Today was bound to be huge on the news front, as I’d planned a summer mini-feature that was due to be typed up and published tonight. As you might imagine, there isn’t normally enough day-to-day news to satisfy the Anonymous Don’s thirst for becoming the Dons… no wait, the Leagues most prolific bloggers, if I can’t be the best I have to be number one at something.
Having said that I am one of lifes perennial second place men, one of my fondest childhood memories was coming second in the school skipping race, and a playing career spent in the beer leagues resulted in a fair haul of runners-up medals. Ironically, I realised the other day whilst polishing them up on the ‘football shelf’ here at ADHQ that I had lost one of the few winners medals I had earned; the fact it bothered me little is probably better discussed with my therapist than such a public forum.
Anyway, my plans for an evenings writing thrown more and more into chaos every time I checked NewsNow. Until I realised this was all Bloggers Gold, for once I don’t have to worry about fabricating subject matter… I’m not even sure where to start on a day like today, so I’ve decided I’ll approach the news on a sliding scale, from those coming to those going, with those who have simply confirmed they are staying put filling the gap.
First up, Charles Ademeno has joined from Grimsby. An interesting one this, Ademeno seems to have suffered a little last season, suffering various injuries to the point that despite still having a year on his contract, the Marriners new management team basically seem to have told him if he could find a new club he could go. The O/S was quick to point out Mike Rayner had given him one of his particularly stringent medicals, for the second time in the space of a week a player with serious question marks over fitness has been cleared to sign… although the same article advised Ademeno’s contract ‘reflects his recent injury record’.
Lets face it, if Ademeno had spent last season banging the goals in he probably wouldn’t have looked twice in the general direction of Kingsmeadow… even if we could afford him. So what are the benefits of signing such a player? Ademeno has sat on the sidelines for much of the last season, and will be keen to get back to scoring goals. We might picture strikers as mercenaries, eager to top up their pay packet by any means possible. And that’s absolutely true in the vast majority of cases, lets not be in denial about that. Yet the only way they can boost their value is by scoring goals, something Ademeno didn’t do a lot of last season. In short, the reason we signed this undoubtedly talented but injury prone forward is because we got him on the cheap, with the club bearing little risk.
Our second new signing, albeit one returning after a loan spell last season, is Chris Bush. I think if I had told you our loanee left back from last season was going to sign for us, you would have presumed Gareth Gwillim was poised to put pen to paper. And to be fair, I thought Gwillim was just about the better of the two, perhaps you did too. Yet I felt a bit of a rush when I read he agreed to join permanently… Towards the end of his loan spell I highlighted the admittedly few errors Bush made in a match report, wondering whether we could justify playing a guy who was here to make mistakes, learn his trade, but to do so for the benefit of another club.
Yet now he’s ours, hopefully we can see the tangible results of such potential. We are slightly fortunate that Brentford have quality in his position blocking his way to the first team, the opportunity to play League football must have been a huge lure, to the point I don’t think he would be here now had we lost at Eastlands. Then again, you could probably say the same about half our first team squad…
I think most of us will sleep a little easier knowing we have at least one permanent left back in the squad, even if Bush was regarded as more of a centre back at Brentford. On the subject of the Bees, apparently there is no truth in the rumour their office has been besieged by requests for information regarding where their new Development squad will play their games next season from Dons fans eager to see our stars of the future…
Oh, and how strong would we be defensively if we could also sign Gwillim up?
James Mulley has been a Don but not been a Don for the past six months… if that makes sense.. What I mean is, his non-contract status meant however many interviews he gave saying how much he was enjoying himself at the club, you still had a sneaking suspicion he might take off at the first sign of a better offer, I’m glad we’ve finally tied him down, Mulley’s goals were vital last season, if it hadn’t been for a silly dismissal at Crawley he would have played a much bigger part in the run in. At Eastlands he looked our best player when he came on, although admittedly this was amidst tired players cramping up left, right and centre.
Possibly the biggest signing of the day was Seb Brown, I’m not going to say too much about Seb… remember that feature I spoke of earlier, the one coming later in the week. Well I’m sure it won’t ruin the surprise for you to find out now Seb features quite prominently in the first part. But, yes, once again, a massive signature. Seb proved last season he was the best goalkeeper outside the League, next time out he can prove he’s the best in the lower divisions. Quite honestly, the longer we keep hold of Seb the better…
Finally on the new signings front, Ryan Jackson converted his old contract into a spanking new Football League version. I think we are all looking forward to seeing how the younger, less experienced players such as Jackson cope with the step up, especially as Ryan didn’t quite manage to hold his place towards the end of the season. Still, his dynamic start to the campaign was enough to convince me he deserved a chance, it’s probably sink or swim this time around…
Moving on to the exit door, and fortunately that has remained firmly closed of late. Steven Gregory was the subject of a third, improved bid by Bournemouth, but with previous bids reported to be around the £40,000 mark I’m hoping a negative response will end their interest, Yet this might not be the end of the story, check out paragraph eleven of this report for a quote from Lee Bradbury, or for those of you unwilling to click on links and count into double figures… “I think he has got interest from other clubs as well so we are looking to secure his services as soon as possible before those other clubs try to snatch him.”.
And what of Keds, the man who last week seemed certain to be on his way imminently? Well there doesn’t seem to be too much interest outside of Gillingham, but questions relating to their desire to pay the Dons asking price, and from their support as to whether he is worth it. I can answer that one for them – No, I don’t think he is. I can’t understand why anyone in League Two would spend a six figure sum on anyone when there seems to be so much quality floating around for free. Thats a potential extra two grand a week on a free transfer signings salary. In this climate, only those guaranteed to bring goals are worth that money.
I’m wondering whether there is anyone prepared to match the Dons valuation, whether Keds might really start the season a Wimbledon player. Maybe with interest tailing off, Erik and Terry might offer a small increase in his already generous salary (by Wimbledon standards). Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel the player should be rewarded for asking to leave, just a small morale boosting gesture to get his mind back to what, deep down, we all want to see… Kedwell leading the Dons line into League Two…
Aw, who am I kidding? As soon as Gillingham’s interest dies Evans will be on the phone and Kedwell will be a Crawley player at a knockdown price. Please let me be wrong…
The Anonymous Don 