Friday, November 13, 2009

MK Dons preview


After a depressing week in which we exited tamely from two Cup competitions (thus completing the season's trio of exits to supposedly ‘lesser teams’), the focus returns to League One.

The optimists amongst the Charlton faithful, are willing to look through two months of poor form, and maintain that the league table doesn’t lie.

However there is a gang of half a dozen or so teams right behind us, and defeat on Saturday will not only see us exit the promotion spots for the first time, but could conceivably leave us just a two point cushion from 7th place.

Each of Norwich, Huddersfield and Colchester face straightforward looking home games and are all in form, with the Us notably in a position to leapfrog us too. The table may indeed not lie, but it can sometimes be economical with the truth.

It has been a strange season so far. As I’ve mentioned many times before, those first six games were won in style but now with hindsight it is clear that the stability of those eleven players was vital, whilst the fixture list was kind too.

The six defeated sides are currently placed 24th, 23rd, 18th, 16th, 12th and 11th respectively. As Manchester United proved last season however, beating the lousy teams is often enough to achieve glory (they dropped only 11 points in their 32 matches against teams outside the top four).

However that argument rather falls apart when you consider points we recently dropped against the likes of Gillingham (19th) and Carlisle (15th).

The problems can be traced back to the first enforced change (Spring for Semedo) to that eleven which started the first eight matches.

We beat Exeter that day, but three days later got walloped in embarrassing fashion at Colchester (which was the catalyst for the first ‘voluntary’ change, namely Sodje for Llera in the goalless draw at Leeds).

Parkinson reverted to 4-4-2 for the first time at home to Huddersfield (and it appeared to have worked), but we were fortunate to earn a draw with the formation at Gillingham, and the three consecutive defeats then followed even after reverting back to 4-5-1 at Northwich.

The injuries to Rob Elliot and Fraser Richardson were particularly ill-timed, although the decision to instantly replace both with loan signings may have rocked the boat unnecessarily. Certainly Darren Randolph must feel particularly aggrieved having patiently sat on the bench week after week.

So where does all that leave us? Surely the key to 4-5-1 is maintaining possession and waiting for gaps to appear which the likes of Shelvey and Racon can exploit.

As decent as his hold-up play is for example, long balls up to a solitary Deon Burton (or whoever) do not play to the formation’s strengths. There was too much of this on show during both recent Cup games.

Meanwhile, the 4-5-1 surely also works best when it is balanced so that play can be switched just as naturally to the left, as to the right.

However Nicky Bailey is a right-footer playing on the left, and certainly no winger whatever flank he is on. We thus seek to utilize Lloyd Sam disproportionately (a threat easily snuffed out by doubling up on him).

Unfortunately I suspect Parkinson has concluded that given a thin squad of variable quality, it is preferable to be slightly unbalanced than leave any of his genuine class on the bench (ie. Racon, Bailey or Shelvey).

He has experimented with 4-4-2 (by dropping Shelvey), but he has not yet experimented with 4-5-1 but also dropping one of that esteemed trio. In terms of natural left-sided players, Parkinson can opt for one of Leon McKenzie, Luke Holden or Grant Basey.

McKenzie would be the most attacking of the options (but more importantly, he’s perhaps not yet fully fit). Perhaps ideal as a substitute option to maintain the formation, but add greater forward impetus if required.

Basey often comes in for some rather unfair criticism given his lack of pace, but he is hard-working, possesses a very capable left-foot, and his more defensive nature provides a nice counterbalance to the more cavalier Sam.

However most interestingly, perhaps it is young Luke Holden who deserves to be thrown right in at the deep end. His cross for McKenzie’s goal on Wednesday night was a peach, and vitally was delivered with his left-foot. When a team lacks confidence, it’s often those players least affected by it who can offer something productive.

On the website, Parky has cryptically said, “I look at Nick as a captain who inspires people with his performances. He needs to get back to that on Saturday. Whether it's in a different position, all will be revealed at three o'clock.” It seems as though he’s thinking along the same lines; I think the time has come for a change.

