CFuller

I have a laptop from 2010. It was a high-end 21st-century gaming laptop at the time, but it cannot run FM22, let alone modern games (I now only use it for non-gaming stuff). Anyway... I think your comment just smells of snobbery and entitlement. You might have an ultra-modern gaming PC - or at least be in a position where you can upgrade to one - but not all of us are as fortunate. Not all of us can afford to invest in new hardware or PCs on an annual or even biennial basis. Also, I'm pretty sure a sizeable chunk of the community bought their laptop just to play FM. Even if they could afford to upgrade, they likely wouldn't want or need to. You might be happy to freeze out those customers so the game can look prettier for you, but SI will look at the bigger picture, and they may not want to take that risk until they feel the investment is worth it. Calling those customers "cheap skates" or selfish or calling SI's decision to cater to them a "scam" is totally uncalled for. They are not the problem.

DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of September 2005) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Cambridge Utd 9 4 1 0 14 5 2 1 1 5 3 20 2nd Rochdale 9 3 2 0 11 6 3 0 1 7 5 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Swindon 9 2 0 2 6 7 3 2 0 17 10 17 4th Reading 9 3 0 2 9 6 2 1 1 7 7 16 5th Wrexham 9 3 1 1 8 5 1 2 1 8 7 15 6th Tranmere 9 3 2 0 7 3 1 1 2 3 4 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Oxford 9 2 0 2 9 7 3 0 2 10 10 15 8th Carlisle 9 2 2 1 9 9 2 1 1 8 6 15 9th Cardiff 9 2 1 1 14 7 2 1 2 11 11 14 10th Northampton 9 2 2 0 7 4 2 0 3 9 12 14 11th Dag & Red 9 3 1 1 11 5 0 3 1 7 8 13 12th Hull 9 2 1 1 7 6 1 3 1 12 12 13 13th Bristol Rovers 9 1 3 0 9 8 2 0 3 10 13 12 14th Huddersfield 9 2 2 0 12 9 1 1 3 7 12 12 15th Portsmouth 9 2 2 1 15 13 1 0 3 6 8 11 16th Port Vale 9 1 1 2 4 5 2 1 2 4 5 11 17th Peterborough 9 2 2 1 9 9 0 2 2 5 10 10 18th Norwich 9 2 0 2 5 4 1 1 3 6 12 10 19th Bournemouth 9 1 2 1 4 4 0 3 2 1 4 8 20th Bristol City 9 1 0 4 9 13 1 2 1 8 8 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Shrewsbury 9 1 1 3 4 5 1 0 3 4 8 7 22nd Barnsley 9 2 0 3 8 10 0 1 3 3 8 7 23rd Wigan 9 2 0 2 7 6 0 1 4 2 12 7 24th Watford 9 1 2 1 6 7 0 1 4 3 9 6 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... England are among the latest countries to qualify for the World Cup, as midfielders Joe Cole and Seth Johnson score the decisive goals in a 2-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina. Spain also book their place at next summer's finals - without conceding a single goal. Iker Casillas might have had a say in that. While Manchester United saunter to the top of the Premiership once again, Liverpool's title charge stutters, with just one win from their first five matches. The Scousers respond by paying Monaco £10million for creative winger Ludovic Giuly, who twists his knee on his Anfield debut against Newcastle. Premiership clubs have mixed results early in the Champions League. Chelsea suffer a shocking collapse in Denmark, throwing away a 2-0 lead before conceding a 90th-minute winner against Brøndby. Meanwhile, Leeds record a stunning 3-0 victory over Barcelona at the Nou Camp... but then lose 3-0 at Club Brugge a week later! Lille make a strong start to the Ligue 1 season, with midfielder Michael Essien and striker Dado Prso both in hot form as they win five of their first seven matches. Defending champions Monaco are also unbeaten... but they are also in the relegation zone after five consecutive draws! Could Bayern München's Bundesliga dominance be under threat? Ottmar Hitzfeld's superstars suffer a humiliating 5-0 defeat at Hertha BSC that knocks them off top spot. The new leaders are unbeaten outsiders 1.FC Köln, whose fresh-faced 38-year-old manager Jürgen Klopp implements a high-intensity playing style that German journalists call "gegenpressing". IN OTHER NEWS... 16 years after losing the Ashes, England's cricketers regain the little urn by beating Australia in a thrilling five-match Test series on home soil. The country immediately goes barmy, while star player Andrew Flintoff gets sozzled before planning a new career in showbiz. The Daily Mirror releases an exposé showing supermodel Kate Moss and her musician boyfriend Pete Doherty taking cocaine. Moss loses her advertising contract with H&M, while Doherty becomes THE biggest rock star in Britain. How does that work? In Formula 1, Michael Schumacher’s five-year reign of terr... ific driving is over. 23-year-old Fernando Alonso wins the Drivers’ Championship with two races to spare, becoming the youngest world champion in history. The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten publish 12 cartoons, many of which depict the Prophet Muhammad. This angers many Muslims and leads to protests worldwide.

SEPTEMBER 2005 After surviving our first four matches in Division 2 undefeated, things were heating up for Dagenham & Redbridge. Our September schedule began with a visit from Wigan, who were just outside the relegation places after a slow start to their campaign. 3 SEPTEMBER 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wigan Athletic We seemingly had no luck in front of goal during the first half. Junior McDougald hit the crossbar from an excellent pass by Ryan Carter after just four minutes. Several later shots from McDougald and our other attackers were well saved by Wigan goalkeeper Gary McGlynn, whose patchy form before that game apparently didn't matter here. We upped the pace and went more direct early in the second half, which eventually got us our rewards. After 55 minutes, Des Hamilton picked out McDougald with a fantastic long ball that our long-serving striker flicked home with ease. And while it might have still been summer for a few more weeks, Craig Winter was thriving in attacking midfield. The Scotsman doubled our advantage eight minutes later, tapping in a low cross from left-back Kerry Mayo. The Latics were well beaten, though a shot from captain Neil Roberts gave our goalkeeper Glynn Thompson a late scare. Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (McDougald 55, Winter 63) Wigan Athletic - 0 Division 2, Attendance 4,562 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Wigan 22nd DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Thompson; Hawkins, Maher, Matthews, Mayo; Hamilton, Lacey, Carter (McLean); Winter (Gledhill); Mwaruwari (Alsop), McDougald. BOOKED: Mwaruwari. We are traditionally very strong at home, and a third win in four matches at Victoria Road marked a promising start to our life in a new division. But if we were to survive, we also needed to pick up results away from east London. One of our longest trips this season took us all the way to Hull, in East Yorkshire. The Tigers were under the stewardship of veteran manager Dave Bassett, who led them into Division 1 in 2004 but failed to keep them up beyond a single season. Their pursuit of an immediate re-promotion hadn't started too badly, with just one defeat in five games. 10 SEPTEMBER 2005: Hull City vs Dagenham & Redbridge Dave Bassett's boys took only five minutes to hit the front, courtesy of their veteran French striker Marc Libbra, who pounced on a killer ball from midfielder Shaun Derry after a mistake by Daggers defender Lee Matthews. We had several chances to hit back, though it wasn't until Junior McDougald thundered in Mark Janney's low cross in the 30th minute that we drew level. The Tigers showed their teeth again in the 43rd minute, tormenting us with their quickfire attacking play before Derry blasted home for 2-1. Once again, McDougald provided the answer to Hull's question, heading in a lobbed ball from strike partner Benjani Mwaruwari to get us level just before half-time. At 2-2, it was anyone's guess where this match would go... or at least it was until the 74th minute. A fierce drive from right-back Craig McEwan rattled our woodwork and served as a warning shot. Five minutes later, Gavin Mahon skipped across midfield and weighted a fabulous pass to substitute striker Paul McKnight, who outpaced the experienced Matthews and sent Hull back into the lead. Of course, we'd recovered from two deficits, so we still believed we could do so again. Matthews almost redeemed himself in the 87th minute by setting up McDougald, who blazed over a great chance for a hat-trick. We then had one final equalising opportunity through attacking midfielder Craig Winter, who got his head to a Kerry Mayo cross... and flicked it inches past the post. Our unbeaten start was over. Hull City - 3 (Libbra 5, Derry 43, McKnight 79) Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (McDougald 30,45) Division 2, Attendance 9,176 - POSITIONS: Hull 4th, Dag & Red 8th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Thompson; Hawkins, Maher, Matthews, Sharps (Weekes); Janney (Winter), Hamilton, Lacey, Mayo; Mwaruwari (Devine), McDougald. BOOKED: Sharps. I wasn't too disappointed about our first defeat of the season. We'd played pretty well for the most part, but Hull were just more comfortable in possession and more clinical in front of goal. When all was said and done, we'd lost to the better team. After the match, three teenagers were promoted to our reserve team. John Powell (18) is a pacey and selfless right-winger who looks to have a fair amount of potential if he can sharpen up his crossing. Alan Jones (17) also has plenty of speed and technique, and he can play anywhere in midfield or attack. However, I'm not as hopeful about forward Peter McCann (also 17), who is pretty average and demanded exorbitant wages when we were discussing a full-time contract. Peter needs to be more realistic, or he'll never make it as a professional footballer. We then returned to Victoria Road to host Northampton, who were in 3rd place and already looking confident of achieving a second promotion in three seasons. Damien Lacey had unfortunately picked up a groin strain on the eve of this match, which meant youngster Alan McLean took his place in midfield, and Lee Matthews took on the captaincy. 14 SEPTEMBER 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Northampton Town Craig Winter had now settled nicely into the Dagenham team, and after just seven minutes, he was celebrating his first assist for the club. A skilful exchange of passes with Benjani Mwaruwari ended in the Zimbabwean striker heading the opening goal past Northampton goalkeeper Jorgen Nielsen. The Cobblers were soon losing their cool. Former England defender Andy Hinchcliffe was lucky not to be sent off in the 12th minute, when he reacted angrily to being booked for bringing down Winter. His team-mate Nielsen did see red six minutes later, paying the ultimate price for a professional foul on Junior McDougald. He was replaced with Joe Murphy, who could do nothing about Benjani's subsequent penalty. Though we were 2-0 up and one man up, we made heavy weather of killing Northampton off later in the first half. We were punished seven minutes before the break, when a rare attack from the hosts ended in former Manchester United winger Ben Muirhead halving our goal advantage. Would that be costly? A minute before Muirhead's goal, Sean Maher had the ball in the Northampton net, only to be denied his first Dagenham goal because of an offside flag against McDougald. The Irish defender did beat his compatriot Murphy again in the 54th minute, pouncing on the loose ball after the keeper had awkwardly saved Benjani's volley. This time, Sean was allowed to celebrate breaking his duck, and it was 3-1 to the Daggers! But of course, it was Mwaruwari who had the last word. Ryan Carter cracked open the Cobblers' defence in the 71st minute to help Benjani complete his hat-trick, after which he was subbed off to a standing ovation. We hadn't simply beaten Northampton - we had smashed them! Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Mwaruwari 7,pen18,71, Maher 54) Northampton Town - 1 (Muirhead 38) Division 2, Attendance 5,953 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 4th, Northampton 3rd DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Thompson; Hawkins (Gledhill), Maher, Matthews, Mayo; Hamilton, McLean (Carter), Weekes; Winter; Mwaruwari (Alsop), McDougald. We were back in the play-off places... but for how long? Next up was a long journey west, to face an entertaining Bristol Rovers side whose first seven matches had seen them score 15 goals and concede 16. 17 SEPTEMBER 2005: Bristol Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge Bristol Rovers made the brighter start and nearly scored in the seventh minute, when Stuart Brightwell's free-kick hit the post. Fellow winger Danny Pugh did likewise in the 27th, and Brightwell scuffed the rebound. Those misses came back to haunt the Gasheads on 38 minutes, as a low strike from Craig Winter gave Dagenham a 1-0 lead that we honestly didn't deserve. Our first-half luck didn't return for the second. Three minutes after the restart, star striker Junior McDougald - who had provided the assist for Winter's opener - felt a twinge in his thigh and gestured to come off. He was replaced with Sean Devine, who had a quiet afternoon in front of goal as we struggled to extend our lead. By the closing stages, with our advantage still at 1-0, I turned my focus towards preserving it. A tiring Sean Maher was replaced in defence by vice-captain John Anderson, who was making his first appearance this month, having been dropped after a decline in form. I mean, what could go wrong? Deep into stoppage time, Bristol Rovers sought the luck of the Irish as they went on one last attack. Centre-half Trevor Challis squared the ball to Irish international midfielder Alan Mahon, whose last-ditch 20-yard strike found the top corner - and brought a wide smile to the face of his Rovers manager Pete Mahon (no relation). All the stats suggested that Gasheads probably deserved at least a point, but we still felt very hard done by. Bristol Rovers - 1 (Mahon 90) Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Winter 38) Division 2, Attendance 9,744 - POSITIONS: Bristol Rovers 12th, Dag & Red 6th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Thompson; Hawkins, Maher (Anderson), Matthews, Mayo; McLean (Hamilton), Carter, Weekes; Winter; Mwaruwari, McDougald (Devine). A painful second half in more ways than one. As well as missing out on two points that would have lifted us up to 3rd place, we also had to contend with the news that Junior McDougald was out for two weeks with a thigh strain. Having provided four goals and three assists in eight matches this term, the in-form American would be hard to replace. Four days later, we welcomed Glenn Hoddle's Bolton to Victoria Road in Round 2 of the League Cup. The Trotters' last match had seen them lose 3-0 at Old Trafford against the mighty Manchester United, but this would be a very different experience for them. Could our underdogs spring a surprise? 21 SEPTEMBER 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bolton Wanderers Julian Alsop might not have scored yet this season, but I put my trust in the big target man to break apart the Bolton defence. Jules got his first chance after seven minutes, but Trotters keeper James Evans made simple work of his header. Benjani Mwaruwari and Des Hamilton would also have shots saved by the young Scotsman later on. Though England striker Michael Ricketts was captaining this Bolton team, the visitors' main attacking threats came from a couple of Nordic internationals. Norway striker Thorstein Helstad and Sweden midfielder Kennedy Bakircioglü each had shots hit the woodwork either side of the half-time break. By the 75th minute, Glenn Hoddle was seemingly so desperate to reverse his team's fortunes that I heard him trying to phone a faith healer - called Eileen something. Hoddle need not have worried, because for the second game in a row, we would have our hearts broken in the closing stages by an Irish midfielder. Bolton finally made the breakthrough four minutes from time, when Chris Dawson's corner was headed home by Republic of Ireland B international Kevin Nolan. I thought we were doing well enough to at least take the game to extra-time, but it wasn't to be. Dagenham & Redbridge - 0 Bolton Wanderers - 1 (Nolan 86) League Cup Round 2, Attendance 5,970 DAG & RED LINE-UP (5-3-2): Pollitt; Maher, Bayliss, Matthews; Hawkins, Mayo; Carter (Winter), Hamilton, Weekes (McLean); Alsop (Devine), Mwaruwari. Another valiant League Cup performance had ended in a late, narrow defeat to Premiership opposition. Still, we could dry our tears with the £59,700 we made in gate receipts - a new club-record. Another big Victoria Road crowd was anticipated when Norwich came to town. It's incredible to think that the Canaries were flying high in the Premiership a little over a decade ago, yet now found themselves battling to avoid relegation into Division 3. 24 SEPTEMBER 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Norwich City The first half was a surprisingly eventful one for teenage midfielder Ryan Carter. Having been booked in the 40th minute for a foul on Danny Hudson, Carter posed an even greater danger to Norwich with a powerful strike that was well stopped by Damian Beckford-Quailey. That was our best chance in a combative opening period, which was a stressful one for our opponents, who made two substitutes before the break! Carter and right-back Lee Gledhill were both on yellow cards at half-time, so I told them to calm down. I was soon wishing I'd given the same pep talk to our left-back Kerry Mayo. Kerry reacted so poorly to receiving a yellow card in the 47th minute that he angrily kicked the ball away, earning him another! I couldn't hide my dismay for Mayo's behaviour as he headed down the Victoria Road tunnel in disgrace. Within moments of Mayo's dismissal, our 10 men predictably fell 1-0 behind. Anglo-Danish centre-back Brett Solkhon - who replaced the experienced Phil Babb in Norwich's defence after just 14 minutes - scored his first Canaries goal to break the deadlock. Norwich's narrow lead lasted just five minutes. Nick Weekes might have been thwarted by a firm tackle from visiting full-back Alex Powell, but Carter got to the loose ball and blasted it home. The homegrown hero celebrated his equaliser wildly with his team-mates... until things took a dark turn when centre-back Shaun Maher pulled a calf muscle. 16-year-old midfielder Simon Warren had to replace the injured Irishman, making just his second competitive appearance. City were back on the offensive in the 69th minute, when a shot from the experienced winger John O'Neil was pushed behind by Glynn Thompson. Powell tried an inswinging corner, and 21-year-old John Sutton (the younger brother of ex-Norwich striker Chris) outjumped Des Hamilton to head in what proved to be the clincher. Fortress Victoria Road had been breached twice in four days. Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Carter 52) Norwich City - 2 (Solkhon 47, Sutton 70) Division 2, Attendance 5,973 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Norwich 18th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Thompson; Gledhill (Hawkins), Maher (Warren), Matthews, Mayo; Carter, Hamilton, Weekes; Winter (Sharps); Devine, Mwaruwari. BOOKED: Gledhill, Carter, Mayo, Devine. SENT OFF: Mayo. What a let-down. As poorly as we'd played overall, Kerry Mayo's needless sending-off was probably the main reason for our defeat. Our left-back received a one-match ban - ruling him out of our next home game against leaders Cambridge on 8 October - and a stern warning. We head into the autumn sitting in mid-table - two points off the play-off places, but six clear of relegation. With seven matches on our October schedule, our season really could go either way.

