Doh!! For the Daggers!!

After two wins on the bounce, against Carlisle at home and Bury away the Daggers were going into Saturday's home fixture with Tranmere Rovers with an ever increasing confidence.  They were also looking to show off some of their deadline loan signings to the home faithful.  Defender Joe Widdowson on loan from Bury was on the bench alongside debutant goalscorer against Bury, Watford starlet Alex Jakubiak.  Patrick Agyemang the other deadline signing did however start up front with Jamie Cureton, this made our front two a combined age of  74.

The game itself was a bit of a dull affair, the visitors having the best chances in the first half, Cureton had the best chance for the Daggers in the first period scuffing a shot wide of the post.  The second half was much of the same, again the visitors looked the most likely.

Sitting up in the gods of the TBS in the freezing cold I was beginning to except the game was going to end as a nil-niller unless something special happened, and in the 75th minute it did but unfortunately for me and the rest of the Daggers fans it came from the foot of a Tranmere player.

The Daggers defence were slow to react and Rovers striker and former Homer Simpson alias Max Power picked up the ball, turned and unleashed a powerful shot, that powered toward the goal, powerfully hit the post and powerfully, powered past the despairing dive of Daggers goalkeeper Mark Cousins into the back of the net.  Cousins stood no chance as the power of Power's shot was just too powerful and hit with too much power for the daggers stopper to be able to cope.  What a powerful shot it was, and to be fair it deserved to win the game.

Max Power.  He's the man!!

The Daggers tried to get back into the game, but if I'm honest I think they could have played on until next Christmas and they wouldn't have scored.  The Rovers keeper didn't have a clear shot to save until deep into injury time.

Sometimes these things happen and teams have a bad day at the office, if you look at the positive side the Daggers could have been beaten by more goals if the away side had taken their chances but luckily for us their finishing was poor overall.

After the game I had a little look on the forum as I usually do and can't say I was too surprised by the smug comments of some of our supporters who seemed to be so pleased with themselves about being right about the fact that they knew that we wouldn't win 3 games in a row for the first time in 5 years, stating that  the last two wins were just papering over the cracks.  I wonder what these people will do if we do manage to get it together and go on a decent run, which I still think is a possibility for what it's worth.  Maybe they will hang around or maybe with a bit of luck they will just fuck off and take their negativity back to Upton Park or White Hart Lane or wherever else they came from in the first place.  I'm sorry but I just don't get the point of being right above all else, personally I wouldn't even bet against or predict a loss against my own team, but that's just me, maybe I am the strange one.

One thing I definitely didn't get is the amount of flack Patrick Agyemang is getting.  As far as I am concerned for most of the game I thought he did exactly what he was put on the pitch to do which was to put himself about, hold the ball up and use his physicality to upset the opposition.  At times in the first half they had to double up on him, it is just a shame that some of our other players weren't willing to back him up.  He did this for about 70 minutes of the game until he started to fade, which again is understandable for a player who hasn't been playing regularly.  It's very easy to make someone the scapegoat for a defeat just because you don't like them,  but the people who had the snipers rifle pointed at Agyemang were way off target.

On loan Portsmouth striker Agyemang put in a good shift.

I don't like to slag our own players off but they know as well as we know the performance wasn't good enough and unfortunately too many of the players were not up for it, maybe the week rest did more to hinder the preparation than actually help it.  Certain players on Saturday like Brian Saah and Ashley Chambers looked so far off the pace it was ridiculous.   Chambers in particular looked lethargic, he had a great chance to have a shot on goal after an unchallenged run but he didn't and just played a silly pass and gave the ball away.  Maybe he needs a bit of competition in that number 10 position to keep him on his toes, maybe the returning Zavon Hines could be a player that could  play that role and give Chambers a bit of a kick up the arse.   On the other hand maybe he was just carrying a knock, so i want be too harsh on him.

Personally I just thought it was a an under par performance and as I said a bad day at the office and on another day we would have got away with a point, but Homer Simpsons wonder strike won the day.

I'm sure the future is positive and I think the addition of the loan players Wayne has brought in will be very important over the Christmas period.  I managed to sit through the game on Saturday in the freezing cold and still stay positive, I would hope that others might as well.

On loan Watford striker  Alex Jakubiak scores against Bury.

Anyway it's on to the next one and another tough away game against a very good Plymouth Argyle side, lets hope we can knick a point and nip this little blip in the bud.

Come on you rip roaring goal-scoring Daggers!!

Come on you Daggers!!

Sometimes supporting your team of choice can seem like hard work.  Sometimes when your surrounded by fellow supporters who would rather slag off the players and the manager than get behind the team and show some solidarity can really get you down.  Sometimes you question your sanity when your standing in the pissing down and the cold and the snow and the hail watching your team lose, but sometimes you will witness something that will make you realise why you go through it all.

Having been a Daggers fan  for more years than I sometimes care to remember I have seen some of the shittiest performances but also I have witnessed some of the best footballing moments a football fan could ever experience.

Back in the mid eighties when Dagenham and Redbridge were just Dagenham and the chance of playing league football was so far away it was regarded as more of a wish than a dream, I and my friends used to watch the Daggers get outclassed by the likes of Northwich, Enfield, Sutton and Nuneaton Borough so much that if someone said to me then that in 30 years time I would be watching my team beat Carlisle 4-2 in league 2 whilst sitting in a fancy stand at the Pondfield end of the ground, me and mates would have picked him up swung him a few times and threw him down the big hill that used to be next to the sieve at the Bury road end calling him a twat as we let him go.  We also would have asked him what the fuck was league 2 but that's by the by.  What I am trying to say though is that as a 12 year old kid watching Devon Gayle, Terry Sullivan, Dave Pearce, Paul Goyette and George Dolarto wearing the red of my home town team the thought of playing in the football league was so far away from reality there would have been more chance of me cracking one of the clues Ted Rodgers read out on 321 that night.

Bar rhymes with Car, so you might have thought it was the car but bar also rhymes with far, and that is where you would want to be from this, you guessed it it's Dusty Bin!!

