Cruising: MK Dons 3 - 1 Northampton Town

The Dons had local rivals Northampton Town yesterday in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy match at stadium:mk. Two goals from Sam Baldock and one stunner from Aaron Wilbraham buried the Cobblers early, and a comeback bid was stifled by inspired play from Willy Gueret.

Coming into the match, injuries and suspensions plagued both sides, with the Dons missing skipper Dean Lewington to suspension as well as Jemal Johnson, Sean O'Hanlon, and Jude Stirling all out with injuries. Also, Stephen Gleeson was on International duty with the under-21 Ireland squad. Northampton certainly was looking to take advantage and grab the upset.

The first half, however, saw the Dons play like promotion candidates and they controlled the play throughout the 45+ minutes against their League Two competition. The second half saw Northampton come out with some fire, and they managed to steal a goal back 6 minutes in. Unfortunately for the Cobblers, strong play off the bench from Jermaine Easter and Peter Leven as well as wonderful goalkeeping from Gueret after the lone score.

MK Dons 1 Macclesfield 0...and other news

With a relatively easy draw in the first round of the FA Cup against Macclesfield, there really wasn't much of a question as to the outcome of the match on Saturday except about the goal differential. However, post-match, it seems the Silkmen were underestimated a bit, while the Dons certainly played down to a League Two level. A win may be a win, but if the Dons expect to advance through the next couple of rounds, they will need a better performance. Luckily, Milton Keynes has seen yet another fortunate draw after getting Exeter City in the next round. The Dons sit 12 points and 14 spots in the League Table ahead of the Grecians and have already defeated Exeter 2-1.

In other news, former Blackburn man Tugay has reportedly been training with the team, and has signed a contract to become a Player/Coach for Milton Keynes. Not sure what to make of this yet, except to say that I hope we don't have another Flo on our hands.

That's it for this relatively short return to the blog. Look for more this week.

My my it's been a bit too long...

Sorry for the long delay folks, it's been a whirlwind end to the summer for yours truly. I'm transitioning from summer to school, which are 1000 miles apart, so I apologize again for not having posted for the past two weeks.

I arrive in Miami on Thursday. Expect at least a post game report on Saturday after our home fixture with Colchester United. Until then, bask in the glow of our first win of the season over Tranmere today (with a depleted squad no less!).

Puncheon returns!

Jason Puncheon is set to return to the Dons after a spectacular loan season in Milton Keynes. The wonderful midfielder rejoins the team he helped push to the playoffs, and is the second midfielder to return after Jemal Johnson. While Punch is not joining permanently, he should spend significant time with the Dons on his new season-long loan deal.

Paul Ince has also stated that another defender besides Darren Powell will be signed in the next day or two.

2009/10 Roster and some thoughts going into the first match

Here are your 2009/2010 MK Dons:

GK - Willy Gueret, Stuart Searle
DF - Darren Powell, Sean O'Hanlon, David McCracken, Dean Lewington, Danny Woodards, Jude Stirling, Danny Swailes, Sol Davis, Luke Howell
MF - Jemal Johnson, Luke Chadwick, Peter Leven, Mark Carrington, Richie Partridge, Stephen Gleeson, Lewis Gobern, David King
FW - Jabo Ibehre, Aaron Wilbraham, Daniel Powell, Jermaine Easter, Sam Baldock

That's 2 goalkeepers, 9 defenders, 8 midfielders, and 5 forwards. Not bad compared to the beginning of the summer. In Paul Ince's preferred 4-5-1, the Starting XI will most likely be: Gueret, McCracken, Woodards, Darren Powell, Lewington, Johnson, Chadwick, Leven, Howell, Gleeson, Easter.

After JJ's hattrick against Northampton and our 1-0 win over Wolves, I'm fairly confident of this year's squad. Even with Sean-O's absence, our center backs look fairly strong, as Darren Powell looking very strong filling in so far. Our midfield looks as strong as ever coming off of JJ's wonderful performance, as well as bringing in Carrington who has put in very good work both starting and coming off the bench. Plus, nearly everyone we put up front has played well, especially new signing Jermaine Easter.

In other news, Daniel Powell will play with Crawley Town tonight, and may go on loan to the Blue Square Premier side for an extended stay to see some first team action. Powell just signed his first professional contract this past January.

What a difference a week makes...

Well, it seems since I took a quick trip to South Carolina there have been some major developments!

The biggest news in the past 6 days is the loss of center back Sean O'Hanlon. The origin of the injury dates back to last April during a game against Walsall. However, SeanO has gone under the knife this summer and will be gone until at least the new year. There seems to be a large hole in his place at the moment, with trialists (Darren Powell, Ugo Ehiogu, Phil Ifil), a perennial substitute (Stirling), and another coming off of an injury of his own (Swailes). However, Powell and Ugo have stepped in fairly well in their time during the friendlies and Stirling has stepped up when called upon in the past, so I think we'll see someone fill in fairly well until O'Hanlon recovers.

The other two news stories are our PSF's with Rushden & Diamonds and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Dons lost to R&D 2-1, but new signing Carrington shined and capped his performance with a great goal. In a better overall performance tonight, the Dons beat the Wolves 1-0. Jermaine Easter scored the only goal of the match, combining well with Jemal Johnson in the team's return to stadium:mk.

What a difference a month makes...

At this point, I find it hard to believe that just under a month ago, we were managerless, had a roster that couldn't even fill out the substitute bench, and were inches from pushing the panic button. Today, we have a returning manager who has won a double with us just two seasons ago, a filled out roster that looks to be stronger than last season, and hopes are high coming off of our first two friendlies.

With all of the additions since Paul Ince has joined the Dons, I can only see this team continuing their meteoric rise through the leagues this coming season. Ince led a substantially weaker team to both the League 2 title and a Johnstone's Paint Trophy win in his first go around as manager. Now, given that the team was more or less unchanged last season and managed to sit for most of the year in the second automatic promotion spot, it's hard to imagine such an improved team with a manager they're confident in doing any worse.

Those strong additions, including Jermaine Easter, Stephen Gleeson, and David McCracken, will do well to contend in what looks to be a stronger League 1 this year. Charlton, Norwich, and Leeds are all big clubs with tons of history behind them. Even so, Leeds finished out of the playoff spots last year, while Charlton and Norwich haven't done much to strengthen their squad besides add other League 1 players.

So here it is, folks. My fearless prediction for this season: The Dons will end up fourth in the final table, earning a playoff berth. Ultimately, a playoff win will see them promoted to the Championship. As for the FA Cup, MK Dons will make it through the first round, and then be knocked out. The League Cup will have a third round exit, and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy will see the Dons make it to the semi-final.

There you have it. A promotion, and a strong finish in what will be our last JPT competition. That's all for me this week, I'm off to South Carolina until Sunday. Until then, COME ON YOU DONS!