As much as people like to look at FM17 with nostalgic eyes, they forget just how horrible the last 2D newgen faces were. And they were truly horrible, perhaps the worst they've ever been - you had 16-year-old kids who looked like middle-aged alcoholics with receding hairlines. SI moved to 3D faces on FM18, and though they do at least look more human, I was hoping more progress had been made by now. As it is, we still have newgens with only four or five different skin tones. We still have East Asian players who look more like Mexicans. We still have 15-year-old youth players with beards, and 35-year-old staff members who resemble Father Christmas. I'm not saying SI should go back to the original newgen faces that were around until FM15. I'm also not saying they should use NewGAN, which has major issues of its own in terms of face variety and ethnic diversity. I just would like someone from SI to explain as to why they made the switch from 2D to 3D faces in 2017, and why they still haven't been brought up to scratch after five years. More openness and transparency - that's all I'm asking for. Of course, bad newgen faces are not a deal breaker for me. I'll just switch them off or keep using NewGAN (for all its faults). But it shouldn't have to be this way.

DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of August 2005) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Cambridge Utd 4 2 0 0 6 1 2 0 0 3 0 12 2nd Wrexham 4 2 0 0 4 0 1 1 0 4 2 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Portsmouth 4 2 0 0 5 1 1 0 1 4 3 9 4th Rochdale 4 0 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 4 1 8 5th Northampton 4 1 1 0 4 2 1 0 1 3 3 7 6th Tranmere 4 1 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 2 2 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Bristol Rovers 4 1 1 0 5 4 1 0 1 1 2 7 8th Dag & Red 4 1 1 0 4 2 0 2 0 4 4 6 9th Oxford 4 1 0 1 3 3 1 0 1 5 5 6 10th Shrewsbury 4 1 0 1 2 1 1 0 1 2 3 6 11th Cardiff 4 1 1 0 9 4 0 1 1 3 4 5 12th Hull 4 1 1 0 3 2 0 1 1 5 6 5 13th Carlisle 4 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 1 2 2 5 14th Bristol City 4 0 0 2 3 5 1 1 0 4 2 4 15th Peterborough 4 0 2 0 3 3 0 2 0 3 3 4 16th Norwich 4 1 0 1 2 1 0 1 1 3 4 4 17th Bournemouth 4 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 4 18th Huddersfield 4 1 1 0 5 4 0 0 2 2 6 4 19th Reading 4 1 0 1 2 3 0 1 1 2 4 4 20th Wigan 4 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 6 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Barnsley 4 1 0 1 4 5 0 0 2 1 4 3 22nd Swindon 4 0 0 2 2 6 0 2 0 5 5 2 23rd Watford 4 0 2 0 3 3 0 0 2 0 4 2 24th Port Vale 4 0 0 2 0 3 0 1 1 0 3 1 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... The Confederations Cup sees a couple of shocks, as Brazil and hosts Argentina are knocked out in the Group Stage by South Africa and Australia respectively. The cream eventually rises to the top, with Germany lifting the trophy after Kevin Kurányi scores a 16th-minute winner in yet another Final showdown against Italy. At the Club World Championship in Turkey, Gennaro Ivan Gattuso scores twice as Milan defeat CONCACAF champions Chicago Fire 2-1 in the Final. Silvio Berlusconi celebrates with a quiet night at home. Ten days after becoming world champions, Milan's attempt to qualify for the Champions League ends in humiliation. Having beaten Amica Wronki 2-0 in the first leg at the San Siro, they then collapse to a shock 3-0 defeat in Poland - after conceding twice in the final 10 minutes! Gérard Houllier's side drop into the UEFA Cup, where they are drawn against another Polish team - Groclin Grodzisk - in Round 1. Hélio dos Anjos starts his Manchester United reign straight from where Sir Alex Ferguson left off. His new Brazilian striker França scores four goals in four games as United beat Blackburn in the Community Shield before recording three straight Premiership wins. Things don't go quite so well for Crewe's new boss John Collins, who loses his first three Premiership matches after taking over from the retired Dario Gradi. Two former Real Madrid 'galacticos' find new homes after becoming free agents in the summer. Portugal forward Figo signs for mid-table Serie A side Udinese, apparently after a recommendation from their scout Denis Smith. Meanwhile, playmaker Zinedine Zidane returns to France and signs for Nantes. IN OTHER NEWS... Hurricane Katrina devastates large parts of the southern United States, with the city of New Orleans in Louisiana being worst-hit. It kills over 1,800 people and causes $125billion worth of damage. The Labour Party mourns two of its most high-profile figures. Robin Cook - the former Foreign Secretary who quit Government in 2003 in protest against the Iraq War - dies of a heart attack at 59. Less than a fortnight later, Mo Mowlam - the former Northern Ireland Secretary who helped bring about the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 - passes away from cancer aged just 55. King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies after 23 years on the throne. He is succeeded by his half-brother Abdullah, who becomes the fifth son of the famously prolific Ibn Saud to rule the oil-rich Middle Eastern state. R&B singer Rihanna releases her debut album “Music of the Sun”. This unassuming 17-year-old from Barbados soon announces her plan to take over the world by putting out a new single every month for the next nine years.

