Put jokes about the first day of Lent being like our game yesterday here.
Come to think of it, if you’d found that game and played it for the whole of the tie at Hillsborough, from first whistle to last, you would have had a better time than anyone else.
I know that games like being thumped 5-0 happen, and losing to that scoreline wasn’t entirely unexpected, but that really does suck.
A once off? One would hope so, but it doesn’t exactly give you confidence for the two upcoming fixtures.
I won’t bother to relive any of the “action” by looking at replays. It’s like rewatching a car crash you were in, but with added sound effects.
So instead, I went to JJ’s interview and it was pretty much what I expected it would be.
It wasn’t the longest interview transcript I’ve ever read, I don’t think much needed saying, but this bit just caught my eye:
“I just said to them, whoever is lucky enough to be in starting 11 on Tuesday, I need to see a response because, trust me, whoever is in that team is very, very lucky to be in there.
Bold bit mine.
Often, I’m a bit disappointed when I find after a good performance and result that we’ve got a game the following Tuesday.
Watching us over the years, especially in L1, the good feeling from a win usually gets extinguished 72 hours later.
Which is why I’m quite thankful Mansfield are coming to town on Tuesday, because it will get yesterday out of the system.
JJ this morning must be looking through every position, see who he’s got available in reserve and just put them in without further questions.
Marcus Browne is likely to feature now, and we saw the return of James Tilley too. Though according to witnesses, he looked off the pace and maybe rushed back too soon.
The trouble is, when you’re shit throughout the team, even a decent player like him looks like turd, and we don’t have the luxury (?) of the ex-JPT games to give him extra minutes.
But you would hope that collectively, that won’t matter against Mansfield, and we show much more of what we did at Plymouth up until the 95th minute.
Yes, I still have PTSD.
As old skool Wombles used to say, it’s time we had a home game. Thankfully, it’s only been a month rather than 425 months, although people might need reminding what seat they sit in again.
Your editor was going to be there, but he’s going to Oxford v Wigan on other duties, so I get to miss all the fun.
And I’m off abroad from Wednesday onwards and there’s likely little possibility I will do the morning update like I planned.
Which also means I will miss probably the most important AFCW meeting for a good while.
For those who still don’t know, it’s the meeting with the potential investors which, if you’re a member you’ll have got on your email somewhere.
I very rarely check the DT website, but it’s not on there.
I’ve had a thought about that which I’ll put in a little bit later, but it looks like there’s two information meetings about it.
The first, on Wednesday, is the initial meet-the-investors-here’s-what-they’ve-got-to-say which will hopefully give a lot more clarity.
Voting opens that evening, and there’s a following meeting the following Wednesday (I’m spending the evening in Warsaw so missing all that too).
There’s an EGM two weeks or so later, voting closes a week after that and the result gets announced on the 18th.
A date that may well go down as one of the most significant in Wimbledon history.
It’s basically a month to decide things. There’s going to be a lot of questions arising from the meeting this Wednesday, and in the week afterwards, and it’s important to remember that there is a second meeting to hopefully cover all that.
The main complaint before things are revealed is that there doesn’t seem much time to digest things.
Actually a week to look at it after the initial presentation isn’t that short, and looking at the timelines it’s quickly moving but not so quick that you have to effectively decide in about two days.
Ideally, it should have been done over an eight week period (two weeks inbetween meetings) but we could have done that if we’d had more time.
And, you know, passing the 50+1 vote the first time**. That might have helped, like.
** – lest we forget that only barely failed, and I think those who voted against it because of the DTB might have regretted doing so in hindsight.
The truth is, right now not many people know what will be offered. I expect it will be a suitable cash injection per year, the investors looking to put money into the ground and new training facilities, and a club push towards becoming a pathway for PL Academy players.
The latter seems to be the one that causes a bit of angst, but I don’t think it will be as drastic as that. More of something that other clubs try to do elsewhere.
I guess the key will be whether people will feel comfortable with who comes in. Accountability isn’t exactly great as it is, especially when the whole “we own our club” mantra gets pushed out.
I don’t doubt some will be uneasy about any investors that are “un-named”, and Wednesday would be a good time to placate some of that.
There’s a lot of faults with the DT, and I don’t think we’d miss it one bit if it disappeared tomorrow.
It looks tired, jaded and something from a past era, and not even publicising Wednesday on its website tells its own story.
But I think even those on the DTB have a little bit of nous about what will get it passed.
I expect there’ll be an implied threat of administration if it’s rejected by the members, although they would be actually telling the truth.
And to be honest – unless the proposal is a complete crock of shite, I expect it to pass quite handsomely.
Why? Because we’ve run out of road now.
We have to pick up the can we’ve been kicking down the proverbial road for so long, and the decision we’ve long avoided now can’t be avoided any longer.
The latest Plough Lane Bond is now over £1m but has really struggled to get there. Other fundraising efforts have fallen flat, and that’s not including general cost of matchday attending.
That’s why the second 50+1 vote passed with the record turnout and the record votes in favour – the rank and file were sending a message that they’re prepared to move on.
Now, they’ve got the chance to finally put this club’s modus operandi into professional football in 2026.
If there’s one thing that makes me think we’ll have new (part) owners by January, it’s this. And if Mansfield gub us on Tuesday, that as well.
Because really, it’s what is on the field that ultimately matters. And knowing we might be able to upgrade our starting XI on January 1st 2027 may be the biggest motivation of all…