However enough rambling about Charlton, what about MK Dons? Charlton have two ex-players in their squad (Llera and McLeod), and they must still be chuckling about the time Alan Pardew called up and bid for their forward. They must have thought the decimal point was in the wrong place.

The whole ‘Franchise FC’ debate is beginning to fade, not least given the romantic story emerging at AFC Wimbledon (which stands for ‘A Fan’s Club’ incidentally).

My view is that the old Wimbledon would undoubtedly have gone out of business by now, given their tiny support, large debts and lack of a stadium. Had this occurred in the ‘natural’ way, I would imagine that there would not have been the impetus for AFC Wimbledon’s formation.

Thus in order to be horrified by what led to the MK Dons, I think one has to both support the idea that a club cannot simply be parachuted into a new area (the ‘franchise’ concept), and support the view that it would have been preferable for Wimbledon simply to have gone bust.

I can certainly relate to the first argument (which goes against the whole concept of a League pyramid), but the second makes no sense to me.

However once the FA approved the move, Wimbledon fans had a choice either to drive up the M1 to watch MK Dons, or get behind the new AFC venture. Importantly, at least they had a choice.

The idea that their club had been ‘stolen’ was irrelevant because there would very soon no longer have been a club at all.

Not surprisingly most opted for the latter, whilst contrary to the expectations of some and putting aside any distaste about how they got there, the whole MK Dons project has been a clear success on and off the pitch (average attendances better than Millwall, not a high bar admittedly).

I consider it to be a win-win situation (because of my argument above that it was only the existence of MK Dons which galvanized the Wimbledon fans to rebuild a club from scratch).

And finally, if you support the concept of a League pyramid, how come AFC Wimbledon magically ended up in Combined Counties League Premier Division, and not its Division One? Or a lower league for that matter?

Whilst you ponder that, I’m going to suggest Parky will line Charlton up as follows: Randolph, Richardson, Youga, Dailly, Sodje, Bailey, Racon, Semedo, McKenzie, Sam, Burton. Subs: Ikeme, Llera, Basey, Shelvey, Spring, Mooney, Holden.

NY Addick predicts: Charlton 2 (Burton, Sodje), MK Dons 0. Att: 15,933.

62 Comments:

At 5:51 PM, Blogger Ken Jennings said...

A very welcome positive going into the weekend. be right, NYA. be right!

 
At 6:56 PM, Anonymous Real Don said...

The point about AFC WImbledon. They joined the pyramid way above where they should have done. You should really start in local Sunday Leagues or maybe County leagues. It seems that if you come from one of the highest earning areas in Britain you can break the rules. What they really should have done was to have bought themselves a league position like we did in Milton Keyenes instead of starting down there in whatever the Combined Counties league is. Thank God Pete saved the real Wimbledon, I mean MK don.

 
At 7:00 PM, Anonymous WakefieldWomble said...

The Combined Counties League didn't have a 1st Division at that time.

 
At 7:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What an ill informed piece of crap written about the AFC/Franchise situation. A Charlton fan in New York? it certainly reads like it.

 
At 7:15 PM, Blogger Marco. said...

Good piece NY.
It really made me think and that's never a bad thing!

How are your plans for a return to Blighty progressing?

 
At 7:18 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

Hi Marco - it's a stressful time (especially with two young kids), but we're getting there. Will hopefully be at the Southend game which will is something to look forward to at least!

 
At 7:22 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

'AFC' does NOT stand for 'A Fans Club'.

The old club would not have just gone bust. Administration, yes, but not insolvent. It's very difficult for football clubs to go insolvent.

Thus, you should be horrified. ;-)

Good Luck tomorrow against the franchise scum.

 
At 7:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Should Charlton have been allowed "to die naturally" when The Valley was closed and the fan base disapppeared?