AUGUST 2005 After four friendly matches without defeat, we were making steady progress towards our first season in Division 2. For our next pre-season game, we travelled to Falmer to do battle again with our former rivals Brighton, who just missed out on the Division 3 play-offs last term. 2 AUGUST 2005: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Dagenham & Redbridge Having been placed on the transfer list months ago, Dagenham winger Mark Janney wanted to prove a point - and a brilliant strike just four minutes into this match certainly made me took notice. Though midfielder Chris Brandon quickly cancelled it out for Brighton, our ex-Seagulls left-back Kerry Mayo wasted little time in restoring the lead that Mark had given us. It was 2-1 to the Daggers at half-time... ...and there was more to come! Nine minutes into the second half, Janney aimed a deep cross for striker Sean Devine... only for the wind to blow the ball straight into the net. Brighton keeper Mark Clough was bewildered, but his namesake Janney was perhaps even more so! Albion's misery was then compounded when another ex-Seagull completed an away win in stoppage time. Attacking midfielder Stephen Melton took advantage of a fine pass by 15-year-old rising star Simon Warren to make it 4-1! Brighton & Hove Albion - 1 (Brandon 8) Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Janney 4,54, Mayo 13, Melton 90) Friendly, Attendance 3,794 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Pollitt (Thompson); Gledhill (Hawkins), Matthews (Anderson), Maher, Sharps (Betts); Janney, Winter (Melton), McLean (Warren), Mayo (Hamilton); Devine (Alsop), Renner (Walsh). Lee Matthews' first match as captain since rejoining the Daggers had gone incredibly well. Sadly, the centre-half's formal return to Victoria Road would have to wait. Lee damaged his foot in training a few days later, which meant he wouldn't see competitive action for at least the first few weeks of the new league season. We had one last warm-up match a week before our Division 2 debut. Our opponents Millwall could have been playing in the same division as us, but the Lions' new manager Dennis Wise pulled them out of the Division 1 relegation zone late last term. 6 AUGUST 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Millwall Millwall wasted little time to hit the front, with the highly-rated 20-year-old Cherno Samba volleying home the opener after just two minutes. 19-year-old midfielder Ryan Carter levelled for the Daggers on the stroke of half-time, but we spent most of the second period weathering a Lions storm. Unfortunately, our resistance was shattered in the 86th minute, when visiting left-back Alex Smith's devastating cross was tucked away by Swedish youngster Pablo Andersson for the winner. Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Carter 44) Millwall - 2 (Samba 2, P Andersson 86) Friendly, Attendance 1,078 DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2): Thompson (Pollitt); Maher (Rose), Anderson, Bayliss; Gledhill, Sharps (Mayo); Melton (Winter), Lacey (Warren), Carter (Weekes); Mwaruwari (McDougald), Alsop (Devine). While we had just missed out on completing an unbeaten pre-season, spirits were still high in the Dagenham camp - for the most part. Things didn't look quite so good where two of our star strikers were concerned. Julian Alsop hadn't scored at all in pre-season, and as for Benjani Mwaruwari... Two days before our opening league game, Benjani flew out to Zimbabwe to represent his country in a friendly against Niger (as you do). And as if that wasn't enough, he phoned me up after touching down in Harare to demand a transfer to a bigger club! Needless to say, I wasn't too chuffed. "Look, Ben, you've only been with us for six months! You've played 13 league games and scored four goals - that's good, but not great. If you want to play at a higher level, you need to be scoring consistently - and you can start by knuckling down in training instead of jetting off across the planet for some pointless friendly!" With Benjani's future up in the air (literally), we kicked off the 2005/2006 Football League season without him. The first visitors to Victoria Road in our new league were Bournemouth, who finished just above the Division 2 relegation places last term. If we wanted to stay in this division beyond the next nine months, picking a point or three against the Cherries would be a good start. 13 AUGUST 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs AFC Bournemouth We immediately made ourselves right at home, taking the first half to Bournemouth. The Cherries' Latvian goalkeeper Alexandrs Kolinko was drawn into several saves by the likes of Nick Weekes and captain Damien Lacey. Surprisingly, though, our strikers Julian Alsop and Junior McDougald were each struggling to get into the game. Bournemouth would have their first shot at goal after exactly an hour, but 16-year-old German substitute Patrick Witt volleyed captain Steve Payne's cross over the bar. They didn't trouble our attack again, and instead turned their focus towards grinding out a draw against a wave of Daggers attacks. Debutant midfielder Craig Winter finally found a way past Kolinko in the 85th minute, but his goal was cancelled out for an offside call against Des Hamilton. Fortunately, Lacey's strike from Kerry Mayo's cross three minutes later was allowed to stand, putting us ahead with not much time remaining. However, there was still just enough time for Mayo to seal victory with a second assist, as his free-kick was headed in by a redeemed Hamilton. Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Lacey 88, Hamilton 90) AFC Bournemouth - 0 Division 2, Attendance 5,731 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Bournemouth 19th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Thompson; Hawkins, Anderson, Bayliss, Sharps (Mayo); Weekes (Hamilton), Lacey, Carter; Winter; Alsop (Devine), McDougald. BOOKED: Sharps. We weren't the only promoted team to start off strongly. Cambridge had gone straight to the top of the table with a 4-1 win over Huddersfield, who welcomed us to the Alfred McAlpine Stadium a week later. Could we terrorise the Terriers and get some revenge for our FA Cup defeat to them last season? 20 AUGUST 2005: Huddersfield Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge Benjani Mwaruwari was back from international duty, but he had to sit on the bench, as Sean Devine got the nod to start up front alongside Junior McDougald. Devine's Daggers future had been cast into real doubt over the future... but when the Irishman volleyed in a Kerry Mayo cross in the very first minute, I was having to think twice about selling him. Huddersfield hit back with several strong attacks, which our loanee keeper Glynn Thompson bravely resisted. Sadly, in the 38th minute, Thompson was let down by a mistake from defender John Anderson, who lost a header to Town striker Graham Francis and lost us the lead in the process. Devine did restore it just four minutes later, but a 2-1 half-time advantage was far from secure. Francis fired over a potential second equaliser for Huddersfield early in the second half. That miss looked like being terminal for the Terriers in the 58th minute, when McDougald blasted us into a 3-1 lead. And when Thompson's crossbar kept home midfielder Craig Callaghan off the scoreboard eight minutes later, I began to believe that we were heading for successive victories. Unfortunately, we eased off too early. Francis gave Town fresh hope in the 84th minute, brilliantly halving their deficit with a speculative volley after Thompson had punched midfielder Paul Anthony's long ball out of his box. Glynn's goalkeeping would come into question again in added-on time. His parry from Reynir Leósson's low shot didn't keep the loose ball away from Anthony, who sent the Huddersfield fans wild with a galling equaliser. Would the more experienced Mike Pollitt would have done a better job of shutting the Terriers out? I guess we'll never know. Huddersfield Town - 3 (Francis 38,84, Anthony 90) Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Devine 1,42, McDougald 58) Division 2, Attendance 6,252 - POSITIONS: Huddersfield 21st, Dag & Red 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Thompson; Hawkins, Anderson (Gledhill), Bayliss, Sharps; Janney, Hamilton (McLean), Lacey, Mayo; Devine, McDougald (Mwaruwari). A harsh lesson learnt. Don't put your foot off the accelerator too early. 19-year-old midfielder Alan McLean got a late run-out in that game. A few days later, he was offered the chance to join Isthmian League minnows Croydon on a season-long loan. I turned the offer down, as I felt it would be a pointless exercise for Alan; he was good enough to play in the Conference at least. We then turned our attention to the League Cup, and a Round 1 tie at home to Notts County. Spearheaded by the powerful Nigerian striker Daniel Amokachi, County came through the Division 2 play-offs in May and were now playing Division 1 football for the first time in a decade. 23 AUGUST 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Notts County We made such a strong start to this match that after 20 minutes, I was struggling to tell which of these two promoted teams was in which division. Dagenham captain Damien Lacey's long ball to target man Julian Alsop was in turn flicked on to right-back Peter Hawkins, who headed in just his second goal for the club. By the 45th minute, the Daggers fans were in dreamland. Craig Winter won us a free-kick deep in Notts County territory, and Kerry Mayo floated it into the danger zone. Magpies keeper Matt Bates tried to push it away, but Benjani Mwaruwari fired it home - and then celebrated his redemption by kissing the club badge in front of our celebrating fans. Maybe Benjani did want to stay at Vicotria Road after all! Another free-kick killed County off in the 57th minute. Daggers midfielder Ryan Carter was pushed by Andy Parkinson, and substitute Stephen Melton took full advantage of the set-piece with a stunning 20-yard strike. To round off a frustrating afternoon for Magpies boss Brian Little, he had to sub Bates off in the 81st minute after the young goalie twisted his knee while making a save. Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hawkins 20, Mwaruwari 45, Melton 57) Notts County - 0 League Cup Round 1, Attendance 3,905 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt; Hawkins (Gledhill), Maher, Bayliss, Mayo; Hamilton (Weekes), Lacey, Carter; Winter (Melton); Alsop, Mwaruwari. BOOKED: Winter. We had made it through to Round 2 for a second successive season - and we were again rewarded with a home tie against Premiership opposition. Having come within minutes of knocking out Newcastle last year, we would fancy our chances against a Bolton side managed by ex-England boss Glenn Hoddle. Hoddle started his managerial career at Swindon, and it was the Robins who provided the opposition for our next league game. The Wiltshire side were in play-off contention for most of last season, but they had started the new campaign slowly. 27 AUGUST 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Swindon Town Des Hamilton had scored plenty of goals from midfield last season, and the Victoria Road fan favourite delivered another after just seven minutes. A fantastic solo strike from Hamilton clearly riled up Swindon's veteran goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, who responded by saving pretty much every other chance we fired in his direction thereafter. By half-time, I was even wondering if the 39-year-old Cornishman deserved a late England recall! Martyn wasn't the only reason why I was feeling a little hard done by after the opening 45 minutes. Swindon had also launched several attacks on our goal, but when they did equalise in the 33rd minute, it came in rather soft circumstances. Goalkeeper Glynn Thompson made a couple of unconvincing saves in quick succession from Paul McAreavey and David Johnson, eventually conceding at the third attempt from winger David Duke. Johnson was a striker with huge pedigree, having scored over 100 goals in Division 1 for Ipswich and Nottingham Forest. With all due respect, the 29-year-old Jamaican international was arguably too good for this level. Unsurprisingly, Johnson got on the scoresheet 12 minutes into the second half, heading home a delightful cross from his young strike partner James Hogg. 2-1 to Swindon. For the first time this season, we found ourselves chasing a match. It took us only seven minutes to restore parity, with Hamilton again beating Martyn after Craig Winter had failed to find a way past the ex-Leeds shotstopper. The closing stages saw more attacks from both ends, but a 2-2 draw was perhaps the result this match deserved. Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hamilton 7,64) Swindon Town - 2 (Duke 33, Johnson 57) Division 2, Attendance 5,743 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Swindon 20th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Thompson; Hawkins (Gledhill), Maher, Bayliss, Mayo; Hamilton, Lacey, Carter; Melton (Winter); Devine (McDougald), Mwaruwari. Our first month in Division 2 ended with a Bank Holiday Monday trip to Watford. The Hornets had lost two of their opening matches and drawn the other, so another disappointing result would pile huge pressure on manager Danny Wilson. After all, Sir Elton John isn't exactly the most placid chairman in the Football League... 29 AUGUST 2005: Watford vs Dagenham & Redbridge This was a showdown of the Zimbabwean strikers, as our own Benjani Mwaruwari pitted himself against Watford's Peter Ndlovu. It was the latter who drew first blood after 10 minutes, when Ndlovu's cross was half-volleyed into the Daggers net by midfielder Robin Hulbert. Two minutes later, Benjani's strike partner Junior McDougald attempted to get us back level. After Junior made his way past Watford left-back James Kerr, the Scottish teenager petulantly shoved our striker to the turf. Kerr was red-carded, and the Hornets had to play most of the match with only 10 men! Despite having a man advantage, our direct 4-4-2 couldn't break this stubborn Watford team down. We were still 1-0 down midway through the first half, when I switched to a narrow 4-3-1-2 to put more pressure on the Hornets' midfield. The tactical switch instantly paid off, as just seconds after coming off the bench, attacking midfielder Craig Winter scored from McDougald's low cross to make it 1-1! We probably should have taken control from that point, but it was actually the hosts who came closest to a late winner. Ten minutes from time, 18-year-old winger Darren Moore saw his shot pushed behind by Daggers keeper Glynn Thompson. Moments later, another Watford youth product - 20-year-old midfielder Lee Brown - clipped the post with his header from Ndlovu's cross. But for a few inches, we would have lost to 10 men. Watford - 1 (Hulbert 10) Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Winter 68) Division 2, Attendance 14,217 - POSITIONS: Watford 23rd, Dag & Red 8th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Thompson; Hawkins, Matthews, Anderson (Gledhill), Sharps (McLean); Janney (Winter), Hamilton, Lacey, Mayo; Mwaruwari, McDougald. So... that's one win and three draws in the league. Sure, maybe we could tighten up a bit at the back, but I can't complain about how our season has started. We've shown that we can compete at this level, and that's all I am asking for right now.

