House of Flying Daggers

[CFuller]

JUNE 2031

Dagenham & Redbridge's Best XI for the 2030/2031 season - as voted for by our fans - certainly made interesting reading. Kieran Whalley, Josh Charles, Silvo Kovjenic, Alex Busetto, Heikki Puustinen, Daniel O'Reilly, Victor Dam, Dean Martin, Matthew Fraser, Mark West, and Mario Djokic were the 11 players who made the grade. Vice-captain William Barnes and rising star Mario Tortora could consider themselves unlucky to have missed out.

 

The supporters' choice for Player of the Year was rather more obvious. For an incredible FIFTH season in a row, Mark West won the most votes and took the award home. The big Yorkshireman has scored 125 goals in 237 league games for the club thus far and is now indisputably a Daggers legend. He may be 33 years old now, but I'm sure that he's not finished yet!

 

With regards to next season's Daggers team, I'd been given a weekly wage budget of £76,000 and a transfer budget of just over £500,000 to make any necessary signings. 17-year-old Lens defender John Moser was already moving to Victoria Road on a free transfer, and three more players would join him in time for pre-season.

 

Among them was Swansea City's 18-year-old right-winger Shaun Powell, who joined us after his contract at the Liberty Stadium ran out. The Wales Under-21s star had shown promise during a loan spell at League Two side Exeter City earlier this year and was hotly-tipped to become a senior international in the not-too-distant future. I don't play with wingers that often nowadays, so I'll be training Shaun up as a striker to give us another option in that position.

 

The latest addition to our Italian contingent was 19-year-old left-back Rocco Mazzola, who made his one and only Serie A appearance for Empoli last November at Parma. Rocco is still very raw and will only feature occasionally for the first-team in his debut season at Victoria Road.

 

Our final acquisition, for the time being, was a loanee rather than a free transfer. We didn't have to look far to find Baldur Hreidarsson - an Iceland Under-21s international who arrived on a season-long loan from West Ham United. Baldur is a budding young target striker who scored 11 goals in League One last season across two separate loan spells at Fleetwood Town and Dartford.

 

My biggest headache over the summer concerned Alex Busetto - and what to do with the Italian centre-back. Alex's contract was up for renewal, and although he'd finally emerged as a regular starter this season, he'd never really been much more than a solid covering defender. He was now 25 years old and unlikely to develop much further.

 

I leant towards maintaining the status quo and offering Busetto at least another couple of years. That was until his agent barged into negotiations demanding that his client got £5,000 per week. That would make Alex our second highest-paid player after William Barnes. I couldn't see the point of that, and so contract talks stalled.

 

I spent the next few days canvassing my scouts for potential replacement centre-backs. Nicky Reynolds was scouting in Croatia at the time, and he recommended me 23-year-old Inter Zapresic star Damir Milatovic, who could play as a left-back or a centre-half. I liked what I'd heard of Milatovic, so I agreed a £300,000 fee with Inter and even managed to finalise personal terms with the player himself.

 

I was also seriously tempted to bring Lee Heffernan back to Victoria Road. Remember him? He's the ex-Chelsea youth product who couldn't handle the high expectations after joining Dagenham and went on to become a red-card magnet at Portadown and later Ross County. 'Heff' was now 25, a full Republic of Ireland international, and a much more mature defender than he had been while he was with us. He was also available on a free transfer.

 

However, I decided not to sign Heffernan... and I also didn't go through with the Milatovic transfer. That was because, with just a week to go until his contract expired, Alex Busetto finally agreed a new deal with Dagenham.

 

After some hard bargaining with his agent, I managed to get Busetto signed up to a four-year contract for a mere £3,000 per week. I did make one significant concession - a non-promotion release clause of £2.5million. That said, I was quite happy to go ahead with the deal and keep Alex here for another season at least.

 

There would be no new contract at Dagenham for Matt Warren - playing, coaching, or otherwise. After six years of loyal service to the Daggers, the veteran left-back returned to St Mirren, where he had three separate loan spells earlier in his career.

 

Ashley Cousins also left Dagenham, after just the one season with us. The 33-year-old midfielder had chosen to retire from professional football and pursue a new career.

 

Other departees included Silvo Kovjenic, whose season-long loan from Aston Villa expired, and transfer-listed winger Lucky Okoli, who joined Bradford City for £150,000. We could well be playing against Lucky next season, as Bradford have just been promoted to the Championship after winning the League One play-offs.