 
At 7:29 PM, Anonymous WimbledonMoron said...

quote "it was only the existence of MK Dons which galvanized the Wimbledon fans to rebuild a club from scratch" unquote. If it was not for Hitler we would never have had a found a great patriot like Winston and had the chance to see how good 'tommy' was in a war. Thank you MKDons for giving us morons in Wimbledon the chance to build a football team called Wimbledon. How can we ever thank you. (Don't answer that)

 
At 7:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ive always had a soft spot for Charlton and their fans. I;m not so sure after reading this drivel.

 
At 7:43 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

I don't see how Wimbledon would have avoided outright insolvency without say a new 10,000+ stadium in Merton, or nearby. How could they ever have become profitable yet also compete on the pitch, and/or who would have funded those deficits?

As it happens I've always liked Wimbledon and now always look out for AFC's results. Virtually every 'neutral' would love to see you back in the Football League.

Wimbledon was a victim of its own success ultimately, as well obviously as some very dubious owners.

As some comments imply, Charlton and Wimbledon had very similar experiences, albeit a decade or so apart. Charlton were once also touted as potentially moving to MK, long before Wimbledon were.

No of course I wouldn't have been happy for Charlton to die a natural death, but we also would have gone the same way without the Borough of Greenwich eventually allowing us back to The Valley.

Given that the comments above suggest I've haven't understood what really happened, perhaps someone can elucidate?

 
At 7:48 PM, Anonymous The Anonymous Don said...

You're correct in that the club was going out of business, what you don't realise is that appeared to have been part of the business plan of the Norwegians once they realised their money making Irish franchise would never get off the ground.

Ths was to allow someone like Winkleman to come along, buy the club out of administration, and do whatever he felt like with it. In his case, he moved to Milton Keynes.

If the Norwegians had allowed Dons fans to make them an offer to take the club off their hands, there would have been no shortage of help from the fanbase, however we would have dropped like a stone (possibly finding ourselves in the same position that we find ourselves now...).

The difference being, we have earned our current league position (we joined at the lowest level of senior football at the time, and as a senior club couldn't have played junior or intermediate level football, however hilarious a voyage from Division Seven of the Kingston and District League would have been!). So you must be able to understand the anger of those of us forced to earn the right to play in the division we are now.

Apart from that, decent attempt to play devil's advocate, its been done before and is sloppy around the edges, but I would expect that of anyone writing about something they didn't properly understand.

Finally I really really hope you stuff them tomorrow, your result will be the second us Dons fans look for.

 
At 7:48 PM, Anonymous laurence said...

suggest you pop over to www.wisa.org.uk and click on history to find out the real story

 
At 7:50 PM, Anonymous The Anonymous Don said...

Oh, by the way, on which side of the fence do you sit? Yankies or Mets???

 
At 7:52 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

Sounds like a loaded question, but the Mets.

 
At 7:55 PM, Anonymous The Anonymous Don said...

Sorry, was a straight question! However I do have my hardy New Englander wife reading over my shoulder who would have insisted on a more aggresive response if you got the answer 'wrong'!

 
At 7:58 PM, Blogger Behind The Mike said...

What absolute tripe.

Firstly, I don't think it's your place to lecture Dons fans on what action they should have taken in 2002.

Until the events of May 28th 2002 happen to you and your club, then you should butt out.

It's particularly ironic too, given that you support a club that is all about the local community, yet you say we had a choice, one of which would be to deludedly travel up the M1 to follow a club that has no relevance to South London - our community - anymore.

New name, new badge, new colours, 70 miles away..... is that something you'd be happy to have inflicted on you and your club?

In case you hadn't noticed - the Franchise are one division below where they started, and if your use of the term "clear success" alludes purely to attendances and a new stadium, then maybe your current location is where you're best suited to stay - it's clearly where your mind is at.

Your assertion that the Dons would have gone bust anyway is not just irrelevant, but also pure speculation - low crowds and financial troubles tend to result in a plunge down the divisions (sound familiar?) rather than relocation.... how come the likes of Rochdale, Barnet, Accrington & Macclesfield are still based where they are?

Finally, there was no Combined Counties league Division 1 - and the CCL Premier was the lowest level the respective Police forces would allow us to join, given the numbers that would be following us - the old Health and Safety chestnut I'm afraid, sorry to disappoint you.

