Rushden and Wolves: My Thoughts and Ratings

First things first, I don’t believe friendlies are neccessarily about the scoreline. Sure it’s nice to string some good results together before the season starts, but we didn’t last year and we had a fantastic season.

With that in mind, much of my focus when analyzing the friendlies has been on individual performances, with an afterthought going to how well the apparent first team played together.

Rushden and Diamonds -25th July.

Saturday saw the trip to Rushden (well, Irthlingborough), and my merry clan departed MK at quarter to 2 and arrived at 2:20. The ground really is fantastic, the location excellent and the facilities rival our own.

The stewards had to continuosly expand the away fans area to accomodate the throng of Dons’ fans that turned up, and come 3pm the ground was suprisingly buzzing.

The first half was a bore, neither team had any attacking impetus. The second half was a marked improvement. Mark Carrington scored a superb volley after a cleared corner to give us the lead on the hour, only for a side weakened by a sequence of substitutions to lose the game 2-1.

Gueret – Had nothing to do in truth before being taken off for Searle. Took crosses well so earns a solid 6.

Howell – Didn’t get caught out at the back, but had no rhythm with Chadwick and as a result was generally a passenger. 6

Ehiogu – Looked decent enough on his first start as a Dons trialist. The only time he let an attacker get a sniff he dealt with it promptly. 7

McCracken – Endeared himself immediately with a fine performance. Absolutely bossed Rushden. 7

Lewington – Solid as usual from Deano, but Rushden’s right winger Reid gave him quite a tough time. 6

Gleeson – Looked the part in the first half before fading in the second and making a very bad challenge that ignited a mass brawl. Earns a good score for making 90 minutes comfortably. 7

Carrington – Awesome, what a way to introduce yourself. Not only did he command the centre of the pitch, he scored an absolute belter. 8

Chadwick – Quite honestly I forgot Luke Chadwick was even there. Not necessarily his fault but wasn’t up to it. 5

Johnson – For the most part the only time we looked threatening was when JJ had the ball at his feet. 7

Easter – Dug deep and put a hard shift in, but ultimately found no reward. 6

Best of the subs – Darren Powell. Barely.

Star Man – Carrington.

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 28th July

The first team quickly showed signs of improvement against Wolves, holding their own for much of their first half, but letting them in on more than one occasion. When Jermaine Easter latched on to a long pass and fought off Richard Stearman, the Dons took a lead that was probably against the run of play in fairness.

The second half was a different story. The Dons very much dictated the passage of play and at no point did Wolves look comfortable. In truth the spoils should have been shared, but almost every individual put in a good performance.

Gueret – Bit more to do tonight, but barely. 7

Woodards – Good first start in MK Colours, the large pitch seemed to suit him, the only grumble I would have was his distribution. 7

Ehiogu – Another fantastic performance, definitely gets my support as a potential buy. 7

McCracken – The weakest defender, had some communication issues tonight. 6

Lewington – Very good from Deano tonight, slotted in at CB come the end with no difficulty. 7

Howell – Seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, and was industrious as Navarro with the grace of Andrews. 8

Carrington – Decent enough follow-up to his MOM performance at Rushden. Nearly gave away a great chance with a daft overhead backpass in injury time though. 6

Gleeson – Off day for Stevie G, passing was sloppy and was chasing shadows at times. 5

Johnson – Struggled to make impact, had little time with ball at feet, and when he did he would run into dead ends. 5

Chadwick – Great response to an off colour showing on saturday. The go to man all night long. 7

Easter – What can I say? A superb performance. Never gave up all night and grabbed that goal. 9

Best of the subs – Martel Powell – Lit up stadium:MK for  a brief amount of time.

Star man: Easter.

New Signings and JJ impress against Windsor, Triallists Fail To Impress

The Dons kicked off their pre-season schedule today, but in truth it wasn’t really a Dons side that turned up at Windsor and Eton FC.