The thing is having seen some of the dross served up over the years, I sometimes have to pinch myself to believe that we are really in the position we are in.  The year we got promoted from the Conference I remember sitting there not able to comprehend what had just happened in front of me.  The feeling took so long to sink in.  It felt surreal, as I watched the players walking around the pitch I was replaying in my head the near misses and the relegation's of years past, I saw Ashley Vickers score at the Pondfield end with his right foot against Boston in front of a capacity crowd, I saw George Dolarto falling over on the goal line and missing an open goal from back in 1985, I saw Junior Macdougald scoring against Ipswich to give us the lead in the FA cup 3rd round, I saw Paul Cavell scoring for fun and Mark Stein and Steve Potts getting sent off against Southport, I also saw us fail to score a winning goal against Hayes where the visitors had their keeper sent off and only had 4 subs, no sub keeper and had to put an outfield player between the sticks and we still couldn't beat them.  By the way if we had of won that game we would have beaten Boston on points that season and not come second on goal difference.  See we have always struggled against ten men, its not a recent thing.  So even when we won promotion I never forgot where we came from and what we once were.  Sometimes it's worth taking a step back and realising how far we have come as a club.

Ashley Vickers!!

Don't get me wrong I am not saying that I don't get upset about losing games, and that I don't think that sometimes the manager gets it wrong and I could have picked a better team or played a better formation, I do, and I'm not just talking about this manager here either, I'm talking about Still, Hill, Hardy, Carr all of them but I have never booed a team off the pitch, never called one of our own players a C##t and never called for the manager to be sacked.

Although things at this club are not going great on the pitch at the moment and I understand that fans are pissed off with things, it really isn't that bad.  Going out of the FA cup with what may have seemed to be an easy route to the third round is a big disappointment, however this feeling isn't one I am unfamiliar with and to be honest we have had more cup disappointment then we have ever had cup success, so although it is frustrating in a financial aspect, shit happens!!   Alright we may be 21st in the league but we are not bottom.  It could be so much worse!!  In the past it has been so much worse.

 The thing is now and it may sound a bit cliched but our main focus is as it should be on the league, we also have a little cup competition on the side in the form of the Essex senior cup and although it is not a major competition it is a perfect opportunity to give players games and try out a few of the youngsters.

I went to see one of these games on Monday night it was nice to see a bit of football being played and to see a few youngsters get a run out that I would not have seen on Saturday afternoon in the league.  A couple of these youngsters really stood out.  Young winger Jodi Jones looks like another of our rough diamond collection, it took him a while to find his feet but once he did he looked an exciting prospect, he took his goal very well and nearly scored again with a thundering shot that hit the bar.  Another kid on show was the right back Ayo Olukoga, the full back looked at times confident and composed on the ball and looked to get forward whenever possible, maybe a future wing back in the making.  The only negative from the game was skipper Luke Howells sending off.  Howell who is already serving a 3 match suspension for a red card against Southport in the cup made a rash decision to run from the centre circle to the touch line to make a lunging tackle on a Waltham Abbey player.  The player had to be stretchered off and probably couldn't go to work the next morning.   Howell may have seen a foul not given by the referee seconds before the incident  but what goes through a players mind to do what he did, an experienced player as well who is wearing the armband for god's sake.  Sometimes the mind boggles.  After Howell's sending off the Daggers reverted to 3 at the back and Jack Connors was pushed into midfield, where he seemed to thrive on the space and time afforded to him, maybe another positive, maybe midfield is young Jacks future position. Yes young Jack, sometimes I think people forget he is only 19.  The Daggers ran out 2-1 winners although it could have been more,but a pleasing performance and the Daggers are safely through to the next round.  Who knows a bit of success in a competition like this could bring more confidence to the team than say an away defeat in the FA cup 3rd round to Bournemouth. So long may it continue.

                                                             Jodi Jones and Ayo Olukoga

As for Wayne Burnett some won't agree with me here but I think he is the right man for the job, I also think he was right to vent his frustrations in "that" interview.  The man has been slagged off all over the place and it was about time he spoke his mind.  I have a lot of time for Burnett and his backroom staff, I think the kind of football he wants to play is just what fans have been wishing for, I hope he continues with his philosophy and I hope that the team continues to improve under his leadership.

Wayne Burnett tries to talk with the fans at Southport!!

The 4-2 win over Carlisle at the weekend was a very welcome result and at times the Daggers played some nice stuff, granted there are still some defensive issues to be eradicated and some sloppy fouls were given away but to be fair in all the years I have watched this club we have always given stupid fouls away outside the box, unfortunately it comes with watching the Daggers.  It was good to see Chambers playing so well in his preferred role of number ten and it was a pleasure to watch Yusuff up front with Cureton, at times they ran Carlisle ragged.  Billy Bingham was again pulling the strings in midfield and the 3 centre backs worked pretty well considering it was such a brave decision to play that way.  Again the manager has to be given credit for that.  It is a formation that I like to see from time to time, especially at home where we need to be putting crosses in  and playing 2 up top.  I think the flat back four and three midfield or 442 diamond is better suited away from home.  Just my opinion.  The game could have been any score and if Cureton puts his spot kick away and makes it 5-1 then it could have easily have been 7 or 8 but a wins a win and Saturday showed the benefits of having wide players and more attacking options at home.   A special mention as well for on loan defender Ayo Obileye who fitted in perfectly alongside Doe and Saah.  The Charlton player put in  a commanding performance at the back.  The more the boys work on this formation in training the more confident they will become in their ability to play it out in competitive games, if we can get this to work as a system we could well see some high scoring games this season, just the sort of thing Daggers fans have been screaming out for.  Although their will still be some that will moan, especially as major change in formation like this will take time, but after it's first outing it have to say that I for one was impressed.

So after what had been a few weeks of doom and gloom, personally I have seen some positives that I hope will spark the Daggers season and get us back up the league, there is a long way to go yet and I hope we can build on these foundations and make the second part of this season a good one.


Come on you Daggers!!!

"High flying Wigan"

In  a weekend when Burnley picked up their first win of the season, Arsenal managed to let a goal lead evaporate into a 2-1 defeat, Everton  drew yet again, Newcastle keep winning, Spurs keep losing and Joe Hart forgot how to take a goal kick.

Yep, what's the biggy?   I kicked it twice.

In the championship nobody seems to want to go top of the table as this week it was Derby who had a go at top spot.  All other league teams were involved in the FA cup albeit briefly in the case of Coventry,  Exeter and Southend.  There were also a few other league teams that just managed to hang on to their place in the cup with a draw against lower opposition, my own Dagenham and Redbridge team being one of them after their emphatic 0-0 draw with conference side Southport.

Craig Robinson can't hide his delight as he scores against Exeter for Warrington.

Worcester celebrate dumping Coventry out of the cup.