It would be all too easy in this situation to brand you and your club a bunch of w*****s, or whatever, given your comments, or to wish ill upon them - but thankfully I know enough fair-minded Charlton fans, to not tar or associate them with the same lame-brained, crass and insensitive remarks that seem to be your trademark.

At least get your fact straight before judgemental pen is put into gear.

 
At 7:58 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

It'd be pretty difficult to have the pessimistic mindset of a Charlton fan, and then to have followed the Yankees.

By the way, a serious question that I've always wondered about.....do any former Wimbledon fans now follow MK Dons?

 
At 8:03 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

Michael, all of those clubs you mentioned have a stadium and none of the enormous debts that Wimbledon was stuck with. All the points you make are valid, but no-one has answered the question about the stadium, or lack thereof.

How can you be so sure that Wimbledon would have emerged intact from administration, rather than gone the way of Aldershot or Maidstone?

 
At 8:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi NY - this is a pretty emotive subject for Wimbledon fans so to suggest the club should have been allowed to die is not going to go down too well. It's worth knowing that Wimbledon FC were actually in pretty rude health before the Franchise move. These debts you talk about are a fallacy. The club didn't stay in the Premiership for 14 years by fluke. Koppell and company misled many into believing the club was in massive debt. It wasn't. The figures they presented to make their case had one glaring omission - the massive profits made on transfer sales. Yes, chances are the club would have struggled to bounce back from relegations and we may have found ourselves in the 'natural level' of League One/Two - ironically something we look on course to do over the next few years. Very few clubs really die. the likes of Scarborough, Aldershot, Maidstone - to name but a few - may go bust and suffer demotion - but they all still live on.

 
At 8:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

PS - it was the Franchise that went into administration. Not the Real Wimbledon.

 
At 8:35 PM, Anonymous The ghost of Plough Lane said...

To answer your comment about a stadium, the fall-back position for the owners of Wimbledon FC was rumoured to be Kingsmeadow where AFCW now play. Certainly, I've heard from reliable sources that Charles Koppel met senior people at Kingston Council just 12 or so months before AFCW officials did. So Wimbledon FC could have been playing where AFCW now play but maybe 1 or 2 leagues higher. (Kingsmeadow is roughly the same distance from central Wimbledon as Plough Lane, Wimbledon's original ground was)

 
At 11:03 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

You've started something here NYA, are you Frankie in disguise?!!

 
At 11:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ketts you pinched my punchline!

Big difference though; the contributors above make well articulated points.

I recall Frankie's protagonists were a tad on the coarse side most of the time...

Pembury Addick

 
At 7:39 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Sorry Pembers!! Agreed NYA does attract a better clas of protagonist.

Serious question for the AFC fans. If NYA has got it wrong your annoyance is understandable, as are your feelings towards the MK Dons.

But this site is not linked to Newsnow so has to be searched for. The article is entitled MK Dons preview, why would you want to read it?

Glad you did mind, your thoughts are interesting & informative.

 
At 9:14 AM, Blogger Marco. said...

Is it safe to come out now?

 
At 10:52 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kets, you would be suprised how many of us Wimbledon fans surf the net looking for Mk Dongs apologists. You would also be suprised how much hard work, effort and passion has gone in to getting AFC Wimbledon where they are today. 250 volunteers, 2,500+ season ticket holders, a bloody great journey. If you're ever in the area NYA and Chalton aren't playing come along!

 
At 11:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I suggest you do a bit more research before espousing revisionist bull that David Irving would be proud of.

 
At 12:21 PM, Anonymous Inspector Sands said...

As a Charlton fan and AFC Wimbledon shareholder, I hope we smash the Franchise into next week.

I'm sad at the number of fellow Charlton fans starting to fall for Pete Winkleman's bullshit - I suspect the old WFC, if left alone, would probably have settled at being a second/third tier club if the people in charge had actually sought to look for a new ground in the local area. But the people in charge of WFC weren't interested in that, they were only interested in money.