New signing, keeper Stuart Searle, and David King were the only non-triallists starting against Windsor and Eton, whilst new signing Lewis Gobern and Jemal Johnson featured in the second half.

JJ in particular impressed. No doubt he featured to boost his fitness level after missing the first week of pre-season training.

Johnson scored the Dons only goal as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat. The goal came from the penalty spot after JJ had a shot cleared off the line by the hand of a Windsor defender.

Whilst Johnson was dazzling the Windsor defenders Searle looked solid in goal, he didn’t have much to fend off but he shepherded a flock of strangers at the back very well.

Gobern looked decent too, in the Jason Puncheon mould. He was however, nowhere near full fitness and difficult to judge.

Of the trialists, Donovan Simmonds looked lively but was only really brought to life in the second half when he had more to feed on than just scraps.

Nobody else particularly shined, Rohan Ricketts should get another chance by virtue of the fact we could maybe do with one more versatile midfielder, and centre-back Brian Saah should get another chance by the same virtue.

Elsewhere, the young Dons played out the traditional match against Newport Pagnell, impressing with their style of play as they won 1-0, both young centre-backs easily dealt with Newport’s two physical attackers, and the midfield worked really well together.

All in all the future looks bright, and I can’t wait to see how the real Dons take on Hampton and Richmond side on tuesday.

Jermaine Easter Signs Up As Wolves Link Becomes Even Stronger

The Dons have today announced their fifth signing of pre-season, Jermaine Easter comes to Milton Keynes from Plymouth Argyle..

I’m not overly enthused. Whilst I think it is a great signing in terms of ambition by the club, his record is unspectacular bar a purple patch at Wycombe where Easter was a major part of the Chairboys’ run to the League Cup semi-finals.

Perhaps more interestingly, he’s another player Ince has brought in with a spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers on their CV, as he spent two years as a trainee at Wolves.

Ince, an ex-Wolves man himself, just seems to keep bringing in personnel with Wanderers’ experience.

Easter, Jemal Johnson, Stephen Gleeson are all Ince signings in the current squad to have been at Molyneux. Ince has also brought in Alex Rae as a coach to further cement the Wolves link. (The deal for Gleeson was brokered before Ince confirmed his arrival however).

When you also consider that the signings under Ince two years ago featured Colin Cameron, who played for Wolves as well, and Mark Wright (born in Wolverhampton, but played for their local rivals Walsall whilst Ince was at Wolves), it begins to look as though Ince has very much kept within the area that he has experience with when looking for talent.

I’m all for the gaffer sticking to what he knows when making signings like these. Only a few more signings to go now, with the friendlies only days away.

JJ signs back on, Dons announce another friendly…

A week after I slated that he looked like he was struggling to find a club, Jemal Johnson has accepted an offer to re-join the Dons on a two year deal!

Good stuff, he was quality personified last season, and it’s especially sweet after his falling out with di Matteo looked as thought it meant JJ would never wear a Dons shirt again.

It’s a long way to solving the shortage of wingers at the club too. I wouldn’t expect to see any other Dons that were recently released returning though. Navarro was out of his depth at times last season, and the less said about the others the better.

Johnson and Ince have a record of getting on well too, JJ was a huge part of the Dons’ winning the Football League Trophy eighteen months ago, scoring in both the Area Final and Area Semi-Final. It was Ince that brought him to the Dons on deadline day almost two years ago.

In other news, the Dons have organized another friendly, this time choosing to travel to Hampton & Richmond on Tuesday 21st. I must say I’m delighted the Dons have opted for extra non-league opposition.

I’ve followed the non-league scene quite closely the last few seasons, and the physical component of these sides, the aforementioned Hampton, Windsor & Eton and to a lesser extent Rushden, will be great for toughening up a Dons team that at times has opted for style over substance.

We’re only five days away from finally seeing the Dons play football again. Hopefully they’ll be an eventful five days for the right reasons.

