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August 1999
31/08/99
The reserves are in action at Coventry tonight in their first game in the FA Premier Reserve League. Gareth Ainsworth is in the Squad as I heard him being told yesterday.At the training ground yesterday a Norwegian youth side (FC ¯rn Houten) was playing against a Dons youth team the Dons won 8-0 (3-0 at half time).As we thought Lars can raise his voice when he needs to. A unnamed player who was not playing as well as he should in training got the full force of a Lars blast.There was also an incident that did not please Sully where Neal Ardley managed to go round his defender and Ardley and walked the ball to the net rather than just tapping it in he got down on his knees and headed the ball over the line, now this is something that we have all wanted to do but Sully as not impressed and told Neal as much as well.
30/08/99
It may have been a bank holiday in England today but this didn't mean that the players got a day off. I went down the training ground today and it was very busy even though their was not a full first team their due to international call up's.Players missing included Cunningham, Cort, Euell, Pedersen, Michael Hughes, Badir, and Andersen. Sullivan was training as the Scotland squad meet up tomorrow.Players not training due to injury were John Hartson and Dean Blackwell. I spoke to John Hartson and he confirmed that he had pulled out of the Welsh squad he said the most important thing is for me to be fit for the Derby match. I asked him what he thought about the cup draw and he said "They hate me!"I arrived at about 11:30 and training was already under way. Lars and Mick were taking the training and the first exercise that I saw was lines of players doing 2 touch play this was in lines of similar players for example (Thatcher, Kimble, Ardley). the next exercise involved an attacker and defender standing on the corner point of the penalty box and the attacker would have the ball. The idea was for the defender to stop the attacker from scoring, if the player did score the defender had to do a circuit of a marked out area. Click here for a Video example of what was going onWhile I was at the training ground Drillo walked over and had a quick word with me his opening line was "Sorry about Saturday's result" I was amazed that he had said this I told him that I came away pleased with the performance. He said the first half we defended well but just couldn't hold on. He said we would turn it around I said I had no doubt about this. and just to top it off he confirmed he still loves it at Wimbledon.Both Drillo and Lars had their families at the training ground Lars's boys spent most the time kicking a football about.
29/08/99
Marcus Gayle has been quoted as saying that we must find the way to win again soon or it will be too late as we will be in a season long relegation scrap. I find this comment a bit strange after such a good performance yesterday we now have 2 weeks to sort the defence out so we should be ok by Derby.
28/08/99
The draw for the 2nd round of the Worthington cup was made today. We have been drawn against Cardiff City the first leg is in Cardiff and will be played round about 15th September. This is rather strange that we have been drawn against Cardiff as we were due to play them in a pre-season match but this didn't happen.Although we lost 1-0 to Chelsea the performance was better all around.Walid Badir made his debut and he had a very good game he looks like he will be a very good player for us.
27/08/99
It still appears that John Hartson is not fit to play in the Chelsea game.Pedersen should of recovered from his stomach bug and could well play.This will be a very big test for us and I hope that our defence will perform better than it has.Neil Sullivan has once again been selected for Scotland for their two Euro 2000 matches.
26/08/99
Efan Ekoku has left us for £500,000 with a move to Grasshoppers Zurich He has made a parting comment of at least I will get European Football with Zurich. Well I am sorry to say that on the way he has played for us in the past he was lucky to get any game for us.The surprise of the day was that Chris Perry was not picked for England not that he has left us.
25/08/99
As you will expect I am at Everton tonight so no real update today, I am staying in Liverpool so I will try and get to a internet cafe so to do a site update via my message board check it out just to be on the safe side otherwise the update will be done on Thursday evening.
24/08/99
Carl Cort has been called up for England Under 21's for games against Luxembourg and Poland the Luxembourg game is at Reading's ground on 3rd September 1999.John Hartson is definitely out of the game at Everton as he is a few days away from being fully fit.With Hartson being out I would like to see Leaburn start instead of Gayle as I think with our current formation Leaburn is the better Lone front man when Hartson in unavailable.The Wimbledon Jester had his hat stolen on the way from Newcastle on Saturday so we will no longer have his hat at games.
23/08/99
Gareth Ainsworth has said how pleased he was that the Dons stuck by him after his injuries last year. he said he hopes he has earnt a place in the starting line up for the Everton game but he admits that he is not 100% fit so if Drillo puts him on the bench that is fine by him.
22/08/99
Carl Cort has today been linked with a move to Spurs for £6 million. George Graham seems to be after anyone who plays or has played for the Dons. He was rumoured to be after Michael Hughes yesterday.After watching Match of the Day I am still amazed at the penalty award.