 

Roy Ganfield and Mitchell Paratusic were both released after failing to develop as much as we had hoped. Roy is on his way to Northern Ireland, having signed for Portadown, while Mitchell will be playing for Dundee in the Scottish First Division next term. Youth left-back Jonathan Butterfield was also heading out, as he'd not done enough to earn a professional contract.

 

Our pre-season kicked off on 23 June, and the 2031/2032 Championship fixture list was released a couple of days later.

 

We would start off at Doncaster Rovers on 2 August before welcoming Cardiff City to Victoria Road three days later. Our derby meetings with Colchester United were scheduled for 30 August (away) and 27 December (home), with our final match due to take place at Millwall on 24 April.

 

This coming season will be my 20th in management, and my 10th at Dagenham & Redbridge. Will it be a milestone campaign to remember?

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2030/2031

After losing in the previous season's Conference South Play-Off Final, Tyrone Mears' Romford resumed their attempts to get back into the Conference Premier.

 

Conference South: 9th

Romford certainly showed early promise by winning three of their first four matches - the only blip coming in a 2-0 loss at Basingstoke Town. Then things got a bit dicey, as the Boro drew a load of matches that they could easily have won. This blip saw them temporarily slip into the bottom half before they returned to winning ways at Welling United in mid-October. They then lost at home to leaders Newport County to leave them 11th after 12 games.

 

After a run of three straight wins was followed by a similar streak of defeats, Romford got back into form in December. They moved back up to 5th place by beating Aylesbury United just before Christmas, but they couldn't build on that. A thrilling 3-3 draw against AFC Hornchurch on Boxing Day marked the start of an alarming decline, who would only win three more league games over the next three months. With six matches remaining, the Boro were down in 13th, and the play-offs were looking unobtainable.

 

When Romford strung together successive victories against Chelmsford City, Maidstone United, and Dorchester Town, the most optimistic Boro fans began to dream. Sadly, that run proved to be a false dawn. Failure to beat Sutton United at home in their next game was a devastating blow, and a subsequent defeat at Leighton Town mathematically ended their play-off chances before the final day. After losing their season-ending dead rubber at Salisbury City, Romford came in 9th place. That represented their worst Conference South finish since 2017/2018.

 

FA Cup: Qualifying Round 4

Romford overcame a potentially tricky obstacle in Yorkshire against Guiseley to reach Qualifying Round 3, where they were drawn with high-flying Isthmian Premier side Heybridge Swifts. The Boro squeezed through after a replay, with just Eastbourne Borough standing between them and a place in Round 1 proper. That tie also went to a replay... but it was Eastbourne who prevailed 2-1 at the second attempt at Ship Lane.

 

FA Trophy: Round 4

Exactly a decade on from their best ever FA Trophy run, Romford went very close to replicating that. Tilbury were dispensed with Qualifying Round 3 before Newport County were knocked out in Round 1. The Boro then recorded a couple of excellent wins against Conference Premier sides Barnet and Swindon Town to reach the last eight. Unfortunately, they then encountered a familiar foe in Eastbourne. Although Gareth Coe gave Romford the lead inside the first minute, the Sussex side recovered to win 3-1 and crush the other Boro's dreams again.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Winners

Romford entered the Essex Senior Cup in Round 3, where they scraped past Tilbury. Aveley and Billericay Town Reserves were then conquered in more convincing fashion as the Boro advanced to a Semi Final against Dagenham & Redbridge's reserve. The Daggers went ahead twice, but Romford quickly levelled on each occasion and took the game to extra-time. Dagenham then had a man sent off in the 116th minute, and four minutes later, just as the match seemed to be heading to penalties, Romford striker Éamonn Lally scored his second goal of the night! The Final beckoned for Mears' men!

 

Southend United's reserve team hosted the Final on 3 May and were favourites to regain the trophy that they had won two years earlier. Romford left-back Tom Worthington had something to say about that, as he fired his team into the lead after four minutes. The Boro then lost Coe to a red card after 12 minutes, but a Roger McClurg penalty later on sent them into the break leading 2-0. Southend also had a player sent off early in the second period before Geoff Brook's 61st-minute goal kept their hopes alive. That was until Worthington scored again on 78 minutes, and when Elliot Puckett made it 4-1 Romford in the final minute, the match was settled. The Boro were Essex Senior Cup champions for the seventh time - and for the first time since 2026!

