Positives and Negatives

Since the last time I wrote about the Daggers the home defeat against Tranmere we have lost 3 games drew 2 and won 1.  We have shipped 6 goals and scored 1.  I think you could safely say they are the negatives.


A positive from this stat though is the fact that up until Saturday's away game against Northampton we hadn't conceded a goal since Boxing day when we lost 2-0 to Stevenage, granted we have only scored 1 goal in that time but surely it is better to be not scoring and not conceding and picking up draws or the odd win then scoring goals but conceding too many and getting beaten every week?

It looks to me as if we are addressing one of our problems of conceding too many goals.  In an ideal world we would be scoring at the other end as well but unfortunately these things aren't magic and they don't just happen.

Anyone would have thought that after the reaction of some fans at losing to Northampton at Northampton, 1-0,to a team incidentally we have only ever gotten a point from in all our meetings with them, that it was the end of the world.  Ok, so by all accounts the team didn't play too well, but think about it if Murphy scores his effort maybe we hang on and get three points.  Of course its disappointing to lose it always is but we lost 1-0 to a very good goal and we are in the bottom two on goal difference.  The way some fans reacted you would think we were bottom of the league 10 points adrift.  I know it's not great at the moment and I know it seems like the manager is making excuses but I seriously believe it is going to get better.  The fact that we have nowhere to train is a major problem and needs to be addressed as soon as possible because giving players days off  because they can't train is unacceptable, but I expect the manager his staff and all at the club are doing their up-most to make sure that isn't a regular occurrence and we are better prepared next time.

In all the years I have watched the Daggers there have been more downs then ups (although the ups have been major ups) but normally in a season where it looks like we are in a struggle, normally  something happens.  It may be a tactical piece of genius by the manager or as in times gone by it might be a total fluke that has come off.   A few examples of this were when John Still was in charge.  He changed Romain Vincelot from a defender to a midfielder, before that he turned John Nurse  from an average striker to a goalscoring, chance creating left winger.  Also a few seasons ago when our backs were against the wall John Still pushed Abu Ogogo into midfield to add some legs and fighting spirit to a very poor midfield.  John Still got quite a bit of credit for these decisions and rightly so, having said that in most of these cases he kind of stumbled across them, and guess what they worked.

I think Wayne Burnett hasn't been given a fair go.  When things have been tough he hasn't just sat there and let it happen he has been proactive.  He has changed formation at times, which incidentally gave us two wins on the bounce.  He has brought in a defender Ayo Obileye on loan and played him alongside new captain and our most consistent defender Scott Doe.  He has also managed the recovery of players coming back from injury very well in the case of Zavon Hines and Rhys Murphy. It would have been so easy to bring these players back too early and have them break down again, but he hasn't, that's despite the fact that we are up against it.  Although he is under pressure as a manager I think he handles it pretty well and doesn't buckle under the uneducated cattawalls of a small number of our wonderful fans.

Surely people can see there has been a change and a change for the better since boxing day but for some it is not good enough, they have already made up their mind about Burnett and they simply don't like him.  He could completely turn around the season and go on an unbeaten run and secure our safety and there would still be some fans saying it was a fluke, get rid of him.  All I am saying is he is trying, he is trying as hard as he can to get this team out of danger and up the league.  Sure he makes mistakes and I am sure he will make some more but I reckon he is very close to getting it right with the right personnel in the right positions.  He has played a few formations this season and although most people wouldn't have noticed, probably because they are to busy moaning we are starting to become a more flexible team who are able to play a number of formations without making substitutions and once we have our players back in the next few weeks I really think people will see a marked improvement.  I have already seen improvements because instead of moaning about it and letting a hate for a man I don't even know cloud my judgement I have been looking for positives in our play.  Don't get me wrong I sometimes query his selections, and if I were manager I reckon I would have Abu Ogogo at right back or right wing back if we played 3 central defenders because he has the engine to do it and if we played 2 strikers with someone in the hole I would play Zavon there.  I'm not the manager though and I never will be but that's the beauty of it we all think we know best and we all think we would be a better manager because we took Daggers to the premier league in 6 seasons and won the double 3 years later but the truth is we done that sitting on our arse without taking one training session.  Only the manager sees what happens in training, only the manager knows what works and only the manager can get the best out of these players.

