The cliche says ten games is the minimum before you judge a season. Which is nonsense, of course. Some people judge after ten minutes, normally on Facebook, usually in all caps. But fine, we’ll play along.
For Wimbledon, the tenth league game was Wycombe at home in a horrible lunchtime kick-off. And like any workplace appraisal, we turned up on time, filled in the forms, and hoped the boss would be lenient.
Key Metrics
We’ve reviewed the KPIs. We’d like to see Womble Co-efficient go this deep.
Ten games. 6 wins, 0 draws and 4 loses.
League position: 6th (yes that’s in the playoffs!).
Goals scored: 14.
Goals conceded: 12.
Accurate long-balls per match: 22.6
Based on these stats: We’re not Barcelona. We’re not Barrow either. Somewhere in between, with less sangria and fewer tractors.
For the completists, here’s the full list of results with our lovingly snarky reports:
Wycombe - the 10th review:
The line up:
Notable absences:
Browne – serving the last game of his suspension. The record without him? Three played, three won. He’s got a tough case to make when he’s back.
McCoy-Splatt – unavailable due to “operational reasons,” which in Wimbledon terms means either a knock in training or being seconded to a DTB working group on youth engagement.
The match:
The first ten minutes were a Dons highlight reel. Stevens backheeled like he thought he was on Soccer AM. Smith curled wide. Hippolyte fluffed a one-on-one by inexplicably shooting with his right foot when it’s usually only used for standing on. But then came the payoff: Seddon’s delicious free-kick, Bugiel’s forehead, 1–0.
The pair combined again before half-time. It was launched long, Bugiel pinned his man, and Seddon snuck in to finish with the outside of his boot. Five years and a day since his last Dons goal. He celebrated like he’d just found his Tesco Clubcard down the back of the sofa.
Half-time, 2–0, Wycombe looked beaten. Which is when they decided to start playing.
The second half was grim. Wycombe hit the bar, then Henderson kneed one in off his shinpad, and suddenly we were trapped in our own box counting the minutes.
There was late drama when Wycombe thought they’d equalised, only for the ref to remember throw ins exist. The Dons staggered over the line, greeted by a roar of relief.
Womble of the Week: Steve Seddon
A free-kick assist, a first Dons goal in five years, and he found his Clubcard. What a day for Steve. He attacked, defended, and at times played like he had unfinished business with Wycombe. This was his best performance in blue and yellow since returning, and a reminder of why we kept faith.
And so Wycombe gave us our tenth data point. Now we can judge the season so far….
Themes of the First Ten
Attack: Matty Stevens started like a firework, much like last season. Hopefully he can keep it up and not turn into a damp sparkler. We still need goals spread around. Orsi is an upgrade on Pigoott from last season. Hackford looks very promising - glad he’s ours and not a loan.
Midfield: Reeves © continues to run things while smirking at our jokes about him being a copyright symbol. Others have chipped in, but this is his stage.
Defence: Solid more often than not, Johnson shaved his head and stepped up to the new levels after putting too much lubricant up top for Luton. We’re more leaky than last year but that’s to be expected. We still get nervous us defending a one goal lead.
Depth: The squad looks stronger on paper, but we’ve not really tested it yet. The first-choice XI has carried most of the workload, and we’ve only seen glimpses of what McCoy-Splatt, Brodie Hughes, and Orsi can do when given more than a cameo. The concern isn’t numbers, it’s readiness. When the inevitable injuries arrive, we’ll find out if this depth is real quality or just names on a spreadsheet
JJ: Steady presence. Post-match vocabulary still limited to “we go again” and “take each game as it comes,” but delivery is consistent. Tactically improved, better game management with slightly timelier subs, shapes adjusted without the usual half-hour delay. That said, rotation remains minimal, and sometimes it feels like he trusts the same 11 to the point of exhaustion. A fresh cliche wouldn’t hurt either.
Fan Sentiment:
Split between cautious optimism, full-scale catastrophising, and not caring about the football because there are volunteers to complain about.
And in case you missed it, Wimbledon picked up a Silver Award in the Fan Engagement Index. Yes, we now have medals for talking to ourselves. We’ll be back later this week with a full write-up. Spoiler: other clubs are even worse at engagement than the DTB, which is an achievement in itself.
On the Page: WombleWorld’s Own Review
Ten games in, we’ve produced ten reports and eleven articles. Readership steady. The DTB election coverage caused a spike, proving governance arguments will always outperform football. Some of our jokes landed. Others fell as flat as our set-pieces.
We go again and take each game as it comes. We’re working hard on the training pitch, and we are nothing without the support of the fans. Next week we’ll also be giving 110% and treating every article like a cup final.
If you’ve been enjoying these reviews, consider becoming a paid subscriber. It keeps WombleWorld ticking along, keeps us in San Miguels, and lets us cling to the delusion that we’re paid writers rather than people shouting into the void. And no, before anyone asks, not a penny is going to the We Are Wimbledon transfer fund.
Closing Thoughts
So where are we? Solid, unspectacular, mildly promising. The squad looks like it can hold its own in League One. The next ten games will tell us if we’re chasing playoffs or just chasing our tails.
If it all gets too much, we can always retreat to Bayzo’s meditation tent in the fan zone. He’s probably lit the candles already.
WombleWorld
Post-match thoughts courtesy of Johnnie Jackson: “We go again and take each game as it comes. We’re working hard on the training pitch, and we are nothing without the support of the fans. Next week we’ll also be giving 110% and treating every game like a cup final.”