Ahead of MK Dons' third visit to Loftus Road on Saturday, we caught up with season ticket holder Alan for the latest on their struggles to adapt to a higher level with a tiny playing budget.
MK Dons have knocked on the door of League One promotion a few times, what were the key factors behind finally achieving it last year?
Alan: We scored more than 100 goals and kept more than 20 clean sheets so we were always likely to be there or thereabouts. We also had a great run to the line at the end with nine wins and a draw from our final ten matches.
How did you expect to do in the Championship, and how has it been so far? Assess the start of the season for us…
We're finding it tough. Our finishing needs to be more clinical and we need to cut out the stupid mistakes like those we saw in a 2-0 loss at Huddersfield on Tuesday night. Having 25+ attempts on goal in a game and not scoring shows you where the problem lies so far this season.
My early impressions are the Championship is a league of the haves and the have nots. When we played Derby they had two £6m players (Bradley Johnson and Tom Ince). Last season our total playing budget was said to be just over £3m. We are reckoned to have nearly the smallest budget in the division. We've also heard the club apparently made nothing from hosting Rugby World Cup games.
What sort of money has been spent, or is available to spend, on the team. Tell us about the summer transfer business?
Alan: We're Still relying on loanees. Jake Forster-Caskey from Brighton and Diego Poyet (son of…) from West Ham. look to be good acquisitions. Josh Murphy on loan from Norwich is also one to watch — an exciting prospect. The jury is still out on our two summer free transfer strikers - Simon Church from Charlton and Nicky Maynard from Wigan. They've only scored twice between them so far. The two lads brought in from Real Madrid’s reserve team — Sergio Aguza and Cristian Benavente - have been totally out of their depth so I don’t know what was going on there. Basically we need more quality but can't afford it.
Is it simply a case of survival, or are their ambitions beyond that in future years?
Alan: Survival would be an achievement.
Has there been any noticeable improvement in gates/away followings as a reslt of stepping up a division?
Alan: Excluding away fans, gates have been up nearly 50%.
Karl Robinson is a highly rated young manager, what are his strengths and weaknesses?
Alan: We like Karl. I read somewhere he is now one of the league’s longest serving managers. He’s done great on a shoestring budget but needs more quality ammunition. Tactically he’s usually very good - we are not often left mystified by substitutions. Up until Tuesday night there has been a never-say-die spirit in the team, epitomised by the injury time equaliser at Bristol City recently. Teams have cottoned on we like to play out from the back and they press up field so he will need sort that one.
Best players and weak links in the current team?
Alan: We desperately need a goal scorer. A creative midfielder would also be good. Dele Alli has not been replaced. We’ve dominated games against the likes of Birmingham, Derby and Leeds but not been able to finish them off and then been caught out - after 90 minutes against Derby it was 1-1, somehow after 93 minutes we’d lost 3-1.
We've covered the formation of the club and all that before, but have you found attitudes mellowing and people more accepting as time has gone on and you've moved up through the leagues?
Alan: Still hear the occasional Wimbledon chant when away fans get bored. We still use you’re being beat by the franchise so it comes from both sides. Impressions are that attitudes have definitely mellowed. What happened was 10 years ago now so ought to be consigned to history.
You can read the previous interview we did with Alan, a former Wimbledon fan, on how he came to follow MK and thoughts on what happened ten years ago by clicking here. Probably worth adding that the MK interviews we've done are the only ones we ever leave the surnames off, because of the hostility they receive from fans of QPR and other clubs. Play nicely kids.
Pictures — Action Images