FAN’S VIEW 22/23 – No.36 – MILTON KEYNES AWAY

MK DONS 1 OXFORD UNITED 1

Much like with us there is a dearth of good boozers to meet in close to their ground. The Chequers in Watling Street in Fenny Stratford which we used last season and which some of my mates quite rated, has been sold by Vale Brewery and is now closed.

So we headed to the Red Lion on the Grand Union canal, an establishment we’d used quite a few times before. It is a haunt of away fans and can get quite full. There were plenty from Oxford in there. Apparently they’d accommodated 500 from Derby. That must have included filling the outdoor drinking area and a large overspill some way down the towpath. Whether they all got a drink or not is another matter because speed of service wasn’t the fastest I’ve ever seen but as any drinker will know Guinness cannot be rushed.

Only one hand pump displayed a clip and Fullers London Pride these days isn’t anywhere near as good as it used to be at the best of times. I have to say though that the iconic Irish stout was extremely quaffable.

Helpfully there were little arrows on the path pointing the way to Stadium MK. Unhelpfully the path seemed to stop, there were no traffic lights to enable easy crossing of very busy roads or little islands of sanctuary half way across. Add to that some drivers don’t use their indicators at roundabouts and it was quite a hazardous walk of just under a mile and a half.

In the Red Lion there had been a chorus of “We want Robbo out.” One of our party decided he wanted Robbo in. If there had been a forced vote there and then I would have sided with the singing boys but voting isn’t compulsory of course or voicing one’s opinions. The turnout for last week’s West Lancashire by-election was just 31.3%. Thought I’d throw that in.

I totally get why our fans are utterly fed up. The whole season has been bad with the decline starting to take root at the back end of last season.

For me there’s still a 100% need to support the team from the first whistle and I think our followers do that. Have we reached the point yet when some will be wanting us to lose thinking that it will be the tipping point that sees Karl Robinson’s time as our manager ended? I have not detected this but don’t know the deep feeling of all fellow yellows.

The starting line-up selected by Robinson highlighted so many errors in the running of the footballing side of things and our recruitment. But wait for the proof of the pudding. Wait to see how the eleven in our unsponsored kit would perform.

The answer was many of them didn’t perform at all and as a team our first half showing was desperate.

We were without Elliott Moore for personal reasons and when one hears that thoughts and prayers are being sent to him and his family we know that football drops very low on the list of priorities. As MK are a team that likes to play football with over physicality not that high on their agenda, his absence was probably not as much of a blow as it would have been against some other sides.

Anyway as it was we had Stuart Findlay who could have been picked. He wasn’t. Our two full back / centre-halves were given the task of playing in the middle this time. That meant we were again playing a four with Djvan Anderson on the right at the back and Brandon Fleming on the left.

Again it has to be said that Anderson just is not a defender. Fleming seems to have a bit more of that quality but also brings more to the team going forward than he does as a solid hard Joe Skarz type. These two had little if any help from Josh Murphy and Ateef Konate who had been given starts.

In addition to an apparent lack of tracking back, Murphy and Konate were offering little if anything going forward. In the former’s case surely something has to be wrong whether it is physical or psychological. It’s unfortunate but he’s looking like one of the worst signings we’ve made for years.

I don’t get Konate yet either. He doesn’t seem to be what we needed. He’ll be 22 in April but other than playing 32 times for Le Havre’s second team has no experience of note.

These two took the places of Tyler Goodrham and Yanic Wildschut – players who I very much felt should never have been left out, particularly the teenager.

Playing tiny Tyler Smith down the middle was crackers but we’ve seen such tactics time and again. Our attack having a focal point? Don’t be silly.

In the centre of the park the hosts had the space to play in and with us looking so vulnerable on the flanks it was ominous. Josh McEachran has a great range of passes in his locker but he wasn’t the only one finding the dangerous Sullay Kaikai out wide and occasionally more centrally.

The warning signs were very much there early on.

No Don was able to get on the end of a Kaikai low ball in but there was no doubt a goal was coming as we had done nothing to establish a foothold in the game. None of this setting yourself out as being hard to beat stuff. Given our league position, current form and inability to date to keep clean sheets I would have thought that should have been the approach, but what do I know? Perhaps with the players we’ve got that’s just not possible.

