David Cameron Walker

Archive for the ‘League Two’ Category

Survival – but this is only the beginning…

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

It is an issue in football that we look at a season in a linear way, from start to finish, rather than as part of a continuum. The football, in the words of David Mitchell, is officially going on forever – it will never stop. And yet so much is determined by where a club finishes the season – short, medium and long-term plans, and whether or not players and managers get to keep their jobs.

It is absolutely vital that clubs do not dwell on their finishing positions. This works both ways: clubs should take positives from disappointing final positions, but they should also examine themselves during the successes. So many times clubs have taken good form at the end of the season and used the momentum to start the following campaign, and similarly poor form can also lead to slow starts.

I certainly believe that this is how it has panned out for Torquay. After a largely strong 2011-12, where we battled for automatic promotion, our form collapsed during April, leading to missing out on finishing in the top 3 and then failing in the play-offs. I don’t think we have recovered our form since. Many observers, fans and neutrals, have put our struggles this year down to extraordinary circumstances, namely Martin Ling’s illness and assistant manage Shaun Taylor’s disastrous tenure in charge before the arrival of Alan Knill, or, if extended further, the sale of key players in the summer. It’s easy to frame it this way because it takes blame away from those at the club – the players, the management team and the board. Instead, it can be put down to chance – “we were unlucky because of Excuses X, Y and Z”, rather than because people at the club made mistakes.

The truth is we were pretty poor all season. At the end of 2011-12, our playing style had devolved from a slick attacking passing style into a more dour, defensive strategy. We were aiming to win 1-0 in every match. Eventually this caught up with the squad – with a small squad and Ling’s refusal to rotate the starting 11, the players were clearly mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the season. Something fundamental seemed to have changed in the squad, as we were little better. There were exciting matches with plenty of goals – indeed, Plainmoor is towards the top of the charts for most goals scored at League Two stadiums this season. We beat Rochdale 4-2, and Aldershot 4-3 after being 3-0 down at half time. At times, it felt as if the Torquay of the first half of 2011-12 was threatening to break through. But there were also lots of unadventurous performances, and a number of painful late draws and defeats, particularly in December when it seemed like every match was being thrown away in the last 15 minutes, which no doubt was taking a toll on the players’ mental state.

Being a manager relies a lot on trust, and you do wonder that by “footballing reasons” and a “lack of enthusiasm”, chairwoman Thea Bristow was implying that the players no longer trusted Ling. His last match in charge was a 1-1 draw against Exeter, which was treated a positive result at the time, but only because we were without a win in 5 and were widely expected to lose to our Devon rivals. By the time of our next match, again against Exeter due to various postponements, he had been taken ill in circumstances that are still yet to be fully explained.

It’s a difficult one to explain. I have criticised Ling here in the past, and I was particularly pessimistic about our chances around the time he went away. But I was in a minority at that time – the position we were in was considered to be good because of our games in hand; very few fans believed we’d be sucked into a relegation battle. After our win at Exeter, at which point it was not known how long Ling would be away, Sky Sports’ pundits seriously discussed the possibility of us making a late push for the play-offs. It was clearly a ridiculous statement even at the time, knowing how bad we had been in the previous weeks, but the fact that it was being considered shows that from a positive perspective, there was still hope that our season could be salvaged.

That’s why the official line from the club of “footballing reasons” for Ling’s dismissal doesn’t quite fit. To claim that Ling should be sacked when he left the club in a position that some at the time felt was promising seems unusually harsh from a board that has always been incredibly patient with managers. Something doesn’t quite add up.

Our season collapsed after Ling went off sick, when Taylor took over managerial responsibilities. A bad run of form had been coming for some times, but it’s impossible to tell whether Ling going away all of a sudden and control being handed over to the inexperienced Taylor was decisive or not, so surely the correct approach should be to give the permanent manager the benefit of the doubt, given that he had proven himself a capable manager in his 18 months in charge.

Under Taylor we won 1 and then lost 5 in a row, before Knill was brought in to steady the rapidly-sinking ship. It took him a further 7 matches to pick up his first win in charge, suggesting a lot of work was needed to rebuild the shattered confidence of the squad. It’s difficult to judge when the damage to this was done – the run of conceding late goals over Christmas, or the terrible form under Taylor. The decisions made since seem to indicate that the board believe it was the former, but I’m not so sure.

The key to understanding what has happened is when the decision to sack Ling was made, and this is unclear. The board, fronted initially by Simon Baker until a late change of chairman to Thea Bristow, always implied that the plan was that Ling was to keep his job, and Knill himself said that he was just hired to do a temporary job while Ling was away. But there were one or two signs that maybe Ling wouldn’t be kept on, such as the appearance of Chris Brass on the touchline alongside Knill at Accrington, and the publicly-indicated removal of Knill’s “interim” title. These could potentially point at a subtle transition of power happening behind the scenes, suggesting the decision to sack Ling was made some time previously.

If this did actually happen, it has definitely worked – amongst fans, the decision to sack Ling now has been largely positively received; if Ling had been sacked at the time he went off sick, I should imagine the reaction would have been mixed. Was this the intention – to engineer a transition of power without anyone noticing? I doubt it, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that a lot goes on in football clubs that we never get to hear about, for obvious reasons.

Either way, what’s done is done – we could argue about the reasons and motivations for Ling’s sacking all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that he has been sacked and Knill has been appointed on a permanent basis. For me, it’s too early to judge whether or not this is a good move – he has a good record in League Two and had a positive impact on the squad at the end of the season, but at the same time, the permanent appointment of Ian Atkins, who saved us from relegation to the Conference in 2006, was similarly well-received and ended up being a false dawn.

And, to come back to my original point, this is the key lesson to learn. We cannot go into the summer treating our survival as a victory, with everyone thinking that we’re great because we didn’t go down. As a club, we have to realise that we only survived in this way because we were in a relegation battle to begin with, something that should never have been allowed to happen considering the position we were in last summer – a play-off team with over £500,000 earned from player sales. The club needs a period of serious self-examination in order to understand why we slipped into that situation.

