House of Flying Daggers

[CFuller]

MAY 2033

Before the squad broke up for the summer, I managed to negotiate some new contracts with several of my players.

 

First in the queue for a new deal was centre-back George Darvill, who was about to exit his teenage years by becoming one of our highest-paid players. Despite his tender age, George has already played in 102 competitive matches for the Daggers and is now contracted to stay with us for at least four more years.

 

Jacques Polomat will also be staying put for the foreseeable future. The French attacking midfielder signed a new three-year contract and can expect to be a big part of the senior team moving forward.

 

A host of youth players signed their first professional contracts. Jerome Farrell, Paul Habu and Carl Quinn will both be promoted from the Under-18s next season, as will Kevin McManus, who's having an excellent time on loan in the Republic of Ireland. Tristan Egueh and Ross Pearson each signed pro forms a year ahead of schedule, while Martin Thompson will do likewise when he turns 17 in July.

 

For other players, the future looks rather less certain. After three mid-table finishes on the trot, I decided that my squad needed shaking up... and that meant casting off some of the old guard.

 

Some went quietly, reluctantly accepting that their time at Victoria Road was up. Mario Djokic and Daryl Ryan would both be released in the summer, while Filip Svensson was told that he couldn't stay with us for another year - at least not in a playing capacity.

 

Heikki Puustinen also departed, signing for Leighton Town in League Two, but not before he reacted furiously to my decision to release him. Another defender who was set to leave on an acrimonious note was the consistently impressive Gareth Lloyd, who failed to agree a new contract with us.

 

Reserve midfielder Dennis McCann also departed, having failed to develop over the last couple of years. He'll be hoping to reinvigorate his career at Yeovil Town - another League Two club.

 

In other news, I was pleased to see Dave Hutchinson named as League Two's Apprentice of the Year following a sensational loan spell at Cheltenham Town earlier in the season. Dave played in 11 league games for us upon his return and is expected to continue his progress towards regular first-team football next term.

 

After the players went off for their holidays, I had my annual debrief with chairman Neil Booth and chief executive Chris Langley.

 

I sought an update on the situation regarding our new youth facilities, the construction of which was due to begin this month. Mr Langley then, rather awkwardly, admitted that the construction had been scrapped. The reason for that would both excite and horrify me.

 

Even after spending four successive seasons enhancing our ground, the board felt that the 12,000-capacity Victoria Road was STILL not large enough to accommodate our fast-growing fanbase. And here's the thing - because of nearby housing, Barking & Dagenham Council would not give them permission to increase the capacity any further. If we wanted a bigger ground, we would need to build a brand new one.

 

Since the turn of the year, Mr Booth had been in discussions with the council about building a new stadium. A number of sites in the borough were identified as possible locations, and his preferred choice was the former site of a pharmaceutical firm on Rainham Road. At the end of April, Mr Booth officially got the go-ahead to build Dagenham & Redbridge's new stadium there.

 

This new ground would have a capacity of 17,848 and an undersoil heating system. It would be a modern stadium fit for a club with Premier League ambitions - but it also had a Premier League budget, which we most certainly did not have. To finance this project, the Daggers board secured a £20million bank loan and agreed a 10-year sponsorship deal worth around £5million.

 

The board hoped that our new stadium would be open for business in time for the 2035/2036 season.

 

On the one hand, this was a very exciting development. Victoria Road was owned by the council, and we have to pay rent to keep playing there. However, the new ground on Rainham Road will be completely owned by us, so we'll get to keep all our matchday income. If we can fill it on a regular basis upon relocation, we could be raking in the money.

 

On the other hand, as far as our short-term finances are concerned, this could be absolutely crippling. It's difficult enough to keep a steady hand on the tiller without having to factor in a massive loan that could take as much as 15 years to pay off.

 

I'm now in a bit of a catch-22 situation. If I sell off our best assets to keep us afloat and build up some sort of transfer kitty, I'll run the risk of us slipping further into mediocrity... and possibly towards an even more vicious battle against relegation. If I try to keep the crux of the squad together and go all-out for promotion when we can't afford to, we'll be risking a possible financial meltdown in the event that it ends badly.

 

Of course, this news would greatly affect my transfer and wage budgets. Fortunately, I'd managed to ratify three new signings beforehand.

 

The first of them was the pre-arranged deal for teenage Heart of Midlothian striker Christophe Smith, which had been agreed back in January. My second new acquisition was also a free signing from Scotland, although the player in question had somewhat more experience.

 

You may remember that I tried to loan in goalkeeper Euan Duncan from Dundee United five years ago, when we were in League One. He'd just had an excellent season at our divisional rivals Shrewsbury Town and was being tipped for a bright future.

 

We didn't sign Euan in the end, and his career since then had not been particularly stellar. After spending the last four years rotting on Dundee United's bench, and making just five Scottish Premier League appearances in the meantime, Duncan decided to move on to pastures new. That's where I came in, recruiting the now 26-year-old as backup to Kieran Whalley.

 

Finally, for the time being, I added to my centre-back collection by poaching 18-year-old Adrian Bailey from near-neighbours West Ham United. The Grays-born youngster is an aggressive stopper who is likely to be part of the England squad for this summer's European Under-19s Championship. I'm a little surprised that West Ham didn't offer this promising lad a new contract, but their loss is our gain!

 

There were also a few changes in the backroom. While most of my staff received new contracts, there were a couple of exceptions.

 

Sam Cutler's contract as our head physiotherapist was mutually terminated. Adam Hutchings was promoted to head physio, while 35-year-old Andrew Marks - who worked at AFC Telford United for a couple of years until last autumn - joined him on our medical team.

 

Goma Lambu also left the Daggers after serving as a scout for nine years. Replacing him on our scouting team was a 36-year-old Italian by the name of Antonino Pirozzi.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of 2032/2033)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Watford                46    28    11    7     88    52    +36   95
2.    P     Southampton            46    26    12    8     83    45    +38   90
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Blackburn              46    25    10    11    90    74    +16   85
4.          Leeds                  46    23    15    8     71    50    +21   84
5.          Crewe                  46    19    13    14    65    52    +13   70
6.    P     Stoke                  46    18    15    13    73    62    +11   69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Ipswich                46    18    12    16    77    68    +9    66
8.          Cardiff                46    17    15    14    65    61    +4    66
9.          Wrexham                46    15    18    13    59    56    +3    63
10.         Bradford               46    16    15    15    66    71    -5    63
11.         Aston Villa            46    16    14    16    73    78    -5    62
12.         Dag & Red              46    15    15    16    70    61    +9    60
13.         Charlton               46    15    15    16    76    83    -7    60
14.         Doncaster              46    15    12    19    56    68    -12   57
15.         Northampton            46    12    20    14    50    50    0     56
16.         Notts County           46    14    14    18    54    62    -8    56
17.         Luton                  46    13    14    19    53    58    -5    53
18.         Reading                46    14    10    22    64    77    -13   52
19.         Crystal Palace         46    12    15    19    60    70    -10   51
20.         Plymouth               46    11    17    18    64    72    -8    50
21.         Peterborough           46    12    11    23    55    74    -19   47
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Hull                   46    12    10    24    52    73    -21   46
23.   R     Colchester             46    10    15    21    50    72    -22   45
24.   R     Millwall               46    10    14    22    48    73    -25   44

 

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2032/2033)

(Includes stats from all first-team matches & 4 Essex Senior Cup matches)

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Jerome Farrell            5       5    2    0    70%  -    -    0    0    7.12
Daryl Ryan                10      16   1    0    75%  -    -    0    0    6.97
Kieran Whalley            37      45   10   0    75%  0.03 -    0    0    6.92
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Nigel Atta                1 (1)   1    0    1    79%  10.2 100% 0    0    7.45
Arran Banton              23 (4)  0    1    0    82%  4.81 0%   3    0    7.01
William Barnes            32 (3)  1    4    1    86%  6.72 21%  10   1    7.14
Zola Casey                9 (1)   0    0    0    71%  3.18 50%  1    0    7.13
José Cochet               7 (6)   1    0    0    78%  5.71 20%  1    0    7.03
Victor Dam                16 (2)  1    4    1    85%  4.58 18%  3    0    7.13
George Darvill            37 (2)  1    0    2    75%  3.58 50%  2    0    7.35
Mario Djokic              14 (8)  5    3    1    80%  2.82 46%  2    0    6.96
Ante Djuzel               6 (1)   0    0    0    86%  3.38 -    0    0    6.61
Tristan Egueh             2 (5)   2    1    0    69%  1.70 40%  0    0    6.69
Toby Faithfull            0 (1)   0    0    0    100% -    -    0    0    6.60
Matthew Fraser            32 (1)  4    2    4    86%  5.57 38%  3    0    7.26
Paul Habu                 2 (3)   4    0    0    63%  1.58 67%  0    0    7.56
Joel Honeyball            19 (9)  10   9    1    81%  2.85 48%  1    0    7.09
Baldur Hreidarsson        36 (3)  20   7    4    77%  2.69 38%  3    0    7.24
Dave Hutchinson           6 (5)   0    1    0    85%  6.21 17%  2    0    7.01
Gareth Lloyd              32 (1)  0    1    5    71%  3.08 33%  1    0    7.50
Dean Martin               18 (14) 1    4    0    84%  6.04 40%  0    0    7.00
Rocco Mazzola             6 (1)   0    0    0    78%  6.28 -    0    0    7.10
Dennis McCann             3 (1)   0    1    0    71%  4.13 0%   0    0    7.45
Will McCourt              1       0    0    0    75%  0.00 -    0    0    7.10
Kevin McManus             0 (1)   0    0    0    79%  -    -    0    0    6.30
Aaron Megson              1 (1)   0    1    0    64%  -    0%   0    0    6.90
Jefferson Moran           4       0    0    0    72%  1.90 -    0    0    6.90
Anton Morris              1 (2)   0    1    0    75%  4.26 0%   0    0    7.27
John Moser                21 (3)  0    1    0    81%  2.74 20%  1    0    6.93
Paul Nixon                12 (8)  0    3    0    77%  3.99 37%  0    0    6.99
Souleymane Nomaou         21 (9)  16   3    3    75%  2.41 51%  0    0    7.37
Daniel O'Reilly           20 (1)  1    1    1    83%  4.67 31%  2    0    7.00
Ross Pearson              4 (3)   0    1    0    73%  2.45 100% 0    0    7.12
Jacques Polomat           14 (5)  3    5    1    86%  2.18 47%  0    0    7.22
Shaun Powell              17 (8)  3    7    1    72%  3.63 32%  3    0    7.00
Heikki Puustinen          21 (3)  0    2    1    80%  4.44 50%  0    0    7.03
Carl Quinn                2 (5)   0    0    0    65%  3.20 100% 0    0    7.21
Velimir Radosavljevic     22 (3)  0    0    3    67%  3.52 50%  1    0    7.34
Ollie Reynolds            2       2    1    1    76%  4.50 50%  0    0    8.65
Tyrone Sedgley            3       1    0    0    86%  6.78 100% 1    0    7.30
Steven Shelton            17 (10) 5    7    1    72%  2.91 62%  0    0    6.94
Filip Svensson            15 (4)  1    1    0    82%  3.61 53%  1    0    6.98
Martin Thompson           3 (3)   0    1    0    76%  5.12 0%   1    0    7.27
Tom Virgo                 16 (14) 0    3    0    83%  6.43 14%  2    0    6.98
Larry Wood                2 (1)   1    0    0    71%  1.53 100% 0    0    7.67

APPS - Appearances (Substitute apps), GLS - Goals, AST - Assists,
CON - Goals conceded, CLN - Clean sheets, MOM - Man of the Match awards,
P% - Pass completion %, TR - Tackles per 90 mins, ST - Shots on target %,
Y - Yellow cards, R - Red cards, AV RAT - Average match rating

 

[CFuller]

JUNE 2033

During the off-season, Dagenham & Redbridge's fans voted on their best XI for 2032/2033. The eleven starters in their line-up were Kieran Whalley, Arran Banton, Gareth Lloyd, George Darvill, Velimir Radosavljevic, Matthew Fraser, William Barnes, Tom Virgo, Dean Martin, Baldur Hreidarsson, and Souleymane Nomaou.

 

There was a new winner of the Daggers' Player of the Year award. George Darvill became the first Dagenham youth product to win that accolade following his consistently impressive performances in the centre of our defence. At just 20 years of age, this is unlikely to be the last time he takes that honour home.

 

That was our team of last season... but what about the season ahead? Well, it certainly wouldn't include our erstwhile record signing Paul Nixon. (I'll expand on the 'erstwhile' later.)

 

As record signings go, Nixon was to us what Andriy Shevchenko was to Chelsea and Savio Nsereko (who?) was to West Ham United about a quarter of a century ago. In 19 competitive games for the Daggers, the Northern Irishman provided a measly two assists, and scored exactly as many goals as Yours Truly. His signing was a gamble that had most definitely not paid off.

 

I wanted to nix Nixon's Daggers career as soon as possible, even if we got nix for him. When St Mirren offered £170,000 to buy Paul, I was prepared to drive him all the way to Paisley myself. I didn't actually do that, but if I had, Dean Martin would have gone in the car as well, as he too was heading north of the border.

 

Martin had served us well since coming through our youth system, making 191 league appearances and scoring 17 goals. Sadly, the 24-year-old attacking midfielder's productivity had declined over the last couple of seasons, and I felt that a transfer would do him - and us - the world of good.

 

Heart of Midlothian offered us £1million - half up front, and the other half over 24-month installments. I took the money, and Dean headed off to Edinburgh with my best wishes for the future.

 

Two other significant parts of the Dagenham furniture were regretfully removed from the house and left on the pavement for disposal.

 

After making 224 league appearances in a decade at Victoria Road, goalkeeper Daryl Ryan moved on to Dundee United, from whom we'd just signed his replacement Euan Duncan. There's a joke in there about moving in with the woman whose husband has just cheated on her with your wife, but that's not my type of comedy.

 

Mario Djokic is also leaving Dagenham, and indeed England. The Montenegrin, who scored an impressive 48 goals in 105 Championship games for us, will start a new challenge late in his career with Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv.

 

Centre-back Gareth Lloyd (33) and midfielder Filip Svensson (35) each announced their retirements from playing. Left-winger Steven Shelton and striker Baldur Hreidarsson returned to Manchester City and West Ham United respectively - but don't rule out the possibility of us signing Baldur on loan for a THIRD time this summer.

 

Youth players Will McCourt and Anton Morris were released, along with Colin Glasgow - one of four Daggers who finished their loans at Salthill Devon. The other three - Joe Charles, Kevin McManus and Ollie Reynolds - would all be staying with us for the time being.

 

That was a rather long list of outs. Crucially, though, that list did not feature our captain William Barnes. The 24-year-old had just 12 months to go on his existing contract with us, but after some long and drawn-out negotiations, we managed to sign him up for another three - until the end of the 2036/2037 season.

 

Barnes is now on £7,500 per week - the same weekly wage that our new record signing will be earning at Victoria Road.

 

One of my main criticisms of us last season was that we didn't create enough clear-cut scoring opportunities, especially not from midfield. What this team lacked was a truly creative and technically-gifted attacking midfield playmaker who could produce magic on a consistent magic. Stipo Brkic could be the answer to our prayers.

 

Brkic had all of the above attributes and more - pace, flair, work ethic, professionalism, you name it. He was 28 years old - and thus in the prime of his career - and he was available on the cheap from Spanish Segunda División champions Málaga.

 

Less than a year after signing Brkic from FC Midtjylland for £500,000, Málaga were willing to sell the Bosnian-born former Denmark youth international for just £300,000. I reckoned that Stipo would be a steal at that price, and so I travelled to Spain to discuss a transfer.

 

A few days later, Stipo Brkic was unveiled as Dagenham & Redbridge's new record purchase. Unlike Paul Nixon, I don't see this signing as a risk. Stipo is a player with real quality, and I'm certain that he'll shine at Victoria Road.

 

Speaking of Nixon, I've found a new target man to replace him in that role. His name is Robbie MacKenzie, and he comes to us from Dartford, for whom he's scored 59 goals in League One over the last four seasons.

 

What I really like about this 24-year-old Scotsman is that he's 6ft 7in, built like a brick 'house, and absolutely deadly in the air. The great Mark West may have been known as 'The Beast' in his heyday, but MacKenzie could well make him look like a mouse by comparison!

 

I also hired a new Under-18s coach - someone that some Dagenham fans might remember fondly. After all, we might not have even got into the Football League without him!

 

A decade after arriving at Victoria Road to wind down his playing career, James Dunne - now aged 43 - was brought back to help coach the Daggers of the future. James had spent the past five years working with Bolton Wanderer's youth team, but he jumped at the chance to help me out again.

 

With our pre-season about to get up and running, we were given our fixture list for the 2033/2034 Championship campaign. For us, the season would begin with a home game against Charlton Athletic on 30 July. Plymouth Argyle would await us in our first away match three days later.

 

Colchester United's relegation meant that there would be no Essex derbies for us in the league this term. Indeed, we would only have four league matches against Greater London sides. Charlton and Crystal Palace (whom we would play away on 29 October and at home on 1 April) were the only other capital teams in the Championship.

 

This division becomes increasingly difficult to get out of with each passing year. Can we snap out of our rut, and prove that we're more than just mid-tablers?

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2032/2033

This was Dominic Shimmin's first full season as Romford manager. Could he build on a strong finish to the previous campaign and guide the Boro towards promotion from the Conference South?

 

Conference South: 6th

A 2-2 draw at home to unfancied Witham Town on the opening day set the tone for an inconsistent start to the season. Although Romford won at Boreham Wood and Woking early on, they suffered a home defeat to newly-promoted Horsham. They also really struggled to find form in September before steadily building up momentum in October. Most of the other high-flyers were also hit-and-miss early on, and thus the Boro's tally of 24 points from their first 16 games was enough to put them in 6th place.

 

November was dominated by cup fixtures, but December was when the wheels fell off in the league. Back-to-back draws were followed by four straight defeats during the Christmas period, and Romford were in the bottom half by New Year's Day. This barren run continued into 2033, and after winning just two of their next nine games, the Boro were 14th by mid-March. Their promotion dream already looked to be over.

 

Romford's late surge last season was impressive, but they ended this term even more strongly. Victories at Basingstoke Town and at home to Wealdstone began a six-match winning streak that sent the Boro soaring towards the play-offs... until they lost their penultimate game 2-0 to St Albans City at Ship Lane. That defeat would prove fateful, as although Romford won their final match of the campaign 1-0 against Farnborough, they missed out on the last remaining play-off place on goal difference. Yet another season had ended in agony.

 

FA Cup: Qualifying Round 2

Romford's FA Cup run ended very abruptly at the Kingfield Stadium, where Woking got revenge for an early league defeat inflicted on them by the Boro.

 

FA Trophy: Round 2

The FA Trophy was a local affair for Romford, who edged past Billericay Town in Qualifying Round 3 before overcoming AFC Hornchurch in a Round 1 replay. They then ran into Southend United - the eventual Conference Premier champions - in Round 2. The Shrimpers won 1-0 at Roots Hall, and the Boro were eliminated.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Round 4

Speaking of local affairs, Romford were expected to go far in the Essex Senior Cup... but that simply did not happen. A narrow opening win over Ilford in Round 3 was followed up a month later by a 2-0 home loss against Canvey Island.

 

Best Players

Romford were the fourth-highest scorers in the Conference South, although their main goalgetter - Gareth Coe - only found the net 11 times in the league. Other major scoring contributions came from ex-Chelsea youth midfielder Paul Jackson and Charlton Athletic loanee Andy Joe. Jackson provided six assists in all competitions - the same number as left-flankers Peter Frankum, who arrived last summer, and Tom Worthington. However, the real star on that front was 35-year-old Ben Edmonson, who got seven.

 

Centre-back Ruben Coombes was once again Romford's best performer as he continued to build a strong partnership with Roger McClurg. Right-back Dean Mansell again looked solid at right-back, despite a poor disciplinary record, but the Boro's search for a consistent long-term goalkeeper continued. If Romford are to challenge for promotion next season, Shimmin will definitely have to find one.

 

The Future

Once again, Romford's end-of-season report card reads "could do better". The Boro have now missed the play-offs in three consecutive seasons, and Shimmin will surely have to take a few more risks in the transfer market this summer if that run isn't to be extended further.

[oche balboa]

Still enjoying this story. Keep it going but i feel (IMO of course) you should leave the Daggers

[CFuller]

1 hour ago, oche balboa said:

Still enjoying this story. Keep it going but i feel (IMO of course) you should leave the Daggers

With all due respect... 

[neilhoskins77]

9 hours ago, CFuller said:

and so I travelled to Spain to discuss a transfer.

I thought they still had 'wanted' posters up after your last trip to Spain? ;-)

[CFuller]

3 minutes ago, neilhoskins77 said:

I thought they still had 'wanted' posters up after your last trip to Spain? ;-)

In the Basque Country, yes. Over there, I'm known by some hardcore Elgoibar fans as "El Burro Inglés".

In Andalusia, though, I'm just another middle-aged Brit.

[CFuller]

2032/2033 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

The Premier League title stayed in Manchester for an incredible 12th consecutive year, as Sylvain Marveaux delivered the league title to Old Trafford in his first season as Manchester United boss. The Red Devils were inspired by the likes of winger Dudu Ashkenazi, evergreen midfielder Cheick Tigana, and striker Mario, who scored 29 PL goals in his final season before moving to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. United had to hold off a strong title challenge from Chelsea, who finished a close 2nd before lifting the UEFA Europa League trophy.

 

Manchester City couldn't quite hit the heights of last season, as they slipped to 3rd place, despite having PFA Player of the Year Domenico Papa in their squad. Only goal difference kept City ahead of West Ham United, who qualified for the UEFA Champions League for just the second time in their history. Arsenal came 5th, while Brighton & Hove Albion achieved their first ever top-six finish in the top flight.

 

It was a frustrating season all round for Liverpool. The Reds were runners-up in both domestic cups, losing to City in the League Cup Final and conceding a Clive Johnson hat-trick against Arsenal in the FA Cup Final. In the league, they also narrowly missed out on 7th place - and the final Europa League qualification place - to Norwich City. Tottenham Hotspur could only finish 11th, while Wolverhampton Wanderers had a tumultuous campaign that ended with them narrowly avoiding relegation in 16th.

 

The bottom three teams all finished on the same number of points - 32. Sheffield United were bottom of the pile, thanks largely to their inability to score regularly enough, while Derby County also dropped straight back into the Championship. Following them down were Sunderland, whose six-year-long stint in the top division was ended by an awful defensive record.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man Utd                38    25    6     7     82    40    +42   81
2.    CL    Chelsea                38    24    6     8     70    38    +32   78
3.    CL    Man City               38    22    8     8     89    41    +48   74
4.    CL    West Ham               38    22    8     8     65    39    +26   74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    Arsenal                38    19    9     10    62    36    +26   66
6.    EL    Brighton               38    19    9     10    68    53    +15   66
7.    EL    Norwich                38    17    11    10    73    57    +16   62
8.          Liverpool              38    17    8     13    59    51    +8    59
9.          Nottm Forest           38    16    8     14    59    55    +4    56
10.         Fulham                 38    13    13    12    56    53    +3    52
11.         Tottenham              38    12    11    15    53    58    -5    47
12.         West Brom              38    11    10    17    58    66    -8    43
13.         Burnley                38    11    8     19    47    73    -26   41
14.         Everton                38    10    10    18    45    66    -21   40
15.         Huddersfield           38    9     12    17    42    63    -21   39
16.         Wolves                 38    9     11    18    40    62    -22   38
17.         Newcastle              38    9     10    19    49    66    -17   37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Sunderland             38    8     8     22    45    72    -27   32
19.   R     Derby                  38    8     8     22    36    70    -34   32
20.   R     Sheff Utd              38    8     8     22    29    68    -39   32

 

Championship

Malky Mackay's return to Watford reinvigorated a Hornets side who had only finished 11th last season. 35 goals from David Cabezas helped fire them to the Championship title, while yo-yo club Southampton took 2nd place and returned to the Premier League as well.

 

Gary Harper's 35th goal of the league season sent Crewe Alexandra through to the Play-Off Final at Leeds United's expense. Standing between Alex and a first promotion to the top tier were Stoke City, who knocked out Blackburn Rovers. Those fans who wanted to witness a real-life fairytale would be left disappointed. A single goal from Stoke's Allan Moffat decided a tense Final at Wembley, which ended with the Potters securing promotion.

 

Stoke very nearly missed out on the play-offs altogether, only edging out Ipswich Town on the final day of the regular season. Wrexham's final placing of 9th was their highest ever at this level, while Aston Villa in 11th had their worst finish for 59 years.

 

After a few years of steady progression, Millwall suddenly plummeted down to last place and returned to League One. Colchester United - one of only two teams who beat Watford at Vicarage Road this season - and Hull City were also relegated after the final round of fixtures, with Peterborough United lucky not to go down.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Watford                46    28    11    7     88    52    +36   95
2.    P     Southampton            46    26    12    8     83    45    +38   90
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Blackburn              46    25    10    11    90    74    +16   85
4.          Leeds                  46    23    15    8     71    50    +21   84
5.          Crewe                  46    19    13    14    65    52    +13   70
6.    P     Stoke                  46    18    15    13    73    62    +11   69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Ipswich                46    18    12    16    77    68    +9    66
8.          Cardiff                46    17    15    14    65    61    +4    66
9.          Wrexham                46    15    18    13    59    56    +3    63
10.         Bradford               46    16    15    15    66    71    -5    63
11.         Aston Villa            46    16    14    16    73    78    -5    62
12.         Dag & Red              46    15    15    16    70    61    +9    60
13.         Charlton               46    15    15    16    76    83    -7    60
14.         Doncaster              46    15    12    19    56    68    -12   57
15.         Northampton            46    12    20    14    50    50    0     56
16.         Notts County           46    14    14    18    54    62    -8    56
17.         Luton                  46    13    14    19    53    58    -5    53
18.         Reading                46    14    10    22    64    77    -13   52
19.         Crystal Palace         46    12    15    19    60    70    -10   51
20.         Plymouth               46    11    17    18    64    72    -8    50
21.         Peterborough           46    12    11    23    55    74    -19   47
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Hull                   46    12    10    24    52    73    -21   46
23.   R     Colchester             46    10    15    21    50    72    -22   45
24.   R     Millwall               46    10    14    22    48    73    -25   44

 

League One

After being bought out by Argentine business tycoon Federico Chiaraviglio in the summer, Coventry City secured a triumphant return to the Championship. They went up as champions of League One with an impressive 99 points, although runners-up Wigan Athletic weren't too far off the pace.

 

League One's other big-spenders - 3rd-placed Rochdale - made it to the Play-Off Final after beating Bolton Wanderers. Scunthorpe United won the other Semi Final in extra-time against Wycombe Wanderers, but they were no match for the Dale at Wembley. The Lancashire side won 2-1, thus booking their place in the Championship.

 

Years of financial mismanagement took their toll on Queens Park Rangers, who slipped into the Football League's lowest division for the first time. Cambridge United and Birmingham City also went down, as did Corby Town, whose rapid ascent up the leagues was halted.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Coventry               46    31    6     9     90    50    +40   99
2.    P     Wigan                  46    29    7     10    85    47    +38   94
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.    P     Rochdale               46    27    10    9     73    42    +31   91
4.          Scunthorpe             46    23    9     14    64    46    +18   78
5.          Wycombe                46    21    11    14    69    56    +13   74
6.          Bolton                 46    21    10    15    68    56    +12   73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Leicester              46    19    11    16    63    58    +5    68
8.          Oxford                 46    18    13    15    63    55    +8    67
9.          Dartford               46    19    10    17    57    59    -2    67
10.         Stockport              46    19    10    17    57    60    -3    67
11.         York                   46    17    15    14    52    51    +1    66
12.         Swansea                46    17    12    17    57    58    -1    63
13.         Middlesbrough          46    16    14    16    62    63    -1    62
14.         Kidderminster          46    15    14    17    52    62    -10   59
15.         Sheff Wed              46    15    12    19    67    66    +1    57
16.         Chesterfield           46    15    12    19    64    71    -7    57
17.         Barnsley               46    14    14    18    56    68    -12   56
18.         Shrewsbury             46    14    11    21    56    62    -6    53
19.         Oldham                 46    15    6     25    57    76    -19   51
20.         AFC Telford            46    14    9     23    43    63    -20   51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Corby                  46    14    7     25    53    67    -14   49
22.   R     Birmingham             46    12    10    24    50    73    -23   46
23.   R     Cambridge              46    11    11    24    53    72    -19   44
24.   R     QPR                    46    9     10    27    42    72    -30   37

 

League Two

It was a good season in League Two for clubs from the south coast. Exeter City were crowned champions after finishing eight points clear of runners-up AFC Bournemouth, while Portsmouth returned to League One at the first attempt following relegation.

 

Both Play-Off Semi Finals were effectively decided by penalties, as 20-year-old Daniel Bastow's spot-kick sent Cheltenham Town through against Gillingham, while Bristol City defeated Port Vale in a shoot-out. It was Cheltenham who won the Final, with second-half strikes from Mitch Calcutt and Daryl McKeever sending the Robins up.

 

Tranmere Rovers' 112-year membership of the Football League was terminated following an awful campaign that saw them finish rock-bottom. It was also a dark season for the Tangerines of Blackpool, who couldn't re-establish themselves in League Two after winning the Conference Premier title last term.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Exeter                 46    26    12    8     66    41    +25   90
2.    P     Bournemouth            46    24    10    12    68    54    +14   82
3.    P     Portsmouth             46    22    13    11    70    53    +17   79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Gillingham             46    22    10    14    55    46    +9    76
5.          Bristol City           46    21    12    13    63    50    +13   75
6.          Port Vale              46    20    12    14    69    55    +14   72
7.    P     Cheltenham             46    22    6     18    68    64    +4    72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Morecambe              46    19    14    13    62    54    +8    71
9.          Kingstonian            46    19    13    14    63    49    +14   70
10.         Hereford               46    18    14    14    69    57    +12   68
11.         Rotherham              46    18    14    14    59    55    +4    68
12.         Grimsby                46    15    17    14    66    61    +5    62
13.         AFC Wimbledon          46    17    10    19    57    63    -6    61
14.         Aldershot              46    14    17    15    62    62    0     59
15.         Bristol Rovers         46    15    14    17    63    64    -1    59
16.         Leighton               46    13    19    14    63    71    -8    58
17.         Yeovil                 46    14    14    18    57    65    -8    56
18.         Chester                46    14    12    20    43    58    -15   54
19.         Fleetwood              46    11    17    18    50    54    -4    50
20.         Walsall                46    11    16    19    47    59    -12   49
21.         Forest Green           46    11    11    24    42    56    -14   44
22.         Mansfield              46    8     19    19    40    57    -17   43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Blackpool              46    9     13    24    47    68    -21   40
24.   R     Tranmere               46    5     19    22    33    66    -33   34

 

Conference Premier

Southend United returned to League Two at the second attempt, with their Conference Premier success built on one of the division's sturdiest defences.