There was plenty of  football on the telly over the weekend Match of the Day live, Match of the Day, Match of the Day FA cup specials, Match of the Day extra, Match of the Day 2 and of course the football league show which although was missing 48 members who were on fa cup duty decided to show extensive highlights of the 12 games that took place on Friday and Saturday.  I just had to check on catch up to see whether or not it had been shown on Saturday night and in the little blurb it said they had extended highlights of Derby's game against Wolves and Bolton's game against high flying Wigan.  Oh yeah is that the high flying Wigan who are  currently sitting in 22nd place in the championship.  Great work BBC!!  I look forward to watching highlights of the 24 games involving league clubs on the football league show this weekend, oops how silly of me there won't be one will there as it is International weekend and the championship isn't involved in domestic football.

You guessed it, no football league show this week lower league wankers!!

 In a country where the FA are constantly bemoaning the fact that there isn't any talent coming from the lower reaches of English football maybe the BBC could see this as an opportunity to showcase the lower leagues by dedicating the program to them instead of just not bothering because the top tier of the football league are not partaking, just a thought BBC.

England will be looking to continue their winning run in the qualifiers with a home game against Slovenia.  There were some interesting call ups to the three lions squad, the biggest being the inclusion of West Brom's new striking sensation Saido Berahino, also there was a recall for in form West Ham attacker Stewart Downing and also a second call up for Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne.  Hopefully Clyne will start on Saturday against Slovenia as I think that the right back position has been one of a weakest over previous years, don't get me wrong as an attacking full back sometimes Glen Johnson can be quite good, but I think he loses the ball to often and wanders out of position a little too much, I would rather see a right back playing there who can defend and attack, and lets face it the boy Clyne certainly ticks those two boxes as well as the fact he is probably the most consistent right full back about at the moment and he is English, what a result!!  I really hope he gets his chance and I also hope he can make that position his own.

Nathaniel Clyne was well happy  having been deservedly called up for international duty

England should win this game on home turf and it would be a good time for Wayne Rooney to add to his England tally and edge ever closer to Bobby Charlton's record.  After the Slovenian game we will face the Auld enemy Scotland in a friendly at Celtic Park, Gordon Strachan's boys will be playing us on the back of an enormous qualifier against Eire, this is a very important game for the Scots and they will be looking to get all three points, especially being at home and as the result of this game could be the difference at the end of qualifying as to who progresses and who doesn't, with the other two challengers in this group in Poland and Germany up against inferior opposition in Georgia and Gibraltar respectively, a positive result is a must for both teams, although a draw would suit the Irish a lot more than Scotland.

What do you mean there is no football league show?

Wales will be hoping again on the fitness of Messrs Bale and Ramsey as they travel to Belgium for what surely will be their biggest game of the entire qualifying campaign.  A win or even a draw will surely mean that the Welsh  would be right on course to qualify for their first major tournament since 1958.

As for me this weekend I will be listening out for a minor miracle of my own as my beloved Daggers travel to high flying AFC Wimbledon in search of a much needed and long awaited 3 point haul.  To be honest I would take a point right now if it was on offer but you never know, if the Daggers back line can contain the power of Ade Akinfenwa and the prolific scoring of Matt Tubbs up front we may just sneak a scruffy goal and get an overdue win.  I live in hope.

Enjoy the football

Come on you Daggers!!!

Come on Englaaaand!!

FA Cup first round proper.

To be honest I am not that bothered how pissed off Manuel Pellegrini is with his Manchester City team, and I don't really care that If his team showed a lack of professionalism in Europe.  I couldn't really give a stuff whether Raheem Sterling got called up for the England squad and Daniel Sturridge didn't and if Brendan Rodgers is talking to Roy Hodgson or if Arsene Wenger is talking to Roy Hodgson about Theo Walcott.  At least I don't this weekend, because this weekend is not about the big boys, this weekend as far as I am concerned is not about International call ups or the premier league or even the championship.  Its all about the biggest and longest running cup competition in the world.  Ladies and Gentleman I give you the FA Cup.

Pellegrini is not happy.

This weekend sees the football league 1 and 2 enter the cup for the first time this year and as usual there will be dreams of a long cup run and a chance of pulling a big tie against the big boys in the 3rd round.  It all began back on the 15th August and now finally we have got to the first round proper.

There are some mouth watering ties over this weekend and quite a few potential upsets.

Top of the Conference Barnet are up against top of league 2 Wycombe in what could be a very close game, elsewhere Basingstoke Town who top the Conference South are at home to bottom Conference side AFC Telford United.  High flying league 2 side Bury take on Hemel Hempstead Fc,  Gosport Borough take on Colchester and there is an all league 2 clash between Luton and Newport County.  The lowest ranked team remaining in the competition is Warrington Town from the Northern League Division 1 who take on Exeter from league 2 live on BBC tonight.  Northern Premier league side Norton United are up against conference outfit Gateshead and there is a battle between two former giant killers as Blyth Spartans take on Altrichnam.


My team Dagenham and Redbridge have been handed a home tie against conference side Southport.  With Daggers poor recent home form Port will be coming to Victoria Road with high hopes of pulling off a shock result.

Southport are a team that the Daggers used to play regularly in their conference days, I remember on one occasion playing against them in 2002 where we lost 3-0, however the game will not be remembered certainly from Daggers fans for the score, but more for the poor refereeing performance.  The man in the middle Martin Yerby dismissed two Daggers players in Mark Stein and Steve Potts.  Former West Ham defender Potts was shown a straight red for deliberate handball when it was clear to everyone that it hit his thigh, former Chelsea striker Stein received his marching orders after an aerial challenge that left his opponent rolling around on the floor, it all kicked off and Stein was the man sent down the tunnel.

Mark Stein sent off!!

 The game was played in bad blood and the Port players tried to con the ref after almost every tackle.  The home fans were getting more and more frustrated as the game went on, away players were hurling abuse at the crowd and the crowd were giving it back.  At half time in this game I remember the home fans being taunted by the away fans and it was the first time really I ever thought it was going to kick off.  I remember being really angry at the time and for some unknown reason started shouting a load of abuse at the Southport  substitutes who had come on the pitch to warm up, suffice to say they just laughed at me.  Luckily it never did kick off but it was an awful game with an awful referee and a lot of awful Southport players.  The one Southport villain to stand out for me was their left back Chris Lane who whenever he came to Victoria Road always seemed to antagonise the home supporters.

Daggers fans favourite Southport player Chris lane.

I really hope that tomorrow's game is not played in the same vain and obviously the Daggers can come out with a win.  The FA Cup may just be the tonic the players need to spark their season, hopefully the pressure won't be too much and they can go out and put on a bit of a show for the home fans.

