CFuller

DIVISION 3 TABLE (End of September 2004) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Dag & Red 9 4 1 0 15 4 2 0 2 5 5 19 2nd Cambridge Utd 9 4 0 0 13 7 2 1 2 8 11 19 3rd Macclesfield 9 4 1 0 17 10 1 2 1 8 9 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th Shrewsbury 9 3 0 1 8 6 3 0 2 12 11 18 5th Wycombe 9 4 1 0 13 4 1 1 2 8 12 17 6th Oxford 9 2 1 1 5 3 3 0 2 13 12 16 7th Rushden 9 2 1 2 8 8 3 0 1 8 5 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Leyton Orient 9 2 0 2 6 8 3 1 1 6 2 16 9th Torquay 9 3 0 1 10 4 1 3 1 10 10 15 10th Stockport 9 2 1 1 8 4 1 4 0 10 9 14 11th Hartlepool 9 2 1 1 9 7 2 0 3 11 8 13 12th Scunthorpe 9 3 1 1 9 6 1 0 3 9 9 13 13th Brighton 9 3 0 1 7 2 1 1 3 3 5 13 14th Cheltenham 9 2 1 2 8 9 2 0 2 4 6 13 15th Darlington 9 3 0 1 11 2 1 0 4 6 11 12 16th Mansfield 9 0 3 2 7 10 3 0 1 9 6 12 17th Plymouth 9 2 0 2 9 8 2 0 3 8 12 12 18th Exeter 9 3 1 1 10 6 0 0 4 2 9 10 19th Doncaster 9 2 0 2 7 11 0 2 3 5 9 8 20th Colchester 9 1 1 3 6 11 1 1 2 5 9 8 21st Rotherham 9 0 3 2 6 8 1 1 2 7 11 7 22nd Halifax 9 0 0 4 2 9 2 1 2 7 8 7 23rd Northwich Vics 9 0 2 3 7 12 1 0 3 2 9 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th Oldham 9 0 0 5 6 13 1 1 2 6 9 4 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Harry Kewell and Michael Bridges are in excellent form as Leeds' Premiership campaign starts with five victories from five matches. The Whites celebrate with another spending spree, filling their Cannavaro-shaped central defensive hole by signing Ledley King from Tottenham for £5.25million. Heaven knows how much King's medical bill will cost. Premiership champions Manchester United go even better than Leeds by winning their first SIX league games. Indeed, the Red Devils' only blip so far is a 0-0 Champions League draw at Schalke 04, whose defender Darío Verón is so fearsome that even the mere mention of his surname has Sir Alex Ferguson coming out in hives. Lazio's bid to regain the Serie A scudetto gets up and running when Hernán Jorge Crespo hits a sensational hat-trick against Inter. The Biancocelesti's four-game winning start is equalled only by one other team - unfancied minnows Venezia, who have yet to concede a league goal since signing 35-year-old defender Gianluca Festa from Arsenal. Valencia's summer investments pay off, as they storm to the top of La Liga with a 1-0 win over Barcelona. By contrast, Barça look in rough shape after losing their first two Champions League matches to Porto and Celtic! The World Cup qualifiers get underway, with Holland's Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring two goals against Bulgaria - and then another SIX in Andorra! Head coach Louis van Gaal describes the 28-year-old's form as "okay". IN OTHER NEWS... Former Derby and Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough dies from stomach cancer aged 69. The outspoken Yorkshireman won the European Cup twice but is regrettably regarded by many football fans as the greatest manager England never had. JJ Abrams’ new mystery drama series “Lost” makes its debut on American TV network ABC. The series follows the survivors of a plane that crashed into an island in the Pacific. Although heavily inspired by the Tom Hanks film “Cast Away”, it sadly does not feature any personified volleyballs. A decade after their breakthrough, pop-punk icons Green Day are back on top with their new album “American Idiot”. Hmm... I wonder which warmongering right-wing politician that was inspired by?