It was Kaikai who got their goal and it came in the 25^th minute. Even the best players in any team make mistakes. Lewis Bate gave the ball away when trying to force it forward quickly. They came at us with pace and a few passes later Kaikai had the ball on the corner of our area. Anderson was blocking his path to goal. Kyle Joseph tracking back didn’t go with a man and, though meaning well, did more bad than good. He got in Anderson’s way preventing him continuing to block Kaikai’s path as the MK no. 24 moved parallel to the area and put the ball onto his right foot for a shot. One which was well despatched past Simon Eastwood.

We could have been two or three down at the break.

Anderson allowed Tennai Watson to run in behind him giving another example of a lack of defensive understanding and then was possibly a bit lucky that his stumble as he chased the MK defender didn’t make contact, which would have resulted in a penalty. Luckily the very good chance which was set up by Watson was spurned.

We’d created nothing at all in those first 45 minutes but did get close to scoring a goal. Keeper Jamie Cumming let a very long back pass go under his foot and carry on goal-wards. He caught up with it quite easily though so blushes were just about spared.

We began the second half much better. We would have had to go some to be worse. When our opponents had the ball we were getting to them quicker and being more physical about it. Marcus McGuane had replaced Murphy. MM has himself been disappointing of late but this was a noticeable upgrade.

The only real scare we had in this second period came early on. Fleming was outmuscled (or possibly fouled) which resulted in Mo Eisa looking like he would score. We managed to get bodies in there though and a very good block by Simon Eastwood kept the deficit at one.

Our improvement took a massive step forward in the 61^st minute when Goodrham and Wildschut came on replacing Smith and Konate.

I felt energised. Ten minutes after their introduction we levelled.

Goodrham took a couple of strides into space to get the ball from Long. It was simple yet clever movement. He turned and drove forward with it totally under control. A pass was slipped to Joseph but Jack Tucker just got there first, the ball coming to Anderson who returned it poorly into the area. Goodrham though refused to allow the attack to come to nothing. He took the ball off Kaikai with a scissor type tackle just the right side of legal as the scorer of the first goal attempted to run with it. This time Anderson found Bate with a little clip back. A twisty dribble of feints and turns put Bradley Johnson on his knees followed by a left footed stunner that Cumming couldn’t get to. A goal of Premier League quality. From the angle I was watching it appeared the keeper had got a big hand to it. Glad he hadn’t.

At that point a lot of emotion was let out by a lot of fans. A proper goal to celebrate. A goal from open play at last.

We could have gone on to win this.

When we’re on the attack and have the opposition with their backs against the wall, Anderson is an asset. As a winger he ticks some boxes. Kaikai had come back to mark him. It was now their turn to have someone who couldn’t defend trying to do so. Anderson went past him and, heading for the by-line, pulled a cross back that Joseph, now playing down the middle, got a head on, sending it on its way to Wildschut. The pegs were now fitting in the holes and whilst far from completely snug, they were no longer rattling around so freely. Whilst I wouldn’t call Joseph an out and out centre-forward I think he’s by far the best man we have for the job. (Apologies to Gatlin O’Donkor fans). The move ended with Wildschut sending a shot just over the bar.

It was Wildschut who twice more had decent efforts before the game reached its conclusion. The first was a volley at goal with power after a Ciaron Brown long throw. It was straight at Cumming but had such force that the MK stopper could only fist it away.

The second was when he used his strength to burst through a little gaggle of white shirts. His shot back across goal only went marginally wide.

That wasn’t our final chance to win the game. Bate won a physical coming together with Kaikai, possibly illegally, but he came away with the ball and for once we’d broken at pace and had numerical advantage. The ball to Joseph was slightly hampered by a defensive touch but our no.22 still got onto it. He went a bit too wide though and tired legs probably didn’t help as again over the bar it went.

Those tired legs that as always had put in a hell of a shift were given a rest with 88 minutes on the clock. A miracle then occurred, Sam Baldock appeared in his stead. With the added time he lasted seven minutes. I don’t think he touched the ball but a fit Baldock has to be a good thing.

That second half gave much to be positive about but an immediate reality check is needed.

MK Dons have now played 16 home games. They’ve only won two. They’ve been beaten in ten of those games. However given how bad we’ve been doing I’m not unhappy with the draw – and in getting that draw we’ve denied our opponents the two extra points and maintained the seven point gap between us and them. That was very important. Particularly with top of the table Plymouth coming to Minchery Farm on Tuesday.

A good turnout