The Great Urban Myth

“MK Dons’ attendances are only good because they get loads of free tickets anyway.”

I’d always taken this with a pinch of salt, but now I think this argument has just gotten ridiculous. At this stage it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if the fans of all the other 71 league clubs grouped together at some point and decided that this would be a convenient argument to help announce that “Franchise Football” isn’t working, a counter-argument for the ever increasing attendance for Dons games.

The truth is, if anyone knows where I can hold of these free tickets then please do let me know. I could do with a saving a few bob here and there.

The only program including free tickets was for a small group of school children to get to a home game. Even then it was only a group no larger than fifty, hardly a majority of our attendance.

When push comes to shove, any denunciation of the attendances at Stadium:MK are petty attempt to further criticize MK Dons. I do believe that the time has probably come to just move on and accept that pretty soon the Dons will get more than 10,000 fans week in, week out.

Then again, these are probably the same people that think away fans boycott games at our ground. If I had a penny for every Northampton or Peterborough fan I heard were boycotting games at our ground I’d be rich. The truth is they couldn’t get a ticket due to the away end being oversubscribed.

I readily await the football community moving away from the fallacy that we give away free tickets and that legions of away fans boycott our games. I won’t hold my breath though.

Apparently Mark Wright “Has No Regrets”

The following is a couple of quotes from an interview with Mark Wright conducted by the Argus, a Sussex paper.

“I am sure he (Ince) will do well back at MK, but I’ve got no regrets at all about making the move I have. It was time to move on. I’m a Brighton player now and I just hope we can push up the League. 

“A lot of people think MK have got bags of money, but I don’t think they have got so much this season. It should be interesting and I hope we finish above them.

Honestly? I’d have loved to have seen his face when he found out Ince is back at the helm here in MK.

In twenty years time he won’t be telling his grandchildren he worked with Russell Slade will he? (Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of Big Russ and his baseball caps, just search for Russell Slade Appreciation of Facebook.)

The Albion faithful seem to think they are on to a real winner with Wright. Make no mistake Brighton fans, the Dons fans moaning about him aren’t just moaning because they “know nothing about football” or “are new to this football lark”.

His end product is awful. His running is awful. His distribution is awful. His ball control is awful.

I genuinely think Brighton fans think they have signed Jason Puncheon, and mistaken his incredible performance against them with Wright.

For now, we just have to wait until the tenth game of the season to see how far Wright has come along, and whether or not he, and indeed Brighton, were just in poor form last season.

League One Rival Watch: Colchester United

Colchester United have been quietly going through a significant change of personnel this season.

At the back keeper Ben Williams has replaced error-prone Dean Gerken, and Magnus Okuonghae, star of Dagenham’s overachieving season, has signed at Cuckoo Farm along with Lincoln defender Lee Beevers.

They lost their best player Mark Yeates to Middlesbrough but a week ago, and talks over a possible deal to sign Grant Holt have broken down. In addition Norwich have declared an interest in signing ex-Don Clive Platt.

There’s still a long way to go until the start of the season, but the U’s on paper at least look weaker than the side that got them to mid-table last season.

They’ll need to start getting the best out of Steven Gillespie, who was expected to be their main goal threat after signing from Cheltenham a year ago.

They could do with a bit of pace at centre-back too. Baldock completely destroyed a lethargic Paul Reid at Cuckoo Farm last season and we could see a repeat this season unless some younger legs fill in at the back.

Dons Announce Cobblers Friendly

Just yesterday Paul Ince expressed his dismay at the Dons pre-season schedule during his interviews at stadium:MK.

After declaring he would be canceling a friendly with Bristol City due to be played this saturday (presumably behind close doors) he seems to have gotten straight to work and given the Dons a great send-off into their League One season.

Northampton Town come to MK on the 1st August, and it should be a great friendly. The Dons condemned the Cobblers to a last day relegation scrap in April, a scrap which saw them relegated to League Two. The game on the first will be a chance for both clubs to play again in a much more chilled atmosphere.