SEPTEMBER 2004 Dagenham & Redbridge's second season in the Football League had started well enough, with us taking seven points from our first three games. However, a 3-0 tonking by Chris Kamara’s Torquay had exposed the defensive frailties that still existed in our team. Our first match in September was against a team whose backline was in arguably even worse shape. Cambridge United arrived at Victoria Road having conceded 12 goals in their first four games. Then again, the U's had also scored 12 at the other end, with five of those coming from Swedish sensation Demba Traore. 4 SEPTEMBER 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cambridge United We made a bright start to this match, with Julian Alsop's 9th-minute header drawing an early save out of Cambridge goalkeeper Jonathan Gould. However, the former Scotland international was unable to keep out an effort from Stephen Melton five minutes later, with the attacking midfielder firing us into the lead! The rest of the first half was pretty much non-stop attacking action at both ends. While Mike Pollitt produced a number of blinding saves to stop Cambridge drawing level, the crossbar was preventing Alsop from doubling our advantage. We eventually did go 2-0 up five minutes from half-time, when Gould spilled a Junior McDougald header to gift Melton the easiest of finishes! But that wasn't the end of the first-half drama! Just before the break, Cambridge midfielder Luke Guttridge played an excellent ball into the area for 16-year-old striker Carl Martin, whose header was tipped behind by Pollitt. Mickey Bell's corner found U's captain Steve Harkness, but Pollitt made another cracking save to survive the first half with his clean sheet intact. The second half wasn't quite as breathless as the first. United had run out of steam, and though there would be no hat-trick for Melton, we did put a couple more goals past Gould. Sean Devine came off the bench to open his Daggers account in the 64th minute, and he then provided a brilliant assist for midfielder Nick Weekes 12 minutes later. With that, a resounding 4-0 win was complete! Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Melton 14,40, Devine 64, Weekes 76) Cambridge United - 0 Division 3, Attendance 4,099 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Cambridge Utd 14th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt; Gledhill (Hawkins), Bayliss, Anderson (Maher), Mayo; Carter, Lacey, Weekes; Melton; Alsop (Devine), McDougald. After a staggering performance, there was more exciting news on the attacking front, as 17-year-olds Robbie Walsh and Bob Fowler joined our reserve team on free transfers. Walsh is a lightning-quick Irishman who looks the more exciting goalscoring prospect, while local boy Fowler is more of a target forward. We went to Brighton a week later, making just two changes to the team that had just annihilated Cambridge. Shaun Maher started at centre-half in place of the suspended Dave Bayliss, while Victor Renner took Junior McDougald's spot up front. 11 SEPTEMBER 2004: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Dagenham & Redbridge While Stephen Melton had been sensational in our last match, he looked a pale imitation of himself against his former club Brighton. An early half-volley skied over the bar, while a promising chip to Julian Alsop in the 11th minute amounted to nothing. The latter attack had come just after Brighton's first offensive. Midfielder Chris Brandon had broken the deadlock with a powerful effort, which left Mike Pollitt flailing helplessly in his goal. We continued to struggle throughout the match. Come the final whistle, we had mustered six shots at goal - and they were all off target, leaving Brighton goalkeeper Mark Clough untroubled. Victor Renner was especially wasteful, missing the target twice. Remind me - why did I spend £30,000 on this guy? By contrast, the Seagulls had been on target with all three of their efforts - all from their trio of Chrises. Thankfully, winger Chris Holland and striker Chris McPhee were not as deadly as their namesake Brandon, as a couple of Pollitt saves meant we went back home having only lost 1-0. Brighton & Hove Albion - 1 (Brandon 10) Dagenham & Redbridge - 0 Division 3, Attendance 6,410 - POSITIONS: Brighton 5th, Dag & Red 7th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt; Gledhill, Maher, Anderson, Mayo; Carter (McLean), Lacey, Weekes (Clark); Melton (Hawkins); Alsop, Renner. Those last two results perfectly sum up this Daggers team: we can be fantastic one week, and ordinary the next. We hoped to return to form in midweek, when an old foe came to town. After celebrating back-to-back promotions in 2002 and 2003, Doncaster had recently plunged back down into Division 3, where they sat in a disappointing 19th place. 15 SEPTEMBER 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Doncaster Rovers There was controversy in the sixth minute, when Doncaster unsuccessfully claimed for a penalty after striker Richard Naylor was scythed down in the Daggers area by our right-back Lee Gledhill. The referee let play continue, and Rovers' anger grew when Melton's through-ball led to a milestone goal for Julian Alsop - his 50th in a Daggers jersey! Steve Wignall's visitors felt so aggrieved that they attacked us relentlessly for the rest of the first half. Dagenham defender John Anderson sensationally cleared Wayne Brown's header off the line in the 23rd minute, while Jon Fisher-Cooke was superbly thwarted by Mike Pollitt seven minutes later. Rovers eventually broke through three minutes from half-time, when Naylor climbed above Anderson to head in a Steve Palmer cross. There was more drama to come in the second half. Though Naylor came close to putting Donny ahead in the 61st minute, another big penalty decision went against them six minutes later. This time, Rovers defender Lee Brown was accused of pushing Alsop in the area, prompting the referee to award us a spot kick. Substitute Ryan Carter took it... but the 18-year-old midfielder was denied by a great save from Justin Shuttlewood. While Wignall might have had other ideas, I wouldn't have complained had the final score remained level at 1-1. But there would be one final twist in the 89th minute, when Nick Weekes hit a long ball into Doncaster's area. Rising above Brown to get his head to it was another Daggers substitute - Sean Devine, who sent the Victoria Road faithful wild with a dramatic winner! Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Alsop 7, Devine 89) Doncaster Rovers - 1 (Naylor 42) Division 3, Attendance 3,324 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 4th, Doncaster 20th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt; Gledhill, Bayliss, Anderson, Mayo (Davis); McLean (Carter), Lacey, Weekes; Melton; Alsop, Renner (Devine). Had it not been for Sean Devine's late winner, we would have dropped to 9th place. His heroics ensured that we remained right in the thick of the play-off picture when we visited fellow contenders Stockport a few days later. Bobby Williamson's Hatters were one of only two teams to still be unbeaten after seven games - the other being leaders Macclesfield. 18 SEPTEMBER 2004: Stockport County vs Dagenham & Redbridge Though Sean Devine was making a compelling case to start up front, I decided to keep Victor Renner and Julian Alsop as our strike partnership at Edgeley Park. Though both men missed chances to put us ahead early on, Renner would justify his selection just before half-time. A bullet header from Nick Weekes' corner was enough to send us into the break with the slimmest of advantages. Stockport started to put up a fight midway through the second half. Right-back Keith Briggs' header in the 62nd minute was beaten away by our Mancunian goalkeeper Mike Pollitt. Four minutes later, though, Mike's opposite number Matthew Glennon made a meal of Kerry Mayo's free-kick, which allowed Renner to put us 2-0 up! Our two-goal cushion only lasted a couple of minutes. Ryan Carter's disappointing run of form continued when his poor man-marking was exposed by Stockport defender Peter Clark, who headed home a Paul Deas corner and gave County fresh hope of extending their unbeaten start. That made for a nail-biting final quarter, but after shutting up shop, we eventually came away with another precious victory. Stockport County - 1 (Clark 68) Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Renner 44,66) Division 3, Attendance 5,269 - POSITIONS: Stockport 7th, Dag & Red 3rd DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Pollitt; Gledhill, Bayliss, Anderson (Clark), Mayo; Janney, Carter, Lacey, Weekes; Alsop (Hawkins), Renner (Devine). BOOKED: Anderson. A couple of hard-fought wins had got our promotion push back on track. Now, though, we faced arguably the toughest match in the club's dozen-year history. Victoria Road was almost packed for our League Cup Round 2 clash with Premiership giants Newcastle. The shy and retiring Zlatan Ibrahimovic had sadly been left at home - which was good news for our defence at least - but Magpies boss Brian Quinn had still brought a strong team with him. 22 SEPTEMBER 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Newcastle United I utilised my more defensive 3-5-2 formation for this match, hoping to frustrate Newcastle before hitting them on the counter-attack. Though we sadly lost left-back Kerry Mayo to injury after just eight minutes, the plan worked pretty well. Mike Pollitt was in fine goalkeeping form, keeping out a couple of early attempts from striker Tommy Smith, as well as one from left-back Mauricio Taricco. We then gave the Magpies a few scares at the other end, with Sean Devine drawing two tricky saves out of their wobbly-legged Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. Sadly, we couldn't quite grab the lead... or even stop Newcastle from breaking through before half-time. Smith finally got the better of us in the 45th minute, when his centre was headed home by the veteran Portuguese midfielder Jordão. With nothing to lose, I decided to switch to the more attacking version of the 3-5-2. Teenage midfielder Alan McLean was replaced with Nick Weekes, who moved into the hole behind Devine and Victor Renner. Opportunity knocked for Weekes in the 61st minute, when Peter Hawkins' volley was awkwardly parried by Dudek. Nick buried the loose ball, and we'd nicked an equaliser! And there was more to come! As the game neared its climax and Renner started to tire, I decided to replace him with our big target man Julian Alsop. In the 85th minute, just three minutes after Alsop's introduction, a quickfire Daggers counter-attack ended with Devine playing an inspired through-ball to Jules, who powered it home! 2-1 to Dagenham & Redbridge! The dream was on! Well... it was on for four minutes. Then Smith put a low cross into our penalty area, where Argentine midfielder Christian Bassedas skilfully swivelled on it before pulling the visitors level at 2-2. Smith wasn't finished breaking our hearts, though, as he then shattered them with a pinpoint header from Lomana Lua-Lua's injury-time cross. The Magpies' late comeback was complete, and we had been cruelly knocked out of the League Cup. Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Weekes 61, Alsop 85) Newcastle United - 3 (Jordão 45, Bassedas 89, Smith 90) League Cup Round 2, Attendance 5,989 DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2 Defensive): Pollitt; Anderson, Bayliss, Maher; Gledhill, Lacey, Mayo (Hawkins); Carter, McLean (Weekes); Devine, Renner (Alsop). BOOKED: Gledhill. Two minutes away from a sensational result... but it wasn't to be. Still, we could take heart from a very brave performance. One of the few negatives to come out of that game was that Kerry Mayo had gashed his leg, ruling him out for a fortnight. Sol Davis then hurt his shoulder in training, which meant Peter Hawkins had to play at left-back when we hosted 2nd-placed Shrewsbury in our next league game. 25 SEPTEMBER 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Shrewsbury Town Though Junior McDougald hadn't scored a competitive goal for us yet this season, he got the nod to start up front with Julian Alsop. Nonetheless, Junior knew how important it was to get off the mark before Daggers fans started questioning his place in the team. After 23 minutes, he answered those questions by pouncing on a mistake from Shrewsbury midfielder Chris McConville to open the scoring! We continued to boss possession either side of half-time, though we didn't really make enough of it to pull comfortably ahead of Shrewsbury. Had it not been for our ever-reliable centre-half John Anderson winning a ludicrous number of defensive headers, the Shrews could well have capitalised on the counter-attack. Town's hopes started to fade when right-back Darren Moss tore a groin muscle in the 77th minute. Before long, all three of our substitutes had taken advantage of the visitors' weakened defences. Ryan Carter played a beautiful knock-down to help get Sean Devine on the scoresheet again in the 83rd minute, and defensive midfielder Dean Clark completed a 3-0 win shortly afterwards. Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (McDougald 23, Devine 83, Clark 90) Shrewsbury Town - 0 Division 3, Attendance 4,849 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Shrewsbury 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt; Gledhill, Anderson, Bayliss, Hawkins; Janney (Carter), Lacey, Weekes; Melton (Clark); Alsop (Devine), McDougald. Top of the table! It might still be early days - but I somehow don't think we'll be suffering from 'second season syndrome' any time soon!