 

Ashford Town (Middlesex) and Hartlepool United contested the Play-Off Final after respectively seeing off Preston North End and Gateshead. There was to be no first promotion to the Football League for Ashford just yet, as two goals from on-loan Norwich City striker Tristian Flynn inspired Hartlepool to a 2-1 win at Wembley.

 

Newport County and Carlisle United sank into the regional Conferences alongside Brentford, who suffered back-to-back relegations after entering administration, and Chelmsford City.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Southend               46    27    8     11    64    45    +19   89
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Ashford Town           46    23    13    10    71    47    +24   82
3.    P     Hartlepool             46    24    10    12    63    50    +13   82
4.          Gateshead              46    22    14    10    63    46    +17   80
5.          Preston                46    21    15    10    63    44    +19   78
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          FC Halifax             46    21    15    10    62    50    +12   78
7.          Bromley                46    22    11    13    71    45    +26   77
8.          Southport              46    22    9     15    66    54    +12   75
9.          Swindon                46    21    9     16    57    49    +8    72
10.         Ebbsfleet              46    19    14    13    56    46    +10   71
11.         Crawley                46    18    13    15    49    48    +1    67
12.         Barnet                 46    18    9     19    58    56    +2    63
13.         Darlington             46    18    8     20    62    70    -8    62
14.         Leyton Orient          46    16    12    18    55    53    +2    60
15.         Eastbourne Boro        46    15    12    19    46    54    -8    57
16.         Harrogate              46    14    14    18    45    50    -5    56
17.         Macclesfield           46    15    10    21    45    58    -13   55
18.         Altrincham             46    13    12    21    45    65    -20   51
19.         Lincoln                46    13    10    23    46    53    -7    49
20.         Matlock                46    11    13    22    54    68    -14   46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Chelmsford             46    9     17    20    46    69    -23   44
22.   R     Brentford              46    12    17    17    50    55    -5    43 *
23.   R     Carlisle               46    6     14    26    39    64    -25   32
24.   R     Newport County         46    7     11    28    41    78    -37   32

* Brentford deducted 10 points for entering administration

 

Conference North

Promoted: Barrow (1st, 81 pts), Stevenage (4th, 76 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Bury (2nd, 80 pts), Mossley (3rd, 78 pts), Salford City (5th, 74 pts).

Relegated: Stafford Rangers (20th, 40 pts), Sheffield (21st, 40 pts), Gainsborough Trinity (22nd, 24 pts).

 

Conference South

Promoted: St Albans City (1st, 73 pts), Canvey Island (3rd, 68 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Maidstone United (2nd, 71 pts), Horsham (4th, 67 pts), Staines Town (5th, 63 pts).

Relegated: Sutton United (20th, 48 pts), Witham Town (21st, 45 pts), Oxford City (22nd, 38 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Marine (1st), North Ferriby United (5th).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Cambridge Regional College (1st), St Neots Town (2nd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Solihull Moors (1st), Redditch United (5th).

[CFuller]

2032/2033 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Arsenal forked out a whopping £37.5million to lure 24-year-old England midfielder Liam Wood away from Fulham. The hard-working east Londoner would have an impressive first season at the Emirates Stadium, missing just one Premier League game as he registered nine goals and five assists.
• Manchester City were the biggest spenders yet again, acquiring Bayern Munich winger Diogo Dias for £36.5million and Cagliari midfielder Andrea Broli for £22million. However, it was a couple of free signings who really stole the show. Ex-Chelsea striker Zdravko Toplak scored 18 PL goals for City, and he was helped a great deal by former Real Betis playmaker Kike Martínez, who notched up 10 assists.
• Manchester United had a largely quiet summer in the transfer market. Although they sold midfielders Nico Albert and Danny Reid to Barcelona and Chelsea respectively for a combined £27million, United's only permanent signing was a free transfer - and a controversial one at that. Former City left-winger Arturo Samario arrived from Real Madrid, but he quickly endeared himself to the Old Trafford faithful with some productive displays that helped take the league title to the red side of Manchester.
• The £17.25million signing of Chinese right-winger Lu Lu from Wolfsburg certainly made Tottenham Hotspur's fans want to shout. However, the 25-year-old's first campaign with Spurs would be a largely stop-and-start one, due to injuries. West Ham United also signed an expensive right-sided midfielder from the Bundesliga, snapping up Belgium international Rob Houben in a £12.25million deal with 1.FC Koln.
• One of the more surprising big-money moves this summer saw Red Star Belgrade obliterate the Serbian transfer record to sign young Russian midfielder Nikolay Kuvshinov from CSKA Moscow for £24.5million. The dominant force in the SuperLiga had financed that transfer by selling their own midfield maestro - Alejandro Cayaffa of Uruguay - to Real Madrid for £20.5million.
• Bayern Munich made their most expensive purchase yet in January, parting with £41million to sign the flamboyant Argentine left-winger Adrián Gil from Russian Premier League side Alania Vladikavkaz. Another mid-season transfer saw Sunderland right-back James Weatherly join Real Sociedad for £10.75million.

 

Managerial Movements

• After Peter Overson completed his takeover of Wolverhampton Wanderers, the new chairman appointed Sporting CP's Sergey Mustafin as head coach. The former Roma and Arsenal forward wouldn't even last five months before being sacked with Wolves stuck in a battle against relegation. Mind you, former Canada international Mustafin wouldn't have to wait long for his next Premier League job.
• Tottenham Hotspur's decision to sack Paul Clement in November set off a chain reaction of managerial changes. Fulham's Vladimir Weiss moved across London to take over at the AIA Stadium, and the Cottagers brought in Ashley Westwood from Leeds United. A month later, West Bromwich Albion dismissed David Wotherspoon and hired Jack Rodwell, who'd just been sacked at Huddersfield Town and replaced with Mustafin. And who eventually replaced Mustafin at Molineux? Why, it was Paul Clement!
• Liverpool and AC Milan suddenly decided to swap managers in March. Little more than 48 hours after Reds boss Alexander Mejía was poached by the Rossoneri, the Anfield club named the Colombian's replacement as Joris Mathijsen - his direct predecessor at the San Siro!
• Real Madrid coach Miodrag Bozovic signed off by guiding Los Merengues to their first La Liga title in six years. Ard van Peppen succeeded him at the Santiago Bernabeu, prompting Chelsea to recruit Lee Nicholls from Norwich City as their new boss. Meanwhile, Owen Coyle retired from Newcastle United and was replaced with Hibernian's title-winning manager Thomas O'Ware.
• Steven Davis' Valencia adventure ended after he was sacked in November, with his job being given to former Real Sociedad chief Petr Bystrov. Elsewhere in Spain, it all went horribly wrong for Granada's new coach Jonathan Viera, who was dismissed after only five months in charge. Olexandr Sevidov came in to try and save Los Granadinos, but a side who had finished in La Liga's top half for 20 consecutive seasons ended up being relegated to the Segunda División!
• Thomas Tuchel resigned as Germany manager following their penalty shoot-out defeat in the UEFA Euro 2032 Final. He was succeeded by ex-Borussia Moenchengladbach boss Marc-André Kruska, who completed his first year with another agonising Final loss - to Argentina in the FIFA Confederations Cup. Meanwhile, Leonid Slutskiy - who managed six Serie A clubs between 2015 and 2030 - returned to his native Russia as the new national team coach.

 

Other Major Stories

• Moanes Dabour's first season as Porto manager went rather well. The Dragoes retained the Primeira Liga and regained the Taca de Portugal, while they also squeezed in a first UEFA Champions League win since 2022. They beat Real Madrid 2-0 in the Final in Marseille, thanks to a 9th-minute opener from Paraguay striker Ignacio Valdez, and a sensational lob from midfielder Serafim Meira in the 38th.
• Hibernian celebrated their first season at the 36,457-capacity Argyris Vasilakos Arena by wrestling the Scottish Premier League crown back from Rangers. Also returning to winning ways were Empoli, who ended Juventus' six-year dominance of Serie A, and Paris Saint-Germain, who were crowned kings of Ligue 1 again after narrowly missing out to Lyon in back-to-back seasons.
• Werder Bremen were sensationally relegated from the 2. Bundesliga for the first time, while Montpellier suffered a similar fall from grace in France, slipping from Ligue 2 to the Championnat National. There was an arguably even more remarkable story in Belarus, where BATE Borisov had won the Vysheyshaya Liga for 26 years in a row before finally being toppled by Shakhter Soligorsk!
• Kuban Krasnodar had a big season, pipping Alania by a single point to win just their second Russian Premier League title. Kuban also reached the UEFA Europa League Final, which they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in Amsterdam. 33-year-old Derek Halliday ended his Chelsea career on a high, scoring his 298th and final goal for the club after 59 minutes. As far as Halliday's international record was concerned, he finished on an incredible 96 goals for Scotland in just 111 caps.
• Damien King's record as England's top international scorer was smashed in June, when Clive Johnson bagged a hat-trick against Croatia in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. Later that month, Johnson scored five times in a 7-0 FIFA Confederations Cup demolition of Vanuatu, marking the third time he'd struck a quintet of goals in an England game! The Arsenal striker now has 118 goals in 126 caps for the Three Lions - and he's still only 31!
• Three of Juve's most popular players - goalkeeper Nicola Leali, midfielder Alison Brito Neves, and striker Marcus Ekberg - all announced their retirements. Legendary Italian centre-back Filippo Casetta, who spent his entire career at Roma, also hung up his boots.

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Arsenal 4-0 Liverpool.

League Cup: Manchester City 2-0 Liverpool.

Community Shield: Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal.

Football League Trophy: Rochdale 1-0 Cambridge United.

 

UEFA Champions League: Porto 2-0 Real Madrid - at Stade Véledrome, Marseille.

UEFA Europa League: Chelsea 1-0 Kuban Krasnodar - at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam.

UEFA Super Cup: Manchester United 2-0 Fulham (aet) - at Oreste Granillo, Reggio Calabria.

FIFA Club World Championship: Manchester United 1-0 River Plate - at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.

 

Major European Leagues

Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax (1st), FC Utrecht (2nd), Feyenoord (3rd).

French Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain (1st), Rennes (2nd), Valenciennes (3rd).

German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich (1st), Borussia Dortmund (2nd), Hamburg (3rd).

Italian Serie A: Empoli (1st), Juventus (2nd), Roma (3rd).

Portuguese Primeira Liga: Porto (1st), Benfica (2nd), Braga (3rd).

Russian Premier League: Kuban Krasnodar (1st), Alania Vladikavkaz (2nd), CSKA Moscow (3rd).

Scottish Premier League: Hibernian (1st), Rangers (2nd), Dunfermline (3rd).

Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid (1st), Barcelona (2nd), Real Sociedad (3rd).

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Domenico Papa (Manchester City).

PFA Young Player of the Year: John Woods (Nottingham Forest).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Sylvain Marveaux (Manchester United).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

• Shaun Murat (Arsenal and Canada)
• Romaric Mawéné (Arsenal and England)
• José Luis (Manchester United and Spain)
• Christopher Khan (Chelsea and England)
• Tommaso Fiorillo (Arsenal and Italy)
• Dudu Ashkenazi (Manchester United and Israel)
• Dario Laraia (Manchester City and Italy)
• Cheick Tigana (Manchester United and France)
• Domenico Papa (Manchester City and Italy)
• Mario (Manchester United and Spain)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

European Golden Shoe: Mario (Manchester United).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Cristian Soriano (Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina)
• Marcel Schaap (Barcelona and Holland)
• José Luis (Manchester United and Spain)
• Cristiano Magnolo (Juventus and Italy)
• Andrzej Wolanski (Real Betis and Germany)
• Andrea Broli (Manchester City and Italy)
• Ricardo Venturelli (Empoli and Argentina)
• Christos Vassiliadis (Bayern Munich and Greece)
• Domenico Papa (Manchester City and Italy)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

[CFuller]

JULY 2033

This was season 5 for Dagenham & Redbridge in the Championship, and it looked set to be our most testing yet. Although we had reached the play-offs in our very first season at that level, subsequent finishes of 12th, 10th and 12th suggested that we were little more than a mediocre mid-table team.

 

To tell you the truth, I was getting rather restless. I had never previously gone three consecutive seasons without even getting as far as the play-offs. If we went through a fourth campaign without seriously challenging for promotion, I'd have real doubts about whether we could ever take that next big step into the Premier League.

 

Our squad as it stood certainly looked competitive, but I felt we were still one or two big players short of being contenders. However, the board's decision to build a new stadium has eaten a large hole into our finances and left me without a great deal of money to spend.

 

To further complicate matters, the wage bill for the playing squad now stood at close to £100,000 per week. In order to get a reasonable wage budget that left me with some room for manoeuvre, I had to promise the board that we'd finish in the top half again - and with the Championship so competitive at both ends, that is not a given. If it all goes wrong, I could be in massive trouble.

 

Anyway, I'll now move onto pre-season - and a potential fourth signing of the summer. We took 31-year-old Antigua & Barbuda international Leon Curran - who can play at left-wing or up front - on trial. Leon had spent the last eight seasons playing in the Scottish Premier League, initially for Motherwell and later for Ross County.

 

In other news, two young Daggers centre-backs left the club - one temporarily, and another permanently. Carl Quinn went out on loan to League One side Middlesbrough until mid-January, while Larry Wood was sold to last season's Welsh Premier League runners-up Bangor City for £50,000.

 

Two other Dagenham youngsters who wouldn't be with us for a huge chunk of pre-season were Dave Hutchinson and new summer signing Adrian Bailey. Ady and Hutch were both part of the England squad that was competing at the European Under-19s Championship in Belgium. We were actually in talks to sign a THIRD member of that particular England party, but I'll reveal more later on.

 

Our first friendly of the summer was in south-east London against non-league Bromley. The Lilywhites narrowly missed out on the Conference Premier Play-Offs last season under manager David Raven, who was now in his 13th season at Hayes Lane.

 

6 July 2033: Bromley vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We started off the match with a couple of long-range punts at goal. Tyrone Sedgley drove the ball inches wide in the first minute, while Ante Djuzel went closer still in the ninth minute. Indeed, the Croatian left-back's 40-yard attempt looped over Bromley goalkeeper Steven Edgar and into the net, thus giving us an early lead!

 

Edgar was soon having to prevent us from pulling further ahead, as he saved an 11th-minute strike from Daggers skipper Joel Honeyball. Our new target man Robbie MacKenzie went within inches of finding the net a minute later.

 

While our strikers were putting the hosts under increasing strain, Lilywhites frontman Mitchell Hooper was struggling to make his mark. Hooper damaged his elbow in a collision with Dagenham right-back Arran Banton in the 23rd minute and didn't look at all comfortable thereafter.

 

Our dominance continued midway through the half, with Sedgley trying a handful of long shots, one of which was saved by Edgar. Bromley's Northern Irish goalkeeper also had to tip over a fabulous effort from Honeyball two minutes before the interval.

 

Bromley finally came to life in the 47th minute, as Hooper's powerful strike was tipped away by Jerome Farrell. The Lilywhites subsequently won a corner, and Trevor Mason's delivery was headed inches wide by Jack Shirley. Six minutes after that, Daggers sub Ollie Reynolds nodded a Honeyball centre tamely into Edgar's hands.

 

Ollie would miss an even greater chance to make it 2-0 after 60 minutes. A disastrous back-pass from Bromley forward Ady Simmonds wound up at Reynolds' feet, leaving our teenage striker needing to only beat the hosts' substitute keeper Leon Sedgley. Ollie scooped it horrendously over the bar, but he would make up for that dreadful miss seven minutes later. Reynolds collected a tidy pass from summer arrival Stipo Brkic and rolled it forward to Honeyball, who slipped the ball home to send us 2-0 up.

 

Indeed, would be 3-0 up by the 72nd minute. It was a dream debut strike from Stipo that clinched victory, as he managed to squeeze a 25-yarder past the keeper after receiving a pass from Matthew Fraser!

 

Nigel Atta pulled wide an opportunity to secure goal number 4 from a counter-attack in the 81st minute, but we would only have to wait another three minutes before scoring again. Atta's cross to Tristan Egueh was blocked by Lilywhites skipper Alexander Harris, and Ollie fired the loose ball against the post before Tristan scored from the rebound. That goal rounded off a very convincing victory against a very poor team who'd only registered a single shot on target all game.

 

Bromley - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Djuzel 9, Honeyball 67, Brkic 72, Egueh 84)

Friendly, Attendance 1,744

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Farrell (Duncan), Banton (Pearson), Radosavljevic (Habu), Casey (Moser), Djuzel (Mazzola), Powell (Atta), Virgo (Fraser), Sedgley (Brkic), Zandbergen (Curran), MacKenzie (Reynolds), Honeyball (Egueh).

 

Not a bad start, then. To be fair, Bromley looked completely inept throughout and would surely not pose as great a threat as our next opponents.

 

Four days after battering Bromley, we travelled to the Weston Homes Community Stadium to renew our Essex rivalry with Colchester United. Although the U's had just been relegated to League One after four seasons in the Championship, there was no way that I was going to take them lightly.

 

10 July 2033: Colchester United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Jacques Polomat drove wide our opening shot in the fourth minute of what proved to be a very cagey affair in Colchester. The hosts proved much tougher to break down than our previous opponents, and we would only have a single shot on target in the first period. That came after 18 minutes, when Souleymane Nomaou's attempt was caught on the goal line by U's keeper Shayne Griffin.

 

In the 24th minute, Tyrone Sedgley attempted to score a spectacular 30-yard half-volley from a cleared Stipo Brkic corner. The Scottish midfielder's punt drifted just over. Trialist Leon Curran then missed the target a minute later as our attack fizzled out.

 

The half could have ended on an even worse note for us had Euan Duncan not produced some goalkeeping heroics on his first start for the Daggers. He pushed away a point-blank effort from United right-winger Joel Edwards after 40 minutes, tipped behind a cross from left-winger Clive Russell moments later, and then punched Jamie Baker's resultant corner out of his area! With Euan in such fine form, it would surely take something very impressive to beat him.

 

We went back on the attack two minutes after play resumed for the second half. Daniel O'Reilly's long-distance strike sailed well off target, but another Daggers stalwart would find the net after 54 minutes. Curran nodded the ball into the Colchester area and found Derek Wright, who looked set to score until defender Michael Bridges stepped in with a big tackle. However, Bridges could only knock the ball on to William Barnes, and the Dagenham captain finally broke the deadlock with a simple finish!

 

Surprisingly, we wouldn't get another shot on target until the 73rd minute, by which point Barnes had been replaced with Martin Thompson. Martin intercepted a slack pass from United striker Victor Hamsher and took the ball to the byline, where he squared it towards Leon. Griffin did very well to catch Curran's header and thus keep Colchester in the running.

 

Seven minutes after that, our substitute goalie Jerome Farrell made two quickfire saves from Edwards and Eric Ford to prevent the U's from drawing level. Arran then squirmed the ball behind for a corner, but the danger hadn't yet been dispelled. Jerome needed to save another Edwards header on 80 minutes before Hamsher drove Colchester's next shot wide about half a minute later. Despite a brave effort from the hosts, we held on for a narrow but still rather satisfying victory.

 

Colchester United - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Barnes 54)

Friendly, Attendance 1,467

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Duncan (Farrell), Pearson (Banton), Moser (Radosavljevic), Darvill (Casey), O'Reilly (Mazzola), Sedgley (Virgo), Barnes (Thompson), Brkic (Fraser), Polomat (Charles), Curran (MacKenzie), Nomaou (Wright).

 

After that win, I ratified the sale of defensive midfielder José Cochet to Ligue 2 club Rouen for £100,000. Cochet returned to his native France after making only 15 league appearances in three years with the Daggers. Unfortunately, injuries badly stifled his progress at Victoria Road, and I felt that he was never going to grow into a first-team regular, so it was a case of, "Au revoir, José."

 

The following week, it was a case of "guten tag" to Bayer Leverkusen, who started a pre-season tour of England by paying us a visit. The German giants finished 8th in the Bundesliga last season and were managed by former Bayer defender Philipp Wollscheid, who won 45 caps for Germany during his career.

 

14 July 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen right-winger Leonel Deering was booked after just two minutes following a trip on Daniel O'Reilly. The visitors looked even nervier in the 9th minute, when Danish midfielder Stipo Brkic almost scored a blistering opener for Dagenham. It took a fantastic fingertip save from Germany goalkeeper Dawid Wisniewski to divert it behind and keep the scoreline at 0-0. Souleymane Nomaou missed the target completely with our next shot four minutes later.

 

After that, however, it was all Leverkusen. In the 16th minute, Brazilian striker David Enrique raced away from his marker Velimir Radosavljevic to head teenage right-back Christoph Maly's deep cross into the net.

 

Velimir had arguably cost us with his lack of concentration, and he would have another moment to forget just five minutes later. Deering's right-wing centre across the six-yard box found Rolf Schmadtke, who prodded it home before either Radosavljevic or George Darvill could clear the danger.

 

Bayer were now 2-0 up, and England defender Joe Southwood went within inches of heading them into a three-goal lead after 33 minutes. The Germans' class was shining through, and to make matters worse for us, Matthew Fraser gashed his arm midway through the first half.

 

Fraser would not return for the second period, during which we pretty much resorted to damage limitation. Matthew's place in midfield was taken by William Barnes, who almost gifted Leverkusen a third goal on 51 minutes. His slide tackle on Schmadtke knocked the ball on to David Enrique, and the former Barcelona striker struck an excellent shot that was pushed away by Kieran Whalley. This was Kieran's first appearance of pre-season, having missed our first two friendlies with a bruised jaw.

 

Whalley would only have to make one more save - from David Enrique again in the 88th minute. Those saves aside, the second half was pretty much a damp squib. Although we finished with more possession than Bayer Leverkusen, we didn't really have a hope in hell of taking anything from this match. In the end, a 2-0 defeat was perhaps the 'best' result we could've expected.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Bayer Leverkusen - 2 (David Enrique 16, Schmadtke 21)

Friendly, Attendance 11,601

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Duncan (Whalley), Banton (Pearson), Radosavljevic (Casey), Darvill (Moser), O'Reilly (Djuzel), Virgo (Atta), Fraser (Barnes), Honeyball (Zandbergen), Brkic (Powell), Polomat (Wright), Nomaou (Curran). BOOKED: Barnes.

 

Although it was still early to predict where we'd finish in the Championship this season, we had thus far done little to suggest that we would be seriously challenging for promotion. A leading bookmaker placed us at 40-1 to go up - longer odds than last season.

 

Interestingly, big-spenders Rochdale and Coventry City were the favourites to secure back-to-back promotions, as they were rated at 5-2 and 3-1 respectively. Sunderland were also at 3-1, while fellow relegated sides Derby County and Sheffield United weren't far behind.

[CFuller]

JULY 2033 (continued)

As our pre-season campaign entered its midway point, I wrapped up a couple more signings. Leon Curran - the 31-year-old winger-cum-striker who had been on trial with us - signed a 12-month contract at Victoria Road. Leon was born in Kidderminster and came through Wolverhampton Wanderers' youth set-up, but he plays internationally for Antigua & Barbuda, for whom he has won 49 caps and scored 17 goals.

 

Our other new arrival was Neil McCann - an 18-year-old midfield playmaker who joined us after being released by Manchester City. It would be a while before McCann made his Dagenham & Redbridge debut, as he was on England Under-19s duty with his new team-mates Adrian Bailey and Dave Hutchinson.

 

While England were playing against hosts Belgium in their final group match at the UEFA European Under-21s Championship, we were welcoming Premier League side Norwich City to Victoria Road. The Canaries finished 7th last season and subsequently had their manager Lee Nicholls poached by Chelsea. Their new head coach was former Ivory Coast and Aston Villa striker Ange Diallo.

 

17 July 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Norwich City

An even start to this match saw Norwich's attacking midfielder Ray Scott and his Daggers counterpart Stipo Brkic each miss the target for their respective sides in the first 10 minutes. The tide started to turn towards City in the 15th minute, when midfielder Marco Paiva's blistering shot was diverted wide by Dagenham goalie Kieran Whalley. Paiva then half-volleyed over in the 21st minute after his colleague Phil Kay's shot had rebounded off George Darvill.

 

Norwich goalkeeper Obioma Idris produced his first save of the match three minutes after that, as he got his fingers to a low shot from Robbie MacKenzie. Whalley saved an effort from Kay at the other end two minutes later before keeping out a threatening strike from Scott.

 

32-year-old England international Scott looked like Norwich's most dangerous attacker, so we were relieved to see him forced off injured just before half-time. Scott pulled his hamstring when tackling William Barnes in the 43rd minute and couldn't continue. Canaries captain Arjan Krasniqi had also picked up an injury earlier in the game, but the Albanian defensive midfielder managed to run it off.

 

Norwich continued to push forward in the second half, although their shooting still wasn't at its sharpest. James Rudd drifted an edge-of-the-area wide on 58 minutes, five minutes before Whalley made a superb save to stop Aziz Ngassa's half-volley. Even as our Premier League opponents increased the pressure, we remained unbowed.

 

On 72 minutes, Portuguese striker Nuno latched onto an Adrian Bruck centre and was kept off the scoresheet only by a determined block from Kieran. Our goalkeeper would be beaten by a vicious effort from another Portugal international two minutes later, but Paiva's piledriver came back off the crossbar and remained in play.

 

The Canaries would be feeling less chipper as time wore on and our defence continued to hold firm, even when I replaced most of my backline late on. Substitute keeper Euan Duncan did brilliantly to turn behind a shot from Ngassa in the 81st minute. Paiva drifted the resulting corner to Norwich centre-back Elliot Joyce, whose header was palmed away by Duncan and then booted upfield by Daggers right-back Kevin McManus.

 

We tried to make our move in the 83rd minute, but striker Ollie Reynolds couldn't quite turn Lars Zandbergen's cross over the line before City keeper Stuart Burns secured it. The subsequent Canaries counter-attack would be the decisive one. Ngassa chipped the ball ahead of Nuno, who broke free from Daniel O'Reilly and pulled Norwich's 22nd shot of the game in off the post.

 

Nuno missed a chance to score again on 87 minutes, but the back of this game had been broken. Another excellent Ngassa assist in the third minute of injury time saw Rudd secure a 2-0 away win with a delicately-played shot that also found its way in with some assistance from the woodwork.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Norwich City - 2 (Nuno 83, Rudd 90)

Friendly, Attendance 11,433

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Duncan), Habu (Radosavljevic), Darvill (Casey), Moser (Zandbergen), Banton (McManus), Mazzola (O'Reilly), Barnes (Sedgley), Atta (Thompson), Brkic (Powell), MacKenzie (Reynolds), Nomaou (Honeyball). BOOKED: MacKenzie.

 

That wasn't a terrible effort from the Daggers, but the wheels rather came off our wagon in those final 10 minutes, didn't they?

 

At least things went better for Dave Hutchinson, who scored the opening goal as England Under-19s beat Belgium 2-0 in Brussels. That put the Young Lions through to a European Championship Semi Final against Portugal, which would take place on the same day as our next friendly.

 

As Leighton Town's Bell Close ground was being expanded, our annual friendly with our feeder club took place not in Leighton Buzzard, but in Milton Keynes. The Reds, who finished 16th in League Two last season, had a couple of former Daggers - Marc Hopkins and Heikki Puustinen - in their squad.

 

20 July 2033: Leighton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Robbie MacKenzie had a frustrating start, tripping Leighton defender Clay Ballard in the first minute as both men went after Derek Wright's centre towards the hosts' six-yard box. MacKenzie was booked for that altercation, and another Dagger who struggled early on was Rocco Mazzola. The Italian left-back bruised his rib after colliding with Leighton winger Jonno Rose in the 7th minute and was substituted shortly afterwards.

 

Things would get better for us in the 17th minute. Shaun Powell played the ball short to Wright, who then threaded it through space and watched Nigel Atta fire a powerful shot into the Reds net. 1-0 to the Daggers!

 

Leighton's first attempt to retaliate was pulled well off target by Daniel Craddock two minutes later. On 33 minutes, an audacious long-ranger from Reds forward Barry Kenna went similarly wide. Powell should have punished the hosts after cutting into their penalty area from the right flank in the 37th minute, but the Welshman hooked an awful left-footer towards the corner of the stadium. Another poor Leighton miss from Craddock followed before the half-time whistle blew with us still 1-0 up.

 

Town made an ambitious start to the second half, with Stewart Williams and Andrew McCready sending early salvos wide. In the 53rd minute, Williams played an excellent ball in front of Jody Jones, who got behind our defence and went one-on-one with Dagenham goalkeeper Jerome Farrell. Jerome charged forward to block Jones' initial effort, and defender Paul Habu blocked the follow-up before carrying it out of danger.

 

That was a huge let-off for us, but we gave Leighton a similarly big one three minutes later, when MacKenzie headed Souleymane Nomaou's cross over the crossbar. I was wincing at that miss, as I knew a second strike could've put the tie firmly in our hands.

 

Leighton made the most of their reprieve, equalising in the 62nd minute. Shoddy defending was to blame as Jones found Williams unmarked in our penalty area, and the 22-year-old dribbled past Farrell before slotting the ball home. I knew then that we had blown it.

 

Save for an injury-time shot from Daggers debutant Christophe Smith that was pushed away by Mitchell Stuart, we seldom looked like getting back in front. The Reds' best chances to clinch a surprise win were saved by our substitute keeper Kieran Whalley, who denied Kenny Corbell and Jones in the 80th and 83rd minutes respectively. I wouldn't have complained if either effort had gone in, as we'd played well below my expectations and barely deserved anything from this match.

 

Leighton Town - 1 (Williams 62)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Atta 17)

Friendly, Attendance 1,211

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Farrell (Whalley), Moser (Pearson), Habu (Radosavljevic), Casey (Darvill), Mazzola (Djuzel), Powell (Faithfull), Sedgley (Thompson), Atta (Charles), Curran (Zandbergen), MacKenzie (Smith), Wright (Nomaou). BOOKED: MacKenzie, Sedgley.

 

Meanwhile, in Antwerp, two young Daggers had a night to remember in the UEFA European Under-19s Championship Semi Final. Dave Hutchinson scored the opening goal for England against Portugal a match that would eventually finish 2-2, and Neil McCann then converted the decisive penalty in a 4-3 shoot-out win for the Young Lions. England could now look ahead to a Final showdown with Germany.

 

Back at home, we had a couple of issues to deal with before hosting our parent club Fulham at Victoria Road. Rocco Mazzola's rib injury against Leighton Town would rule him out for the rest of pre-season, while Jacques Polomat's preparations were beset when he was struck down with food poisoning. Even worse luck befell Leon Curran, who strained his knee ligaments in training and now couldn't make his competitive debut for us until September.

 

Now, onto the Fulham game. Since Dagenham & Redbridge linked up with the Cottagers two decades ago, the Daggers' record in their pre-season meetings read: Played 19, Won 0, Drew 2, Lost 17. This was my 11th attempt to win this fixture, and Ashley Westwood was the seventh different Fulham manager I had faced.

 

23 July 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fulham

The first half proved to be nightmarish for the home fans. Victor Berceanu and Dirk Henrich gave us a couple of early scares by going close to putting Fulham ahead in the first five minutes.

