It’s been a while, but Nick and Stu have returned for the first time in two months with a regularly(ish) scheduled podcast~! Yes, it’s time for the annual SEASON REVIEW SHOW, and there is a lot to talk about, so please forgive us for going long. But we haven’t been around in the old school form for quite some time, so we’ve indulged ourselves. We also don’t know when to shut up. So, get comfy, where should we begin?
So, how did we manage that escape? Here’s the analysis of where we bucked historical trends to secure our first division future (above the scum).
So, in our last six games, our results were expected to be:
The Charlton game turned into a win: a great start boosting us two points up.
Then, the key game that I think turned our potential into actual survival, the dramatic win at Walsall – 3-2 in stoppage time, in front of all those volunteers on their day out. Pure bliss (Alexa? – Ed).
Yes, we realise it’s all gone a bit – shall we say – lethargic (?!) of late, and we apologise. It’s simply a time issue. Various combinations of Nick, Stu, Chris, and Kevin have still been appearing alongside Aaron Paul every Sunday on Love Sport Radio, but the podcast incarnation has had to be put on hold due to time constraints for your esteemed editor. Don’t blame me: the WWE Network put an Alexa Bliss collection up and that will always take priority.
However, we are getting our act together now (of course, the season has finished, but better late than never), and here is, less than 24 hours after first broadcast (WIN!) this week’s radio show, on which Nick and Kevin were selected to appear. It’s kinda like that old cartoon MASK, where different people were chosen by some super computer. Great show. Anyway, we spoke about football and stuff. Enjoy~!
So, since the last review at the beginning of November, is our ‘indicator’ – based on past history panning out – predicting our future survival in League 1? Another three months gone, 15 more games down, and it’s time we look at what occurred and what is in store at the ‘business end of the season’.
The loss against Northampton should really not have come as a surprise to anyone as, along with Oxford over the years, they have been one of our bogey teams. This was a banker home loss on the indicator as we have only had three decent results against them ever since we reformed – two draws and a win.
But looking back over the last three months, the surprises on the pitch have definitely correlated to be the surprises we find in the table of expected and actual results. Overall, we have performed pretty much as expected: over this period, we were expected to get 10 points – and that is exactly what we got.
Strange how certain events in football can change a club’s course. Everything in the AFC Wimbledon garden seemed rosy up to that point Freddie Ladapo took a call from Chris Powell halfway through his medical at Kingsmeadow.
The way we handled that situation received widespread criticism and looking back, maybe the negative vibe created by publicly saying he’d legged it at the eleventh hour was the catalyst for our downturn in fortunes.