The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

[K0ZZ]

AFC Wimbledon looks to start campaign with new head man

It seems that the winds of change are blowing through the Wimbledon club house and the Dons have made their first move towards promotion in the acquisition of new manager, Ray Edwards. Edwards who has mostly experience among amateur programs will now take the helm of a program that is starving for promotion but lacks a foundation and needs growth.

Edwards plays a physical, up tempo style game and will reorient the roster towards that, the philosophy that he operates under is simple, "You can teach football, you can't teach natural ability." In that essence, through his scouting and transfer windows expect projects to be taken on with raw players that will need time to grow, yet will be among the stronger or faster players on the pitch, don't expect only technical saavy players to thrive long in Wimbledon.

The team starts their trek in the fourth league of English football, sitting in League 2 and without much expectations. Heading into the opening matchup this season, against New Port County and with an open transfer window, expect the roster to be shaken up heavily. The teams youth doesn't have a very high ceiling according to many experts and the veteran talent has plateaued at a level that would keep the Dons towards the bottom of the table come the end of the season.

Starting XI

4-4-1-1

(GK) Ross Warner - England - 23
(RB) Barry Fuller - England - 28
(RCB) Alan Bennett - Ireland - 31
(LCB) Andy Frampton - England - 33
(LB) Rhys Weston - Wales - 32
(RM) George Porter - England - 21
(RCM) Harry Pell - England - 21
(LCM) Sammy Moore - England - 25
(RM) George Francomb - England - 21
(CAM) Jack Midson - England - 30
(ST) Michael Smith - England - 21

Game-Day Substitutes
(RM) Tom Beere - England - 18
(CB) Will Antwi - Ghana - 30
(LB) Jim Fenlon - England - 19
(CM) Peter Sweeney - Scotland - 28
(CAM) Luke Moore - England - 25
(ST) Charlie Sheringham - England - 25
(RM) Kevin Sainte-Luce - France - 20

Reserves
(LB) Callum Kennedy - England - 24
(LW) Youssouf Bamba - France - 18
(GK) Ashley Bayes - England - 41
(LM) Chris Arthur - England - 23
(CAM) Chace Jacquart - England - 18
(CAM) Charlie Fayers - England - 18
(GK) Seb Brown - England - 23
(ST) Charlie Strutton - England - 24

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

AFC Wimbledon 1 vs New Port County 2 FT

The Dons suffered a rough collapse to conclude the season opener in a matchup that they seemed to have control of early on but just were unable to finish. The Don's jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute of the match on a brilliant kick from just inside the box, but the offense became anemic, and the defense seemed to dissipate in the second half.

Through the opening half, New Port County only managed to yield four shots and only one was an attempt on goal, that number would nearly double in the second half, as they attempted seven shots, and four were shots that were made on goal. Including two goals, one in the 63rd minute and the final coming in the 90th minute to keep the Don's from earning a point in Edward's debut on the sidelines.

"It was a disappointing loss, we were keen in the first half on the offensive side and our defense played aggressively to punish any attempts they had, forcing bad shots that had almost no chance of actually hitting net, while on the second we were giving up clean shots on goal and they took advantage. It's a fault of ours that will need to be rectified before too long or we will be looking up at a long list of teams in the table come the conclusion of the season. It's disappointing to get no points in a game we very well could've won, but especially to have a tie going into the final minutes only to yield a goal that late and lose it all, there's a reason the game is 90 minutes long and your effort in the first 89 can be evaporated by just one bad play in the final minute."

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Don's stun Doncaster in opener of Capital One Cup

In a game where so few gave the Dons any hope of victory, it was made evident quickly that this game would prove to be quite the affair, the Don's thundering down the pitch and ripping off shot after shot, but their momentum took a major hit, when after several attempts on goal, they were unable to hit the net once, while on a counter attack, Doncaster ushered in a shot to bring their lead to 1-0, a lead they would hold to the end of the first half.

It wouldn't take long into the second half when the Don's got downfield and after another deflection on a save, the ball was headed outside of the box where Henry Pell gained position and took two steps into the box and unleashed a fury of a kick that cracked the back of the net without any hopes of the goal keeper deflecting it, tying the game.

In the 74th minute, Midson mounted a big counter attack and tried to take a shot across his body but the ball would be deflected off the goal keepers fingertips, luckily enough the deflection wouldn't be enough as it hit the top corner of the net after colliding with the keeper, and the Don's found themselves up 2-1 with the crowd silenced, and the AFC supporters wild.