 

Best Players

There was absolutely no doubt about Romford's best player this season. Ruben Coombes had been a rock in the Boro defence, producing consistently impressive performances and being named 'man of the match' an incredible 18 times! McClurg - his regular partner at centre-back - also had a strong season, but Romford could well have done with a more dependable goalkeeper than either Christian Corbell or Jack Dyer.

 

Diminutive midfielder Ross Elliott was very productive in his second season at Ship Lane, providing 20 assists in all competitions. Long-serving left-winger Russell Brooks was rather more disappointing and looks set to leave this summer. Coe led the way for Romford in terms of goal with 22, while new Irish signing Lally racked up 10 in his first campaign since arriving from Chelmsford.

 

The Future

Romford have shown incredible loyalty to Mears despite having their worst season league-wise for well over a decade. Mears is now about to enter his eighth season with the Boro, and the 48-year-old will hope that the stability he provides can help them launch a stronger promotion challenge in the near future.

[CFuller]

2030/2031 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

Manchester's dominance of the Premier League continued, though it was Manchester United who emerged victorious after a thrilling battle with Manchester City. Moanes Dabour's Red Devils lost only four games as they lifted their 25th league championship - their first since 2026. Evergreen French midfielder Cheick Tigana was named PFA Player of the Year, while centre-back José Luis also had an excellent season at Old Trafford. City had to settle for 2nd place in a season of major upheaval at the Etihad Stadium.

 

Inspired once again by Clive Johnson, Arsenal recovered from a shaky start to come 3rd. A thrilling battle for the other UEFA Champions League place was won by Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose manager Aykut Kocaman ended his career on a high. A rejigged Tottenham Hotspur side enjoyed a mini-renaissance, coming in 5th, while League Cup winners Chelsea were just behind them.

 

Chelsea striker Casca scored 23 PL goals, but he missed out on the Golden Boot to Brighton & Hove Albion's Swiss forward Carmine Fabris, who got the same amount in fewer games. It had been an incredible season for Brighton, who finished 7th and only missed out on Europe after a late slump. 8th-placed Huddersfield Town also had a fine campaign, although they lost the FA Cup Final against Fulham, who were 12th.

 

Derby County were found badly wanting on their top-flight return, going over six months without a league win before finishing with a pitiful 20 points. Reading's collapse was more surprising, as Phil Parkinson's Royals went from 5th place last season to relegation 12 months later. The third relegated team were Watford, whose 17-year stay in the PL expired after they finished below Sunderland on goal difference and Everton by two points.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man Utd                38    22    12    4     68    40    +28   78
2.    CL    Man City               38    21    11    6     69    37    +32   74
3.    CL    Arsenal                38    19    13    6     65    40    +25   70
4.    CL    Wolves                 38    20    9     9     58    41    +17   69
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5.    EL    Tottenham              38    19    9     10    62    46    +16   66
6.    EL    Chelsea                38    18    10    10    70    47    +23   64
7.          Brighton               38    18    9     11    67    59    +8    63
8.          Huddersfield           38    15    10    13    53    56    -3    55
9.          Liverpool              38    16    5     17    65    53    +12   53
10.         Nottm Forest           38    15    8     15    58    64    -6    53
11.         West Brom              38    13    13    12    52    48    +4    52
12.   EL    Fulham                 38    14    5     19    54    53    +1    47
13.         West Ham               38    12    11    15    44    50    -6    47
14.         Norwich                38    12    10    16    60    65    -5    46
15.         Blackburn              38    11    11    16    48    62    -14   44
16.         Everton                38    10    7     21    44    75    -31   37
17.         Sunderland             38    8     11    19    39    57    -18   35
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18.   R     Watford                38    9     8     21    43    64    -21   35
19.   R     Reading                38    6     16    16    41    57    -16   34
20.   R     Derby                  38    4     8     26    32    78    -46   20

 

Championship

Southampton enjoyed an extraordinary wire-to-wire triumph in the Championship, racking up 100 points and 99 goals, of which 36 were scored by the lethal Milan Svoboda! In any other season, runners-up Aston Villa's total of 93 points would have been considered mightily impressive.

 

3rd-placed Newcastle United fell short in the Play-Offs, losing their Semi Final to Peterborough United. Burnley knocked out Sheffield United in the other semi, and it was they who prevailed in the Final at Wembley. Former England international Nick Barnes' 37th-minute goal was enough to end the Clarets' brief exile from the top flight.

