After taking over as AFC Wimbledon manager in the summer of 2022, Johnnie Jackson’s life hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows.
Jackson’s future at the club was in question at the end of last season after a desperate run of form had the Dons sitting perilously close to the drop zone; “We want Jackson out” chants rang around Plough Lane following the 5-1 thumping by Swindon Town.
Fast forward ten months and Jackson’s fists were punching the air in front of an adoring south stand in full voice. The tone of tune has changed, with the chants now serenading their manager instead of calling for his dismissal.
The 2-0 triumph over Barrow, who are currently ranked third, completed a fantastic week for Jackson, who signed a new contract to continue leading Wimbledon alongside assistant manager Terry Skiverton.
After Barrow’s victory, Jackson told London Football Scene, “I was really pleased to get that sorted this week, but it wasn’t about me today, it was about us doing what we do well.”
Although his time as Dons manager hasn’t been easy, the former Charlton manager will be the first to acknowledge that his team has made significant progress this year and is vying for a spot in the League Two Play-Offs.
“The club has advanced significantly this season; it’s a far cry from last season,” Jackson remarked.
It truly is a team effort. Things are coming together quite nicely, and we’ve made progress. It’s obvious that we’ve come a long way, but we still haven’t done anything.
“We learned so much from the struggles last season. There’s no point in going through that if you aren’t going to learn from it because it doesn’t feel good.
“If you can come through it and take the learnings from it like we did then it can be really valuable.
“We learnt a lot about ourselves, the league, the type of player we want to bring in and the type of squad we want to build.”
Jackson, alongside Head of Football Operations Craig Cope,attacked the summer window aggressively to rebuild a Wimbledon side that was in desperate need of a reset.
Jackson has made a calculated, astute recruitment strategy that fits the club’s character.
The additions of Josh Kelly and Ronan Curtis are already having a positive impact, and while the loss of star striker Ali Al-Hamadi in the January transfer window was undoubtedly disappointing, the additions of striker Omar Bugiel, midfielder and captain Jake Reeves, and goalkeeper Alex Bass on loan from Sunderland have proven essential.
“We sat down and discussed building a proper Wimbledon team on the first day of preseason, and it was huge for us,” Jackson continued.
“After deciding how to build this team into a Wimbledon squad that the fans would want and expect, we hired players in line with that philosophy.
“After the players were brought in, we put a lot of effort into shaping them and the team around this Wimbledon approach.
“Of course, there have been a few outliers, but I believe that even if we were wearing green and white stripes, you would still be able to identify us as a Wimbledon team because of our distinct identity.”
Wimbledon is in a good position going into a hectic final stretch that will see the Dons play ten games in four weeks.
They are only one point out of the Play-Offs and eight points out of automatic promotion ahead of the busy schedule.
But Jackson doesn’t lose sight of the task at hand, letting his teammates know what their goal should be for the remainder of the campaign: “This season, you’re seeing a team on the up.”
It takes time to build that, but we’re happy that we have and that the club now has a positive vibe.
“Maintaining that consistency is the next step towards our success here. It’s not an acknowledgement of a job well done; we haven’t finished yet.
“We want to move forward and exit this league.” I genuinely enjoy working for this football team, and all I want is to succeed at AFC Wimbledon.
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