I feel a bit more positive after reading that. More stats and graphs in the data hub are always nice (if they work). Also, if pass completion rates have indeed been toned down, and defenders have stopped passing back and forth to each other, those changes alone will make a huge difference. More customisation options? Not too fussed about watches or earrings, but I've never been one for a suit or a tracksuit, so more casual clothing is fine by me.

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2005/2006 season GOALKEEPERS 1. Glynn Thompson - GK, age 24, English Thompson is an agile and athletic goalkeeper on loan from Fulham until November. He was in the Lincoln team who beat us in the Division 3 play-offs in 2003. 13. Mike Pollitt - GK, age 33, English Pollitt was the best goalkeeper in Division 3 last season but will probably lose his starting place. Even so, his experience is still invaluable to the squad. 24. Andy Woodman - GK, age 33, English Woodman is a determined shotstopper whose technical ability is on the wane. He has dropped to third-choice keeper and will likely only play in emergencies. DEFENDERS 2. Lee Gledhill - D RC, age 24, English Energetic right-back Gledhill has always given his all for the Daggers since arriving in late 2003. Question marks hang over whether he can handle the step up to Division 2. 3. Peter Hawkins - D RL, age 26, English Hawkins is strong in the tackle and can play quite well in either full-back role. Though not the most productive player going forward, he is defensively solid. 5. Lee Matthews - D C, age 32, English I'm so glad that former captain Matthews has returned after three years at Bury. This powerful and fearless centre-half is at the peak of his powers. 6. John Anderson - D/M C, age 32, Scottish Vice-captain Anderson has been a key cog in our defence since 2002. He's imperious in the air, positionally astute, and organises the backline quite well. 11. Kerry Mayo - D/DM L, age 27, English Mayo has had two good if not amazing seasons at left-back for us. Though a little suspect defensively, his strengths like in his crossing and set-piece abilities. 15. Shaun Maher - SW/D C, age 27, Irish Ex-Bournemouth sweeper Maher is one of the best headers in the team. Otherwise, he is a jack of all trades and a master of few, but that's okay for a squad player. 19. Richard Rose - D C, age 20, English After 13 appearances, I fear that Rose won't make the grade. The once-promising centre-half is in the last year of his contract but has not developed well. 21. Dave Bayliss - D C, age 29, English Bayliss is a supremely strong defensive stopper who does the basics well. He has steadily improved year-on-year, but can he adapt to Division 2 football? 27. Ian Sharps - D LC, age 24, English Sharps is still adapting to the Daggers squad after signing from Tranmere in January. The Cheshire-born left-back is quick and intelligent, but fairly inconsistent. MIDFIELDERS 4. Damien Lacey - DM C, age 27, English Lacey looks set to captain us into a fourth season in a third different division. The defensive midfield workhorse is a man who thrives in the bigger matches. 7. Mark Janney - M R, age 27, English After well over 200 games in eight years, it looks like Janney's Daggers days are numbered. The pacey and skilful right-winger rarely even makes the bench now. 14. Ryan Carter - M C, age 19, English Though still a teenager until October, Carter is only two games away from his Daggers century. That is testament to his playmaking abilities, not to mention his maturity. 17. Stephen Melton - AM C, age 26, English Melton has been a productive attacking midfielder for us, with 19 goals in two seasons. Sadly, the set-piece specialist has now been rendered somewhat obsolete. 18. Craig Winter - AM/F C, age 29, Scottish Winter is our new man in the attacking midfield hole. The ex-Ayr forward has pace, technique, and big-game experience from the Scottish Premier League. 20. Nick Weekes - M C, age 23, English Weekes was better than ever last season, delivering nine goals and 14 assists. The box-to-box midfielder has developed from a decent backup to a key player. 22. Des Hamilton - M C, age 28, English All-action midfielder Hamilton was sensational in the second half of last season. Without his 11 goals and seven assists, I'm not sure we would've been promoted. 31. Alan McLean - DM C, age 19, Scottish McLean has struggled in the first-team so far, but perhaps that'll change this season. He certainly has the technical skill and creativity to be a fine midfielder. FORWARDS 8. Benjani Mwaruwari - S C, age 27, Zimbabwean [32 caps, 8 goals] Big things are expected of Mwaruwari. 4 goals in 13 games since arriving in February isn't a great record, but the explosive international will surely hit form soon. 9. Junior McDougald - S C, age 30, American Texas ranger McDougald was back to his lethal best last term. The cool-finishing poacher has scored at least 20 goals in three of his last four seasons with the Daggers. 10. Julian Alsop - S C, age 32, English They don't make many target men quite like Alsop nowadays. The prolific Brummie is relentlessly powerful and has endless energy, even in his advancing years. 12. Victor Renner - F RLC, age 26, English Renner has been a disappointment since signing in 2004. A striker with his athleticism and finishing ability should've averaged more than a goal every 3.3 games. 16. Sean Devine - S C, age 32, Irish [capped at B level] Our oldest centre-forward Devine scored 11 goals in his first season at Victoria Road. A decent return, but is it enough to keep him in the squad? RESERVES DEFENDERS: Nathan Betts (19), Jamie Cartwright (19) MIDFIELDERS: Paul Graham (19), Mark Jones (17), Kevin Sheridan (19), Simon Warren (15), Alex Wood (19) FORWARDS: Bob Fowler (18), Chris Griffiths (19), John McGlynn (18), Robbie Walsh (17)

So, this new video is... a 1-minute recap of the 42-minute video we had a fortnight ago. The same 1-minute recap, in fact, that they posted on Twitter last week. I'm usually pretty optimistic about new FMs, and I've accepted that there probably won't be any groundbreaking new features this year... but this is a little concerning. Even by their usual standards, SI's build-up for the new FM has been very quiet - and to be honest, I can completely understand why other users want more openness and transparency.

I am not sure I would even say Soccer Manager has better graphics, but that's just my opinion. It looks very clean and crisp, but in a cartoonish way. As for the match engine itself... you won't believe just how poor it is until you actually play a few matches. Looking 'better' than FM doesn't really matter if your game doesn't have something as fundamental to football as the offside rule. And though SM is free to play, it makes its money through microtransactions and constantly badgers you to pay for more credits and whatnot. If SI ever go down this free-to-play road, I'm done. FM does have competition - it's just that the competition isn't very strong because SI defeated their big rivals so emphatically so long ago. We Are Football was made by some of the old FIFA Manager developers. I kinda like that game, and it has some very good ideas, but it's probably too rough around the edges to be a serious alternative yet. At any rate, I'd say the relative lack of big new features since 2013/14 isn't because SI have no serious competition anymore. I'd say it's because SI have already added so much depth to the series that there really isn't much more new ground to cover. Expecting them to replicate the huge 10-year strides they took from CM1 to CM4, or even from CM4 to FM13, just isn't realistic anymore.

Yes, this feature was on the old Championship Manager games. Had it happen to me a couple of times. Didn't know it was on the Handheld games, though. This doesn't happen anymore, but I'm pretty sure this won't be brought back any time soon for legal/licencing reasons. Not even for generated players.

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... A newly-retired Sir Alex Ferguson is given one last standing ovation at Old Trafford before urging Manchester United fans to "stand by our new manager". His successor is a peculiar choice - 44-year-old Hélio dos Anjos, who led Vasco to the 2001 Brazilian championship but is virtually unknown outside of South America. Hélio's big move to Manchester kicks off a chain reaction of coaching movements. Claudio Ranieri walks out on PSV to take the Brazilian's old job at Vasco, which prompts Rangers boss Dick Advocaat to return to Eindhoven. Advocaat is succeeded at Ibrox by David Seaman, who leaves Hearts to take charge of the Scottish Premier League champions. Brazil fans go crackers in Caracas, as the Seleção regain the Copa America title. Carlos Alberto Parreira's side defeat Mexico 2-0 in the Final, with Betis midfielder Denílson and Inter's enigmatic striker Adriano scoring the goals. There's more upheaval at Arsenal, who spend a club-record £17.5million on Deportivo's anchor man Torsten Frings and sign Argentina left-back Juan Pablo Sorín from Cruzeiro. They finally get rid of Ariel Ortega as well, as the 31-year-old diva heads to Inter for £8.25million. England left-back Ashley Cole also leaves Arsenal under a cloud, joining Real Madrid after reacting angrily to being offered 'only' £55,000-per-week to stay at Highbury. After over a decade at Juventus, Italy forward Alessandro Del Piero completes a £12.5million transfer to Bayern München. Del Piero is soon joined by midfield general Dietmar Hamann, who returns home from Liverpool (after taking a brief detour through Bolton). Meanwhile, free agent Andriy Shevchenko takes his goalscoring talents to Amsterdam and signs for Ajax. IN OTHER NEWS... The host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics is announced on 6 July. Hopes are high that the Games will return to London for the first time since 1948... but the IOC votes to give it to Rome instead, apparently after receiving some 'gifts' from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The next day, London is rocked by four coordinated suicide bombings during the morning rush hour - three on underground trains, and one on a bus. 52 civilians lose their lives in Britain's worst terrorist incident since 1988. The Live 8 concerts take place in 10 cities across the world, as organiser Bob Geldof attempts to "make poverty history" with music and wristbands. The foul-mouth Irishman somehow pulls off the impossible... and gets Pink Floyd’s classic line-up to perform together for the first time in 24 years. American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins a record seventh Tour de France yellow jersey and then rides into retirement. Armstrong's glorious comeback after beating cancer is one of sport's greatest fairytales... isn't it?