 

Colchester United had their best ever Championship season, finishing just three points off the play-off places in 8th. Leeds United came 9th on their return to the second tier, but 17th place represented Stoke City's worst finish for nearly two decades.

 

Oldham Athletic never really bounced back from their sudden decline late last season. The Latics were relegated to League One alongside former Premier League duo Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City, who each face serious rebuilding jobs over the summer.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Southampton            46    30    10    6     99    43    +56   100
2.    P     Aston Villa            46    28    9     9     76    42    +34   93
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3.          Newcastle              46    26    13    7     93    44    +49   91
4.    P     Burnley                46    24    14    8     75    47    +28   86
5.          Sheff Utd              46    23    9     14    65    44    +21   78
6.          Peterborough           46    19    16    11    54    42    +12   73
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7.          Plymouth               46    21    9     16    75    65    +10   72
8.          Colchester             46    19    13    14    61    55    +6    70
9.          Leeds                  46    19    12    15    69    55    +14   69
10.         Crystal Palace         46    19    9     18    71    70    +1    66
11.         Hull                   46    19    8     19    69    77    -8    65
12.         Dag & Red              46    17    12    17    78    78    0     63
13.         Northampton            46    13    16    17    50    59    -9    55
14.         Wigan                  46    14    12    20    60    70    -10   54
15.         Cardiff                46    14    12    20    49    62    -13   54
16.         Millwall               46    14    11    21    56    62    -6    53
17.         Stoke                  46    12    16    18    65    66    -1    52
18.         Doncaster              46    15    7     24    58    77    -19   52
19.         Bolton                 46    12    15    19    38    57    -19   51
20.         Crewe                  46    12    14    20    41    57    -16   50
21.         Middlesbrough          46    10    17    19    34    58    -24   47
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22.   R     Swansea                46    10    13    23    49    85    -36   43
23.   R     QPR                    46    9     10    27    41    76    -35   37
24.   R     Oldham                 46    8     13    25    38    73    -35   37

 

League One

Luton Town had flirted with promotion for the last three seasons, and they finally came good here. Victory in the League One title race saw the Hatters reach the Championship for the first time since 2006/2007. Notts County are also looking forward to returning to the second tier after finishing runners-up.

 

Bradford City ended the dreams of play-off outsiders Kidderminster Harriers to reach the Final against Charlton Athletic, who had edged out Ipswich Town. Alan Tomassen gave Charlton the lead after four minutes at Wembley, but Bradford replied with three goals of their own to take promotion!

 

Sheffield Wednesday plummeted into the Football League's bottom rung for the first time, while Chester endured the pain of back-to-back relegations. Chesterfield and Bristol City are also preparing for life back in League Two.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Luton                  46    26    6     14    70    51    +19   84
2.    P     Notts County           46    21    17    8     63    43    +20   80
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3.          Ipswich                46    21    11    14    63    57    +6    74
4.    P     Bradford               46    20    13    13    71    54    +17   73
5.          Kidderminster          46    20    11    15    59    58    +1    71
6.          Charlton               46    19    12    15    74    65    +9    69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Rochdale               46    17    14    15    61    57    +4    65
8.          Dartford               46    18    11    17    58    57    +1    65
9.          Portsmouth             46    17    13    16    58    53    +5    64
10.         Shrewsbury             46    16    16    14    60    58    +2    64
11.         Wycombe                46    19    7     20    66    65    +1    64
12.         Scunthorpe             46    19    7     20    58    59    -1    64
13.         Oxford                 46    16    15    15    68    58    +10   63
14.         Wrexham                46    17    12    17    59    63    -4    63
15.         Leicester              46    14    20    12    60    56    +4    62
16.         Barnsley               46    15    12    19    51    62    -11   57
17.         Coventry               46    15    10    21    49    60    -11   55
18.         Rotherham              46    12    18    16    62    68    -6    54
19.         Morecambe              46    16    6     24    52    66    -14   54
20.         Fleetwood              46    13    14    19    55    64    -9    53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Bristol City           46    14    11    21    61    71    -10   53
22.   R     Chester                46    14    10    22    49    64    -15   52
23.   R     Sheff Wed              46    11    18    17    58    62    -4    51
24.   R     Chesterfield           46    11    18    17    52    66    -14   51

 

League Two

25 goals from new signing Richard Simmonds helped Stockport County to win League Two by what was in the end a comfortable margin. AFC Telford United and York City joined them in securing automatic promotion, with York moving up a division for the third time in five seasons.