 

In the 10th minute, Daggers midfielder Stipo Brkic was cut down midway through a counter-attack by Cottagers counterpart Wayne James. Stipo was in a lot of discomfort, as was Arran Banton when he twisted his ankle in a clash with James four minute later. I decided to take both wounded warriors off shortly afterwards, in the 17th minute.

 

Those subs came between a couple of Dagenham bookings - one for William Barnes, and another for Daniel O'Reilly. By the 28th minute, one of them had picked up another yellow card. O'Reilly had been cautioned seven minutes earlier for barging into Fulham striker Mark de Groot, and an altercation with the Cottagers' other frontman Lefteris Nasiopoulos led to Daniel's dismissal. I now had to bring on another left-back, and so Ante Djuzel replaced Barnes.

 

Fulham had had several chances to move ahead before then, but having an extra man now gave them the freedom to dominate. After 38 minutes, they took full advantage of our disadvantage. It was a case of double Dutch, as de Groot's cut-back was powered in by compatriot Johan van Keulen, and the Cottagers went 1-0 up.

 

I was worried that we would be turned into mincemeat if the second period went the same way as the first, so I shocked the troops into life with an aggressive half-time team talk. Fulham had the first meaningful attack after the restart, but our substitute goalkeeper Euan Duncan kept the deficit down by catching Berceanu's 52nd-minute header.

 

Seven minutes after that, we hit the Cottagers with a counter-attack against the run of play. Souleymane Nomaou played Robbie MacKenzie through, and Fulham goalie Joe Allen could only parry the Scot's shot. James tried to scramble the ball away, but he knocked the ball back to MacKenzie, whose shot found its way into the net off Allen's palms! Robbie's first goal in a Daggers jersey turned the tide in our favour.

 

On 72 minutes, MacKenzie set up a fantastic opportunity for Joel Honeyball that was brilliantly tipped over by Allen. The one-time England goalkeeper also caught George Darvill's header from the resulting Honeyball corner.

 

George's performance in defence for us had been nothing but exemplary, especially considering our predicament. Duncan also produced an excellent display, which he continued by catching a van Keulen header on 84 minutes. Less than half a minute later, the spotlight turned from one Scottish signing to another. MacKenzie broke free from Fulham defender Erik Molenaar and ran onto Tom Virgo's through-ball, which he calmly slotted into the far corner! From a goal down and a man down, we had somehow battled back to lead 2-1!

 

We couldn't congratulate ourselves just yet - at least not until after Duncan made one more save in injury time from Henrich's hit-and-hoper. Fulham had nothing more in the tank, and so - after many, many attempts - we had finally got the better of our parent club!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (MacKenzie 59,85)

Fulham - 1 (van Keulen 38)

Friendly, Attendance 12,000

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Duncan), Moser (Virgo), Darvill (J Bailey), Radosavljevic (Habu), Banton (Pearson), O'Reilly, Barnes (Djuzel), Fraser (Thompson), Brkic (Nomaou (Egueh)), Reynolds (MacKenzie), Honeyball (Atta). BOOKED: Barnes, O'Reilly. SENT OFF: O'Reilly.

 

You'll probably want to know how the European Under-19s Championship Final went. I'd rather not tell you about that...

 

(Sigh) Alright then. Germany won 4-0 after England's goalkeeper had a shocker. Interestingly, the three highest-rated England players in the Final were Adrian Bailey, Dave Hutchinson and Neil McCann. Isn't it funny that they all play for the same club now?

[CFuller]

JULY 2033 (continued)

With the UEFA European Under-19s Championship now at an end, the three Dagenham representatives in the England squad returned home to plan for the new club season. Two of them would immediately be sent out on loan.

 

Midfielder Neil McCann was farmed to League One side Wycombe Wanderers on a season-long loan, though we have an option to recall him in January. Defender Adrian Bailey would spend the first six months of his Daggers career playing for our feeder club Leighton Town in League Two.

 

Three more Dagenham youngsters would also be plying their trade in League Two until the middle of January. Attacking midfielder Joe Charles was loaned to Chester, striker Ollie Reynolds joined Fleetwood Town, and centre-half Paul Habu got his first taste of loan experience at Yeovil Town.

 

Our final friendly of pre-season came four days before the new Championship campaign. We travelled across London to play Queens Park Rangers, whose sudden decline had recently seen them plummet into League Two for the first time in their history.

 

Most of our first-teamers were being rested to keep them fresh for our opening league match against Charlton Athletic, and so they wouldn't travel to Loftus Road. Right-back Arran Banton couldn't travel there, as the twisted ankle he had sustained in our previous match against Fulham would keep him on the sidelines until mid-August.

 

26 July 2033: Queens Park Rangers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

18-year-old QPR winger Billy Nelson gave us a major scare in the sixth minute, when his header from Sam Taylor's corner skimmed our crossbar. Tyrone Sedgley had our first scoring chance five minutes later, but his piledriver was tipped over by the hosts' goalkeeper/captain Florin Mozacu. Nigel Atta aimed the resulting corner at John Moser, who flicked it off target.

 

Atta set up another chance in the 22nd minute, but Derek Wright's header was hacked away by R's defender Sheridan Turner. QPR then launched a counter-attack that ended with Taylor's powerful drive being palmed away by Kieran Whalley. Kieran was forced into action again on 30 minutes, tipping over a long-ranger from Nelson just before it could swerve into the net.

 

Robbie MacKenzie's first-time strike for Dagenham in the 35th minute went all wrong... but four minutes later, it went all 'Wright' for our other striker. Derek volleyed home a rebound strike after Robbie's fierce effort was unconvincingly parried by Mozacu, and we were 1-0 up.

 

That said, we were lucky to still be leading at half-time. QPR midfielder Gavin Calvert's centre found Lee Nutter in the six-yard box, and Kieran had to make a point-blank save to keep our noses in front.

 

Daggers left-back Ante Djuzel came off with a suspected twisted knee five minutes into the second half, following a clash with QPR's right-back Joseph Ike. After that injury, our game got progressively sloppier, particularly in the passing department. Our poor distribution gifted the R's some attacking momentum, but the League Two side did not make the most of it. On 64 minutes, Craig Malin pulled wide one of the home team's best scoring chances yet.

 

On the subject of missed opportunities, Dagenham substitute Tristan Egueh wasted a couple shortly after coming on. Stipo Brkic sent the teenage striker clean through on goal in the 73rd minute, but Mozacu came out of his box and collected the ball from Tristan's feet. Egueh had egg on his face again moments later, after half-volleying Kevin McManus' superb long ball over the crossbar.

 

George Darvill went rather closer to doubling our lead from a couple of set-pieces late on. After Mozacu tipped behind his header from Shaun Powell's 87th-minute free-kick, George got his head to Shaun's corner delivery and flicked it inches over.

 

Our failure to kill off QPR could've returned to haunt us in the dying moments of injury time, when substitute goalkeeper Courtney Gallagher's save from Taylor conceded a corner to the hosts. Calvert's corner rebounded across our area before Gallagher stuck a leg out to block a drive from R's midfielder Tibo Lauryssen. Powell then frantically cleared the ball into touch, ending a surprisingly close game that only just went in our favour.

 

Queens Park Rangers - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Wright 39)

Friendly, Attendance 3,737

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Gallagher), Pearson (McManus), Moser (Powell), Casey (J Bailey), Djuzel (Darvill), Atta (Honeyball), Sedgley (Thompson), Hutchinson (Moran), Zandbergen (Brkic), MacKenzie (Smith), Wright (Egueh). BOOKED: Sedgley, Hutchinson.

 

Ante Djuzel had indeed twisted his knee, meaning that he would miss the first few weeks of the league season. As soon as the Croatian left-back recovered from his injury, I would be looking to loan him out.

 

Speaking of loans, I sent out a couple more Dagenham prospects to build up their experience. Goalkeeper Jerome Farrell joined Paul Habu at Yeovil Town, while midfielder Martin Thompson began a season-long stint with Millwall in League One.

 

Now let's turn to our first match of the Championship campaign - a match that we were expected to win. Charlton Athletic's last visit to Victoria Road early last season saw them get a 6-0 pasting, and the Addicks went on to finish just behind us on goal difference.

 

30 July 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Charlton Athletic

As season-openers go, this one was a bit of a slow-burner. Neither team looked anywhere near their best early on, and it wasn't until the 21st minute that anyone got close to scoring. That was when Dagenham striker Souleymane Nomaou struck a powerful shot that was tipped behind by Charlton goalkeeper Michael Hewson. Two minutes later, Stipo Brkic miscued a headed attempt at goal on his competitive debut for the Daggers.

 

The Addicks' first shot came in the 25th minute, but Ryan Smith drifted it high and wide. Two of Charlton's summer signings combined to create a better opportunity seven minutes later. Centre-back Odion Emuejeraye got his head to a free-kick from Bosnian winger Emir Arslanovic and forced Kieran Whalley into a stunning fingertip save. That won Charlton the first of a couple of corners late in the opening half.

 

Our best chance of the period came from a corner of our own in injury time. George Darvill was unfortunate to see his header from Matthew Fraser's delivery diverted behind by Hewson, who was certainly performing much better than he had on his previous visit to Victoria Road.

 

With the game still goalless at half-time, I gave my players a mid-match dressing down and urged them to run with the ball a bit more. That was exactly what right-back John Moser did in the 47th minute, surging past Addicks left-back Derek Carter and to the byline. He then sent the ball through a crowd of Charlton defenders and picked out Daniel O'Reilly, who rounded off an excellent move with the appropriate finish.

 

That was only the sixth goal of Daniel's Daggers career, but the left-back went close to scoring another five minutes later, when his crashing drive narrowly cleared the bar. Shortly after that, Moser hurt his thigh in a clash with Carter. John's match came to an early end, but our game went from strength to strength. On 57 minutes, an exquisite cross from Fraser found Nomaou, whose looping header deceived Hewson and made it 2-0 Daggers!

 

We could have claimed a third goal in the 62nd minute, when substitute full-back Ross Pearson played an excellent long ball in front of Robbie MacKenzie. The Scottish target man's shot bounced agonisingly off the woodwork, and so we still had some work to do.

 

Had Smith done better with a 64th-minute shot that was comfortably caught by Whalley, Charlton could well have been back in with a shout. As it was, these Addicks looked like fish out of water, and a couple of bookings midway through the half didn't help matters as far as they were concerned.

 

By the 80th minute, it was all going swimmingly for us. O'Reilly capped off a man-of-the-match display with an assist for Nomaou, who smacked in his second goal of the afternoon and secured a 3-0 win for the Daggers.

 

Charlton's nightmare opening day ended with them being reduced to 10 men. Centre-back Pat Miller was forced off with a knock in the 85th minute, after manager Allan Johnston had used all three of his substitutions.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (O'Reilly 47, Nomaou 57,80)

Charlton Athletic - 0

Championship, Attendance 12,000 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Charlton 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser (Pearson), Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser (Hutchinson), Barnes, Brkic, MacKenzie (Polomat), Nomaou.

 

Regular followers of our exploits will know that a comfortable win on the opening day doesn't necessarily attest to a successful season. Nevertheless, it's always nice to start as you mean to go on.

 

With 'only' 45 games left to play in the season, we sit behind only Sunderland, courtesy of the relegated Mackems' 4-1 win at home to Peterborough United. You could say we're in good company.

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2033/2034 season

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2033)

GOALKEEPERS

1. Kieran Whalley (age 22, English)

Kieran now officially has the number 1 jersey, which will surely be his for a long time to come. The agile and physically commanding Mancunian is fast approaching 100 league appearances for the Daggers.

13. Euan Duncan (age 26, Scottish)

New signing Euan was excellent in pre-season is about as dependable as backup goalkeepers come.

DEFENDERS

2. Arran Banton (age 23, English)

Though he's never made more than 27 league appearances in a season, Arran is now my first-choice right-back. His marking ability is exceptional, although he could still improve considerably in other departments.

3. Daniel O'Reilly (age 25, Irish)

Daniel struggled last season after tearing his hamstring but is now ready to come back with a vengeance. With his professionalism and work ethic, he should remain our main left-back for a couple more years yet.

5. John Moser (age 19, French)

John is a raw but very energetic covering defender who never gives up when the chips are down. Due to his lack of height, I'm training this centre-half to play at right-back, where his long-term future surely lies.

6. George Darvill (age 20, English)

George is a real Dagenham boy done good, and possibly the best player ever to emerge from our youth academy. The tall centre-back is belying his age with consistently strong and mature performances.

16. Velimir Radosavljevic (age 20, Serbian)

Centre-back Velimir is set to feature in a large chunk of our league fixtures this season. He is brave, strong, and - most importantly, in my book - has a very professional attitude.

19. Ante Djuzel (age 18, Croatian)

Prodigious left-back Ante will probably be loaned out in the near-future to build up his experience.

24. Zola Casey (age 21, American)

It's possibly a make-or-break season for centre-half Zola, who needs to push on over the coming months.

25. Rocco Mazzola (age 21, Italian)

Resolute Rocco will serve as my second-choice left-back for at least the first half of this campaign.

30. Adrian Bailey (age 18, English)

England Under-19s defender Adrian will be playing with Leighton Town in League Two for six months.

MIDFIELDERS

4. William Barnes (age 24, English)

This is midfield mastermind William's seventh season at Victoria Road, and his second as captain. His occasional hot streak aside, there are very few weaknesses in the Hampshire-born star's game.

7. Shaun Powell (age 20, Welsh)

Shaun's productivity improved last season, and I'm looking forward to seeing him develop even further. Capped twice by Wales, his pace is a real asset either on the right wing or up front.

8. Stipo Brkic (age 28, Danish)

Club-record signing Stipo could be the attacking midfield playmaker that makes the difference between promotion and disappointment. The Bosnian-born Dane has a sublime first touch and fantastic vision.

11. Leon Curran (age 31, Antiguan)

Leon is an Antigua & Barbuda international who plays mainly as a left-winger or a deep-lying forward. He'll miss the start of this season with a knee injury but should be a useful addition to our squad.

14. Matthew Fraser (age 26, Scottish)

When he's fit, few Championship midfielders can distribute a long ball as well as Matthew can. I fear, though, that his eighth season at Dagenham will be his last if he cannot agree to a new contract soon.

17. Tom Virgo (age 21, English)

Defensive midfielder Tom is unassuming but ambitious, and a decent enough squad player.

18. Dave Hutchinson (age 18, English)

Reliable midfield man Dave is almost ready to take that next step up to becoming a first-team regular.

21. Jacques Polomat (age 21, French)

Jacques' long-awaited breakthrough may come this term if the playmaker can avoid serious injuries.

23. Lars Zandbergen (age 21, Dutch)

Left-winger Lars spent his first Daggers season out on loan but will now be part of my squad.

27. Tyrone Sedgley (age 18, Scottish)

Tyrone is a tenacious ball-winning midfielder who is learning his craft from captain Barnes.

FORWARDS

9. Souleymane Nomaou (age 29, Nigerien)

Souleymane made a slow start before finishing his first Dagenham season with 16 goals in 30 competitive games. I'm predicting even more goals this term from a pacey poacher who's now in his prime.

10. Robbie MacKenzie (age 24, Scottish)

Standing at 6ft 7in and weighing in at over 15st, Robbie is our new go-to target man. 'The Giant of Glenrothes' scored 16 goals for Dartford in League One last season but is untested at this level.

15. Joel Honeyball (age 25, English)

Vice-captain Joel has come off the back of his best season yet, during which he bagged 10 goals and 9 assists. Though still only a backup, the versatile forward can make a real impact when used in moderation.

28. Derek Wright (age 20, English)

Derek has explosive pace and is more composed nowadays but still needs to improve a lot technically.

 

RESERVE & YOUTH PLAYERS

Goalkeepers: Jerome Farrell (on loan at Yeovil Town), Courtney Gallagher, Matthew McAnuff

Defenders: Jameel Bailey, Paul Habu (on loan at Yeovil Town), Thomas Jones, Marcel Mafe, Kevin McManus, Jefferson Moran, Ross Pearson, Carl Quinn (on loan at Middlesbrough), Craig Ridings, Duncan Rivers

Midfielders: Nigel Atta, Joe Charles (on loan at Chester), George Conlon, Gavan Davies, Neil McCann (on loan at Wycombe Wanderers), Martin Thompson (on loan at Millwall)

Forwards: Anthony Agbonifo, Tristan Egueh, Toby Faithfull, Peguy Kasongo, Aaron Megson, Ollie Reynolds (on loan at Fleetwood Town), Christophe Smith

 

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Fabio Saraiva

Coaches: Jamie Cochrane, Richaee Derby, Lewis Proudfoot, Marco Verratti

Fitness Coach: David Wheater

Goalkeeping Coach: Scott Carson

Physios: Adam Hutchings (head), Andrew Marks

Scouts: Callum Donnelly (chief), Chris Lewington, Dylan McGeouch, Thierry Monteny, Antonino Pirozzi, Nicky Reynolds

 

Reserves Manager: Sean O'Callaghan

 

Head of Youth Development: Curtis Langton

Under-18s Manager: Tom Ince

Under-18s Assistant Manager: Aaron McEwan

Under-18s Coaches: James Dunne, Joseph Yoffe

[CFuller]

And the depth chart...

GK: Whalley / Duncan / Gallagher

D/WB L: O'Reilly / Mazzola / Djuzel / Radosavljevic
D C: Darvill / Radosavljevic / Casey / Moser / Adrian Bailey
D/WB R: Banton / Moser / Pearson

DM C: Barnes / Virgo / Hutchinson

M/AM L: Curran / Zandbergen / Honeyball
M C: Barnes / Fraser / Hutchinson / Brkic / Virgo / Sedgley
M/AM R: Powell / Atta / Banton

AM C: Brkic / Polomat

F C (strikers): Nomaou / Curran / Honeyball / Wright
F C (centre-forwards): MacKenzie / Polomat / Curran

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2033

August began with the confirmation of another outgoing at Dagenham & Redbridge. I hadn't planned to loan right-winger Nigel Atta out, but Queens Park Rangers won me over by pledging to give him regular League Two football and pay 100% of his wages. Nigel would now be playing at Loftus Road until the end of January.

 

We'd started the Championship season with a 3-0 victory over Charlton Athletic, and our second opponents were a team who'd been on the wrong end of that scoreline in their opening game. Plymouth Argyle hosted us at Home Park after the Pilgrims suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Sheffield United.

 

2 August 2033: Plymouth Argyle vs Dagenham & Redbridge

I'm afraid to say that we did not carry over our second-half form against Charlton Athletic into the first period at Home Park. In the 9th minute, Jacques Polomat missed the target completely with his header from Rocco Mazzola's cross. Plymouth countered moments later, but skipper Ugonna Thompson's shot was blocked by Daggers defender Velimir Radosavljevic. Six minutes after that, our captain William Barnes flighted a free-kick into the hands of Pilgrims goalkeeper Barry Conway.

 

The opening goal would come from a set-piece in the 29th minute... at the other end. Mike Khan swung a Plymouth corner towards Thompson, and the big frontman powered a bullet header into the net to put his team ahead.

 

A less positive side of Thompson's game emerged after 38 minutes, when he was booked for diving in our penalty area. About a minute after that, Tom Virgo slid an excellent ball through the Argyle defence, only to see Joel Honeyball fire it against the post. Plymouth centre-back Barry Bond cleared the rebound away, and so the Pilgrims still held the advantage at the break.

 

I didn't make any major changes before the restart, but a mediocre beginning to the second half prompted me to act. Right-winger Shaun Powell was sent onto the field in the 61st minute, just before Plymouth forward Eddie Hughes headed Joel Ashley's corner into the capable hands of Kieran Whalley. Three minutes later, Thompson blasted over another opportunity to double Argyle's lead.

 

Time passed by with us still failing to trouble the hosts, and so Stipo Brkic and Tristan Egueh were both brought on to try and make something happen in the final 15 minutes. The latter should have scored in the 80th minute, but Tristan somehow pulled his shot inches wide after latching onto a fantastic lob from Jacques Polomat.

 

In the 85th minute, another Ashley free-kick into our area almost went disastrously wrong for us. Rocco attempted to head the ball clear but could only find Khan, who half-volleyed it into the side netting.

 

That miss would prove telling a couple of minutes later. After Powell's attempted pass to Polomat in the Plymouth 'D' was blocked by defender Paul Harris, Shaun quickly ran onto the loose ball and took it into the area. The Welshman then clinically cut it past Conway to silence Argyle's Green Army!

 

The momentum was now with us, and when the hosts lost their right-back in injury time, we sensed a chance to win the game. Jonathan Lamb received his second yellow card of the second half after pushing Honeyball - a foul that gifted us a free-kick from around 40 yards out. Captain Will tried to pump it up to Tristan, but the delivery bypassed Egueh and was safely caught by Conway. We would have to settle for a share of the points.

 

Plymouth Argyle - 1 (Thompson 29)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Powell 87)

Championship, Attendance 12,296 - POSITIONS: Plymouth 18th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, O'Reilly, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo (Powell), Barnes, Fraser (Brkic), Polomat, Nomaou (Egueh), Honeyball. BOOKED: Honeyball.

 

After picking up four points from our first two games, we played host to another team who'd started strongly - Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys had earned a commendable 0-0 away draw against moneybags Rochdale before coming from behind to defeat Sheffield United 2-1 at home.

 

6 August 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Ipswich Town

The two teams had mixed fortunes with their opening shots. While Dagenham midfielder Stipo Brkic hit a hopeless effort from long range in the first minute, Ipswich captain Luke Boot was unlucky not to score from a 7th-minute header that was caught by Kieran Whalley.

 

Our next couple of attempts at goal were also fired wide by William Barnes and - surprisingly - Rocco Mazzola. The Italian left-back hadn't scored a competitive goal for us... until he received a massive stroke of luck on 23 minutes. Ipswich midfielder Ron Bell had a moment to forget when he knocked the ball away from Brkic's feet and into his own penalty area. Mazzola then got in front of right-back Michael Stewart and slipped the ball underneath goalkeeper Gary Ewart to put us in the lead!

 

The Tractor Boys sought a quick riposte through Nick Breward, who had a vicious shot saved by Whalley in the 26th minute. Two minutes later, Whalley parried a strike from Boot to the feet of Breward, who scuffed it into the side netting. Some sloppy Daggers passing gifted Ipswich a few more opportunities before the break, but they couldn't take them, and thus we remained 1-0 up. That lead could have been increased to 2-0 had Robbie MacKenzie not scooped a promising shot over the bar on 34 minutes.

 

Ipswich took the game to us in the second half, with Boot at the forefront of their attacks. The 29-year-old, who was closing in on Ray Crawford's club record of 204 league goals, had a header caught by Whalley on 58 minutes.

 

Boot's next header a minute later drifted wide, but he would have rather more luck with his feet in the 66th minute. Whalley's goal kick was cut out by Ipswich forward Moses Duiker, who outjumped Zola Casey and took the ball deep into our half. Duiker then cut the ball across to Boot, who booted in the equaliser - his 182nd league goal for Ipswich.

 

The Tractor Boys ploughed on after that, and by the 74th minute, they were leading 2-1. Although he wasn't the tallest of strikers, South Africa international Duiker won another key header when he beat Daniel O'Reilly to Stewart's cross and nodded it into the net.

 

After that massive blow, I brought off the disappointing Souleymane Nomaou and replaced him up front with Derek Wright. Derek had a couple of excellent shots at goal in the 79th and 84th minutes, but Ewart saved each of them to leave him - and us - disappointed. Our poor record at Victoria Road was a big factor behind our underachievement last season, and a defeat in just our second home game of this campaign was ominous. There was an awful lot of work ahead of us.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Mazzola 23)

Ipswich Town - 2 (Boot 66, Duiker 74)

Championship, Attendance 11,742 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Ipswich 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, O'Reilly, Casey, Darvill, Mazzola (Pearson), Virgo, Barnes, Fraser, Brkic, MacKenzie (Polomat), Nomaou (Wright). BOOKED: MacKenzie.

 

Next up for us was another home game - in Round 1 of the League Cup. Our opponents were AFC Wimbledon, who had made a mixed start to their fourth successive campaign in League Two.

 

I fielded a second-string XI for this match, but Tristan Egueh did not feature. The 17-year-old - who arrived in this country from Djibouti about six years ago - was in Ipswich, winning his first cap for England Under-19s against Iran. He would mark his debut with a hat-trick inside the first 21 minutes. Not bad going, eh?

 

9 August 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs AFC Wimbledon

Lars Zandbergen's competitive debut for Dagenham got off to a rocky start. The Dutch winger was hurt in a tackle from AFC Wimbledon right-back Leigh Colwill after nine minutes and had to receive some treatment on the sidelines.

 

Our first few attacks at goal went awry, with Robbie MacKenzie and Dave Hutchinson each missing the target in the opening quarter-hour. Velimir Radosavljevic was also off target with a 19th-minute header, but Zandbergen did trouble Neil McElroy five minutes later with a fine shot that the Dons goalkeeper just about tipped behind.

 

Our biggest miss yet came on 29 minutes, when MacKenzie cleared the bar with a header from Rocco Mazzola's first-time cross. The visitors were also guilty of wasting a sitter in the 34th minute. Striker Shane Cleaver received a centre from midfielder Carl Powell just outside our six-yard box, and he then pulled a shot against the post.

 

Six minutes after nearly falling 1-0 behind, we punished the Dons by taking the lead ourselves. MacKenzie's right-wing cross was palmed by McElroy to Hutchinson, who headed home his first senior goal for the Daggers and got us the opener our play had arguably merited.

 

We were looking good to increase our lead early in the second period. Robbie swung a long-distance free-kick towards goal in the 48th minute but couldn't quite curl it past McElroy. Velimir then sent a 53rd-minute shot wide, five minutes before our momentum was disrupted by an injury to Tyrone Sedgley. The teenage midfielder was replaced with Tom Virgo after hurting his ankle in a challenge from Wimbledon midfielder Andy Gray (no, not that one.  Or the other one.  Or the other other one).

 

MacKenzie was unable to convert his next two chances to put us 2-0 up midway through the second half, and after 71 minutes, we paid the price for our profligacy. Robbie's brave attempt to clear Carl Powell's corner proved unsuccessful as Dons defender Scott Brough drove the loose ball home and equalised.

 

Wimbledon had been on the back foot almost all game, so it was immensely frustrating to see them pull level. We would be ruing our misfortune again over the next 20 minutes, as McElroy saved two late efforts from MacKenzie, and one from Hutchinson. The Dons' defiance meant that we would have to keep going for at least another half-hour if we wanted to reach Round 2 of the League Cup.

 

The first half of extra-time saw little in the way of goalmouth action. There was one chance near the end for Wimbledon striker Pete Godfrey, who was denied by a confident catch from Euan Duncan. Otherwise, that half was a scrappy and attritional affair. The second would be anything but. I replaced the tiring Hutchinson with Stipo Brkic shortly after the resumption... but sacrificing one of our in-form players was probably the worst thing I could've done.

 

In the 110th minute, Gray got to a headed clearance from Radosavljevic and rolled a pass forward to Gregor Handling. The Dons' substitute striker drove the ball over Velimir and towards Godfrey, who dribbled to the touchline and passed back to Handling. Then, with a superb half-volley, Handling made it 2-1 to AFC Wimbledon.

 

With just ten minutes to save our League Cup campaign, we went for broke in the dying moments. Almost every Dagger went forward, and our late push was rewarded with two minutes remaining. After Mazzola swung the ball into the penalty box from the left flank, the excellent MacKenzie nodded it back to Virgo, who drove in an excellent low finish from just outside the area!

 

Tom's dramatic equaliser - his first goal for the Daggers at senior level - had seen us take the game to a penalty shoot-out! Could we now save face and progress to Round 2, or would we fall to bottom-tier opposition in the League Cup for the third time in four years?

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2033 (continued)

Carl Powell took AFC Wimbledon's first penalty of the shoot-out... and he immediately handed us the initiative with a terrible penalty that Euan Duncan palmed away! Man of the match Robbie MacKenzie then stepped up to try and fire us into the lead. What he did was blast his spot-kick against the bar, thus cancelling out Euan's save.

 

Musa Chukwu subsequently opened the scoring for Wimbledon before Daggers skipper Joel Honeyball took our second kick. What followed was one of the worst penalties I had ever witnessed, as Joel's strike floated high and wide into the stand! Now it really was advantage Wimbledon.

 

The visitors scored their next two penalties, and Shaun Powell converted our third, to leave us 3-1 behind. Tom Virgo now had to save our skins for the second time in a matter of minutes. Tom couldn't afford to miss his spot-kick... and he didn't. That left Shane Cleaver needing to score his penalty to send Wimbledon into a Round 2 clash at Premier League side Burnley. The former Newcastle United forward fired it beyond Duncan's reach, and we had once again been scalped in the League Cup at the first opportunity.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hutchinson 40, Virgo 118)

AFC Wimbledon - 2 (Brough 71, Handling 110)

[AFC Wimbledon win 4-2 on penalties]

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 2,160

PENALTY SHOOT-OUT: C Powell saved, MacKenzie missed, Chukwu 0-1, Honeyball missed, Handling 0-2, S Powell 1-2, Godfrey 1-3, Virgo 2-3, Cleaver 2-4.

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Duncan, Pearson, Radosavljevic, Casey, Mazzola, Powell, Sedgley (Virgo), Hutchinson (Brkic), Zandbergen (Wright), MacKenzie, Honeyball. BOOKED: Powell, Mazzola.

 

I don't really care about the League Cup, anyway...

 

Tyrone Sedgley would be out for around three weeks after twisting his ankle in the second half. Thankfully, Lars Zandbergen's earlier injury was only a minor one, and so he would be fit to play in our next league match if required.

 

We arrived at Kenilworth Road as favourites to defeat a Luton Town side who'd lost their opening three league games. The Hatters shared that particular 'honour' with Peterborough United but were ahead of the Posh on goal difference.

 

13 August 2033: Luton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

There would be no repeat of the 4-0 beating we handed out to Luton at Kenilworth Road 12 months earlier. For starters, Hatters goalkeeper Tim Burton looked much more assured than he had been on our previous visit to Bedfordshire, catching an 11th-minute free-kick from Matthew Fraser.

 

The hosts also made a good start on the attacking front, with Darren Crouch causing panic in our defence when he sent a centre into our six-yard box on 14 minutes. George Darvill managed to hack the ball behind just before either of Luton's two strikers could bury it into the net... but he couldn't save us from the Hatters' next assault three minutes later. Ashley Douglas picked out Nicky Thompson with an excellent lob that the Australian winger slipped into the far corner of our net.

 

Douglas opened our defence again in the 19th minute, sending his strike partner Ian Watts through before the latter pulled his shot off target. Our attack didn't really get up to speed until the 32nd minute, when Souleymane Nomaou ran at the home defence and eyed up the target. His shot rebounded off defender Jiri Penecka and towards William Barnes, whose half-volley was met by a fingertip save from Burton. That proved to be our best chance of the first half, which ended with Kieran Whalley denying Douglas a second Luton goal on 43 minutes.

 

Our usual gameplan wasn't working, so I took a massive gamble during the interval. Not only did I switch to a direct 4-4-2 approach, but I also made all three of my substitutions in one fell swoop. Target man Robbie MacKenzie was among those who came on, and he showed promise when his opening shot was parried by Burton in the 48th minute.