JULY 2005 After four successful years in management with Dagenham & Redbridge, things were now becoming very serious. Since taking the Dagenham reins from Garry Hill in 2001, I had led the club into the Football League - and following a second promotion in three seasons, we now found ourselves in Division 2. This little club from the outskirts of east London was now punching well above its weight. Our 6,000-capacity Victoria Road ground was the smallest in its new division - and our rivals now included several teams who could draw crowds of at least three, if not four times that size. Preserving our Division 2 status would be the toughest challenge I had faced so far. That being said, I still had plenty of faith in the squad who had taken us up as champions of Division 3. By the time pre-season kicked off, we had made only a handful of new signings. Former captain Lee Matthews had returned to marshal our defence after three years with Bury, including two in this very division. We had also welcomed in a new attacking midfielder in the experienced Scotsman Craig Winter. A couple of teenage midfielders had also arrived to provide cover. 19-year-old local boy Alex Wood had been joined in our reserve team by Paul Graham - a slightly younger but higher-rated prospect from Scotland. Graham is a brave and strong holding midfielder who takes a deadly set-piece. Big things were also expected of our 17-year-old striker Robbie Walsh, who scored his first senior goal on the final day of last season and was very much in demand. We'd already turned down a bid from Middlesbrough worth £55,000, so when Wrexham offered us £40,000, I politely told Nigel Winterburn to "get lost" - or words to that effect. I then made sure Walsh committed his future to us with a new four-year contract. The energetic Irishman had the all-round attributes to become a very good centre-forward indeed, and I really hoped that this would be his breakthrough season. Despite our recent promotions, the board's travel budget still didn't stretch beyond the British Isles, so we held our pre-season training camp in north Wales. We would play three matches there, starting off with what looked on paper like an easy fixture against non-league Denbigh Town. 16 JULY 2005: Denbigh Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge Oh boy, it wasn't. Benjani Mwaruwari headed in a Craig Winter cross to give us the lead after just two minutes, but the rest of the match was a real toil. After spending the next 88 minutes struggling to kill Denbigh off, we were hit with a last-gasp counter-attack, as home captain Mark Evans blasted in a barely-deserved equaliser. It was their only shot on target all game. Denbigh Town - 1 (Evans 90) Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Mwaruwari 2) Friendly, Attendance 1,452 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Woodman (Pollitt); Hawkins (Gledhill), Matthews, Anderson (Maher), Sharps; Carter (Wood), Lacey (McLean), Hamilton (Weekes); Winter (Mayo); Alsop (Walsh), Mwaruwari (McDougald). BOOKED: Hamilton. How do we keep letting non-league teams off the hook like this? Have we not learnt from our mistakes? We couldn't afford another performance like that in our next game. Just three days later, we headed to Bangor City to face a formidable team who finished 5th in the Welsh Premier League last term. 19 JULY 2005: Bangor City vs Dagenham & Redbridge The first half of this match was a real battle, with both teams losing key members of their defence early on. Bangor left-back Warren Gibbs came off with a twisted knee in the 4th minute, while Dagenham goalie Mike Pollitt was sent off for a professional foul in the 18th. Andy Woodman came off the bench to take Pollitt's place, and he immediately saved the penalty from former Wales midfielder Simon Davies (the Manchester United one, not the Tottenham one). Our relief was short-lived. Marc Williams snookered us with a fantastic long-range drive in the 31st minute... but then our midfield all-rounder Nick Weekes bowled Bangor over with an equally fantastic equaliser five minutes later. That made it 1-1, which was how the match finished after a tight but relatively boring second half. Bangor City - 1 (M Williams 31) Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Weekes 36) Friendly, Attendance 1,234 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Pollitt; Gledhill (Rose), Maher (Rose), Bayliss, Mayo (Betts); Janney (Melton), Weekes (Hamilton), Lacey (McLean), Renner (Devine); Walsh (Woodman), Mwaruwari (Alsop). BOOKED: Janney. SENT OFF: Pollitt. Including our previous visit to Wales in 2002, we've now played four friendlies across the border without winning a single one. Either the standard of Welsh part-time football is much higher than I'd given it credit for, or my players simply do not pull their weight in pre-season. That match would be Dean Clark's last as a Dagger. The 25-year-old utility man had been deemed surplus to requirements and was allowed to join Colchester on a free transfer. Mike Pollitt's moment of madness saw him fall out of favour with me. Before our final match in Wales, I brought in a new goalkeeper - the agile 24-year-old Glynn Thompson - on a four-month loan from Fulham. He made his debut against Aberystwyth, who had become a mediocre lower-half WPL team under Tony Pulis' management. 23 JULY 2005: Aberystwyth Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge In sharp contrast to the last game, the second half of this match had all the action. After a forgettable opening period, Junior McDougald finally broke through a stubborn Aberystwyth lead in the 70th minute. Tony Pulis' Seasiders had never threatened us, and their fate was sealed when defender Gary Greene was sent off for trying to clobber Damien Lacey. Our captain then hit them with a second goal in the closing stages, just for good measure. Aberystwyth Town - 0 Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (McDougald 70, Lacey 90) Friendly, Attendance 1,478 DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2): Thompson; Matthews, Anderson, Maher (Bayliss); Hawkins (Janney), Sharps (Mayo); Carter (Melton), McLean (Lacey), Hamilton (Winter); Alsop (Devine), McDougald (Mwaruwari). BOOKED: Alsop. Upon our return home, we learned that we would host Notts County in Round 1 of the League Cup next month. The Magpies were promoted from Division 2 through the play-offs last season, so that would be a real test. Our first home friendly would actually be a decent warm-up for that cup tie. Just like County, Luton were newly promoted to Division 1, having gone up automatically as Division 2 runners-up. 30 JULY 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Luton Town Things got off to a tentative start before Dave Bayliss headed us into the lead in the 30th minute, pouncing on a brilliant corner by Damien Lacey. Luton had not come close to scoring before that point, but the mad Hatters struck back four minutes later. Ex-Leicester striker James Scowcroft sauntered through our defence before firing a shot in off the post. Luton's squad had a number of Premiership veterans such as Danny Cadamarteri and Lee Hendrie, but we didn't let their greater experience put us off. Midway through the second period, our journeyman striker Junior McDougald drove us back into the lead from Ian Sharps' low left-wing cross, and our defence then held on for a surprise 2-1 win! Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Bayliss 30, McDougald 72) Luton Town - 1 (Scowcroft 34) Friendly, Attendance 974 DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2): Thompson (Woodman); Anderson (Rose), Bayliss, Matthews; Hawkins (Gledhill), Mayo (Sharps); Carter (Hamilton), Lacey (McLean), Winter (Weekes); Alsop (Renner), Mwaruwari (McDougald). What a team, eh? Denbigh Town... we can't be bothered. But Luton Town... not a problem!

I've got mixed feelings. I'd like to have seen big changes to international football, particularly in a World Cup year. Training, team dynamics, staff that actually change with different managers over time - those are all part of the club game, but not in the international game. Instead, we just get loads of pointless media reports about Milton Keynes Under-18s players mulling over whether they should play for England or Scotland. I love international management but haven't properly managed a national team since FM17, simply because it's gone so stale. But just because a new/changed feature has not been announced DOESN'T simply mean it won't be. You should know by now that SI will slowly reveal more changes over the coming weeks, and leave plenty for us to discover for ourselves. And it's the little QoL changes that often mean the most. On the positive side, the new animations look promising, the UEFA presentation looks fantastic, and the in-game squad planner means I don't have to use Excel so much anymore. I can understand why some people are underwhelmed. That's fine, but I must ask - after 30 years, are there many groundbreaking new features SI could add at this point? Updated graphics (which could alienate customers who can't afford a new PC every year), women's football (fingers crossed for FM24), but what else? SI probably don't have much further where they can take the series, and a serious competitor in the market would not change that. Disappointment and constructive criticism is okay. But insulting the developers or suggesting that they're "taking us for mugs" because they didn't add the features YOU wanted? That is not okay. Neither is spreading your opinion as fact, or implying that your individual thoughts are shared by the majority of the fanbase. Mind you, the level of toxicity and self-entitlement is even worse in the YouTube comments. Using terms like "pathetic", "copy paste", "lazy", and personal insults about the developers. One comment suggested that SI put two particular developers on the video just to show how "diverse" they were - a comment which gives SI and those two people a huge disservice. I thought the FM community was better than this. So much better than this.

This guy took up the wrong sport. And Arsenal fans don't seem to like Alex Scott anymore?

Type: Desktop Model: Lenovo H30-50 CPU Model: Intel Core i7 4790 CPU Base Frequency: 3.60GHz CPU Turbo Frequency: 4.00GHz RAM: 16GB RAM Clockspeed: 1600MHz GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 Graphics Level in 3D: Medium Storage Type: SSD Benchmark A: 01 min 31 sec Benchmark B: 07 min 12 sec Benchmark C: 20 min 01 sec Benchmark D: nada The old dog's still hanging in there. Peak CPU temps were 69 Celsius on Benchmark B, and 87 Celsius on Benchmark C.

OTHER LEAGUES FRANCE Ligue 1 Top Three: Monaco (1st), Bordeaux (2nd), Auxerre (3rd). Relegated: Guingamp (18th), Ajaccio AC (19th), Lorient (20th). Promoted from Ligue 2: Montpellier (1st), Toulouse (2nd), Le Mans (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Shabani Nonda (Monaco): 25. Most Assists - Ludovic Giuly (Monaco): 15. Highest Average Rating - Shabani Nonda (Monaco): 7.97. Coupe de France: Bordeaux 1-0 Paris-SG. Coupe de la Ligue: Monaco 3-1 Créteil. GERMANY 1. Bundesliga Top Three: FC Bayern (1st), Schalke 04 (2nd), Dortmund (3rd). Relegated: Frankfurt (16th), 1860 München (17th), SVW Mannheim (18th). Promoted from 2. Bundesliga: Mainz (1st), Ahlen (2nd), Wolfsburg (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Claudio Pizarro (FC Bayern): 25. Most Assists - Paulo Sérgio (FC Bayern): 12. Highest Average Rating - Robert Kovac (FC Bayern), Niels Oude Kamphuis (Schalke 04): 7.97 DFB-Pokal: Dortmund 3-1 Nürnberg. DFB-Liga Pokal: Schalke 04 0-0 Hertha BSC (5-4 penalties). HOLLAND Eredivisie Top Three: PSV (1st), Ajax (2nd), Feyenoord (3rd). Relegated: De Graafschap (16th, lost play-off), Utrecht (18th). Promoted from Eerste Divisie: Go Ahead (1st), MVV (2nd, won play-off). Top Goalscorer - Mateja Kezman (PSV): 22. Most Assists - Didier Martel (Vitesse), Arie Obdam (RKC): 14. Highest Average Rating - Mateja Kezman (PSV): 7.97. KNVB Beker: Twente 2-0 PSV. ITALY Serie A Top Three: Lazio (1st, won play-off), Roma (2nd, lost play-off), Milan (3rd). Relegated: Perugia (15th), Bari (16th), Lecce (17th), Chievo (18th). Promoted from Serie B: Fiorentina (1st), Brescia (2nd), Napoli (3rd), Salernitana (4th). Top Goalscorer - Hernán Jorge Crespo (Lazio): 30. Most Assists - Juan Sebastián Verón (Lazio): 14. Highest Average Rating - Hernán Jorge Crespo (Lazio): 8.23. Coppa Italia: Roma 4-0 Vicenza (aggregate). PORTUGAL Primeira Liga Top Three: Porto (1st), Sporting (2nd), Benfica (3rd). Relegated: Leixões (16th), Salgueiros (17th), Arrifanense (18th). Promoted from Segunda Liga: Ovarense (1st), Beira-Mar (2nd), Alverca (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Silva (Maia): 22. Most Assists - Deco (Porto): 17. Highest Average Rating - Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting): 8.19. Taça de Portugal: Porto 3-1 Estrela Amadora. SCOTLAND Premier League Top Three: Rangers (1st), Celtic (2nd), Motherwell (3rd). Relegated: Ayr (12th). Promoted from Division 1: Arbroath (1st). Top Goalscorer - Henrik Larsson (Celtic): 20. Most Assists - Robert Tomaschek (Hearts): 12. Highest Average Rating - Henrik Larsson (Celtic): 8.03. Scottish Cup: Celtic 1-1 Motherwell (5-4 penalties). League Cup: Rangers 2-0 Livingston. SPAIN La Liga Top Three: Barcelona (1st), Real Madrid (2nd), Betis (3rd). Relegated: Levante (18th), Villarreal (19th), Numancia (20th). Promoted from Segunda División: Alavés (1st), Elche (2nd), Sporting Gijón (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Gastón Casas (Betis): 23. Most Assists - José Antonio Reyes (Sevilla): 16. Highest Average Rating - Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona): 8.24. Copa del Rey: Barcelona 3-0 Racing Santander. CONTINENTAL & INTERNATIONAL CLUB Champions League: Valencia 0-0 Real Madrid (5-4 penalties) - in London. UEFA Cup: Inter 2-1 Barcelona (aet) - in Wien. Super Cup: Roma 2-1 Milan. Intercontinental Cup: Roma 2-0 Vasco. FIFA World Player of the Year - Hernán Jorge Crespo (Lazio & Argentina). World Footballer of the Year - Hernán Jorge Crespo (Lazio & Argentina). African Player of the Year - Julius Aghahowa (Schalke 04 & Nigeria). European Player of the Year - Wilfred Bouma (Lazio & Holland). South American Player of the Year - Paulo Sérgio (FC Bayern & Brazil). Oceania Player of the Year - Mark Viduka (Leeds & Australia). LEADING TRANSFERS (Premiership) DATE NAME POSITIONS FROM TO FEE 29/08/04 Craig Bellamy F LC Newcastle Chelsea £10.75M 15/07/04 Muzzy Izzet AM C Sunderland Chelsea £7.75M 09/11/04 Sébastien Piocelle DM C Monaco Arsenal £7.75M 25/07/04 Tim Cahill AM C Millwall Ipswich £5.25M 08/09/04 Ledley King D C Tottenham Leeds £5.25M 31/05/04 Nicky Butt DM C Man Utd Arsenal £5.25M 02/10/04 Sylvain Distin D C Paris-SG Arsenal £4.8M 10/10/04 Christian Dailly D/DM C West Ham Ipswich £4.8M 24/12/04 Alpay D C Aston Villa Arsenal £4.6M 19/07/04 Joe Dolan D C Millwall Stoke £4.6M LEADING TRANSFERS (not including Premiership) DATE NAME POSITIONS FROM TO FEE 12/08/04 Fabio Cannavaro SW/D C Leeds Roma £12.75M 11/07/04 Sami Hyypiä D C Juventus Inter £12.25M 08/12/04 Fabio Liverani DM LC Perugia Celtic £11.25M 11/06/05 Rodrigo Taddei AM RLC Palmeiras Olympiakos £11M 30/07/04 Roberto Fabián Ayala SW/D C Liverpool Roma £10.75M 14/08/04 Lincoln AM C Kaiserslautern HSV £10.75M 17/11/04 Alexander Iashvili F C SC Freiburg 1.FC Köln £10.75M 15/12/04 Andrés D'Alessandro AM RLC River Valencia £9.5M 14/08/04 Ivo Ulich AM LC M'gladbach Werder Bremen £9.25M 14/07/04 Róbson Ponte F RC Vasco Dortmund £8.75M

