If nothing else when playing Shrewsbury, at least one can make a Shakespearian quip…
Your editor is not cultured enough to make a Bard-related comment about Slop 1 Salop 1, although our lack of fire power remains obvious.
A tragedy, almost.
And really, that’s what today has boiled down to – our impotence up front can no longer be ignored by those who matter.
Don’t get me wrong here. We tried hard at least, and Assal’s header for the goal was great.
But we now have the most important 48 hours ahead of us for some time. Because if we don’t do something up front – we’re in shit.
I hope this game makes us realise that now. If we had Ollie Palmer, or even Joe Piggot out there today, we would have stood a good chance of winning.
Instead, we had Ablade starting, who was then replaced by Cosgrave. Lads who have been asked to do a men’s job.
No fault of theirs that they’ve been thrown into such a difficult situation, but they should not be leading the line.
Christ, when Aaron Pressley is now the most senior striker at the club, you know we’ve got problems.
Cosgrave could be good, he showed a few nice touches, although Ablade already gives me the Folivi vibes.
But being recalled after playing on loan at Dover is something we shouldn’t have to do this season.
There’s no real point in writing about the match itself. We showed a few decent touches, but it was a poor goal to concede.
Simply put though, we know what needs to be done.
I say “we”, but that’s the supporters. Does MR? Does his coaching staff, or this “football committee” we have?
I’m writing this without hearing his post-match comments, so I could be unfair here, but the last thing we need is another youngster fresh from a Premier League Academy.
There might be a bit of light on the horizon (is that the right metaphor?), if our signing of Lee Brown was anything to go by.
His arrival was too late for your editor to make the effort of doing a write-up, but he’s the kind of experience our youngsters need.
The way he was geeing up the south stand when we won a second half corner sticks in my mind, even now.
But we need more of his ilk, and in the obvious position too.
The games will start coming thick and fast, and we can no longer dawdle.
From now until 11pm on Monday will be tense, and it doesn’t help that transfers are notoriously stop-start until the dotted line is signed.
Today might be the lesson on that we so badly need. The question is, will we learn it?
Anyway…
Plus points: We didn’t lose. Assal’s header. Lee Brown’s debut. Knowing we could be better with just one addition.
Minus points: We didn’t win. Usual striking woes. Knowing we could be better with just one addition.
The referee’s a…: Booked Assal for “diving”, and didn’t exactly get much better from then on.
Them: Bit more organised up front than we were, and it was interesting somebody afterwards suggested they were better than Ipswich last Tuesday.
They are also the kind of team we have to be beating if we’re to be in L1 next season.
Shrewsbury are managed by Steve Cotterill, of course, and I’m not sure what reception he got from us.
Did he ever play at the original Plough Lane? From memory he was part of a joint deal with John Gayle, although I could be totally wrong on that score.
Plenty of their fans down at SW17, 838 of them to be precise, and all seemed to be happy in a place with regular bus service…
Point to ponder: NGW was AWOL, and could he end up being a surprise move out?
We’ll know by Tuesday morning, but if we’re in a sell-to-buy situation, somebody like him could add to the coffers.
He’s one of those players who seems to get mentioned as “being on the radar” whenever the transfer window is open, for reasons you can never quite fathom why.
Obviously, you don’t want to lose Rudoni and Assal as well as OP, and because of that you’d think we’d let him go rather than those.
Even if he’s staying with us, the temptation for AFCW must be to move on some of the more replacable ones (who are ours) in return for an on-field upgrade.
Mebude didn’t feature either, although he might have had an injury.
With the amount of loans we have you do wonder if some will be returning with a “thanks but no thanks” letter as well.
Lee Brown was apparently purchased with some of the OP money. Perhaps we’ll be needing a little bit more from somewhere else before Cheltenham…?
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) “Why do they put a carpet shop next to a football ground?”. Two lads before the game while walking past Carpet Right. They’ll figure out why when they get older. If they still act like ten year olds by then, they can get to be town planners. 2) First league goal for us at PL since 27 November.
Anything else? That game where we last found the net in a League game at Plough Lane was also your editor’s last league trip to SW17.
I went to Cheltenham in the FA Cup since, but as somebody said to me before the game – something slightly different changes every visit.
It’s fair to say we’ve got more used to it now, people seem to know where they’re going for a start.
Queuing seems less than a free-for-all, and a bit more organised – it even has those divider things that you queue up in a bank branch**.
** – for anyone under 50 – a “bank branch” is a physical place, where people used to go to pay things like “cheques” in. Ask an elderly acquaintance what they are.
Your editor had to go to Lloyds Bank in Wimbledon on Friday. It was a little bit like stepping back into the old days doing so.
Today also saw SwipeStation open. Not a bad concept TBH, though they need to be careful the pints aren’t standing for too long.
Even now, it’s still a bit hard to take in just how big it is behind the south stand. At least it’s future proof, which KM certainly wasn’t.
There is talk of it being a BoxPark type place, and if that was to happen it would make a bit of sense.
We already have some of the hipster street food outlets, and a craft beer place selling, er, craft beer.
Have we parted ways with Wimbledon Brewery, by the way?
What struck me today though was how familiar it felt. Whenever something is new, it takes a bit of time for it to feel that way.
But I now know what bus to take, what time to leave home, what time I will arrive etc. Things that make it just a little less hassle.
And I still know that you can’t buy a sodding cup of tea anywhere behind the south stand…
So, was it worth it? We got a point, I suppose.
In a nutshell: Very big two days ahead…