NEAL ARDLEY DEPARTS AFC WIMBLEDON

Finally...

10 days after getting the vote of confidence from the board the news is finally out that Neal Ardley has left Wimbledon by "mutual consent" after a spell of over 6 years with the club. He will be remembered as the man you kept us up in League Two when we took over from Terry Brown, and then gave us our glory moment in the Play Off final against Plymouth. Recently however he had been looking very troubled and I wish him well for the future, have a rest Neal, get your strength back and go again somewhere else, you will go far.

Ardley, 46, admitted he expected to be sacked if the Dons, who sit a point off the foot of League One, lost their FA Cup first round tie at Haringey Borough on Friday night. A last gasp 1-0 saw them into the hat for the second round, but the performance was not enough to extend his six-year stay at the helm.

The former midfielder, who made over 200 appearances for the original Wimbledon, was the third-longest serving manager in English professional football before his dismissal and, in his time at the club took them from the brink of dropping out of the Football League, into the League One via the play-offs and above fierce rivals MK Dons.

A club statement read: “We thank him for the massive role he has played for us over the last six years and wish him well in his future career.”

Neal was appointed in October 2012 and in his first season as a manager oversaw a dramatic and successful fight against relegation out of the Football League. Over the following years he transformed the Club from a playing and training point of view and also behind the scenes, where his personal drive led to a major improvement in the training facilities both in terms of improved training pitches and the working conditions for the Club staff.

As a club, Wimbledon has always punched above its weight and Neal made sure we continued to do so for the following seasons culminating in winning a play-off final in 2015/16 where he led the team out at Wembley to fulfil a long term ambition.

In the two seasons since that promotion Neal established us as a League 1 club despite the continued constraints on investment. Throughout his time with us he lived our values of openness and honesty.

Chief executive Erik Samuelson added: “Neal has been a credit to the club in everything he has done. He is a clear thinker, a superb man-manager and a fine coach. I’ve enjoyed working with him and am absolutely certain that he will achieve even greater success in his next roles. So, he leaves with my personal thanks and gratitude for what he has done in his time here at AFC Wimbledon.  “I also want to register the club’s and my personal thanks to Neil Cox who has provided massive support to Neal throughout his time here and has been a great ambassador for the club. We wish him well in his future career.”

Assistant manager, Neil Cox, has also left the club while first team coach Simon Bassey has taken the post of interim manager. 

FA CUP FIRST ROUND -- HARINGEY BOROUGH vs AFC WIMBLEDON FRI 9th NOVEMBER 2018

The FA Cup comes around with the First Round beginning this Friday night and the draw has given us an away tie against Isthmian League Premier Division outfit HARINGEY BOROUGH. This tie was the first to be drawn out of the hat when the draw was made and the match will be broadcast LIVE on BBC TV on Friday night with a genuine chance of an upset on the cards. 

Haringey, who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, beat Poole Town 2-1 to reach the first round for the first time in their history. AFC Wimbledon have reached the third round in the past two seasons losing last year to Tottenham at Wembley. Would be good to have a decent cup run this season ourselves although the main priorities are consolidation in the league and moving away from the bottom four with the club in a dire run of form I expect Haringey Borough will fancy their chances tonight.

FORM GUIDE 
(Last 6 matches in their respective leagues, starting with most recent)
      AFC Wimbledon  --  LLLLLL
      Haringey Borough   --  DLLLWW



LAST TIME OUT
AFC Wimbledon 1  Shrewsbury 2

Haringey Borough 2  Enfield Town 2

We come into this important FA Cup game on the back of a terrible run of defeats in League One, which has risen to seven in a row following the 1-2 reverse to Shrewsbury at the weekend. That result comes on the back of additional disappointing displays against Luton Town and Bristol Rovers the Dons Manager Neal Ardley also received the dreaded vote of confidence from the board in the last week. 

Despite the poor form I'm certain we will have plenty of fans going again to cheer on the boys in Royal Blue and Yellow to more FA Cup glory, however my head rules over my heart and I'll be having a small wager on Haringey Borough @10/1 to win to give me a little consolation if we mess this up on Live TV.

Updates will be published with team news and more news as and when it comes through. 

Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Odds -- 1/4 (William Hill) 

McDonnell (GK),  Sibbick,  Thomas,  Oshilaja (c),  Purrington,  Wagstaff,  Hartigan,  Soares,  Pinnock,  Appiah,  Pigott

Subs – King (Gk),  Watson,  Garrett,  Jervis,  Trotter,  Wordsworth,  Burey

HARINGEY BOROUGH

Odds -- 10/1 (Bet365)

Pajetet (Gk),  Olufemi (c),  Richards,  Kirby,  O’Donoghue,  Aresti, Stone,  Staunton,  Ademiluyi,  Nouble,  Barker.

