18/19 - Milton Keynes (A) Match Thread

The team and management now reflect the owners: dull, uninspiring, cheap, lacking imagination and going through the motions.

seesaw50 wrote: Just saw the goals...not impressed

The official site highlights don't show the full horror of Nadesan's heavy touch which led to the first goal. The Skysports highlights give a much fairer view of the game. www.skysports.com/football/mk-dons-vs-carlisle/report/393892

Edited to say Gary Liddle's goal line clearance is absolutely unbelievable no matter how many times you watch it.

In fairness to Nadesan, despite the heavy touch and his usual up and down game, he's one of the very few players we currently have who gives us any goal threat.
At the time I felt Jones should have gotten closer for both goals, but that's in real time so could be wrong.
What's more concerning are the goals coming down our right. Not sure how much longer we can keep going with Sowerby there.
The thing with Nadesan, and like a lot of strikers he is very in and out but he has this pace that stretches teams and there's always a ball to be slipped through to him between defenders.
Instinctively he's a good finisher and when he goes he'll be a huge miss.
There's no pace anywhere else in the current starting 11 and certainly nobody else that offers what he does.

The state of Gerrard and Parkes on the turn trying to stick with Agard for the second goal.

Aye you would go a long way to see a stiffer pair of centre halves than them pair!

Simon Jeffels and Billy Wright spring to mind!

Good to see we have reverted to slagging off the Board for things that haven't happened. Jenkins out for selling Devitt, except Devitt is still our player, no offers have been received. If we really want to make it a game we can get them as well, an unnamed team (but we know its Swindon eh) have offered 75k but we refused, then JD will go there for a free in the summer and we've lost his fee. God we are good at this, damned if you sell, damned if you don't.

The problem with our team is we have no balance. We need a decent left back and a decent right back. that would give us some defensive strength down the flanks. Then we need a right midfielder, Granger and Hope are fine on the left. If Nadesan goes we need a goal scorer. If Devitt is a top earner (which I doubt) and we could get 75k (which I also doubt) I would take it and bring in 2 players in his place. He is a good player but we need to raise the average standard across the squad and get some depth.

To be playing game after game with no recognised full backs is crazy in my eyes.

carwash wrote:

seesaw50 wrote: Just saw the goals...not impressed

The official site highlights don't show the full horror of Nadesan's heavy touch which led to the first goal. The Skysports highlights give a much fairer view of the game. www.skysports.com/football/mk-dons-vs-carlisle/report/393892

Edited to say Gary Liddle's goal line clearance is absolutely unbelievable no matter how many times you watch it.

Was thinking more AC should/could have saved the first one at least..maybe being harsh!

nobbyblue wrote: Aye you would go a long way to see a stiffer pair of centre halves than them pair!

Simon Jeffels and Billy Wright spring to mind!

Gerrard been on the pies again, I noticed he looked weighty last home game...and Parkes been out so probably not fully match fit eh

newcarlislefan wrote: In fairness to Nadesan, despite the heavy touch and his usual up and down game, he's one of the very few players we currently have who gives us any goal threat.
At the time I felt Jones should have gotten closer for both goals, but that's in real time so could be wrong.
What's more concerning are the goals coming down our right. Not sure how much longer we can keep going with Sowerby there.
The thing with Nadesan, and like a lot of strikers he is very in and out but he has this pace that stretches teams and there's always a ball to be slipped through to him between defenders.
Instinctively he's a good finisher and when he goes he'll be a huge miss.
There's no pace anywhere else in the current starting 11 and certainly nobody else that offers what he does.

Yes the RB position is now a worry, if only he'd played Grainger at LB and reverted GL to RB and TP at CB from the start. Assuming DG was fully fit and not making up the numbers. Sowerby needs a rest....too many goals coming from that side!

Couple of observations from yesterday.

Fantastic ground, perhaps even the best new-build I’ve been to, but an horrendous surrounding area which seems to be more and more common these days; retail parks, fat food eateries, no pubs, miles from anything.

A routine, mundane performance from Carlisle where, worryingly, several players seemed to be going through the motions. Almost had the feel of an end of season performance with little to play for. No spark from anyone, no desire shown by anyone, nobody busting a gut for the cause, although hardly surprising with a team containing too many loanees in my mind.