DIVISION 3 TABLE (End of August 2004) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Shrewsbury 4 2 0 0 6 4 2 0 0 6 4 12 2nd Hartlepool 4 1 1 0 5 4 1 0 1 7 3 7 3rd Wycombe 4 2 0 0 6 1 0 1 1 4 6 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th Dag & Red 4 1 1 0 6 3 1 0 1 3 3 7 5th Oxford 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 7 7 7 6th Cambridge Utd 4 2 0 0 7 5 0 1 1 5 7 7 7th Cheltenham 4 1 1 0 4 2 1 0 1 3 5 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Brighton 4 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 2 0 2 6 9th Stockport 4 1 1 0 5 2 0 2 0 4 4 6 10th Macclesfield 4 1 1 0 5 4 0 2 0 4 4 6 11th Darlington 4 1 0 1 4 2 1 0 1 4 6 6 12th Scunthorpe 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 4 6 6 13th Rotherham 4 0 1 1 3 4 1 1 0 6 3 5 14th Torquay 4 1 0 1 5 3 0 2 0 4 4 5 15th Mansfield 4 0 1 1 2 3 1 0 1 5 5 4 16th Leyton Orient 4 1 0 1 3 3 0 1 1 1 2 4 17th Exeter 4 1 1 0 7 5 0 0 2 1 5 4 18th Rushden 4 0 1 1 4 5 1 0 1 3 4 4 19th Colchester 4 0 1 1 4 6 1 0 1 2 3 4 20th Oldham 4 0 0 2 1 5 1 1 0 5 4 4 21st Doncaster 4 1 0 1 5 8 0 1 1 2 3 4 22nd Northwich Vics 4 0 1 1 5 6 1 0 1 2 5 4 23rd Plymouth 4 1 0 1 6 5 0 0 2 1 6 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th Halifax 4 0 0 2 1 5 1 0 1 2 2 3 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Manchester United defeat Liverpool 2-1 in the Community Shield, and then kick off the Premiership season with three straight wins. Sir Alex Ferguson has not made any new signings since last December - but why would you when Andrew Cole and Ruud van Nistelrooy are ruthlessly tearing strips out of Crewe and Gillingham? Chelsea do make a big move in the transfer market, signing Wales striker Craig Bellamy from Newcastle for £10.75million. This briefly takes media interest away from the Blues' central defensive talisman John Terry, who is reportedly holding out for a new contract that includes a big pay rise - and the option to sleep with one of his team-mates' wives. 13 months into his new life in England, Fabio Cannavaro comes to a startling revelation - he hates Yorkshire pudding. The Italian defensive maestro immediately boards the next flight out of Leeds and completes a £12.75million transfer to Roma. Peter Ridsdale sighs, "At least we still have Jonathan Woodgate." After finishing 8th in Serie A last term, Juventus' last hope of qualifying for the UEFA Cup comes through the Inter-Toto Cup. The Old Lady make it all the way to the Final round... and lose 3-2 on aggregate to Besiktas. Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola makes his Serie A managerial debut with Chievo, having moved to Verona after managing third-division side Siena for just over a year. It could have gone better - Chievo are thrashed 5-0 away from home against a Perugia team captained by World Cup winner Fabio Liverani. IN OTHER NEWS... Greece is the word when the Summer Olympics come home to Athens. Great Britain's Kelly Holmes claims two gold medals in the 800m and 1,500m, while rower Matthew Pinsent becomes a four-time champion. Sadly, Paula Radcliffe's marathon turns into a Greek tragedy. Michael Schumacher's dominance of Formula 1 continues with a record seventh Drivers' Championship - his fifth in a row! Schumi won 12 of this season's first 13 races, which begs the question: who can stop him?! In a watershed moment for transgender acceptance in Britain, Nadia Almada is overwhelmingly voted the winner of "Big Brother" series 5. She instantly becomes the country’s most popular Portuguese-British person since... er, Jay Kay from Jamiroquai? The Edvard Munch paintings “Madonna” and “The Scream” are stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. It is actually the second time Munch’s most famous work, which shows Pierluigi Collina shrieking in a sunset sky, has been stolen in just over a decade.