A late attempt at getting a clean shot on goal for Doncaster would fall short as the side quickly found themselves swarmed by an overreactive AFC Wimbledon defensive unit, which outperformed their counterparts with an average rating of 6.7, as opposed to the Doncaster side whose defense rated out only at a 5.2, regularly allowing shots on goal in this fixture. In a game where Doncaster was a big favorite to win, it was AFC Wimbledon that shows why each game has to be played out and isn't won on paper. For Edwards, it's his first win as manager for the Don's, who lost all four friendlies and their league opener.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

I'm still playing around with the PS4 Video Capture, haven't used it very much but I'll try to get a few updates with videos in them at least!

[bhurst99]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Big blast on the video highlight.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Big blast on the video highlight.

One of the very few times I managed to get a clean shot on goal with AFC!

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

AFC sheds it's opening fixture troubles and turns on a 3 game streak

AFC Wimbledon 3 vs Oxford United 0 FT
AFC Wimbledon 1 vs Torquay United 0 FT
AFC Wimbledon 1 vs Hartlepool United 1 D FT

The competition may be towards the bottom of the table but the effort that Edward's squad shown in the early going has been phenomenal, especially in their matchup against Oxford County with three midfielders hitting the back of the net including one erroneous goal where the defender collided with the goalkeeper and set up an easy goal for George Francomb who had a cleared route to the goal and a collapsed group of United players. Joining in on the scoring was Tom Beere, the youngster picked up his first career goal on the afternoon and had Ray Edwards buzzing about his performance, especially with him coming in off the bench and sealing the deal with a 78th minute goal that put the game well out of reach at 3-0.

The matchup against Torquay United was a much more contested affair as an early goal by Jack Midson had the Don's up early and the defense staved off several punishing attacks by United to extend their winning streak to three games and start the season 2-1-0 and quickly exceeding early expectations. Those expectations were somewhat tempered as they barely escaped Hartlepool with points. The Don's surrendered an early goal when Ross Worner was beat on a weak shot from just inside the box, it would take until the 83rd minute for the Don's to mount a serious attack and once they finally had, it was 21 year old striker, Michael Smith whom is on the squad on loan, scoring a tough shot between two defenders and off balance.

The Dons will have their opening match against Chesterfield Football Club for their opening round matchup in the Johnstone Paint Trophy, and the team is on a tear, this is a good time to catch fire, especially with early fixtures containing tourney matchups and any upset that the Dons pull off will yield big benefits from boosters, supporters and players abroad.

The Dons are on fire, can the blaze keep going or will the flames be quelled in the opening round of the Johnstone Paint Trophy?

How to not play defense

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Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Bring on the youngsters

Combing the peninsula of Greece has yielded some interesting results for the Don's, with a scout out searching the land for potential prospects and the team having a predisposition towards youth, their early returns are looking well enough, as the team announced the signing of two youngsters to the senior squad prior to their Johnstone Paint matchup and both will see playing time according to manager Ray Edwards!

The first being Gregorios Deligiannis, the 16 year old net minder will be a very raw presence in the net but with a tall frame at 6'1 he poses an interesting blend of athleticism and pure size to stretch out infront of the net, naturally his predictive capabilities need work and his reflexes aren't quite there yet but with play time he will grow and the team hopes he can be a valuable asset or at least someone they can use to sell off in the future.

The other player brought in was Makis Bizos, Bizos hails from Greece as well and plas as a midfielder and specializes as a right midfielder. His speed is the high point of his scouting tap, and he is a good passer and keeps good control of the ball, all skills that are invaluable in the middle of the field where every player needs to be able to create opportunities. With several players on the roster coming in from other squads on loans, infusing their own young talent will be a big step in the right direction for a team already starting to show signs of brilliance!

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

If anyone has any suggestions just feel free to post them, I'm not new to dynasty pages, but I am fairly new when it comes to soccer/football ones, so things like pacing and league stories and the such I'm not familiar with. I'm really enjoying this and still toying with the difficulty to get it in a range I'm comfortable with!

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Chesterfield commits too many errors, falls to AFC

The Don's had a lot of reasons to celebrate on this day, with two youth in the starting line up for the first time with the senior team, expectations hadn't been very high as their oepning round matchup against a Chesterfield FC squad wasn't very high on Ray Edward's radar, the team hadn't made much of a goal in respect to the Johnstone Paint Trophy and rather were focusing on gelling as a unit.

