Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:48 pm
Posts: 4817
Location: In the Armchair.
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THE MELTDOWN – RELEGATION EXTRA Nearly 48 hours on and the feeling is still pretty raw if social media and all the various platforms are anything to go by, and so far it’s showing no signs of relenting and becoming tomorrow’s chip paper, in fact in many areas its growing in pace.
I have a few questions on the way, so if you feel inclined, it would be good to get a bit of interaction, as there are one or two things I have mixed feelings on.
It has to be said the silence from SMK is deafening with just a loanee, coming out and apologising to the fans, no other player other than the Lewie interview as reported by Toby Lock has made it out of the four walls, yet we note its not made it onto the Dons media platforms yet….. I wonder why, him criticizing every department must have struck a nerve, it looks like more time down Charlton for Lewie.
Whilst on the subject of Toby Lock I would like to congratulate him for being brave enough to report the situation how it is, he put his head above the parapet a few months ago and took a huge swipe at the club, and rightly so, the club has had an easy journey with “Club Friendly” journos in the past, so to get the story straight for us was very refreshing for all Dons fans.
There is a possibility the club have put a block on players expressing anything for fear of fanning the flames of a social media storm, but the loanee apology was apparently well received with the vast majority of fans congratulating him for having the balls to come out and apologise.
Regarding fan reaction, I just wonder if the club has lost touch with the fans (It has, I don’t know why I even asked), and badly misjudged the feeling of an ever evolving fanbase that now boasts 100’s of youngsters that have only ever known life behind the MK banner. In the past and aged fanbase were certainly more forgiving, probably grateful that Pete bought football to Milton Keynes and would forgive the club no matter how bad it performed or treated fans. Just roll out a video, kiss a few babies, give an impassioned speech and everything would be ok again, but times have changed, and that approach appears not to be working now with the new generation and the future of this fanbase, and this relegation unlike others is going to be harder to bat off.
Interaction with the younger fans has mainly been through DonsAction who have always done a sterling job in rousing the troops and trying create an atmosphere, in fact they are unrivalled in their promotion of the team, putting the club and others to shame, but it appears their patience has run out and they have withdrawn their interaction with the club and stood down from the Supporters Board, and I wonder if that phrase heard on the now famous and much viewed Twitter spat with Pete is connected to that decision, “It’s a failed football experiment “ was heard several times, but what exactly was meant by that comment…..Franchise football, the Supporters Board, Sweeting in his role, or something else, what’s your thoughts.
You may not agree with this move by DA or even understand it, and I would guess if that’s the case, they probably think you are part of the problem.
Personally, I applaud them, they obviously feel they have exhausted this approach, got little or nowhere despite every effort, and feel its not worth their involvement any longer. I certainly don’t look at it as quitting, on the contrary, they have stood up for what they believe in and have the courage to do something about it, so anybody that thinks DA will shuffle off the MK radar is sadly mistaken.
The blame game has obviously been running for months now as more and more people finally realised this club was on a collision course with relegation, and in the coming weeks and days I see it showing no signs of relenting.
If anyone pays the price will come sooner or later, Manning was the scapegoat last time despite an online poll showing that just 7% of Dons fans felt he was the guy responsible. Personally, I don’t think the focus of Dons fans it going to be much different this time with very few calls for Jackson to get the chop, and to add my support for what its worth, I also support Jacko, getting rid of him makes no sense whatsoever and then replacing him with the latest person we want to give a chance to in football, someone inexperienced and that needs time is not what we need right now.
Whilst the tenure of Jacko has been short and he has failed to save us, and yes he must carry some of the burden of relegation, can anyone say with any confidence he is entirely at blame here, well if you do, this time I think you could be part of the problem.
Although naive at times I think he has shown enough to be given a shot at next season, I think he learnt a great deal in his short time, and I think the pain of relegation will add to his hunger to get it right next time.
The budget to me is a mystery as despite my request last week I don’t think anyone has shed any light on my question of what exactly the budget is. My memory isn’t that great these days, but I have recollections of once asking Andy Cullen in public forum what the actual budget covered, and his response was everything not just signings and wages but everything, or as I put it on Sunday “paper clips to players”.
Now I do not dispute the budget has gone up, but has that meant an increase in the playing budget which is the part us fans are very much interested in. I know what it feels like and looks like when we see who is pulling on those oil stained shirts, but have we actually spent more this season on players than last season, does anyone have any proof on this subject because if it is less the blame game only stops at one door, if it has increased then Pete should be aggrieved and joined by one or two others as the likely architects of this massive fall from grace.
I can see possibly evidence of an increase if the rumours are true of how much we have paid Johnson and Grigg, if they are true, frankly its even more embarrassing than I thought that good money was spent on potentially two of our biggest disappointments this season.
If Sweeting has had a grubby fiver stuffed in his hand and told to go out and buy some Moet & Chandon and came back with a bottle of Aldi sparkling water, is it Sweeting’s fault he can’t shit miracles a second time round, or the person who gave him the grubby fiver.
Equally I don’t always understand the blaming of managers, agreed some should never be allowed to manage a team again, but if they are not given the funds to sign within reason who they like are they just the victims of circumstance, and someone that inevitably will carry the can for failings further up the food chain.
Of course, much of this is questioning speculation, the actual truth of what goes on behind closed doors at any club is closely guarded, and can any fan say with any confidence what has really transpired, of course not, we can only guess and second guess and try and piece together the facts and try and make sense of it, and then still be a million miles away.
But one thing I will say is read the comments by Lewie in the Toby Lock interview, which as I say has not been published by the club yet. He suggests there have been failings all round the club, and people just washed their hands of it, and that just about sums it up, and really all we need to know to confirm what we already thought.  WD
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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight
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Why couldn't that money have been spent on getting someone like Bishop over the line. Add in Johnson who is supposedly on 6k a week as well and its grim reading. 300k plus on a 35 year old who can't run is awful management. 
