After the turgid shite that passed itself off as the Dorking match, what a treat to have an uplifting performance on New Year’s Day. Yes, I’m referring to the annual NYD concert in Vienna. I’m sure the Strauss brothers (no, not Andrew) were the Bee Gees of their time, not too sure what modern day equivalent their polkas would be. “You Win Again” from 1986, perhaps? Sure as hell wouldn’t be the commerically successful waltz era. Incidentally, I share my birthday with JS Junior….
If you’re confused by this attempt at high culture, it should hopefully have detracted from the complete pile of reindeer semen that Shit bit of Kingston 1 Posh bit of Croydon 2 turned out to be. It was wet, cold, dank, miserable. And that was just the warm up. I don’t think it will be quite a good idea to do the nuts and bolts of the game itself : OK, Ryan Gray’s header was good, but their goals were shocking to concede. You can read the OS or watch Dons Online to see the full horror.
To be honest, I’m really not sure what’s going to happen to us now. We have been, for at least a month (and probably longer) wobbling a bit. Granted, this is just one game, but games can turn a season. It’s not as though we have been storming through CCL-like recently.
Something doesn’t seem right. We have the right manager in charge, and apart from a couple of things that any other manager might do, he hasn’t done that much wrong as such. Yes, we have injuries. Yes, we’ve got rid of a load of CCL players, but I wonder how many people really appreciate the jump between CCL and R1? How would our CCL team have coped with R1 level players raising their game 50% against us?
Before you mention Paul Scott et al, remember that they’ve got points to prove and will raise their game another 40% on top. A winning season in a poor league is one thing, a winning season in a far superior league is something else.
We have effectively lost the spark (which could apply to AFCW in general, not just the team) that propelled us to the top of R1. We’ve become jaded, spoilt, expecting – nay, demanding – victory. A draw? Scandalous. A loss? Bring out the knives everyone, it’s time to slit our wrists. While people have now accepted that we aren’t going to score 4 goals each game these days, the level of expectancy is still sky high.
Right now, AFCW has an acute case of the Arsenal syndrome. The party of the last two years is over, the hangovers are kicking in and there’s a massive clear-up operation needed. While today was our first loss, in truth it could have been any game since Hendon or Cray.
Will we freefall? Doubt it, teams like Man Utd don’t freefall and we could justifiably put ourselves in that sort of bracket (relatively speaking, of course). But we have become spoilt on success, almost on a weekly basis. Perhaps a loss like this will finally be the shot of nandrolone which we need? We are not a bad team, but a good team that has lost a plausible reason to remain a good team. And yes, I know we’re still top.
Still, sighing deeply and moving on to…
Plus points: Ryan Gray’s goal was well headed.
Minus points: Take anything between 3pm and 4.50pm today, except for our goal, and plonk it in the space provided.
The referee’s a…..: Christ, he was as much use as a 2005 calendar for Yasser Arafat. Linesman was all too keen to demonstrate the theory that linesmen cannot determine offside properly to a new height of zealousness.
Them: Another team who look like Celtic. Unlike Dorking, they were more Stranraer than QOTS*. They had a gameplan – ie to score more than us – and stuck to it. Plenty of old boys playing for them, and typically Paul Scott scored. Acted like they’d won the league against us when they’d won. Oh, and their goalie looked like a bouncer at a Croydon nightclub, minus the bullet wounds.
* – hello BD 😉
Shhhhh: There was a minute silence for the SE Asian tsunami disaster today, impeccably held. I’m personally not a fan of OMS being used for non-football purposes generally. This one was a strange one : it’s probably the most justifiable OMS you can have outside football, it has directly affected people (two households near SW19 Towers have somebody related who is either missing or dead) yet even so I was still uncomfortable with its inclusion. I guess it’s because so many of them are used now that when something like this happens, you naturally think “here we go again”. Bit hard hearted admittedly, but I think they’ve lost their meaning or impact to an extent.
Meanwhile, the collection raised a good deal (£4k I heard), let’s hope it all gets used properly. I can imagine the fallout if it isn’t.
Point to ponder: OK, Danny Naisbitt. At fault for the first goal, limped off and apparently told one of our fans to fuck off. I wonder how long he’ll remain at AFCW? His confidence is clearly shot to pieces now, and I wonder if his injury is related to his plummet in form? As for the alleged incident, we all know what happens to AFCW players who get stroppy at criticism. Roddis anyone?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Jilted John on the PA. I’ll repeat that, Jilted John on the PA. Winner of the best line in a song ever – “Gordon is a moron”. When will we see their likes again? (2) The tsunami blanket appeal at half time. Must be the only time when AFCW fans throw coins onto the pitch and not get in trouble. (3) First league loss at KM since the old monarch was still alive. Doesn’t make it any easier.
Anything else? Rob Ursell returned and seemed incapable of getting through people like he used to. A sign of things to come? Hope not.
So, was it worth it? I would rather be spit roasted by Wankelmann and Koppout than watch that again. Almost.
In a nutshell: 2005 is shit.
And finally: As the front page keeps saying, I will be absent between the 10th and 25th January, so I’m requiring people to write for me. Yet again. Come on guys, you are allowed to show some interest. This isn’t a Dons Trust election…