And no, that’s not a reference to somebody working on NPL already.
It seems that the fallout from Saturday is only starting – finally – to subside. The amount of comments on the last update – 30 before I closed them for this update – was telling, but they were almost unaminous in one thing.
Just WTF is going on?
Was this the one bad performance too far? Had last week’s joy led to a turning point last Saturday? It’s pretty obvious that this hasn’t been brushed under the carpet and forgotten about, like so many other carbon copy results.
The big news of course was Ben Wilson being sent back to South Wales. Or if you prefer to read the uncensored version from the SLP, here’s a screenshot (thanks Ronan for that).
It’s a very stupid end to what turned out to be a very stupid weekend. I imagine Wilson is a typical kid who has a mouth significantly bigger than his brain, not nearly as good as he thinks he is, and only had a Twitter account for hangers-on to kiss his arse.
He’s not the first, and certainly won’t be the last.
NA’s reply on the OS (if he did actually make it) was suitably blunt, although I hope he brought him in because he genuinely thought that McDonnell wasn’t up for it – and not trying to curry favour with Cardiff City.
As a keeper, Wilson made far too many mistakes and you suspect he’ll be at Barry Town before long. I’d like to be the proverbial insect on the wall when he has his first “chat” with the Cardiff hierarchy…
Anyway, he’s gone. And many would argue he shouldn’t have been here to begin with. Thankfully Shea was back last night at Merstham, and we would expect he’ll be starting again at Newport.
But this has been a surreal few days, and I think it’s brought some issues to the surface. The club put out an apology for the fuck-up involving the MOTM, although I note they chose to omit that it was being held in Manchester.
And yes, three days after it happened, nobody has yet explained why it was there.
Even if it was just a cock-up, it just seems to add to that further “disconnect”, a term that is getting used more and more elsewhere.
This is a genuine picture from an Instagram account from their Xmas pissup on Saturday. If you haven’t seen it, what’s your first impression?
A bunch of footballers bonding? A bunch of mates having a laugh? Or a bunch of try-hards more interested in how “wacky” they look?
IIRC, Wilson’s Twitter meltdown happened after it, and you have to wonder how many other players were egging him on to do it. And if the players themselves are holding the supporters in contempt, we’re fucked.
A comment was made to your editor last night during Leicester v relegation-threatened Chelski, and it was this – the Leicester players lost the ball but they went back and got it back again.
We didn’t. And we haven’t done that for a good while now…
In amongst everything else, hardly anyone pointed out that we’d had a full two weeks to prepare for St. Evenage. So there were no excuses wth fitness and fatigue on Saturday.
Which means there’s something else entirely that is wrong with AFCW on the field right now. Even pro-NA factions are picking up on that as well, and there are very few people who are actually happy with the direction.
Indeed, we just don’t look like a “happy” unit right now. Come to think of it, using the word “unit” seems to be pushing it a bit. Things like Wilson’s gobshite attitude and the whole MOTM thing seem relatively minor, but they seem to reflect a wider malaise.
Which is why Newport on Saturday will be interesting. And not just because your editor hopes to be there. Even if we don’t win, we simply have to get a response.
Our last win anywhere was the 31st October, against Hartlepool. That was six games ago, five of them in L2. It’s been three draws and three losses, which in itself is a pretty shit run of form.
Now, we might show a bit of bollocks in South Wales this weekend, but even if we did – how long is that good vibe going to last? Remember, we won three on the spin and failed to build on that.
In fact, looking back, we’ve not only stood still but we’ve gone backwards since that run. And it was only Azeez in the last minute against Wycombe that stopped it from getting even worse.
The side will obviously change in January, even if would be a massive indictment of NA’s dealings in the summer. Not to mention the 3-4-3 experiment, which must rate as the football equivalent of brutalist architecture policy in the 1960s.
But this weekend seems to have changed attitudes. The footballing side of AFCW really fucked up the last couple of days, and it looks to have tested the patience once too often.
Between now and May, we could get the occasional two or three wins in a row. But we’re equally as likely to get the shit runs of form we’re currently in as well.
And let’s face it – you wouldn’t be surprised if we get another Ben Wilson-esque incident…