Another game, another match without a win. In reality however, it should have been expected in this game. We've had a fairly busy last week in transfer and sold the figure-head of our team in Zach Clough. After all this it's hardly surprising the squad was a tad disjointed.
The team sheet came out and we saw some welcome changes. For a start Derik Osede replaced Tom Thorpe in midfield. We saw 2 of our new signings start in Chris Long and Filipe Morais. The two newbies sat on the wings with Gary Madine in the middle. The bench looked far stronger and capable of changing a game which a welcome change. James Henry, Adam Le Fondre, Viv' (what I'm calling him) and Max Clayton could all be game changers if needed.
The for the most part of the first half was drab. That changed right before half time with a Jay Spearing free-kick finding the net with a possible deflection. On the balance of things, Wanderers had the better first half. In the second half the opposite was true, MK Dons came out and found the net after substitute (Max Clayton for Morais) failed to track a runner. A draw was probably a fair result.
Now for the reaction part: It was probably to be expected. Signings take time to bed in, especially when they've barely played any football recently. Many of our new boys haven't and so I expect it to be a couple of games before they bed in.
The other mitigating factor is that this squad doesn't really fit its players' anymore. With Clough gone and now Le Fondre being are best striker, we might well have to change the team to fit him in. I would personally like to see a flat 442 but we shall see. This again will take another couple of games for Parky to work out; if he decides to at all.
It would have been lovely if they could have all hit the ground running and slotted straight in to our formation but it was a long shot. A point was a good result.
Derik looked much better than the departed Thorpe in midfield. Despite giving the ball away once or twice, he was good in winning the ball back and also fired more attacking passes than we ever saw from Thorpe. Morais looked like a good steady addition and had a decent 60 before tiring. Long likewise has some potential and will look a lot better in a settled team. Cannae really comment on Viv or Alf as neither really got in to it.
On a final note it sounded (through the mouths of a fully unbiased Wanderers Player) that the officials had a howler today. If this is the case than it underscores the need to get out of this division. Officials have had more bad days than good this season and on some days it really does get close to ruining matches.
On to the next one!