MK Dons is a Frankenstein club, stolen from its community and given to a community which was happy to let its own non-league club, Milton Keynes City, wither and die.

The Franchise troll at the top of this thread has some front claiming AFC Wimbledon started "too high" up the leagues - most reformed clubs come back in at around that level. Of course, MK Dons should have started out in the Spartan South Midlands League, where MK City left off.

The first chairman of AFC Wimbledon's a mate of mine, so I've had the privilege of watching that team grow from its first match at Sutton to seeing them at Millwall on Monday, with an away support that outsung the Spanners around me. AFCW are starting to look like the the league side WFC would have ended up as, and with a community programme that would shame many of its larger neighbours.

Remember, Charlton were nearly snuffed out of existence once by financial mismanagement, and secondly by Ron Noades and John Fryer's merger plans. How many Charlton fans would not want to spit in Ron Noades' face for what he put our club through at Selhurst? So why are we now suddenly condoning another club killer in Pete Winkleman?

Charlton fans who have any time for MK Dons should think long and hard about our own history for trying to rewrite others'.

 
At 2:17 PM, Anonymous Cheshire womble said...

Points to ponder: 1. Had Wimbledon fc gone bust, Wimbledon (afc style) would have been created, fans don't let their club die, M****n k****s would still not have a league club. 2. Winkleman had attempted to lure clubs including qpr, barnet , Northampton and Luton going back to when the town was created (60's), where were Wimbledon in the 60's? 3. Teams do not not always start at the very bottom, but starting at level 9 was still a long way down tbd pyramid, rules and safety issues aside, judging by our record in ccl days, we would have eased through any lower divisions, but we have earned our current status, Telford united had to reforPoints to ponder: 1. Had Wimbledon fc gone bust, Wimbledon (afc style) would have been created, fans don't let their club die, M****n k****s would still not have a league club. 2. Winkleman had attempted to lure clubs including qpr, barnet , Northampton and Luton going back to when the town was created (60's), where were Wimbledon in the 60's? 3. Teams do not not always start at the very bottom, but starting at level 9 was still a long way down tbd pyramid, rules and safety issues aside, judging by our record in ccl days, we would have eased through any lower divisions, but we have earned our current status, Telford united had to reform, they were fortunate to reform quickly, and only dropped 2 league rungs and kept the ground, we had to drop 7, and some people don't think that was far enoughm, they were fortunate to reform quickly, and only dropped 2 league rungs and kept the ground, we had to drop 7, and some people don't think that was far enough

 
At 5:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You are back in our good books again, Charlton ;)

 
At 7:26 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

In order to satisfy my own curiosity, rather than to seek to prove a point, I dug out the audited accounts of Wimbledon FC for the year to 30 Jun 2001.

Given the club was relegated from the Premiership in May 2000, and the MK project began taking shape later that year, it was seemed the correct period to assess the financial state of the club.

Here are a few observations:

- vitally, the auditors cited 'fundamental uncertainty' which may suggest the 'going concern' basis for the accounts 'may not be valid' (in other words, if the MK move did not materialise);

- turnover was £8m, down from £14.6m during that final Premiership season, and the operating loss was £7m up from £2.4m;

- the club had a negative book value of £5.8m, including a £6.0m deficit on the P&L account;

- total creditors were £17m, including trade creditors and debts to the parent company (Aker RGI);

- unbelievably, wages and salaries were £13.3m (equivalent to over 150% of turnover), and only down marginally from £14.2m the year before - the total no. of employees had actually increased!;

- as one of the comments above points out, the club was able to sell a number of players - the £13m net cash outflow from operations was offset by a net £14.6m in transfer fee receipts (the likes of Cort, Thatcher, Hreidarsson, and Gayle) - subsequent to year-end, the also sold Jason Euell to Charlton;

- however, the desperate state of the balance sheet was after these sales, and other than Euell the only players subsequently sold for proper cash was Cooper for £1m and Reo-Coker for £500k ie. virtually all of the valuable players left had effectively already been sold, so that source of finance was gone.