Subs – Byfield (Gk),  McDonald,  Djassi-Sambu,  Rowe,  Mitchell,  McKenzie,  Edwards.

H/T Score – 0 - 0

First Half Comment;

After the respects are paid for remembrance weekend we are underway here are Coles Park with Wimbledon kicking off in the pouring rain. The Dons win the first corner of the match early on and are passing around nicely on this 3G surface. After one of the Haringey forwards gets pushed into the advertising it's the Dons that have the first decent chance when Scott Wagstaff fires wide we are about 10 mins in and there's still people arriving through the turnstiles, fair play in this weather.

Quite open at both ends and the is flowing despite the weather, Wimbledon probably having the better of it but it's still goal-less. Thomas heads over from a corner that never should have been, and the rain keeps falling, one goal might be enough here. Haringey appealing for everything, though never going to get a penalty with that dive. Purrington makes Pajetat save again for Haringey and there's a corner to take before the half ends and Pinnock sends one just over and we are all square at the end of the first forty five.

F/T Score – 0 - 1 (Pinnock 90')

Match Summary;
A 90th minute strike from Mitch Pinnock was enough to earn the Dons a last-gasp Emirates FA Cup victory tonight. It all looked set for a replay with Haringey having worked admirably to defy Wimbledon, but Pinnock fired home from an acute angle, via a deflection, to secure a 1-0 victory. In atrocious conditions at Coles Park, Wimbledon kept going to see off a plucky challenge from a club four divisions below them in the league pyramid. Although I would say we were very lucky to be in round two and our form is still very poor when we return to the league games next Saturday..  

My Man of the Match – Valery Pajetat (Haringey keeper).

Referee -- Our referee for this important first round FA Cup tie will be Michael Salisbury who hails from Lancashire and is in his fourth season as a league referee. Stats suggest he's not really card happy although the occasion game does sometimes see more than average we could do worse.

Attendance – 2,710. (A record for Haringey)

Next match:
Saturday 17th November vs Doncaster Rovers (Away)
League One 3:00pm 

NEAL ARDLEY GETS THE DREADED VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FROM DONS BOARD

The next three games are going to crucial in the future of Dons manager Neal Ardley. Starting with the home game against Shrewsbury on the weekend, then a CheckaTrade tie against Stevenage on Tuesday and finally the FA Cup 1st round tie with Haringey Borough which will be shown live on BBC TV. The Stevenage game I am not that fussed about but we really need to have wins in the other games to give the boss a chance of making it through to January.  

• AFC WIMBLEDON  L 1-2  SHREWSBURY (League 1)
• AFC WIMBLEDON  W 4-0  STEVENAGE (EFL Trophy)
• HARINGEY BOROUGH W 0-1 AFC WIMBLEDON (FA Cup)

Winning cup games against lower opposition doesn't do it for me, it's the league form that MUST improve soon.

Earlier this week AFC Wimbledon CEO Erik Samuelson gave the fans this update.

"I know fans are concerned about the recent run of results, which have clearly been disappointing. You won't be surprised to hear that the Dons Trust Board and Football Club Board are equally concerned.

We are aware also that fans feel there has been a 'radio silence' about the current situation and this note attempts to respond to that in an honest an open way – while avoiding the classic 'vote of confidence' that characterises many such situations. So, I am setting out for you as transparently as possible what discussions we've had about how we turn things around and where our thinking is at the moment.

The DTB and FCB have discussed all options to improve results and we'll take whatever steps we believe will help the club. The FCB is currently focused with Neal on what might be done to remedy the current position. In holding those conversations we have taken the following into account:

• We're very confident Neal continues to carry the dressing room with him.
• The track record of clubs appointing a new manager mid-season is at best mixed and as often as not makes no discernible improvement in performance – all of last season's relegated clubs changed manager at least once during the season.
• We can't add to the squad until January and Neal is best placed to bring out the best from the current squad.
• Football is a matter of fine margins and in many games this season our overall performance has been good and the result could easily have been different. We think these will even out over the season.

The FCB has kept the DTB up to date on its analysis of the current position. The DTB has, in turn, continued to exercise its role diligently on behalf of the Trust's members by challenging the FCB's thinking and analysis. Meanwhile, Neal and his management team are working very hard and exploring all options including, for example, asking Steven Sylvester, our sports psychologist, to spend a substantial amount of time this week, getting the players to challenge one another to bring out the best in their performances.

We are also aware of the financial implications of any decisions. Obviously, if we make a change to the management team there will be a cost to bear, but it's always been the case that if we need to make a change, we will. Also, as we have always done in the past, we have plans in place to provide the manager with funds to use in the January transfer window.

Finally, thank you for your fantastic support so far this season. Please do get behind the team on Saturday and beyond. It really does make a difference."

Let's see how we do today, come on you Dons