Don’t get this thing with Nadesan, I’d probably describe him as our least worst forward, as calling him our best gives the impression he’s good. He works pretty hard but his quality is poor, I’ve always thought his first touch is nowhere near good enough for a league striker and yesterday it cost us the first goal - terrible first touch and within 5 seconds it’s in the back of our net (thought Collin should have done better with the not particularly powerful shot mind you).

With MK Dons being top of the league and managed by a good manager at this level I expected a lot more from them but thought they were quite poor, which also goes to show how poor this division is.

A forward is a must in the january window, we’re toothless up front with little movement and no presence. There was actually some decent balls put into the box yesterday but the chance of anyone getting on the end of any of them was little more than nil. Going back to the point about no desire, this was the most obvious example - no desire to get in the box and be first to the cross, no desire to get across your marker, no desire to fling yourself at a cross and bury it.

The season seems to meandering to halt and it’s not even xmas. Little prospect of promotion or even the play-offs, probably got enough to avoid a relegation fight, out of every cup competition. All in all it’s got all the makings of a boring, pointless second half of the season.

Yes, I agree with you about the ground. It is aesthetically very pleasing but I found the whole atmosphere very sterile.
I felt too far from the pitch and just didn't feel part of the game.
As Ibtufty said it was such a quiet away end.
In my limited time going away I think it's possibly the quietest it's been.
Pockets of MK fans dotted around the stadium doesn't help.
Maybe when it's full it'll be rocking but I found the whole match curiously depressing and not just for the football.
Despite the result last week I came out of Sincil Bank thinking that that was some place and atmosphere to watch a game in.

It certainly looked like a nice modern stadium in Jon Colman's or was it Radio Cumbria's pre game photos up on Twitter...actually said to myself, shame it'll be empty. Not sure what crowds they got last season but obviously they have stay away fans as well and top of the league at that. Still prefer our ground warts and all!

So much to like about the stadium. Inside the corperate facilities are good, although its odd going in through the hotel. The staff are always spot on, polite and friendly. The floodlights are great, as good as most Prem clubs. I had the settings on my camera half as high as at Brunton Park.

The ground is always clean and tidy but the red seats are badly faded now. A big scoreboard in every corner of the ground is great. In the dugouts the manager and coaches have those huge seats that look like they have come out of a plane's cockpit. I've been to the ground a fair few times now but yesterday I thought sod it and sat in one before the match, yes, they are as comfortable as they look. I don't think our coaching team used them much though.

The big minus point for me is that photographers have come into the ground at the top of lower level stand. There are a hell of a lot of steps to get to pitch level. I only got half way up at the end before I had to stop. Thankfully a nice steward carried my camera box the rest of the way to the top. Just seems crazy in a relatively new stadium not to have a photographers entrance at pitch level.

The match itself was disappointing. I've seen some comments that some of our players weren't trying. I really didn't see that. I thought we worked really hard, but we have no confidence at the moment. Once their first went in, the writing was on the wall.

Again, I heard quite a lot of comments that MK weren't up to much as a team. I thought they were. They were very well organised, could pass and win headers and each knew their jobs. They talked to each other al through the match and their keeper was very vocal. I thought they were decent and should go straight back up.

newcarlislefan wrote: Yes, it's desperately frustrating really.
I don't want to be moaning just for the sake of moaning but if the board could be less draconian with its strategy or if EWM would push us on a bit with some funds for squad strengthening - chicken feed for them - then it could be an exciting 2nd half of the season.
Hold on to Nadesan, some fullback cover and 2-3 quality attacking options and with Devitt, Grainger and Parkes fully fit the picture would look rosier.
It just has the feel, at the moment anyway, that the season is going to fizzle out.
Can't really knock them too much for losing to Lincoln and MK but throw the home record into the mix and it's a really worrying set of results.
The problem for us at the moment is that if Nadesan does go or we do have a poor second half of the season what will happen to the quality we have?
It's not impossible to see a scenario where the agents of players like Devitt or Gerrard or Parkes or Etuhu leave for more money or more chance of playing higher up the leagues.
January could be bad but next Summer could be catastrophic.
Not trying to be overly dramatic or pessimistic and it always feels worse after a defeat but I just hope that the board or EMW can see the very real danger ahead for the club over the next 6 months.
I mean we're currently struggling with the experienced pros in the side.
Come June the cupboard could conceivably be bare.
Some money from somewhere needs to be found otherwise Sheridan could end up with both a skeleton crew and one barely old enough to tie its boot laces.
I hope I'm not being overly dramatic but can't help feeling down tonight.