Already positive steps are being taken which is a good sign, but at the same time, there is no radical change on the horizon – it still appears to be the same old Torquay. For example, Knill has stated that he plans to go into next season with a squad of 14-15 senior players plus “development players” (i.e. reserves), which indicates he is not being given much money to work with. The small squads we have had have proven our downfall over the past two seasons, and it seems we haven’t learnt our lesson. I fear that the good times may be over and that the next few seasons may be a struggle for us – in League Two, clubs have to keep moving forward to stay in this division. Complacency is frequently disastrous.

It makes you wonder how much of the criticisms of Ling are actually of criticisms of decisions made by him and not of decisions made by the board – was it his choice to only start the season with 2 senior centre-backs, was it his decision to not have another option in attack, and was it his choice to not spend money in January to bolster the squad? Lots of questions remain unanswered. I don’t know what the future has in store for him, but I am sure he is capable of managing at this level effectively, and I wish him all the best.

Written by James Bennett, We Are Going Up’s Torquay United Blogger

James tweets at @jabennett_

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A season of two halves

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

Firstly, I should really apologise for using a footballing cliché in the title of this piece. However I can’t really think of a better way to put this season into perspective. It was dire for the first four months and has been a joy since Christmas. Perhaps I could have entitled it ‘A Story of Two Managers’ or something wittier. Mark McGhee and John Ward spent half a season each, dragging Rovers in completely opposite directions.

One might think that I have an issue with Mark McGhee given how little praise I have for him, well you’d be right, I didn’t like him or his management style, the football we played under him or his always sour demeanour. I never saw him crack a smile, celebrate a goal, show any passion on the touchline or in interviews (Google image search him and you will be greeted by a gallery of a thousand furrowed brows, who knew there were so many different ways to frown). The fans never took to him and when he was sacked at Christmas not many Rovers fans were too bothered to see him leave. (He is now assistant coach of the Scotland National team and has taken his losing football with him) A record of P22 W4 D6 L12 GD -20, and Rovers 23rd in the league paints the story of the first half of the season under McGhee, it was awful. It should be said that we had some dreadful injuries early in the season, with a number of key players ruled out long term. The potential of relegation loomed large, surely we couldn’t find ourselves out of the Football League altogether? Dark clouds were gathering over North Bristol.

But what’s this? A glorious ray of Lincolnshire born sunshine breaking through the cloud. Put down your pasties and take up your Stuffed Chine (a traditional Lincolnshire Pork dish according to Wiki) and hail the arrival of Lincoln’s own John Ward. Sometimes referred to as a journeyman of the lower leagues, Ward has been in the management game for 8 stints across 22 years, all but 2 months of it in the 3rd & 4th tiers. Ward made some astute signings and turned the season around. Across his 24 games at the helm Rovers’ stats read like this – P24 W12 D5 L6 GD +11. Rovers were a different side and ended up surviving comfortably, recording impressive wins against some of the best sides League Two has to offer. Beating high-flying Rotherham, Port Vale & Burton Albion gave a hint of what we might be in for next year.

The last home game of the year on Saturday drew a good crowd and there was a jovial almost celebratory atmosphere around the ground. A poor display and 1-0 defeat meant that any celebrations were rather muted until John Ward was named to ‘Man of the Season’ winner for his outstanding service to the club. The reward he was likely more satisfied with was the shiny new contract he signed in the week to stay on as manager for next season. Good news for Rovers I think all agree. Ever-present Michael Smith deservedly bagged player of the season while Captain Tom Parkes took Young Player of the season, capping a great year for the 21 year old centre back.

Further good news for Rovers this year has come in the shape of the go-ahead for a new stadium development in North Bristol. The ‘UWE Stadium’ will be built roughly 1 mile from Rovers current home and will be a 21,700 all seater. Due to be completed in time for the 2014/15 season, Rovers will hope that it can help us take strides forward on and off the pitch. I for one will be sad to leave the Memorial Stadium which has been home since I started watching Rovers 16 years ago. I love the terraced ‘Blackthorn End’ and the pasty van. Watching footy from a terrace is brilliant; there is something special about the atmosphere at old lower league grounds which you just don’t get at the big premier league stadiums filled with tourists. That said, a new stadium will be a great step forward for the club and I look forward to claiming my seat.

With a strong season next year and a potential promotion chase we could be starting the 2014/15 season in League One in a brand new stadium, exciting times lie ahead. Although I do seem to remember that a promotion push was widely discussed 12 months ago, perhaps one should reign in those expectations? But as football fans across the leagues and across the world, I am hopelessly optimistic about my team. Singing “we are going up” as we bid farewell to the terraces of the Memorial Ground in 12 months time? …That’ll work.

Written by Rob Skeldon, We Are Going Up’s Bristol Rovers Blogger

Rob tweets @cicero1986

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Is all well that ends well?

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

It’s odd what difference a couple of months make.

In early March, seventeenth place and four points above the relegation zone is cause for panic and a sacking. By late April, seventeenth place and four points above the relegation zone became apparent cause for celebration.

York survived at the end of their first season back in league football after eight years away. Needing a point away at Dagenham on the final day, they won 1-0. Job done, priority number one achieved. It was always in their own hands given the fixtures in the run-in, but credit is due. A few weeks ago, it looked like the best hope was to be marginally less rubbish than a couple of sides in a similar position, but while others could scrape a few points together, the last couple of weeks saw York turn into something like a model of consistency, stringing three straight wins together to pull away from danger.

So all’s well that ends well then? In issue zero of The Blizzard, Sid Lowe interviewed Juanma Lillo, the coaching guru who was so much the mentor and inspiration to Pep Guardiola. It’s a wonderful interview, a rich, wide-ranging piece that covers vast swathes of territory (Issue zero still available in digital formats at The Blizzard’s website – http://www.theblizzard.co.uk/product/issue-zero-digital-download/ – and worth it for that article, let alone the rest of it). One of the key passages I took away from it followed the question “Are we wrong to judge the process based on results, even though the process intends to achieve the result?”

