Milton Keynes Dons (A) League 1 Friday 25/3/11.

[Pedagogue]

I suppose that we should be glad of a point but the result could have gone either way. The penalty was about as far away from the Walsall end as it could be. It looked a harsh decision but I'll wait and see the tv replay. Shortly after that, Gray's dropping lob fell on top of the crossbar. On the other hand, our goal led a charmed life at times and Franchise could/should have scored more.

Walker - sound in all that he did. I do wish that he would cut out the time-wasting, though. The referee just adds it on at the end, thus prolonging the agony for the fans.

Westlake - nervy start but improved
Smith - as Westlake
Butler - his usual self!
Williams - steady performance

Laird - quiet début. Looked comfortable on the ball but, too often, the game passed him by and he wasn't involved enough. He will improve, I'm sure.
Gbarssin - good in the air, breaks things up in midfield, I'm growing to like him!
Richards - apart from his goal, he had a poor game, frequently giving the ball away. Didn't hide and was always involved.
Gray - our best attacker, always a threat to the Franchise defence.

Byfield - poor game but, then again, he is way behind the others in terms of fitness. Got valuable match-time under his belt which is what he needs, right now.
Ledesma - disappointing (as many expected). Deano needs to think carefully how to get the best out of him in terms of WHERE to play him and WHEN to bring him on. Last Saturday's display should suggest the answers.

Grigg (for Byfield) - didn't really have time to get in the game.
Cook (for Ledesma) - looks confident with some skilful touches. He shows promise but the style police need to have a word - I mean, fluorescent orange boots! :oops:

[canadiansaddler]

Good result tonight - 11 more points

I'm a believer - Division One football next season with a cup run

Hallelujah I believe

[PT]

Just back - loved it.

Everyone gave their all. The players and fans pulling together like it should be.

Agree with "you reds" about the ref. Never a pen and I was 150 yards away and I doubt his hair got in his eyes.

Richards everywhere, Butler massive and Jimmy superb - but they all/we all played our part.

Keep this up and we might just pull this off.

[King Crimson]

Richards everywhere, Butler massive and Jimmy superb - but they all/we all played our part.

Keep this up and we might just pull this off.

Yep. Some excellent performances last night. I'd add Gray to the three you mention. Only Byfield and Westlake struggled all evening, which is saying something against a home team riding high in the league and on a decent run of form at home.

Penalty looked harsh from our end, and I'll be gutted if we were "robbed" two points. However, over the course of the 90 minutes, a draw was a fair result, and I'd have taken a point beforehand.

Finally, as others have mentioned, their "support" is awful. They play decent football, but to a rag-tag conglomerate of girl guides, Walmart escapees and other clubs' stayaways. Oh yeah, they had a drum. Bothered.

[Dave Gittins]

Good team performance last night, we could have been a couple down before we took the lead. From where I was sitting the penalty looked harsh but all in all we deserved our point.

I must say I despise their history (or lack of) but they have got a nice setup, the parts of the ground that are finished is very nice and the padded seats are a nice touch.

[big baz 1]

Happy with a point could of been more though.Was dissapointed ledesma was taken off though but was impressed with cook when he came on. Julian Gray was superb ripping their full back to shreds again showing why he such a quality footballer. Was very impressed with matt richards and even more with andy butler who just gets more and more influnetial for walsall fc.

[Jolly Johnny]

great point - need 4/7 of the last games. Who tf do you pray to as an athiest?

Paul Merson.

Surely atheists won't believe in the devil either!! :wink:

[Jolly Johnny]

Cook - He shows promise but the style police need to have a word - I mean, fluorescent orange boots! :oops:

You should never wear boots the same colour as your hair!! Carrot Top and Bottom! :lol:

[Cheesebag]

Good Old School atmosphere tonight with a few blast from the past faces in attendance too, enjoyed it. could have won it, could have lost it, it was one of those gripping to watch games for me.

what a difference from 150 of us in near silence watching Hutch serving up anti football. Whatever happens I love supporting the babbies xxx

[belgiansaddler]

Woke up next to a bottle of Bishops Finger, hangover from hell, got a plane to catch, need to get organised, but a great night. Can we play away every Friday night please :D

[Neil Ravenscroft]

The tv isn't a great help, but suggests he got the ball. What it does show is what a fantastic finish that was from Richards - technically very difficult

[Exile]

Cook - He shows promise but the style police need to have a word - I mean, fluorescent orange boots! :oops:

You should never wear boots the same colour as your hair!! Carrot Top and Bottom! :lol:

RANGA!

[Surrey Saddler]

Glad I went. Sorry, though that we didn't get all three points. Hope the penalty decision doesn't come back and haunt us at the end of the season :(

[Cully]

Richards - apart from his goal, he had a poor game, frequently giving the ball away. Didn't hide and was always involved.

I assume you had Phils proxy opinion last night :D

I thought I sensed the presence of chalk dust and the smell of leather elbow patches last night. I looked around but all I could only see were badly dressed individuals with ill fitting and unco-ordinated clothes including one chap with a purple shirt, one who's jeans were halfway down his bottom and another with a suit jacket combined with tracksuit bottoms. In conclusion, I suppose any of them could have been a teacher :D

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Richards - apart from his goal, he had a poor game, frequently giving the ball away. Didn't hide and was always involved.

