AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley: I can’t defend my record in the last 14 matches
BY SAM SMITH
Neal Ardley is unsure whether he will be Wimbledon boss come the January transfer window – despite chief executive Erik Samuelson offering a staunch defence of the Dons boss last week.
Wimbledon were beaten 2-1 at home to Shrewsbury Town this afternoon and Ardley was left angry at the way his side conceded twice from set-pieces – the second coming as the game clicked towards its conclusion.
The former Dons player has been under pressure following a dismal start to the season and this was his seventh defeat in a row.
When asked if he felt he needed further additions in January – to add to the 11 made in the summer – Ardley said: “I’ve recruited all these players, they’re all my players. Therefore it is my responsibility.
“The way it’s going I’m not getting to January. I can’t even think about January. Have we got the personnel? No, is the answer. You can’t lose the [amount of] games I’ve lost and not be under pressure. I can’t defend my record because the last 14 games haven’t been good enough.”
James Hanson had given the South Londoners the lead on 35 minutes and they dominated the majority of the game – adding to the sheer frustration of everyone connected to the Dons.
Luke Waterfall scored both Shrewsbury goals and Ardley was particularly unhappy with his side’s lack of desire to defend corners and free-kicks.
“I can’t keep standing in front of you saying the same things, I can’t keep trying to defend myself.
“In the last few weeks we’ve done about 20 hours focusing on set-pieces, attacking and defending. We’ve scored from one and conceded two from others. It’s [a lack of] desire, the first man has no desire to win the first header. You can give players responsibility to mark but if they don’t mark you concede.”
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The h ard facts are that we have d recruited a group of discards from other clubs which are frankly not good enough . You c annot make silk purses out of sows ears..
We have? I think you will find that Neal Ardley recruited those “discards”