The Diary

22 October 2003: A Dons Smash And Grab!

Right, then. Where the hell do I start? How the hell do I defend the indefensible? I really can?t, because what happened tonight was an utter bloody disgrace. Talk about being caught up in a time-warp; there were times tonight when I honestly felt I?d been transported back to the dark days of Burkinshaw, Buckley and/or Brian Little. Don Howe? Quite probably. A comedy of errors and tactical indecisiveness, failure to even get out of our own half at times, topped by a late killer-blow, courtesy McAnuff. One bloody chance, one bloody goal. For heaven?s sake, we were up against a side at the bottom of the heap, not the flaming table-toppers! Fair play to Wimbledon, who defended with more tenacity than a leaky tube of super-glue, then sneaked in with that cheeky winning strike ten minutes or so from the end. Fair play also to their supporters ? all 25 of them, according to our mate Chris Hartle, who took time off from chemotherapy to watch the game, albeit from the away-end ? who must have been in dire need of medical attention themselves after witnessing that heart-stopping turn up for the books.

I simply refuse to believe we didn?t know already how Wimbledon would set their stall out; apparently, when they played Forest at the weekend, they shoved pretty well everyone back and conceded the midfield in an effort to prevent the home side getting on the score sheet, and because of that, it wasn?t until around halfway through the first half before the deadlock was finally broken, with a penalty. After that, of course, Forest showboated to that 6-0 win, but surely there must have been someone from our club present to see this? In any case, if I knew about it simply by reading newspapers and trolling through the internet, then surely someone on our coaching staff must have been aware, or been tipped off, and had the brains to realise what was going to happen when we played them?

And assuming we did know what the visitors were going to do, why weren?t Sakiri and Koumas on right from the start? It takes skill and creativity in midfield to unlock a rock-solid uncompromising formation like that, which was something singularly lacking during tonight?s first half. Plenty of ?hoof-and-hope-for-the-best?, though, which was a style more in keeping with that of our opponents, rather than a side absolutely coruscating with skilled and creative players, and boasting in its ranks a plethora of full internationals. And why hold back in the first half? As I said last night, the way to sort out that lot was to go at them, quickly, and hard, no messing. During the game, we saw more than ample evidence that if put under a modicum of pressure, cracks would appear, and, just like at Forest, once penetrated, the likelihood was they?d fold like an accordion newly out of wind. Why did we leave it so late to change?

OK, Sakiri was on the field of play for Wallwork at the start of the second half, but surely that injection of flair was negated by not going with three up front, instead of two? Instead of bringing him on midway through the second half, should Hughsie have been brought on that much sooner, and not at the expense of Dobie either? Sure, Scott didn?t have the best of games, but he does try his best, and such determination, allied with the proven nuisance-value of our Smethwick-born striker, might well have reaped dividends. In fact, there was quite a cogent argument for having him on right from the very start; with Lee in his face every time the ball came into his possession, their keeper would not have had a sunny or happy time of it at all. At least we did manage to get one substitution right; Clem instead of Robinson really seemed to make a hell of a difference on the left. He absolutely oozed determination and the will to beat opponents to the ball, and some of those crosses surely deserved better.

We now turn to the vexed question of whether this is just another blip or not. Some will argue the visitors got lucky, and, I suppose there might be some truth in that; how the hell they didn?t concede after that series of corners, I?ll never know. And, considering they scored with what was, effectively, their first decent chance of the game, then, yes, you might say a liberal dollop of Hartley?s did feature prominently. However, we do have to consider another alarming aspect of our performance, and that?s the completely negative tactics we employed tonight. Has the art of making forward passes been completely forgotten? The main characteristic of the first half was passes going sideways, backwards, even into the stands, on occasions, and probably up the left-nostril of our manager as well, but forwards? Don?t be silly, Malcolm. It?s one thing to lose cheaply at home, but to get bored to tears as well while watching such total rubbish (and that?s what it was, make no mistake) has to be the cotton-picking limit. I can?t believe our players decided to do this completely off their own bat; they must have acted under instructions from the bench. And it?s not the first time, either. Those who read my diary the day after the Norwich game will know precisely the same sort of thing happened then, but we managed to ride our luck, and somehow ended up potting all three points. If we employ such tactics on a regular basis for the remainder of the season, then God help us all.