I assume you had Phils proxy opinion last night :D

I thought I sensed the presence of chalk dust and the smell of leather elbow patches last night. I looked around but all I could only see were badly dressed individuals with ill fitting and unco-ordinated clothes including one chap with a purple shirt, one who's jeans were halfway down his bottom and another with a suit jacket combined with tracksuit bottoms. In conclusion, I suppose any of them could have been a teacher :D

I wore my jeans above my buttocks and my top below my belly button, I suppose I am a new teacher though...

Agree with you about Richards, he had his best game in the last month. He was available, passed decently and got forward supporting attacks.

Got in at 3am. I love Friday games!

[Mafino]

First away game with Walsall, thoroughly enjoyed it, can't believe how you can support a team like MK Dons, loved it when we started singing 'Who did you support before?'

Was a game we could have won and also could have lost, Gray hit the bar and I thought thing would have been very different had that been 5 inches lower.

[geoffwhiting]

The tv isn't a great help, but suggests he got the ball. What it does show is what a fantastic finish that was from Richards - technically very difficult

Totally agree Neil. TV pics are poor quality, but Manny came in for the ball from directly in front of his man, so I don't see how he could have contacted the player before the ball, and he certainly didn't go over the ball. A very harsh decision for me, and makes it even more galling that we haven't had a single penalty awarded to US in what, 18 months is it now? I mean, how can THAT be possible?

I guess we then had to be thankful for that one totally amazing miss from two yards out, that hit the bar and came out, and that kind of made up for the harsh penalty, but I can't believe their manager claiming it had crossed the line, it looked NOWHERE near going over the line to me - never in doubt!

[Graydon48]

The tv isn't a great help, but suggests he got the ball. What it does show is what a fantastic finish that was from Richards - technically very difficult

Totally agree Neil. TV pics are poor quality, but Manny came in for the ball from directly in front of his man, so I don't see how he could have contacted the player before the ball, and he certainly didn't go over the ball. A very harsh decision for me, and makes it even more galling that we haven't had a single penalty awarded to US in what, 18 months is it now? I mean, how can THAT be possible?

I guess we then had to be thankful for that one totally amazing miss from two yards out, that hit the bar and came out, and that kind of made up for the harsh penalty, but I can't believe their manager claiming it had crossed the line, it looked NOWHERE near going over the line to me - never in doubt!

I suggest you look again. The ball did cross the line and if you look at Butler's headed clearance seconds before that looked over the line as well. Still, that made up for the harsh penalty.

[latviancheese]

Never a penalty it was a great tackle!

[latviancheese]

Scose idiot said it wasnt a penalty either.

[Pedagogue]

... we haven't had a single penalty awarded to US in what, 18 months is it now? I mean, how can THAT be possible?

To win penalties, it helps if you are frequently in threatening positions in your opponents' penalty-areas. I would suggest that such forays were very rare indeed under Hutchings's management! :oops: :cry:

[Cully]

Richards - apart from his goal, he had a poor game, frequently giving the ball away. Didn't hide and was always involved.

I assume you had Phils proxy opinion last night :D

I thought I sensed the presence of chalk dust and the smell of leather elbow patches last night. I looked around but all I could only see were badly dressed individuals with ill fitting and unco-ordinated clothes including one chap with a purple shirt, one who's jeans were halfway down his bottom and another with a suit jacket combined with tracksuit bottoms. In conclusion, I suppose any of them could have been a teacher :D

I wore my jeans above my buttocks and my top below my belly button, I suppose I am a new teacher though...

Agree with you about Richards, he had his best game in the last month. He was available, passed decently and got forward supporting attacks.

Got in at 3am. I love Friday games!

I have it on good account that you are a vision of loveliness topped off with a dash of bearded heaven. You obviously need to work harder at being uncoordinated, try wearing a shirt suitable for the beach with say some green crimpolene trousers and black clunky lace up shoes, never, never wear a tie without stains [I believe Saigon has a large collection]
I hope that helps in your quest for 'the look'.

ps. It's not to late to get a real job :wink:

[King Crimson]

... we haven't had a single penalty awarded to US in what, 18 months is it now? I mean, how can THAT be possible?

To win penalties, it helps if you are frequently in threatening positions in your opponents' penalty-areas. I would suggest that such forays were very rare indeed under Hutchings's management! :oops: :cry:

Having a home crowd of 8000 helps too.

But that's another matter, eh?

[PT]

... we haven't had a single penalty awarded to US in what, 18 months is it now? I mean, how can THAT be possible?

To win penalties, it helps if you are frequently in threatening positions in your opponents' penalty-areas. I would suggest that such forays were very rare indeed under Hutchings's management! :oops: :cry:

Having a home crowd of 8000 helps too.

But that's another matter, eh?

Agree, but I think the advantage of their 8,000 fans wasn't so much in their vocal support or appeals to the ref (they are a quiet bunch - still not quite sure what to do at the football)rather it is that they are able to finance a stronger squad. Their substitutions the other night gave them a lift whereas ours demonstrably weakened the team and the last 10/15 minutes felt as though we were hanging on in what otherwise had been an even game.