SEASON REVIEW 2004/2005 ENGLAND NOTE: All goals and assist records relate to league matches only. PREMIERSHIP Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Man Utd 38 15 4 0 40 6 12 4 3 33 12 89 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Leeds 38 16 2 1 33 5 11 3 5 34 24 86 3rd Liverpool 38 12 2 5 28 10 12 3 4 29 17 77 4th Chelsea 38 11 5 3 30 13 8 4 7 28 22 66 5th Arsenal 38 10 7 2 28 18 7 4 8 22 28 62 6th Middlesbrough 38 10 5 4 34 23 5 6 8 17 28 56 7th Ipswich 38 12 3 4 44 30 4 3 12 21 37 54 8th Blackburn 38 10 4 5 32 21 4 7 8 18 25 53 9th Bolton 38 13 0 6 37 24 3 5 11 21 36 53 10th Aston Villa 38 10 6 3 28 14 4 3 12 16 26 51 11th Newcastle 38 7 7 5 27 26 6 4 9 27 37 50 12th W.B.A. 38 12 1 6 29 15 3 3 13 15 32 49 13th Tottenham 38 7 5 7 28 24 5 6 8 28 29 47 14th Southampton 38 10 4 5 29 26 2 7 10 16 32 47 15th Everton 38 8 8 3 22 13 3 3 13 14 35 44 16th Stoke 38 5 7 7 28 27 4 6 9 20 35 40 17th Crewe 38 7 4 8 30 36 3 5 11 23 45 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R Fulham 38 5 9 5 21 23 1 8 10 8 27 35 19th R Bradford 38 7 4 8 28 25 0 7 12 10 31 32 20th R Gillingham 38 3 5 11 22 31 1 1 17 10 40 18 Top Goalscorer - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd): 25. Most Assists - Ryan Giggs (Man Utd): 14. Highest Average Rating - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd): 8.21. PFA Player of the Year - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd). PFA Young Player of the Year - not awarded. DIVISION 1 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Crystal Palace 46 17 4 2 50 24 9 4 10 28 35 86 2nd P West Ham 46 14 5 4 46 25 11 4 8 35 35 84 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Chesterfield 46 14 5 4 46 28 10 6 7 42 34 83 4th Birmingham 46 15 5 3 53 24 7 7 9 31 36 78 5th Sunderland 46 16 3 4 45 23 7 5 11 34 46 77 6th P Charlton 46 16 1 6 46 25 7 5 11 27 38 75 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Man City 46 11 6 6 40 29 10 5 8 40 35 74 8th Coventry 46 12 6 5 43 26 9 4 10 38 41 73 9th Leicester 46 13 3 7 46 27 7 8 8 38 41 71 10th Preston 46 13 5 5 42 28 8 3 12 34 41 71 11th Brentford 46 15 3 5 51 28 6 3 14 28 45 69 12th Burnley 46 10 4 9 31 25 9 6 8 27 29 67 13th Nottm Forest 46 16 1 6 39 27 3 4 16 25 46 62 14th Wolves 46 11 4 8 44 29 6 4 13 36 46 59 15th Walsall 46 9 6 8 38 39 8 2 13 30 46 59 16th Sheff Utd 46 10 6 7 37 24 6 4 13 23 34 58 17th Millwall 46 11 5 7 42 36 5 5 13 26 43 58 18th Derby 46 12 4 7 34 30 4 6 13 28 50 58 19th Sheff Wed 46 11 4 8 36 32 6 2 15 23 41 57 20th Q.P.R. 46 11 3 9 46 40 4 5 14 27 46 53 21st Grimsby 46 6 7 10 32 33 6 7 10 34 40 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Portsmouth 46 10 5 8 38 38 5 0 18 21 52 50 23rd R Hull 46 8 6 9 32 32 4 2 17 23 48 44 24th R Bristol City 46 6 3 14 39 52 4 3 16 26 48 36 DIVISION 2 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Kidderminster 46 16 5 2 44 10 12 4 7 28 19 93 2nd P Luton 46 15 6 2 39 19 11 5 7 37 30 89 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Carlisle 46 17 4 2 46 22 6 6 11 34 45 79 4th Peterborough 46 15 5 3 50 22 7 5 11 37 54 76 5th Bristol Rovers 46 13 4 6 44 32 8 7 8 43 45 74 6th P Notts Co 46 10 7 6 35 26 10 3 10 33 37 70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Wrexham 46 11 3 9 42 35 8 8 7 36 40 68 8th Swindon 46 13 4 6 44 34 6 7 10 27 40 68 9th Barnsley 46 10 9 4 33 18 5 13 5 18 23 67 10th Port Vale 46 13 5 5 47 30 5 6 12 35 42 65 11th Cardiff 46 11 6 6 44 32 6 7 10 35 44 64 12th Watford 46 8 9 6 36 32 8 6 9 33 37 63 13th Northampton 46 9 6 8 27 23 6 10 7 28 28 61 14th Reading 46 11 7 5 39 25 5 5 13 17 30 60 15th Tranmere 46 13 7 3 43 26 3 5 15 14 36 60 16th Wigan 46 13 6 4 42 20 2 5 16 20 52 56 17th Huddersfield 46 11 6 6 44 38 2 8 13 26 41 53 18th Norwich 46 10 8 5 39 28 3 6 14 34 55 53 19th Bournemouth 46 10 7 6 33 24 2 8 13 24 44 51 20th Rochdale 46 7 7 9 38 37 6 5 12 23 38 51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st R Blackpool 46 10 7 6 49 41 2 7 14 29 53 50 22nd R Wimbledon 46 8 9 6 40 34 4 3 16 27 53 48 23rd R Lincoln 46 8 7 8 30 26 3 5 15 13 35 45 24th R Bury 46 8 6 9 33 35 2 6 15 18 40 42 DIVISION 3 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Dag & Red 46 18 4 1 62 17 11 3 9 40 31 94 2nd P Oxford 46 15 4 4 39 18 13 3 7 49 42 91 3rd P Shrewsbury 46 18 1 4 46 24 8 6 9 34 41 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th P Cambridge Utd 46 16 5 2 52 24 8 7 8 32 34 84 5th Torquay 46 15 5 3 59 32 9 3 11 38 41 80 6th Rushden 46 13 2 8 45 38 12 2 9 41 42 79 7th Scunthorpe 46 11 7 5 46 34 12 2 9 51 41 78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Brighton 46 14 3 6 36 21 7 6 10 31 34 72 9th Colchester 46 12 5 6 46 33 8 7 8 28 34 72 10th Doncaster 46 13 6 4 46 30 6 8 9 38 42 71 11th Wycombe 46 13 9 1 50 30 5 4 14 33 50 67 12th Leyton Orient 46 10 2 11 39 42 8 8 7 38 35 64 13th Stockport 46 9 6 8 43 37 7 8 8 39 41 62 14th Hartlepool 46 12 7 4 47 30 4 4 15 29 41 59 15th Plymouth 46 10 2 11 39 41 8 2 13 36 48 58 16th Darlington 46 10 6 7 46 27 5 5 13 27 39 56 17th Rotherham 46 11 5 7 48 40 4 6 13 38 59 56 18th Exeter 46 10 5 8 36 35 6 2 15 20 36 55 19th Macclesfield 46 9 5 9 48 43 6 4 13 39 54 54 20th Cheltenham 46 10 5 8 37 32 4 4 15 25 44 51 21st Mansfield 46 6 8 9 36 44 6 7 10 30 40 51 22nd Oldham 46 5 6 12 29 44 7 2 14 32 45 44 23rd Halifax 46 5 1 17 24 51 3 6 14 29 59 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th R Northwich Vics 46 4 4 15 32 52 3 4 16 22 58 29 CONFERENCE Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Scarborough 42 14 4 3 45 25 13 4 4 35 19 89 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Yeovil 42 15 3 3 52 30 10 4 7 35 28 82 3rd Bath City 42 10 8 3 37 23 13 3 5 40 23 80 4th Swansea 42 13 5 3 43 24 10 4 7 39 36 78 5th Morecambe 42 7 10 4 29 22 14 2 5 41 31 75 6th Nuneaton Borough 42 12 2 7 35 27 8 7 6 29 29 69 7th Boston Utd 42 13 4 4 44 23 5 7 9 35 45 65 8th Slough 42 12 3 6 41 26 7 4 10 31 41 64 9th Hereford 42 12 5 4 47 29 7 2 12 29 45 64 10th Barnet 42 11 4 6 39 29 6 6 9 41 47 61 11th Farnborough 42 10 5 6 43 36 7 4 10 29 37 60 12th Margate 42 10 5 6 35 24 5 9 7 22 25 59 13th Stevenage 42 8 7 6 35 27 8 4 9 30 31 59 14th Stalybridge 42 10 4 7 45 35 7 3 11 34 41 58 15th Telford 42 5 8 8 29 27 6 7 8 23 27 48 16th Stafford R 42 9 4 8 36 32 5 2 14 27 41 48 17th Dover 42 8 3 10 21 25 3 7 11 26 41 43 18th Frickley 42 7 3 11 32 39 4 6 11 22 33 42 19th Southend 42 8 4 9 37 36 1 7 13 25 50 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20th R Halesowen 42 5 7 9 19 29 3 6 12 23 41 37 21st R Aldershot 42 4 5 12 27 44 3 6 12 22 41 32 22nd R Southport 42 4 5 12 23 41 2 4 15 15 42 27 Promoted to Conference: Chester, Grays Athletic, King's Lynn. FA Cup: Blackburn 1-0 Aston Villa. League Cup: Liverpool 3-1 Everton. Community Shield: Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool. Football League Trophy: Kidderminster 2-1 Wrexham.