Today, someone who really ought to have known better said on the mailing-list, ?What team plays ?flair football? in the first Division?? Easy, that one. Stand up and take a bow, Manchester City, who did precisely that the season both we and they went up. Granted, they shipped goals like a leaky sieve ? that 4-1 of ours was a case in point - but they sure as hell managed to score more than they conceded, and they also played some cracking football along the way. Here?s another quote from the same person, then: ?There is a way of getting out of the First Division, and Gary (Megson) has it down to a fine art.? After tonight?s awful display, you could have fooled me, mate.

Another thought to throw into the pot, then: all those lovely crosses coming in with the regularity of B52 strikes on Iraqi guerrillas, tonight, and the bloke must suited to converting them forty miles up the road at Derby County? Which now brings me to the vexed question of why, when what strikers we do have left after that little bit of transfer genius are clearly having problems getting on the score-sheet, we?re still allowing Pompey to make free with Jason Roberts on loan. Yep, that?s a bit of a rhetorical one, I know; as long as Megson is manager, Jason Roberts and this football club will avoid each other like the plague. A shame, that, as we really could have done with some of his brand of explosive athleticism in the box tonight. Can?t even see either of them kissing and making up after all the acrimony of last season; maybe the chickens of rank bad man-management are well and truly coming home to roost for our leader?

Come the end of tonight?s game, those still left in the ground ? most had departed long before the final whistle ? made their feelings absolutely clear, all right; for the first time in years, the place erupted in a welter of booing, and cries of ?What a load of rubbish!? most, I suspect, aimed at one person, the balding ginger-headed bloke standing on the touchline. For the past few months, I?ve tried, via this column, to tell it like it is, warts and all, and on those occasions our leader needed reminding he was not, after all, God Almighty, I?ve gone and done precisely that. My information always came from trustworthy people, and, in any case, much of what I?d said was in the public domain anyway. Needless to say, there were many who didn?t share my views; just like George Bush, his policies, and his toadies, the idea rapidly took root among some Albionites that if you weren?t with our manager, you were totally against him, and as a result of comments made via this piece, I came in for some quite heavy criticism, some of it highly personal in nature. Not only that, I was also the subject of attacks from those who used their privileged position to put the knife in with a vicious twist, and, it not being a level playing field, I was in no position to defend myself properly, so I didn?t. It?s very hard to grit your teeth and smile in the face of verbal abuse, and worse. Those who know me well will know precisely what I?m talking about.

After tonight?s performance, I?ll be extremely interested to know how many of these totally-blinkered people can still go on making out that everything in the Albion garden is rosy, because it sure as hell ain?t. The torrent of bitter and angry comments I heard as I came out of the ground tonight strongly indicate to me that finally, a majority of supporters are now coming around to my viewpoint: that our manager, having served us so well in the past, still has much to learn about tactics that don?t involve the needless erection of the human equivalent of the Berlin Wall in and around our half, and while he?s at it, a crash-course in man-management techniques wouldn?t go amiss, either. I?m not advocating the removal of Megson from the Hawthorns scene - not yet ? but there are quite a few who now subscribe to that point of view, and their numbers are growing, and fast.

Should we go to Rotherham this weekend, and fail once more (I?m trying very hard not to think about Newcastle!) you can bet anything you like that all those vaguely-expressed murmurs and mutterings will suddenly become a deafening roar. That sort of noise-level has the potential to penetrate even the fastness of the East Stand, where the boardroom?s located. If it does with sufficient intensity, it will take a miracle to keep our leader in office; remember, our chairman gave him the gypsy?s warning during the close season. Looks like the writing might be on the wall after all.

And finally?.. ?Every time it rains, it rains pennies from Heaven?.? That what the song says, but in Anc?s case, it really came true. Thanks to tonight?s result, he?s now forty quid better off! Mind you, judging from his ink-black mood tonight, somehow, I suspect he won?t be inviting The Soup Dragon to share in his good fortune!

Another ?and finally??.. Sorry if my words seem somewhat disjointed tonight, but I?m still absolutely hopping-mad over what happened. The stuff just flowed onto the screen like a busted flush, and it shows. Hope to put together some more coherent thoughts for you all tomorrow night.

 - Glynis Wright

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