 

Cambridge United and Mansfield Town contested the League Two Play-Off Final after seeing off Hereford United and Exeter City respectively. Cambridge won the decider with a late first-half goal from Keiran MacFarlane, so they and long-serving manger Rio Ferdinand were celebrating promotion to League One.

 

Southend United didn't score enough goals to prevent their Football League comeback from being cut very short. Blackpool also slipped into the Conference Premier, just 20 years after they were gracing the Premier League!

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Stockport              46    27    11    8     76    44    +32   92
2.    P     AFC Telford            46    22    14    10    62    41    +21   80
3.    P     York                   46    21    12    13    70    60    +10   75
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4.    P     Cambridge              46    21    12    13    65    58    +7    75
5.          Exeter                 46    20    12    14    73    63    +10   72
6.          Mansfield              46    22    6     18    57    58    -1    72
7.          Hereford               46    20    11    15    70    52    +18   71
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8.          Kingstonian            46    19    13    14    62    57    +5    70
9.          Tranmere               46    19    10    17    59    56    +3    67
10.         Cheltenham             46    18    12    16    63    58    +5    66
11.         Yeovil                 46    16    17    13    61    54    +7    65
12.         Birmingham             46    18    11    17    53    53    0     65
13.         AFC Wimbledon          46    19    8     19    65    66    -1    65
14.         Gillingham             46    16    13    17    55    51    +4    61
15.         Forest Green           46    16    13    17    57    55    +2    61
16.         Bristol Rovers         46    16    12    18    54    59    -5    60
17.         Bournemouth            46    15    13    18    52    57    -5    58
18.         Grimsby                46    15    9     22    56    59    -3    54
19.         Port Vale              46    13    14    19    49    64    -15   53
20.         Brentford              46    16    5     25    40    57    -17   53
21.         Hartlepool             46    13    13    20    43    55    -12   52
22.         Aldershot              46    11    16    19    54    68    -14   49
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23.   R     Blackpool              46    10    17    19    49    68    -19   47
24.   R     Southend               46    6     12    28    35    67    -32   30

 

Conference Premier

Corby Town's fairytale continued apace as they lifted a fourth successive league title since being taken over by Polish multi-millionaire Grzegorz Trakul. The Steelmen are now a League club for the first time in their history!

 

Walsall defeated Bromley in the Play-Off Semi Final, and a first-minute strike from teenager Trevor Blake saw them overcome Crawley Town in the Final. Crawley - who knocked out Leyton Orient in their Semi - lost defender Delton Muir to an early red card and were never seriously in contention.

 

Canvey Island, Stalybridge Celtic, Torquay United and Alfreton Town made up the bottom four and dropped into the regional Conferences. Barrow, who were in League One not that long ago, were rather lucky not to go down.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Corby                  46    26    11    9     75    43    +32   89
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2.    P     Walsall                46    23    14    9     66    32    +34   83
3.          Leyton Orient          46    22    16    8     74    44    +30   82
4.          Crawley                46    23    12    11    69    47    +22   81
5.          Bromley                46    23    10    13    65    45    +20   79
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6.          Swindon                46    19    19    8     62    47    +15   76
7.          FC Halifax             46    19    14    13    69    49    +20   71
8.          Altrincham             46    19    14    13    49    44    +5    71
9.          Southport              46    19    10    17    54    65    -11   67
10.         Woking                 46    18    12    16    49    57    -8    66
11.         Macclesfield           46    17    13    16    53    44    +9    64
12.         Ebbsfleet              46    16    14    16    57    54    +3    62
13.         Ashford Town           46    16    14    16    54    53    +1    62
14.         Stevenage              46    15    15    16    47    48    -1    60
15.         Carlisle               46    13    18    15    41    51    -10   57
16.         Barnet                 46    16    7     23    52    62    -10   55
17.         Gateshead              46    13    15    18    52    54    -2    54
18.         Burton                 46    13    14    19    46    57    -11   53
19.         Matlock                46    11    16    19    42    53    -11   49
20.         Barrow                 46    10    14    22    42    69    -27   44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Alfreton               46    10    13    23    39    64    -25   43
22.   R     Torquay                46    8     18    20    39    60    -21   42
23.   R     Stalybridge            46    8     17    21    36    56    -20   41
24.   R     Canvey Island          46    9     12    25    37    71    -34   39

 

Conference North

Promoted: Preston North End (1st, 80 pts), Harrogate Town (3rd, 77 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Darlington (2nd, 79 pts), Lincoln City (4th, 76 pts), Chorley (5th, 74 pts).