“Human beings tend to venerate what finished well, not what was done well. We attack what ended up badly, not what was done badly. The media does that. And beyond the possibility that maybe you don’t have the capacity to judge whether the methodological process is the correct one, it’s flawed to judge on those grounds.”

At no point have processes been given due consideration at York. Win games, it’s all rosy. Lose games, the sky is falling in on our heads. For weeks towards the end of the Gary Mills reign, voices in the crowd were urging “just lump it” and “get a big man up front”. In the games against Accrington and Southend recently, similar voices were insisting that we “get it on the floor and bloody pass it”. For the last ten games, York have been more direct, playing low-percentage football but doing enough to garner the points that have ensured survival. It ought to be something to if not celebrate, then at least be pleased about. It doesn’t feel that way and that’s because it all feels so aimless, on and off the field. What is the plan? I do not wish to venerate what finished well when I don’t believe in the process behind it.

The planning for next season appears to have begun in earnest, but the whole thing is rather confused. First, we were told that Jason Walker was first out of the door with Matty Blair thought to be close behind. Then we get news that the board are in discussions with Nigel Worthington over continuing as manager before Worthington announcing the retained list. If he’s not actually signed on for next season, who is making these decisions? How can any plan be made until you have someone with a plan to implement? It’s all a bit muddled and hardly sounds like the start of an era of doing things well, of getting the processes right as Lillo insists.

Walker leaving looks significant. A diminutive front-man, he immediately looked on the outer once Worthington arrived. He’s a fair leap on him, but was always at a disadvantage when competing for long, high balls forward. His strengths lie in linking play with his back to goal, receiving the ball to feet and bringing others in. That’s clearly not going to be the case from here. See also Blair, Paddy McLaughlin and Scott Kerr; midfielders who like to knock it around on the deck. Down with that sort of thing. That the last vestiges of Millsology are the first things to be abandoned marks a definite full stop at the end of a chapter.

It appears to be the end of ambition at the club. Maybe that’s realistic. After all, the vast majority of the club’s history has been in the bottom division, and more often than not near the bottom of that. Financially, we remain a minnow in the division. Maybe it’s enough just to survive at this level, to be just like every other small, northern club. Maybe we’ve got to forget everything, accept where we are and that it’s so unlikely that we’d ever do well any higher up so what’s the point in trying. Maybe we’re not a club big enough to listen to the likes of Juanma Lillo and it’s only the outcome that’s important and not the process that delivers it.

The end of ambition, that is, of playing progressive football. When Worthington was appointed, however, chairman Jason McGill spoke of exactly that. “I’m sure all the fans will think this is a great coup for the club, and shows our ambition”, he told local news. Well, perhaps. After all, Worthington has coached in the Premier League, at international level. And yet, as Tor-Kristian Karlsen – a man who has been a scout, chief executive and sporting director at clubs around Europe – wrote in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/apr/03/paolo-di-canio-sunderland-manager-research) in April, “The reasoning rarely goes beyond “he did a good job at x, so let’s have him”. Rush, panic, lack of preparation and poor advice eventually lead to equally unfortunate sporting consequences.” Like Lillo, Karlsen suggests that there’s a process to be applied here in the same way as there is on the playing side. The ambition in this instance seems to be more about employing someone whose CV has ostensibly impressive-sounding entries on it rather than assessing the next step and appointing appropriately on that basis and in terms of the resources available.

Maybe we’ve got to learn to love the hoof, clap if it works, shrug if it doesn’t and apply no critical thinking to the methodology – or lack thereof – behind it. Maybe we’ve got no choice, but it is my fundamental belief that if the answer is Nigel Worthington and the style of football we’ve seen from him so far, then the question is flawed.

Written by John Dobson, We Are Going Up’s York City Blogger

John tweets at @johnnydobbo

 

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Shez staying – joke’s over

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

“This club should be nowhere near the position it’s in. It’s a joke really. Almost embarrassing.”

So said on-loan striker Reuben Reid after Argyle had avoided the drop into the Conference on the final day of the season. Watching sections of the Green Army stage a Spotland pitch invasion from my position higher up the Willbutts Lane Stand, my thoughts were the same at the final whistle. An estimated 2,000+ Pilgrims fans had travelled to pack Rochdale’s away end – they saw their 10-man side lose 1-0 but stay up by a single point, with a goal difference just three better than Barnet’s. Other than an over-riding feeling of relief, what was there to celebrate, really?

There was a greater reason to cheer on Tuesday morning, when the club announced that John Sheridan – whose arrival as manager in January triggered a turnaround in form – had agreed in principle to continue as boss. The straight-talking Mancunian, whose initial deal ran only until the end of the season, is not the type to tolerate the sort of football comedy that Reuben Reid speaks of. However, he has already told Argyle owner James Brent he is confident of challenging at the top of League Two next season. Having persuaded Sheridan to stay in the South-West, a long way from his family home in Yorkshire, Brent must now back him in the transfer market and transform a squad of mixed abilities into one of the division’s strongest.

Although Argyle ultimately accumulated six more points in 2012/13 than they had managed in the previous campaign, this still represented another season of decline on the pitch. Clambering out of administration had been the mitigating circumstance in 2011/12 – but once again, Argyle lost 20 of their 46 league fixtures. Despite all his hard work and effort, Carl Fletcher oversaw a period of over two months in which his side won only one of 13 league games, and he was dismissed on New Year’s Day. It was only five years ago that the Greens finished 10th in the Championship – but that seems a distant memory now.

