The corridor of uncertainty

 

It's common to hear certain words used by commentators and hear fans on podcasts, social media and general matchday chat use them as if they have been added to the English dictionary. 

For example:-

• Recycle

• Play through the thirds

• High press

• Xg

• Final third entries

• Can he play as a 10

Then you get the cliches like:-

• Can he do it on a wet night in Stoke 

• 2-0 is a dangerous lead

• They scored too early

• This is a 6 pointer.  

And my favourite:-

• He certainly knows where the goal is 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think most of the forwards employed for Wimbledon in the last 5 seasons knew this also, but doesnt mean they could hit it, and more importantly get it past the goalkeeper. 

Whilst doing research for this blog, I was looking at new entries to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 

Recently added:-

• TBH (Abbreviation)

• Copypasta (noun)

• Amirite (interjection)

• FTW (Abbreviation)

Look these up after you have had a go and decoding them.

And one that struck a nerve with me:-

• Whataboutism (noun)

Description is “This word refers to the act of responding to an accusation by saying that somebody else committed an offense that was the same or worse. As in “sure, I was late to work but whatabout that guy who didn’t even show up today?”

Loads of examples of this in recent weeks/months when saying that we are in uncertain times with our ownership model and funding, but whatabout bad owners at clubs like Macclesfield, Bury, Darlington etc. Someone said this to me the other day when we discussed our League Two campaign and said we are struggling but whatabout clubs like Bradford, Swindon Town and Tranmere who are big clubs in these leagues stuck at the level. 

Where am I going with this…. Well it's a case of us comparing ourselves to other clubs or situations when ours is unique in the professional leagues. We have around 3k owners who pay a £25 fee each year to be part of The Dons Trust who own >75% of votes and own AFCW plc - I have added the diagram below from the Dons Trust website to make it seem easier to follow. 

Note: I am assuming that AFCW Stadium Limited now owns Plough Lane. 

The £25 fee was discussed during the May SGM this year and personally I think it should at least be frozen and not increased. You only have to look at the economic situation with energy prices increasingly impacted by the war in Ukraine that then hits every walk of life including food prices. 

The interest rate is increasing all the time and that means any loan we may need to get for the club is going to be even more expensive, surely!

The Dons Trust have an SGM this week (Thursday 13th October 2022) and it is going to have some interesting discussions, especially this:-

The PLC and Trust medium-term financial planning will require considering the best available routes to provide refinancing and improve the club’s ongoing profitability. We therefore intend in 2023 to explore, in consultation with members, a range of options that could include making more equity available. For example, whether members would support selling more of the Trust-owned equity in AFC Wimbledon plc (ie down from 75% towards 50%+1) and what additional safeguards or governance provisions might need to accompany any such change. These explorations would include indicative votes, temperature tests and consultations before any formal proposals are brought to a vote.

We believe it is best to achieve agreement on the structural and board make-up changes in these documents first before we progress into this second round of consultations.

Why is this important?

Well it's the first time I have seen the Dons Trust Board [DTB] look seriously at the famous German model of 50+1 ownership. There is no doubt that finances are going to be tough for every business and every individual and this is going to be interesting to see how it is received. 

The 2022 DTB elections are coming up and nominations opened yesterday, with six places available. This is probably the biggest change in personnel on the DTB for as long as I can remember with eight elected DTB members and two co-opted members. Such a big change during a time of uncertainty is unsettling people, me included. 

We must have a contested election this year and I am always a strong believer that yearly DTB elections should have at least double the amount of people standing for the available positions. I am not confident this will happen this year during such a difficult time for the club. You only have to see the personal abuse the DTB have received on social media (which is shocking and not acceptable tbh) to wonder if it's worth the hassle. We already know that Charlie Talbot is not restanding now that his two year term has come to an end and Graham Stacey is standing down one year into a two year term. 

I know Graham will not enjoy me recycling his comments that announced him confirming his intention to stand down but I am surprised that copypasta has not happened with. 

Graham said “It has been an absolute privilege to serve the greatest fans in the country and I hope I have been able to make a small difference over the course of the three years, but I now feel the DTB is heading in a new direction where it would be more fitting for others to step in.”

What is this new direction?

Is it the 50+1 direction or something else?

I am sure it will come out in the wash. 

Sutton United visit Plough Lane on Saturday which is a defining fixture and these always seem to come along at the wrong time, as if the fixture computer can see into the future and give us a fixture that we don’t really need at this point. 

It's like full circle that we welcome Sutton to Plough Lane in a competitive league fixture twenty years after they welcome us for our first ever game as AFC Wimbledon. Sutton finished 12th in the 2001/02 Isthmian League (6th tier) when they took us on at Gander Green Lane in the summer of 2002. 

We never played Sutton in a competitive non-league fixture during our rise from non-league but I can’t forget the 1-0 away win at Sutton in the 2005 Surrey Senior Cup Semi-Final. Anthony Howard scored the winner and ended up paying in goal for the final nine minutes. 

Saturday feels like a ‘must not lose’ game. 

No disrespect to Sutton, but we bypassed them during non-league and when we won promotion to League One in 2016, Sutton had just beaten Chelmsford City 2-0 at home to win the National League South with a game to spare. Sutton have come from three levels below us to now play us in League Two, in which must be a big game for them also. 

Yesterday's defeat at Walsall continues to create uncertainty for me as we need consistency and after a good second half performance at Bradford, a home win against Colchester United, to then lose 3-1 after a decent first half performance at Walsall is a kick in the nuts. 

We are now twelve games into this season and lost six league games already, with six of those defeats in the last nine games. 

Is it just me, but do we seem to be picking up injury after injury!!

We welcomed back skipper Alex Woodyard yesterday and then welcomed Paris Maghoma and George Marsh to the treatment room to join an endless number of players. We moved Towler from centre-half to defensive midfield yesterday and Paul Kalambayi returned after, yes you guessed it, another injury to the team, in central defence. 

Forgive me for feeling worried about Saturday, but a defeat at home to Sutton could bring the terrible year we have had as Wimbledon fans result wise at Plough Lane, to an unfavourable point. 

Two League wins in 2022 at Plough Lane tells you how bittersweet it has been. An absolutely wonderful stadium that is ours, yet opposition teams seem to enjoy it more between 3pm and 5pm than we do. 

Build up this week is going to be massive as Johnnie Jackson sounded really down in the post-match interview and he is going to need to pick up the players and the club need to pick him up, as I can’t help think that all the uncertainty around the club and squad in terms of squad depth and constant injuries, is taking its toll on a manager who needs and deserves the love and support from everyone and go FTW.