If your team is involved in a FA Cup match tomorrow enjoy your game and good luck to all the teams playing in the greatest cup competition in the world, all except Southport of course.

Come on you Daggers!!!

If only we had Stuart Thurgood

Daggers home form has been far from good recently, and they were looking to put it right against high flying Shrewsbury on Saturday.

The Daggers came into this game on the back of a of defeat away to Luton and a draw away to Wycombe.

For forty minutes or so Daggers matched the Hatters and had chances to take the lead at Kennilworth Road, but a quick fire double on the stroke of half time left the Daggers 2-0 down at the break and facing an uphill struggle.  The second half ended with a goal a piece but ultimately Luton took all the points.  Christian Doidge scored the consolation goal for the Daggers, the Welshman's first for the club.

Doidge gets first goal against Luton

Daggers took the lead against Wycombe, Jamie Cureton scoring again, unfortunately the Daggers couldn't hold on and the Chairboys snatched a late equaliser, meaning the Essex boys only took a point away from the Hive instead of all three, but a draw against one of the top four shouldn't be sneezed at when your a team who are finding it hard to pick up any result anywhere at the moment.

Before the home game with the Shrews the Daggers played a home game in the Essex Senior cup.  This was a chance for some of the players who were coming back from injuries and also chance for some of the fringe players at the club to get a run out.  Captain Abu Ogogo was eligible to play in this game as his 3 match ban didn't extend to friendly matches.  The biggest boost in this game was the return of last years top scorer Rhys Murphy.  The striker marked his return to first team football with a goal from the penalty spot.  The Daggers won the game against Ryman League one side Barkingside 2-0, Bradley Goldberg scored the second goal, a bit of a worldy by all accounts.

Shrewsbury came into this game after a midweek tussle with top of the Premier League Chelsea in the League cup.  The Shrews had put in a magnificent performance and had the country's top team on the ropes at one point of the game.  Unfortunately for them though Chelsea sneaked over the line with a 2-1 win.

 Micky Melon's boys would have put a lot into that performance on Wednesday night and Wayne Burnett's instructions would probably have been to get at them early and close them down.  The Daggers were quick out of the blocks in this one and were rewarded for the positive start when a powerful Billy Bingham shot gave the home side the lead after 6 minutes.  The Shrews are a good team and although they had their chances in the first half the daggers battled hard and deserved their lead at half time.  Mark Cousins in the home goal was earning his keep and the Daggers number 30 made some smart saves.  At the other end the Shrewsbury goalkeeper was probably quite lucky to be still on the pitch.  George Porter chased down a hopeful ball which looked to be too long for the winger and looked to be heading out of play for a goal kick when for some reason the Shrew's stopper raced out of the side of his area and deliberately punched the ball.  Referee Mr Sheldrake decided that a yellow card was punishment enough for these actions although George Porter argued it wasn't and  was subsequently booked for his protestations.  All I can say is the rules must have changed because a few seasons ago our goalkeeper at the time Chris Lewington was sent off twice in a season for handling the ball outside of his area.  One of which was so inconclusive that not one person in the ground could be 100% wether it was in or out of the box.  Oh well that's consistency for you.

Billy Bingham gave Daggers perfect start

Shrewsbury were reduced to ten men though early in the second half when Jermaine Grandison pulled back Ade Yusuff with the Striker through on goal.  Grandison who had scored the own goal Wednesday night against Chelsea which had ultimately dumped the Shrews out of the cup ended a troublesome week for himself after seeing a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity.  Unfortunately for the Daggers the extra man became more of a hindrance then a help.  Wayne Burnett decided it would be a good idea to take off a midfielder in Andre Boucaurd and replace him with a defender in Matt Partridge.  I'm not sure if it was just for tactical reasons or for an injury but whichever it certainly disrupted the shape of the team as Shrewsbury with less men seemed to be finding more space in midfield.  The Shrews began to dictate the game as the Daggers seemed to get deeper and deeper.  Billy Bingham who had been doing so well in the middle of the pitch ended up on the left side of midfield and the gaps were starting to show.  The Daggers should have been in charge but instead were being put under more and more pressure as the away team launched attack after attack.  Daggers couldn't win the ball back and it was only a matter of time before the Shrews scored.  It was Wednesday nights hero Andy Mangan who got the anticipated leveller on 70 minutes.  The substitute scoring an unstoppable volley from a lovely ball over the top of our ever receding defence.  Daggers made more changes, Rhys Murphy came on to make his first league appearance of the season, Ashley Chambers also came on.  Twice the daggers could have scored the winner but firstly George Porter didn't play in Ashley Chambers when he was free on goal and then Rhys Murphy decided to go alone when George Porter was in acres of space with the goal at his mercy, these opportunities were to cost the Daggers dearly in the last minute of injury time when the Shrews who to their credit never gave up,  Andy Mangan got free in the box and Scott Doe brought  him down.  Veteran Liam Lawrence stepped up, scored and gave Shrewsbury all the points leaving Daggers with absolutely nothing.  I walked out of Vicky Road with my son wearing his shiny new away shirt probably the most down I have felt in many a year.  Where does the team go from here?  To be honest I don't have a clue.

A lot of our fans were rightly pissed off with the result and a lot of them made there thoughts known towards the manager.  To be fair the blame has to lay at his door as his tactics in the second half were poor at best.  It's a game we should have won or at least drawn, but instead we leave Victoria Road not for the first time this season having lead at half time with nothing.

The Daggers welcome Conference side Southport on Saturday in the FA Cup.  A slip up in this game could spell the end of Wayne Burnett's tenure as daggers boss.  I hope that this isn't the case as I like what he has done for the club and have been amazed at the talent he has brought to the club, but as he as always said football is about results and if he doesn't put out the right team with the right tactics to get that result then that is down to him.

Is Wayne a manager under pressure

On a brighter note today is Stuart Thurgood's birthday.  Thurgood only played 17 times for our club but in his short time in the centre of our midfield proved to me and many others what a player he was.  Unfortunately we have never really replaced his tenacity and tackling ability in the middle of the pitch.  Thurgood would make a big difference to our midfield at this moment in time such a shame we don't have him now.  Happy 33rd birthday Stuart.

Happy birthday Stuart Thurgood.

Come on you Daggers!!

Something for the weekend!!

For all you football fans out there who are off to watch your team this weekend, I thought I would do a small preview post.

Obviously the biggest game of the weekend is tomorrow's Manchester derby.

Will Rooney's return make a difference.