Over the course of nine months, the rearguard tightened up, particularly when experienced centre-back Guy Branston followed Sheridan south in January; Argyle actually ended the season with the eighth best defence in League Two. Zimbabwe international left-back Onismor Bhasera’s consistency was rewarded with the Player of the Year award, while goalkeeper Jake Cole was runner-up.

However, only bottom-placed Aldershot scored less goals than the Pilgrims and it was left winger Jason Banton – on loan from Crystal Palace for 14 games – who finished up as top scorer with six. The assists table makes for even bleaker reading, with Bhasera on top with just three. Young Player of the Year Conor Hourihane chipped in with five league goals from midfield, but creativity was minimal all season and when chances did come, they were usually spurned by wasteful strikers.

Highlights of the league season were hard to find, but a few spring to mind. There was the 4-1 victory at Barnet in October, Argyle’s biggest win and one that proved crucial in the final reckoning; an unlikely comeback at Morecambe the month before, when the Greens recovered from two goals down to triumph 3-2; the 1-0 Devon derby success over Exeter in March, when the result was all that mattered; and the last win of the season, 2-1 at Chesterfield in mid-April, which saw the club hit Sheridan’s survival target of 52 points.

In the interests of balance, the lowest points were arguably: the miserable opening-day 2-0 home defeat by Aldershot which set the tone for another season of struggle; a largely shambolic 3-0 loss at Fleetwood in November; the 4-0 mauling at Port Vale, the only fixture between Fletcher’s sacking and Sheridan’s arrival which left the club in seemingly dire straits in the drop zone; and an utterly abject 2-0 reverse at relegation rivals York on Easter Monday.

The nadir of the campaign, however, could again be found in the FA Cup – a humiliating first-round exit at sixth-tier Dorchester Town, live on TV, less than a year after going out at Stourbridge at the same stage.

An average attendance at Home Park of 7,095 – the third highest in the division – was an improvement on last season, even it represents less than half the current stadium capacity. Nevertheless, three home games attracted a crowd of over 10,000, while the travelling support provided by the Green Army – an average of 729 fans at every League Two away game – was outstanding given the geographical and sporting circumstances.

So what does the future hold? With £299 club memberships (season tickets) on sale for another week (and priced only £59 for Under-18s), it’s hoped the people of Plymouth will turn out in greater numbers next season. There’s already a buzz of activity and planning in the Devon city, with news of Sheridan’s stay swiftly followed by the issue of the retained and released lists.

The out-of-contract Cole, Bhasera, Branston and Hourihane have all been offered new deals, along with club legend Paul Wotton, Argentinian winger Andres Gurrieri and young striker Isaac Vassell. Among those moving on are injured striker Warren Feeney (although he has been offered a pre-season trial), while two contracted players – goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin and striker Nick Chadwick, for whom Argyle’s survival triggered an extension clause – have both been transfer-listed. Chief scout Joe Taylor has also left the club after a year in the job.

Many will hope Bristol City allow classy midfielder Joe Bryan to return on loan next season, although that may be wishful thinking. In any case, Argyle desperately need attacking players of proven quality as the squad as it stands is top-heavy with defensive experience, with a smattering of young blood in wide areas and up front. Torquay striker Rene Howe – joint-fifth top scorer in League Two with 16 goals – is already being linked with a free transfer down the A385 and A38. His ‘robust’ physique would make him an ideal replacement for Reid, although his alarmingly poor disciplinary record – 93 fouls and 15 bookings in 2012/13 – would be a worry even for the strict Sheridan.

As for the coaching staff, Tommy Wright and Mark Crossley have both left their positions at Chesterfield, paving the way for them to potentially join Sheridan. Meanwhile, the possibility remains of some sort of involvement for former boss Neil Warnock – the 64-year-old is searching for a club role akin to ”a niche between manager and directors”. Whether such an opening arises at Argyle remains to be seen; the appointment of a dedicated chief executive is a more pressing concern for James Brent.

Off the pitch, Brent’s leisure company Akkeron has put forward plans for a £50million redevelopment of the Higher Home Park area, including a new stadium grandstand, ice rink, multi-screen cinema and 120-bed hotel. Plymouth City Council’s planning committee are studying these at the time of writing, but Pilgrims supporters are far from united in their support for the proposals. A perceived lack of ambition is the major sticking point; the proposed new stand does not look particularly ‘grand’ at all and with seating for approximately 5,000, it may in fact be smaller in terms of capacity than the opposite Lyndhurst Stand (redeveloped along with the adjacent Devonport and Barn Park Ends a decade ago). Brent had hoped work could begin on the project in September, but the wrangling is likely to go on for several more weeks at least.

There’s one thing all Argyle fans can agree to look forward to in 2013/14, however – the return of the Dockyard Derby. Argyle have met Portsmouth twice in cup competitions in recent seasons, but we haven’t had a league double-header against Pompey in over 20 years. Two proud naval cities, their clubs sailing towards calmer waters… and with Sheridan at the helm, the good ship Pilgrim should be well equipped for the long voyage in the coming 12 months.

Written by Jon Holmes of TEAMtalk.com, We Are Going Up’s Plymouth Argyle blogger.

Jon tweets at @jonboy79

Thanks to Steve and Malcolm from Greens on Screen - the essential Argyle resource – for the picture.

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We Are Staying Up!

Monday, April 29th, 2013

At the end of an action-packed season, it is fantastic to see that the Dons will still be where we belong next season – in the Football League. There have been a couple of high points, contrasted against many, many lows. But players, fans and coaching staff alike showed great belief, mental strength and determination to pull us through, in a dramatic fashion!

