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The saying goes that the cream always rises to the top.
Whenever a football team starts producing and picking up points, their star performers will have already begun turning the heads of those higher up the pyramid.
This is exactly what has happened for Liam Manning’s MK Dons. Following an excellent first half of the season, that saw his side sitting comfortably inside the League One play-off places, two starlets left for pastures new, namely goalkeeper Andrew Fisher and Matt O’Riley to Swansea City and Celtic respectively.
Whilst clubs up and down the country are forever getting their talent poached, it is the responsibility of those in charge of recruitment to make sure these losses do not derail the campaign and undo the hard work from the beginning of the footballing seasonal calendar.
First to depart was Fisher, on the eve of arguably the Dons’ biggest match of the season, at home to bitter rivals AFC Wimbledon. With Manning having to field deputy goalkeeper Franco Ravizolli, the search for a new replacement was swift and in came Jamie Cumming, on loan from Chelsea.
The 22-year-old has been responsible for a string of top-class performances, and from his 10 appearances so far, he is yet to concede twice in a match, keeping six clean sheets in the process.
More than possibly any side in the English professional game, with the exception of Manchester City, the Dons depend on their goalkeeper to be the first cog within their footballing wheel.
Being able to build from the back and play out of any situation is a fundamental skill to their desired style of play and Cumming has demonstrated time and time again his competency with the ball at his feet.
Not only has his ball skills impressed supporters, but also his excellent glovework has seen him highlight where he has improved the Dons ranks between the sticks.
Twice in his brief stint in Buckinghamshire has Cumming produced miraculous handling to prevent the opposition scoring, most recently performing a physics-defying reaction save to deny Bolton Wanderers’ Amadou Bakayoko from inside the six-yard box in their latest victory.
Having received £400,000 for Fisher, the Dons pocketed over three times that amount for the supremely talented midfielder Matt O’Riley from Celtic.
Raking in £1.5 million from Scottish club saw arguably one of the best talents in League One depart and left Director of Football Liam Sweeting with a gaping hole to fill.
Sweeting and Manning found a way to fill his spot.
Within the squad at the time of O’Riley’s departure, the midfield ranks boasted just Josh McEachran, an injured David Kasumu and perennial substitute Hiram Boateng. Since then, Manning can now boast a thriving quintet of McEachran, a fit-again Kasumu and Boateng, alongside new arrivals Conor Coventry and Wales international Matt Smith.
Since Coventry’s arrival on loan at Stadium MK, he has been ever-present and has improved a lot since joining.
Understandably average in his first outing, having hardly played during his loan spell at Peterborough United during the first half of the season, the Irishman has been displaying his talents and proving why is he is so highly-regarded at parent club West Ham. In his last four appearances, he has received the Man of the Match award on three occasions.
Calm under pressure and technically astute, he is very comfortable receiving the ball on either foot and produced a sublime pass against Charlton Athletic for Troy Parrott, only for the striker to squander the chance.
Whilst Coventry can cover O’Riley’s defensive duties, it has been McEachran who has taken on the forward-thinking mantle, operating as a dynamic midfielder capable of producing the intricate passing, moving the ball on at speed as he links up with teammates in the final third and not giving the defence a chance to regroup if pulled out of place.
McEachran and Coventry have formed an almost formidable partnership, orchestrating the play and picking up the baton when O’Riley moved on.
Now Kasumu is fit and firing again he becomes another key asset available to the young and hungry midfield manager Liam Manning possesses. Starting his first match since January 8th, it is almost like a new signing that was waiting in the wings to bolster the options as the Dons target a promotion push.
Since O’Riley departed with his final display coming on January 15th, Manning’s men have only lost one match out of nine so they are by no means bearing the scars of a team who have had their key components removed.
Having rose upwards in the League One table and only outside the automatic promotion positions by goal difference, it is easy to see first-hand how they have developed since the headlining departures, going unbeaten through February, despite facing three promotional rivals and winning all three.
With numerous players stepping up to the challenge of shouldering the responsibilities Fisher and O’Riley had in the starting 11, it is easy to see why they continue to pick up victory after victory.
Should MK Dons harbour ambitions of moving up to the Championship next season, the squad harmony will have to remain as they dig in and continue to ride the crest of the form wave.
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