The red devils will travel across town to play their neighbours in what could be a significant game for both teams.  Man United come into this game after a big result against top of the league Chelsea.  Van Persie's last gasp but deserved equaliser earned United a very good point against the best team in the country.  Man City on the other hand have had an awful week, they were beaten well at Upton Park last Saturday in the league and they followed that up with a poor display and even poorer result in the Capital one cup against Newcastle and lost 2-0,  If you were playing as Manchester City on football manager and those two results had happened no doubt you would quit game without saving and start all over again, no doubt muttering under your breath "stupid fucking game".  

Manchester City will probably still be slight favourites in this game due to their home advantage, but as I said United are starting to hit form, I reckon Wayne Rooney's return could be the catalyst in a win for the reds and a continued week of hell for the blues.

Newcastle take on Liverpool in the early game on Saturday no doubt Liverpool will win 4-3and Kevin Keegan will be slumped over in his seat, head down as Stan Collymore scores the winner in the injury time.

I expect Arsenal to get back on the winning road with an easy victory at home to Burnley, and Chelsea will be looking to get as near to double figures against QPR at Stamford Bridge.  Although QPR have improved in recent weeks I can only see more trouble for 'Arry and his defence.  If Bobby Zamora starts for the super hoops then maybe there will be a bit of joy for them but their main problems are in the defensive area of the pitch and an attacking team like Chelsea should be taking full advantage.  I reckon the blues will get 6.

In the Championship, top of the table Wolves are taking on bottom of the table Birmingham as I write in the early midlands Derby.  Its good to see Wolves doing well, I always had a soft spot for them when I was a kid in the late 70's early 80's it may have been because they were nicknamed Wolves, it might have been however due to their gold and black kit, but it was more than likely down to the hairstyles of Geoffrey Palmer and George Berry.  Geoffrey Palmer looked so much different in Butterflies with Wendy Craig and Rodney Trotter.

George Berry

Geoffrey Palmer.

In league 1 Preston will be hoping they can travel to Rochdale and nick a win and that Bristol City fail to beat Oldham so they can reach the top of the table.  Swindon in 3rd will be looking to beat MK Dons and continue with their pursuit of the top two.  Bottom of the table Scunthorpe will not be relishing the prospect of a trip to London Road and what could be a big defeat to Peterborough.

John Still's Luton will be looking to increase their grip on top spot of league 2 as they take on Exeter.  St James Park is never an easy place to go and with Wycombe, Bury and Shrewsbury all breathing hard down the Hatters neck, I can see  Exeter at least getting a draw in this one.  Wycombe should just sneak a win at Oxford but I reckon Bury will only get a draw at Cambridge.  Shrewsbury will be looking to take their great form of last Wednesday in the League Cup to Victoria Road were they will play the rip roaring goalscoring Daggers.  The Shrews may well have played well and maybe deserved a bit more against the Premier League champions elect Chelsea in midweek, but hopefully from a Daggers point of view they are feeling a little jaded from their exploits and the mighty Daggers can get into Micky Mellon's boys early and bring Shrewsbury down to earth with a humbling 3-1 defeat.  No biased in that comment you understand.

If you are going to watch your team this weekend, whether your watching them on telly or listening on the wireless or just watching the results come in, good luck to all teams I hope they all play well and get the result your looking for.  Except Shrewsbury of course.

Come on you Daggers!!

Not a great week for referees.

It seems to be a reoccurring theme but their were some disgusting (to quote a premier league manager) refereeing decisions this weekend.

After Michael Oliver showed some real bravery to give a penalty for Swansea against Stoke for a foul in the area by Shawcross on Bony whilst awaiting a corner, he then ruined all the good work of getting a decision spot on by giving a penalty for a dive in the opposing area later in the game which Swansea manager Gary Monk was rightly furious about when asked about it at the end of the game.  Yet again a poor refereeing decision has altered the game and Swansea who were 1-0  up to that point and in charge ended up losing 2-1.

If that was a poor piece of refereeing then the decision of Andre Mariner not to send off Southampton keeper Fraser Forster and award Sunderland a penalty, when the England keeper came rushing out of his goal and clattered Scottish striker Steven Fletcher, after the black cats forward had knocked the ball past the on rushing keeper was nothing but scandalous.  Mariner in his infinite wisdom gave a goal kick.  The score in this game at the time was 2-0 to the Saints, the final score was 8-0.  Would a sending off and penalty at that point made any difference to the outcome of the game?  Maybe, but one thing is for sure it wouldn't have ended 8-0 with the Saints down to 10 men.

All these pale into insignificance though as the worst decision of the weekend happened in league 1 in the Saturday evening game live on Sky between Bradford City and Sheffield United.  Referee Simon Hooper decided that Rory Mcardle's challenge on Stefan Scougal was a fair one and lets be fair he was only about 5 yards away.

http://youtu.be/Jek8YqV3P0w

Luckily for the Blades this didn't cost them as they run out 2-0 winners.

Anyway the referees involved in these decisions and all the other dodgy ones that I haven't mentioned this weekend won't face any recriminations for their actions, however Gary Monk will no doubt face a punishment after someone from the media stuck a microphone in his face straight after the game and he told the truth.  That's justice for you!  What a load of old bollocks!!

That's enough moaning lets get back to the football.


Chelsea and Manchester City continued their rampage at the top of the table and just behined in 3rd place is Southampton after their  8-0 win against Sunderland.  West Ham hit the dizzy heights of 4th place after their 3-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Sergio Aguero scored all four goals in City's 4-1 win over Spurs, in fact he should have had five as he missed a penalty and then managed to miss the rebound with an audacious scissor kick.  It looks like all his injury worries of last season and during the world cup are in the past and he is beginning to hit some irresistible form.

Scissor kick.

Chelsea march on even without Diego Costa as they beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park 2-1 Fabregas scored the pick of the goals when he started and finished off a fantastic one touch passing move goal.

Southampton's new shining star Graziano Pelle scored a brace in their record breaking 8-0 win over Sunderland whilst 3 headed goals from Messrs Sakho, Valencia and Cole was enough for the happy Hammers at Burnley.

Alan Pardew kept his life support machine on for at least another week with Newcastle's first win of the season at home to Leicester.  Everton got a well overdue win against Villa and somehow a very poor Liverpool performance yielded 3 points at Loftus  Road against 'Arry's QPR.  Somehow the Reds came away with maximum points when even 1 would have been generous in this game.  Unfortunately for Redknapp and his much improved team their efforts were rewarded with absolutely nothing, however they should take heart from the performance and look to build on it.  Harry Redknapp in his after game match press conference said that his team were punished for their naivety he also eluded to the fact that Adel Tarabt was a fat lazy bastard who couldn't be arsed.  Those weren't his exact words but I think that was what he meant.

