THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

To be fair, she aint on the retained list either

Ive just been having a mooch around social media etc and Real Bedford (where I suspect a lot of the players will end up with the coach moving there) have released a full breakdown of their strategic road map including progression planning, stated goals, measurement of progress, attendance and streaming data, current challenges, P&L (unaudited), revenue channels and balance sheet.

Its high level summary but a display of openness that Ive not seen in football before. Not sure if thats a good or bad thing TBH.

They wont be able to compete with the other teams they'll get relegated!

Christ, coming from you this must mean they are in extra deep shit!

Just reading into this and it is flipping madness. Sounds like the women's team will be dissolved shortly. The women's team is run by SET and who is the chair of SET the man who was crowing about Comic Con last week. Maybe if he paid more mind to the women's team who he is head of maybe stuff like this wouldn't happen. It is a shame as the women's team are quite competitive and were doing OK in the 3rd tier. Sounds like most of the ladies were very very vocal about how this has all be handled taking shots at the club, but this is what happens when you hire a bunch of yes men who have zip all knowledge about football. I guess that is another group who we have alienated by incompetence.

They aren't professionals and many of these women won't be able to commit to every game, surely? I hesitate to call it tinpot because that's unfair and derogatory, but these players aren't even contracted, to my knowledge.

The SET site describes the retained list as players "who have indicated their commitment to play" - no contracts or anything like the men's team. Most of these women have other stuff going on in their life, and day jobs to do.

Don't actually know anything about it just seen a lot of stuff come out, all the first team look to have left and the website reads the young players are being given the chance. Can't imagine it's going to be a successful season?

Real Bedford also got a $4.5million investment from the Winkelvoss twins last month who made their money in Crypto. They also have two promotions in two years in the mens team. They are richer, hungrier and better equipped than us in terms of football brains behind the wheel. I would give it 10 years (if that) and we will probably be playing them in the league.

It may be true that not every player is available every game but that true of any non pro sports team. The notion that on any given week up to 30 players dont get called up to play just seems so unlikely to be not credible.

The more I think about it, the more I am coming to the conclusion that the club are able to distance themselves from this as its the responsibility of the SET. Kind of 'Its not me guvnor honest' approach whilst also mandating the budget cut.

Id still love to know what it was cut from as a budget of £2000 may as well be £0 but if it was only ever £4/5K then its more a case of slimming the whole section down a bit.

EDIT TO ADD: The team used 28 players in total for this season so much more reasonable, there are 52 players registered with the FA to the team therefore 24 ish players never featured for the first team so either there is another team or they are able to go an play for other teams as well as being affiliated to MK Dons Women

As far as I understand it, the arrangement is only marginally more formal than my 50-strong Whatsapp group we use to organise 7 a side games. A third of them basically never play, or play elsewhere. I really do think that 30 odd players are either unavailable or don't get the nod every week. There's no U21s or anything with the women. A lot of them are students or work full time jobs.

The club has no ambition for the women's team which is sad because they run on a total shoestring and they all seem to have overachieved. But I am a realist too and think the club has decided there's no money or future in it with the way the club is right now.