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... After leading Manchester United to 10 Premiership titles in 13 seasons, Sir Alex Ferguson hangs up his hairdryer at the age of 63. Ferguson's retirement just so happens to coincide with American businessman Malcolm Glazer's £800million takeover at Old Trafford. Arsenal go on another spending spree after missing out on the Champions League again. England internationals Ugo Ehiogu and Nicky Butt sign from Manchester United for around £9million in total, and deals are also agreed for Blackburn centre-half Richard Dunne and Rennes full-back Anthony Reveillère. At this rate, the Gunners will soon have more defenders than Michael Jackson! Barcelona stave off Real Madrid to win La Liga for the third straight season after beating Zaragoza on the final day. 17-year-old forward Lionel Messi then delivers a masterclass to help them win the Copa del Rey Final against Racing Santander. Former Espanyol and Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta becomes the latest football superstar to begin a coaching career in Japan, replacing Ilie Dumitrescu as manager of J-League 2 team Cerezo. Fans of the Osaka club immediately christen Batistuta with a nickname that roughly translates as "Super Long Hair Horse Rider Man". Clubs from across Europe clamour to sign a certain world-class Ukrainian striker on a free transfer... after Serhiy Rebrov is released by Tottenham. Oh yes, and Andriy Shevchenko is also available after ending his six-year stay at Milan. I hear he's quite good. IN OTHER NEWS... Richard Whiteley - the affable presenter of Channel 4's daytime game show "Countdown" for over two decades - dies from pneumonia a few days after undergoing heart surgery. The 61-year-old Yorkshireman was also a journalist who interviewed every British Prime Minister from Harold Macmillan to Tony Blair. On his 19th birthday, Spanish debutant Rafael Nadal defeats world number 1 Roger Federer to reach the Final of the French Open. The left-handed clay-court specialist also overcomes a suspiciously energetic Mariano Puerta two days later, clinching his first Grand Slam tennis title. The first of many? The Formula 1 season descends into farce, as only six cars compete in the United States Grand Prix, with the other 14 entrants pulling out in a dispute over tyre and safety rules. Michael Schumacher - whose brother Ralf was involved in a serious crash during practice - wins the race with ease after he and his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello lap the other four competitors. The first series of the revived “Doctor Who” comes to an end. After just thirteen episodes as ‘The Doctor’, middle-aged Mancunian Christopher Eccleston suddenly regenerates into a dashing young Scotsman.

JUNE 2005 A little over five years ago, Dagenham & Redbridge were playing part-time football in the Isthmian League. Very soon, we will be in Division 2, rubbing shoulders with some big-name clubs - including a few with Premiership experience. Make no mistake, it's going to be a real battle to stay clear of the bottom four and avoid an immediate return to Division 3. The board certainly aren't setting expectations too high, with chairman Dave Andrews simply wanting us to "battle bravely against relegation". That said, I still have plenty of faith in the team that has just won the Division 3 title. I have no plans to make wholesale changes to the squad, and we perhaps only need two or three more quality players to make us competitive at this level. Before I discuss our new signings, I want to talk about our departures... or lack thereof. You see, we're actually finding it incredibly difficult to shift some of our dead wood. I've told a number of players - utility man Dean Clark, striker Victor Renner and winger Mark Janney - that they are surplus to requirements and can leave at any price. I would also consider selling centre-back Dave Bayliss, attacking midfielder Stephen Melton and striker Sean Devine if we can get good fees for them, as I'm not sure they have what it takes to succeed in Division 2. Not a single one of those players has received an offer. In fairness, all of them are on contracts with at least two more years to run - except Clark, who's just entering the final year of his deal. I'd imagine that is putting other clubs off, but surely there's at least one manager who'd like to take Janney off my hands for free! Indeed, the only bids we've received this month have been for players we have no desire to sell. Middlesbrough offered us £55,000 for striker Robbie Walsh, but I'm not letting one of our hottest youth prospects leave for such a pittance. Likewise, Oxford will need to up their £85,000 bid if they really want to sign veteran goalkeeper Mike Pollitt. We did, though, say goodbye to five reserve players whose contracts expired. Left-back Lee Chaffey, forward Bill Shaw and midfielder Jamie Weaver each played a few senior games in the Conference but didn't kick on after our promotion to the Football League in 2003. Wingers Andy Scott and Mark Thomas never made it to the first-team. I've got slightly higher hopes for the first of the three signings we've made so far. 19-year-old attacking midfielder Alex Wood joins our reserve team as a decent prospect with good crossing ability and teamwork. Of course, Wood isn't ready to challenge Melton for a starting place any time soon. My top priority this off-season was to sign an experienced attacking midfielder who's more creative - and consistent - than the enigmatic 26-year-old. Seeing as the board had given me a healthy transfer kitty of £1.8million, it made sense to splash out on a significant upgrade. So, let me introduce you to our new record signing. 29-year-old Craig Winter comes to us in a £200,000 transfer from Ayr, where he was a regular starter in the Scottish Premier League last season. The Dunfermline-born playmaker is energetic, agile, and he's got enough technical ability to make a real difference to this team. I also decided to sign a new centre-back... well, I say new. He's actually a very familiar face to Daggers fans. Yes, after three years away at Bury, former captain Lee Matthews has returned to Victoria Road! The 32-year-old stopper's contract at Gigg Lane had become unprotected, so I was able to offer him a contract without approaching Bury first. Matthews signed a four-year, £1,000-per-week deal to rejoin Dagenham for £70,000 compensation - which is £70,000 more than Bury paid us for him in 2002, but I'm not complaining. Lee is a genuine Daggers legend, and I'm delighted that he'll be seeing out his career back where he belongs! There've been a few changes in our backroom too. Phillip Holder's contract had expired, and he was replaced with two new coaches. Tactical coach John Williamson joins us from Queen of the South, and goalkeeping coach Peter Kavanagh has been recruited from Garda. Yes, Peter is actually an Irish policeman! We also recruited a fourth scout. Tommy Sproule came to us from Ballymena United, which means we have talent-spotters from England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, and now Northern Ireland. We just need to hire a Scottish scout and we'll have the full set! In one more development off the pitch, the board have accepted my request to improve our training ground. Our facilities have become somewhat dilapidated over the past year, so we're badly in need of an upgrade - especially if we want to keep this Daggers revolution going. Things are now really taking shape here at Victoria Road. In just 13 years, this club has gone all the way from the regional leagues to the third tier of English professional football - and don’t think for one second that we intend to stop here.

'Level up' is a phrase that has been used outside of gaming long before it had any political meaning. If this phrase offends you, I'm afraid it says more about you than it does about SI.

DAG & RED PLAYER STATISTICS (2004/2005) Goalkeepers Apps Con Asts Yel Red MoM Av R ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Pollitt, Mike 45 49 0 0 0 2 7.13 1 Woodman, Andy 5 9 0 0 0 0 7.00 Outfield Players Apps Gls Asts Yel Red MoM Av R ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Alsop, Julian 39 (3) 17 9 1 1 6 7.36 6 Anderson, John 49 3 2 6 0 2 7.29 5 Bayliss, Dave 32 (2) 3 1 1 1 2 7.35 14 Carter, Ryan 24 (13) 3 6 1 0 0 6.97 26 Clark, Dean 5 (17) 2 2 1 0 0 6.55 * Davis, Sol 1 (6) 0 0 1 0 0 6.57 16 Devine, Sean 13 (20) 11 6 0 0 4 7.27 21 Gledhill, Lee 27 (6) 1 1 2 1 1 6.85 * Goodwin, Lee 3 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 5.75 22 Hamilton, Des 23 (1) 11 7 4 0 5 7.63 3 Hawkins, Peter 37 (11) 1 3 1 0 1 6.83 7 Janney, Mark 12 (2) 1 0 1 0 0 6.36 36 Jones, Mark 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 4 Lacey, Damien 49 2 9 2 0 0 6.92 15 Maher, Shaun 22 (9) 0 0 1 0 1 7.00 11 Mayo, Kerry 35 (7) 3 5 3 0 1 6.76 9 McDougald, Junior 27 (10) 20 5 0 0 4 7.43 31 McLean, Alan 2 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 6.20 17 Melton, Stephen 33 (1) 9 6 0 0 2 7.09 8 Mwaruwari, Benjani 11 (2) 4 3 0 0 1 7.46 * Neil, Alex 1 (8) 0 0 0 0 0 6.22 12 Renner, Victor 15 (7) 8 0 0 1 1 6.73 19 Rose, Richard 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 7.50 27 Sharps, Ian 5 (3) 0 0 2 0 0 6.75 25 Walsh, Robbie 0 (4) 1 0 0 0 0 7.00 38 Warren, Simon 0 (1) 0 1 0 0 0 8.00 20 Weekes, Nick 33 (11) 9 14 0 0 2 7.18 * [Player not currently at club]