The season started with the Dons under the management of Terry Brown, and a victory on the opening day over Chesterfield led to early hopes that we could improve on the 16th place finish of 2011/12. However, it quickly went downhill from there. We lost the next two games 5-1 and 6-2, and that opening day win proved to be our last with Terry as manager – he was sacked, possibly prematurely, in September, having picked up one point of the previous 21, with most of his summer signings not looking particularly effective. Simon Bassey, first team coach, stepped up to fill in during the hunt for a replacement, and was a contender for the role himself, having won two of his four games in charge. But those in charge of selecting a manager took a gamble – they went with the inexperienced Neal Ardley – the 40-year old, who played over 200 times for Wimbledon in the 90s and early 2000s, had spent 5 years in charge of the Cardiff City youth academy, but had never managed a first team before. But what Neal lacked in experience, he made up for with a great eye for a transfer and unrelenting enthusiasm for AFC Wimbledon.

It was by no means an easy start for Neal – he had to try and do the best he could with another manager’s squad, and made a series of loan signings, to degrees of effect. A minor injury crisis didn’t help matters, and Neal only won one league game in 2012. Another spanner was thrown in the works in late November, when we were drawn in the FA Cup against Milton Keynes. While I don’t intend to talk in length about that game, I think it should be said that Neal and the team dealt with the media focus admirably, and did us all proud in a game that we desperately didn’t want to happen.

But the dawn of a new calendar year seemed to bring a change of fortunes for Wimbledon. We won the first two games of 2013, and went unbeaten throughout January, with some fantastic signings being made – this aspect of Neal’s managerial qualities is clearly a strong one, as proved by the quality of signings, both on loan and permanently, that were made. Invaluable experience arrived through Alan Bennett, Gary Alexander and Neil Sullivan, while dynamic youngsters such as Jon Meades, Toby Ajala and Harry Pell also made their mark in spectacular fashion. There was a point, however, in mid-February, when confidence at Kingsmeadow was at a real low. We hadn’t won in 5 games, having lost the last two (and at this point, Neal had still only won 3 games all season), and we felt that if we fell apart again, that would be it. The next game, against League Cup finalists Bradford City was crucial, and when we were one goal down with 10 minutes to play, I genuinely believed, for the first and only time all season, that we would be relegated. But a Jack Midson inspired comeback, including a goal for loan signing Gary Alexander in injury time, meant a 2-1 win, and the Dons were back on track.

This brought back confidence, and form with it. Between January 1st and March 28th, we picked up more points than any other team in the league, but still somehow managed to be lingering in 20th, not far from the relegation zone. It did, however, appear, with 6 games left to play, that 4 points would probably be enough to secure safety. Easy, right? Wrong. A four game losing streak, including a 1-0 defeat to Barnet from the most dominant performance we have given in our two years in the Football League, meant the fears of relegation were back. We had three high-flyers, in Exeter, Gillingham and Fleetwood, left to play, and we still needed 4 points minimum. A 2-2 draw at Exeter was followed by an away game to champions Gillingham, who needed a point to secure the title. 2-0 down within 20 minutes, it seemed like Wimbledon’s season was slipping away. Yet another comeback secured another 2-2 draw, and while the point didn’t seem to have made a huge difference to the table, the strength shown by the players led to a renewed confidence heading into the final day, a home tie against Fleetwood.

The situation was blissfully simple – a win, and we were safe. Anything less, and we were definitely down. Fleetwood’s form had been poor, and they had nothing but pride to play for – but this didn’t stop them trying! It was a game that Wimbledon dominated, but the footballing gods seemed desperate for us to lose. An inspired performance from the Fleetwood goalkeeper, as well as the woodwork coming to their rescue three times, meant that it was still 0-0 with 60 minutes played. But, showing the massive value of experience in this situation, Gary Alexander headed us into the lead. He is a player that I was rather disappointed with during his loan spell – his record indicates he could’ve done much better than 3 goals in 18 games. But the goals he did score were vitally important, this one most of all. Not that the lead lasted long – Fleetwood equalised through a scrappy goal a minute later. But, when right-back Curtis Osano was fouled in the Fleetwood penalty area, talismanic striker Jack Midson had a chance to score a massive goal. In the play-off final of 2011, Dons’ legend Danny Kedwell scored a penalty to put us into the Football League. Two years later, his replacement Jack Midson scored one to keep us there. Once the last 15 minutes had been nervily navigated – including Alexander showing all of his experience by sneakily untying his shoelace, and spending two minutes re-tying – there were scenes of jubilation. Fans rushed onto the pitch to congratulate the players, and it was heart-warming to see how much it meant to them, even those on loan. Needless to say, the party went on well into the night, and Wimbledon are still a Football League club for next season.

I’m hopeful that the vastly improved showing of 2013 will prove a good platform for us to build on, and we can have a more successful 2013/14. Our budget is still well below average, so targets must be realistic – I would be more than happy if we are in a position for a late play-off push with 10 games to go. Neal Ardley has shown that he was worth the risk, and looks a top quality manager, that we should be desperate to hold on to. He now has some time to build up his own squad – roll on next season!

Written by Charlie Worthington, We Are Going Up’s AFC Wimbledon Blogger

Charlie tweets at @AFCW_Blog

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A Season to Remember – History Makers

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

At the start of the 2012 / 2013 season if anyone had said you will watch your club beat three Premier League sides and reach the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley (as a League Two side!) and reach the play-offs then I would of snapped their hands off and also told them to go seek medical advice. This really has been a season to remember, after a decade of dire football and depressing results this season has well and truly brought all that passion back and once again reminded me why I travel the motorways watching Bradford City – this season is why I love football, memories have been made that will never be forgotten.

The cup run didn’t quite have the fairy tale ending as Swansea City ran out easy 5-0 winners in the League Cup Final in February, however it wasn’t really about the result for Bradford the mere fact that The Bantams had even reached the final in the first place was an outstanding achievement one that in truth will probably never be repeated.

The journey the club and the fans have had this season has been immense, some of the best memories if not the best since I’ve been watching The Bantams have been made. I’ve seen promotions from Division Two via the play-offs, I’ve seen us finish runners-up in Division One and promoted to the Premier League. I witnessed staying in the top flight and our short adventure into the Intertoto Cup but for me this season has eclipsed all that has gone before because of the simple fact that a League Two club shouldn’t of achieved what Phil Parkinson’s men accomplished.