AUGUST 2004 Despite some defensive wobbles, pre-season was going reasonably well for the Daggers. We had two more friendlies to negotiate before the Division 3 campaign got underway. First off, we headed to Hampshire for a meeting with Aldershot, who had recently celebrated promotion to the Conference. Midfielder Nick Weekes started for the Daggers against the former club, while target man Julian Alsop took on the captaincy. 3 AUGUST 2004: Aldershot Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge Our wingers got us off to a flying start after six minutes, with Kerry Mayo on the left flank setting up Mark Janney on the right to open the scoring. Despite being comfortably the better team, it took us until the 72nd minute to consolidate our advantage through Junior McDougald. This would be a very comfortable win, though it ended on a sour note when veteran midfielder Ian Selley was sent off for pushing the visitors' ex-Daggers striker Paul Piscopides. Silly Selley. Aldershot Town - 0 Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Janney 6, McDougald 72) Friendly, Attendance 1,531 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Woodman (Pollitt); Gledhill (Goodwin), Bayliss (Anderson), Rose, Davis (Hawkins); Janney (Selley), Weekes (Melton), McLean (Clark), Mayo; Alsop (Renner), Griffiths (McDougald). SENT OFF: Selley. Since going back to basics with the 4-4-2, we had kept back-to-back clean sheets - the first time we'd done so since December. Was it just a coincidence, or a genuine step in the right direction? We would probably get more of an idea once we played our final friendly match against Watford, who had fallen on hard times since their brief flirtation with the Premiership five seasons ago. The Hornets almost endured a second successive relegation last term, but Mark McGhee's side pulled themselves away from the Division 2 danger zone just in time. 7 AUGUST 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Watford This big step up in class didn't faze young Ryan Carter, who headed us into a surprise lead after just seven minutes. I was even more shocked when Junior McDougald doubled it on the half-hour mark, with his third goal of pre-season! That said, Watford did pull one goal back through midfielder Gary Fisken not long afterwards, putting the upset in some doubt. A nervy second half followed. Strikers Heidar Helguson and Gifton Noel-Williams tried to use all their top-flight experience to draw the Hornets back level, but their shooting just lacked the killer touch. With John Anderson and Dave Bayliss once again resilient in defence, and Carter delivering a midfield masterclass beyond his 18 years, we saw the job through and claimed a famous 2-1 win! Who cared if this was only a friendly? Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Carter 7, McDougald 30) Watford - 1 (Fisken 35) Friendly, Attendance 1,141 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Woodman (Pollitt); Gledhill (Goodwin), Bayliss, Anderson, Hawkins (Davis); Janney (Melton), Carter (Shaw), Lacey (McLean), Mayo (Clark); Alsop (Devine), McDougald (Renner). Back in 1999, Dagenham & Redbridge were an Isthmian League club, while Watford were rubbing shoulders with Arsenal and Manchester United in the top flight. Going off that result, you wouldn't know it! These were positive times for Daggers fans, and excitement levels will surely grow when they see our newest signing take to the pitch at Victoria Road. Mind you, they will have to wait a while to see him happen. One of my scouts had alerted me to an established international striker based in Switzerland whose contract was expiring in six months, and who was very interested in a move to England. I flew out to Basel to meet him in person - and hopefully persuade him to join us on a Bosman free transfer. After an intense afternoon of negotiations, the deal was done - he had turned down an approach from Dutch second-tier side Heracles Almelo to take up our offer instead. The mystery man will officially become a Dagenham & Redbridge player on 4 February... but I'm afraid I'll have to keep his identity a secret until then. (Yeah, I'm such a tease!) In the meantime, we continued to turn to Alsop and Victor Renner for goals. They would need to be firing in our first match of the new Division 3 campaign - at home to a Macclesfield side whose star man Damien Whitehead won last season's Golden Boot by scoring 41 goals! If Whitehead could keep that astonishing form up, the Silkmen would be serious candidates for promotion. 14 AUGUST 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Macclesfield Town I made a huge call before this match, starting Andy Woodman in goal rather than our record signing Mike Pollitt. Woodman justified his pick with a valiant first-half performance against a dominant Macclesfield save, including a stunning 34th-minute fingertip save to deny midfielder Luke Hardy. Sadly, Andy's resistance was finally broken just before the interval, as left-back Danny Adams fired the Silkmen into a half-time lead. The closest we had come to scoring in the first half was when Ryan Carter hit the post in the 23rd minute. Our next big opportunity came about half an hour after that. Substitute Dean Clark's cross into the box found target man Julian Alsop, who got his season up and running with a stunning equalising volley. Macc attacked again after seeing their lead slip, with Damien Whitehead unsurprisingly leading the assault. On 76 minutes, the goal machine produced a rare assist, as midfielder Eddie Barnes reinstated the visitors and left us staring at an opening-day defeat. But just six minutes later, an unlikely hero saved the day. Left-winger Kerry Mayo's fierce drive was tipped away by Silkmen keeper Stephen Collis. Pouncing on the rebound was right-back Lee Gledhill, whose first ever Daggers goal secured our first point of the new season! Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Alsop 54, Gledhill 82) Macclesfield Town - 2 (Adams 45, Barnes 76) Division 3, Attendance 2,873 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Macclesfield 12th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Woodman; Gledhill, Bayliss, Anderson, Hawkins (Clark); Janney (Weekes), Carter, Lacey, Mayo; Alsop, Renner (McDougald). Not the ideal start, but at least we showed plenty of fighting spirit to come from behind twice. I hoped that would spur us on to produce another result a week later at Halifax. The Shaymen had lost their opening match at Scunthorpe, which hadn't exactly eased their fans' fears of another relegation battle. 21 AUGUST 2004: Halifax Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge Halifax set out their stall by having four shots at goal in the first 20 minutes - all four of which were saved by Andy Woodman. Then, in the 21st minute, Junior McDougald gave us our first shooting opportunity by winning a close-range free-kick off Shaymen midfielder Paul Harsley. Kerry Mayo stepped forward to take the free-kick, which he fired into the top corner for his first Dagenham goal! This was a very good time for our more defensive players to break their Dagenham goalscoring ducks. Ten minutes into the second half, having helped stave off a few more Halifax attacks, centre-half Dave Bayliss doubled our lead with his first club goal. A bullet header from captain Damien Lacey's corner put us in a commanding position. The Shaymen now had a huge mountain to move - a task that Mark Janney made impossible in the 78th minute. The winger dribbled past a couple of visiting players, including ex-Daggers youth left-back Brett Gallagher, before scoring our third and final goal of the afternoon! Halifax Town - 0 Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Mayo 22, Bayliss 55, Janney 78) Division 3, Attendance 2,626 - POSITIONS: Halifax 23rd, Dag & Red 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Woodman; Gledhill, Bayliss, Anderson, Davis (Hawkins); Janney, Melton, Lacey (Clarke), Mayo; Alsop, McDougald (Devine). BOOKED: Lacey. A 3-0 win away from home, and only our third competitive clean sheet of 2004! That will do very nicely! In other news, our young striker Chris Griffiths went on a season-long loan to Cwmbran Town in the Welsh Premier League. Hopefully the 18-year-old would see more action at Cwmbran than he did at Port Talbot, where he struggled so badly last term that I recalled him after only a few months. Andy Woodman's assured goalkeeping performances had thrown down the gauntlet to Mike Pollitt, who hadn't yet justified the £100,000 we had paid to make his loan deal permanent. The veteran shotstopper made his first appearance of the season in midweek, when we hosted third-tier Rochdale in Round 1 of the League Cup. 24 AUGUST 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Rochdale Mike Pollitt started to repay his transfer fee in the first half, shutting out Rochdale forward Gavin Holligan and Danny Schofield to keep the deadlock intact at half-time. Things hadn't gone so well for Pollitt's opposite number. Neil Edwards broke his toe hitting a long goal kick in the 18th minute, which meant Dale boss Glenn Roeder had to replace him with his backup keeper Paul Robinson (not that one!). Eight minutes into the second half, though, Rochdale's greater class started to show. Ex-Sunderland winger Kevin Kilbane delivered a marvellous cross into the box, where Schofield met it with an unstoppable diving header. 1-0 to the visitors. Midway through the second half, I decided to take the game to our opponents, abandoning the 4-4-2 for a more ambitious 4-3-1-2. Nick Weekes came on in the attacking midfield hole, and he made an instant impact, half-volleying in a Lee Gledhill delivery to restore parity on 73 minutes. Rochdale didn't know what had hit them, and we grew even more confident as full-time neared. When Dean Clark fed a delicious aerial ball for Victor Renner to head home in the 88th minute, our fightback was complete. Unfortunately, centre-back Dave Bayliss got a bit caught up in the emotion and was sent off for pushing Holligan, but our remaining 10 players held on for a famous win! Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Weekes 73, Renner 88) Rochdale - 1 (Schofield 53) League Cup Round 1, Attendance 4,597 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Pollitt; Gledhill, Bayliss, Anderson, Hawkins; Janney (Clark), Carter, Lacey, Mayo (Weekes); Alsop (Devine), Renner. BOOKED: Anderson. SENT OFF: Bayliss. What a comeback! The reward for our first League Cup victory was another home tie in Round 2... against a little club in the north-east called Newcastle. That's right, folks! Zlatan Ibrahimovic and co will be coming to Victoria Road next month! Dave Bayliss' needless act of violence right at the end resulted in a one-match ban, ruling him out of our trip to Brighton on 11 September. The centre-back was also dropped for our next league fixture at home to Darlington, with debutant Shaun Maher taking his place after recovering from a pre-season injury. 28 AUGUST 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Darlington Darlington might have just come down from Division 2, but our attackers made their defence look like amateurs in the first half. In the 10th minute, Julian Alsop played in strike partner Victor Renner, who needed two attempts to score after his first was stopped by Stewart Kerr. Alsop was a bit more clinical when playmaker Ryan Carter played him through in the 28th minute, and we went into half-time leading 2-0! Early in the second half, though, the Quakers had us quaking. Andy Woodman resisted Darlo's best attacks with several saves, but he finally came a cropper in the 54th minute. Rory Allen outjumped Woodman to get to Andy Williams' corner delivery and flick it towards visiting captain Ian Hughes, who cut our advantage to 2-1. Woodman quickly regained his composure after that mistake, and an impressive save in the 61st minute denied Ashley White an equaliser. That marked another turning point, as Alsop provided another assist for Renner two minutes later to restore our two-goal cushion. Renner was then rested for Sean Devine, who provided the inspiration for Alsop's second goal in the 73rd minute. That completed a resounding 4-1 win, in which Jules had played a key role in all four Daggers goals! Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Renner 10,63, Alsop 28,73) Darlington - 1 (Hughes 54) Division 3, Attendance 4,860 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Darlington 5th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Woodman; Gledhill, Maher, Anderson (Rose), Mayo; Weekes, Lacey, Carter (Janney); Melton; Alsop, Renner (Devine). We were back in the automatic promotion places, but for how long? Just two days later, we were back in action against last season's losing Playoff Finalists. Torquay were still trying to get over their Wembley defeat to Lincoln three months ago, having failed to win any of their first four fixtures in this campaign. 30 AUGUST 2004: Torquay United vs Dagenham & Redbridge Despite an excellent start to his season, right-back Lee Gledhill was dropped after slacking off in training. That gave the long-serving Lee Goodwin an opportunity to show if he could still do a job for us. By half-time, he had answered my query loud and clear. Unfortunately, Goodwin was all at sea when pitted against Torquay's lightning-quick left-winger James Knowles. In the 25th minute, Knowles glided past Goodwin and put a low cross to the near post, where Gulls captain Roy Hunter popped up to break the deadlock. And when Knowles doubled the hosts' lead in the 43rd minute, it sounded the death knell for both Goodman and the equally awful Mark Janney, who were substituted at half-time. The introductions of Sol Davis and Dean Clark did little to fix our defensive issues, and the contest was over by the hour mark. Centre-back John Anderson made an excellent saving tackle on right-winger Kieron Durkan, only to see midfielder Lee Snodin blast the loose ball into the net. Suffice to say, Torquay manager Chris Kamara was all smiles after an unbelievable 3-0 win for his team. Torquay United - 3 (Hunter 25, Knowles 43, Snodin 60) Dagenham & Redbridge - 0 Division 3, Attendance 2,761 - POSITIONS: Torquay 14th, Dag & Red 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Woodman; Goodwin (Davis), Maher, Anderson, Hawkins; Janney (Clark), Weekes, Lacey, Mayo; Alsop (Devine), Renner. BOOKED: Janney, Mayo. It was a long and hard journey back from the south-west. After such a strong start to the season, we had been given a much-needed dose of reality. There was still plenty of hard work to do defensively if we wanted to sustain another promotion challenge.