This is a dream this lot took over 2008 just after we inexplicably missed out on promotion to the Championship.

During their 11 years since as temporary Custodians it's been a slow inexorable slide... purely due to their inept running of the Club...

If you think they will do anything d8fferent this Jan than they have for 11 years now I think you are dreaming.

franksidebottom wrote: ... an horrendous surrounding area which seems to be more and more common these days; retail parks, fat food eateries, no pubs, miles from anything.

You're not going to get anything else in Milton Keynes thought - even the town/city centre is just a shopping centre surrounded by underpasses and wind-swept 'plazas' of endless paving flags

True enough. We got off the train at Bletchley beforehand which probably had more going for it than MK. The walk back to the station afterwards was ridiculous though, no signs, no pavements, just busy roads and retail parks. It’s as if the ground has just been built in an open area of land with little thought or planning about how fans will get there and what they’ll do pre-match.

Bumble wrote: So much to like about the stadium. Inside the corperate facilities are good, although its odd going in through the hotel. The staff are always spot on, polite and friendly. The floodlights are great, as good as most Prem clubs. I had the settings on my camera half as high as at Brunton Park.

The ground is always clean and tidy but the red seats are badly faded now. A big scoreboard in every corner of the ground is great. In the dugouts the manager and coaches have those huge seats that look like they have come out of a plane's cockpit. I've been to the ground a fair few times now but yesterday I thought sod it and sat in one before the match, yes, they are as comfortable as they look. I don't think our coaching team used them much though.

The big minus point for me is that photographers have come into the ground at the top of lower level stand. There are a hell of a lot of steps to get to pitch level. I only got half way up at the end before I had to stop. Thankfully a nice steward carried my camera box the rest of the way to the top. Just seems crazy in a relatively new stadium not to have a photographers entrance at pitch level.

The match itself was disappointing. I've seen some comments that some of our players weren't trying. I really didn't see that. I thought we worked really hard, but we have no confidence at the moment. Once their first went in, the writing was on the wall.

Again, I heard quite a lot of comments that MK weren't up to much as a team. I thought they were. They were very well organised, could pass and win headers and each knew their jobs. They talked to each other al through the match and their keeper was very vocal. I thought they were decent and should go straight back up.

With regards coming into the ground well above pitch level it’s pretty similar to Sunderland, when being built it’s built into a hole if you like, so the pitch and lower rows of seats are underground. I remember Sunderland saying at the time one of the reasons was so wheelchair users could enter the ground and be at a decent height without the need for lifts etc. Always thought it was a pretty good idea.

newcarlislefan wrote: Yes, I agree with you about the ground. It is aesthetically very pleasing but I found the whole atmosphere very sterile.
I felt too far from the pitch and just didn't feel part of the game.
As Ibtufty said it was such a quiet away end.
In my limited time going away I think it's possibly the quietest it's been.
Pockets of MK fans dotted around the stadium doesn't help.
Maybe when it's full it'll be rocking but I found the whole match curiously depressing and not just for the football.
Despite the result last week I came out of Sincil Bank thinking that that was some place and atmosphere to watch a game in.

Agree with you about the atmosphere being sterile and the ground feeling soulless but that’s more to do with the size of the ground compared to what’s actually needed, it shouldn’t take away from the design which was fantastic. It’s obvious there was no expense spared during construction, seemed to have the best of everything from the sound system to the screens, the open concourses, the padded seats and the whole feeling of space and comfort. A lot better than a lot of the stadiums even in the Premier League, certainly not what you’d expect in League Two.

It’s obviously been built with the growth and ambition of the club in mind. I’m not sure what their long-term plan is, how they plan to achieve it or whether filling the stadium on a regular basis is a realistic aim for them but while they’re at this level with crowds of 7,000 it does seem to do the ground a bit of a dis-service.