The win away at Wigan Athletic was amazing, personally I believe Bradford to be a bigger club than Wigan regardless of league standings. The fact we went to the DW Stadium and knocked them out on penalties was amazing. Next up Arsenal, with all their super stars in attendance I expected a heavy defeat whilst watching the likes of Cazorla and Wilshire ooze class, that didn’t happen and in my eyes Bradford were unlucky not to win the game in normal time having nullified Arsenal for long periods of the game.

For the first time in a long while Valley Parade was packed to the rafters, the atmosphere was electric bringing back memories of the premier league days. Garry Thompson volleyed home to send The Bantams faithful wild and it looked for so long that there was to be a giant killing only for Thomas Vermaelen to pop up late in the game to head home an equaliser. Extra time came and went with the superb Matt Duke denying Santi Cazorla before becoming a further cup hero by saving the penalties that sent Bradford into the Semi Final of the Capital One Cup.

The special moment of the cup run came against Aston Villa to knock out any premier league side is special but to do it over two legs it’s a remarkable feat. The late header by Carl McHugh in the first leg to send The Bantams to Villa Park with a 3-1 lead was in my view the pivotal moment of the tie. However the moment when James Hanson bulleted Gary Jones’s corner in at Villa Park for me is the best moment I’ve had watching City – against all odds a League Two side had made it to a major domestic cup final, and this wasn’t a fluke!

The squad which Phil Parkinson has put together will go down in history and every Bradford fan in years to come will be able to rattle their names off and be looked back on with fond memories whether it’s Rory McArdle’s header to send Bradford 2-0 against Villa, Thompson’s volley against Arsenal, Nahki Wells cool finish past Shay Given for the first against Villa or THAT Hanson header at Villa Park. These players whether at the beginning or end of their careers will never have a season like this ever again.

The final against Swansea was a special day, the sea of claret and amber waving flags and singing songs was special. The atmosphere was unbelievable, especially the last 20-30 minutes when The Bantams faithful decided to go full swing into having a party.

Had the league season just fizzled out after Wembley then that would have been extremely disappointing, but full credit must go to Phil Parkinson and his assistant Steve Parkin for masterminding the league form over the last couple of months. Saturday’s 1-0 win over Burton Albion at Valley Parade cemented The Bantams place at the play-off party for the first time since 1996 when we beat Notts County in the old Division Two. After 37 league games I had all but given up hope of reaching the play-offs sat in 12th place 10 points off 7th with a game in hand and a full 12 points behind Exeter who at the time sat 5th. Fast forward to the completion of round 45 and The Bantams had clinched a minimum return of 7th place pulling 4 points clear of Exeter in the process, who sadly for them and luckily for us have collapsed at completely the wrong time.

Now Bradford can travel to Cheltenham on the last day of the season, knowing it is highly likely the two teams will meet again the following week in the play-off semi finals. Barring a defeat for Rotherham at home to bottom side Aldershot coupled with a win for Cheltenham could see Mark Yates overtake The Millers, chances are that won’t happen so it will be a straight shoot-out between Bradford and Cheltenham for a place at Wembley.

If we make the play-off final and return to Wembley for a second time this season, I certainly won’t be going for a nice day out. I expected to lose to Swansea; personally my cup finals were against Arsenal and Aston Villa. However for a League Two play-off final I expect victory regardless of opposition we are good enough to secure promotion and hopefully in three weeks time we will be back in League One – and finally starting our journey back to where we believe we should be.

Once thing for sure is regardless of promotion the board need to secure the services of Phil Parkinson for the future. He’s out of contract in the summer, and has been linked with various clubs over the past few months. Parkinson has made it clear that he wants to stay but the longer negotiations drag on it opens the door for other clubs to nip in and steal him away for a snip due to him being the near the end of the contract.

Wembley twice in one season?! Let’s hope so……

Written by Mark Scully, We Are Going Up’s Bradford City Blogger

Mark tweets at @scully87

 

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Promotion? I would never have predicted that

Sunday, April 21st, 2013

I’ve waited for so long to be able to write this post. Even now, it feels premature as we are not 100% promoted, but I somehow can’t see a 29 goal swing occurring next weekend, so we did it. In front of just over 12,000 fans, we achieved promotion.

It is amazing to think where we were 12 months ago, and then compare it to where we are now. On May 5th, I walked out of Vale Park after beating Oxford not knowing if that was going to be the last time I ever saw my club play. I can’t convey how that feels, and I hope that no fan ever has to go through it, because it is horrible. Fast forward through the Keith Ryder saga, and we are left with a group of players who bonded over the fact that we were still in administration. Sold the dream by Micky Adams, no-one really expected them to do anything. At the beginning of the season, I would have snapped your hand off at mid-table and security as a team. I don’t think anyone saw Tom Pope scoring an incredible 31 league goals (In his entire career before this season, he had only scored 30 league goals) and I don’t think anyone saw us being the top goal scorers in the league.

So how do I explain it? There are so many twists and turns in a league season that I never truly believed we would get promoted. We went top, and then hit a patch of bad form, and started to drop. We built up a 12 point cushion, and then we couldn’t win to save our lives, and it just seemed like we were never going to drag ourselves over the finish line. In a way, it summed up our season that a formed Vale player had to score an own goal that sent us up. We never do things the easy way, and this was just another case in point.

With one game left, it’s all but over. We’re promoted. There are so many people I would want to thank, but in reality, I couldn’t ever thank them all. So I’m going to say these:

1) Thank you Micky Adams. We doubted you, we scorned you when you left, and we questioned your decisions. In the end, the players you trusted and believed in repaid you in full.

2) Thank you Norman and Paul. You picked up a football club in the doldrums, and restored pride and passion. You gave me a reason to believe, and you gave every single fan hope that we could turn around 15 years of decline. You put the money in when we needed players to take us over the line, and you united a fanbase by giving us a reason to be cheerful.