 

Whalley then had to make a couple of saves at the other end from Watts and Douglas before we went back on the offensive. After 59 minutes, John Moser sent a first-time cross into the Hatters' penalty area. Nomaou jumped above Crouch to head the ball towards goal, and Burton could only help it into the net.

 

Nomaou had got us back on terms, but his next altercation with Crouch six minutes later would see him get booked for fouling the Luton right-back. A couple of minutes after that, Burton saved Barnes' 20-yard attempt to fire us ahead.

 

Much of the subsequent play was spent in our half as we battled to prevent Luton from taking the win. The Hatters' substitute striker Jonathan Connor fired a shot over our bar in the 77th minute after pouncing on a scuffed headed clearance from Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly.

 

On 86 minutes, Connor teed up an opportunity for midfielder Sol Abbey that was superbly tipped aside by Kieran. George then headed away the follow-up cross from Town's other midfielder Tony Nelson to cap off another sterling display at centre-half. While our defenders dug deep again, another underwhelming attacking performance saw us end up with another disappointing draw.

 

Luton Town - 1 (Thompson 17)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Nomaou 59)

Championship, Attendance 10,300 - POSITIONS: Luton 23rd, Dag & Red 17th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Casey, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo (Powell), Barnes, Fraser, Brkic (Zandbergen), Polomat (MacKenzie), Nomaou. BOOKED: Nomaou.

 

After that game, I gave Croatian left-back Ante Djuzel permission to join League One side Swansea City on a five-month-long loan.

 

Then came some very good news on the financial front, as our former midfield magician Paul Hart made a lucrative £8million move from Sheffield United to Tottenham Hotspur. As part of the deal that saw us sell Hart to the Blades five years ago, we were entitled to 25% of his next transfer fee. The activation of that clause meant we were now £2million richer!

 

We then played host to Wrexham, who arrived at Victoria Road having won their first two Championship games before losing their next two.

 

16 August 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wrexham

A dreadful opening half-hour was more notable for some tough tackling than for sharp shooting. Dagenham centre-back Zola Casey was booked in the second minute after tripping Wrexham skipper Ross Cooper.

 

In the 12th minute, our star striker Souleymane Nomaou was fouled on the edge of the Dragons' penalty area by Doug Morton, who also received a yellow card. William Barnes chipped the resulting free-kick to Dave Hutchinson, but Wrexham goalie Paul Boyham retrieved the ball before Dave could carry it across the goal line.

 

We pushed a bit higher up the pitch for the latter part of the first period, and our greater ambition was rewarded after 35 minutes. Hutch found Robbie MacKenzie in the area, and the big Scot then played the ball ahead of captain Barnes, who drilled it into the far corner! Although Nomaou couldn't quite double our lead with a crashing drive four minutes later, we were looking good for a much-needed win at half-time.

 

Stipo Brkic had dictated the midfield for us in the first half, and he started the second period in a similar manner. The Dane smartly picked out Nomaou in a crowded Wrexham area, and Sol squared the ball first-time to Robbie, who disappointingly blazed it over.

 

The Dragons' backline was struggling to cope with our attack, but in the 57th minute, they exposed our own defensive fragilities. Wrexham winger Jimmy Guy found substitute Tyrone Lawford in space, and Lawford approached the byline before cutting the ball back to Guy. The former Bolton Wanderers star's cross was then volleyed home by striker Emyr Stephens, who drew the Welsh side level.

 

Another home defeat for the Daggers was now looking like a real possibility... until the Dragons' hopes were greatly damaged by a couple of injuries. Midfielder Steven Bowden twisted his knee in the 62nd minute, while defender Andrew Locke also hurt himself while making a vital tackle on Nomaou in the 76th.

 

Bowden and Locke both stayed on to fight for their cause... but in the 82nd minute, a colleague shot them in the feet. Wrexham stalwart Jonathan Ferrell - playing in his 14th season for the Dragons - miscued a backpass and was horrified to see Jacques Polomat intercept it in his team's penalty area. Jacques then played the ball out wide to Sol, who smashed in the match-winner for Dagenham!

 

We did have a couple of late scares, most notably when Lawford struck the outside of Kieran Whalley's right-hand post in injury time. In the end, though, we managed to get back to winning ways and return to the top half.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Barnes 35, Nomaou 82)

Wrexham - 1 (Stephens 57)

Championship, Attendance 11,609 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Wrexham 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Casey (Pearson), Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Barnes, Hutchinson (Fraser), Brkic, MacKenzie (Polomat), Nomaou. BOOKED: Casey.

 

That morale-boosting victory came at a good time, as our next match was away to one of the big favourites for promotion. Blackburn Rovers had made a shaky start under new manager Ryan Fulton, who replaced Hibernian-bound Josh Carson in the summer, but they were always difficult to beat - especially at Ewood Park.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2033 (continued)

20 August 2033: Blackburn Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Jacques Polomat immediately put the favourites under pressure by playing an excellent pass through to Daniel O'Reilly in the very first minute. O'Reilly broke into the Blackburn area and was tackled by home right-back Faisal Mensah. The ball then went loose before Polomat fired it into the net! The Ewood Park faithful were stunned into silence as we moved in front after just 49 seconds!

 

Shane Watts had a couple of chances to swiftly draw Blackburn level, but one went wide and the other was saved by Kieran Whalley. Rovers would be left reeling again in the 14th minute, when Zola Casey started off a Daggers counter-attack by dispossessing their in-form striker Tim Higginbotham. Stipo Brkic then lifted an excellent long ball towards Souleymane Nomaou, who burst clear and calmly drilled us into a 2-0 lead!

 

Blackburn's response was to increase their attacking efforts. That was all well and good, but it would have taken something incredible to beat Whalley, who was producing one of his best goalkeeping displays for the Daggers. Kieran saved a couple of shots from Higginbotham and Watts midway through the half, and he then tipped behind another Higginbotham effort just before the interval.

 

Blackburn threatened to start the second half as strongly as we had started the first. Fortunately for us, George Darvill made a superb tackle on Higginbotham to prevent him from halving Rovers' deficit.

 

This was not a particularly good day for Higginbotham, and his strike partner didn't have much luck either. Blackburn captain Mick Beresford looked in some pain after being scythed down by O'Reilly in the 50th minute, though he was able to play on.

 

There was strong tackling from across the Daggers team early in the second half, and midfielder Tom Virgo hurt himself badly in an especially rough challenge on Higginbotham in the 57th minute. While Tom was being patched up on the sidelines, Watts floated an excellent cross to Jacky Besnard, and the Blackburn centre-back headed it inches wide.

 

Higginbotham had his next attempt at goal six minutes later, but his header never looked like getting beyond Whalley. Kieran's save was his NINTH of the match, and he would make a couple more later on to round off a truly incredible display.

 

Blackburn's goalkeeper didn't have quite as much work to do, as he faced only a couple of Dagenham shots in the second period. Defenders John Moser and Velimir Radosavljevic were each off target, but that didn't matter, as the quality of our few shots earlier in the game had won out over the quantity of Blackburn's. Rovers ran out of steam, and we secured our first ever league victory at Ewood Park to move up into 5th place.

 

Blackburn Rovers - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Polomat 1, Nomaou 14)

Championship, Attendance 10,739 - POSITIONS: Blackburn 17th, Dag & Red 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Casey, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Banton (Moser), O'Reilly, Barnes (Virgo), Fraser, Brkic, Polomat, Nomaou (Honeyball). BOOKED: O'Reilly, Barnes, Virgo.

 

A week later, we were at home to mid-table side Doncaster Rovers. Our record against Donny in the Championship was rather patchy, as we had beaten them only twice in our previous six meetings.

 

27 August 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Doncaster Rovers

Souleymane Nomaou was in excellent form for the Daggers, although his first shot at goal in the fifth minute flew well off target. Captain William Barnes went rather closer to scoring four minutes later, capping off an excellent Dagenham move with a shot that fizzed just past the post.

 

Doncaster then had a brief bright spell, winning a trio of corners before Dale Heath blasted the ball wide on 17 minutes. We went back on the attack five minutes later - with even greater purpose. Left-back Daniel O'Reilly knocked the ball past Donny right-back Aaron McEwen and found Nomaou, who slotted in his fourth goal in as many games!

 

Doncaster could've levelled within three minutes, but on-loan Newcastle United winger Serge Rey swerved a shot just over the bar. When Rovers goalkeeper Seán Rooney struggled to beat away an effort from O'Reilly in the 30th minute, we were looking good for a 2-0 lead... and so it came to pass two minutes later. George Darvill towered over visiting right-back Heath and met Matthew Fraser's corner with a bullet header that sent us into the interval with a solid advantage.

 

Doncaster's woes continued when Canadian winger Sandro Franco was hurt in a collision with O'Reilly shortly after the second half kicked off. Franco recovered from a minor knock, and in the 62nd minute, he tested Kieran Whalley with a free-kick that the Dagenham goalie did well to catch.

 

Within the next two minutes or so, though, it all went wrong for Rovers. Half-time substitute Themis Saunders picked up two idiotic yellow cards in quick succession - the first for tripping Arran Banton, and the second for diving. That reduced Doncaster to ten men, and the visitors were lucky not to go 3-0 down on 66 minutes, when Rooney saved a strike from Robbie MacKenzie.

 

Robbie was the first substitute I had used for Dagenham, and I would have to bring on another when midfielder Tom Virgo twisted his knee a couple of minutes later. Young Dave Hutchinson came on in his place, and we held onto our two-goal lead for a while before dealing our opponents a fateful blow six minutes from time.

 

Sol had missed a glorious chance for 3-0 right at the start of the second half, but he didn't waste his next big opportunity in the 84th minute after being superbly set up by Jacques Polomat. With his second goal, Nomaou's work for the afternoon was done, and Daggers vice-captain Joel Honeyball replaced him for the closing stages of a very comfortable home win.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Nomaou 22,84, Darvill 32)

Doncaster Rovers - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,762 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Doncaster 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo (Hutchinson), Barnes, Fraser, Brkic (MacKenzie), Polomat, Nomaou (Honeyball).

 

Tom Virgo's knee injury notwithstanding, it had been an excellent day at the office for the Daggers. We were now in the automatic promotion places, though it was already incredibly tight at the top of the Championship:

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Sunderland             7     4     2     1     17    6     +11   14
2.          Dag & Red              7     4     2     1     13    5     +8    14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Rochdale               7     4     2     1     7     5     +2    14
4.          Crystal Palace         7     4     1     2     12    8     +4    13
5.          Aston Villa            7     4     1     2     11    8     +3    13
6.          Derby                  7     4     1     2     6     3     +3    13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Crewe                  7     4     1     2     8     6     +2    13
8.          Reading                7     4     0     3     10    9     +1    12

 

Nothing was broken in our team, so I didn't feel the need to 'fix' anything in the form of any signings late in the transfer window.

 

There was a chance that I could've sold Zola Casey on deadline day, as there was strong interest from other clubs - mostly wealthier clubs from the Championship. Only Coventry City made an offer for the American defender, but it was a derisory one as far as I was concerned, and so Zola will be staying at Victoria Road for now.

[mark wilson27]

A very good start to the season, but damn its tight up there. Fingers crossed your lot can keep the good form going (I'd like to apologize now if I have just cursed your side)

[CFuller]

23 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

A very good start to the season, but damn its tight up there. Fingers crossed your lot can keep the good form going (I'd like to apologize now if I have just cursed your side)

I have a good feeling about this season - it's certainly going well so far. If the next update is anything to go by, though, I don't think you'll need to apologise for anything! 

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2033

One of the major factors behind our excellent start was centre-back George Darvill, who had been incredible throughout August. The 20-year-old was rewarded for his impressive form with the Championship Player of the Month award.

 

Star striker Souleymane Nomaou had also been in fine fettle early in the season, scoring seven goals in as many games. His reward came in the form of a significant pay rise, and a new contract running until at least the end of next season.

 

George and Sol were among several Dagenham players who went out on international duty in early September. Matthew Fraser and Daniel O'Reilly were recalled by Scotland and the Republic of Ireland respectively, while Sol won his 40th cap for Niger. We also had FOUR players in the England Under-19s squad, including new cap Martin Thompson.

 

After the international break came a couple of away fixtures for the high-flying Daggers, the first of which was at Valley Parade. Looking to rain on our parade were Bradford City, who were 22nd after requiring seven attempts to win their first league game of the season.

 

10 September 2033: Bradford City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Bradford captain Billy Parle fired a warning shot in the first minute, narrowly clearing the crossbar from 25 yards out. A minute later, City launched their first meaningful assault on our goal. Winger Lucky Okoli skirted past Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly and cut the ball across to Robbie Cummins, who got the Bantams off to a flyer.

 

Our first attempt at an equaliser was scuffed wide by Velimir Radosavljevic in the 7th minute, but our next effort two minutes later was rather more impressive. Souleymane Nomaou drifted a crossfield ball to Shaun Powell, and the Welshman nodded it on for Robbie MacKenzie, who half-volleyed home from the edge of the Bradford area!

 

MacKenzie's first competitive goal for the Daggers blew the Valley Parade crowd away, and we were soon threatening to do the same to the Bantams. Matthew Fraser sent a free-kick inches wide in the 23rd minute, while MacKenzie and William Barnes each had efforts parried by City goalie Ronnie Glavin before the half-hour.

 

Bradford also had their moments, such as when midfielder Vinny Ardley went close to scoring from a free-kick three minutes after Fraser's effort. Cummins then fired a shot into Kieran Whalley's hands five minutes before the half ended with the scoreline still at 1-1.

 

I'd tried using wingers in the first half, but with Bradford looking marginally the better team, I decided to switch back to the diamond, which had worked wonders for us in August. Our midfield diamond immediately got to work, stroking the ball across the Bantams' half and setting up a couple of early chances.

 

In the 52nd minute, Fraser played a wonderful through-ball to Nomaou, whose shot was tipped against the post by Glavin. Bradford defender Marc Catterick hoofed the ball away, and he made another vital intervention moments later after Stipo Brkic had sent Sol through again. MacKenzie's luck also appeared to be out when he hit the side netting in the 56th minute. Two minutes after that, Robbie ran onto a sublime slide-rule pass from captain Will and lifted it beyond Glavin for his and our second goal!

 

Bradford really had to stop MacKenzie now, and left-back Daren Atkinson tried to do that when he felled the big fella with a firm sliding tackle in the 59th minute. The Scotsman was in some pain, but he wouldn't let that stop him from seeing this game through.

 

Three minutes later, it was the home fans who were wincing in agony again. Although Nomaou wouldn't continue his scoring streak here, he did set up a maiden competitive Daggers goal for Brkic, who ran onto the Nigerien's through-ball and buried it into the net. At 3-1 up, the game was almost ours.

 

O'Reilly nearly made sure of victory in the 70th minute, but Glavin tipped over his cross just before MacKenzie could nod it in for his hat-trick. The resulting Fraser corner caused a scramble in the Bantams area before Glavin caught a tame shot from Brkic.

 

Bradford were hardly troubling us now, although their players were testing the referee's patience with some rather rough tackling. They looked resigned to defeat... until a careless mistake from Dagenham right-back Arran Banton gave them a lifeline in the 84th minute. Catterick intercepted Banton's pass, which was meant for Brkic, and hoofed it long to Ardley, who slotted in the hosts' second goal.

 

We might have crumbled in that situation in the past, but this Daggers team was made of much sterner stuff. We held our nerves, and held on for a fourth successive win that took us up to the top of the Championship!

 

Bradford City - 2 (Cummins 2, Ardley 84)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (MacKenzie 9,58, Brkic 62)

Championship, Attendance 14,600 - POSITIONS: Bradford 22nd, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly (Casey), Powell (Brkic), Fraser, Barnes, Zandbergen (Hutchinson), MacKenzie, Nomaou. BOOKED: Banton, Hutchinson.

 

We had led the Championship only once before, and that was right at the start of last season. After eight games was still too early to predict a season of success for the Daggers, but this had unquestionably been our best ever start to a league campaign in the second tier.

 

Our mettle would really be tested in our next away match, which was against Cardiff City - a team that we had never previously beaten in the league. The Bluebirds were in 14th place after their first eight fixtures.

 

13 September 2033: Cardiff City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

When Cardiff defender Josh Dumphy tripped Souleymane Nomaou in the first minute, we were gifted our first chance to take the lead. William Barnes couldn't quite get his free-kick on target, but the Bluebirds had been warned.

 

When we next won a free-kick in a dangerous position after 19 minutes, we were determined to make our opponents play. Matthew Fraser did just that, curling in an excellent delivery that was nodded home from close range by Jacques Polomat.

 

We were 1-0 to the good... but would that still be the case by half-time? Cardiff tried to make sure it wouldn't be, as star man Seán Davis threatened to equalise with a 22nd-minute free-kick that Kieran Whalley did brilliantly to catch. Midfielder Will Fox failed to outfox us two minutes later with a vicious shot that soared over the bar. Whalley then saved a couple of efforts from Nicky Hargreaves and Nathan Webbe before the game took a potentially decisive turn.

 

The referee had already handed out two yellow cards - one to Barnes, and another to Dumphy - before drawing out the red card in the 41st minute. Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly took out Webbe with a two-footed challenge, and the Irishman was soon sent packing. I subsequently brought on our reserve left-back Rocco Mazzola for Barnes, and it appeared that the second half would be all about us defending our fragile lead while a man light.

 

The second half had barely started when we went agonisingly close to moving 2-0 up. Stipo Brkic threaded the ball ahead of Polomat, who burst clear and lined up an angled shot that was crucially blocked by Dumphy. The Bluebirds then flew at us with a swift counter-attack, and their left-winger Gareth Flood capped off an excellent run with a shot that Whalley had to tip over the bar!

 

Many at the Cardiff City Stadium must've been expecting the hosts to equalise sooner rather than later... but by the 49th minute, the locals had been stunned into silence! John Moser's excellent centre from the right flank was finished by Fraser, and we were two goals clear!

 

Cardiff should've pulled one goal back in the 55th minute, when Flood chipped the ball over our centre-back George Darvill and found City substitute Aristote Mbala in the Daggers area. Fortunately, the Congolese striker fired straight at Whalley. By then, the referee had dished out three more bookings, including one to Darvill.

 

Although both teams kept better control of their discipline later on, Cardiff almost fell apart in the 60th minute, as Velimir Radosavljevic went within inches of heading in a third Dagenham goal. Velimir was having another stormer for the Daggers, but one of his defensive colleagues was struggling just minutes later. Right-back Moser was badly hurt in a tackle from Flood, who burst up the flank and floated in a cross that Mbala headed into Kieran's hands. As I inexplicably didn't have a spare right-back on the bench, John had to soldier on through the pain - not that it affected our game, mind.

 

When Cardiff goalkeeper Keith Sheppard blocked a powerful drive from Polomat in the 69th minute, Nomaou rushed forward to tap in the follow-up and give us a surprise three-goal lead! The outcome was never in any more doubt after that.

 

The Bluebirds fans were already leaving the ground in their droves when Dave Hutchinson struck their crossbar in the 80th minute. Less than a minute later, compounded our hosts' misery by making it 4-0. Not long after coming on as a replacement for Moser, Zola Casey played a fabulous long ball to Fraser, who cut inside from the left and had two bites at the cherry before beating Sheppard for the second time!

 

Despite playing through the entire second half with 10 men, we'd scored three times without reply to demolish one of our bogey teams! Incredible, absolutely incredible.

 

Cardiff City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Polomat 19, Fraser 49,81, Nomaou 69)

Championship, Attendance 15,902 - POSITIONS: Cardiff 15th, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser (Casey), Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Barnes (Mazzola), Fraser, Hutchinson, Brkic, Polomat, Nomaou (Curran). BOOKED: Barnes, Darvill. SENT OFF: O'Reilly.

 

"Gentlemen, that was the performance of promotion contenders. Not many teams can recover from going a man down to win 4-0 away from home, so you can all be very proud of yourselves. If you can keep up this standard throughout the season, there's no reason why we can't be in the mix when it comes to crunch time."

 

I really was incredibly proud of my team. Those last couple of games had really stretched us to our limits, but we'd come through them and were still top of the tree. The question now was: could we stay there?

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2033 (continued)

Our first few league results had been very encouraging, but this next match would be a real 'acid test'. Coming to Victoria Road were John Sullivan's Derby County, who'd won the Championship in 2030 and 2032, and were now looking to secure yet another promotion to the Premier League. The Rams hadn't started this campaign too badly, sitting in 7th place after nine rounds.

 

Notably, this was George Darvill's 100th league appearance for Dagenham & Redbridge - at the age of just 20.

 

17 September 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Derby County

Disaster struck for the Daggers after only four minutes. Our captain William Barnes was brought down by a firm sliding tackle from Derby winger Reiss Benjamin, and it immediately became obvious that he'd seriously hurt his calf. Barnes had to come off and be replaced by Dave Hutchinson, with goalkeeper Kieran Whalley taking over the captaincy.

 

We seriously struggled without our talisman, conceding a couple of corners in the 10th and 11th minutes. Although Derby couldn't score from either of them, they would have better luck with their next attack on 15 minutes.

 

Daggers centre-back Velimir Radosavljevic tried to head away a right-wing cross from Matt Woodward, but the ball dropped back into our penalty area. Rams skipper Paul Sherwood beat our holding midfielder Tom Virgo to the ball and squared it to Woodward, who provided a simple finish for the visitors.

 

Tom shouldered much of the blame for us falling behind, and he could've made amends in the 23rd minute with a bending shot that sailed wide of the Derby goal. Save for a 42nd-minute George Darvill header that clipped the bar, we wouldn't again get close to equalising before the break. Derby were very much in control of the game, but I didn't feel the need to panic just yet.

 

We stuck with our usual game plan for the second half, and Souleymane Nomaou fizzed a long-distance shot wide nine minutes into the period. Shortly after that, Virgo was booked for pushing Derby striker Brad Gaunt. Tom was the second Dagger to receive a booking in this game after Arran Banton, who had been cautioned in the first half.

 

While our discipline was a minor concern, Gaunt could've given us a bigger problem in the 57th minute. His header from Sherwood's corner was frantically tipped behind by Whalley for another corner. Sherwood found Gaunt once again, but Matthew Fraser executed a brilliant sliding tackle to prevent the Rams legend from adding to his huge haul of Derby goals.

 

Fraser nearly increased his goal tally in the 62nd minute, but the Scottish midfielder drove his shot just over the bar, narrowly missing out on a leveller. It would be a frustrating game all round for us on the attacking front, as the likes of Robbie MacKenzie and Stipo Brkic missed further chances to peg the Rams back.

 

Stipo did force Daniel Lye into a catch in the last minute of normal time, but that would be our only shot on target, out of nine in total. With such a disappointing strike rate against a team of Derby's undoubted calibre, it was no surprise that we lost, though we did do well to keep the final score down to 1-0.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Derby County - 1 (Woodward 15)

Championship, Attendance 12,000 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Derby 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo (Powell), Fraser, Barnes (Hutchinson), Brkic, MacKenzie, Nomaou (Curran). BOOKED: Banton, Virgo, Curran.

 

Although we were still top of the table, the news regarding William Barnes' injury was potentially devastating to our promotion chances. Our skipper had torn his calf muscle and was looking at an absence of three to four months.

 

I now had to give serious thought to signing another experienced midfielder to provide cover. My first target was 30-year-old Armenian free agent Gor Arevshatyan. Unfortunately, we could not get a work permit for the former Aston Villa player.

 

There were no new additions to the Daggers squad before our home game against 12th-placed Northampton Town the following weekend. Joel Honeyball took Will's place in midfield, along with the captaincy. Left-back Daniel O'Reilly was still unavailable, having been banned for an additional two matches following his red card at Cardiff City.

 

24 September 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Northampton Town

Souleymane Nomaou and Jacques Polomat led the Dagenham frontline for this match, and they each put shots off target within the first couple of minutes. Joel Honeyball also struggled to find his range early on, missing a couple of long-distance efforts either side of the 15-minute mark. Polomat thundered another shot into the stand in the 23rd minute.

 

To our credit, we were passing the ball around smoothly and efficiently, and so it was surely only a matter of when we would create a real clear-cut chance. In the 28th minute, Tom Virgo unlocked the Northampton defence by sliding the ball to Rocco Mazzola, who powered in only his second Daggers goal! Rocco had struggled somewhat against Derby County, so this was a welcome return to form from the young Italian left-back.

 

Mazzola's goal would be all that separated the two teams at half-time, although Northampton had seriously threatened our lead in the 41st minute. Cobblers midfielder Moses Duodu flicked the ball into our six-yard box with the aim of finding striker Robbie Killick. Fortunately, Kieran Whalley read the situation perfectly, tipping the ball behind just before Killick could get his noggin to it.

 

When Joel pulled wide a great chance to double our lead on 51 minutes, some Daggers fans must have thought that was a potential tide-turner. Another big moment came less than a minute later.

 

Our usually cool centre-back Velimir Radosavljevic was dispossessed deep in his own half by Billy Quinn. Thankfully, our other centre-half George Darvill covered brilliantly, blocking the Cobblers left-winger's shot and then hoofing it up to Nomaou on the halfway line. Sol exchanged passes with Jacques before racing away and smashing in his 9th goal of the season! In a matter of seconds, we had gone from potentially losing our lead to pulling two goals clear!

 

We could've gone three up on 55 minutes, but Polomat's free-kick bounced just beyond the far post. Despite that let-off, Northampton were not playing well enough to get themselves back in the game - not even after we lost a couple of midfielders in fairly quick succession. Honeyball had to come off with a rib injury after colliding with Killick in the 67th minute, and his replacement Tyrone Sedgley lasted barely five minutes before twisting his ankle.

 

Cobblers substitute Carl Hughes had a shot saved by Whalley in the 80th minute, although the offside flag was quickly raised against him. Northampton wouldn't register a single legitimate shot on target in this game, and they would end it by conceding again in injury time. Nomaou set up a 93rd-minute finish for Polomat, who secured our third 3-0 home win of the season and kept us at the Championship summit!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Mazzola 28, Nomaou 52, Polomat 90)

Northampton Town - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,878 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Northampton 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton (Pearson), Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo, Honeyball (Sedgley (Curran)), Fraser, Brkic, Polomat, Nomaou.

 

The wins were piling up, and so were the injuries. Tyrone Sedgley would miss at least the next three weeks with a twisted ankle, while Joel Honeyball was ruled out for six with fractured ribs.

 

I now had little choice but to turn to the loan market for a new midfielder. Ivan Hlinka - a hard-grafting Slovakian defensive midfielder who was just days short of his 30th birthday - came in on loan from Sheffield United for three months.

 

Hlinka wasn't fit enough to start straight away when we travelled to Notts County, though he was likely to make his debut from the substitutes' bench. In the absence of Messrs Barnes, Honeyball and O'Reilly, goalkeeper Kieran Whalley made his first competitive start as captain.

 

27 September 2033: Notts County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Leon Curran made his first Daggers start on the left wing, but a slack pass from the summer signing allowed Notts County to attack us in the very first minute. 20-year-old Magpies striker Leigh Leggitt made an excellent solo run towards goal before teeing up John Powell, whose shot was pushed away by Dagenham keeper Kieran Whalley. Powell's next attempt in the second minute missed the target, while Mike Barnes scooped his first effort over the bar in the third.

 

We started attacking County in the 8th minute, when Souleymane Nomaou was denied by a fine save from goalie Brandon Turner. Nomaou got to the rebound, but he was brought down by Magpies full-back Bradley Walker before he could cross it back into a dangerous position. The referee pointed to the spot - penalty to the Daggers! Up stepped Matthew Fraser, who had never missed a spot-kick for Dagenham... until Turner guessed correctly and tipped his effort away!

 

Matthew looked utterly dejected, and things would go from bad to worse for him after 14 minutes. Fraser appeared to have left his brain in a jar when, deep in Daggers territory, he scuffed a horrendous pass to Barnes. The striker responded with a powerful finish, and we were a goal behind!

 

Notts County would remain in control for much of the first half, with Powell going close to half-volleying in a second goal on 22 minutes. Six minutes later, Whalley needed to make a determined block to keep Leggitt off the scoresheet. In the 34th minute, though, Fraser nearly made amends for his earlier mistakes. He set up a great chance for Robbie MacKenzie to equalise for the Daggers, but Turner turned the big man's shot behind, and we would remain 1-0 down at the interval.

 

Fraser was determined to bounce back after the interval, and he won a corner in the 49th minute after his free-kick deflected behind off the Notts County wall. Sadly, Matthew's corner went to waste after Velimir Radosavljevic scuffed it into Turner's hands.

 

We tried our luck again on 51 minutes, but Turner thwarted us once again, tipping substitute Jacques Polomat's shot against the crossbar before County centre-back Warren Hilton removed the danger. Hilton would be a constant thorn in our attackers' sides throughout this match.

 

Leggitt was also a menace at the other end, as Whalley had to make another save from his header in the 54th minute. Kieran faced a couple more tests midway through the half, and his heroics prevented either Barnes or Jonathan Allan from adding to our arrears. Shortly after that latter save, I took off a tiring Fraser and gave Ivan Hlinka his Dagenham debut.

 

Hlinka wouldn't make much impact in this game, but our other two subs each threatened to stamp their marks on proceedings late on. Polomat had a shot saved by Turner in the 81st minute, as did left-winger Lars Zandbergen three minutes from time.

 

Our star performer at Meadow Lane was midfielder Tom Virgo, whose strong tackling and excellent passing arguably kept us in contention right up until the end. Alas, it wasn't enough to win us any points. We suffered our first away defeat of the season and slipped to 3rd place, behind both Derby County and Rochdale.

 

Notts County - 1 (Barnes 14)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 7,530 - POSITIONS: Notts County 12th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Powell, Fraser (Hlinka), Virgo, Curran (Zandbergen), MacKenzie, Nomaou (Polomat). BOOKED: Darvill.

 

Well, I suppose that every top player has a bad day every now and then. That was clearly Matthew Fraser's.

 

It had also been a day to forget for our leading striker Souleymane Nomaou, who would miss our next couple of matches with a bruised shin. With the Championship's two big-spenders next up on our itinerary, things could yet go very wrong for us very quickly.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of September 2033)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  12    8     1     3     12    4     +8    25
2.          Rochdale               12    7     3     2     15    9     +6    24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Dag & Red              12    7     2     3     23    9     +14   23
4.          Crewe                  12    6     4     2     15    9     +6    22
5.          Aston Villa            12    7     1     4     21    17    +4    22
6.          Sunderland             12    5     5     2     28    14    +14   20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Leeds                  12    6     2     4     18    9     +9    20
8.          Sheff Utd              12    6     1     5     19    16    +3    19
9.          Plymouth               12    5     4     3     19    16    +3    19
10.         Reading                12    6     1     5     16    16    0     19
11.         Blackburn              12    5     3     4     16    12    +4    18
12.         Notts County           12    5     2     5     14    14    0     17
13.         Ipswich                12    4     4     4     17    18    -1    16
14.         Northampton            12    5     1     6     9     15    -6    16
15.         Wrexham                12    5     0     7     16    21    -5    15
16.         Cardiff                12    4     3     5     12    17    -5    15
17.         Coventry               12    4     2     6     15    15    0     14
18.         Crystal Palace         12    4     2     6     13    16    -3    14
19.         Bradford               12    3     4     5     17    22    -5    13
20.         Doncaster              12    4     1     7     11    18    -7    13
21.         Luton                  12    3     3     6     12    20    -8    12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Charlton               12    3     2     7     8     19    -11   11
23.         Wigan                  12    2     4     6     12    16    -4    10
24.         Peterborough           12    2     1     9     10    26    -16   7

 

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2033

No fewer than three Dagenham players took home awards when the Championship's monthly honours for September were announced. Velimir Radosavljevic claimed the star prize of Player of the Month, which the other half of our centre-back 'dream team' - George Darvill - had won in August. This time around, George would have to settle with 'merely' being named Young Player of the Month.