As for the future I see that as being bright also.  I went along to the Essex Senior cup quarter final game on Tuesday night against Concord Rangers, who by the way deserved their win.  I was most impressed with the performances of our youngsters.  Jodi Jones will get all the plaudits for his unbelievable goal but I thought the performances of Charlie Yexley at right back, Lewis Clark at centre back and Ayo Olokuga who was particularly impressive in the centre of midfield were big positives.  Olokuga is another bright spark for the future he put in  a solid shift in the midfield alongside the returning captain Abu.   Yexley worked hard at right back and defended well when called upon and Clark put in  a good display in the centre alongside the out of form Brian Saah.  Fringe players Joe Widdowson and goalkeeper Liam  O'brien didn't have the greatest of games and the returning Abs and Zav played ok, Abs looks close to full fitness and scored a great volleyed goal, Hines however picked up an injury late on in the game but according to his twitter account it is only a minor set back.  Before the injury he was quite lively early on but faded a lot in the second half, this can only be due to lack of playing time.  Ade Yussuf put himself about a bit and made some intelligent runs, but the only real disappointment from the game other than losing on penalties was George Porters performance.  Here was a golden opportunity for the young winger to grab the bull by the horns and show his manager he is worthy of a starting place in the first team but I am sad to report he failed.  I'm afraid it was a chance missed for Porter and I really don't think many more will be coming his way with his current contract rumoured to be up in February.

Impressive performancefrom young midfielder Ayo Olokuga

Although the Daggers were knocked out of the competition at the quarter final stage the biggest plus to come out of this little run has been the emergence of young Jodi Jones.  He scored a well taken goal in the last round but the goal he scored last night is one of the best goals I have seen by any player.  Yeah it might have only been against a Conference South side but if anyone in the premier league or the championship scores a goal like this it gets shown again and again.    What  a goal!!

http://youtu.be/Mqe_Gcq3OJ8
heres the highlights of the game against Concord Rangers

Do you remember when Pele took the chalk off Michael Caine in Escape to Victory and said "you give me the ball, I do this, I do this, I do this, I do this GOOOAAAL!!!  Well it was like that the only difference being Jodi Jones actually did do that. do that, do that, do that GOOOOAAAAL!!

I do this, I do this, I do this Goooaal!!

This young man has a rare talent he runs at players and scares the shit out of them he is going to be a great player in the future I just really hope he is a great player for us before he becomes a great player for someone else.  John Still was in attendance last night lets all hope he was there as a fan of the Daggers and not in a scouting capacity.

Young and exciting Jodi Jones.

I still think we will survive this season as I think one way or another our goal difference by the end of the season will be good enough.  I also think that the partnership of Cureton and Murphy will come off, what I have seen so far it is inches away from coming off, I know it's an old cliche but it is thin margins.  If we do stay up this season and have a strong run in toward the back end of it who's to say we won't take that momentum in to the following season.  I maybe totally wrong about all this but I can only say it as I see it.

What if it all goes tits up and we get relegated, well if it happens I will be disappointed and gutted but I will be renewing my season ticket and cheering on my Daggers in the Conference.

Come on people have some faith!!

Up the Daggers!!!

What's that sound?

What's that sound?

Is it the sound of  of Wes Morgan getting the ball full in the face?  No that wasn't obviously loud enough or come to think of it obvious enough for a referee of Mike Jones' calibre to even see although he is only 2 foot away.

Mike Jones....Smug Prick.

Is it the sound of Brendan Rogers crying into corn flakes after his one man team's, "one man" Steven Gerrard bagged another brace after he failed to offer him a new contract?

Or is it the sound of the aching bones of athletes in their prime who have had to go to work for four days out of ten over the Christmas period.

Nearly but not quite.

It is in fact the sound of the constant moaning of some Premier league managers and their reaction to the fact that their teams had to play 4 games in 10 days over the festive period.  Anybody would think it was a surprise for some of these bosses, do they not know that Christmas comes once a year and so does this fixture congestion, or are they just moaning, excuse making, ungrateful wankers?

To be fair it is not all Premier league managers having a moan, the main offenders seem to be Louis Van Gaal, Harry Redknapp and Steve Bruce from what I heard.  With Van Gaal it is sort of understandable as he has never managed in this country and never seen his teams play over Christmas, but even so didn't he look at the fixture list when he took over, was he not prepared to meet these fixtures head on.  the thing is he may have a few injuries, maybe a few more than some of his rivals at the moment but hang on surely with the depth of squad and some of the best young talent he has at his disposal he really shouldn't be moaning about it.  Look on the bright side LVG at least your only in two competitions, fuck know's what it will be like next year if you have finished in the top four and have to compete in the Champions league.