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2004/2005 season GOALKEEPERS 1. Andy Woodman - GK, age 33, English Woodman is a steady and determined goalkeeper with great agility. The former Northampton number 1 has been a benchwarmer in recent years. 13. Mike Pollitt - GK, age 32, English League veteran Pollitt cost us a club-record £100,000 after an initial loan from Wrexham. He's a brave and strong shotstopper but struggles with consistency. DEFENDERS 2. Lee Goodwin - D R, age 25, English Energetic right-back Goodwin is one of the last survivors from our Isthmian League days. He lost his starting place late last season and is now a backup. 3. Peter Hawkins - D RL, age 25, English Tough-tackling ex-Wimbledon star Hawkins can play full-back on either flank. He's pacey and can put in a good cross but has limited competitive experience. 5. Dave Bayliss - D C, age 28, English Bayliss has been an underrated star in our defence in recent years. Though a little shaky positionally, his physical power and tackling ability are great assets. 6. John Anderson - D/M C, age 31, Scottish We are so much weaker whenever Anderson is absent. The vice-captain organises our defence superbly and always poses a threat from set-pieces. 11. Kerry Mayo - D/DM L, age 26, English Mayo is a crossing maestro and an invaluable presence on the left flank. He got six assists last term but will hope to increase his productivity. 15. Shaun Maher - SW/D C, age 26, Irish Maher is a summer signing from Bournemouth, costing us £50,000. Sadly, a groin strain means we must wait to see the athletic two-footed sweeper in action. 18. Sol Davis - D/DM L, age 24, English The strong and selfless Davis will provide cover for our other left-backs until late November. He is on loan from Swindon, where he's played over 150 league games. 19. Richard Rose - D C, age 19, English Rose made 11 appearances for the Daggers last term but still awaits his big breakthrough. The tall and strong centre-half is rather erratic and has stalled in training. 21. Lee Gledhill - D RC, age 23, English Gledhill has established himself at right-back since signing from Barnet last November. He's a solid tackler but can still improve his tactical awareness. 26. Dean Clark - D/M RC, age 24, English Another mid-season signing from last term, Clark is a robust and versatile backup player. The former Brentford trainee has bundles of energy. MIDFIELDERS 4. Damien Lacey - DM C, age 26, English Captain Lacey is still the same tireless workhorse who keeps our midfield together. The goals have dried up, but he's made up for that with more assists. 7. Mark Janney - M R, age 26, English Stalwart winger (and occasional midfielder) Janney doesn't see much action these days. He was prolific in the Conference but has yet to score for us in the Football League. 8. Ian Selley - M C, age 30, English Selley was our most expensive signing last season, and by far our most disappointing. The ball-winner's game has declined sharply and is now transfer-listed. 14. Ryan Carter - M C, age 18, English Despite his tender years, Carter is now a regular starter. The hard-working playmaker provided seven goals and six assists in his 2003/2004 breakthrough season. 17. Stephen Melton - AM C, age 25, English Attacking midfielder Melton is a set-piece specialist who scored 10 goals for us last season. Consistency is a concern, as he tends to go missing in certain matches. 20. Nick Weekes - M C, age 22, English Weekes is a box-to-box player who has steadily improved over the last couple of seasons. The ex-cricketer's technique and intelligence are his best assets. 31. Alan McLean - DM C, age 18, Scottish Deep-lying playmaker McLean is hoping to break through soon. The creative teenager excelled in our reserves and made four league appearances last term. FORWARDS 9. Junior McDougald - S C, age 29, American McDougald's days as our top goal-getter might be numbered. The Texan rocket scored 20 goals in our promotion campaign, but only hit four in the Football League last season. 10. Julian Alsop - S C, age 31, English Fearless target man Alsop has been our top scorer in each of the last two seasons. Whether it's with his head or his feet, the big Brummie knows how to finish. 12. Victor Renner - F RLC, age 25, English Renner has the pace and technique to wreak havoc among Division 3 defences. If the ex-Peterborough striker can become more clinical, the goals will surely flow. 16. Sean Devine - S C, age 31, Irish [capped at B level] I hope Devine will be divine up front after his free transfer from Wycombe. He certainly has the experience and all-round game to be a danger. RESERVES DEFENDERS: Nathan Betts (18), Jamie Cartwright (18), Lee Chaffey (20) MIDFIELDERS: Mark Jones (16), Andy Scott (19), Bill Shaw (18), Kevin Sheridan (18), Mark Thomas (19), Jamie Weaver (19) FORWARD: Chris Griffiths (18)

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... The Arsenal exodus continues after their failure to qualify for the Champions League. After just one unspectacular year at Highbury, Dutch bulldog Edgar Davids heads off to big-spending Valencia for £8.5million. Argentine sweeper Roberto Fabián Ayala also leaves the Premiership after a single season, moving from Liverpool to Roma for £10.75million. Roy Präger was the top scorer at Euro 2004, netting THREE goals for champions Germany. His relentless goalscoring form proves irresistible for Real Madrid, who stump up £2.7million to sign the hard-working forward from HSV. Following his release by Real Madrid, former Italy left-back Paolo Maldini is offered a contract by Fulham's ambitious owner Mohammed El Fayed. The 36-year-old immediately decides to hang up his boots and become manager of newly-promoted Serie B side Ascoli instead. Chelsea's pre-season preparations suffer a devastating blow when defender William Gallas shatters his pelvis. The French international stubbornly refuses all treatment and will instead sit on the training pitch sulking for the next seven months. Derby manager Jim Smith retires, with Tony Adams becoming the new king of Pride Park. That's the same Tony Adams who led Barnsley to relegation from Division 1 last season. Suffice to say, Rams fans aren't too optimistic about the former England captain's appointment. IN OTHER NEWS... Instead of reading the news, Natasha Kaplinsky becomes the news when she and dance partner Brendan Cole win the first series of the BBC’s new ballroom contest "Strictly Come Dancing". As presenter Bruce Forsyth might say, "Didn't they do well?" Tennis wonderkid Maria Sharapova makes a huge racket at Wimbledon! The Russian thrashes reigning champion Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam title - at the ripe old age of 17. A memorial fountain for Princess Diana is unveiled in Hyde Park, London. It closes a few weeks later after three people slip in the water and hurt themselves. Hollywood legend Marlon Brando dies at the age of 80 after struggling with multiple health problems in recent years. Best-known for playing Vito Corleone in "The Godfather", he was proclaimed "Actor of the Century" by TIME Magazine in 1999.