3) Thank you to every single player who pulled on the Port Vale shirt. Every single one of you has done us proud, and every single one of you should never have to buy a drink in Burslem again, as was apparently proven on Saturday night!

Finally, congratulations to Tom Pope. I’ve said it before, but he has had a truly remarkable season. He always said he had 3 goals, to play for Port Vale, to score for Port Vale, and to help us to win promotion. Not a bad way to do all three.

Written by Steve Donaldson, We Are Going Up’s Port Vale Blogger

Steve tweets at @the_vogster

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The fight for survival continues

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

On Sunday, everything was looking good for the Dons, with three wins on the trot lifting us to the unprecedented heights of 18th place. The bottom of League Two was getting even closer, with five teams on 40 points, and one on 41. But with our run of good form, and vast tally of 45 points, some Wimbledon fans were foolish enough to suggest that we may have done enough. Which was probably a mistake.

Any complacency was quickly eradicated by one of the less glamorous aspects of league football – losing 4-0 away to Accrington Stanley (who are they?) on a Tuesday night. Not something that was top of my list of things to do this season, and, fingers crossed, not something I’ll have to experience again any time soon. To be fair, Accrington looked a strong side, and the fact that they were bottom of the table proves just how even League Two is. Before the horror show of Tuesday night, we were top of the League Two form table and flying, but that loss has pulled us right back into the mire, as astonishingly, the four teams of the five on 40 points that played last night (including Accrington) all won, meaning that, while AFC are in a healthy position, it is by no means a secure one.

But back to the positives. While it took a while for Neal Ardley to get this side going, as he struggled with the below-par squad he inherited, he has been steadily building it up with loan signings, and really made some changes in January. The signings of Jon Meades and Toby Ajala on loan, and Harry Pell on a permanent basis, both added some quality to our side, and the spell Neil Sullivan spent on loan, and our the signing of Alan Bennett have brought experience that is absolutely vital when you’re in a relegation battle, with your backs against the wall. We had been steadily improving throughout 2013, when suddenly we really hit form, with three wins on the bounce, including one away to high-flying Southend. The last time we won three in a row was over a year ago, in January 2012. We scored 7 goals in those 3 games, and even kept a clean sheet in one (number 6 of the campaign). But while the Dons form has improved massively, everyone else down the bottom have been getting better as well. Due to this, my money for the teams to go down is, at the moment, on Torquay and York, as they are the two teams really sliding down the division.

And despite my never-ceasing confidence that Wimbledon will manage to stay up, it hasn’t escaped my attention that we have a very tricky run-in, with only 7 games to go. We have three games, two of them away, to teams in the play-off places or above (Gillingham, Exeter, Rotherham), and two tough fixtures against two of the on-form sides near the bottom half, in Barnet and Bristol Rovers. The ‘magic points total’ in League Two, with only two sides going down, is usually quoted as 50 points, but the unusually high level of competition this year means that this may not be enough. There is normally one team that is way off the pace, and spend most of the season simply preparing for life in the Conference Premier, leaving only one other relegation spot, fought for between two or three unconvincing teams. This year, there are no abysmal sides, and, at least from the perspective of a Wimbledon fan, no teams, (with the exception of us in the first half of the season) who have looked like they deserved to go down. This means that Wimbledon need to get to 50 points as soon as possible, and push on to get more than that!

I’d say that the important thing, in the aftermath of a surprising and substandard thrashing at the hands of Accrington, who simply had to exploit the lack of pace in our injury-ravaged defence, is that we don’t let our heads drop. I said a couple of weeks ago that 3 wins in our next 4 would put us in a strong position, and that is exactly what we got. Admittedly, I expected the defeat to be to Southend rather than Accrington, but we need to focus on the positives of our recent form instead of the negatives. Two key defenders are due to return soon, with Jon Meades with Wales U21 on Tuesday, and Pim Balkestein recovering from an injury, and this should allow us to remove nightmares of Accrington from our heads, and continue with not only the results we have been seeing, but also the high quality of performances. The defence has cut out (mostly) the horrifically comical goals gifted to the opposition, the midfield is showing a bit of fight, and Neal Ardley has finally found a couple of players, most notably Kevin Sainte-Luce, given a second chance after being sacked by Cardiff due to a dubious incident in a nightclub, who seem to have a bit of cutting-edge going forwards, and we are (at last) posing a threat to opposition defences.

It is crucial that Neal gives the players a bit of a kick up the backside, and then gets them motivated and hungry for a win on Saturday at Morecambe. The players and coaching staff went over and apologised to the 247 Wimbledon fans who had travelled up to Accrington after the match was finished. The coaching staff seemed genuinely apologetic, and the players, even those on loan, were absolutely gutted. We need to utilise this feeling of anguish, and turn it into the hunger for success that we have shown in glimpses when at our best. By the time we welcome Fleetwood to Kingsmeadow on April 27th for the final game of the season, I want us to be safe for next year, and to feel like we deserve another season in the football league – but, unfortunately, I suspect that there may be as many as 7 or 8 teams in danger of going down on that final day.

Written by Charlie Worthington, We Are Going Up’s AFC Wimbledon Blogger

Charlie tweets at @AFCW_Blog

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The only way is Barcelona?

Saturday, March 9th, 2013

We’d all love to support a football club that plays the game in an attractive style whilst simultaneously picking up results and being successful. That would be the dream for most of us as football supporters.

Failing that, we all just want our sides to be victorious, no matter how the results are achieved or whether the show on offer is aesthetically pleasing. At the end of the day, football is a results-based business and success can only be measured when looking at the league table.

Or can it? At Northampton Town, there is a team of players who continue to win games with an unerring regularity and yet, despite sitting in the League Two play-off places, a fairly large section of grumbling supporters who feel the entertainment being served up is not quite what it should be.

