Cheltenham Cold Cup

01/12/2025 04:33 AM

Look, I know it’s a shit headline…

As your editor gets his cold weather training in before travelling to the United States (again) tomorrow, the players themselves get another rest.

I know that we’ve had a fair amount of games in November and December, but perhaps that’s pushing the needed break a bit too far.

Still, Cheltenham was (inevitably) off, and given the weather recently you shouldn’t have been too surprised.

There was a bit of disquiet about having one inspection at about 9am, then another at 12h30 when people were already in the ground.

This picture taken about half-hour before the second inspection should really have told its own story, and I don’t think they needed to wait an extra three hours for it to thaw.

If every other bit of grass across south London that looked like that was frozen underneath, then that was too.

It might have gone ahead if we could afford to put on undersoil heating (did we put any in when we build the gaff?), but imagine the reaction from the beancounters if we spent more than £4 on anything.

If we had managed to round up Dons Trust Board candidates to talk about how they would improve comms, the amount of hot air would have certainly warmed up most of the south east too.

Neither were feasible though, and any thoughts of a February without a fixture pile-up are now long gone.

I almost feel sorry for the club in this, as they did genuinely try to get the game on, although the pre-game buildup did have an air of over-optimism.

Not as over-optimistic as Aldershot were, who were giving it the big one about it going ahead only a day before their game got called off…

In times like these, being more honest helps more. Just saying that there’s a hope the game will go ahead is more realistic, and people are quite understanding about it.

AFCW didn’t help itself by trumpeting the new covers it has, almost implying that they would ensure the game would go ahead.

Except they forgot to tell everyone that unless it’s some sort of heated dome, no covers work if the temperature goes down to -3c.

Maybe we bought them off Amazon? You know, the cheap Chinese knockoff products that have brand likes like WANKFUK.

Best check the returns policy, though be prepared to haggle.

In truth, I can’t say I’m too upset about a second game in a row getting called off, as we’ll appreciate the break.

I assume Tranmere next week will be going ahead, so we should be fighting fit and ready to kick some not-even-proper-Scouse butt.

So no doubt we’ll be flat and uninspired, and lose to a Josh Davison header.

In the meantime, it’s January and we can spend next week looking at anyone coming in or out.

It has already seen Romaine Sawyers leave for Brizzle Rovers, but Sam Hutchinson staying with us for the rest of the season.

Sawyers wasn’t really a League Two player, but he did a job and his goal at Newport was worth the month we had with him.

Hutchinson is a useful player though, even if it’s a case of when and not if he gets suspended.

I’d even go so far as to say in the month he’s been here already, he’s that sort of player you forget is there but you miss him a lot when he’s not playing.

It’s a risk-free signing, Hutchinson clearly appreciates being back in the game, and just as Mick Harford proved to be one of the best VFM buys in the WFC era, who knows about our #41…

Anyway, that’s me out of here until the day before we go to Franchise. Maybe we’ll have a new signing or two, although more likely we’ll see Stevens go.

And maybe we’ll even manage to play a fixture in that time…