 

Robbie MacKenzie was also celebrating, having won the Goal of the Month award for his stunning first strike at Bradford City. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it a Daggers clean sweep with the Manager of the Month accolade - that went to Daniel Philliskirk of Plymouth Argyle instead.

 

September had been sensational for us, but we would face several very difficult obstacles in October. First up were Coventry City, who'd spent no fewer than £19million on new players since winning the League One title earlier this year. Although their Argentine multi-millionaire owner Federico Chiaraviglio was stopping at nothing to try and take Coventry into the Premier League, the Sky Blues were currently only good enough for 17th place.

 

I made a number of changes to my starting XI before we hosted Coventry. The most significant was that Darvill was dropped to the bench after starting our first 12 league games, with Zola Casey given a chance to impress at centre-back alongside Radosavljevic. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Tristan Egueh replaced the injured Souleymane Nomaou up front, loanee Ivan Hlinka made his first start, and Daniel O'Reilly captained the side on his return from suspension.

 

1 October 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Coventry City

Another player who came into our starting XI was teenage midfielder Dave Hutchinson. In the second minute, Hutch tried to drill a shot towards goal, only for Coventry defender Gregor Couston to prod it clear. That was the only time we would threaten to score in a cagey opening half-hour.

 

The Sky Blues were only slightly more threatening going forward, winning a couple of corners before winger Louis Hogan got their first shot on target in the 21st minute. Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley stuck out a leg to divert that shot away from goal. Whalley was next tested in the 32nd minute, when he pushed away an attempt from Coventry midfielder Andrew Kirkbride before Zola Casey knocked the ball behind. Two minutes later, Daggers forward Tristan Egueh hit a long-distance shot that was hopeful at best and drifted well wide.

 

The first half was heading for an anti-climax when Tristan got another chance in injury time. Egueh broke through the City defence to pick up a pass from Jacques Polomat and clinically dispatched the ball into the net from just outside the penalty area! Would that goal swing the game firmly in our favour?

 

Coventry captain Edwin Day had scored 13 goals in all competitions thus far this season, but he wouldn't add to his tally at Victoria Road. After picking up a knock in the 50th minute, the former Sheffield Wednesday striker hobbled through the next few minutes and was then substituted. Ex-Middlesbrough frontman Calum Black - another major new signing at City - came on in Day's place but failed to make his mark.

 

Indeed, it was midfielder Terry Dawson who went closest to drawing the Sky Blues in the 77th minute. He fizzed a piledriver inches wide of goal following a rare miscued clearance from Casey, who was otherwise outstanding at the back for us.

 

On 84 minutes, Egueh missed the target with his final chance before being replaced with Shaun Powell. The Welshman would cause Coventry a major problem four minutes into his cameo.

 

Powell had just latched onto Fraser's pass into the City area when he was felled by centre-back Neal Moody - the Sky Blues' most expensive summer purchase, at £4.4million from Hull City. Moody's foul would be almost as costly as himself. Fraser banished the memory of his missed penalty four days earlier by thundering home this spot-kick and wrapping up a 2-0 win for the Daggers!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Egueh 45, Fraser pen88)

Coventry City - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,600 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Coventry 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Radosavljevic, Casey, O'Reilly, Hlinka (Virgo), Fraser, Hutchinson, Brkic, Polomat (MacKenzie), Egueh (Powell).

 

That win put us back in the automatic promotion places, and all was well again... until a grumpy Scotsman ruined my Monday afternoon.

 

On the eve of our next away game, goalkeeper Euan Duncan complained that he hadn't been given any league time since his summer move from Dundee United. I told Euan that Kieran Whalley was in fine form and wasn't going to be dropped for the time being, but that only served to rile our second-choice goalie further.

 

Duncan immediately went off on one and demanded to be transferred to another club. I dismissed his transfer request out of hand and then laid down the law.

 

For the next three months, the 26-year-old keeper would be forced to train with the Under-18s, and he wouldn't be getting ANY game time at all - not even for the reserves. Duncan also wouldn't be loaned out, so he couldn't even think about playing football again until January! He's about to find out that NOBODY messes with Christopher Fuller.

 

Funnily enough, our next opponents were one of Euan's former clubs - big-spending Rochdale, who went up via the League One play-offs last season. Fans of the Mancunian club, bankrolled by Slovakian business tycoon Adrian Roznik, were dreaming of Premier League football after their team made a blistering start to the Championship campaign. The Dale were leading the way, sitting a single point ahead of us before our visit to Spotland.

 

4 October 2033: Rochdale vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Rochdale showed their intent in the second minute, when midfielder Liam Lewis intercepted a slack early pass from our captain Daniel O'Reilly. Lewis swung the ball to former Stoke City and Reading striker Billy Murphy, who sent his skipper Garry Swan through on goal. The Spotland fans' favourite would surely have scored had Kieran Whalley not pushed his shot away just in time.

 

Whalley covered himself in rather less glory in the fourth minute, when Dale midfielder Isaac Laurent's header from outside our penalty area looped over him an into the net. We were thankful that the referee ruled that goal out after accusing Swan of unfairly impeding on Kieran. Rochdale found the net again four minutes later... and this time, Murphy's volley from an excellent Swan cross was allowed to stand.

 

Matthew Fraser put the hosts' lead under pressure on 13 minutes, when his curler forced former Manchester United goalkeeper Luke Malone into a catch. Rochdale would strengthen their fragile position in the 19th minute. Swan was the architect of another goal, as on-loan Stoke City defender Will Harrington nodded his free-kick over Whalley and into the target. Our gameplan was falling apart in front of my eyes.

 

A 3-0 deficit looked likely when Murphy got his head to another dangerous Swan cross on 26 minutes, but Kieran got his palms to the shot before Zola Casey hacked it away. Four minutes later, O'Reilly went close to halving our deficit with a piledriver that should have got us back in the running. By the 36th minute, we were fortunate not to be completely out of it.

 

Rochdale's other centre-half Andrei Isache rattled the bar with another header from yet another fantastic Swan set-piece. Mind you, the Romanian was fractionally offside, so any goal would have been disallowed anyway. At the half-time break, the Dale were still leading 2-0.

 

I switched to a 3-5-2 formation in the second half, in a bid to quieten Rochdale's fearsome forward duo of Murphy and Swan. It was Laurent who provided the biggest threat to us early in the period, but the Belgian midfielder scuffed wide a half-volley from Isache's corner in the 48th minute.

 

At the other end, Fraser miscued a couple of Dagenham shots from distance before the hour mark. Matthew's corners would give the Dale plenty to think about midway through the period. Unfortunately, neither Robbie MacKenzie nor Ivan Hlinka could capitalise on his deliveries, as they both headed wide.

 

Fraser was continuing to give his all, but another usually dependable Dagger was beginning to waver. In the 75th minute, Whalley spilled a powerful shot from Swan and needed Velimir Radosavljevic to put the ball behind before the Dale skipper could pounce. About two minutes later, Whalley came well out of his six-yard box and fumbled a long ball from Rochdale right-back Tsvetomir Apostolov. This time, there was nobody to bail him out, as Swan curled the ball into the net and gave the Dale an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

 

Substitute Leon Curran did give us a small crumb of comfort with five minutes remaining, drilling in a consolation strike. Nevertheless, this was still our worst defeat of the campaign so far.

 

Rochdale - 3 (Murphy 8, Harrington 19, Swan 77)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Curran 85)

Championship, Attendance 8,281 - POSITIONS: Rochdale 1st, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Casey (Darvill), O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser, Hlinka (Moser), Brkic, MacKenzie, Egueh (Curran). BOOKED: Hlinka.

 

That was our first defensive disaster - and our first serious reality check - of the season. We may have made an excellent start, but Rochdale were clearly a cut above us. I would be very surprised if they did not make their Premier League debut next term.

 

Thanks to the upcoming international break, we now had the best part of a fortnight to regroup before returning to league action. As is typical for us nowadays, some of our players went away to represent their countries. Among them was George Darvill, who was part of the England Under-21s squad that unfortunately lost to France in their European Championship qualifying play-off.

 

I was also rather busy during this break from domestic action. For starters, I signed 24-year-old goalkeeper Elliot Morris on a three-month loan from Blackburn Rovers. We had to pay Blackburn a little under £50,000 to bring in someone who would only really serve as backup to Kieran Whalley, but the fee was rather insignificant.

 

Meanwhile, I began looking for another management job. Although I was still very happy working as Dagenham & Redbridge manager and had no desire to leave that post, I also wanted a new secondary challenge - in international football.

 

You see, I had always wanted to manage a team at a major international football tournament staged in my home country. With just two-and-a-half years to go until England hosted the 2036 UEFA European Championship, I felt that this was perhaps my last chance to fulfil that dream.

 

After seeking approval from chairman Neil Booth, I was given the go-ahead to begin my search for a second job.

 

For obvious reasons, there was no chance of me ousting Nemanja Covic from the role of managing defending world and European champions England. The other 'Home Nations' and the Republic of Ireland were also standing by their current managers, so I would have to look to continental Europe for an international job.

 

I expressed interest in three different national team coaching roles that were about to be vacated. Austria were not interested in me at all, but the Football Associations of Iceland and Norway each offered to interview me via videophone.

 

The interviews were somewhat stressful, but I'd say they went rather well. In fact, on the Friday evening before my Daggers played their next league game, I was formally offered one of those vacant positions.

 

A management career that had begun at non-league Romford two decades earlier was about to go international...

[neilhoskins77]

Excellent! I'm quite fond of a bit of International management as you may have noticed. Be interested to see how you get on with one of those nations Mr Fuller.

[mark wilson27]

Good luck with International management CFuller. It's always good fun managing a nation, I'm betting on Iceland

[CFuller]

2 hours ago, neilhoskins77 said:

Excellent! I'm quite fond of a bit of International management as you may have noticed. Be interested to see how you get on with one of those nations Mr Fuller.

Club management may be the bread and butter of Football Manager, but as far as I'm concerned, international management is the pinnacle.

My most enjoyable CM/FM career before this one was with England in CM99/00. I won the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, and got to the 2010 World Cup qualifiers when my trusty old computer finally gave in. I still have the hard drive that contains the save file, and I keep meaning to send it off to a data recovery service but haven't really got round to it. One day I will. One day.

1 hour ago, mark wilson27 said:

Good luck with International management CFuller. It's always good fun managing a nation, I'm betting on Iceland

I'll tell you now that I preferred the Iceland job over the Norway job... but I went with whoever offered me the managerial position first. You'll find out the answer tomorrow.

Now... a new job means a new story, which I will publish at some point tomorrow. I'm still not sure whether I should reveal my new job in the next chapter of this story before I publish the new story, or vice versa.

[neilhoskins77]

A big reveal is a good way to start off a new story I think if you have that option, so I would say post the new one, and then continue with this one a little while later. Looking forward to seeing how the two stories link up.

[CFuller]

11 minutes ago, neilhoskins77 said:

A big reveal is a good way to start off a new story I think if you have that option, so I would say post the new one, and then continue with this one a little while later. Looking forward to seeing how the two stories link up.

That sounds good.

I'll get the new story up and running tomorrow morning, and then I'll continue this one in the evening (if I remember, of course. Other FM story projects have tended to play havoc with my memory recently ).

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2033 (continued)

I'll admit that I struggled to keep my big news secret on Saturday, when Dagenham & Redbridge welcomed 10th-placed Sheffield United to Victoria Road. My assistant Fabio Saraiva as concerned that I didn't appear as focused as usual, but I reassured him that my mind was fully on this match and nothing else.

 

15 October 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Sheffield United

Souleymane Nomaou was back in our starting line-up after missing our last couple of games with a shin injury. Sadly, his return lasted less than ten minutes before he picked up a knock in a challenge from Sheffield United defender Lloyd Watts. As a result, Leon Curran had to come off the bench to partner Jacques Polomat up front.

 

Polomat had a good chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute, but his powerful strike was well saved by Ross Archer. The Blades goalkeeper produced more heroics in the 18th minute, denying Daniel O'Reilly a goal after our skipper ran onto a through-ball from Curran. Stipo Brkic tried his luck on 21 minutes, but he couldn't get anywhere near the visitors' target.

 

The Blades sharpened up their act briefly after the half-hour mark, with on-loan Empoli striker Jacopo Aletti having a couple of pops at our goal. One of them was caught by Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley, who otherwise had very little to do. Sheffield United's bright spell ended rather quickly, and we would move ahead of them on 39 minutes. Polomat's strong start to the campaign continued with a clever assist for Curran, who powered the ball past Archer for 1-0!

 

Our two forwards linked up again four minutes later, but Jacques pulled wide a shot from Leon's slide-rule ball. Not to worry, though, as Polomat did find the net in injury time, taking advantage of some sloppy Blades defending to hand us a two-goal advantage!

 

If Polomat had run the show in the first half, the second period was all about Brkic. Stipo started the half off by setting up a 50th-minute chance for Daniel, who sadly pulled his shot past the far post.

 

Three minutes after that came a truly magical move from our Danish attacking midfielder. After Arran Banton tackled United middleman Karl Kéita deep in our half, Matthew Fraser moved the ball on to Brkic, who fearlessly ran at the visitors until he was near the corner of the penalty area. Stipo then chipped a delicate pass towards Leon, who struck the far post before finishing the rebound! Daggers fans rejoiced as we went 3-0 ahead and edged closer to our sixth victory in eight home league games!

 

With Sheffield United looking low on confidence, we could take our foot off the accelerator for what remained of this match. Curran would go on to win the man of the match award, though Polomat would arguably have beaten Leon to it had he joined him on two goals. His best chance to do that was blocked by Watts in the 68th minute.

 

Travelling Blades fans would be relieved that their side didn't concede again - indeed, they would have a goal to celebrate in the 88th minute. Daggers defender George Darvill temporarily lost his focus, allowing United forward Cameron Bagshaw's header to be powered home by Aaron Byrne. Sheffield United then threatened to score a second goal on the counter in the final minute, but Whalley's catch from Simon Blackler rubber-stamped our victory.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Curran 39,53, Polomat 45)

Sheffield United - 1 (Byrne 88)

Championship, Attendance 11,919 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Sheff Utd 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Banton, O'Reilly (Mazzola), Fraser (Hutchinson), Virgo, Brkic, Polomat, Nomaou (Curran).

 

Once we returned to the dressing room after the final whistle, I decided that I couldn't keep my players in the dark any longer.

 

"Guys, there's something important I have to talk to you about," I began. "I won't be around tomorrow or Monday, as I'll be abroad on business. It'll be in the news very soon, so I thought I'd tell you before the press do.

 

"I'm taking on another job - an international job. But don't worry - it's part-time, so I'm not going anywhere. I am not leaving Dagenham. I still enjoy working with you lot, and I think that we're on the cusp of something incredible, but this new challenge is something that I can't refuse.

 

"Because of this second job, I'm obviously not going to be here all of the time anymore, especially not doing international breaks. That doesn't mean that I am any less determined to take this great club to the next level.

 

"You've started this season brilliantly. If you can keep this up, who knows where we'll end up?"

 

After that speech, some of the players applauded me and congratulated me on my new job. With their backing, I knew that I could handle working for a club and a national team at the same time.

 

On Sunday morning, I flew out from Heathrow Airport to Oslo, where I met the President of the Norwegian Football Federation to finalise a deal that would see me become Norway's national team manager. I agreed a £4,400-per-week contract that would run until the end of UEFA Euro 2036, with the option of continuing for an additional two years until the 2038 FIFA World Cup.

 

I was then formally presented on Monday afternoon as Norway's first foreign national coach since 1988, and the first Englishman to hold that role since 1974. I also conducted my first press conference - in English. My grasp of the local language was almost non-existent, but that was okay, as Norwegians have a propensity to speak in my native tongue - and quite fluently, I may add.

 

After my Norway unveiling, I took part in further interviews with a couple of national TV stations. Once all that business was done, I was on the next flight back to London. My first international game wouldn't be until the end of February, so I could now focus fully on Dagenham for the next four months.

 

My first Daggers game since taking on this additional job was at the Madejski Stadium against Reading. The Royals had never beaten us in the league and were in 11th place.

 

18 October 2033: Reading vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We gave Reading a sense of what we could do on the counter-attack in the second minute. Stipo Brkic spotted Souleymane Nomaou making a run into space and set up a chance that the Nigerien striker drove wide. Our opponents' first pop at goal was also a disappointing one, as left-winger Peter Edwards' 7th-minute was too tame to seriously trouble Kieran Whalley.

 

In the 10th minute, Royals goalkeeper Kaloyan Tunchev had to come off his line and push away a powerful shot from Daggers forward Jacques Polomat. Tunchev would be under real pressure to make another big save three minutes later. Sol won us a penalty after Reading midfielder Joe Lawlor took him own just inside the Royals' area. Matthew Fraser stepped up to face Tunchev from 12 yards out... and he calmly drilled his penalty beyond the Bulgarian's reach to give us the advantage!

 

Reading pressed forward again in the 15th minute, but a solid catch from Kieran ensured that Nick Hutchings wouldn't head in a swift equaliser. A minute later, Polomat ran through a flimsy Royals offside trap and attempted to chip the ball over Tunchev, only to send it inches over the crossbar. Jacques cleared the bar again in the 20th minute, this time from a free-kick.

 

Ivan Hlinka was also off target for the Daggers in the 29th minute before Reading finished the half with a number of promising attacking moves. On 33 minutes, Edwards tried to nod Nolan Barber's right-wing cross in from a tight angle, but he couldn't quite get the better of Whalley. Ivor Boyce and Mick Roberts also spurned opportunities for the Royals before the half-time whistle blew with us still fractionally ahead.

 

Reading manager James Chester brought on a couple of substitutes at half-time, and one of them - Danny Ceciliano - would send a volley well wide in the first minute of the second period. I also made two changes in personnel before the restart, taking off Velimir Radosavljevic - whose poor passing was hindering an otherwise watertight Dagenham defence - and Polomat. On came Zola Casey and Leon Curran, the latter of whom was looking to score for a third consecutive match.

 

Leon's big moment came when he ran onto a flick-on from Sol in the 64th minute, but Tunchev brilliantly tipped over the Antiguan's half-volley. Tunchev had surprisingly been picked ahead of regular Royals number 1 Davor Gligic, but he was showing here that he was a fine keeper in his own right. Another strong catch in the 76th minute denied Fraser a second dead-ball goal via a free-kick.

 

As full-time drew nearer, fears grew that we might not hold onto our lead. Then, with barely three minutes remaining, my third substitute - midfielder Tom Virgo - hoisted the ball ahead of Nomaou. Sol raced away from Royals defender Max Sharp to go one-on-one with Tunchev, who parried his shot back towards him. Nomaou then got to the byline and drilled the ball across the Reading goalmouth, where captain Daniel O'Reilly poked it home and secured a 2-0 away win for the Daggers!

 

Reading - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Fraser pen13, O'Reilly 88)

Championship, Attendance 10,540 - POSITIONS: Reading 15th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Darvill, Radosavljevic (Casey), Banton, O'Reilly, Fraser, Hlinka, Brkic (Virgo), Polomat (Curran), Nomaou.

 

We were now over a third of the way through the season, and we were back in 2nd place, behind only an increasingly dominant Rochdale side. Talk of promotion was still premature, but there was little to suggest that we would be dropping off the pace any time soon.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2033 (continued)

The DW Stadium was our next destination as the second-from-top Daggers played second-from-bottom Wigan Athletic. Wigan had just been promoted back to the Championship after a single season in League One, but ongoing financial issues were hampering the Latics' attempts to consolidate their second-tier status.

 

22 October 2033: Wigan Athletic vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Wigan goalkeeper Dimitris Kalyvas was forced into action twice in the first seven minutes, saving efforts from Stipo Brkic and Jacques Polomat. Those two same Dagenham midfielders also linked up to create a great scoring chance in the fifth minute. Polomat pounced on an underhit pass from young Wigan middleman Andreas Ilia and took the ball to the byline before crossing to Brkic. Unfortunately, Stipo's diving header went just beyond the far post.

 

The Latics showed their attacking threat on 11 minutes, as Tunisian winger Abdelkrim Hamrouni's long-range strike was caught by Kieran Whalley. On the opposite wing was Wigan captain Thomas Potter, who sent a volley inches wide in the 13th minute.

 

The next big moment came when we unsuccessfully claimed for a penalty in the 19th minute after Latics centre-back Cyril Wood outmuscled Ivan Hlinka and headed Brkic's corner clear. Five minutes after that, the hosts' other centre-half, Marius Pricop, clashed with Polomat in the Wigan penalty area. Jacques damaged his elbow in the collision, and though he tried to play on, I decided to take him off just after the half-hour. The Frenchman would not return to action until mid-November.

 

Despite losing Polomat, we continued to pose our opponents a real threat when going forward. In the 37th minute, shortly after Leon Curran was denied by a save from Kalyvas, our other frontman Souleymane Nomaou ripped the Latics open. Sol cut the ball across their penalty box, and Ivan was on hand to prod in his first Daggers goal!

 

In the 44th minute, though, Wigan looked set to cancel Hlinka's strike out. That was until George Darvill heroically cleared a Potter centre just before Jon Wilcox could tuck it into the back of our net.

 

The Latics would put our defence under further pressure in the second period. Three minutes after the restart, Wilcox struck the ball on the half-volley and was thwarted by a superb reflex save from Whalley. Wigan right-back Nathan Barton did beat Kieran with an ambitious shot from distance in the 61st minute... but the crossbar saved us, deflecting the ball away.

 

Whalley would be back to his best by the 65th minute. When it looked like Shaun Wilkinson was about to power the ball home for Athletic, Kieran pushed the ball behind for a corner. Darvill's clearance from Chris Barnard's delivery was not great, but Wilkinson's subsequent header at goal was just as disappointing from a Wigan perspective.

 

Another big miss, at the other end, came from the feet of Nomaou in the 70th minute. Sol did the hard work by turning past Pricop and finding space in the Latics area, but he pulled his drive into the sponsor boards. Although Nomaou fared slightly better with a shot that was saved by Kalyvas in the 73rd minute, this would be his fourth successive Daggers game without a goal. He would later be replaced with Shaun Powell, whose first significant contribution was to strike the post after 82 minutes.

 

It would also be a frustrating day for Leon, who had a couple of excellent shots saved by Kalyvas in the 85th and 86th minutes. I'd lost count of the number of clear-cut chances we'd missed... and by the 88th minute, we'd lost two of our three points. Potter skipped past Daggers right-back John Moser and crossed to Wilcox, who flicked a header over Whalley and salvaged a barely-deserved draw for the Latics. Ouch.

 

Wigan Athletic - 1 (Wilcox 88)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hlinka 37)

Championship, Attendance 9,798 - POSITIONS: Wigan 23rd, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Casey, Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo, Brkic, Hlinka (Banton), Polomat (Hutchinson), Curran, Nomaou (Powell).

 

The full extent of Wigan Athletic's financial problems became clear the very next day. Administrators were called in at the DW Stadium, and Wigan were given a 10-point deduction that left them rock-bottom of the Championship. They would do very well to stay up now.

 

We weren't really worrying about events at the bottom of the table, as we were looking up - and looking ahead to arguably our toughest challenge yet.

 

Recently-relegated Sunderland arrived at Victoria Road with by far the most impressive attacking record in the division. In just 17 games, they'd already scored 39 goals, 18 of which had come from former Wales striker Andrew McCarthy. The Mackems' defence wasn't particularly great, hence they were only in 6th place, but they would leapfrog us with a win here.

 

25 October 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Sunderland

Sunderland captain Douglas Festa gave us a real scare in the fifth minute, flighting a free-kick just wide of goal after his team-mate Andrew McCarthy had been upended by Velimir Radosavljevic. Moments later, the Venezuelan midfielder won the ball with a firm tackle on our young anchorman Tom Virgo, who had to come off briefly for treatment as a result.

 

The Black Cats caused us another problem in the 11th minute. Striker Dave Alcock tried to drill the ball into our six-yard box, but Velimir cleared the danger just before McCarthy could get to it. Five minutes later, a clever one-two between Wes Franks and Alcock ended with Franks firing a shot inches wide. On-loan Arsenal winger Franks couldn't get near the target with his next effort in the 22nd minute.

 

Virgo gave Sunderland their first test six minutes later, striking a 30-yarder that was well blocked by Enrique Meza. The experienced Paraguayan caught another long-distance attempt in the 30th minute, this time from Robbie MacKenzie. A sloppy long pass from Franks just moments earlier had given us the opportunity to launch an attack, but the 21-year-old would later make up for his almost costly mistake.

 

We wasted a few more shots at goal before Arran Banton's foul on Sunderland left-winger Branko Petravic gave away a free-kick to the Black Cats. Czech midfielder Jakub Pacak pumped the set-piece into our area, and Franks nodded it home to give the visitors a narrow half-time advantage.

 

I told my players during the break that we had to keep the ball as much as possible if we were to launch a comeback. They took my advice to heart early in the second period, shortening their passing and frustrating the hosts as much as possible.

 

Another promising sign came when Matthew Fraser's direct free-kick in the 53rd minute prompted Meza to make a save. Fraser would level the scores three minutes later from another free-kick... but he was on the receiving end of a fantastic delivery by Robbie MacKenzie, which he slid past Meza!

 

Matthew's confidence grew after that, and Meza did well to deny him a second goal on 59 minutes. While our gameplan was coming together, Sunderland's was falling apart. McCarthy was subbed just after the hour mark, having failed to register a single shot at goal. Dave Blake replaced him, but the Manchester United loanee would also be starved of openings by a typically solid Dagenham defence.

 

Another striker who was struggling was our own leading scorer Nomaou, who made way for Daggers first-team debutant Christophe Smith on 64 minutes. Another of our best young talents had our last chance to win the game in the 76th minute. Sadly, Dave Hutchinson couldn't get his first-time shot on target after captain Daniel O'Reilly's cross had been scuffed away by Sunderland's former Arsenal midfielder Keorapetse Zulu. Neither team could summon up enough energy to attack again afterwards, and so this match ended with the points being shared.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Fraser 56)

Sunderland - 1 (Franks 42)

Championship, Attendance 12,000 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Sunderland 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser, Hlinka (Hutchinson), Brkic (Powell), MacKenzie, Nomaou (Smith).

 

I was content with a draw in that game, but I wouldn't feel that way if we couldn't beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The 16th-placed Eagles had won just twice since the start of September.

 

29 October 2033: Crystal Palace vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham left-winger Leon Curran was unfortunate not to open the scoring after three minutes, when his fierce curler was tipped behind the Crystal Palace goal by Jemel Hull. Leon was thwarted again another three minutes later, this time by some brave defending from the Eagles. Curran almost got to Dave Hutchinson's centre across the Palace box, but right-back Anthony Ferdinand made a vital intervention before Bob Cairns scrambled the ball away.

 

The hosts' first opportunity to strike would come in the 11th minute, after striker Duncan Roberts was tripped just outside our 'D' by George Darvill. John Haslam dispatched the free-kick goalwards but couldn't hit the target. His midfield colleague Andy Oliver was similarly wasteful in the 32nd minute, as the 18-year-old's lack of experience showed after Dagenham captain Daniel O'Reilly's poor clearance gifted him a chance.

 

A tough game for Oliver got worse when the rookie was booked for tripping Fraser three minutes from half-time. Oliver was one of two players that Crystal Palace manager Rio Ferdinand would substitute at the end of a goalless first period.

 

In contrast to Ferdinand, I kept my substitutions in reserve. I also kept faith in Robbie MacKenzie, even after the big Scotsman met O'Reilly's 48th-minute cross with an awfully miscued header that went well wide.

 

Three minutes later, a Crystal Palace counter-attack prompted some panic in our defence. Roberts evaded a slide tackle from Darvill and played a series of passes with teenage strike partner Julio César Andrade before drilling the ball towards goal. Kieran Whalley had to fully stretch his right arm to claw away Roberts' shot.

 

At the other end, Matthew drove a 55th-minute shot into the hands of Palace goalkeeper Hull, who also thwarted Shaun Powell and Hutchinson within the next ten minutes. We were certainly having plenty of chances, but 17-year-old frontman Tristan Egueh was hardly involved at all.

 

Tristan was replaced with 20 minutes to go by the more experienced Souleymane Nomaou, who tried to rediscover his scoring touch in the 85th minute. Stipo Brkic found Nomaou with an excellent pass into the Eagles' area, but Hull parried Sol's shot, and we were kept at bay.

 

Our defence did likewise to Crystal Palace's attackers, though we did have one massive scare in injury time. Roberts got behind Radosavljevic and pounced on an underhit backpass by the Serbian centre-back, but Kieran spared Velimir's blushes by blocking the striker's shot! We'd narrowly avoided a potentially embarrassing defeat, but a 0-0 draw was still not an ideal result for us.

 

Crystal Palace - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 13,910 - POSITIONS: Crystal Palace 16th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Darvill, Radosavljevic, O'Reilly, Powell (Brkic), Fraser, Hutchinson, Curran (Virgo), MacKenzie, Egueh (Nomaou).

 

Three successive draws have kept us in the automatic promotion spots, but Rochdale are now pulling away at the top. Indeed, the top half as a whole has tightened up, meaning that a sudden slump in November could bump us out of the top six altogether. We've got to hold our nerve.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2033

I received some good news at the start of November, as the board agreed to my request to expand our youth recruitment network. Our youth academy has produced some gems over the last few years, including a certain George Darvill, but I still felt we were losing out on even better talents to local rivals. Hopefully, things will now improve for us on that front.

 

As far as the senior team was concerned, we started November with a couple of home games, the first of which was against Leeds United. The Whites were four points behind us, but they had a game in hand, so it was vital that we didn't lose to them.

 

2 November 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Leeds United

Daggers right-back Arran Banton made a promising move towards the Leeds goal in the second minute before pulling a shot just wide. United had their first scoring chance in the ninth minute, when Bozenko Mikulic headed Keith Corcoran's free-kick narrowly over. Two minutes after that, Daggers midfielder Stipo Brkic sent a powerful piledriver high and wide. Brkic then pulled up, and so he had to come off to receive some treatment on his thigh.

 

Thankfully, Stipo's injury turned out to be minor, and he swiftly returned to action. In the 20th minute, Brkic played a clever backheel to Matthew Fraser, who then found Daniel O'Reilly making a run into space. Unfortunately, Daniel's strike thundered off the post.

 

Dagenham frontmen Souleymane Nomaou and Leon Curran both sent shots off target shortly afterwards, though they would each give Whites goalkeeper Nathan Thomas sterner tests later in the first half. A couple of brilliant saves from Thomas ensured that the match would remain goalless at the break.