21/08/99
Well well well, what a game I will do a full match report in the morning but the details of the game are as follows.Newcastle took the lead. and then made it 2-0 with a very good goal. We pulled it back to 2-1 just before Half time (M.Hughes). In the first minute of the 2nd half Newcastle made it 3-1 after a Penalty was given for so called handball. Ainsworth came on and we pulled it back to 3-2 with his goal and then in injury time he scored again to make it 3-3.
20/08/99
Drillo was saying in the paper yesterday about how much teams don't like playing us and saying it was going to be hard for Newcastle to end up with more than a point at tomorrows game.John Hartson may be out as he has not trained all week as he has an ankle injury.
19/08/99
A Dons XI was involved in a match against an Aston Villa XI last night this match was arranged at short notice and I can only assume that the idea was to give players like Badir, Anderson and Ainsworth a run out prior to our match at Newcastle.Drillo has been offered a contract to have his Wellies sponsored by Britains main welly maker he has turned the offer down.Tickets are still available for the match at the weekend and for those who are making the long trip north I would point out that the section we are in this year is not the normal one it is Main Stand side and is not covered as Newcastle are in the process of extending their ground.
18/08/99
Although He is not fit it looks like Duncan Ferguson could play against us on Saturday in Shearers absents. Ferguson is one of these players who always seems to do well against us lets hope he does not have as good a day on Saturday.Talking to David Barnard the Wimbledon Chief Executive last night he was saying how well shirt sales had gone this year. We have already sold more shirts before Saturdays game than we had in the whole of last season. Shops all around the London and Surrey area have asked for supplies and also places like Swindon, Cardiff and Lowestoft in Norfolk are selling them.David also advised that their is not a version of the shirt with an embroided logo on it and it is likely that this was sold in error.
17/08/99
It would now appear that Robbie Earle's injury is not as bad as first feared and he is likely to be fit for Saturday as x-rays show he has not broken his cheekbone.Alan Kimble and Michael Hughes are both rumoured to be unhappy and could be set to leave the Dons. This seems to be due to the fact that it looks as if neither will start games.
16/08/99
Tickets went on sale today for our September 19th Clash at Old Trafford. It is one per person and Season Tickets must be presented or seat numbers known.At the end of last week Drillo made a brilliant quote of Selhurst is very difficult to find so in future I may take the train! So if you see a Norwegian man in Wellies on the Selhurst Train it could well be Drillo.
15/08/99
Marcus Gayle has been linked with both Spurs and Leicester in the papers with a price range of £8 million to £14 million.I spoke to Gareth Ainsworth yesterday and he confirmed that he is now fit and is just waiting to be picked by Drillo.
14/08/99
So another day another game where points were thrown away and another penalty against us.Tickets for the game at Manchester United on the 18th September 1999 go on sale on Monday priced £22.00 for Adults and £11.00 for Kids. It is one ticket per season ticket holder or member.
13/08/99
Ben Thatcher looks like he will replace Alan Kimble in tomorrows match against Coventry.It also looks like Badir and Anderson will be at least on the bench.The Daily Telegraph today reported that Sam has been in talks with Ron Noades about the possibility of purchasing Selhurst Park, there was no reaction from either side as to how the talks went.
12/08/99
Last night a Wimbledon XI beat Sutton 3-1 the scores for the Dons were John Goodman, Walid Badir and Damien Francis. Peter Bowles who was at the match told me that Patrick Agyemang played very well.
11/08/99
In the match at Sutton tonight Waleed Badir and Tron Anderson are warming up on the pitch (19:04 news from Peter B).Egil has said that a lot more work needs to be done with the defence after the defeat yesterday.The Selhurst Park Shop has also arranged for Millets to be the Official supplier of Wellies you can now buy these on a match day in the shop.
10/08/99
In the match tonight we lost 3-2 after taking the lead. I will provide a full match report with pictures and video on Wednesday evening. At tonight game Chris Perry turned up and Nicy G managed to have a quick word with him Chris said "He still loves the Dons" Nice one Chris we still like you.
09/08/99
We have completed the signing of Trond Anderson of Molde for £2.5 million pounds. He could be in line for playing against Boro on Tuesday. Waleed Badir may also be in line for the Boro match.It is believed that since the new Wimbledon Shirts have gone on sale (Wednesday/Thursday) last week the club shop has almost sold out of the 2000 shirts they had in stock. They have arranged for another supply to be delivered. (This information was provided by Stuart Deacons)Tomorrow sees Drillo's first match at Selhurst and lets hope the team performance can continue from where it left off on Saturday. Drillo is sure to get an even warmer reception than he did on Saturday.
