Football Season Review

The second half of the 2016/17 season was largely seen as a transitional period for Milton Keynes Dons, as Robbie Neilson, who replaced their long-time manager Karl Robinson, was making the squad his own and was expected to deliver a promotion push this time around. To say that the Dons have failed to live up to the expectations would be an understatement, as Neilson's policy of bringing in players unproven in League One soon proved to have been a disaster, as pretty much none of the Dons' men brought from outside England apart from the injury-prone Osman Sow performed according to expectations. After losing their opening two games, the Dons went on a decent run that lasted until early October, but then completely collapsed and went on a run of 24 games in which they managed to claim only 2 wins, with Neilson being relieved of his duties midway through this run. The Dons first replaced Neilson with a caretaker team and then decided to give former England U16 boss Dan Micciche a chance. However, Micciche, who had no previous Football League experienced, was not really up to the task and was fired after winning only three of his sixteen games in charge. Micciche left with two weeks of the season remaining and with the Dons already relegated, with chairman Peter Winkelman going on to describe the prospect of his side's relegation as a "true disaster". The Dons, who rose up the divisions to even reach Championship a few years ago, will now return to the fourth tier for the first time in a decade and have a big rebuilding job to do over the summer if they are to return to the third tier.

Player of the Season: Chuks Aneke