A point is a point…
Yesterday must be one of those times where you may have predicted a 0-0, would have taken one beforehand, and still end up a tad disappointed when it came to pass.
It might have been the post-Franchise hangover (there were one or two AFCW-related places that were still rewinding back last weekend, forgetting we were about to play Bradford).
It could have been having half an eye on Newcastle this Tuesday, or it could even just be that no matter what happens in life, Bradford 0 Wimbledon 0 at Valley Parade is almost guaranteed.
A cursory glance of the highlights this morning demonstrates that Tilley can’t shoot, Goodman is looking more solid, and that the disallowed goal was probably offside.
Not sure if Mr M Stevens entirely agreed with the decision, though.
We were maybe lucky to not give away a penalty, and when Hippo somehow managed to hit both posts with one shot, you knew we weren’t scoring.
I haven’t bothered listening to JJ’s post game interview, but I guess it’s a case of nabbing the point and going again.
And really, I’m not sure if there’s much more to say. Though I understand the referee wasn’t universally popular.
Wasn’t there some shenanigans (as Nigel Starmer-Smith used to call an on-field brawl) at the end? Perhaps the official was in reserve for the card at Wembley last night and just wanted a bit of practice.
There is one thing though, and it’s quite reassuring – we would have lost this game last season.
Indeed, I think it’s demonstrating our growing confidence in ourselves, that we can go to where many think will finally be promotion contenders and be disappointed we didn’t win.
How long that will last I don’t know, and I’ll be interested to find out what happens when we lose a couple of games.
Certain haters of our current manager will be quite happy with that, I guess. And won’t be shy in letting us all know about it.
But I find myself casting my mind back to when we returned to Valley Parade when we went down, and how much pre-match doom I had before then.
Here’s the SW19 match report from that very afternoon, oddly enough almost two years to the exact date.
I remember the optimism that started to come through that afternoon, after the feeling of depressive expectancy when we went a goal down after about seven minutes.
It’s a different team twenty-four months on. Hell, in some ways it’s a different club.
Looking back, I think we were in a lot more trouble that 22/23 season than we realised, and our post-January slump might have been a symptom of that.
The Mark Robinson era probably damaged us more than first thought, although it did result in us hiring Craig Cope (PBUH).
There was quite a decent interview with him in the SLP last week with him, which went under the radar**, which I’ve criminally not read through yet.
** – you may have noticed certain sections of the AFCW cyberverse going absolutely full-blown over some Dons Trust constitutional procedures this week.
Leaving aside how absolutely fucking tedious it was to wade through – especially in the days after we gubbed Franchise – it just serves as a reminder that for a few, the football almost seems irrelevant…
Cope is one of the big reasons for the turnaround between going to Valley Parade in September 2022 and two years later.
Others should take the credit too, JJ amongst them, but you forgot just how quickly things have turned around in that time.
And maybe it will get even better?
All of this no doubt misplaced optimism leads us to Tuesday, and a game that is the free-est of free hits.
I expect we’ll put on a good display against Newcastle, but their second (or third) string is likely to be too strong for us in the end.
Think of the West Ham League Cup game, or Liverpool at KM, and you’ll get the idea.
True, the Carabao doesn’t have the glamour of the FA Cup and in some ways post-Tuesday will be an afterthought if we lose.
But you never quite know what will happen, especially in a competition the Toon probably aren’t going to be massively bothered by.
That said, they were apparently utter shite against Fulham yesterday (wonder if they’re staying down in SW London until Tuesday?) and they have the Oil State derby on Saturday too.
Their supporters don’t seem happy with them, and Plough Lane v2.0 could be like v1.0 if they’re not careful.
So you do wonder what kind of Newcastle we’ll face. We’ll find out in due course, but all we need to do is make sure everyone is 100% on it.
Bit like how we eventually were against Ipswich, although this time round it does feel like we’re playing a proper Premier League side.
It’ll be exciting, though. And after all, that’s one of the most important things of supporting a football club to begin with…