The normal tradition of the higher division team travelling has been quashed in order for the friendly to be arranged quickly, but it’s a chance to get a lot of people through the gate. £6 for an adults is a good indicator of that being the case.

The local friendlies always seem to have a surprisingly good atmosphere too, I’ve enjoyed every friendly we’ve had with Watford for that very reason.

The most important thing of course, is that it’s a good game to finish pre-season on. A team that only three months ago was playing League One football, a challenge, but ultimately a game the boys should win. Wolves would most likely have turned us over and left us ten days to reel before Hartlepool came calling.

Good work Incey, now we wait to see the 4 or 5 new players you spoke of yesterday too.

Welcome to MK Paul, Now… Ronaldo…

Let’s set the scene. The Dons pages on the web were abuzz over news that Ince’s press conference was to be shown on Sky Sports News at half two in the afternoon. I’d been down the stadium just an hour before then, and the stadium was chock-a-block with cars and media hacks waiting for it.

So when I turned Sky on at half two, it was slightly disappointing to see them put if off in favour of minor cricket news. As much as I love cricket the stuff they were showing was no more important than the re-appointment of the “Big time Charlie”.

When they eventually zoomed to stadium:MK, it turned out they would just be broadcasting an interview between Nick Collins and Incey. Fair enough, it would prevent the amateurs at some of the local press ruining it.

In hindsight, I would rather somebody from Look East had interviewed him.

It was terrible. No mention of his back-room staff, which seems by far the biggest  issue amongst Dons fans. (Ironically it seems that the question of his first-team coach has now been answered, as Karl Robinson looks set to come to MK.)

Nick Collins seemed much more interested in asking about Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Madrid. Now I understand that more people care about that than care about Paul Ince coming back to MK, I’m not deluded. However, if they really want to talk about Ronaldo, don’t bother going over to Milton Keynes in the first place.

On the other side of the coin though, Auntie’s coverage of the event was fantastic. This is a good omen since they’ll be embracing Football League coverage this season.

For now, we’ll just have to hope Mr Ince is more focused on the events at Stadium:MK than Nick Collins seemed to be.

The Dawn of the second “Era”?

Everyone loves to scoot around Wikipedia don’t they? Of course. Who doesn’t enjoy finding that fact that both amazes and surprises them.

I’m certainly a “Wikiholic” and the frequency by which the MK Dons reference page is updated suggests a lot of Dons fans are the same. It is the people that update these pages that have got me thinking about something over the course of the weekend.

Yesterday, whilst glancing over the history of a certain team, I noticed something. “The Graham Taylor Era“. Hmm, I wonder how the (and I use this word very tongue in cheek) history of MK Dons has been split up into eras.

It isn’t. It’s just one big block of a paragraph. Which is, I decided was probably more than fair. Earlier today, however I had an epiphany when discussing the upcoming Wolves friendly with my brother. There has been no discussion of boycotting from our pre-season opponents this season.

The backroom staff used to have a nightmare of organizing a pre-season in years gone by, but now it seems to be a little easier than before. Could it be that the hate is subsiding?

I quickly went on to Facebook, of which I’m as equally addicted to as Wikipedia, and had a look at the anti-MK groups. Astonishingly the “I bet I can find one million people who hate MK Dons” group only has 2,009 members. It used to have much more.

A bit more digging helped me find an article I read last year: “Is it now OK to love MK Dons?” in the Daily Mail of all places.

It’s beginning to look like, though we’ll never be like, we’re being accepted. When the day does come that we play AFC Wimbledon (and one day we will lose to them for that matter) we will once again face to wrath of the footballing community, but that will be a novelty that lasts but a few days.

Then I found the cherry for the top of my cake. MK Dons turned five only a few days ago. That’s it, this is now officially the beginning of the second era. The footballing community is moving on, and we’re operating as a normal club.