DIVISION 3 TABLE (End of 2004/2005 season) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Dag & Red 46 18 4 1 62 17 11 3 9 40 31 94 2nd P Oxford 46 15 4 4 39 18 13 3 7 49 42 91 3rd P Shrewsbury 46 18 1 4 46 24 8 6 9 34 41 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th P Cambridge Utd 46 16 5 2 52 24 8 7 8 32 34 84 5th Torquay 46 15 5 3 59 32 9 3 11 38 41 80 6th Rushden 46 13 2 8 45 38 12 2 9 41 42 79 7th Scunthorpe 46 11 7 5 46 34 12 2 9 51 41 78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Brighton 46 14 3 6 36 21 7 6 10 31 34 72 9th Colchester 46 12 5 6 46 33 8 7 8 28 34 72 10th Doncaster 46 13 6 4 46 30 6 8 9 38 42 71 11th Wycombe 46 13 9 1 50 30 5 4 14 33 50 67 12th Leyton Orient 46 10 2 11 39 42 8 8 7 38 35 64 13th Stockport 46 9 6 8 43 37 7 8 8 39 41 62 14th Hartlepool 46 12 7 4 47 30 4 4 15 29 41 59 15th Plymouth 46 10 2 11 39 41 8 2 13 36 48 58 16th Darlington 46 10 6 7 46 27 5 5 13 27 39 56 17th Rotherham 46 11 5 7 48 40 4 6 13 38 59 56 18th Exeter 46 10 5 8 36 35 6 2 15 20 36 55 19th Macclesfield 46 9 5 9 48 43 6 4 13 39 54 54 20th Cheltenham 46 10 5 8 37 32 4 4 15 25 44 51 21st Mansfield 46 6 8 9 36 44 6 7 10 30 40 51 22nd Oldham 46 5 6 12 29 44 7 2 14 32 45 44 23rd Halifax 46 5 1 17 24 51 3 6 14 29 59 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th R Northwich Vics 46 4 4 15 32 52 3 4 16 22 58 29 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... This season's Champions League Final is an all-Spanish affair between Real Madrid and Valencia at Wembley. Despite having Roberto Carlos sent off in the 85th minute, Real take the game to penalties... but their relief is short-lived when Mark Iuliano misses the decisive spot-kick to give Valencia their first ever European Cup! Patrick Kluivert gives Barcelona a 1-0 lead over Inter in the UEFA Cup Final... until Sérgio Conceição equalises with seven minutes to go. Barça's agony is compounded in extra-time, when Carles Puyol is sent off for two-footing Adriano in the area. Luigi Di Biagio scores a golden penalty for Inter to keep the UEFA Cup in Milan. The Premiership title race goes to the final day, with Manchester United and Leeds level on 86 points. Peter Ridsdale watches on in despair as Leeds collapse to a 3-1 defeat at Ipswich, which allows Alex Ferguson's Red Devils to claim a third straight championship after beating Blackburn by the same score. Fulham, Bradford and Gillingham are all sent straight back down to Division 1. Alan Shearer loses his fourth FA Cup Final, as Aston Villa suffer a 1-0 Wembley defeat to Blackburn. A 19th-minute strike from Marcus Bent brings the trophy to Ewood Park for the first time since 1928 - and also convinces Rovers boss Graeme Souness not to retire, which is great news for TV viewers everywhere! The Serie A title race goes the full distance, with Lazio and Roma finishing joint-1st on 79 points each. Roma might have beaten their city rivals twice in the regular season, but much to Fabio Capello's fury, it's Lazio who take the scudetto after winning a two-legged play-off! Meanwhile, Bayern München secure a seventh straight Bundesliga title, while 1860 München are finally relegated after a series of lucky escapes. IN OTHER NEWS... Tony Blair is somehow re-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after the Labour Party win the General Election, albeit with a much-reduced majority. Michael Howard resigns as leader of the opposition Conservative Party, allowing them to elect a new leader who is more in touch with the British public. "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" is released in cinemas. Though the general reception is largely positive, most critics are just relieved that George Lucas' ageing space opera series is finally over and will never, ever come back. EVER. Former British Army serviceman James Blunt explodes onto the music scene with his breakthrough single "You're Beautiful". In the chorus, a lovelorn Blunt eloquently explains his plan for winning over an attractive woman he met on the subway: "And I don't know what to do, 'cause I'll never be with you."

MAY 2005 Dagenham & Redbridge's second season in the Football League might have been coming to an end, but we had shown that we were here to stay. After reaching the Division 3 play-offs in our debut campaign, we had emphatically shaken off any second-season blues - by securing automatic promotion to Division 2! Indeed, barring a truly spectacular collapse in our final match, we would be going up as champions of the fourth tier. Once we had completed formalities with Wycombe, we would receive the Division 3 trophy in front of the Victoria Road faithful. Our excellent form in April - five wins out of six - had powered us to the brink of the title. One of the key factors behind our recent surge was teenage playmaker Ryan Carter, who had timed his return to form perfectly and was rewarded by being named as Division 3's Young Player of the Month. One midfielder who hadn't been quite so effective for us lately was Alex Neil. The Scotsman returned to Barnsley late last month, following a four-month loan spell in which he made just one start and eight substitute appearances for the Daggers. Neil was an adequate backup, but nothing more, and it's safe to say he won't be coming back any time soon. And so we move on to our last game of the season. With the pressure well and truly off our shoulders, I decided to give gametime to some of our rising stars against Wycombe. Centre-back Richard Rose (20) got a start, as did debutant midfielder Mark Jones (17). Three other teenagers - midfielders Simon Warren and Alan McLean, and striker Robbie Walsh - were among the substitutes. On the other end of the experience scale, Mark Janney got the nod in attacking midfield. This was Mark's eighth season with us - and, having fallen out of the first-team picture, it was very likely to be his last. A title-winning send-off at Victoria Road would mark the perfect end to a long Daggers career spanning over 200 matches. 8 MAY 2005: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wycombe Wanderers 11th-placed Wycombe might have had nothing riding on this game, but they certainly gave us one last test to finish the season. Striker Jermaine McSporran and winger Danny Senda each had chances saved by Mike Pollitt midway through a competitive first half, in which Julian Alsop had headed over our best chance to break the deadlock. Then, in the 34th minute, the Chairboys spoiled our party. José Pereda's pinpoint cross from the left wing was headed in by long-serving Wanderers captain Michael Simpson, whose only goal of the season happened to come against the league champions. If we weren't to end this season on a sour note, we would need to turn up after the break. Though Wycombe lost Simpson to a shin injury early in the second half, we were still struggling to make a breakthrough. Mark Janney's Victoria Road farewell had not gone to plan, so after 62 minutes, he came off to a standing ovation to be replaced by a 17-year-old reserve striker. Robbie Walsh made an immediate impact, as the Irishman headed in his first senior goal from a Peter Hawkins cross to draw us level! From that point on, we never looked back. Junior McDougald put us ahead 20 minutes from time with his 20th goal of the season, and his strike partner Alsop then sealed victory with his 17th. The latter goal was a memorable moment for midfielder Simon Warren, who became the Daggers' youngest ever player - aged 15 years and 8 months - and marked the occasion with a debut assist! Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Walsh 62, McDougald 70, Alsop 89) Wycombe Wanderers - 1 (M Simpson 34) Division 3, Attendance 4,464­ - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Wycombe 11th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt; Hawkins, Rose, Anderson, Mayo; Jones (McLean), Lacey, Carter (Warren); Janney (Walsh); Alsop, McDougald. Once the final whistle blew, we were confirmed as champions - and captain Damien Lacey was duly handed the Division 3 trophy. After last season's heartbreak, this success felt even sweeter. Despite having a few wobbles throughout the season, we were arguably the best team in Division 3 this term. No team had scored more goals (102) or conceded fewer (48) than us, and only Scunthorpe had managed to take three points away from Victoria Road. This was very much a triumph for strong teamwork, with no one player carrying us to victory. Case in point: goalkeeper Mike Pollitt was the only Dagger named in the PFA's Division 3 dream team. Our best performer Julian Alsop's average rating of 7.44 only placed him 31st on that list, while Junior McDougald's 19 league goals put him joint-17th in the Golden Boot standings. Alsop was the big winner at the Dagenham & Redbridge awards night, having been named Fans' Player of the Year for a THIRD year on the spin. Having bagged 65 goals in 125 matches, it's safe to say that Jules is now a true Daggers legend. Our players didn't get the wider recognition they perhaps deserved, but it was a different story for me. At the League Managers Association's awards dinner, I was named as Division 3's Manager of the Year, beating off Rushden's Brian Talbot and Shrewsbury's Kevin Ratcliffe. I received the award from last year's winner Chris Kamara, whose smile masked the pain of having watched his Torquay team lose another Playoff Final a few days earlier. Oxford, Shrewsbury and play-off winners Cambridge will join us in Division 2, where we'll be doing battle with the likes of Barnsley, Norwich and Swindon. It's going to be quite a step up, but I'm cautiously confident we can handle it. We received £240,000 in prize money for winning the league, and promotion will come with a significant increase in TV revenue. I won't be short of resources if I want to improve this team over the team. There are a few areas where we might need strengthening, but I'm going to bide my time and only make a move for the right player.

DIVISION 3 TABLE (End of April 2005) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st P Dag & Red 45 17 4 1 59 16 11 3 9 40 31 91 2nd P Oxford 45 14 4 4 37 18 13 3 7 49 42 88 3rd Pl Shrewsbury 45 18 1 4 46 24 8 6 8 34 39 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th Pl Cambridge Utd 45 16 5 2 52 24 8 7 7 31 31 84 5th Pl Torquay 45 15 5 3 59 32 8 3 11 36 41 77 6th Pl Rushden 45 12 2 8 44 38 12 2 9 41 42 76 7th Scunthorpe 45 10 7 5 44 33 12 2 9 51 41 75 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Brighton 45 14 3 6 36 21 7 6 9 29 31 72 9th Colchester 45 12 5 5 46 32 8 7 8 28 34 72 10th Doncaster 45 12 6 4 44 29 6 8 9 38 42 68 11th Wycombe 45 13 9 1 50 30 5 4 13 32 47 67 12th Stockport 45 9 6 8 43 37 7 8 7 38 39 62 13th Leyton Orient 45 9 2 11 36 40 8 8 7 38 35 61 14th Darlington 45 10 6 7 46 27 5 5 12 26 37 56 15th Hartlepool 45 11 7 4 44 29 4 4 15 29 41 56 16th Exeter 45 10 5 7 35 32 6 2 15 20 36 55 17th Plymouth 45 9 2 11 37 41 8 2 13 36 48 55 18th Macclesfield 45 9 5 9 48 43 6 4 12 38 51 54 19th Rotherham 45 11 5 7 48 40 3 6 13 37 59 53 20th Cheltenham 45 10 5 8 37 32 4 4 14 25 43 51 21st Mansfield 45 5 8 9 33 43 6 7 10 30 40 48 22nd Oldham 45 5 6 12 29 44 6 2 14 29 44 41 23rd Halifax 45 5 1 17 24 51 3 6 13 29 57 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th Northwich Vics 45 4 4 14 32 50 3 4 16 22 58 29 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Club Brugge's Champions League fairytale continues! Gert Verheyen’s last-minute header secures a stunning away-goals win over Lazio in the Quarter Finals and sets up a mouth-watering Semi Final against Real Madrid! The other Semi sees Valencia take on holders Roma, who defeat Liverpool 3-2 in a repeat of last year's Final. Nearly 90,000 Scousers descend on the new Wembley for the League Cup Final. Emile Heskey scores two late goals as Liverpool regain the trophy with a 3-1 win over Everton, whose boy wonder Wayne Rooney has a nightmare in front of goal. Ruud van Nistelrooy wins an incredible fourth PFA Player of the Year award after scoring 23 Premiership goals for Manchester United. The PFA controversially decide not to name a Young Player of the Year, angering Middlesbrough fans, who believe their England Under-21s left-back David Murphy deserves the award after averaging 7.46 in 28 league games. Christian Vieri and Figo each score twice as Real Madrid defeat Barcelona 4-2 at the Santiago Bernabéu and climb to the top of La Liga. Meanwhile, Valencia tumble from 1st to 4th, and Rafa Benítez has a panic attack when he realises the transfer window has closed. Rangers are crowned as Scottish Premier League champions... but the Gers’ hopes of an unbeaten season end in their 33rd game at Motherwell. The Steelmen repeat the feat in the Scottish Cup Semi Final and close in on a second Cup win in three years. I told you George Graham and Terry Venables were a coaching dream team. IN OTHER NEWS... Pope John Paul II passes away peacefully aged 84, after 27 years as head of the Catholic Church. Four million people travel to the Vatican City for his funeral, after which Pope Benedict XVI is elected as his successor. Monaco is also plunged into mourning following the death of Prince Rainier III aged 81. Rainier, who had ruled the Principality since 1949, is succeeded by Albert II - the second child and only son from his marriage to American actress Grace Kelly. Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker Bowles - who becomes the Duchess of Cornwall - at a short, low-key ceremony in Windsor. Ahead of the wedding, the Daily Express spends days speculating about which dress Princess Diana would have worn, and whether she would have discovered a cure for cancer. “Me at the Zoo” is the first video uploaded to a new fledgling video-sharing platform YouTube. It’s a 19-second clip of co-founder Jawed Karim... at the zoo.