Based upon the terrible state of the club's finances, I find the assumption that the club could have just entered administration and emerged intact (without a stadium, or any means to finance one) to be somewhat dubious, which was my point all along.

 
At 7:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, you are an MK Dons apologist NYA. Lets just hope Charltons' directors call in their loans shall we. What has happened to your ladies team? Charlton don't care about community; they have coaches stealing fans from all over Kent. Reo-Coker et all were sold below market value because of the clubs plight- they were asset stripped. It is a shame that NYA who comes across articulate and clever just doesn't ''get it''

 
At 7:53 PM, Blogger Marco. said...

The ladies team was a PR disaster when it folded but hardly even remotely connected to efforts in the community.
In fact, it was due to the club wanting to continue the community projects that fripperies such as the ladies team had to be cut.
As for stealing fans, any fan that would jump ship from another club just because someone advertised a bus wasn't really a fan anyway.

 
At 11:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I often read thix blog and usually agree in general with the views expressed, but as a fellow exiled cafc fan, I have to distance myself hugely from this post. We should be showing solidarity for AFC W, as 'there but for the grace of God' went our Club not so long ago (and might yet in the future).

I can therefore understand most of the Womble's wrath, apart from the person who seems to think Reo-Coker played for us...

And I'll do my best to forgive Marco's ignorance in calling the ladies' team a frippery. Of Italian descent, are we?

Anyway, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1...

 
At 12:14 AM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

I have solidarity with AFC Wimbledon - I think it's a fabulous story and I wish them more success (I hope that's now clear, and I made the point in the original post).

My point was that I think that at worst without the MK option, the old Wimbledon would either have been liquidated (worst case) or would have emerged from administration, shorn of their playing assets. They would still be ground-sharing and likely at best in League Two, or even back in non-League (ironically).

Who do you think would get the bigger crowds today, the current manifestation of AFC Wimbledon (with their fans aroused by perceived injustice), or 'old' Wimbledon with no money, a lousy team and no ground?

 
At 10:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Question for New York chappie: If CAFC were moved to New York and AFC Charlton started up a few miles away form The Valley, whom would you support?

 
At 11:20 AM, Anonymous Rob C said...

It's worthwhile pointing out that MK Dons' auditors also consider them not to be a "going concern" - they're losing about £2m per season. Furthermore, they don't have direct ownership of their stadium, either.

If the move to MK was meant to "save the club", it's spectacularly failed, both because the essence of the original Wimbledon FC was effectively killed by the move, and because the club they created in MK to replace it is also clinging to life only by its fingernails.

 
At 12:21 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

NYA - maybe we would be in league two, maybe the conference, but it would be through a natural process of promotion and relegation, rather than stealing someone else's league place. If we had took over the club, would we still have Gibbs? Mackie? Even after getting rid of the high earners we had some bloody good youth players coming through.

As for who would have the bigger crowds - it would be pure speculation. Just as there is a great story around AFC Wimbledon's rise, there are many many fans who simply walked away from football when the move happened, or who went elsewhere. Many also got fed up of Selhurst - I'd imagine if AFC Wimbledon played there we would not have the same impetus as we do now. You could argue either way as to who would have the bigger crowds, to be honest, and both sides would have credible points.

There is little to suggest we would have gone insolvent given the state of football these days - overspend, go into administration, agree a penny in the pound deal with creditors, continue as before.. it may be ludicrous but it would have meant we could wipe out debts fairly easily. Regardless of our possibilities though, no club has a right to simply insert themeselves at the 2nd or 3rd tier of English football without earning it!

 
At 3:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And just to reiterate AGAIN to NYA, the real Wimbledon never went into administration. So you might want to stop repeating that.

 
At 3:48 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

"...the real Wimbledon never went into administration."

But it clearly would have done, and in my view would not have emerged intact. The administrator would have needed proof that the restructured company would be viable again as a going concern, else it would have been burning through assets that could have been sold to pay off the original creditors.

Attendances had already fallen to around 5,000 for a team in the top half of the Championship in 01/02, not much more than AFC are getting now in the Conference.

