Well, you’ve got to have some hope at this stage…
What a week, and we haven’t even had tomorrow at Sheffield Wednesday yet.
It does prove that if seven days is a long time in politics, eight days can be even longer at AFCW.
As a brief (?) recap – a week ago yesterday, the AFCW boards backed Mark Robinson in public.
Last weekend, we lost to Cambridge. Although “abject surrender” is more accurate.
This Monday, the club did a complete 180 and axed MR. Thus rendering their previous support useless.
We waited 24 hours to put in Darius Charles, and then about 28 hours after that, we finally got in Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki as proper managers.
Got all that? Don’t worry, I won’t be asking questions later.
Like TB, NA and Walter before him, the departure of Robbo will linger even after he’s gone.
The reaction since Monday has been interesting in some quarters, and at the risk of a straw-man argument – some still think he should be in charge.
A few of those even think that the guy we parted company with a few days ago was best placed to get us out of L2 next season.
Presumably they mean into the Conference.
Look, it’s a shame somebody with us since 2004 has had to leave the top job and therefore the club.
But Robbo was a busted flush as a Head Coach, and there were hardly any real-world indications it would get better under him.
His time was up, and it was simple as that.
We’re at a club though where some people still haven’t got over Wally Downes getting his P45.
One of the best things MB and EN can do is to put some distance between themselves and a number of our clingy, needy supporters**
** – I include one or two on the Dons Trust Board in that. Hell, *especially* them.
A sort of “we’re the managers of your club, not your mate” approach, if you will.
That’s not quite the same as being aloof from the general support, but too often too many people have been too close to those in charge.
This might explain why we’ve been too reluctant in the past to let go failing managers. It’s harder to oust somebody you’re emotionally invested in.
It might explain the tone of the “Goodbye Robbo” piece the OS put up yesterday.
I don’t doubt this has hurt a lot of people at the club, though you’ll probably need the sick bucket.
And perhaps it’s (over) compensating for the somewhat abrupt manner we announced his departure?
Robbo deserved better than the, ahem, tribute we gave him Monday – a misjudgement akin to the way we announced Walter when he arrived.
But Mark Robinson is the past. Mark Bowen and Eddie Neddy are our present, and our immediate future.
It’s not gone un-noticed that at the time of writing there’s been no official interview with them.
Maybe AFCW is still in an official period of mourning with MR’s untimely death, and it’s considered inappropriate?
Or they’ve taken one look at our squad in training for the first time yesterday and decided to quit?
In truth, I’m pretty sure there’ll be an in-depth one later today. Probably even up as soon as I publish this.
Some may prefer there not to be one, and instead have MB focus on getting at least a point at Hillsbrough.
I have to admit, I’d happily never hear an AFCW manager blow smoke up our arse about how we’re the Greatest Story In Football(TM) again.
That’s cringeworthy at the best of times, and right now proves how little self-awareness some have.
Somebody said when MB was announced that we finally look like a pro football club again. And I know exactly what they mean.
The last “proper” manager we had was Terry Brown. Since then, it’s been Academy managers or ex-WFC heroes who couldn’t repeat the 1980s.
MB doesn’t need to be all matey with supporters, indeed I hope he isn’t.
And I hope he’s able to be likewise with the players. They could have cried to Robbo about Lee Brown calling them out after Plymouth.
But if the guy in charge with nothing to lose feels likewise – they’ve got nowhere to hide.
What this means for the backroom staff is anyone’s guess, though at this stage I can’t see a mass clearout.
I wouldn’t be bothered if Rob Tuvey got demoted to putting out the cones at training again though.
I certainly wouldn’t give a shit if any of the others here because of the “Process” are told to sling their hook.
And we’ll know we’re going in the right direction if when the team is announced, we have subsitutes instead of finishers…