night to say how impressed they were with us after the 1-1 draw, I'm not surprised. After a rock solid display in another tricky away game on Saturday, to then come on a Tuesday night to the team in second place & play so well was a mighty display. That we did it with so many changes to the team makes it even more newsworthy, we are clearly in a very strong place. In my view we have a massive opportunity to get promoted automatically, anyway here's my thoughts on some situations right now......

Owen Goodman

I wondered if he might have come for the cross for the goal yesterday. Maybe I was being a bit Rodney Marsh, but it's only because he's set such high standards of late. He is a mile better than he was earlier in the season which is a tribute to both him & Bayzo. If we get the opportunity to sign him permanently I'd personally be all over it.

Joe Lewis

If we DO end up getting promoted, the fact that we kept it going while Joe was injured will have played a massive part. He's just coming back & isn't yet 100%, but even at 3/4 throttle he is a monster player at the level. I'm also appreciating his "last chance before it's gone" attempt at a mullet. I've never met him but stuff like that makes me think he's probably a cracking lad.

James Tilley

At this time of year it's sensible to assess the squad with a view to next season. This is even more the case when like us you are going to be playing in a different league. This lad has gone from a likely free agent to bring a "must keep" in my eyes, a candidate for player of the year.

Josh Neufville

You never really know with Josh what's going to happen next. I reckon you could make a YouTube compilation of his best bits and Real Madrid would be interested, when he gets it right (as he is doing increasingly frequently) he's really something.

Isaac Ogundere

Just a cracking young player who absolutely maximises his influence on every game. He'll achieve big things in football and he deserves every ounce of success. After he's been sold and played up the leagues, I hope I live long enough to see him return and be our captain in his later years.

Ali Smith

In my opinion probably our most underrated player by the fans. A massive influence on every game with his praying mantis tackling style, and although I'm the first to say there's more to come from him, he'd still play every game if I was picking the team.

Jake Reeves

Keep him fit. Whatever happens, keep him fit.

Aaron Sasu

He probably hasn't got a fan club yet, I should start one. Somebody said yesterday that he hasn't scored a goal yet and he's played 25 times, I personally don't care. Most of those appearances have been as a late sub, the kid is 19 years old and learning his trade. HIS trade isn't being a tidy left back who keeps it simple, nor is it a holding midfielder who puts a tackle in and rotates possession. No, Aaron's trade is going to be as an absolute game changer, a goal scorer, a difference maker.

I reckon I have more disagreements with other fans about the potential of Sasu than I do any other player. I thought after the first 20 minutes against Crewe (in which he was lost) he was excellent, but even there that wasn't the player he's GOING to be. He dropped in really well, linked up the play, became a focal point etc. He'll learn though the drop in and spin, he'll learn to open the door for the pass by getting side onto the play and backtracking five paces along the line of defence. He'll learn to compete better, to use his size. He'll get bigger too, a LOT bigger.

In my opinion Aaron Sasu will play AT LEAST two divisions higher than L2, his size and pace will terrorise defenders.

Look I could talk about all of the players but I'll leave it there for now. We are in my opinion one of the best two teams in the league along with Walsall, if they don't buck their ideas up we could yet challenge them for the title.

COYD.