AFC Wimbledon may live to regret ignoring Ipswich Town, Portsmouth evidence: View | OneFootball

Joe Pigott is not proving to be the player that many Dons fans hoped after his shrewd signing, and maybe the club should not have looked past evidence

In the summer, the arrival of Joe Pigott was lauded as a shrewd piece of business.

But, while his return to the League Two club has not been catastrophic, it has certainly left a lot to be desired.

There was plenty of evidence as to why Pigott has fallen out of favour repeatedly since leaving Wimbledon back in 2021, but that was seemingly disregarded by Johnnie Jackson and the staff at the club.

And having performed poorly against Salford City, the evidence that was so clear to see in the summer may have been too important to be ignored.

Joe Pigott has suffered a huge drop-off since leaving Wimbledon back in 2021

When Pigott turned down a new contract in favour of painfully leaving Wimbledon back in 2021 for pastures new, of course, few would have predicted the struggles he would go on to experience in front of goal.

Pigott was your typical 'bagsman' in his three seasons with the Dons, being as much of a complete centre-forward as you could wish for at the level. Scoring goals, winning headers from crosses, holding up play, and drawing cheeky fouls from opposition defenders - he was a nightmare for many League One defences while Wimbledon were in the division and all this while learning his trade in full-time football again, having had a stint in non-league.

So when he joined Ipswich Town, who at the time were also in League One, it was expected he would evolve even further and become a top League One striker, and perhaps even one of the most feared forwards in the EFL.

However, that was not the case, as despite being given the number nine shirt at Portman Road, he had to compete with the form of James Norwood and Conor Chaplin, which often meant he was moved out of position to accommodate the two in-form forwards. His form suffered and he never got going for the Tractor Boys.

A loan move to Portsmouth FC followed, with the end of his Town contract approaching and the Suffolk club likely hoping to try to find some value.

There was hope at Fratton Park. Then-manager Danny Cowley believed they'd signed a "player who is really hungry – he loves football and was starved of that a bit last season" while analysis from BBC Radio Solent's commentator Andy Moon lauded that "Pompey finally have a striker" but Pigott would not do too much better.

He ended up behind the likes of Ronan Curtis, Dane Scarlett, Colby Bishop, and even defender Conor Ogilvie in the top scorers' list at Pompey by the end of the 2022/23 season, and this saw Ipswich simply cut their losses and mutually terminate his contract upon his return to IP1.

His next fresh start offered little more in terms of positives. Despite joining a Leyton Orient side that had smashed their way to promotion to League One in the previous season, he would have a torrid time finding the net.

By the end of his first year with the side, many fans were already happy to see the back of him when he departed on loan to the Dons again, feeling he was overhyped and a bit of a waste of time.

Joe Pigott is not the ideal partner for Omar Bugiel

Having rejoined a club where Pigott has previously been so successful and where he knows the fans adore him still for all his previous antics, it is a bit of a shock that he has not rekindled the form he previously showed, and in all honesty, has looked a shadow of his former self.

He had performed well in pre-season and showed that he could bring a different aspect to Wimbledon's attack by acting like the Dons' Harry Kane, dropping deep, receiving the ball to feet, and holding up play before passing it on. And even in the opening matches of the season, he still looked to have been a decent signing who could come off the bench and impact the game as a substitute.

However, Jackson, since the Dons faced Cheltenham Town away from home, has played him upfront alongside Omar Bugiel, and in doing so has created a forward line that looks imposing on paper, but on the pitch, does not lead to any success.

The pair are too similar to each other, with both being taller, target men and have not worked as a duo.

There is no pace for the Dons in behind the opposition defence, which means chances only really come from crosses into the box, and that requires committing men forward and leaving the Dons susceptible to counter-attacks.

And the culmination of this unsuccessful pairing was over the weekend against Salford, who are known for their physicality and roughness, which meant that the pair were nullified and resulted in the Dons only registering three shots at goal all game.

There was no balance to the frontline until Matty Stevens was introduced, and even then, it felt as though it was going to be one of those afternoons where the Dons just fail to have any impetus in attack.

Ideally then, Jackson and his staff could take Wimbledon's midweek visit to Crawley Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy to assess what to do next with Pigott, and who should be given a chance ahead of him.

The great concern from a Dons' perspective is that there are early signs this could become yet enough failed move for the striker. The homecoming does not currently look set to be what either club or player hoped it would, with Jackson and co perhaps paying the price for ignoring the evidence from Ipswich, Portsmouth and Orient.