JULY 2004 Dagenham & Redbridge's debut season in the Football League had surpassed all our expectations. Finishing 7th in Division 3 immediately after coming up through the Conference was a magnificent achievement, even if our dream of successive promotions had ended in bitter play-off tears. And yet it could have been even better. Automatic promotion was a serious possibility had our defence not fallen apart from January onwards. A disappointing second half to the season had left some supporters wondering if our strong first half was just a fluke. Though many pundits, punter and even the Dagenham board were anticipating a tough battle against relegation this time around, I was much more bullish. My squad and I were very much focused on consolidating our Football League status - and making sure we didn't suffer a nasty bout of 'second season syndrome'. But having reached the play-offs once before, there was also no reason why we couldn't launch another promotion challenge. I had brought in five new senior players over the summer to try and take this Daggers team to the next level. Goalkeepers Mike Pollitt and Andy Woodman were joined at Victoria Road by full-back Peter Hawkins, centre-half Shaun Maher and striker Sean Devine. I made another signing just before our first friendly - one that had our long-term future very much in mind. Mark Jones was a 16-year-old Welsh midfielder with fine passing and technical ability, not to mention a flamboyant streak. It might be a while before Mark is following the likes of Ryan Carter into the first-team set-up, but he certainly has a decent future ahead. Hopes are also high for Alan McLean - the 18-year-old Scottish defensive midfielder who joined us last summer. After an impressive season in the reserve team, he was promoted to the senior side, where he would hope to add to his four league outings so far. Before my first season as Daggers boss in 2001/2002, we went on a pre-season tour of Scotland. We headed north of the border again this summer, basing ourselves in Glasgow to kick off our preparations. Our opening friendly was against semi-professionals Pollok. 17 JULY 2004: Pollok vs Dagenham & Redbridge Our pre-season preparations immediately hit some early snags. Mike Pollitt looked very shaky between the Daggers posts, as he conceded goals to midfielder Gary Madden and forward John Dickson within the first half-hour. Junior McDougald did pull one goal back, but we needed a strong comeback after the break to avoid a humiliating defeat. Second-half salvation came through an unlikely source - Scottish midfielder Alan McLean, whose cross was headed in by Dean Clark for a 69th-minute equaliser. Summer signing Sean Devine then followed that up with a late brace to complete a 4-2 comeback win! Pollok - 2 (Madden 8, Dickson 27) Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (McDougald 31, Clark 69, Devine 71,90) Friendly, Attendance 228 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Pollitt (Woodman); Goodwin (Gledhill), Anderson (Bayliss), Maher, Hawkins (Mayo); Janney (Weeks), Lacey (McLean), Carter (Clark); Melton; Alsop (Devine), McDougald (Renner). BOOKED: Lacey. We had been let off the hook, but any defensive disasters like that in the league would surely get us smashed to pieces. I hoped for a much more resolute performance when we took on Division 3 amateurs Queen's Park at the hallowed Hampden Park. 21 JULY 2004: Queen's Park vs Dagenham & Redbridge Andy Woodman got the nod in goal for this match, but just like Mike Pollitt four days earlier, he was quite slow to get going. When Alex Bone fired Queen's Park into the lead after only five minutes, I feared another struggle. Thankfully, attacking midfielder Stephen Melton levelled the scores in the 33rd minute, finishing the rebound after Steven Gray had parried his initial header. The fightback continued into the second half. Nick Weekes effortlessly ran the show from midfield, while a goal apiece from strikers Victor Renner and Julian Alsop ensured we went away with another victory, even if it wasn’t as comfortable as we were hoping for. Queen's Park - 1 (Bone 5) Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Melton 33, Renner 52, Alsop 89) Friendly, Attendance 399 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Woodman (Pollitt); Clark (Gledhill), Anderson, Bayliss (Rose), Hawkins (Mayo); Selley (McLean), Lacey, Weekes (Carter); Melton (Janney); Devine (Alsop), Renner (Griffiths). Okay... that was slightly better, but I still had questions about our defending. I reverted to the more conservative 3-5-2 formation for the last match of our Scottish tour, against Clydebank of Division 2. 24 JULY 2004: Clydebank vs Dagenham & Redbridge The good news was that we didn't concede in the first half this time! The not-so-good news was that we never got close to threatening Clydebank at the other end. Yes, this was a dreadful match that saw no scoring chances for either team, and a 0-0 stalemate looked inevitable... ...until the 65th minute, when our new defender Shaun Maher suffered a serious groin strain that would rule him out for a month. Maher's injury left our defence much more vulnerable, and Clydebank took advantage three minutes later. Barry Lavety headed in a cross from ex-Kilmarnock stalwart Gus McPherson, thus securing victory from the game's only shot on target. Typical. Clydebank - 1 (Lavety 68) Dagenham & Redbridge - 0 Friendly, Attendance 624 DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Pollitt (Woodman); Anderson, Clark (Rose), Maher (Gledhill); Goodwin, Hawkins (Mayo); Selley (Weekes), McLean (Lacey); Carter (Melton); Alsop (Devine), McDougald (Griffiths). "You HAVE to cut out the defensive mistakes, guys!" I told the players at full-time. "I'm not afraid to bring in a whole new defence if it means we can actually keep a clean sheet every so often! So I suggest that you knuckle down and prove to me that you deserve to be in this team!" To prove my point, I swiftly signed another left-back who would provide stiff competition for Hawkins and Kerry Mayo. The aggressive and athletic 24-year-old Sol Davis joined us on loan from Swindon until the end of November. As we headed back to Dagenham, we learned about who would lie ahead in the first round of the League Cup. We were drawn at home to Rochdale, who reached the Division 2 play-offs last season under Glenn Roeder. A tough test also awaited us in our first home game this term - which was a repeat of our final match of the previous campaign. Barely two months after being eliminated by them in the Division 3 Playoff Semi Final, could we get a taste of revenge against newly-promoted Lincoln? 31 JULY 2004: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Lincoln City You bet we could! We absolutely battered Lincoln with shots throughout the game, though the Imps' new goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann made several blinding saves to keep the deadlock intact for 51 minutes. The American was finally beaten by John Anderson's header early in the second half, and though we couldn't build on that goal, it didn't really matter. Any victory over higher-tier opposition was reason for celebration! Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Anderson 51) Lincoln City - 0 Friendly, Attendance 1,159 DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Woodman; Goodwin (Gledhill), Bayliss, Clark (Anderson), Davis (Hawkins); Janney (Shaw), Weekes (Melton), Lacey (Selley), Mayo; Devine (Alsop), Renner (McDougald). BOOKED: Anderson. If only we had performed like that against Lincoln in the play-offs! Having exacted sweet vengeance, we could now look forward to our opening league match in a fortnight’s time with rather more confidence.

No. As far as I know, foreign players without settled status can't play any matches in England without a work permit. You'd have to loan him out to another club - maybe one of your affiliate clubs - and hope he plays enough games to qualify for a work permit later. If you can't, then you should probably look for someone else. At any rate, if you're trying to sign a young foreign player for an English club, they cannot join your team until their 18th birthday (or the next transfer window after they turn 18).

My 2022/2023 Premier League predictions: 1. Liverpool - So close to an unbelievable quadruple last season, and I reckon they'll deny City a Premier League hat-trick this year. The naysayers may think otherwise, but I think Nunez is a magnificent addition to this Reds attack. 2. Manchester City - Haaland is a frightening signing, but I don't think he'll be quite the unstoppable force many people reckon he'll be. And if this is Pep's final season, he may well go all-out on Ol' Big Ears and pay less attention to the league. 3. Chelsea - New owner, no Lukaku, and Tuchel has free rein to build exactly the squad he wants. Sterling is a magnificent signing who should pull the Blues much closer to his old clubs, if not quite overtake them. 4. Arsenal - I'm just as hopeful as you are, Ben! The youngest squad in the league has HUGE potential, and with a bit more creativity coming from Vieira II, I'm looking forward to some swashbuckling football. 5. Manchester United - Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Old Trafford empire won't be rebuilt in a season. Eric 10 Hague still needs to fix a defence that currently consists of De Gea, a Rafa Varane impersonator, and a load of garbage. 6. Tottenham Hotspur - In spite of Son and Kane, Spuds hit a rough patch just before Qatar. Conte gets into a row with Levy over transfer budgets and storms back to Italy, leaving new manager Marco Silva to pick up the pieces. 7. Brighton & Hove Albion - The kings of xG, led by a man who looks like he should be fronting The National. With consistently solid recruitment and an exciting brand of football, they could well be the 'best of the rest'. 8. Newcastle United - aka Al-Ittihad Tyneside. The Magpies have been reinvigorated by Nice Guy Eddie, but building a Geordie revolution will take time, and a simple push for European football should be the aim. 9. Aston Villa - The adventures of Stevie G and his dirty (Polish right-back Matty) Cash. Money talks in the Premier League, but Villa's emerging crop of young talents should start to flourish pretty soon. 10. West Ham United - The Hammers are very hit and miss in transfers; there's a Benrahma for every Soucek. Another lengthy run in Europe could jeopardise their hopes of cracking the top six. 11. Leicester City - I reckon this is the season when the Foxes lose faith in Rodgers. Far too fragile at the back, hopeless at set-pieces, but their biggest long-term dilemma, it's... how to replace Rebekah Vardy's husband. 12. Wolverhampton Wanderers - Hey, remember when we all thought Jorge Mendes would take Wolves into the Champions League? That dream will keep slipping away if they keep relying on Jimenez to score all their goals. 13. Crystal Palace - I'll hold my hands up; appointing Vieira I to rebuild Roy Hodgson's team was a masterstroke. Paddy's boys are exciting and dynamic, even if Zaha has the biggest ego in Croydon. 14. Southampton - Hasenhuttl got tired of losing 9-0 every season, so his new party trick is to sign top youngsters from Big Six teams. Yet another pointless season meandering in mid-table beckons. 15. Everton - After signing Dele Alli and Salomon Rondon, I thought Everton were serious contenders to win the Championship! No, but seriously, Lampard's got a big ask managing this bunch of overpaid, overrated numpties. 16. Leeds United - Bielsa's kicked the bucket, and the Leeds fans already hate their new coach because he isn't Bielsa. It doesn't bode well for an increasingly dysfunctional team now reeling from losing Super Kalvin Phillips. 17. Fulham - After going up and down more often than the Vengaboys in the late 90s, it's about time Fulham settled back into the PL. With Mitrovic in peak form and a productive supporting cast, Silva's boys might just do it. 18. Nottingham Forest - The last time Forest graced the top flight, I was 9 years old. Steve Cooper may be a top manager, but it's so tough at the bottom that I fear the Tricky Trees will eventually be cut down to size. 19. Brentford - The Moneyball Gang were magnificent at times last season, but second season syndrome will hit them hard. Ivan Toney's social media antics off the pitch won't help matters on it either. 20. AFC Bournemouth - Too good for the EFL, not good enough for the PL - but enough about Scott Parker's managerial skills! I'm afraid this will be "Bournemouth in the Premier League 2: Electric Boogaloo".

