PAINT POT TROPHY

I'm not insinuating that at all, I am pointing out that for the last 3 league games there has been less than 2 shots a game, what I am infering is that the problems of the strikers that was present last season has not been sorted out.

I would also question whether the team has really been strengthened. none of the players bought in were getting regular football at their previous clubs

I am part agreeing, we have 2 strikers on our books who cant score, Mcdonald, who I have been critical of before, and Ibhere who seems to have gone backwards again, like a couple of seasons back.
Didnt go to the game but watched the highlights and we had plenty enough chances to win the game easily.
I am also rather dissapointed in Bowditch, I feel he should be upfront with Lowe as he isnt getting many efforts on goal where he is playing now.
The Cobblers game was just one of those games.
I am expecting 3 pts against Walsall however.

Unless Ian Wright can start getting the guys shooting (what else is he there for?) I can see a 0-0 draw or worse Walsall could nick it with a single goal like they did against Notts County.

I'm on the fence on this one and can see both sides.

As far as I can understand it, having one up the front and keeping possession is as much to do with defence as it attack . Bill you ought to give the stats of goal against us, except getting more shots on target doesn't mean you will win the match. Take last Saturday: Bury, Coventry, Portsmouth and Doncaster all had more shots on target but lost (and I don't always believe the stats are correct).

Saying that, both Jabo and MacDonald can't seem to score while Bowditch is going through a lean patch. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with MacDonald against the Cobblers. I know he can't beat players for pace but he seems to have lost the art of anticipation. He also didn't shoot when he just had the goalie to beat while Bullard (who should know better) seems reluctant to shoot in the 1st half and Jabo missed a good opportunity to put MacDonald through on goal.

The only players which seem confident in shooting are Lowe, Powell and strangely Chadders. We need these on form if we are to make progress. I also thought Dave Martin (who I am a fan of) was suspect against the Cobblers goal. It looped over, but he could have made a backward step and was left flat footed.

I'm going to Walsall so I will count the shots on target and we will see if it was just a blip or if we aren't as good as we think we are.

COME ON YOU DONS.

As far as I'm concerned, our last game was against Carlisle when we won impressively, and most of the players played a superb match!
Northampton was a blip, a poor performance granted, but nothing I saw worried me for the future.

I'm a huge fan of Charlie but I would be lying if I said I've been impressed with him. His effort is all too well and good but he just looks lost and almost like he feels like he's trying too hard, which is damaging his confidence! I definatley think he needs a partner up front, my favoured position at this club is 4-2-3-1, but Charlie up front on his own is clearly not working. Him and Lowe could be good together, and I seriously think it's about time Ibehre looked at himself as a footballer, stopped believing the fans' love affair with him and concentrate on improving his game! His finishing is dreadful, his lack of confidence in the box is evident to see, and when you see Northampton, a club who kind of just about stayed up last season have a striker of big build, like Jabo and does a similar job (But scores goals) have a player in Akinfenwa who's better than one of ours who should be fighting for promotion in the League above, it is a bit strange!

And I blame Martin for the goal but you rarely see shots like that taken, and when you do they're often scored (A bit like Doncaster's goal against Walsall on the opening day) which goes to show that goalkeepers aren't always in full concentration mode. Which again is a lesson why we should shoot more, even from range, you often see goalkeepers even when a team is about 40 yards away from them attacking standing their unprepared for shots etc.

I also think you have been a bit disingenuous with your stats Bill.

You forgot to add that we got 7 shots on target against the Cobblers, which is a reasonable return nowdays. You forgot to add Blackburn where we got 11 shots on target, while we got a player sent off in the 1st half against Bournemouth & Swindon, which meant we had to be more defensive.

You seem to have a theory and trying to make the facts fit rather than wait for enough games to decide.

Furz, I only included the league, as that has got to be the primary objective. Cup games are notorious for blips and apart from the fact that will 11 shots none went in, I was not that concerned.

My point about shots is intrinsically linked to possession, as a number of clubs last season conceded possession to restrict MK Dons scoring, or shooting in target. There is no point in stringing 30 passes together if the last one doesn't end in at least a shot

Fair point Bill but as two of the league games we played a half & more with ten men then the stats don't tell the whole truth.

I also believe Robbo thinks that if we have the ball then they can't score while if we don't have the ball we have one more player in the midfield fighting to get the ball back.

I would still argue that we need more games to judge and I think it might be easier to score away as many teams come to Stadium MK to park the bus in front of the goal.

But mate, it wasn't as if the extra man went missing, he got sent off.

The other worry is that apart from Swindon (which MK Dons lost) the other 3 games are with teams in the lower half of the table (at the moment) and very few people would have pcked any of them as playof contenders, so what will happen we they have to play the teams with quality?

I agree with your last point, but again this was the problem last season and Robbo didn't have a plan then and I very much doubt he has one for this season
which means dropped points and out of Automatic promotion.

As I said you are trying to make the facts fit a theory and the players sent off are a different issue entirely. I'm also not sure if you make a lot about league position yet. Bournemouth are a strong team, while we easy beat Carisle and Oldham.

Chadders has picked up his game and is the player of old, while Powell has carried on where he left off last season. Lowe looks to have a lot of potential, Bullard can provide a bit of inspiration and Smith a bit of physically (if not him then Jabo), while the rest of the players can chip in.

I'm surprised about what you say about last season as we did well to get to the play offs and I think we have a stronger squad in a weaker league, but only time will tell.