08/08/99
Hello their wow what a day yesterday was I still cant believe what a brilliant day it was.After deciding to watch Match Of the day last night I have to say what a unfair showing we got they only really showed our three goals the rest was all Watford, this just was not the case.Drillo has said he thought the Sending off was harsh, and Lars said he was also close to getting sent off because he was going on at the linesman and 4th official.The reports that I have seen do not give us credit that we deserve the best one I have seen is from "The Independent On Sunday" it is well worth a read.
07/08/99
Well All I can say is the sleepless night I had last night was well worth it :-) What started off as a miserable day ended up being bright sunshine almost 2000 wombles singing their hearts out and the team being brilliant for more details check out the Reports page.What seems to have been the longest initiation to be carried out was finally completed today when Drillo had his wellies burned.This information is being updated at 04:23 UK time due to the fact that I am unable to sleep because of the game latter today.Today we will have our first chance to see the dons up against Premiership opponents.I will be doing an update tonight with match report and pictures.For anyone who is in London and wants to meet up with over 50 Dons fans we will be in the Falcon Pub outside Clapham Junction train station from 11:00 and will get the 13:03 Clapham Junction to Watford Junction train. I may see you their.
06/08/99
Tomorrow, Saturday 7th August 1999 sees a new era in the History of Wimbledon Football Club, as Egil Olsen is in charge for his first Premiership game.A lot of people have high hopes for this season but we must remember that the new System may not work right from the first match.Olsen becomes the first Norwegian to manage in the Premiership and the press are bound to be out in force as they will see it as an England Vs Norway rematch with Graham Taylor on the other bench.The news from the training ground was that an 18 man squad was put through their passes today.The eighteen included Ben Thatcher although he is listed as being out for the match. Gareth Ainsworth did not train nor did Waleed Badir.At the end of training Lars and Egil pulled Michael Hughes and Jason Euell to one side to have a word with them. This may of either been to say they were in the team or not but I do not know what was said.One area of confusion surrounds the mystery as to what number John Hartson will wear in several lists I have seen he has been listed as wearing the number 9 shirt but in all the warm-up matches and on his training kit he has number 10. We shall just have to wait and see what number he runs out to.
05/08/99
With just two days until the start of the season the new Blue Kit is on sale it is priced at £40.00 and is of good quality. Neither the White or Red Kit is available as of yet and no Squad numbers are known by the Club perhaps they should check out W&WW. The club also have a couple of nice T-shirts available one with a person kicking a football with wellington boots and a Viking helmet on and the Words "Drillo - The Viking Don.Regarding Watford the game at the moment is not All-Ticket but they recommend that you get your tickets in advance as we now only have about 400 left. This means their will be over 1,500 dons at the match.As reported on several sites recently it looks as if two more Norwegians could be on the way. One player Anderson from Molde should cost us £2.5 million and is a Defensive Midfielder it believed that their may be a late bid from Sheffield Wednesday but Olsen is confident that he will sign for us their is even a report he may be at training on Friday.
04/08/99
Yesterdays news page at "The Norse Connection" was first class not only did they have a detailed training plan but also an interview with Tore Pedersen, If you have not visited it yet check it out.Walid played for Israel last night and from two people that were at the game I have been told that he played well. They would like to see how e plays in the Dons' first team as Israel did not play that well. One of the quotes I was given was that he is a man who like to tackle. He will be interesting to see when he plays for us.
03/08/99
I have been advised the following news from the training ground.Ben Thatcher will not play on Saturday following his Lung injury, this apparently happened after he fell in training.Gareth Ainsworth only undertook light training today with Steve Allen (Physio) and one other player everyone else trained fully.During the practice match John Goodman tackled Marcus Gayle this resulted in Marcus leaving the pitch and throwing his boots down in anger lets hope he is not injured.Walid Badir could well play his first match in London tonight when Israel play a friendly against Fulham at the Cottage.
02/08/99
Although the Official Site said that the New Kit would be released yesterday (1/8/99) It has not arrived in the Club Shop as of yet they are hopping that it will be in for either Thursday or Friday.We have so far sold approximately 1100 tickets for Saturdays game with about 800 still available if you do not have one as of yet you still have a chance to see Drillo's first League match.Efan Ekoku is still not fully fit following his operation at the end of last year but hopes to be back within the next week or two.
01/08/99
The News of the World has reported that on the basis that John Hartson missed 3 chances yesterday he will be dropped for the game at Watford. I have to say this is a very poor story Hartson has played very well this pre-season and I think he will have a very good season. I have now added the Match report for yesterdays game at Bournemouth.Drillo said after the game that he was surprised that we kept a clean sheet, and he thinks we are still two weeks from being at the level that he wants us to be. The first 20 minutes was very poor yesterday but in the end we played very well.
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