Northampton’s game plan consists mainly of launching long throws and free-kicks into the opposing penalty area and feeding off whatever happens to fall their way in the aftermath. Not exactly tika-taka but when there are games to be won, is anyone really bothered? Apparently they are.

Since Aidy Boothroyd’s appointment as manager sixteen months ago, the Cobblers have adopted this rather ‘direct’ way of playing and, whilst it is proving extremely effective, it is not an approach that has the fans flocking through the turnstiles to watch this promotion-chasing outfit.

Indeed, the attendance for a recent midweek game against Bristol Rovers was just over 4,000 which would be considered to be a good 1,000 down on the expected attendance for a team chasing League One football with just five home matches left to play.

So where are the missing thousand supporters and why are they staying away from Sixfields? One quick scan of the Northampton forums gave an unequivocal answer. Many fans had chosen to keep their £20 in their pockets because they felt previous home performances had not given them ‘value for money’.

In times where money is particularly tight, a section of the Cobblers support had decided that it was more worthwhile to listen to their team on the radio than it was to head along to the ground. A potentially fickle decision from some but in days of a recession and with priorities to get in hand, it is hard to blame them.

The low attendance at the Bristol Rovers game was highly noticeable and the flat atmosphere inside Sixfields spoke volumes as the fans voted with their feet. It also led to chairman David Cardoza being questioned in the media this week as to whether he was worried about the situation.

Cardoza predictably played the questions with a straight bat and said that it has been the economic conditions which have had an impact on attendances rather than Boothroyd’s footballing methods. Potentially so, but the deafening screams of silence from the Sixfields stands last week must be worrying Cardoza as his team continues to mount a charge towards promotion.

Yet for all the criticism of Boothroyd’s approach to football in League Two, both from inside and outside of Northampton, it is becoming increasingly difficult to argue with his tactics when the end results are so impressive.

Since October, the Cobblers have won 10 out of 11 games at Sixfields with a defeat to Cheltenham as the only blot on their copybook, a game in which they blew a two-goal lead. Their home record currently stands as the second-best in the division and it is their relentlessness on their own patch which is keeping their promotion dream alive.

Plenty of sides (Fleetwood, Exeter, Rochdale and Port Vale to name a few) have been dispatched with relative ease at Sixfields but the results still don’t appear to be impressing the Northampton public who feel that the fare on offer is not worthy of the entrance fee.

It is important to remember that there is more than one way to skin a cat and that the Barcelona-style of football is not always possible in the rough-and-ready world of fourth division English football. Northampton have found an effective way of beating their opponents and they appear to be sticking to it, even if it means losing a few supporters on the way.

Boothroyd was charged with the task of getting the Cobblers out of League Two as quickly as possible and he might just have found a way of doing that. Unfortunately for Northampton’s supporters, it happens to be a very direct and aerial technique which won’t be winning any awards any time soon.

If that style can deliver promotion from League Two then it is unlikely that you will hear any Cobblers fans complaining and maybe, should League One football return to Sixfields, some of those missing supporters might come back with it.

Written by Ashley Lambell, We Are Going Up’s Northampton Town Blogger

Ashley tweets at @ashlambell

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Only title win will quench Gills fans’ thirst for success

Monday, March 4th, 2013

Lower league fans love to have a dig at those who support top-four Premier League sides and their demand to see three points every week, retorting with “come and support a real team” and the like. Yet having been top of League Two for the bulk of this season, a chunk of Gillingham’s support are beginning to show a similar attitude after Martin Allen and his men surprised all by heading into the final months of the season at the summit of English football’s fourth tier.

Granted, performances have been indifferent at home and the results largely similar. Priestfield has become something of a bogey ground in recent months as opposition teams come and outplay a team seemingly filled with nerves and lacking confidence. Yet record-breaking away form – 11 wins in a season is the best of any Gillingham side ever – has kept the team’s nose in front of any other side, raising expectations with only 11 games to go.

What is the indifferent home form down to? Allen claims teams are raising their games when they visit, making it doubly difficult for the Gills to dominate. Shouldn’t it be down to the team to ramp up its performance once more, though? You’d think so, but it’s hard to remember the last time Gillingham convincingly won at home – perhaps stretching back to beating Scunthorpe 4-0 in the FA Cup last November.

Since then, the Gills have won three out of 11 at home with only one of these victories coming by a two-goal margin. In the league, Gillingham have not scored three at home since beating Burton 4-1 on October 20th and a few midfield departures have left the side lacking the creativity to do the same again. Supporters then have their backs up, this affects the team and performance levels drop.

The players would be well within their rights to blame a poor atmosphere for contributing to disappointing displays, while the fans will say it is up to the squad to give them something to shout about. As with most things in life, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

But away from home, Allen and his men have cracked it. Eleven wins, five draws and just the one defeat against Torquay in October have propelled the club to top position. The formula seems simple enough: nick a goal and then soak up the pressure. Just ten away goals conceded shows how the Gills are among the best in the country on their travels, with a high-performing back five of Stuart Nelson, Matt Fish, Joe Martin, Adam Barrett and Leon Legge are key.

The big questions, of course, are ‘will Gillingham get promoted?’ and ‘will they win the league?’ The team are still eight points clear of fourth place with 11 games remaining, so the club are on track for promotion. But with only one title in the club’s history – the old Fourth Division in 1963-64 – the fans are demanding more.

Gillingham have a remarkable four away games still in March, with only two at home. If they can somehow remain unbeaten across this month and continue their exceptional away record, then they’d be in an excellent position to win the title.

With fans’ expectations higher than ever, there’s no better time to rediscover the very best form at home and pull away from Port Vale and Burton. It certainly won’t be easy with a crowded fixture list, but it’s the same for everyone. Gillingham’s record-breakers are only potentially eight weeks away from truly making it a season to remember – then the supporters may finally have something to cheer at Priestfield.

Written by Ben Curtis, We Are Going Up’s Gillingham Blogger

Ben tweets at @benjamin_curtis

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