'Arry reckons he loves pies more.

Man United finished off this round of Premier league games with a trip to the Hawthorns.  It looked like it was going to be an uncomfortable night for the Red Devils when the Baggies took the lead through Stephane Sessegnon in the 8th minute.  It was a top finish after a great lay off from Liverpool loanee Andre Wisdom.

Man Utd Equalised early in the second half when Fellani  (remeber him) who had come on as sub scored his first goal for United after good show of strength and a very good finish.  Man Utd were on top in the second half but a breakaway lead to Berahino putting the home team ahead.  Daley Blind scored United's second equaliser and the points were shared.  I have to say that I was very impressed with WBA's style of football, a team I had as firm favourites to go down this season.  I reckon if they can carry on like this they will be a hard team to beat, especially at home.

Fellani was overjoyed to score his first Man Utd  goal.

In the Championship Watford went top of the table after a 3-0 away win at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.  Forest slipped to a surprise defeat to Cardiff and dropped to 5th in the table.  Norwich also got a shock as they lost to Fulham.  Derby are second after their 3-0  win away to Reading and Middlesboro sit in 3rd after a 2-1 win over Brighton.  Blackpool stay bottom Bolton stay second bottom despite winning and Birmingham drop to 20th, Birmingham's latest defeat to Bolton was too much for the board and lee Clark lost his job as manager.

Lee Clark didn't take his dismissal from Birmingham very well.

League 1, and Bristol City stay at the top after an impressive 3-1 away win at Coventry, Peterborough stay second and Swindon despite drawing with Yeovil are in third.  Walsall, Port Vale, Scunthorpe and Crewe are the bottom 4.  In league 2 Wycombe are top of the league after a win against AFC Wimbledon, with Bury 2 points behined them, Burton stay 3rd despite a shock defeat at home to Morecambe, Luton are 4th and Tranmere are at the foot of the football league for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Goal of the week:

Southampton's first goal against Sunderland on Saturday.
Santiago Vergini hits an unstoppable curling volley in to the roof of the net, unfortunately for Vergini it was in his own net.  What a hit.

Have it!!

Too much passion or just irresponsibility?

Last weekend Daggers pulled off a bit of a shock result with an away win against in form Accrington Stanley.  New signing and former waiter Ade Yusuff came off the bench at the start of  the second half to score a brace and cancel out Stanley's first half lead and guarantee an unlikely 3 points for the Daggers.  The former Wagamama employee who reported left his job and took a pay cut to join the Daggers and realise his dream of becoming a professional footballer took his two goals well and gave the team the cutting edge that they had lacked in the first half.  It certainly looks as if the Daggers have found another rough diamond who certainly could become a big star in the future.  Yusuff is a very strong lad who is not easy to knock off the ball, he has good pace and certainly has no problem getting a shot away, he could be a very important player for the Daggers this season, he reminds in some ways of former Dagger Josh Scott, but maybe Ade is a bit more skillful.

Ade Yusuff opens his Daggers account.

After a good away win it was back home this week for a showdown with Newport County at Victoria Road.  The Daggers home form recently has been pretty poor and they would have been looking to put in a decent performance and hopefully get a second win on the bounce in front of their home fans.

Wayne Burnett had decisions to make before this game, after such an impressive performance from the 20 year old Ade Yusuff in the last game he was looking to get a start.  Due to a slight injury Daggers main striker Jamie Cureton was dropped to the bench and Yusuff took his place as the front man in a 442 cum 451 formation with winger Ashley Chambers playing off him as a second striker.

Obviously no one knew the reason for Cureton's drop to the bench before the game and there were some confused looks among the home supporters when the line ups were read out.

The Daggers started the game quite well and as in most home games looked the dominant force, George Porter had the best chance of the game when he was put through by Ashley Hemmings only to see his effort hit the wrong side of the net.  Yet again the Daggers went into the half time break as the better team but without a goal to show for it.  Newport had offered very little and Dagenham's formation was holding up quite well with Ade Yusuff working hard trying to carve out chances.

In the second half Newport came closest to scoring when they hit a post, to be fair though that was one of only a handful chances the visitors had, Daggers were still dominating the game and then just after the hour mark the first controversial decision of the game was made.  Ade Yusuff picked up the ball on the edge of the box and ran in to the area were he was blatantly tripped, the referee who was only 5 yards away decided this was not worthy over a penalty despite the protests of the players and the howls of the crowd.  This ref was certainly not a homer.  Just after the 70th minute came the long awaited arrival of Jamie Cureton from the bench.  Within a couple of minutes JC was involved and his presence and intelligent play was already causing the Welsh team problems.  Then came the big talking point of the game just before the 80th minute a clash between the two number 8's in midfield, Abu Ogogo the Daggers captain appeared to be pulled to the ground by Newport's Lee Minshull, there was a bit of tussle on the floor between the two before Ogogo got up and Menshull started rolling about like he had been shot in the face.  The Dagger skipper then had to be restrained by his team mates has he headed toward the Newport player.  The players eventually calmed down and Abu was sent off for a straight red card offence, I am not sure if it was for the foul if there was a foul by Ogogo or if it was for his behaviour after the foul was given.  If the decision was for the foul then it is just wrong and the Daggers should appeal but if it is for his actions afterwards then he aint got a leg to stand on.  I for one was disgusted with his attitude after the foul was given, I understand he was pissed off but the man has a responsibility as the club captain and he just acted like a petulant little kid looking for a fight in the playground.

Too much passion or  just irresponsibility.

After the sending off the Daggers continued to press, Jamie Cureton hitting the bar and then following up with a great effort that was somehow tipped over from the Newport keeper, but it wasn't to be Dagenham's day as in the 90th minute Chris Zebroski rose highest in the box above the Daggers defence and headed home an unlikely winner for the away team.

Another home game another home defeat, although it was a game we should have never ever lost, Daggers were the best team and regardless of whether the sending off was right or wrong they should have had a penalty and without the intervention of Joe Day the Newport stopper it could have been an easy win.

The Daggers now move on to a Tuesday night and an away game against former manager John Still and his in form Luton Town. It is going to be a tough game to get anything out of but you never know.  The daggers will probably be without 3 of their 5 first team midfielders on the understanding they don't appeal Abu's red card.  It could end up being a blessing in disguise as Wayne Burnett will now have to make changes to personnel and probably formation.  He may have to play a 442 formation with Yusuff and Cureton together up front.  You never know Burnett may just stumble across the winning formula, because I really don't think we are that far off, at times on Saturday we played some good stuff.  Hopefully with Labadie and Abu out Billy Bingham can finally get a run in the midfield and show just what a quality midfielder he really is.

