Football Season Guide

The 2016/17 season was Wimbledon's first-ever season in the third tier and they managed to meet the pre-season expectations as they stayed up. The sole slight disappointment was that they failed to finish above bitter rivals, Milton Keynes Dons, despite being above them in the table for long periods. There were periods last season during which it seemed that the Dons could go on and push for a second consecutive promotion, but it became clear that a top six finish would be beyond their reach with around a third of the season to go. Neal Ardley stated following one of the late season games that there was a huge gap in the financial potential between the top six sides and the Bantams so the fans should be realistic in their expectations going into the new campaign. Ardley's words have proved prophetic, given that the Dons went on to have a summer of rather disappointing transfer activity which saw them lose several regular players while bringing in inferior replacements. The main problem area is the attack, as they have lost the likes of Tom Elliott and Dominic Poleon while bringing in Cody McDonald and Kwesi Appiah. Both having significant League One experience but are hardly players that can be trusted to score 15 or 20 goals in a season. Starting keeper, James Shea, is also no longer with the club, but an able replacement has been signed in George Long, who joins on loan from Sheffield United. Ardley occasionally plays with narrow formations and is known for his tendency to have a lot of midfielders that he can use interchangeably. It looked as though he was set to give up on this policy when Dannie Bulman and Jake Reeves left, but the Dons went on to bring in Nadjim Abdou and Liam Trotter so the squad will once again be well stocked in midfield areas. A positive regarding their summer transfer policy is that all of the signings are proven League One players, while Deji Oshilaja is definitely an improvement on anything they have at the back. Having said that, with everything in mind, their squad does seem a touch weaker than it was last season and they will also no longer have the thrill of playing their first-ever League One season.