Youngster Bizos would put the game away for the Dons with his goal in the 63rd minute that extended the teams lead to 2-1, a late goal by Frampton who came crashing forward from the defensive line extended this one to a 3-1 lead. With a youngster in the net, he made save after save, only allowing a goal when he had punched the ball away and was left in bad position, while the defenders weren't able to clear the ball leading to an easy goal for Chesterfield.

It was a brilliant result for Ray Edwards which at this point has made his team overachieve in every possible way, and AFC supporters couldn't be happier. "These men are playing their hearts out, we move pieces around and we continue to gel, whichever group gives us the best chance in each fixture will be our unit moving forward."

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Wimbledon stuns Northampton on a final minute goal

Ray Edwards was seen as a furious competitor when he was introduced in his opening press conference, even so no one could see just how much he was so. His team is already proving to be such a force in the League 2 that they haven't lost in several games, and Northampton had this squad pushed to it's limits, down 1-0 in the 54th minute, the team rallied.

Despite not having a single shot on net prior to their goal in the 63rd minute would be resolute to the resolve this team had. Unwilling to yield and sacrificing every once of their energy to ensure their squad walked away with points and in the ending of the opening month of action, the team looked beautiful for the final minutes. George Porter scored the first goal coming from the reserves, while George Francomb added another goal to give the Don's side 3 points.

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Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Boosters pump the Don's coffers but the team has quiet transfer window

The coffers were bustling after a recent run of success and fans as well as the head men within the organization eying a potential promotion, the team wanted to make a splash in the transfer market but ended up sizzling out as their discussions for a midfielder and striker fizzled and the team was left with only one signing through the final day of the window.

Their signing gives a lot of flexibility within the pipes, as they sign Egor Baburin, 20 of Russia. Egor was signed with Zenit, a Russia based football club and was signed to $325,000 USD on the transfer market. Baburin is expected to be the starting netminder for the remainder of the season and should continue to grow. As such, Gregorios Deligiannis will be designated for loan in the upcoming winter transfer window to allow growth abroad.

It wasn't the splash they wanted, it wasn't flashy and it wasn't star studded, but it provides stability and could provide a solid foundation with a more veteran presence in the net that will continue to grow given his young age. The team is likely disappointed to not get any other deals done, but the team is performing fairly successfully. There's four months of football in between the next transfer window and Edwards will have a better idea of his situation at that point.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Rooney headlines global transfers

It seemed that Wayne Rooney wouldn't be leaving England any time soon, but when his side agreed to a deal with Real Madrid for $55,000,000, the shroud was lifted and the reality of the matter was, no person is untouchable if a team is willing to shell out enough for a player they would be moved.

Dortmund added Brazilian striker Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid, the Striker's transfer budget hit would be $36,000,000, as the Liga 1 sees talent come in just as much leaves to head to the Bundesliga, as teams attempt to dethrone Bayern Munich whom has 'risen' to be the face of the league.

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Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Portsmouth shuts down Wimbledon attack, 1-0

Portsmouth came into this game with a slight edge in predictions but many felt that with the overwhelming momentum that Wimbledon came into this game with, that they had as good a chance as anyone to pull out a victory as they had in their previous several fixtures. In physics, an object in motion stays in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. The object? Wimbledon, the outside force? Portsmouth's defensive line.

For the first time all season, the Don's were held out of the scoring column and shut down in all facets of the game. There were a few times when they made a few good runs down the pitch but it didn't yield any points for them, a team that had averaged in the high 60's and low 70's in shooting accuracy found themselves at just 45% and their passing accuracy was just above 50%, the errors were abound for the Don's, yet it wasn't an error that gave Portsmouth the lead.

A beautifully orchestrated run by the Portsmouth side had them charge down the field and a shot from just inside the box would be redirected in front of the net by Agyemang who would get credit for the goal, the only score on the evening, the two goalies combined for 11 saves, or an over .900 save percentage, a beautiful display by both goaltenders kept this game in such a deadlock, yet when it came down to it, the one bounce that mattered was the one off Agyemang's cleat.

[pfeifere1]

Re: The rise -AFC Wimbledon-

Pompey!!!! Sorry for your loss, but I'm glad it's to a great club !

Great looking manager mode, definitely following.