 

Our attacking fortunes didn't improve after the restart. George Darvill flicked Fraser's corner over the bar in the 47th minute. In the 51st, Fraser set up a chance for Stipo that Thomas pushed away.

 

Matthew was in magnificent form in midfield, so it was no surprise that he also created our best scoring opportunity of the entire game. On 54 minutes, the Scotsman nodded Thomas' goal kick back into the Leeds area and ahead of Nomaou. Sol got to the loose ball before United defender Mike Goodwin and raced away, only to blast it over the crossbar.

 

It was Goodwin who arguably had Leeds' best effort in the 57th minute, but his header from Corcoran's free-kick into the Daggers area was caught by Kieran Whalley. That chance was followed by a couple of away bookings - for midfielder Andry Mellor and left-back Lewis West.

 

The game then became a bit stale for a while until the 77th minute. Daggers vice-captain Joel Honeyball - making his comeback from injury as a substitute for Brkic - ran at the United defence and then chipped the ball in front of Nomaou. Alas, Sol couldn't send his diving header beyond Thomas, who made a comfortable catch and remained unbeaten. Despite having three times as many shots as our opponents, not to mention the lion's share of possession, we would end up with yet another draw.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Leeds United - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,750 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Leeds 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Casey, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Hlinka, Fraser (Hutchinson), Brkic (Honeyball), Curran (MacKenzie), Nomaou.

 

That was our fourth consecutive draw, and our second goalless stalemate in a row. Although we weren't losing, this was still one of our worst runs of the season.

 

The pressure would really be on us to perform three days later, when Peterborough United turned up at Victoria Road. Financial woes had resulted in Peterborough losing about half of their first-team squad over the summer, and that clearly had an adverse effect on their fortunes on the pitch. 15 defeats in their first 20 league games had left the Posh in 23rd place, and they would've been rock-bottom were it not for Wigan Athletic's points deduction.

 

5 November 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Peterborough United

We wasted little time in taking the game to a Peterborough team that was arguably one of the weakest in this division. A poor shot from Robbie MacKenzie in the third minute was merely a warning to the Posh. We later won a couple of corners in quick succession, the second arriving after Velimir Radosavljevic's shot was clawed behind by visiting goalkeeper Aleksandar Nikolov.

 

Velimir might have missed out on his first league goal for the Daggers, but another player would not. Stipo Brkic's second corner was headed home by 18-year-old midfielder Dave Hutchinson, and we were already set to dominate this match... or so it seemed.

 

Peterborough attacked almost straight from the kick-off via right-winger Paul Millen, who dribbled into our penalty box before having a shot blocked by Arran Banton. The Posh wouldn't get near us again for a while. A couple more Daggers corners caused our opponents real problems in the 19th minute, when Nikolov turned Velimir's header behind before Dave nodded over from the follow-up set-piece.

 

On 23 minutes, MacKenzie had the chance to mark his 25th birthday with a goal. Former Bayern Munich shotstopper Nikolov did well to turn Robbie's free-kick against his woodwork. Posh centre-back Gheorghe Somfalean then intervened to prevent Daggers midfielder Ivan Hlinka from burying the rebound. Peterborough's resistance would crumble five minutes later. After MacKenzie inadvertently blocked Hlinka's shot, Ivan rolled the ball on to Brkic, who drilled it into the corner of the net for 2-0!

 

Just like after our first goal, Millen came at us almost straight away and threatened an immediate reply for United. This time, though, the Glaswegian was denied by a solid save from Kieran Whalley, who had little else to do in an opening period that we dictated almost from start to finish. What hope was there for our beleaguered visitors?

 

There was still some hope for Peterborough, and it arrived seven minutes into the second half. Millen may not have got his name onto the scoresheet, but he did succeed in setting up an impressive volleyed goal for former Plymouth Argyle midfielder Velin Dimitrov.

 

A minute later, Dimitrov's Bulgarian countryman Nikolov had to catch a powerful shot from MacKenzie and prevent him from restoring our two-goal cushion. This would not be the happiest of birthdays for Robbie, who was subbed shortly afterwards.

 

Hlinka and Brkic then spurned opportunities to strengthen our position before Peterborough began their quest for an equaliser. Millen had the first attempt, from a free-kick that drifted wide in the 64th minute. Paul Street tried his luck five minutes later, but the substitute striker was also unable to hit the target.

 

By that point, I'd already brought on Matthew Fraser for a tiring Tom Virgo in an attempt to re-establish our superiority. Although Matthew was booked in the 76th minute for bringing down Peterborough's defensive midfielder Mickael Weiss, his introduction would be crucial.

 

Seven minutes before full-time, Arran won us a free-kick in a dangerous position following a clumsy foul from Dimitrov. Fraser played the ball into the Posh area, and Radosavljevic leapt above defender Russ Grierson to head it into the net! The super Serb's first ever senior goal sent us 3-1 ahead, and the win was now safely in our bag!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hutchinson 7, Brkic 28, Radosavljevic 83)

Peterborough United - 1 (Dimitrov 52)

Championship, Attendance 11,790 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Peterborough 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Moser, Mazzola, Virgo (Fraser), Hlinka, Hutchinson, Brkic, MacKenzie (Polomat), Honeyball (Wright). BOOKED: Fraser.

 

A first league win in five attempts was followed by some arguably even better news. After many months of failed negotiations, we finally reached an agreement with Matthew Fraser and his agent about a new contract. The Scottish midfielder signed a new four-season deal worth £7,500 per week and was now set to stay at Dagenham until the summer of 2037.

 

Fraser then went off to join the Scotland squad, winning his 10th cap for the Tartan Army during the international break. Leon Curran made his 50th appearance for Antigua & Barbuda, and several other Daggers added to their international caps. I didn't go anywhere, though - my first game as Norway manager wasn't until February.

 

After that break, our league campaign resumed at Villa Park against Aston Villa. By then, three more Dagenham players had joined captain William Barnes on the sidelines. Vice-captain Joel Honeyball had sustained a chest injury, stand-in skipper Daniel O'Reilly strained his back, and holding midfielder Tom Virgo twisted his knee.

 

In contrast to us, Villa were virtually at full strength squad-wise, though the same couldn't be said about their league performances. They came into this match on the back of a five-game winless run that had seen them drop to 9th.

 

19 November 2033: Aston Villa vs Dagenham & Redbridge

A couple of weeks after his 18th birthday, Tristan Egueh got another chance to impress me. He did exactly that in the third minute, playing a delicate through-ball to Jacques Polomat, who calmly slotted us into the lead at Villa Park!

 

I expected a strong response from Aston Villa, and their leading scorer Harvey Jeffs threatened to draw them level with a 5th-minute drive that Kieran Whalley superbly pushed behind. Villa's other frontman Marc Bennett then flicked a couple of headers wide before Jeffs scuffed a volley in the 10th minute.

 

We went back on the offensive after 21 minutes, as Stipo Brkic broke the Villans' defence with an incisive pass to Rocco Mazzola. The left-back looked certain to score, but goalkeeper Blair McCord made an outstanding save before Tristan knocked the ball behind for a goal kick. Two minutes later, a fantastic long clearance from Daggers right-back Arran Banton gave Egueh the chance to hit our hosts on the break. The teenager was one-on-one with McCord... but the nerves got to him as he pulled his shot past the post.

 

Scotland keeper McCord faced his next test in the 27th minute, catching a swerving effort from his international colleague Matthew Fraser. The 32-year-old would also keep out a header from George Darvill in the 39th minute of what already looked set to be an intriguing contest.

 

Aston Villa attacked in the first minute of the second period, but Bennett fired a tame effort safely towards Whalley after latching onto an excellent cross from England Under-21s left-back Jon Fleming. Two minutes later, a couple of defensive lapses saw the Villans give Polomat a chance to score his second goal of the afternoon. The Frenchman didn't quite succeed, as McCord's parry kept our lead down to a solitary goal.

 

McCord also saved further attempts from Jacques and Tristan in the 61st and 63rd minutes respectively. In the 64th, though, he needed the upright to save his bacon after Egueh had sent Polomat bearing down on the target. Jacques' unfortunate miss would be his last chance to increase our lead, and Tristan wouldn't get any further opportunities before being replaced for the closing stages by Souleymane Nomaou.

 

On 87 minutes, Nomaou stroked an excellent weighted pass to Leon Curran - our other attacking substitute. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers man struck a crashing long-range drive towards goal... but the ball was blown way off course. Jeffs and right-winger Mostafa Youssef each missed for the Villans in injury time before the final whistle confirmed that we had narrowly won at Villa Park again!

 

Aston Villa - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Polomat 3)

Championship, Attendance 23,912 - POSITIONS: Aston Villa 11th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Moser, Hlinka (Hutchinson), Fraser, Brkic (Curran), Polomat, Egueh (Nomaou). BOOKED: Brkic.

 

We reached the halfway point of our Championship season in midweek against Crewe Alexandra. The Railwaymen were lurking just outside the top six and looking to make up for their agonising defeat in last season's Play-Off Final.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2033 (continued)

22 November 2033: Crewe Alexandra vs Dagenham & Redbridge

18-year-old winger Daniel Sykes had been ever-present for Crewe this season, and he showed his potential in the very first minute, when he tested Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley with a powerful effort. Sykes looked set to follow in the footsteps of many of his colleagues, and develop from a youth graduate into a first-team mainstay at Alex.

 

One of Crewe's homegrown heroes was centre-back Darren Greenhouse, whose game ended after just nine minutes. A rough tackle from Matthew Fraser left Greenhouse with a serious knee injury, and Railwaymen captain Jesse Baker had to come off the bench to replace him.

 

That didn't affect Crewe too adversely, mind. Sykes had another pop at goal in the 17th minute, but that effort was well blocked by Daggers winger Lars Zandbergen. In the 30th minute, though, the apprentice helped his master to break the deadlock. Frontman Gary Harper latched onto an incisive pass from Sykes and raced past Velimir Radosavljevic before driving the ball into the net.

 

In the three minutes that followed the opening goal, Alex goalkeeper Warren Rodwell saved a trio of equalising attempts from the Daggers. Robbie MacKenzie, Shaun Powell and Souleymane Nomaou were all unable to get their shots beyond Rodwell, and they would soon come to rue their missed opportunities. Harper weaved his magic again in the 43rd minute, storming beyond George Darvill to hammer home his second goal and put Crewe in a comfortable position.

 

I ditched my wingers and threw on a couple of extra midfielders at the break, but that didn't really make much of a difference to our performance. We looked more disjointed than we ever had done this season, wasting possession and shots like there was no tomorrow.

 

My final substitute - reserve striker Derek Wright - set up a great chance for Robbie MacKenzie in the 67th minute, but the giant half-volleyed it deep into the Alexandra Stadium. Derek was one of the few Dagenham players to impress me in the second half. On 72 minutes, his cutback to Ivan Hlinka teed up a long-range strike from the Slovakian that was tipped behind by Rodwell.

 

Six minutes after that, our slim hopes of getting back into the match were extinguished for good. Sykes capped off a strong and mature performance with a fantastic free-kick to right-back James Torpey, whose header provided the fateful blow. Allan McGregor's Railwaymen were 3-0 ahead, and our eight-match unbeaten run was no more.

 

Crewe Alexandra - 3 (Harper 30,43, Torpey 78)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 8,087 - POSITIONS: Crewe 7th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Powell (Brkic), Fraser, Hlinka, Zandbergen (Hutchinson), MacKenzie, Nomaou (Wright).

 

Our heaviest defeat of the season was a very costly one. We were now five points adrift of 2nd-placed Derby County, and only three ahead of Crewe, who stayed in 7th.

 

That loss also confirmed in my mind that, as a formation, the standard 4-4-2 just wasn't working for us anymore. We consistently underperform when we have wingers, certainly in comparison to when we use the diamond or the 3-5-2. Winged formations were now off the table for me... perhaps for good.

 

I reverted to the aforementioned 3-5-2 when we hosted Plymouth Argyle, who had just leapt above us into 3rd spot. The Pilgrims didn't look too shabby in their last game - they won 3-1 at home to leaders Rochdale, who had previously gone 11 league matches without defeat.

 

26 November 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Plymouth Argyle

Young Daggers forward Tristan Egueh was roughed up in a collision with Plymouth right-back Blazo Radovic after just two minutes. Although Tristan suffered little more than mild bruising, that was a sign of things to come from the Pilgrims. We almost caused them some major damage in the fifth minute, when Stipo Brkic's lob towards goal was caught by Argyle goalkeeper Mathew Banner. Banner produced another save from Stipo six minutes later, but he could only parry the ball to Jacques Polomat, who fired in the rebound to draw first blood!

 

The good mood amongst the Daggers team lasted a couple of minutes... and then midfielder Dave Hutchinson sustained a dead leg in a tackle on Plymouth striker Ugonna Thompson. Hutch had to be taken off, with Ivan Hlinka brought on to deputise. Thompson suffered no ill effects from that tackle, and in the 15th minute, he headed a fine equalising chance into Kieran Whalley's grasp.

 

Plymouth showed a less positive side of their game six minutes later, when midfielder Michael Wallace brought down Matthew Fraser and picked up his team's first yellow card. It would not be their last.

 

Things then got stale for a while until the 38th minute, when Brkic went within inches of powering home our second goal. The Danish midfielder set up an opportunity for Polomat moments later, but Banner did well to prevent Jacques from doubling his money. Although we were clearly the better side in this match, the fact that we hadn't increased our lead was perhaps worrying.

 

The second half was barely seven minutes old when we were given a chance to move 2-0 ahead. Brkic was upended by Plymouth defender Matthew Stapleton before he could connect with Egueh's centre into the six-yard box. The Pilgrims were furious at the decision to awarded a penalty and surrounded the referee. After the ref booked Stapleton for his foul, and another defender - Barry Bond - for his vehement protests, Matthew Fraser was given the go-ahead to line up a shot from 12 yards out. Sadly, fortune eluded Fraser, as Banner pushed his penalty away and arguably kept Plymouth in the tie.

 

The visitors struggled to keep their cool, though, as forward Eddie Hughes received their fourth booking in the 57th minute following a trip on Polomat. They were rather calmer by the 67th minute, when substitute forward Yan Gibson struck a first-time shot inches over our bar.

 

Then, in the 72nd minute, Fraser won a feisty aerial battle with Thompson in the Daggers area. The referee waved away Argyle's claims for a penalty, prompting the visitors to vent their fury again. Three minutes later, however, their anger turned into ecstasy. Moroccan centre-back Walid Sakim nodded a corner delivery from Wallace towards his defensive colleague Stapleton, who stabbed in a leveller for the Pilgrims.

 

Daniel Philliskirk's side went for the win in the 78th minute, as Thompson drove a low shot goalwards. The ball almost crept into the net, but Kieran did just enough to divert the ball behind and spare us! Another Plymouth attack broke down on 83 minutes, shortly after a fifth Pilgrim - namely Gibson - was issued a yellow card.

 

Polomat got a counter-attack up and running with a superb ball to substitute Joel Honeyball, who ran at Plymouth's back four and bore down on goal. Joel then slipped in a cool and composed shot to leave our fans feeling anything but cool and composed! Their delight was clearer still at the final whistle, as was Plymouth's anger at what they saw as unfair refereeing! Crybabies.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Polomat 11, Honeyball 84)

Plymouth Argyle - 1 (Stapleton 75)

Championship, Attendance 11,822 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Plymouth 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Casey, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Banton, Mazzola (Moran), Fraser, Hutchinson (Hlinka), Brkic, Polomat, Egueh (Honeyball).

 

Unfortunately, Dave Hutchinson would miss our next game with a dead leg. That left us with no fewer than FOUR midfielders unavailable for our visit to Portman Road.

 

Ipswich Town narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season under Neil Briers - one of the best young managers in English football right now. They hadn't quite managed to build on that excellent campaign and were just about in the top half when we took them on.

 

30 November 2033: Ipswich Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Ipswich's discipline came under question twice in the first quarter-hour. Striker Luke Boot was cautioned for diving in the fifth minute, while left-back Tommy Watters also went into the book seven minutes later after sliding in hard on Jacques Polomat. In between those two bookings came a glorious chance for Joel Honeyball to put us in front after ten minutes. Unfortunately, Tractor Boys keeper Gary Ewart tipped Joel's shot against the bar before centre-back Alan Gray cleared the ball away.

 

Over the next two minutes, midfielders Stipo Brkic and Polomat each missed the target for Dagenham before Ipswich left-winger Branko Simeunovic did likewise for his team. The first half would remain very tight, with neither side really hitting their stride.

 

Things picked up again late in the period, as both goalkeepers bailed out their teams with tremendous saves. Kieran Whalley saved us in the 37th minute by reacting quickly to a vicious effort from Ipswich midfielder Alan Byrne. Five minutes after that, Polomat exchanged passes with Brkic and was then kept off the scoresheet by Ewart's fingertips. Thanks to the heroics of both number 1s, the half-time scoreline was still 0-0.

 

It certainly helps you out when you have as dependable a goalkeeper as Whalley between the sticks. Kieran demonstrated his abilities again on 55 minutes, pushing Hazel's right-wing cross behind just before Boot could make a connection.

 

I'd made a substitution up front before the second half started, replacing Polomat with big Robbie MacKenzie. The target man's power gave Ipswich's defence more to think about, particularly in the 63rd minute, when his fierce drive was awkwardly stopped by Ewart.

 

Someone else who was struggling to deal with MacKenzie was Byrne, who was booked in the 64th minute after getting rather too physical with Robbie. Six minutes later, Daggers defender John Moser was guilty of perhaps not getting physical enough with one of Ipswich's attackers. Winger Simon Hazel exposed Moser's lack of height when he outjumped John and nodded in a floated corner from Simeunovic. The Tractor Boys were one of only two teams to have beaten us at home in the league this season, and at 1-0 up, they were on course to record a double.

 

Boot looked to wrap up the points for Ipswich when he skipped past our defensive stopper Velimir Radosavljevic in the 77th minute. Thankfully, Kieran did brilliantly to save the shot and keep the Portman Road legend quiet. Portman Road itself was largely silenced a couple of minutes afterwards. Robbie justified his selection by playing an excellent square ball towards Matthew, who smashed it into the net first-time with his left foot!

 

That stunning equaliser was actually Fraser's last contribution before youth player Aaron Megson replaced him for the final few minutes. Although Megson picked up a booking during his short cameo, our more experienced players helped us to see the match through and take a point away from Suffolk.

 

Ipswich Town - 1 (Hazel 70)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Fraser 79)

Championship, Attendance 14,039 - POSITIONS: Ipswich 10th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Banton, Mazzola, Fraser (Megson), Hlinka, Brkic, Polomat (MacKenzie), Honeyball (Powell). BOOKED: Megson.

 

November wasn't a bad month for us - three wins, two draws, and just that one defeat. We're not used to being so high in the Championship for so long, but we don't appear to be suffering from altitude sickness. Not yet, at any rate.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of November 2033)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Rochdale               24    15    6     3     40    23    +17   51
2.          Derby                  24    16    2     6     35    15    +20   50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Dag & Red              25    13    7     5     40    21    +19   46
4.          Plymouth               24    13    4     7     44    36    +8    43
5.          Sunderland             24    11    8     5     48    29    +19   41
6.          Crewe                  24    11    7     6     31    19    +12   40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Reading                24    12    4     8     28    29    -1    40
8.          Leeds                  24    11    5     8     29    19    +10   38
9.          Blackburn              24    11    4     9     37    26    +11   37
10.         Ipswich                25    9     9     7     35    28    +7    36
11.         Aston Villa            24    11    3     10    38    33    +5    36
12.         Notts County           24    10    5     9     26    26    0     35
13.         Coventry               24    10    4     10    28    29    -1    34
14.         Northampton            24    10    1     13    19    31    -12   31
15.         Crystal Palace         24    8     5     11    24    29    -5    29
16.         Doncaster              24    8     5     11    23    34    -11   29
17.         Luton                  24    7     7     10    22    32    -10   28
18.         Sheff Utd              24    7     5     12    31    34    -3    26
19.         Charlton               24    7     5     12    27    41    -14   26
20.         Wrexham                24    7     4     13    27    39    -12   25
21.         Bradford               24    6     6     12    28    41    -13   24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Cardiff                24    6     6     12    28    42    -14   24
23.         Wigan                  24    5     7     12    29    37    -8    12 *
24.         Peterborough           24    5     1     18    23    47    -24   6  *

* Peterborough and Wigan deducted 10 points for entering administration

 

[mark wilson27]

Looking good so far. Could do with the Rams and Rochdale dropping a few points to save you the bother of the Play-Offs. However the Playoffs have been proven to be alittle more financially rewarding

[CFuller]

21 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Looking good so far. Could do with the Rams and Rochdale dropping a few points to save you the bother of the Play-Offs. However the Playoffs have been proven to be alittle more financially rewarding

I'm sure they will, but in my mind, they're the two strongest teams in the Championship and will take some stopping. Rochdale have invested massively in their squad this summer (one of the perks of having a tycoon owner), whilst Derby are in the curious position of being far too good for the Championship, yet not good enough to survive in the Premier League.

I'm obviously looking to avoid the Play-Offs if possible. You should know by now that I'm bound to screw something up if we have to go through them again. 

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2033

Our brilliant young centre-backs George Darvill and Velimir Radosavljevic were both nominated for the Championship's Young Player of the Month award for November. It was George who won out in the end, picking up that award for the second time this season. He was also in the running for Player of the Month, but that ended up with another defender - Andrew Locke of Wrexham.

 

Our schedule for December began with a Sunday afternoon game against Charlton Athletic, whom we had comprehensively beaten 3-0 at Victoria Road on the opening day. The Addicks had been in or just outside the relegation places ever since.

 

I made a bold tactical move for this match, giving 18-year-old Aaron Megson a full senior debut in midfield. Just in case Megs couldn't handle the pressure, I had Tom Virgo back from injury and ready to come off the bench if needed.

 

3 December 2033: Charlton Athletic vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Charlton made a flying start, as Mick Banks whipped in an excellent cross to Anthony Whittle in the Daggers area after just 30 seconds. We were very relieved to see Whittle flick that cross just over the bar. We then attacked the Addicks a couple of minutes later, with Souleymane Nomaou running through their defence before having a shot parried by goalkeeper Michael Hewson.

 

Our custodian Kieran Whalley also had work to do early on, saving a couple more attempts from Whittle before the quarter-hour mark. Republic of Ireland winger Whittle was giving us more to think about than Charlton's youthful front two of Derek Barlow and Jens Martin, both of whom missed the target with their only shots of the entire game. On-loan VfB Stuttgart teenager Martin was particularly poor, doing little else after he nodded Mick Banks' free-kick wide on 27 minutes.

 

In the 32nd minute, our own teenage talent Aaron Megson provided Nomaou with an excellent pass into the Athletic box. Sol's shot was stopped by Hewson, but the Niger international would prevail in their next encounter just before half-time. Nomaou jinked past both of Charlton's centre-backs before smashing in a thunderous drive that gave us a narrow lead!

 

Although Megson had had a solid full debut, he was booked late in that first half, so I didn't want to take a risk on him for the second. Holding midfielder Tom Virgo came on for his first appearance in exactly four weeks. Five minutes into the second period, we launched a dangerous counter-attack that Charlton's defence did well to stave off.

 

Addicks boss Allan Johnston had already used up two of his substitutions by then, but his third change shortly afterwards would be significant. 18-year-old Martin was taken off in favour of 36-year-old Thomas Millington, who had a chance to equalise in the 57th minute. Banks tackled a hesitant Zola Casey off the ball and played it to the former Stoke City forward, who hooked his shot wide.

 

Millington took a while to get going, but when he did, the results were devastating. In the 76th minute, our backline struggled to clear Charlton defender Fraser Kinnaird's cross out of our penalty area. After Rocco Mazzola's clearance fell to Derek Carter, the full-back sent in a first-time cross that found Millington at the back post. Millington's header evaded Whalley and levelled the scores... but the veteran did not stop there.

 

On 78 minutes, a mistimed jump from Darvill saw Sam Lillis' free-kick reach Millington, who again scored from close range - with a little help from the upright. In a matter of moments, our 1-0 lead had become a 2-1 deficit!

 

Millington caused us even more problems in the 82nd minute, flicking Lillis' left-wing cross on to Banks, who volleyed home Charlton's third goal... or at least he thought he had. Banks had strayed offside during that attack, and so we just about remained in contention. We now turned to our substitute frontman Robbie MacKenzie to try and get us back on level terms.

 

Things looked promising when MacKenzie charged towards goal in the 86th minute, but the Scotsman's strike drifted over the bar. He would get another opportunity in the second minute of injury time. As full-time neared, Ivan Hlinka made a crucial tackle on Addicks midfielder Ryan Smith and played a series of passes with Jacques Polomat. Jacques then moved the ball on to Robbie, who attempted a banana shot from the edge of the Charlton area... and curled it into the top corner! The 6ft 7in giant had scored a big equaliser and got us out of a massive hole!

 

Charlton Athletic - 2 (Millington 76,78)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Nomaou 45, MacKenzie 90)

Championship, Attendance 18,102 - POSITIONS: Charlton 19th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Casey (Radosavljevic), Darvill, Mazzola, Hlinka, Megson (Virgo), Fraser, Polomat, Curran (MacKenzie), Nomaou. BOOKED: Casey, Megson.

 

That was my ninth competitive game against Charlton as Dagenham & Redbridge manager, and I was less than a minute away from suffering my first defeat. Thank you, Robbie MacKenzie.

 

After salvaging a draw, we anxiously awaited the draw for Round 3 of the FA Cup. Our name came out of the pot early on, and we were paired at home to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. That was a very winnable tie in my eyes, and I would be really looking forward to challenging the Seagulls on New Year's Eve.

 

A couple of days later, our backup goalkeeper Elliot Morris told me that he wanted to end his loan spell from Blackburn Rovers a month early. Elliot hadn't played a single game for us since his arrival in October - but to be honest, he was nothing more than insurance in case anything happened to Kieran Whalley. That said, I could understand the lad's frustration, so I granted his wish and allowed him to return home.

 

Youth goalie Courtney Gallagher would now be on first-team standby until we could bring in a new second-choice keeper in January. (What's become of Euan Duncan, you ask? He's still sulking about a lack of football and training with the kids. Don't worry, he won't be around for much longer.)

 

The following weekend saw us meet 16th-placed Luton Town at Victoria Road. Mark Wilson's side had blown more cold than hot this season and were not expected to cause us too many problems.

 

10 December 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Luton Town

Worryingly, it was Luton who made the more positive start to this match. A deflected cross from right-back Darren Crouch won the Hatters an early corner in the 9th minute, while Zola Casey gifted them another shortly afterwards.

 

Another reason for concern was Stipo Brkic's tackling - the Danish midfielder gave away a couple of early free-kicks and was booked after 16 minutes. Stipo tried to get us going in the 19th minute, but he couldn't strike the ball cleanly and sent his shot well wide.

 

A couple of minutes later, we received a major boost. Souleymane Nomaou was scythed down in the Luton area by Hatters centre-back Jiri Penicka, prompting the ref to point to the penalty spot. Matthew Fraser's recent penalty record wasn't fantastic by any means, but he still managed to drive his spot-kick beyond Town keeper Tim Burton and get us off the mark.

 

We then put the visitors under more pressure, as Burton had to catch a couple of shots from Jacques Polomat and Velimir Radosavljevic within the next four minutes. Our bright spell was almost for nought, as in the 28th minute, Luton midfielder Matt Hopkins touched the top of our crossbar with an excellent free-kick.

 

That stroke of luck had saved us... and we would benefit from some more Hatters misfortune in the 32nd minute. Town midfielder Tony Nelson attempted to play a long pass back to his keeper Burton... but the ball smacked Penicka square in the face and deflected handily to Nomaou. Sol was now free to charge through on goal and slip the ball beyond Burton for our second goal!

 

Luton's hopes of a mini-comeback before half-time were dented in the 33rd minute, when on-loan West Ham United winger Ryan Sim picked up a knock in a collision with Daggers right-back Arran Banton. Nomaou then came close to scoring again five minutes later, though we remained 2-0 ahead at the interval.

 

Luton got off to a rocky start in the second half, but they were looking dangerous again by the 56th minute. Substitute Curtis Hulse sent a cross to the far post, where Nelson planted a header against the post before Banton hacked it away. Hulse went for goal himself on 58 minutes, but the experienced midfielder fired the ball well over.

 

By the 66th minute, the match was pretty much over for the Hatters. An excellent display of fast-paced passing from the Daggers ended with Brkic driving home a shot from the edge of Luton's area. 3-0 to Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Luton looked ready to wave the white flag as we sought to finish the match off with a fourth goal. Polomat wasn't too far off getting his name on the scoresheet after 78 minutes, when his long-range free-kick forced Burton into a catch. In the 83rd minute, a banana shot from another Daggers midfielder - Ivan Hlinka - went well wide.

 

Ivan would also be involved when we did make it 4-0 after 88 minutes. Hlinka moved the ball forward to Banton via vice-captain Joel Honeyball, and the Luton-born full-back drove in just his second ever goal for the Daggers! With that, one of our most complete performances of the season was... well, complete.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Fraser pen22, Nomaou 32, Brkic 66, Banton 88)

Luton Town - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,553 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Luton 18th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Casey, Banton, O'Reilly, Fraser (Hlinka), Hutchinson, Brkic (Honeyball), Polomat, Nomaou (Powell). BOOKED: Brkic, Banton, Fraser.

 

Here are a few statistics that underlined how comfortable this match was for us. We had 62% of possession, completed 86% of our passes, won 83% of our headers, and didn't allow Luton a single shot on target. To expand on our excellent passing display, man of the match Velimir Radosavljevic completed 111 passes... and Dave Hutchinson found the mark with an unbelievable 137 of his!

 

When we play like that on our home ground, we are - quite simply - nigh on unstoppable.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2033 (continued)

We looked to keep our excellent home form going against Blackburn Rovers in our final game before Christmas. Blackburn had played below expectations this season and were down in 11th.

 

17 December 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Blackburn Rovers

Jacques Polomat frightened Blackburn after just three minutes with a powerful free-kick that struck their crossbar. Matthew Fraser then got through a crowd of Rovers defenders to reach the rebound, which he scuffed wide. Fraser and Polomat were also involved in our next attack on 15 minutes, but Jacques couldn't get his shot on target after latching onto an excellent long ball from Matthew.

 

Blackburn made their first advance towards goal four minutes later, when striker Tim Higginbotham nodded Shane Watts' right-wing cross wide. The visitors' other frontman was Thierry Laurent, who was brought down by a clumsy tackle from Dave Hutchinson in the 22nd minute. Dave had hurt himself in the process, but the 18-year-old midfielder managed to get through the rest of the half.

 

Hutch certainly didn't seem hampered in the 25th minute, when he helped Stipo Brkic to set up an opportunity for Souleymane Nomaou. Sol picked up a fine pass from Stipo, took the ball past Blackburn defender Jacky Besnard, and then drove it into the bottom corner!

