New MK Dons manager Graham Alexander has wasted no time in delivering on his promise of making encouraging additions to his squad after they announced the capture of Charlton Athletic midfielder Alex Gilbey, who is to return to Stadium MK on the expiration of his current deal, as per the club’s official website.
Alexander has recently spoken of his plans with his new squad, commenting, “Our squad will undoubtedly change. All that needs to happen, but we’ve already made a start and you’ll start to see soon the start of the squad we’re trying to assemble, and those signs will be encouraging and give us confidence that we’re going in the right direction.” The former Scunthorpe and Salford manager is so far keeping his promise with the signing of former two-time MK Dons Player of the Year Gilbey.
Alex Gilbey’s Career So Far
Alex Gilbey is a 28-year-old London-born midfielder whose professional career began at Colchester United back in 2012. A brief loan at Newport County and over 120 appearances for the U’s would follow before a move to then Championship side Wigan Athletic. The Londoner wasn’t at the DW Stadium too long before a move back south beckoned in the form of League One club MK Dons. Relegation would be the outcome of a season in which Gilbey played 23 times in the third tier, finding the net on 3 occasions. He would score a further 3 times as the Dons bounced straight back to League One in the 2018-19 season, eventually finishing 3rd behind champions Lincoln City and Bury.
Another 30 appearances would follow in the prematurely curtailed 2019-20 season as MK finished 19th on the points per game system before a move to newly relegated Charlton Athletic. The former Colchester man would feature 60 times in League One across two seasons for the Addicks before being loaned out last summer, eventually to Stevenage after interest from Leyton Orient, Shrewsbury Town and Lincoln City. The decision to move to Broadhall Way proved a fruitful one as Steve Evans’ men would seal promotion back to League One for the first time since 2013-14 and Gilbey would play 46 times and provide 8 goal involvements across all competitions.
Moving Back To MK Dons
When discussing his return with his new club’s media, Gilbey stated, “I’m over the moon. As soon as I found out there was interest, I wanted to get this done because I wanted to come home and come back to the Club.”
“I absolutely loved my time here before – I’d say they were three of the best years of my career so far. I feel like I have some unfinished business to take care of and I want to help the Club get back to where it should be. The fans were always great with me and I can’t wait to see them all again. I’m looking forward to meeting my new teammates, working under Graham Alexander and getting started.”
Gilbey’s new manager was equally thrilled with the signing, “We have a clear idea of our recruitment drive this summer. We will sign any player that has the right attributes but there is a need to bring in some know-how and winning experience and Alex brings all that, having been promoted twice from this division, just last season and with this Club as well. I know he has a real affection for this Football Club and looking in the whites of his eyes, I saw the motivation he has to do well for all the right reasons. I think we have a really good player on our hands.”
Writer’s View
They say that you shouldn’t go back once it’s over, but Alex Gilbey and MK Dons will be hoping to reignite the flames of their previous time together when the midfielder was twice named Player of the Year and the club achieved promotion from League Two at the first time of asking.
Graham Alexander will undoubtedly be hoping for more positive signings such as this as he looks to build a squad that can challenge for an immediate return to League One in what is sure to be an incredibly competitive division, containing the likes of Wrexham and Notts County alongside playoff finalists Stockport County and an Andy Cook inspired Bradford City.
Being the new manager’s first signing, you would imagine that Gilbey will be the lynchpin of the new side that will take shape over the coming weeks and months and the club’s hierarchy will hope that signings such as this can go some way to easing the unrest amongst supporters following relegation.
