Waking up to find that your manager is now 11th from the top of the list of longest serving managers in England is a strange feeling.

As Neal Ardley nears the start of his fourth year as AFC Wimbledon boss, there are still a number of fans unconvinced about whether he is the right man to take us forward.

As a Dons fan of almost 38 years’ standing, it is fair to say that I have seen my fair share of quality (and rogue) managers over the years.

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Although I was weaned on the success of Harry Bassett’s “drunk & disorderlies", I am well aware that that previous rapid rise up the Football League may well never be repeated in the modern era.

So what does success really look like nowadays?

I am fortunate that my wife and children enjoy football and understand its significance in my life.

We all have season tickets and so Saturday nights in our household are either very downbeat or very positive, depending on the final score.

These post show emotions have however been quite varied in recent weeks.

Having managed to slip away to take in the delights of Kenilworth Road, I was close enough to the action to see how careless and unfortunate Karleigh Osborne was to be sent off.

I also witnessed a fine Dons performance that had the travelling fans on their feet at the end to applaud a fine effort that did not in the end earn any reward.

I will happily admit that our performance at Luton brought tears of pride to my eyes at the end, a reaction no Wimbledon performance has evoked since a certain penalty shoot-out in Manchester more than four years ago.

On Saturday, it was quite reassuring to see the Dons keep their first clean sheet of the season and eventually see off a limited Barnet side in comical fashion with a breakaway goal in injury time, leaving the Barnet keeper floundering in midfield.

But while we have managed home wins over Notts County and Barnet, neither success stirred my emotions like the efforts of Ardley’s men at Luton.