 

Nomaou's 12th goal of the season was almost cancelled out quickly, as Watts and Higginbotham each narrowly missed out on equalisers for Blackburn. Higginbotham had another attempt at goal later on, in the 38th minute, but Kieran Whalley caught that to keep our noses in front.

 

George Darvill made an excellent defensive clearance for Dagenham in the first minute of the second half, heading Rovers wideman Sinisa Curic's left-wing delivery off the goal line. On 51 minutes, the Daggers' right wing-back Arran Banton was booked for a shove on Higginbotham.

 

Our other wing-back Daniel O'Reilly had already been cautioned, in the first half. Daniel almost made a more positive contribution in the 56th minute, but Rovers goalkeeper Jordan Shields did just enough to block his shot. Shields also stopped a vicious drive from Nomaou after 61 minutes.

 

Our custodian Whalley then saved a diving header from Higginbotham in the 64th minute and a long-range punt from midfielder Oscar Staple in the 68th. Both sides then sent shots off target before one of the game's big talking points on 72 minutes. Polomat was trying to reach a lobbed pass from Brkic when Rovers centre-back Vidoje Djurdjevic thrusted his elbow into Jacques' face! The referee awarded us a free-kick, but Djurdjevic only received a yellow card, which angered our fans no end.

 

After Matthew's free-kick was pushed away by Shields, I brought on Leon Curran as a replacement for Polomat. Curran's first act was to miscue an awful shot in the 76th minute, and his game wouldn't get any better from there.

 

After 78 minutes, Brkic tried to fool midfielder Antoni Tanev by dribbling the ball across the Rovers half and taking him out of position. Tanev came out on top, though, as he tackled Stipo and took the ball forward before spraying it out to substitute Martyn Ozmen on the left flank. Ozmen's deep cross was cleared by Darvill, and the danger seemed to have passed... until Curran scuffed the ball back into our penalty area! When Laurent got to the loose ball and fired it into the net first-time, Leon was left with his head in his hands.

 

There would be more Daggers heartache to come. With six minutes remaining, Watts sprinted past O'Reilly and drifted in a cross that Ozmen met with a sublime diving header that deflected into the net off the post.

 

Blackburn had come back from the brink to lead 2-1, and they would remain in front after an 87th-minute header from Nomaou went just wide of their goal. Not for the first time, we had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Nomaou 25)

Blackburn Rovers - 2 (Laurent 79, Ozmen 84)

Championship, Attendance 11,919 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Blackburn 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Casey, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Banton, O'Reilly (Mazzola), Fraser, Hutchinson (Hlinka), Brkic, Polomat (Curran), Nomaou. BOOKED: O'Reilly, Banton.

 

I took my anger out on the whole team after that inexplicable collapse, but only one man really deserved my wrath. Had Leon Curran not made the bone-headed decision to play the ball back into our penalty area while Blackburn were in full counter-attack mode, we surely wouldn't have gone on to suffer just our third home league defeat. We might well have held on for a victory that would've moved us to within two points of 2nd-placed Derby County.

 

As we stewed over that missed opportunity over Christmas, Ivan Hlinka returned to Sheffield United after completing his three-month loan at Victoria Road. The Slovakian midfielder had played reasonably well while deputising for captain William Barnes, who was now almost ready to return from injury.

 

Hlinka's brief Daggers career was over, and so was goalkeeper Euan Duncan's. I accepted a £100,000 offer from Shrewsbury Town for the sulking Scotsman, and Duncan subsequently agreed to return to New Meadow - where he made his name as a loanee six seasons ago - in the New Year.

 

Our next game after the holiday festivities was at Wrexham on Boxing Day. The Red Dragons were surprisingly low down the table and struggling to pull away from relegation danger under their new manager Robert Thomson.

 

26 December 2033: Wrexham vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham captain Joel Honeyball pulled a shot hopelessly wide after just 25 seconds. That was in stark contrast to Wrexham's first attempt at goal, which Martin Pearce converted in the 7th minute after racing away from Daggers full-back Rocco Mazzola to latch onto Jimmy Guy's left-wing cross.

 

Rocco tried to make amends on 10 minutes, but the Italian's shot at goal flew deep into the Racecourse Ground. A more promising Daggers attack got underway five minutes later. Kieran Whalley's long goal kick was nodded on by Stipo Brkic to Honeyball, who struck from the edge of the Wrexham 'D' and was thwarted by a decent save from Paul Boyham. After that, however, we struggled to create any real chances.

 

I noticed that the Red Dragons were giving their widemen plenty of service, but we weren't playing too many balls out wide to our own wing-backs. After instructing my team to look for the overlap more regularly, we finally clicked into gear. In the 34th minute, Mazzola's cross into the Wrexham box found Matthew Fraser in point-blank range. Boyham attempted to push Fraser's effort away, but Honeyball curled in the rebound, and we were level!

 

Matthew flighted a free-kick inches off target four minutes later, but Wrexham then came on strong again just before the break. Whalley needed to stop a couple of long-distance efforts from midfielder Jonathan Ferrell and forward Joe Jones to keep us on level terms with the Red Dragons.

 

Former Wales youth international Jones had no fewer than three shots at goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The first went wide, and the second was deflected behind for a corner, but the third time was the charm. Jones picked his spot perfectly in the 57th minute, driving Emyr Stephens' square ball into the corner of Whalley's net.

 

Wrexham were back in front... or at least they were until the 66th minute. That was when Ferrell brought down Tyrone Sedgley - the teenage Daggers midfielder who was making his first start in three months following a couple of ankle injuries - just outside the Red Dragons' penalty area. Sedgley's Scottish compatriot Fraser took the free-kick, curling it exquisitely beyond Boyham's reach!

 

Major cracks emerged in the Wrexham team after our second equaliser. The hosts' hopes took a major dent when one of their midfielders - Steven Bowden - was brought down by our anchorman Tom Virgo in the 73rd minute. Bowden tore his hamstring and had to be replaced with Wayne Lindsay, who drifted an 83rd-minute shot miles off target. Although Bowden had struggled all game, he was a big loss to the hosts - and not a loss they could recover from.

 

With five minutes remaining, Honeyball floated a cross into their penalty area. On the receiving end was Fraser, who outjumped Lindsay to flick a header home! Thanks to our Glaswegian braveheart, the Daggers slayed the Dragons, and we left Wales with a 3-2 victory in the bag!

 

Wrexham - 2 (Pearce 7, Jones 57)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Honeyball 34, Fraser 66,85)

Championship, Attendance 5,615 - POSITIONS: Wrexham 19th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Casey (Radosavljevic), Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo, Sedgley (Hutchinson), Fraser, Brkic, Polomat (Nomaou), Honeyball.

 

We owed a huge debt of gratitude to Matthew Fraser after that performance. The superb Scot had now registered nine goals and five assists this term and was already enjoying his best ever season statistically.

 

Another Daggers midfielder who could be absolutely sublime on his day was William Barnes. After three months out with a torn calf muscle, captain Will was back in full training and ready to take his place on the bench for our match on New Year's Eve.

 

We concluded 2033 with an FA Cup Round 3 tie at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. The Seagulls were 14th in the Premier League, and they'd just appointed former Chelsea and Watford boss Robbie Simpson to replace the sacked Zema Abbey as manager. In my mind, Brighton looked ripe for a giant-killing.

 

31 December 2033: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Brighton & Hove Albion

There was some light snow on the Victoria Road pitch, and a shiver went down my spine when Kieran Whalley sent an awful goal kick straight to Brighton striker Leo Veenboer in the ninth minute. The Dutchman looked set to race through on goal, but George Darvill came in with a saving tackle just in the nick of time.

 

Another big Dagenham tackle, from Matthew Fraser, left Seagulls left- winger Jordan Holder with a knock after 13 minutes. Holder managed to shake that off, but we were struggling to shake our Premier League opponents off.

 

Whalley made hard work of a piledriver from left-winger Krunoslav Grabovac in the 21st minute, and midfielder Tibor Horváth fired the resulting corner just wide. The tide began to turn when we countered Albion in the 22nd minute. Stipo Brkic lobbed a fabulous ball ahead of Souleymane Nomaou, whose shot was palmed behind by Brighton goalie Abdoulhaniou Youssouf. The Comoros international made another fine save on 26 minutes, tipping Velimir Radosavljevic's header against his bar.

 

Youssouf would next be called into action when we launched another counter-attack after 33 minutes. Polomat knocked the ball past Brighton defender Wayne Neil to go one-on-one with the keeper. Although Youssouf parried his initial shot, Jacques volleyed in the rebound from out wide, to the delight of our home fans!

 

Polomat should have had another goal when Nomaou found him in space on 41 minutes, but Youssouf superbly diverted the shot behind. Although Nomaou was carrying a knock that he had sustained earlier in the half, it wasn't affecting his performance too much. Indeed, Sol got his name on the scoresheet in the 43rd minute after breaking through Brighton's offside trap to convert Matthew's through-ball! 2-0 to the Daggers!

 

Joel Honeyball came on for Nomaou before we went for Brighton's jugular in the second half. Fraser, Polomat and Brkic all tried - and failed - to increase our lead within the first five minutes. By the 54th minute, though, we were 3-0 up, thanks to yet another devastating breakaway. Fraser's fantastic form continued with a sublime pass to Polomat, who slotted in his second goal of the afternoon!

 

Two minutes after that, Jacques set up a chance for Joel, who unfortunately couldn't keep his low shot on target. While our attackers were tormenting the Seagulls, keeper Kieran was also earning his keep. A Brighton goal looked almost certain when Karel Urbanek found Grabovac in the box on 60 minutes, but Whalley somehow got a glove to the Croatian's shot. He produced more heroics moments later, pushing away Travis Richardson's volley from a left-wing delivery by full-back Vicyohandri Loties.

 

As Brighton's situation got increasingly desperate, manager Robbie Simpson brought on Carmine Fabris, who was the Premier League's top goalscorer just three seasons ago. This was the Switzerland international's first game since returning from a torn hamstring, but he nearly made an instant impact. Fabris got his head to a deep cross from Holder on 74 minutes, and it took a fantastic fingertip save from Whalley to turn it over the bar.

 

Four minutes later, Albion's agony was completed. Stipo drilled the ball across their six-yard box, and Jacques poked it across the line before 16-year-old Brighton right-back Carl Wiegand could clear the danger. Jacques' first senior hat-trick was now assured, as was our spot in Round 4 of the FA Cup!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Polomat 34,54,78, Nomaou 43)

Brighton & Hove Albion - 0

FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 11,543

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser (Pearson), Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser (Sedgley), Hutchinson, Brkic, Polomat, Nomaou (Honeyball).

 

A 4-0 win over a Premier League side! That's not a bad way to finish the year, is it?

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of December 2033)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Rochdale               29    19    7     3     49    26    +23   64
2.          Derby                  29    18    4     7     41    21    +20   58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Dag & Red              29    15    8     6     50    27    +23   53
4.          Plymouth               29    16    5     8     54    42    +12   53
5.          Reading                29    16    4     9     37    32    +5    52
6.          Aston Villa            29    15    4     10    45    35    +10   49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Sunderland             29    12    12    5     52    32    +20   48
8.          Blackburn              29    14    5     10    44    29    +15   47
9.          Leeds                  29    14    5     10    37    27    +10   47
10.         Crewe                  29    12    10    7     36    24    +12   46
11.         Notts County           29    13    6     10    37    33    +4    45
12.         Ipswich                29    11    10    8     43    33    +10   43
13.         Coventry               29    10    7     12    30    33    -3    37
14.         Sheff Utd              29    10    5     14    42    39    +3    35
15.         Doncaster              29    10    5     14    28    41    -13   35
16.         Northampton            29    11    2     16    24    41    -17   35
17.         Luton                  29    8     8     13    24    41    -17   32
18.         Crystal Palace         29    8     7     14    26    37    -11   31
19.         Wrexham                29    8     5     16    32    48    -16   29
20.         Charlton               29    7     8     14    31    48    -17   29
21.         Bradford               29    7     7     15    35    51    -16   28
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Cardiff                29    7     6     16    33    51    -18   27
23.         Wigan                  29    7     8     14    34    42    -8    19 *
24.         Peterborough           29    5     2     22    28    59    -31   7  *

* Peterborough and Wigan deducted 10 points for entering administration

 

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2034

Following our comprehensive win over Brighton & Hove Albion, we spent New Year's Day anxiously awaiting the draw for Round 4 of the FA Cup. When the draw did take place and our next cup opponents were confirmed, we had every reason to be fearful.

 

For the second time in three seasons, the Daggers would be up against Chelsea in the FA Cup. The circumstances were somewhat different, as this would be a Round 4 tie at Victoria Road, rather than a Quarter Final at Stamford Bridge. However, the advantage of playing at home was unlikely to count for much if last season's Premier League runners-up - who were seriously challenging for the title again - brought their very best players to Dagenham.

 

That match would take place on 22 January and would be broadcast live on television. We still had quite a few league fixtures to fulfil beforehand, starting with an away game against Doncaster Rovers.

 

4 January 2034: Doncaster Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Doncaster left-back Dale Porter struggled a little bit in the opening stages, and not just because he picked up a knock inside the opening minute. On five minutes, our speedy right-back Arran Banton sauntered past Porter before pulling a shot inches wide of goal. Another Daggers defender gave Donny a scare after 13 minutes, when George Darvill's header from Matthew Fraser's corner went just over the bar.

 

Five minutes later, though, a rare lapse from George saw him muscled off the ball by Rovers midfielder Niall Goodison. The hosts then rushed forward to try and hit us on the counter. Right-winger Sandro Franco crossed to his left-wing colleague Serge Rey, whose header rattled the crossbar!

 

Rey wouldn't be the last Doncaster player to hit the woodwork in this match. After 37 minutes, Donny centre-back Jonathan Boateng hoofed the ball up to striker Matt Peters, who advanced towards goal and drove a shot that clipped the outside of Kieran Whalley's right-hand post. Those were the best scoring opportunities in an otherwise mediocre first period.

 

I wanted to see a bit more fighting passion from the Daggers in the second half, but midfielder Dave Hutchinson showed a little bit too much of that after 56 minutes. Hutch's clumsy tackle on Dan Mortimer led to him receiving the game's first and only yellow card. A minute later, Stipo Brkic got beyond Doncaster's holding midfielder - and fellow Dane - Morten Larsen and entered the hosts' penalty area. But for an excellent save from Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Seán Rooney, we would surely have been celebrating the opening goal.

 

That said, we would only have to wait another minute before we could celebrate. Jacques Polomat tried to play a one-two with Brkic, but Stipo was tackled just outside the Rovers area by Mortimer, who inadvertently knocked the ball back into Jacques' path. The young Frenchman then drove the ball underneath Rooney for his 10th goal of the season - a goal that Doncaster complained shouldn't have been allowed to stand. Their protests went unheeded, and we moved 1-0 up!

 

Both right-backs then picked up injuries midway through the period, with Donny's Aaron McEwen twisting his ankle before Banton sustained a dead leg. John Moser took Arran's place for the last 15 minutes or so. By then, Souleymane Nomaou had already missed a great chance to extend our lead in the 71st minute. Velimir Radosavljevic was denied his big moment in the 81st minute, thanks to a cool catch from Rooney.

 

Those wasted opportunities would prove significant as Doncaster pressed forward to try and claw back an equaliser in injury time. In the third additional minute, Themis Saunders' corner found Boateng in the six-yard box. Whalley frantically pushed the ball away, and a mini-scramble ensued before Radosavljevic kicked it into touch.

 

Rovers still had time to draw level, though, and when Brkic conceded another corner just moments later, they sensed blood. Saunders' delivery to the far post was headed goalwards by Chris Hyslop, but it was his centre-back colleague Boateng who claimed the final touch before the ball ended up in our net. We had suffered late agony at the Keepmoat Stadium.

 

Doncaster Rovers - 1 (Boateng 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Polomat 59)

Championship, Attendance 7,908 - POSITIONS: Doncaster 16th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton (Moser), Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser, Hutchinson (Sedgley), Brkic, Polomat, Nomaou (Powell). BOOKED: Hutchinson.

 

As a result of that draw, we now trailed 2nd-placed Derby County by seven points, and led 7th-placed Sunderland by only three.

 

I brought in a new second-choice goalkeeper in time for our next two home games. 34-year-old former Stoke City, Southampton, and latterly Aberdeen keeper Mitch Beckett arrived on an initial six-month contract. Mitch, who was born in nearby Hornchurch and started his career at West Ham United, took over the number 13 jersey from Euan Duncan following the Scot's £100,000 transfer to Shrewsbury Town.

 

I also allowed striker Derek Wright to join Portsmouth on loan for the rest of the season as they battled against relegation from League One. Another Daggers loanee - attacking midfielder Joe Charles - returned from Chester ahead of schedule after he tore his hamstring on New Year's Eve.

 

Now, onto those back-to-back home fixtures, which were both against teams at the wrong end of the table. Bradford City arrived at Victoria Road sitting in 21st place, just a single goal ahead of Cardiff City, whom we would play host to the following weekend. If we had serious aspirations of promotions, we would need to take maximum points against those two.

 

7 January 2034: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bradford City

Bradford won a couple of corners inside the first three minutes, and they could've scored from the second of them. Fortunately, Matthew Mitchell's header from Vinny Ardley's delivery to the near post was flicked just over the bar. Four minutes after that scare, Daggers striker Robbie MacKenzie forced Bantams goalie Ronnie Glavin into a difficult save.

 

On 10 minutes, our captain William Barnes marked his long-awaited return from injury with an excellent long-distance drive that unfortunately clipped the bar. There would be more attacking frustration to come between the 13th and 15th minutes. During that period, Jacques Polomat had a shot tipped behind by Glavin, Joel Honeyball pulled a great opportunity past the keeper's left-hand post, and MacKenzie struck the other upright.

 

Neither team would go close again until Bradford midfielder Ardley's effort was caught by Kieran Whalley on 31 minutes. Kieran would later claw away a threatening low attempt from striker Robbie Cummins in injury time.

 

Barnes missed a trio of long-range shots late in the first period, and his performance didn't get any better after the restart. Some uncharacteristically poor passing suggested that Will had perhaps returned too soon. I decided to take him off in the 58th minute, shortly after Cummins had fired a shot wide for Bradford. Tom Virgo came on to add some extra defensive solidity, although it was our attack that needed greater attention.

 

Even after I brought on Stipo Brkic for the last quarter-hour or so, we still lacked the incisiveness required to open the Bantams up. The absence of an exhausted Matthew Fraser might have been a big factor behind that, but I was still frustrated that we couldn't break through.

 

We were thankful that Bradford's attack was similarly woeful, as left-winger Mitchell and midfielder Owen Hillier missed chances to take the points to West Yorkshire. A forgettable goalless draw saw us fall further behind Rochdale and Derby County - we were now NINE points off the automatic promotion places.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Bradford City - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,898 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Bradford 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Radosavljevic (Darvill), Casey, O'Reilly, Sedgley, Barnes (Virgo), Hutchinson, Polomat, MacKenzie (Brkic), Honeyball. BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

Following our failure to beat Bradford, we quite simply had to make amends when Cardiff City visited us a week later. An ageing Cardiff squad was struggling to meet expectations, and the Bluebirds were down in 22nd spot.

 

Unfortunately, we would have to go into that game without Jacques Polomat, who'd strained his groin in training and was unlikely to play again before February. It was an unwelcome setback for Jacques, who had already reached double figures on both goals and assists this season.

 

14 January 2034: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cardiff City

Matthew Fraser returned to our line-up after sitting out the Bradford City game, but his opening shot at goal in the third minute showed signs of rustiness. Also coming back into my starting XI was Leon Curran, who was looking to prove a point following his costly error against Blackburn Rovers. Curran had his first opportunity to do that when he burst clear in the 11th minute, but Cardiff goalkeeper Keith Sheppard charged from his six-yard box and knocked the ball off Leon's feet.

 

On 15 minutes, Curran tried to beat Sheppard from about 25 yards out, only to fail spectacularly. Sheppard made his first save three minutes later, catching Stipo Brkic's shot after the Danish midfielder had made an excellent solo run towards goal.

 

Some of our fans were perhaps wondering just when that first goal would come. The answer came in the 31st minute. Souleymane Nomaou found a gap in the Bluebirds' defence and threaded the ball through it to Curran, who calmly opened the scoring.

 

Two minutes after we went 1-0 up, George Darvill was denied a second Daggers goal by the crossbar, which deflected away his header from Fraser's corner. Though George didn't get his name on the scoresheet, the other half of our centre-back 'dream team' did do that after 36 minutes. Velimir Radosavljevic produced an incredible jump to reach another corner delivery from Fraser and nod us into a 2-0 half-time lead!

 

I wanted us to try and kill the game off early in the second half, but Brkic and Nomaou wasted opportunities to put us 3-0 up in the first few minutes. Meanwhile, Irish winger Seán Davis fired wide a couple of early punts for Cardiff, who had hardly got near our goal in the first period.

 

The Bluebirds' hopes of getting back in the game would take a major dent after 59 minutes. Right-back and captain Dan Milton gashed his leg after being brought down by a sliding tackle from Nomaou and had to be substituted. Sol didn't receive a yellow card for that, but Daniel O'Reilly did get one after tripping Cardiff striker Lewis Askey in the 66th minute.

 

Two minutes after our left-back was cautioned, our right-back John Moser hurt himself in the process of clearing a ball out of our area. John was not seriously injured, but I subbed him for the last few minutes as a precaution.

 

Meanwhile, Sheppard almost single-handedly prevented us from running riot with a host of excellent saves. Brkic and Nomaou were each thwarted by the ex-Daggers loanee, as was substitute William Barnes on a couple of occasions late on. Although we failed to add to our two-goal lead from the interval, this was still an easy win against a Cardiff side whose attacking threat was almost non-existent.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Curran 31, Radosavljevic 36)

Cardiff City - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,525 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Cardiff 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser (Banton), Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser (Barnes), Hutchinson, Brkic, Curran, Nomaou (Honeyball). BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

With a bit more of a killer instinct, we might well have beaten the Welsh side by a rugby score. Not to worry, though, because our play-off charge was back on track.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2034 (continued)

Mid-January saw Ante Djuzel return from a five-month loan stint at Swansea City. The Croatian left-back hadn't fared too badly in League One and would soon be ready to challenge for a first-team place at Dagenham - but not before he recovered from a minor knee ligament injury.

 

Our next league game was a potentially nightmarish one at Pride Park against Derby County, who had been in 2nd place behind Rochdale for some time. Were Derby to win this match, they would move 12 points clear of us and effectively reduce our automatic promotion dreams to fantasy.

 

17 January 2034: Derby County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham striker Robbie MacKenzie smashed a fierce shot into the hands of Derby goalkeeper Daniel Lye after five minutes. Two minutes later, our right-back Arran Banton went in hard on Rams forward Aarran Bryant. Banton did more damage to himself than the opponent, as he strained his neck.

 

I took Arran off, brought on Zola Casey, and moved John Moser out to the right flank... but it was our left side that Derby would exploit after 12 minutes. Winger Reiss Benjamin ran rings around left-back Daniel O'Reilly before capping off an excellent run with a powerful shot into the corner of the net. 1-0 to the Rams.

 

The next half-hour was almost torture to watch, as we toiled through the first half without ever really threatening to equalise. Then Derby right-back Billy Fowler fouled O'Reilly just outside the County penalty area in the final minute of injury time. Daggers captain William Barnes curled the free-kick goalwards... and the ball evaded Lye as it dipped into the net! We'd drawn level just in time for the interval.

 

Derby manager John Sullivan played a wildcard at half-time, substituting striker Matt Woodward for on-loan Blackburn Rovers winger Ally Ellison. That substitution would pay off after 48 minutes. Benjamin muscled Velimir Radosavljevic off the ball and slipped past a slide tackle from William Barnes before whipping a ball into our box. Velimir managed to get back and get his head to the cross, but Ellison intercepted the clearance and blasted it beyond Kieran Whalley for 2-1 Derby.

 

Benjamin had caused us plenty of bother in this game, and he almost did so again on 55 minutes, when he curled a free-kick just over the bar. In the 64th minute, Fowler tore his groin muscle in a tackle on Daggers sub Shaun Powell, thus ending his game early.

 

Despite losing a key defender, the in-form Rams held firm and managed to grind out a sixth consecutive win in all competitions. A dismal attacking display from the Daggers was summed up by substitute Leon Curran, who - in the 79th minute - drove wide our only shot of the entire second half. Against a team of Derby's quality, we quite simply needed to do much better.

 

Derby County - 2 (Benjamin 12, Ellison 48)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Barnes 45)

Championship, Attendance 26,210 - POSITIONS: Derby 2nd, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Darvill (Curran), Radosavljevic, Banton (Casey), O'Reilly, Fraser, Barnes, Brkic, MacKenzie, Nomaou (Powell).

 

I'm guessing automatic promotion is off the table for this year, then...

 

Five days later, Victoria Road was the setting for our first ever competitive home game against Chelsea - the 2nd-placed team in the Premier League. I knew from last pre-season that we could beat the Blues in a friendly match, but could we do it in Round 4 of the FA Cup - in front of a live TV audience of millions?

 

22 January 2034: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Chelsea

We tried to steal a quick goal from a couple of early corners. George Darvill's header from a William Barnes delivery in the second minute was caught by Chelsea goalkeeper Andreas Schramm. Six minutes later, it was Matthew Fraser's turn to whip in a corner that Velimir Radosavljevic unfortunately flicked off target.

 

This Chelsea team consisted of a mix of regular starters and fringe players. Among the latter was Portuguese winger Manuel Paiva - a £13million summer signing from Manchester City. After 15 minutes, Paiva dribbled through a channel and beat Kieran Whalley with a vicious shot. Fortunately for us, the ball bounced back off the post, and Dagenham right-back John Moser hoofed it into the Chelsea half.

 

About four minutes after that narrow escape, our other full-back Rocco Mazzola pumped the ball up the left flank and towards Souleymane Nomaou. The Nigerien striker got to the byline before squaring the ball into the six-yard box. Sol was hoping to find Stipo Brkic... but Blues midfielder Valdivia inadvertently knocked the ball into his own net before Stipo could strike!

 

A huge roar went up across Victoria Road, and another could've followed in the 22nd minute had Fraser scored from a shot that was easily caught by Schramm. Chelsea got a chance to draw level through a corner on 32 minutes, but Whalley made light work of Glyn Mitter's header from Tayeb Laib's delivery. Kieran's save would prove even more important two minutes later, as John's low cross into the Chelsea box was prodded home by Stipo, and we went 2-0 ahead!

 

Mitter should've got the Blues back to within a single goal on 36 minutes, but he struck Whalley's right-hand post. With Lady Luck firmly on our side, we were now believing that we really could cause another major FA Cup upset.

 

Chelsea sought aspiration through their captain Christopher Khan in the 49th minute, but the England centre-back could only flick substitute Guillermo Mas' corner over our bar. Blues boss Lee Nicholls had used up all three of his subs by the 51st minute as panic set into the hosts. France international winger Laib tried to bend in a long-range shot on 53 minutes, but Whalley brilliantly pushed that effort away.

 

Three minutes after that, a sloppy short pass from Nomaou allowed Khan to intercept the ball and send Chelsea on the counter-attack. 20-year-old Wales striker Callum Lea found Mitter in acres of space, but the 25-year-old from the Black Country completely miscued his half-volley when clean through. Scores of Dagenham fans chanted, "Mitter's missed a sitter," as the former West Bromwich Albion striker failed to live up to his £19million price tag.

 

A more serious threat to our lead was Paiva, who drew another acrobatic save out of Whalley in the 67th minute. Disaster struck Barnes not long after that, as Will strained his thigh in a clash with Spain midfielder Mas. Barnes hobbled off in some pain and was later ruled out of action for the next two weeks.

 

As far as this match was concerned, though, we managed to hold on... just. Incredibly, the woodwork denied Chelsea for a THIRD time after 86 minutes, with Israel defender Yoav Cohen the latest player to hit the post. Had fortune favoured the favourites, the outcome might have been very different, but that didn't matter to us. When the final whistle blew, we celebrated another famous FA Cup win - and progression to Round 5!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Valdivia og19, Brkic 34)

Chelsea - 0

FA Cup Round 4, Attendance 12,000

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo, Fraser (Hutchinson), Barnes (Sedgley), Brkic, Curran, Nomaou (Honeyball).

 

We were still jubilating in the dressing room when the draw for FA Cup Round 5 took place. I for one was extremely excited about what lay ahead, because we were drawn away to a little old club based in Holloway, North London.

 

One of my dreams when I got into the football management business was to one day lead a team out against Arsenal - the club I had supported for nearly 40 years, ever since I was a boy. That dream will be realised on 11 February 2034, when I will lead Dagenham & Redbridge into the Emirates Stadium. It is sure to be an unforgettable experience, regardless of the result.

 

As the magnitude of what we'd achieved against Chelsea slowly set in, we welcomed back a raft of Daggers loanees. Adrian Bailey (Leighton Town), Carl Quinn (Middlesbrough), Ollie Reynolds (Fleetwood Town), Paul Habu and Jerome Farrell (both Yeovil Town) had all spent the best part of the last six months gaining vital experience in the lower leagues.

 

Centre-back Quinn would soon be going out on loan again. He joined our feeder club Leighton - who were 2nd in League Two - for three months, as did left-back Rocco Mazzola and striker Tristan Egueh.

 

Another trio of young Daggers - right-back Kevin McManus, left-back Jefferson Moran, and forward Aaron Megson - were farmed out to Salthill Devon in the Republic of Ireland until the summer. This would be McManus' second stint at Salthill. Another defender who was being loaned back to familiar surroundings was Zola Casey, who ended last season with Bolton Wanderers and would also conclude this campaign at the Reebok Stadium.

 

We concluded January by travelling to Northampton Town, who were looking fairly stable in 16th. Neither promotion nor relegation was at the forefront of Cobblers manager Patrick Kohlmann's mind.

 

28 January 2034: Northampton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Northampton lost a key player after just five minutes, when winger Billy Quinn twisted his ankle. It would take the Cobblers a fair while to recompose and get their game going.

 

After 20 minutes, Town midfielder Mark Goodacre tackled Daggers youngster Dave Hutchinson off the ball and advanced into the penalty area, where he swung a shot into Kieran Whalley's hands. Whalley would make another save five minutes later, catching substitute Liam Gilbert's header from Goran Plimon's corner delivery.

 

Unlike Kieran, the hosts' goalkeeper Glenn Nordh would have very little to do in the first half. Nordh perhaps should have faced a penalty in the 32nd minute, when Cobblers centre-back Leigham Wilding seemingly jumped unfairly above Souleymane Nomaou to flick Matthew Fraser's free-kick behind the Northampton goal.

 

Sol's protests for a penalty went unheeded, and the Nigerien's day didn't get any better when he curled a cross against the crossbar after 41 minutes. Unless Nomaou and his fellow Dagenham attackers could get their act together in the second half, we would be facing a disappointing 0-0 draw, if not a worse result.

 

Slovenian right-winger Plimon caused us a fair few problems early in the second period. Plimon had a shot saved by Whalley in the 49th minute, and in the 53rd, he raced past our left-back Daniel O'Reilly before pulling his next effort beyond the far post.