Lets hope it is Billy's time to shine.

 Lets see if we can  get one over on Johnny Still, Luke Wilkinson, Scott Griffiths and Paul Benson and get a shock win at Kenilworth Road.

Come on you Daggers!!

European Championships Round Up.

Its been a busy old week for International football what with shock results and even more shocking behaviour taking place on the pitch.

No, nothing to see here!!

Just like the football league show on the BBC I am going to completely forget that there was any League football on over the past weekend even though there were more members of the football league playing then weren't, 48 league teams were in action over the weekend and only 24 championship teams didn't play, so just like the BBC I'll just ignore it took place.

The home nations and Eire have all had good starts to their European qualifying campaigns, none more so than Northern Ireland who sit proudly at the top of Group F after winning all 3 of their opening games.  Goals from Kyle Lafferty and Jamie Ward were enough on Tuesday night to give the Irish an impressive win over former European champions Greece, moreover it was the first time they had ever beaten the Greeks, so to do it in the Greeks own backyard makes all the more impressive.

Northern Ireland are on fire.

Scotland and Eire are both in group D and yes D certainly does stand for death in this instance as thanks to an unlikely win for Poland over Germany the group has been thrown wide open and with only 2 teams guaranteed to progress with a 3rd team going through as best runners up, what looked like a great chance for both to qualify suddenly looks a lot harder.  Germany have been less than convincing so far in this campaign but you cannot imagine they will not qualify, although they sit in 4th place below Scotland, Eire and Poland.  After seeing the Republic of Ireland tear little Gibraltar to pieces and then get an incredible away draw with Germany I expect Eire to qualify automatically probably with Germany which would mean a battle between Scotland and Poland for the last position.  Gordon Strachan has got his team playing good football and they should be higher up the table based on their performances, but the reality is that they will need to grind out some results in this qualifying campaign and hope they can do enough to get through.  The signs are starting to look a bit ominous for the Scots and it might take a shock result against Germany or Eire to give them any chance.  Hopefully they will both qualify but even if they don't this group is by far the most exciting to watch, and I am sure there are more twists and turns to come.

Wales sit on top of group B after 3 games a 2-1 win over Cyprus means they have 2 wins and a draw.  Chris Coleman must feel that this is the Welsh's big chance to qualify for a major tournament it would be an amazing achievement as it would be first time since 1958.  I still can't believe that I have never seen Wales in a major tournament considiring the great players they have had over the years.  Your Ian Ruish's, your Ryan Giggs's, your John Toshacks, your Leighton James's, your Gary Speeds and your Vinny Joneses.  It would certainly would only be fair that Gareth Bale gets to play on the biggest stage as he really is their Roy of the Rovers, don't get me wrong I am not saying that Wales are a one man team but without him in their line up they are at a similar level as a top league 1 team that are always challenging but with him they become more of a Premier league team that sit quite comfortably above the relegation places every season.  I really hope that they can keep up their fine form and more importantly keep Bale in their line up.

Wales legend Leighton James.

England kicked off the first of their qualifiers with a pretty straight forward 5-0 win against minnows San Marino, Wayne Rooney scored a penalty that gave him his 42nd England goal and then on Sunday afternoon he added his 43rd goal with the winning free kick against the mighty Estonia.  I know you can only beat what is front of you but England really made hard work of it, ok we got the points we needed but come on there is just no excitement watching England.  We really seem to struggle against any team lately, I mean it wasn't as if Estonia put everyone behined the ball it was just every chance we created was spurned.  It is so lucky that we have such an easy group because against anyone with a bit of nouse we would surely struggle.  Our biggest test is now going to come against Slovenia, I reckon they will cause us some problems.  At the moment I don't think we would beat any of the other home nations based on what I have seen from qualifying so far.  Lets hope we can improve and start putting some of these teams away with a bit more conviction, surely that is not too much to ask.

Rooney nets number 43

The biggest story of the week was when there was nearly a full scale riot on the pitch between fans and players of Serbia and Alabania the game was eventually abandoned.  Away fans had not been allowed in to this game so as to try and stop any unrest, unfortunately a drone carrying a flag got into the ground and it caused a massive fracas on the pitch.  The thing is I don't want to get in to politics and all the stuff that goes on between these countries, but surely UEFA abd FIFA should be aware and their must be ways to keep these teams apart in qualifying, I mean they can do it in the Champions league.  Sometimes there are bigger things than football and common sense should just prevail surely.

I didn't order a chair mate!!

If Poland's win over Germany was a shock then surely the biggest shock of this whole campaign is Icelands 2-0 win over World Cup Semi Finalists Holland.  Only a few months Van Persie, Robben and the like were scaring the world's defences and now they sit 3rd in Grroup A having only won 1 game from three with Iceland and the Czech's above them,  the saving grace is that this group doesn't have anyone else in it really other than the top 3.  Although if Turkey could regain some form then an away trip there could put the Netherlands in some trouble, but to be fair just like England, Holland don't really have to do too much to qualify.

Sneijder says.  What the Fuck!!

Another Jeckyll and Hyde performance costs Daggers.

Daggers came into their Friday night match against Exeter City on the back of a good 2-0 win over York City.  The hope around Victoria road was that the Daggers could pick up from where they left off and start to put a decent run of results together in the process.

The Daggers started this game on the front foot, and Jamie Cureton in particular was pulling the strings as is becoming par for the course lately and it was the diminutive striker who gave Dagenham the lead with a trademark finish on 11 minutes.  Daggers were on top for the most part of the first half, playing some nice stuff on the floor, Cureton involved in all that was good.   The former Exeter man nearly doubled daggers lead against his old club but his effort just went past the far post.  The daggers lead 1-0 at half time and all was looking good for a second home victory on the bounce.

Cureton scores again.