[geoffwhiting]

The tv isn't a great help, but suggests he got the ball. What it does show is what a fantastic finish that was from Richards - technically very difficult

Totally agree Neil. TV pics are poor quality, but Manny came in for the ball from directly in front of his man, so I don't see how he could have contacted the player before the ball, and he certainly didn't go over the ball. A very harsh decision for me, and makes it even more galling that we haven't had a single penalty awarded to US in what, 18 months is it now? I mean, how can THAT be possible?

I guess we then had to be thankful for that one totally amazing miss from two yards out, that hit the bar and came out, and that kind of made up for the harsh penalty, but I can't believe their manager claiming it had crossed the line, it looked NOWHERE near going over the line to me - never in doubt!

I suggest you look again. The ball did cross the line and if you look at Butler's headed clearance seconds before that looked over the line as well. Still, that made up for the harsh penalty.

I'll take another look first opportunity then G48. I've not seen it more than twice, but at no time did it ever suggest to me that we got away with anything or I needed to take a closer look.

As you say though, if it WAS over the line, it only makes up for the ridiculous penalty decision.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Richards - apart from his goal, he had a poor game, frequently giving the ball away. Didn't hide and was always involved.

I assume you had Phils proxy opinion last night :D

I thought I sensed the presence of chalk dust and the smell of leather elbow patches last night. I looked around but all I could only see were badly dressed individuals with ill fitting and unco-ordinated clothes including one chap with a purple shirt, one who's jeans were halfway down his bottom and another with a suit jacket combined with tracksuit bottoms. In conclusion, I suppose any of them could have been a teacher :D

I wore my jeans above my buttocks and my top below my belly button, I suppose I am a new teacher though...

Agree with you about Richards, he had his best game in the last month. He was available, passed decently and got forward supporting attacks.

Got in at 3am. I love Friday games!

I have it on good account that you are a vision of loveliness topped off with a dash of bearded heaven. You obviously need to work harder at being uncoordinated, try wearing a shirt suitable for the beach with say some green crimpolene trousers and black clunky lace up shoes, never, never wear a tie without stains [I believe Saigon has a large collection]
I hope that helps in your quest for 'the look'.

ps. It's not to late to get a real job :wink:

I have seen Saigon's wardrobe. It is like somebody was sick into a 1977 timewarp.

I don't want to get a real job, I'm trying to put people's parenting "quirks" right first.

In a few years, if you should need a Charlie Sheen to your Michael Douglas a la Wall Street, I may be available.

I would not want an entry level job like Saigon.

[Cully]

Richards - apart from his goal, he had a poor game, frequently giving the ball away. Didn't hide and was always involved.

I assume you had Phils proxy opinion last night :D

I thought I sensed the presence of chalk dust and the smell of leather elbow patches last night. I looked around but all I could only see were badly dressed individuals with ill fitting and unco-ordinated clothes including one chap with a purple shirt, one who's jeans were halfway down his bottom and another with a suit jacket combined with tracksuit bottoms. In conclusion, I suppose any of them could have been a teacher :D

I wore my jeans above my buttocks and my top below my belly button, I suppose I am a new teacher though...

Agree with you about Richards, he had his best game in the last month. He was available, passed decently and got forward supporting attacks.

Got in at 3am. I love Friday games!

I have it on good account that you are a vision of loveliness topped off with a dash of bearded heaven. You obviously need to work harder at being uncoordinated, try wearing a shirt suitable for the beach with say some green crimpolene trousers and black clunky lace up shoes, never, never wear a tie without stains [I believe Saigon has a large collection]
I hope that helps in your quest for 'the look'.

ps. It's not to late to get a real job :wink:

I have seen Saigon's wardrobe. It is like somebody was sick into a 1977 timewarp.

I don't want to get a real job, I'm trying to put people's parenting "quirks" right first.

In a few years, if you should need a Charlie Sheen to your Michael Douglas a la Wall Street, I may be available.

I would not want an entry level job like Saigon.

V.G. 8/10

ps. I note that Pedagogogogo has been very quiet. I suspect one of my fashion torpedoes hit home :wink:

[Pedagogue]

I note that Pedagogogogo has been very quiet. I suspect one of my fashion torpedoes hit home :wink:

I'm afraid that I couldn't recognise any of the sartorial descriptions in your post, never having worn elbow-patches, jeans below my buttocks, green crimplene trousers, purple shirt*, "clunky" (?) shoes or a stained tie - oh ... and what is this stuff called "chalk dust"?

I wish that I had known that you were also at stadium:mk. You could have sent over your valet and we could have compared notes. :D




* OK - I'll concede the purple shirt, but it was some years ago. :oops:

[SaigonSaddler]

I do specialise in 'entry' jobs of all kinds, and I have got a load of ties - pur-chased from Ben Thanh market for $1 each. :D

[swiftyboy]

I do specialise in 'entry' jobs of all kinds, and I have got a load of ties - pur-chased from Ben Thanh market for $1 each. :D

Me lav you long time Mr Saigon! X