 

A couple of minutes after that, Northampton midfielder Moses Duodu knocked the ball into our penalty area for Carl Hughes to run onto. Hughes almost got to the ball before Tom Virgo brought him down from behind. Tom was incredibly lucky not to be sent off for that tackle, but I opted to sub him off after Town full-back Mike Spiller made light work of the resulting penalty.

 

Taking Virgo's place in our holding midfield role was Tyrone Sedgley, who helped to get us back level in the 65th minute. Tyrone's forward ball to Robbie MacKenzie was quickly squared towards Stipo Brkic, but Northampton veteran Steven Bowditch's tackle on the Dane knocked the ball towards Nomaou. After jetting away from Wilding, Sol lashed the ball home, and it was 1-1!

 

Northampton boss Patrick Kohlmann then took a major risk, giving 17-year-old substitute striker Shaun Munn just his sixth senior appearance as a replacement for Duodu. Kohlmann's gamble on Munn almost paid off within five minutes, as the teenager flicked a Plimon cross just over the bar.

 

On 77 minutes, a Northampton breakaway resulted in Munn heading the ball square to his more experienced strike partner Hughes, who had a clear view of goal. Fortunately, Whalley managed to get his gloves to the Northern Ireland forward's shot and tip it behind.

 

We launched a counterstrike of our own a few minutes later, but Nomaou was unlucky to be denied a second goal by the crossbar. Brkic and substitute Leon Curran also spurned chances to win the game for Dagenham before, in the 89th minute, Munn got his opportunity to do exactly that for Northampton.

 

Gilbert's square pass to Hughes in the Daggers area was blocked by George Darvill, but Munn pounced on the loose ball, driving it through Whalley's legs. The Sixfields Stadium went wild as Northampton won 2-1 and we were left wondering what could've been.

 

Northampton Town - 2 (Spiller pen56, Munn 89)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Nomaou 65)

Championship, Attendance 15,516 - POSITIONS: Northampton 13th, Dag & Red 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo (Sedgley), Fraser (Honeyball), Hutchinson, Brkic, Nomaou, MacKenzie (Curran). BOOKED: Virgo.

 

Our play-off place was now in real jeopardy. We'd lost back-to-back league matches for the first time this season, we were down to our lowest position since August, and 7th-placed Sunderland were only a couple of points behind.

 

Poor finishing had been a major concern in recent games, so I made offers for a handful of strikers on transfer deadline day. Unfortunately, we failed to obtain a work permit for a 19-year-old Russian target after having two offers for another young striker from Portugal rejected by his club. Later that day, a deal to sign Baldur Hreidarsson on loan from West Ham United for a THIRD time frustratingly fell through at the 11th hour.

 

We did do one piece of deadline-day business, selling left-winger Lars Zandbergen to Dutch second-tier club Fortuna Sittard for £200,000. Lars made only four league appearances for the Daggers before drifting out of the first-team picture. On reflection, he was perhaps one of the most pointless signings I had ever made at Dagenham & Redbridge.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of January 2034)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Rochdale               34    23    7     4     57    28    +29   76
2.          Derby                  34    22    5     7     54    26    +28   71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Aston Villa            34    19    5     10    58    39    +19   62
4.          Reading                34    19    4     11    45    35    +10   61
5.          Plymouth               34    18    5     11    58    47    +11   59
6.          Dag & Red              34    16    10    8     55    32    +23   58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Sunderland             34    14    14    6     59    36    +23   56
8.          Blackburn              34    16    6     12    49    38    +11   54
9.          Leeds                  34    16    5     13    45    33    +12   53
10.         Crewe                  34    14    11    9     39    29    +10   53
11.         Notts County           34    15    7     12    40    39    +1    52
12.         Ipswich                34    13    10    11    52    40    +12   49
13.         Northampton            34    14    2     18    30    45    -15   44
14.         Doncaster              34    12    7     15    34    47    -13   43
15.         Luton                  34    11    9     14    30    46    -16   42
16.         Coventry               34    11    8     15    34    41    -7    41
17.         Sheff Utd              34    11    7     16    47    48    -1    40
18.         Charlton               34    10    8     16    37    53    -16   38
19.         Crystal Palace         34    9     9     16    31    45    -14   36
20.         Wrexham                34    9     6     19    38    58    -20   33
21.         Bradford               34    7     11    16    39    56    -17   32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Cardiff                34    7     9     18    37    58    -21   30
23.         Wigan                  34    7     11    16    40    52    -12   22 *
24.         Peterborough           34    6     2     26    30    67    -37   10 *

* Peterborough and Wigan deducted 10 points for entering administration

 

[mark wilson27]

Brilliant performance against Chelsea but dont let it screw your push for promotion

[CFuller]

19 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Brilliant performance against Chelsea but dont let it screw your push for promotion

That's the fear. It's up to me to keep my players' feet on the ground, especially if we somehow manage to beat Arsenal in the next round of the FA Cup.

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2034

We only accrued five points from our five Championship games in January, but that didn't stop us from picking up yet another monthly award from the Football League. Velimir Radosavljevic was the recipient of the Championship's Young Player of the Month award - an accolade that his defensive partner-in-crime George Darvill had already nabbed twice before this term.

 

George and Velimir would need to be on the ball again as we kicked off February with a tricky home game against Notts County. The Magpies weren't too far off the play-off places, and they had the potential to knock us out of the top six with a strong showing at Victoria Road.

 

4 February 2034: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Notts County

Notts County were put under pressure in the sixth minute, when their skipper Dillon Powell had to nod Jacques Polomat's free-kick behind just before it could find Souleymane Nomaou. Matthew Fraser then swung our corner towards George Darvill, whose bullet header flew over the bar.

 

Things went pear-shaped for us five minutes later, as our goalkeeping captain Kieran Whalley sustained a dead leg. His record of playing in every minute of our league campaign came to a sad end, with 34-year-old Mitch Beckett coming on for his Daggers debut. Beckett had little to do until the 25th minute... and then he had to retrieve the ball from his net. Dave Johnson's right-wing cross for Notts County was slid home by Mike Barnes, who got to the ball ahead of both Darvill and Velimir Radosavljevic.

 

Our usually solid defence was now looking rather suspect. In the 34th minute, shortly after Jacques blazed over an opportunity to draw us level, our problem became a major crisis. Johnson was the architect again as his delivery from the right flank was fired by John Powell beyond Beckett, who had still to make his first Dagenham save.

 

Over the final ten minutes or so in the first half, we missed a whole host of attempts to reduce our two-goal arrears. The best of them came from Stipo Brkic in the 42nd minute, but the Dane was denied by a fine save from County keeper Brandon Turner.

 

I made some major tactical changes before the break, and they didn't take long to make a difference. On 48 minutes, substitute Robbie MacKenzie knocked the ball into County's area and found left-back Ante Djuzel, who was making his first competitive appearance for us this season. The young Croat squared a first-time pass to Brkic, who fired a bullet into the far corner!

 

Stipo had saved us from total collapse, but the Magpies almost restored their two-goal cushion in the 52nd minute, when Barnes hooked a shot just wide. Over the next eight minutes, their custodian Turner had to save a couple more Dagenham efforts from Brkic and MacKenzie. Turner would come under even more pressure after 61 minutes. He made two brilliant saves in quick succession from Nomaou and then MacKenzie, whose follow-up effort was pushed against the post. However, he couldn't prevent Brkic from scoring at the third attempt, which pulled us back from 2-0 down to 2-2!

 

By the 74th minute, we were believing that we could complete the comeback. Star performer Stipo knocked a wonderful pass to Robbie, whose powerful attempt at goal was palmed behind by Turner. Fraser swung the resulting corner to Darvill, who flicked it on to Radosavljevic at the back post. Velimir's hopeful shot was deflected behind off County full-back Jonathan Allan, who conceded another corner that was cleared away by Dillon Powell.

 

As for Dillon's namesake, John Powell threatened to reinstate the Magpies' lead on 84 minutes, only to see his header caught by Beckett. By that point, the Geordie striker was on a yellow card and suffering from a back problem... but his manager Cauley Woodrow kept him on. The reason would become clear as the allotted two minutes of injury time were stretched into a third.

 

Sinclaire Lawson aimed a last-chance corner for County to the near post, where Powell got above Fraser to flick it home. That was a real sickener. Our stirring comeback surely merited at least one point, but all of Brkic's good work had been for nothing.

 

Had we held on for a draw, we would have clung onto 6th place, sitting ahead of Plymouth Argyle on goal difference. Alas, John Powell's heartbreaking winner bumped us down to 7th as our long-time residency in the play-off places came to an end.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Brkic 48,61)

Notts County - 3 (Barnes 25, J Powell 34,90)

Championship, Attendance 11,686 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Notts County 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Beckett), Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Djuzel, Virgo, Fraser, Hutchinson, Brkic, Polomat (MacKenzie), Nomaou (Honeyball).

 

A few weeks ago, automatic promotion was still a realistic possibility. Now, after three straight defeats, and with several very difficult fixtures still ahead of us, we would do very well to even get back into the play-off spots before the season was over.

 

Mitch Beckett's unexpected first appearance for the Daggers had not been one to remember, so I was very relieved when Kieran Whalley was cleared to play in the FA Cup the following weekend. We would certainly stand more of a chance of beating Arsenal with him and our fit-again skipper William Barnes back in the fold.

 

On 11 February 2034, we travelled to the Emirates Stadium for our first ever meeting with Arsenal - and just our third ever FA Cup Round 5 tie. Although we'd beaten Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea to get this far, we were likely to finally come a cropper against Ciriaco Sforza's Gunners.

 

That said, it hadn't been a great season for Arsenal, who were 9th in the Premier League and nowhere near the title challengers.

 

11 February 2034: Arsenal vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Matthew Fraser tested Arsenal goalkeeper Barrie Pollitt with a decent shot at goal inside the opening minute. The Gunners had their first effort on goal a couple of minutes later. Jon Rowe's cross to captain Clive Johnson was headed safely into the hands of Kieran Whalley. The 31-year-old goalscoring legend would get another opportunity after five minutes. Pollitt fired forward a long ball that bounced ahead of Johnson, whose powerful half-volley was far too good for Whalley.

 

After that quick opener for Arsenal, we looked to retaliate through Robbie MacKenzie, who fizzed a shot just wide in the 11th minute. MacKenzie's next effort, on 18 minutes, was rather less close to the Arsenal goal. Nevertheless, our hosts weren't having things all their own way, and Johnson was looking a little annoyed.

 

After receiving a yellow card for diving in the 21st minute, Johnson had a couple of attempts brilliantly saved by Whalley, who was doing well to keep the deficit down. Another strong performer in the Dagenham defence was Velimir Radosavljevic, who executed an excellent slide tackle on Maximiliano Fernández in the penalty area after 39 minutes. Uruguay winger Fernández was hurt in that tackle and came off briefly for treatment.

 

Three minutes after that, another of Arsenal's South American players - Brazil defender Álvaro José - struck the crossbar with a dangerous bending free-kick. Liam Wood then beat Radosavljevic to the rebound, but the England midfielder's goal was ruled out for offside. We were still just about in contention as we entered the interval trailing only by a single Johnson goal to nil.

 

A solid goalkeeping display from Whalley continued in the 53rd minute. Fernández swung the ball in from the left flank and found Johnson, but Kieran comfortably caught the header. He produced another fine catch ten minutes later, stopping a long-ranger from Arsenal's long-serving French midfielder Willy Wawa. Another midfielder went close to doubling the Gunners' lead a minute later, with Wood firing a shot narrowly off target from just outside the penalty area.

 

We were still holding our own against the Premier League giants... but when Joel Honeyball went down with a knee injury after 67 minutes, I feared that it was the beginning of the end. A mistake from George Darvill in the 74th minute allowed Johnson to race through on goal and give himself the opportunity to finish us off. Whalley charged off his line and made himself look big... and it paid off, as the Arsenal skipper chipped the ball over the bar!

 

Kieran produced more heroics after 77 minutes, acrobatically tipping behind South African substitute Thulani Kama's header from a Wawa free-kick. The Gunners had put us on the back foot for virtually the entire game, but thanks to some brave defending (especially from man of the match Radosavljevic), we restricted them to just a single goal. We could leave the Emirates Stadium, and the FA Cup, with our heads held high.

 

Arsenal - 1 (Johnson 6)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

FA Cup Round 5, Attendance 50,489

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Barnes, Atta (Powell), Fraser (Polomat), Brkic, MacKenzie, Honeyball (Hutchinson).

 

After congratulating Arsenal manager Ciriaco Sforza and consoling my players, I set my sights firmly back on the league. We had to click back into gear early in the final quarter of our Championship campaign... and beating the division's biggest spenders wouldn't be a bad way to start off a resurgence.

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2034 (continued)

We were on our worst run of the season when we visited Coventry City - another team whose recent form had been very disappointing. Despite spending £19million this term, Coventry had won just twice in the last three months and were closer to the relegation spots than the play-off zone.

 

We arrived at the Ricoh Arena without a couple of injured first-teamers. Joel Honeyball had twisted his knee three days earlier at Arsenal, while midfielder Dave Hutchinson stubbed his toe in training before this match. There would, however, be a first-team debut for 18-year-old centre-back Adrian Bailey.

 

14 February 2034: Coventry City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Coventry goalkeeper Dennis Kyere had a very nervy moment in the ninth minute. Kyere made difficult work of Souleymane Nomaou's header after Matthew Fraser swung a free-kick into the City area, but he was relieved to see his defenders clear the danger. Nomaou had another attempt at goal in the 16th minute, although he fired it wide after an excellent solo run.

 

A minute after that came Coventry's first real chance to score. Finnish winger Lasse Leppanen curled in a free-kick from the left, and centre-half Ian Lea got his head to it, but he cleared the crossbar. Leppanen caused us another potential problem when his 25th-minute right-wing delivery found Jordan Harris in our six-yard box. We were thankful that George Darvill was in the right position to nod Harris' header away.

 

Another excellent defensive clearance was made in the 31st minute, by Coventry centre-back Neal Moody from Dagenham full-back Arran Banton's cross. The first half remained nicely poised... until we launched a late assault in the 41st minute. Nomaou won us a corner after his shot was parried by Kyere and then knocked behind by Sky Blues right-back Harris. William Barnes' corner led to some brief pinball-style action in the Coventry box before Robbie MacKenzie eventually fired home! 1-0 to the Daggers!

 

Barnes had picked up a knock before his potentially decisive corner, so Stipo Brkic took his place in the Dagenham side for the second half. That change didn't affect our rhythm too much, mind. In the 49th minute, an excellent pass from MacKenzie set up a chance for Nomaou. Unfortunately, Sol was denied by a fine save from Kyere, who would then keep out another effort from Robbie in the 61st minute.

 

The subsequent Coventry counter-attack resulted in Leppanen winning a corner off Darvill. We survived that corner, but with the Sky Blues starting to put pressure on us, I could sense that our teenage centre-back Adrian Bailey was getting very nervous. Fearing that the situation would soon get to young Ady, I quickly replaced him with the more composed Velimir Radosavljevic. Velimir came in at just the right time to shore up our defence and prevent Coventry from getting back on level terms.

 

An increase to our lead was looking likely again by the 73rd minute, when a powerful strike from MacKenzie was tipped over by Kyere. We won a couple more corners after that, but we couldn't strike the decisive blow.

 

When the Sky Blues launched one final attack in injury time, the outcome was typically infuriating. The move really got going when Leppanen knocked the ball towards captain Edwin Day in our penalty area. Our young left-back Ante Djuzel tried to slide the ball off Day's feet, but the deflection took it to Calum Black, who drilled in just his third Coventry goal since his seven-figure move from Middlesbrough. Two more points had gone begging.

 

Coventry City - 1 (Black 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (MacKenzie 42)

Championship, Attendance 14,730 - POSITIONS: Coventry 17th, Dag & Red 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, A Bailey (Radosavljevic), Darvill, Djuzel, Virgo, Fraser, Barnes (Brkic), Polomat, MacKenzie, Nomaou (Powell).

 

A win would've got us back into the top six... but for the third league game in a row, we threw away a good result in the closing moments. We have a knack for getting ourselves into choking fits, and if this particular one continued any longer, we would be in serious need of CPR.

 

Fortunately, we now had the best part of a fortnight to recover from our latest disappointment. Unfortunately, our next match was at home to 2nd-placed Rochdale.

 

The Dale were well on course to win a first-ever promotion to the Premier League. However, their most recent game had ended in just their sixth defeat of the Championship season - a 4-0 home thrashing by Sheffield United. Was that just a blip, or could we take full advantage of their more fragile mindset?

 

25 February 2034: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Rochdale

I took a bit of a gamble by giving Nigel Atta his first league start of the season for Dagenham. The 20-year-old midfielder's first act was to fire a shot well off target after barely a minute. Another Dagger had a moment to forget in the 8th minute. Goalkeeper Kieran Whalley slipped on the wet turf, leaving Wes Ashby free to fire Abderrahim Benyamina's corner in at the near post and give Rochdale the opener.

 

Atta sent another poor shot wide for the Daggers in the 9th minute, and we wouldn't get our first meaningful chance to draw level until the 20th. Matthew Fraser floated an excellent corner to George Darvill, who nodded it just the wrong side of Dale keeper Bill Miveld's right-hand post.

 

We almost had better luck from another Fraser corner on 26 minutes. This time, the recipient of Matthew's delivery was Velimir Radosavljevic, who couldn't quite get his header beyond former Bolton Wanderers goalie Miveld.

 

Two minutes after that, our defence came under severe pressure again. Rochdale forward Todor Nedeljkovic rose above Darvill to head Benyamina's left-wing cross against the bar, and his strike partner Garry Swan prodded in the rebound. Fortunately, the referee's assistant raised his offside flag... but our respite would not last much longer. More haphazard defending from Dagenham led to Nedeljkovic volleying in Dale's second goal after 32 minutes.

 

We already looked to be up against it, but barely a minute after falling 2-0 down, we got ourselves back in the game. Daniel O'Reilly managed to knock Daggers captain William Barnes' pass into the path of Souleymane Nomaou, who smashed in a fabulous first-time shot!

 

Darvill went close to erasing Dale's lead completely in the 42nd minute, but it all went wrong for us again in the 44th. The referee awarded Rochdale a penalty after Stipo Brkic brought down Benyamina in our area. China midfielder Geng Haoran stepped up to try and make it 3-1 to the visitors, but Whalley's quick reactions denied the Dale... for a while, at least. They did restore their two-goal cushion in injury time, thanks to Swan's unstoppable header from a cross by right-back Terry Curry. Game over?

 

If our first few shots of the second half suggested anything, it was that things would only get easier for Rochdale. Sol and Stipo each sent efforts off target in the first five minutes, while Atta and Barnes fared little better in the moments that followed.

 

After 57 minutes, however, my half-time decision to replace Jacques Polomat with Robbie MacKenzie paid dividends. A clever one-two between Robbie and Nigel ended with the latter lobbing the ball over Rochdale defender Tsvetomir Apostolov for the big Scot to half-volley home!

 

Two minutes later, Daggers right-back Arran Banton lobbed the ball towards Atta in the Rochdale area. Ashby tried to cut it out and head it back to Miveld, but Nigel burst past him from behind, got to the loose ball, and cut it into the far end of the net! Suddenly, we were back level at 3-3!

 

Nomaou looked to keep our momentum going in the 62nd minute, when he drove forward a shot that Miveld did reasonably well to stop. About five minutes after that, the fragility that Rochdale had shown against Sheffield United reared its ugly head again. Midfielder Liam Lewis was already on a booking when he tripped Brkic right in front of the referee, so he knew almost straight away that his next destination was the dressing room. Was that Rochdale red card exactly what we needed to complete our comeback?

 

With our opponents a man down, we decided to push even further up the pitch for the final 20 minutes or so. O'Reilly found target man MacKenzie with a fine cross in the 72nd minute, but Robbie's header rattled the bar before Ashby frantically cleared it behind. Fraser's subsequent corner was cleared, though our attack continued for a while longer until MacKenzie cracked a low drive wide.

 

The next man to audition for the role of Daggers hero was Atta, whose effort in the 76th minute was pushed away by Miveld. I then brought on Leon Curran for the inconsistent Nomaou just before the 80th minute, when Fraser sent another excellent free-kick into the Rochdale box. George got in front of Ashby to meet Matthew's free-kick with a header that didn't quite get beyond Miveld.

 

Three minutes after that, ten-man Rochdale won a corner against the run of play. Benyamina's outswinger was nodded goalwards by substitute centre-back Tony Appleton, and captain Swan got the final touch before the ball ended up in our net! The Dale players went wild... until the offside flag was raised against Swan for the second time in this match.

 

After our latest reprieve, we regathered our thoughts and pushed for a winner of our own. With a little over three minutes remaining, O'Reilly drilled the ball from the byline towards Dale's six-yard box. Curran and Appleton both went after the ball... and Leon prevailed, stabbing the ball home before the Welsh international could clear!

 

That goal sparked jubilant scenes in the stands as we fought back from 3-1 down to defeat high-flying Rochdale 4-3! We had given the Championship's big-spending fat cats a bloody nose!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Nomaou 33, MacKenzie 57, Atta 59, Curran 87)

Rochdale - 3 (Ashby 8, Nedeljkovic 32, Swan 45)

Championship, Attendance 11,591 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 5th, Rochdale 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton (Moser), Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Barnes, Atta, Fraser, Brkic, Polomat (MacKenzie), Nomaou (Curran).

 

(Exhale) Wow. That could be a tide-turner, a season-changer.

 

After arguably our most dramatic victory of the season, I was off to Oslo for my first ever match as Norway manager. My assistant Fabio Sariava was placed in charge of Dagenham training for the next few days, although several of our players were also away on midweek international duty.

 

While Antigua & Barbuda's Leon Curran, Niger's Souleymane Nomaou and the Republic of Ireland's Daniel O'Reilly all added to their senior caps, a trio of young Daggers made their first ever international appearances. Right-back Ross Pearson became the latest Dagenham youth product to turn out for England Under-19s, striker Peguy Kasongo was capped by DR Congo Under-20s, and centre-half Carl Quinn was given a chance by Ireland's Under-21s.

[mark wilson27]

Cracking result against Rochdale, lets see you push on from here and get promoted

[CFuller]

3 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Cracking result against Rochdale, lets see you push on from here and get promoted

It's a huge result, considering the resources they have. I still can't see Rochdale or Derby slipping out of the top two any time soon, but we're definitely in the mix for a play-off place.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2034

My Norway debut may have ended in a dull-as-ditchwater goalless draw against Iceland, but I was now determined to make sure that Dagenham & Redbridge's season wouldn't culminate in a similar anti-climax.

 

With nine games to go, we were in 5th place and firmly in contention for a play-off spot. Our next opponents, Sheffield United, were not. Ahead of our visit to Bramall Lane, the Blades found themselves well off the pace in 15th.

 

We lost a couple of backup players to injury just before this game, as goalkeeper Mitch Beckett picked up a hernia and forward Leon Curran strained his back. Neither was expected to return until April.

 

4 March 2034: Sheffield United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our typical free-flowing passing game really came to life in the opening stages of this game. Captain William Barnes fizzed a shot just past the post in the third minute, but our next attack would end more successfully. In the sixth minute, Stipo Brkic chipped a superb pass to Souleymane Nomaou, who turned past Sheffield United defender Rene van der Laan and drove in the opener for Dagenham!

 

Brkic could have followed up that assist with a goal on nine minutes, but Blades keeper Ross Archer pushed the Dane's shot behind. We launched another promising attack after 16 minutes through Robbie MacKenzie, who ran onto Barnes' lobbed through-ball and went one-on-one with Archer. Sadly, it was Archer who prevailed, parrying Robbie's shot away before Sol fouled Blades midfielder Sjors Laros in his attempt to score from the rebound.

 

The Sheffield United defence was already under severe pressure, and when right-back Colin Bridges sustained a dead leg in the 22nd minute, we looked set to dominate. After 27 minutes, though, United's Algerian midfielder Hamid Senoussi struck a long-range shot that forced Kieran Whalley into his first save of the afternoon. The tide seemed to be turning.

 

A little over a minute later, Blades substitute David Davies drilled a centre into our area. Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly hooked his clearance to Blades counterpart Jon Tolley, who moved the ball down the line for Elliott Bentley to whip in a cross. On the other end was Garry Steadman, who volleyed in Sheffield United's equaliser.

 

After we missed a host of chances to restore our lead, the hosts would find the net again in the 42nd minute. Bentley's left-wing cross flew over Whalley and ended up in the net, but Kieran was clearly being impeded by United striker Aaron Byrne, so the goal was disallowed.

 

A couple of minutes later, Byrne went down in the Dagenham area under an apparent push from defender Velimir Radosavljevic. The ref pointed to the spot, from which Byrne had the opportunity to make it 2-1 Sheffield United. However, Whalley produced an excellent penalty save for the second game in a row, and we remained level at the interval!

 

We had played so poorly in the latter part of that first period, and I could tell that most of my players were looking anxious. I tried to get their spirits up during the break with some reassuring words. That seemed to do the trick, as we were back to our old selves by the second half.

 

Robbie had our first shot of the second half after 52 minutes, but he could only chip Sol's through-ball into Archer's hands. Barnes and George Darvill also missed opportunities for Dagenham before we managed to break through again in the 62nd minute. Brkic knocked a delicious pass towards Nomaou, who outpaced van der Laan and drilled us back into the lead!

 

A third Daggers goal could have followed on 64 minutes had Matthew Fraser got some luck from a direct free-kick. That was Matthew's last contribution before being replaced with Dave Hutchinson, who was involved in our next assault a couple of minutes later. Hutch played the ball short to Sol, who cut open the Blades' backline with a fantastic lofted ball that Robbie half-volleyed into the net!

 

At 3-1 to Dagenham, the contest already looked over, especially with Sheffield United's 25-goal striker Byrne enduring one of the very worst games of his career. In contrast, Nomaou was having one of his very, very best. Six minutes before full-time, the Niger striker made it 4-1 with a blistering shot that completed his hat-trick, as well as a trio of assists from the equally brilliant Brkic!

 

Stipo could have added his name to the scoresheet in the 86th minute, but a miscued strike from just inside the box was just about the only thing the Danish attacking midfielder got wrong in the second period. The delightful Daggers were back up to 4th place, and back in business!

 

Sheffield United - 1 (Steadman 29)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Nomaou 6,62,84, MacKenzie 66)

Championship, Attendance 18,444 - POSITIONS: Sheff Utd 17th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Barnes (Atta), Fraser (Hutchinson), Brkic, MacKenzie (Polomat), Nomaou. BOOKED: Fraser.

 

With that win, we moved up to 4th place - four points clear of Sunderland in 7th. Could we now start to pull away and consolidate our play-off place?

 

The following weekend saw us receive a visit from Reading, who were only above us on goal difference. The Royals' recent form had not been particularly regal, as they arrived at Victoria Road on the back of four consecutive draws.

 

11 March 2034: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Reading

We tried to hit Reading on the break in the third minute, but didn't have much success. Souleymane Nomaou had a shot blocked by Royals centre-back Boris Bolongo before Nigel Atta smashed the rebound into the stands.

 

Four minutes later, it was the visitors who got their noses in front. Danny Ceciliano's right-wing cross to the near post was flicked on by Peter Edwards towards Bobby Preece, who stuck a leg out and diverted the ball across the goal line. Daggers defender Velimir Radosavljevic went down under Preece's slide, but the goal was allowed to stand.

 

Reading chased a second goal in the 11th minute, when Edwards drove forward a tame shot that didn't seriously trouble Kieran Whalley. Kieran was also left unflustered by a 17th-minute free-kick that Royals midfielder Ricky Hales curled over his crossbar.

 

At the other end, Reading's goalkeeping captain Davor Gligic was given very little work by our misfiring strikers. Souleymane Nomaou looked nothing like the hat-trick hero from Bramall Lane as he fired three long-rangers off target. In fact, we wouldn't even muster a single shot from inside the Reading area before half-time.

 

I was far from happy with our first-half performance, so I delivered a half-time team-talk designed to fire up all of my players... well, almost all of them. Stipo Brkic looked to be away with the fairies, even after my dressing-down, so Jacques Polomat replaced him in attacking midfield for the second period.

 

About five minutes after the restart, Nomaou was hacked down just outside Reading's area by Hales, who conceded a free-kick and a yellow card. Daggers captain William Barnes, who had himself been booked just before the break, swung the free-kick towards the top corner... and Gligic had to really stretch his arm out to divert it behind! Atta then blazed the ball over from the resulting corner.

 

Reading were on the attack again by the 54th minute, when Preece went within inches of heading in their second goal. A minute later, though, Arran Banton swung a cross into the Royals box and found Polomat. Gligic got down to try and stop Jacques in his track, but the French sub prodded the ball underneath him just in time!

 

Having drawn level, we fancied ourselves to move ahead... until some ill-discipline resulted in a couple of Dagenham bookings within the next three minutes. The first was given to Banton, for a late challenge on Hales. The second was also given out after another foul on Hales... from captain Barnes. Referee Alan Ellams immediately brought out the yellow card again, and followed it with the red! We were down to 10 men!

 

Young defender Adrian Bailey replaced the disappointing Nomaou as we tried to play things a bit safer following Will's red card. Robbie MacKenzie was now playing as our lone striker. The giant Scotsman went for goal from distance after 64 minutes, but his piledriver was easily caught by 37-year-old Royals stalwart Gligic. The Bosnian made another save in the 75th minute, pushing behind George Darvill's header from a Matthew Fraser corner.

 

Those Daggers attacks were the exception rather than the rule in a second half that the Royals controlled. If we wanted to take away a result, we had to avoid making any mistakes... but MacKenzie made a complete howler of one in the 79th minute. His backwards pass towards Banton was cut out by Edwards, who surged up the left flank before beating Whalley with an incredible 30-yard shot from out wide!

 

I was fuming with Robbie, though not for very long! Less than two minutes after gifting Reading a 2-1 lead, MacKenzie took it away with a clever pass that Daniel O'Reilly slotted past Gligic from close range!

 

We were back on course for a draw... but the Royals still had enough time to deliver a knockout blow. In the last few seconds of regular time, Reading left-back Connor Smith crossed deep to Preece, who got the better of Whalley with a soul-crushing diving header. The visitors had moved in front for the third and final time in this match, and we suffered our 10th league defeat this term.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Polomat 55, O'Reilly 81)

Reading - 3 (Preece 7,90, Edwards 79)

Championship, Attendance 11,591 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 5th, Reading 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Radosavljevic, Darvill, O'Reilly, Barnes, Atta (Hutchinson), Fraser, Brkic (Polomat), MacKenzie, Nomaou (A Bailey). BOOKED: Barnes, Banton. SENT OFF: Barnes.

 

"WE WERE ACTUALLY DOING ALRIGHT UNTIL YOU GOT YOURSELF SENT OFF!" I yelled at William Barnes in the dressing room at full-time. "You're a wonderful player, Barnesy, but sometimes you can get far too carried away, and when that happens, the whole team is up s**t creek! You can expect to be docked a week's wages to go with your one-match ban. NOW GET OUT OF MY F***ING SIGHT!"

 

I had never really lost my temper with my captain before, but Will had badly let the whole team down. We were now only a single point ahead of Sunderland... and guess who we would be playing next?