Admittedly the parlous state of the club's finances may have been the result of a deliberate mismanagement by the owners, but it was still 'Wimbledon FC'.

My main point continues to be the fact that however morally wrong it may have been to relocate to MK, I ultimately think it was irrelevant to the future of the 'old' Wimbledon.

More importantly it allowed the creation of AFC (and acted as direct catalyst thereof) which has been a resounding success, and without all of the legacy problems (the club had a negative profit and loss reserve - you don't have to be an accountant to know that's not a sign of a healthy business).

 
At 6:04 PM, Anonymous dean from bexley said...

i can promise you wimbledon fans that 99 percent of charlton fans are right behind you and see mk dons as a nasty little FRAUD of a club......and one who thinks not is just looking to create a stir.

 
At 7:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice one, Dean.
NYA - I am Wimbledon fan and I'm here with my Addick mate. We reckon you might be a bored (and possibly under-achieving) accountant? (She's watching Dr Who at the moment so she hasn't checked the wording - I added the adjectives.) You haven't answered this yet: Question for New York chappie: If CAFC were moved to New York and AFC Charlton started up a few miles away from The Valley, who would you support? (You can substitute a town 70 miles away from Charlton for NYC if you like.)

 
At 7:53 PM, Anonymous newyorkaddick said...

I didn't understand the relevance of the question, but AFC Charlton of course (and no I'm not an accountant).

Can I make it any clearer that I don't 'support' the existence of MK Dons? I simply consider that that there were two important issues which are mistaken for a single seamless one.

Firstly, could Wimbledon have survived in its previous form (in my opinion no based upon my underachieving perusal of the accounts, but obviously debatable).

Second, was it right that MK could parachute themselves into the Championship? (again in my opinion no, but it was the fault of the old Wimbledon board [who like it or not, owned the club] and the FA for permitting it; Winkelman is a businessman and was entitled to try his luck).

Whilst I'm somewhat touched that I've had a record number of blog comments to a single post, I'm also surprised that a few paragraphs actually praising the AFC Wimbledon story, and daring to suggest that old 'Wimbledon' would have gone bust, has caused such a stir.

 
At 9:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I consider it to be a win-win situation... I didn't understand the relevance of the question...
I'm somewhat touched that I've had a record number of blog comments to a single post..."

OK, so CAFC are now relocated in NYC and AFC Charlton are somewhere in South East London. You support the latter but the former change their name to NY Addicks and, of course, part of their history is that they beat Sunderland in the Play-off Final at Wembley on penalties after a 4-4 draw aet.

I think you may be beginning to "get it"?

Can't be bothered to register or whatever but I'm Naz.

 
At 4:56 PM, Anonymous Cheshire womble said...

quote "Attendances had already fallen to around 5,000 for a team in the top half of the Championship in 01/02, not much more than AFC are getting now in the Conference." as Wimbledon fc in the championship level, we averaged 7000-7500 for the seasons '00-01 & '01-02, this about half we were getting in the prem, which had been made up of large numbers of away support, of which 3000+ were regulars at afc wimbledons inaugaral season, franchise averaged about 2500 with away fans averaging over 1000 of that figure. Another point to ponder, when in 1986 we got promoted to the top flight (alongside charlton, who had nearly gone bust a year or 2 previously), it was a beacon of hope for every club in this country of what could be achieved, now that has been eroded, the premier league, sky tv, the influx of foreigners, the bosman ruling have insured more money is kept at the top, and less being filtered down to grass roots, but recently Wigan, hull and Reading have made their debuts in the premier league, admittely all backed by businessmen, but at least they are honest, and it still included a lot of hard work and planning. The most cutting remark in the franchise saga was the judge ruling on it 'it is a long and arduous route for a club to make it from non-league to the premier league', is that the same long and arduous route that Wimbledon fc embarked between the 60's to '80's, the same long and arduous route that afc Wimbledon started on in 2002, and the same long and arduous route that Milton Keynes could not be bothered with?

 
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