After a season off because of (ahem) technical issues, I'm making sure to sign up early this year. Bethianne Meadema are in.

Yes, it's good that older players can play at a higher level for longer now. I just think that too many of them are staying at a very high level for too long, which might be stopping younger players from breaking in. It's a matter of SI getting the balance right, which I appreciate is tough. We can't go back to the days of having loads and loads of 20/21-year-old beast players who've already reached their potential.

Yes, I believe there is a serious issue with this on FM22. I think it's more of a reputation thing than a development thing, but something's clearly not right. We all know that player development and decline were too fast on FM21. The best newgens could easily reach their peak at 21-22, but their attributes would start to fall off a cliff at around 32-33. Now they improve much more steadily and realistically (peaking at around 25-29), but they also decline more slowly - perhaps too slowly. A world-class player with very high Natural Fitness could still be world-class when they're almost 40. Yes, I'm basically describing Zlatan, but there seems to be a lot more Zlatans on FM22. N'Golo Kanté doesn't look much different at 39 than he does at 31. It really feels like SI have massively overcorrected here. A few months ago, I ran an experiment where I holidayed until 2030, and then compared the database to how it was at the start. I submitted a bug report and also wrote a blog post where I explained everything in more detail, but here's a rundown of my key findings: At the start of the game, the average age of a first-team player at a top European club is 26.3. In 2030, that has increased to 28.8, with many clubs having a majority of players over the age of 30. I also compared the average ages of 16 national teams who played at the 2018 World Cup in real-life and the 2030 World Cup in-game. The average age increased from 27.5 in 2018 to 29.9 in 2030. On average, only three players in each 23-man squad was aged 24 or under. Senegal's youngest player was 28, while Belgium's three goalkeepers had a combined age of 112! Then I looked at the reputation star ratings for every player aged 24 or under. At the start of FM22, there were 591 players in this age bracket with 2.5* reputation, which I find is a good benchmark for a Premier League player. In 2030, there were only 128. That's a decrease of 78%! There were 29 young players with 3.5* reputation at the start. In 2030, that number was just 13. I also found a noticeable decrease in the Current Ability of the best young players - but it's not that big a decrease. There were about half as many 140+ CA youngsters in 2030 as there were in 2021, but it's nothing compared to the huge reduction in youngsters with high reputation. So while it's possible that players aren't developing quickly enough on FM22, I'm also led to believe that their reputations are not improving fast enough relative to their abilities. I think it's a combination of these two factors which is stopping clubs from putting faith in their young talents. The reputation issue is certainly shutting very good newgens out of their national teams, who generally prefer to pick average-looking 30-somethings who just so happen to have higher rep. It would be like if Gareth Southgate decided that Jude Bellingham couldn't play for England until he was 25, because he would rather select a 35-year-old Jonjo Shelvey instead. On Football Manager 2022, if want to be a top-flight footballer and play for a top national team by the time you're 23, you basically have to be a 'freak' - like a Kylian Mbappé or a Gigio Donnarumma. Even a perfectly decent young player like Mason Mount would not cut it. That is truly immersion-breaking, and that is why I'd be put off starting a long-term save on FM22. Even on my current save with Arsenal, I've no intention of playing on for more than 6 or 7 seasons, by which point FM23 will probably be released. I just hope its take on player development is much more realistic than this.

Go into Advanced Setup, and make sure the box next to "Prevent control of teams with managers in place" is NOT ticked.

I'm pretty sure that if another club meets your player's release clause, you have to let the player speak to that club, otherwise you'd be in breach of their contract. Whether the player chooses to accept their contract offer or stay at your club is their prerogative. Also, if your player's release clause was met, and you instantly convinced them to reject the offer, it would defeat the entire purpose of having release clauses at all.

Well, after a performance like that, surely it's time for another Mark Wilson England stor... oh, wait, here it is. 19-1 vs Andorra! I think the biggest win I've ever had with England was a pathetic little 8-0. Carry on, sir. You can't be any worse than the current boss.

FIFA weren't being entirely sensible in my universe, to be fair - some of the matches were played in a city that's actually in Western Sahara. If you want to share your World Cup details, there are a couple of places you can go: FM Career Updates if you want to include screenshots in your posts, or FM Stories if you're doing text-only updates (they have a strict no-images rule).

I don't think anything like that would spoil my enjoyment - if anything, I love the alternative universes Football Manager can create, and I get even more invested when things get crazier and especially once the newgens take over. FM is a fairly realistic football simulator, but the older games especially are never going to be ultra-accurate to real-life. You never know which players will break through out of nowhere or which former wonderkids will fade away. I too have fond memories of FM17, leading England to glory at the 2022 World Cup in Morocco. We won THREE consecutive penalty shoot-outs against Poland, Italy and Sweden (which is unrealistic in itself! ) and then beat France 2-0 in the Final because Claude Puel decided to put Alphonse Areola in goal ahead of Hugo Lloris. Some of my World Cup winners included Josh Tymon, Lewis Cook, Jordon Ibe and Brendan Galloway. Phil Foden ended up at Hearts on my save. I'm pretty sure that Tammy Abraham went to Hull and switched nationality to Nigeria. Jordan Pickford stayed at Sunderland after they were relegated from the PL. Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham were obviously too young to be in FM17. Meanwhile, Manchester United absolutely dominated the Premier League for five years under José Mourinho. They signed basically every world-class forward under the sun - Mbappé, Lewandowski, Isak, Memphis Depay, Ousmane Dembélé, Bernardo Silva - which meant Marcus Rashford could only get into the team as a central midfielder! Also, I've just booted up my old FM13 save to see how the world looks in June 2022, and some of today's big names have had very different career paths - though to be fair, I doubt many people at SI predicted in 2012 that Jack Grealish would be a £100million player for Manchester City, rather than warming the bench for West Brom. Virgil van Dijk ended up at Galatasaray. Mohamed Salah went back to Egypt after playing for the mighty FC Vaslui in Romania. Bruno Fernandes is a right-winger for Uniao de Madeira. Romelu Lukaku was released by Chelsea in 2021 after a load of injuries and never played again. Serge Gnabry was also wrecked by injuries, signed for my Romford team in the Conference South, and now plays in Milton Keynes. Joshua Kimmich was released by Stuttgart at 18 and retired. Sure, those stories aren't entirely true to real-life - but that's FM for you, and I love it!

How often does this happen in real life? Also, none of those examples you've given were because those teams wanted to play in a bigger league. There is no football league in Liechtenstein. All Liechtenstein teams (including Vaduz) play in the Swiss leagues. Swansea and Wrexham have always played in the English league system. Cardiff and Merthyr played in the Welsh leagues for only a few years before joining the Southern League in England. (Incidentally, the Welsh league champions TNS play their home games in England... but that's a different, more complicated story.) There is one Northern Irish team playing in the Republic of Ireland - Derry City moved for political reasons, not football. Yes, there's talk of Celtic and Rangers moving to the English leagues. That discussion's been going for many years but has never happened, for many reasons. I also can't see how that can be implemented in FM. As well as the logistical reasons of moving a team from one country to another (and the league shake-ups that would happen in those two countries), SI would also have licencing reasons to contend with. I can't imagine the SPFL would be too happy about SI using their licences if their two biggest clubs could suddenly leave the SPFL to join the Premier League or the EFL.