Yes, I agree with that. It is a very impressive looking place and a little like at Exeter and Lincoln there was huge excitement amongst the fans I spoke about the future despite the relegation.
They are lucky in the sense that, I think, it's all funded by the Queen's estate or something like that so money is not really a pressing concern.
It runs as a property investment company so despite the club losing money it's pretty much propped up by the Crown in effect!
They certainly have it all in place to go higher up the leagues.
I may have that slightly wrong but it's something like that.
How on earth else would a side at that level have something like that!
The only other place I've been to in the past couple of years as impressive was probably the Ricoh. When we played them it was their lowest crowd in half a century so a similar atmosphere.

franksidebottom wrote:

Bumble wrote: So much to like about the stadium. Inside the corperate facilities are good, although its odd going in through the hotel. The staff are always spot on, polite and friendly. The floodlights are great, as good as most Prem clubs. I had the settings on my camera half as high as at Brunton Park.

The ground is always clean and tidy but the red seats are badly faded now. A big scoreboard in every corner of the ground is great. In the dugouts the manager and coaches have those huge seats that look like they have come out of a plane's cockpit. I've been to the ground a fair few times now but yesterday I thought sod it and sat in one before the match, yes, they are as comfortable as they look. I don't think our coaching team used them much though.

The big minus point for me is that photographers have come into the ground at the top of lower level stand. There are a hell of a lot of steps to get to pitch level. I only got half way up at the end before I had to stop. Thankfully a nice steward carried my camera box the rest of the way to the top. Just seems crazy in a relatively new stadium not to have a photographers entrance at pitch level.

The match itself was disappointing. I've seen some comments that some of our players weren't trying. I really didn't see that. I thought we worked really hard, but we have no confidence at the moment. Once their first went in, the writing was on the wall.

Again, I heard quite a lot of comments that MK weren't up to much as a team. I thought they were. They were very well organised, could pass and win headers and each knew their jobs. They talked to each other al through the match and their keeper was very vocal. I thought they were decent and should go straight back up.

With regards coming into the ground well above pitch level it’s pretty similar to Sunderland, when being built it’s built into a hole if you like, so the pitch and lower rows of seats are underground. I remember Sunderland saying at the time one of the reasons was so wheelchair users could enter the ground and be at a decent height without the need for lifts etc. Always thought it was a pretty good idea.

Agree with you that the general layout is good, particularly for wheelchair users, but they need to organise an entrance for photographers (and kit people), at ground level. Sunderland has an entrance where you go down a ramp from the outside, which means you can wheel your gear down and up rather than facing endless steps. At Man City you go down to pitchside in lifts, which works fine even when there are 100 plus snappers there. Every ground will have at least one entrance at pitch level, to get tractors and pitch maintenance vehicles in, so it shouldn't be too difficult to make an entrance for photographers there.

Made it to this one.
Was a very feeble performance, but no worse than numerous others I have seen this season.
We were beaten by a much stronger team.
We look like what we are, a team made up of young players, with potential to be good , but most of whom are finding their feet in the game.
The problem is that they will have long since departed us if they ever go on to make my mark.
To me, we are avoiding humiliation by having a few experienced heads in there, but Christ it is bleak stuff at times.
Will be glad when this season is over.
As for the ground, I assume they are very much going for a multi-purpose set up, which doesn’t quite work up here, unless we did it on a much more cosy scale.

Milton Keynes have never had the crowds they announce - like Man City, Arsenal & West Ham they are tickets 'sold' and given away included. The only time they get big crowds is when they let in thousands of away fans, eg. Leeds, QPR etc

Am I the only one who won't step foot in that stadium or give that club a penny of my money?
It looks a great stadium. Shame I'll never set foot in it.

We sounded toothless again and another poor performance by a poor team.
I don't blame JS as he came in late and it is anything but his team or squad but I really he needs to find a bit of joy and positivity. Listening to him talk and watching this team and add to that the board, the ground, the league and the lack of future plans it wouldn't surprise me if we just do away with the word United.
I'm normally a very positive chap but, by God, this club does its very best to knock that enthusiasm out of you.