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In 1957, Delmer Daves directed a film called 3:10 to Yuma. It was, for all intents and purposes, a fantastic film with grit, thrilling sequences and it helped push the boundaries of what cinema goers could expect in a western film.

In 2007 the film was remade by James Mangold and, taking cinema goers expectations to one side, it was a perfectly exciting remake. It contained a bit more gore, thrills and spills, and fluidity.

You see, the development of cinematic skills: digital editing, special effects and direction of camerawork made it easily possible to polish the already excellent screenplay into something slightly more. A more enjoyable production of a previous incarnation. As a fan of 3:10 to Yuma I now hope that they don’t create another film that will go backwards. And the same can be said about Wimbledon on Saturday.

This season’s AFC Wimbledon, as proven by most of the matches this season, has provided the supporters and fans of the club with an improved version of the football on show. The remake of 3:10 to Yuma, if you will. However, the end product was still the same as the previous installment. The results aren’t going our way, the important choices by personnel aren’t quite coming to fruition. The whole change of cast and production side of the football club can’t seem to correct one missing piece of the puzzle to make the fans walk away saying, “Wow, now that is something I want to see again.”

Saturday’s performance for the first 45 minutes (if you don’t include the long delay due to the injury sustained by Borthwick-Jackson) was like watching last season’s Wimbledon. And the atmosphere within Kingsmeadow was a carbon copy of last season. We all witnessed how all the players on the pitch were doing a fantastic job of replicating the players of last season. But the second half, bar the defensive lapse which let them score their third and final goal, was the newer version: more intensity, pulsating attacking play and inventiveness near to the final third. It did seem a little black and white, in parts, though.

As much as I love both versions of 3:10 to Yuma, I will always prefer watching the 2007 version of the film. The same goes for 2017/18 Wimbledon and 2018/19 Wimbledon. As much as I love the club and always will, I would still prefer to watch the 2018/19 Wimbledon above the 2017/18 version. The only worry is that actually, the 2018/19 version, come the end of the season, will turn out to be a carbon copy. Or even worse: a more expensive version of a replication with no improvements to the making of the team. Maybe it is time to get a new editor or art director? In footballing terms: a new coach, in some way or another.

// Mark Hendrikx – @MarkatCIFF