Re the OP; some comments as I remember them and in no particular order. A lot of ground to cover and to save time I will give the answers and you can guess the question.
Being labelled as a Franchise Club has made no impact whatsoever on any dealings we have had when trying to sign players. Andrew Cullen and Robbie had never heard it mentioned and Alex Gilbey never even thought about it.
Scott Golbourne signed very late in the t/fer window and had little time to think about moving here so opted to sign only until January. Robbie spoke to him about this recently and says Golbourne is enjoying himself here, is a good character to have in the dressing room and they hope to get his loan extended.
Tshibola's contract had a January 'get-out' clause written in it and the club were going to enforce it. When Robbie spoke to him about it they both agreed that it wasn't working for him here and rather than hang-about until Jan he should go now. That means we now have a slot available for a new signing in Jan and the club are already working on it. Later in the evening it was hinted that we may go for two more players.
The two location options we have for training pitches are both still on the table and really nothing has happened for such a long time and although some good news was received yesterday it was not elaborated upon. AC apologized but really there is not much the club can do at the moment.
WellDon gave a well researched speech about our coach travel being too expensive. AC completely rejected this and stated that the club was asked to take over organizing the coaches as it was becoming unmanageable. The club lost £6.5k on coach travel last season alone, one reason being running a disabled coach for relatively low numbers but well appreciated by those who use it. We also use a well known reputable company insured up to the eye-balls covering every eventuality and who offer a full refund if they don't get the pax to the ground on time. Fleetwood was mentioned but AC pointed out that one of their major sponsors actually subsidizes their travel. We are no dearer than most clubs.
The club keep looking at ticket prices, whether to lower the season ticket prices, whether to offer more cheap day prices etc etc. It is a balancing game which is difficult to decide upon.
Home attendances are down slightly but pretty stable and away attendance have dropped considerably. A new man has been employed in some capacity to promote the club to a wider audience, he has come from a well known American sports club (so well known that I have forgotten their name!) and has already come up with some good ideas.
A lot of talk about the safety precautions/restrictions when playing AFC somebody or other. AC gave l good reply, even looking to the future when they moved to a new ground. I said it was a good question easily sorted - just get us promoted!
Robbie was reminded that his aim was promotion this season and had he now changed his mind? Not in the least, we are only 6 points adrift of a top six finish and we have the players to do the business. It is well within our grasp. He certainly is a positive thinking manager.
Dean Lewington is Club Captain and his seniority decrees that he will be team captain whenever he plays. George Williams was appointed team captain before Alex Gilbey signed for us but has had an indifferent season and is not certain to start every game. Gilbey has had some previous experience as captain, is a regular starter and is now our appointed Team Captain. He enjoys the responsibility of being captain and intends to lead by example. As an aside to this it was mentioned that the club did well to sign a quality player such as Gilbey and it shows the direction we are aiming for.
Robbie decided to come to us for two reasons, 1) The Chairman, quite a character and a man "KNOWN FOR HIS LOYALTY TO HIS MANAGERS" and 2) The setup here, the new stadium, the new expanding town, the facilities, the potential and the prospect of what could be achieved. Many in Scotland questioned his wisdom in leaving Hearts but he felt he had gone as far as he could with them. Celtic will always dominate having such a large financial clout, he may beat them in the odd game but never over a season, e.g. the last time Hearts v Celtic they brought on a £4m substitute - more than Robbie's entire budget for the season!
Robbie finds the players in the English game to be more physical and talented than in Scotland. Scottish teams usually have a talented player against whom you can plan how best to cope with. In England their can be 4/5/6 talented player in each team which makes it more difficult to plan against.
Nesbitt doesn't start a game as he needs to bulk out a bit and that is being worked on. The first 30 mins of a game is vastly different from the last 30 and Nesbitt is better used as an impact substitute. Muirhead is still young, first time away from home etc. and finding it all a bit difficult at the moment. This was to be expected and Robbie is confident he will come good.
Ben Tilney is a 'smashing bloke' who just thought he didn't have the ability to become a top player and opted for a career change in music. The club wish him well and remain in contact with him.
When Robbie came here it was obvious the we had come to the end of a cycle. Too many players were aged over 30 and a clear-out was essential. Changing so many players at one time is not ideal, they take more time to gel, there isn't the same affinity with the fans etc., so please be patient - these things just take time. Players do not train 7 days a week and are not knackered before they go on the pitch. We all need to pull together - and that includes the fans. This 'togetherness' was mentioned many times during the evening.
Aneke is an outstanding player and would be wasted in a defensive role - his future lies in an attacking position.
The club had planned to leave the city centre for reasons of cost, but received such a good offer from the authorities that they couldn't refuse and are opening a brand new exciting structure which will do much more to promote the Dons. To be located in the same spot as before.
There was a comment about Robbies budget, basically it is not the best but equally is a long way from being the worst.
Happened to speak to Robbie in the foyer as we were leaving, his wife likes it here and his children "love it, love it." The family has settled, the chairman is known for his loyalty to his managers - hold on to your hat folks Robbie will be with us for a long ride!
Finally Luke Ashmead couldn't make it on the night so congratulations the the MKDSA chairman and his deputy for running the show - they made a good night of it and we got through more questions than ever before.
Sorry about the long report but you asked for it - what is that about being careful what you ask for again?
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