I had this situation on FM21. My Basel team went deep into the Europa Conference League, which meant our Swiss Cup Quarter Final against Sion was pushed back into the March international break. Most of my players were called up - and Sion had a few called up as well - but as they were mostly friendlies, I could withdraw some of them if I wanted to. But as Sion weren't recalling their players, I felt it would be a bit unfair if I recalled everyone. As a compromise, I decided only to withdraw those players who'd been called up for the U21s/U19s (anyone who'd been picked for their senior team was allowed to go on international duty). So I still had a load of senior players missing for the Quarter Final (albeit by choice). Not that it mattered, as we won 2-0.

25 years is a long time, especially in football. When my love for the beautiful game began, the sport looked quite different to what it has become now. In the 1970s, drinking was still a major part of football culture. Terracing was still preferred to seating at the biggest stadiums. The game wasn't as ethnically diverse, and the most exotic foreigners in the Football League generally came from Ireland. I grew up in east London, but my parents were originally from the north of the city. My father was a lifelong Arsenal supporter who took me to my first game at Highbury when I was just 10 years old. It was 2 October 1976, and the Gunners were hosting Queens Park Rangers. The visitors took the lead twice, but goals from the Irish trio of playmaking magician Liam Brady, veteran right-back Pat Rice, and goal machine Frank Stapleton sent us home celebrating a 3-2 victory. From that day, I wanted to be a footballer - and I wanted to play for the Arsenal. After rising through the local youth leagues, and after several unsuccessful trials, my dream came true when I signed schoolboy forms with Arsenal as a 14-year-old in 1980. I was a central defender who wasn't afraid to get stuck into challenges, though I could also play at full-back if required. My regular partner in the youth and reserve teams during those early days was another boy in my age group: Tony Adams. You might have heard of him. Adams broke into the senior team for the first time in 1983, though I had to wait a couple of years before Don Howe gave me my debut - at home to Hereford United in the second round of the League Cup. We won that match 2-1, and I went on to feature in three more cup ties until Howe stepped down in March 1986. George Graham - a former Arsenal midfielder who was part of the 1971 double-winning team my dad would always wax lyrical about - took over as manager ahead of the 1986/1987 season. Graham's pragmatic, safety-first approach to football tactics wasn't universally popular, but it would soon deliver results. To revitalise a Gunners team that had stagnated in 7th place in Division 1, Graham decided to ditch most of his ageing players and promote youth talent. Adams became an established starter and would be appointed club captain in 1988 - a role he still holds today - while still in his early 20s. Other youngsters who emerged as first-team regulars included Paul Merson and the late, great David Rocastle. I was not so lucky. I never played a league match for Arsenal - and on one rainy day in January 1987, Graham summoned me to his office and told me I was no longer required. Instead, I was offered the chance to kick-start my senior career in Division 2 with Millwall, whom Graham had managed with distinction before returning to Highbury. Based in New Cross in south-east London, Millwall were the only professional football club in London never to have played in the first division - but they weren't exactly regarded as plucky underdogs. The Lions' supporters had long been associated with hooliganism, with one particular night at Luton in 1985 going down in history for all the wrong reasons. Following those darkest of days, my arrival at The Den coincided with an upturn in fortunes. With future club legends Alan McLeary and Keith Stevens playing alongside me in defence, and Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham banging in the goals at the other end, we would produce arguably the greatest team in the club's history. After slowly working my way into manager John Docherty's team during my first half-season, I became an established starter in the 1987/1988 season, which ended in us surprisingly winning the Division 2 title by four points. Millwall were promoted to Division 1 for the first time in their history Despite being tipped for relegation, we defied all the odds with a fantastic start to the 1988/1989 campaign - even leading the table for a few days at the beginning of October. It didn't last, though, and we ultimately dropped to 10th place after failing to win our final 10 matches. That was a sign of struggles to come in 1989/1990, when our top-flight fairytale ended in us finishing rock-bottom - with just five victories to our name. Millwall would not return to England's elite. For my final six years with the club, we were back in Division 2 - which was confusingly rebranded as Division 1 in 1992, after top-flight clubs broke away from the Football League to form the Premiership, which would transform the sport like never before. We reached the second-tier play-offs twice - firstly in 1990/1991 under the disciplinarian regime of Bruce Rioch, and then in 1993/1994 under the more affable Mick McCarthy, which was our first season at our new all-seater stadium. The New Den never generated quite the same atmosphere as the old Den, which was renowned for its 'Millwall Roar' from the club's most passionate followers. The 1994/1995 season was an unmemorable one spent largely in mid-table, but it delivered one of my career highlights. After holding Arsenal to a 0-0 draw at The Den in Round 3 of the FA Cup, we went to Highbury for the replay... and shocked the Gunners 2-0 with goals from Mark Beard and Mark Kennedy. We then knocked out Chelsea on penalties before falling to QPR in Round 5. 1995/1996 started promisingly enough, and we were top of Division 1 midway through the season until a crushing 6-0 defeat against Sunderland knocked us off our stride. Shortly after that, McCarthy resigned to become the new Republic of Ireland national manager. His successor Jimmy Nicholl was unable to steer our form out of a catastrophic tailspin, and within a few months, we had gone from promotion contenders to being relegated in 22nd place. Millwall were now in the third tier, but I would not be joining them there. After playing over 300 matches for the Lions in nine-and-a-half years, the club would not renew my contract. That was partly due to financial problems which would eventually see them enter administration, but also because I was starting to suffer from chronic knee problems. Instead, I dropped down another division - and moved back north of the River Thames to play for Leyton Orient in Division 3. However, I did not particularly enjoy my time at Brisbane Road, and after quickly losing my first-team place, I left Orient on a free transfer at the end of my first season. I was now 31 years old and contemplating retirement... until I got a career-changing phone call from an affable old gentleman named Ted Hardy. He was the manager of Dagenham & Redbridge - a semi-professional club near where I grew up in east London - and had just taken them to the 1997 FA Trophy Final at Wembley, which they lost to Woking. Hardy offered me the chance to play part-time for the Daggers in the Isthmian League - two divisions below the Football League - while also coaching the youth team. This was a young club (formed only in 1992 after the merger of Dagenham FC and Redbridge Forest), but one with ambitions of playing in the professional ranks. It was an exciting prospect, and one I wanted to be involved in. The Daggers finished 4th and 3rd in the Isthmian League during my first two seasons at Victoria Road. Hardy retired at the end of the 1998/1999 season, and his successor Garry Hill immediately finished the job, leading us to the league title in 1999/2000. We would be heading back to the Conference for the first time since our relegation four years prior. Sadly, my playing days would come to an abrupt halt when I tore my anterior cruciate ligament during a pre-season friendly in July 2000. At the age of 34, and with my right knee almost completely ruined, it was time to hang up my boots and concentrate on the next phase of my career. I joined Hill on the first-team coaching set-up for our first season back in the Conference. It was a huge success, with a 3rd-place finish behind big-spending Rushden & Diamonds and perennial challengers Yeovil giving us hope that the Daggers would soon be playing in Division 3. Everything changed on 7 July 2001. After a disagreement with chairman Dave Andrews over the club's transfer policy, Hill suddenly resigned. A week later, after considering several candidates to replace Hill, Andrews asked me if I would like to take over as manager. I couldn't accept the offer quickly enough. At the age of just 35, I am heading into the unforgiving world of football management, and I will have to be prepared for the huge pressures that come with this job. Nonetheless, I am relishing the opportunity to (hopefully) finish the job that Hardy and Hill started - by leading the Daggers into the Football League. In my first 25 years in football, I've experienced many of the highs and lows that come with being a fan, a player, and a coach. Who knows what the next 25 years will bring as a manager?