The reality check MK Dons were given on their last trip to Swindon Town
One person was not happy seeing the back of last season
Drawing a line under last season with a drab goal-less draw against Swindon Town at the County Ground was a relief for the travelling MK Dons supporters, and a lot of the players too but it was just the beginning for Paul Warne.
The head coach had seen off the final four games of the season to see Dons to a 19th place finish, but his was not a smile, more a grimace afterwards.
“I remember after that game, we drew 0-0 afterwards and the lads were pretty happy with themselves but I wasn’t,” he said in the lead-up to his return to Wiltshire on Saturday. “I told them, and no disrespect to Swindon, but I am not in football management dedicating my life to it to get a 0-0 away from home with no shots on target. That’s not how I want my teams to play. I want them to get more shots off, some shots would have been nice!
“This year, the way the team have performed is much better. We’re exciting, and even if you see us not win, you don’t come away thinking we didn’t give everything.
“It feels like a different time, but you could be hearing me on Saturday after we’ve lost 3-0 and you can ask me whether I’d have taken the 0-0 from last year.”
Midfielder Liam Kelly, who was a part of that team last May, said Warne’s speech after the game was a reality check for a lot of the squad, quickly bringing them back into focus for what would be the foundations of the following season.
He said: “It was a reality speech in a way. He told us it wasn’t good enough. He told us where his standards were, and that we all had to reach up for more or else they wouldn’t be staying.
“When you hear a manager say that, and when you see his CV, and you heard the names he was trying to bring to the team, you want to be a part of that.
“Full credit to the lads from last year, who stayed and turned it around.”