Hey Santa, no one told me we have to play at Christmas.

As for Redknapp who doesn't have the the size of squad at QPR that Van Gaal has at Manchester United, but still he should know better.  He has beeen a manager in the lower leagues where when games get called of and postponed due to bad weather the fixture congestion can pile up and by the end of the season teams can be playing up to 6 games in less than 2 weeks.  Redknapp is a serial offender though and a lot of his moaning is his way of showing the chairman that his squad isn't big enough to compete in the premier league, no doubt the weekend before the end of the transfer deadline at the start of February he will name two goalkeepers on the bench just to show Tony Fernandez how much he needs more top drawer players in all positions to give him every chance of avoiding the drop come May.  personally my advice to him would be stop trying to buy or loan some of your old players and start trying to get the best out of the players you have got in your squad already.  It shouldn't be that difficult with the "triffic" players you have at the club already, and besides survival in the premiership is your only concern after you made a load of excuses about being humiliated in the cup at home by Sheffield United.  No excuses now Harry!!

Cherr up 'Arry its Christmas!!!

When it comes to Steve Bruce he should really know better, he played and managed in this division for a long time so he should be totally prepared for it all, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised as when the draw was made for the third round of the cup Bruce was there watching it take place and even though the first ball pulled out of the hat was Arsenal's and the second was that of his own Hull City, he still, even though he had witnessed it live with his own eyes thought Hull City were drawn at home.  An easy mistake to make you might say, yeah an easy mistake to make if you have the attention span of a fucking goldfish.  So maybe that's what it is maybe he had forgotten that over the years as a player and manager there are quite a few games to play over the festive season.  Bless him.

Bruce was well happy the festive season was over.

With all these privileged mangers moaning and trying to protect their burntout over privileged players who in some cases wouldn't know what hard work was if it came down their chimney and emptied its sack in front of them, it was a breath of fresh air to see a manager of a premier league team embrace the fixture pile up and just get the fuck on with it without so much as a bah humbug.

 The thing is Burnley manager Sean Dyche probably has more to moan about then any of the other managers in the premier league, he no doubt has the smallest squad, he no doubt has the smallest wage budget and no doubt he has the lowest transfer fund.  On new years day these deficiencies were shown up when Burnley had to make 3 substitutions in the first half in their away game to Newcastle all because of injury.  The Lancashire side had to play the majority of the game without being able to make any more personnel changes but although they were 2-0 down and then 3-2 down they managed to carve out a much deserved draw as the game finished 3-3.  After the game Dyche didn't sit there moaning about it he just got on with it, here is a man who is is honoured and privliged to manage a team in the premier league, a manager who has to rely on more than just talented players to compete at this level.  He followed this great result with not a whimper but another fighting and grafting performance against an in form Spurs side in the FA cup, coming from behined to earn a creditable replay.  For a team with such limited resources it makes a nice change to see a group of hard working players lead by a hard working manager given there all to stay in England's elite league.

Burnley take on QPR this weekend and I think you can guess which outcome I am hoping for.  Up the Clarets!!

If Burnley survive this season I really hope that Sean Dyche gets the Manager of the year award it would be so deserved.

So Messrs Redknapp, Bruce and Van Gaal why not take a leaf out of Sean Dyche's book and stop your hard done by moaning and just roll your sleeves up and get on with it.

Sean Dyche, doing it the hard way.

I won't hold my breath because come the end of the season Steve Bruce and 'Arry will be still moaning about some shit that was unfair and making some excuse about some old shit whilst a team in the Ryman league are playing their 8th league game in less than two weeks due to postponements over winter, and are trying to stave off relegation or trying to get promoted to the next level of the football pyramid with a squad of 18 players.

Hopefully though Sean Dyche will have a great big smile on his face as his fighting spirit keeps the Clarets up for another season in the top flight.

As a football fan I know I am not alone when I say that I would have given my right nut sack to just once been able to play a game of football as professional footballer so this is why I feel the need to rant about this sort of spoilt behaviour, as far as I am concerned I would much rather live in a football world which had more Sean Dyche's in it than it had Ballotelli's.

 Give me good old meat and potatoes over big Charlie potatoes anytime!!