The second half and The Grecians began quickly as the Daggers would have expected, normally when a team is behind at half time they come out fighting and for a good 10-15 minutes the leading team need to be strong and soak up the pressure for a bit, but not in this game Daggers had gone from being totally the dominate team to being completely under the cosh, as the game wore on the Daggers began to retreat more and more into their own half, creating hardly anything in attack and struggling to string two passes together as they reverted to going long at every opportunity.  Panic had certainly started to set in and with the panic came the sloppy mistakes, the same old mistakes that keep rearing their ugly head, the ones that have always cost the Daggers dearly in the past.  As the pressure increased and the panic intensified the Daggers started to pick up silly bookings and give away silly fouls in silly areas.  Somehow after receiving 6 bookings from former Premier league referee Keith Stroud (who was shocking by the way) and giving over position all over the place miraculously the home team still lead the contest.  Then in the 8oth minute the pressure finally told when Alex Nicholls who appeared to be going out wide was fouled in the area by Matt Partridge.  The resulting penalty was put away and from that moment on there was only going to be one winner, and in injury time it came, Aaron Davies headed home and the capitulation was complete.

How can a team be in total control for 40-45 minutes of a game and then just completely not turn up for the second half, to be fair if Cureton scores his chance in the first half and we go 2-0 up it is game over and even at 1-1 Doidge had a chance that if it had gone in may well have taken the wind out of the visitors sails, but for whatever reason this didn't happen and our Jeckyll and Hyde performances just continue.

Another Jeckyll and Hyde performance.

I can't put my finger on why this keeps happening but I am sure it is not due to the quality of the players we have at the moment, maybe it is a mental thing, I am afraid I don't have the answers and I just hope that Wayne Burnett does.

 My friend Dr Monkatron had an interesting theory though which I thought was inspired.  He suggested that when we were under the cosh and losing all the key battles why not play a few little mind games, why not get our Olympic high jumper Dalton Grant to run up and down the touch line as if warming up jumping up and pretending to head the ball.  Now if I was an opposition defender and I saw out of the corner my eye some really tall skinny bloke jumping about twenty foot in the air I don't think i could get the thought out of my head, just imagine if one of those defenders is distracted even for a split second, with the quick brain of Cureton it could make all the difference.   I personally thought it was a great idea as long of course as he didn't start "Fosbury Flopping" all over the gaff.

Get out there and warm up Dalton.

The positives from this game other than Cureton, has to be that at least we have seen that we are capable of playing football and pressurising teams albeit for one half, but surely do that at some point is better than not doing it at all.

Last night saw the Daggers take on Leyton Orient in the JPT this fixture is one we always seem to win, although as I walked over to Viccy road I couldn't say I was brimming with confidence.  The fact that I wasn't optimistic about our chances meant I would probably enjoy the game a bit more as I didn't expect nothing so anything positive would be a bonus.

The first positives of the night were that Billy Bingham a midfielder I rate as our best passer of the ball was back in the starting line up, also back was Scott Doe and up front was Christian Doidge.  Another positive was that we played two up top it was just a shame that Cureton didn't play up along side Doidge but at the age of 39 it was always a game he was going to sit out.

Leyton Orient are a far better side than the last time we payed against them, they finished last season nearly getting promotion to the championship, and even though they rested a few of their players it was a very strong side they put out and the gulf in class was obvious to spot within the opening 15 minutes.  Orient are a well drilled, strong and disciplined side who can knock the ball about.  Although this was going to always be a tough game it was the perfect game for Wayne Burnett to test his tactical nous and see for himself how far he has come as a manager.

It took only 5 minutes for the O's to take the lead and in a first half that the East Londoners dominated and where the home sides chances were always going to be at a premium.  It was going to take a bit of something special to even get a goal in this game but other than a tidy turn and show of pace from Ade Yusuff  which resulted in a shot going over the bar their wasn't really anything else to write home about.  Billy Bingham had a good game though and he played a couple of Joe Colesque type 30-40 yard passes right into his team mates feet.  Doidge showed he could win the ball in the air  and put in a decent shift and Bradley Goldberg showed glimpses of good movement in the limited time he had.  On the negative side captain Abu Ogogo was very poor.  Abu is a strange one for me and I think I may be in the minority when I say I don't really see what he gives us in midfield, he has all the will in the world but really what actual attributes does he have as a midfielder, he scores goals now and again but when he doesn't score he doesn't really offer much, it seems he takes too many touches he doesn't talk, he isn't a great tackler and he isn't very good at passing.  He reminds me a bit of  how Glenn Southam was at the end of his time for us.  People will probably shoot me down in flames but I just have never got the hype about him, I have always thought there were better midfielders in this team that offer more.  As a right back he is the best we have ever had but as a midfielder he is way down the pecking order.

Anyway the game finished 2-0 to Orient both goals coming from Jay Simpson, who alongside Darius Henderson caused us problems all night long.

My biggest gripes about last night would be the way that one of our former players, and not just a player, a player who in our brief stay in league 1 was probably our best player Romain Vincelot was abused by some of our supporters.  Yes he fouled one of our players, but he used to foul players when he played for us but for someone to call him a French C***  for being fouled and it was a blatant foul sums up why I think some of our supporters need to take a long hard look at themselves.  The treatment he got from that minority was just in my opinion disgusting.

Some supporters weren't too happy to see Vincelot.

My other bug bear has nothing to do with the game it is the PA system at the ground.  What is the point of making announcements when you can't understand what the fuck the bloke is saying, he sounds like a cross between Norman Collier and someone with a bath plug stuck in his throat.  Maybe it is just the bloke to blame for that and not the PA, but after a big campaign to get the walkout music changed there seems no point when you can barely hear it through the sound system we have and then it gets talked over and then faded in and out.  Completely pointless you may as well have the team walking out to fucking YMCA for all it matters.

Hep, hup,buck buck.
Sort the PA out Collier.

I can't say I am that bothered we are out of the trophy as I think it is a stupid competition with stupid rules.  A competition were you have to have 7 or so players in the squad who were in the squad in the last league game and only 5 substitutes, and of course it regional so you play the same team every year with absolutely no chance of reaching a final if you are a club like us.  In a time where the FA are moaning that not enough English youngsters come through the ranks surely the sensible thing would be to let teams field whoever they want and have 7 subs if  7 subs can be named and surely this would give those youngsters a chance in competitive football that would help their development.  Top teams can field whoever they like in the League cup but when it comes down to the teams in the harder leagues with the more fixtures and the smaller squads the FA impose ridiculous rules.  If they made it a proper cup then a couple of season's ago we could have been playing Wolves or Sheffield Wednesday at home instead of Colchester or bloody Peteborough yet again.  The argument is that because it is midweek then making it regional may increase attendance, so what take a chance you could pull a big tie, granted we could end up with Hartlepool but at least we would have a chance of progressing.

Anyway on to the next and hopefully Wayne and the boys can learn from the last 2 games and give us a performance away to Accrington on Saturday.

Come on you Daggers!!