Lost in Tranlation

 Where did January go?

 

Before you know it, the transfer window is nearly shut, we are hanging on desperately to keep our season alive and then our team have a 12-minute period against them, that has divided opinion on socials. 

 

For the record I didn’t go on Tuesday and never had any intention of going. I went to the first two cup games and decided after that, that no good was coming out of it as the fans giving me some sort of panto performance were under 16 and it was just winding me up. 

 

The feelings on socials and in my WhatsApp groups are that the players constantly don’t perform, don’t turn up and effectively lay on their backs and let them tickle our bellies whenever we play them at their place. 

 

Teams can have periods where nothing goes right for them, they concede goals and are out of the game before you know it. I accept that, but to happen in that fixture hurt and so out of character of this team that has been built this season. We have only lost four on the road and the only time we conceded more than three goals was back in late October at Morecambe, yet we bounced back from that and went on a really good run of wins. 

 

Tuesday night was a weird game to watch on iFollow as this fixture was being talked about non-stop on socials about wether people should go, if they go, don’t buy anything, people even questioning if whether anyone should pay £10 to watch it on iFollow as money went to them. The players come out of the tunnel to silence from home fans, empty seats on the stand opposite and I could barely hear anything from the few hundreds of fans stuck up in the top tier as far away as possible from anyone. I hated seeing us shake hands with their players and closely looking at their faces to make sure they don’t smile or even look the opposition players in the eyes. 

 

The game starts and to be honest it was just like many other starts we have had away from home in that we had some control and attacked freely. Ten minutes later we get exposed on our right and Kemp, who we kept quiet for 90 minutes recently when Swindon visited Plough Lane, has a tap in. The opposition players celebrate in front of empty seats and a little roar from the home fans, but for what we all build up to as a must win, it felt empty. Six minutes later we are opened up again and our ever-dependable Ryan Johnson slices a back pass over Bass and in turn does his ankle and has to go off injured. Again, hardly any noise coming from the speakers on my iPad. We kick off and within another six minutes we concede from a set piece which for us is rare as we are in the top 3 for least goals conceded from set pieces, and the players look naturally deflated and I am ready to turn off my iPad and forget this game ever happened. 

 

When your team is 3-0 down within 22 minutes, you start to daydream and think of better things, but I also looked at the screen and saw a team that looked lost, out of ideas and needing the support of our fans to help them at least recover and stop conceding. This is when it occurs to me that what motivation are they going to get in a game that is so toxic that a defeat feels like more than just 3 points dropped, when they look up to the few hundred placed out of sight and as far away as possible from the pitch. So that means am I personally supporting them from home in a game I want us to win so badly, and then questioning why the players are not turning up. 

 

Let me clarify that I am not moaning at the fans that went to the ground on Tuesday as I know may that went and whilst they don’t need a reason to go to any game, some mentioned to me that they must be there when we beat them, they are supporting the team and a few younger ones were not even born in 2002, but it got me thinking that the message surely is confusing for the players. We tell them how important this game is against them; it’s built up for ages on socials and then when they get to the ground it's just empty black seats they can see. That must be weird for the players to be hyped up in the dressing room before they go out and then it’s like a pre-season kick about in an empty stadium. 

 

So, I suppose the basis of this blog is should we take this more seriously as a club, the Dons Trust and as fans. I didn’t go as I hate the place, yet I want us to win so badly, not to justify our existence, but I just hate the club. I don’t hate their fans as most of them weren’t even born in 2002 and they have a League 2 club on their doorstep that is cheap to get in, sometimes very cheap and they can watch their second team instead of their favoured EPL teams. 

 

It can’t be a coincidence that we have only won once in nine visits and that was in the EFL Trophy. We have lost 6 times there and we have had many managers try and get a victory there. 

 

As a club we don’t mention them by name on any of our comms in the build-up and I listened to the iFollow commentary where they amazingly didn’t mention any players names of the opposition or club for 90 minutes, which in itself is a feat, but again adds to this weird feeling now that this game that is so important to win, is treated with such a weird message. Again, I know Mikey T very well and I understand his reasons for how he treats this game, however its again a club message that confuses me now. 

 

I suppose what I am getting at in a roundabout way, please forgive me, is that I just don’t get it anymore. I hate losing to them, I hate the socials laughing at us after the game, I then hate the messages of we have won anyway from some of our fans before the game starts and I then the hurt of us not turning up AGAIN!!!

 

I remember we lost to them at Plough Lane and Glyn Hodges getting sacked straight after it. I despaired at the club making that decision after they beat us and making it look like such a defeat against them meant the manager must go. It gave their fans another thing to laugh at and it meant we lost a good man from the club and if we decided he needed to go, wait a few days please and not make it look like a direct impact of the defeat. 

 

My frustration was increased later this week with a message from Jake Reeve effectively apologising for the performance and he spoke on behalf of the team. I didn’t get it personally and felt it was a reaction to frustrated posts on socials from fans, yet knowing the comms team well, I can only imagine the dilemma of the right way to respond to the defeat. Your damned if you do and damned if you don’t. People will know that I volunteer for the club and will be doing the live show tomorrow for the Mansfield game. Getting the message right is always important and whilst we will be talking about the defeat very quickly, the build up will be on the game against Mansfield. 

 

The pressures from our fans with so many different approaches to this game is so challenging for anyone at the club and I don’t think they will ever get it right for everyone to be happy. 

 

I also have in the back of my mind how I approach the home fixture against them in just over 30 days from now. It’s a minefield and I fully understand my responsibilities as a representative of the club to be professional, but it’s also an important game that feels like it’s a must win now, which is madness and puts pressure on the players. 

 

But how do we approach it?

 

Should we have interviews galore from the training ground days before?

Should those interviews have a message of how much this game means and that will go out there an win it for the fans?

 

A video message from the captain on the big screen before the game followed by a rally call from Johnnie?

 

Should we have a build-up of rousing music on the PA 15 minutes before they come out and build the fans up into a frenzy?

 

I think I know where I am leaning to now as the hurt and probably confusion on the players performance, I experienced on Tuesday night I want to use before we play them and not react after wondering why we didn’t turn up and they tickled our bellies again. 

Really interested to know what you think about this fixture and what we should do moving forward. 

Let me know in the comments.