First game .... the Dons!

So you spend the best part of three months waffling on about clubs west of Wycombe - in anticipation that you'll spend the coming season covering the same teams as you did last season - and then you get the call telling you to go to Milton Keynes on the first day of the season. Go figure.

The Dons opener is a clash against the mighty monkey hangers of Hartlepool and it will be interesting to see if the players are still as fully behind boss Karl Robinson as they were last term. Robinson led the team to the play-offs last season and cut a very impressive figure when I met him after the Dons 1-0 win at Swindon towards the end of the season. True, the Robins appeared to be in self destruct mode at the time as they prepared for the drop into League Two, but for a 30 year old, Robinson certainly had the respect of everyone. At the age of 29, he was also the youngest person to ever acquire a UEFA Pro Licence

I spent some time chatting with former Swindon and England coach John Gorman (who is now Robinson's Number Two) and while Gorman didn't go overboard, he indicated that he felt Robinson could go a long way in the management game. Liverpool-born Robinson never actually made it with a league side during his playing days, but he's nobody's fool and might have a big say in this season's promotion battle.

Robinson is up against a highly regarded lower league boss is Mick Wadsworth. Wadsworth has assisted or managed a host of British clubs including Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton, but he has also travelled the world developing his coaching skills. Stints in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Portugal and even St. Kitts & Nevis have broadened his football knowledge and so it will be interesting to see how well Robinson does in the battle of the tactics.