Relegated: Gresley (20th, 39 pts), Skelmersdale United (21st, 37 pts), Bradford Park Avenue (22nd, 36 pts).

 

Conference South

Promoted: Newport County (1st, 87 pts), Leighton Town (2nd, 79 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Sutton United (3rd, 69 pts), Farnborough (4th, 65 pts), Tiverton Town (5th, 63 pts).

Relegated: Wealdstone (20th, 48 pts), Aylesbury United (21st, 45 pts), AFC Hornchurch (22nd, 19 pts*).

* 10 points deducted

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Frickley Athletic (1st), Gainsborough Trinity (3rd).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Heybridge Swifts (1st), Witham Town (2nd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Oxford City (1st), Staines Town (4th).

[CFuller]

2030/2031 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Manchester United launched their title bid with a couple of costly but brilliant signings. Moanes Dabour brought in his fellow Israeli Dudu Ashkenazi, who was explosive on the right-wing after his £32.5million move from Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Fenerbahce's Brazilian centre-half Emerson for £21million. The final piece in the jigsaw was Feyenoord striker Sean Jordan, who arrived for £21.5million in January. The American scored 11 goals to fill the gap left by Mario, whose season was ended by an ACL injury in October.
• Liverpool also flexed their financial muscles, although not as efficiently as United. French centre-back Christian Keller cost £23million from Rennes but was overshadowed by his new partner Christopher Khan - a FIFA World Cup winner with England who arrived on a free from Fulham. The Reds' other big purchase was former West Bromwich Albion winger Marcus Cowley, who didn't really justify his £13.5million fee.
• After being relegated with Southampton last summer, few expected striker Christopher Lowndes to join champions Manchester City for £14.75million. The 28-year-old Wales international certainly proved his worth, scoring 11 goals in 33 Premier League games for City, who also signed Red Star Belgrade's United States left-back Shane Horner.
• Tottenham Hotspur gave their squad an almighty shake-up to bring about a change in fortunes. Winger Iván Brandán signed from Napoli for £14.25million, England defenders Luke Bowles and Ed Rowland arrived from West Ham United, and legendary striker Damien King moved south after leaving Manchester United. The end result was that Spurs rocketed back up to 5th place after two seasons in the bottom half.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers smashed their transfer record, forking out £17.25million on 22-year-old Antalyaspor centre-back Sabri Ozturk. It would be a wise move from Wolves' retiring head coach Aykut Kocaman, as an improved defensive record was key to the West Midlanders' qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
• Bayern Munich bought TWO strikers for £36.5million EACH on the final day of the summer transfer window. Ajax's Hassan Ben Ayad and Real Sociedad's Sancak Turhan bolstered Bayern's firepower significantly, and that was crucial, as they pipped Borussia Dortmund to the Bundesliga title on goal difference.

 

Managerial Movements

• Gianluca Atzori resigned as England manager following their FIFA World Cup triumph, and returned home to Italy to take charge of their national team. Nemanja Covic then left Manchester City after nine very successful months to take the England job. At just 39 years old, the Serbian became the Three Lions' youngest head coach since Glenn Hoddle was appointed in 1996.
• After losing their treble-winning manager Covic, City placed Paul Clement in temporary charge for a second time. However, when it became clear in November that he wasn't going to be appointed permanently, Clement abruptly left the Etihad Stadium to succeed the recently-dismissed Allan McGregor at Fulham. First-team coach Joris Mathijsen took the helm at City until the end of the season, when he handed control over to fellow Dutchman Rogier Molhoek, who'd just won the Belgian Pro League with Anderlecht.
• Arsenal made a very disappointing start to the campaign, so they sacked Craig Bryson in November and hired former Manchester United chief Ciriaco Sforza. Another familiar manager returned to the Premier League shortly afterwards. Chelsea brought Ard van Peppen back to Stamford Bridge after deciding that Robbie Simpson hadn't made enough progress in three-and-a-half years with them.
• There weren't too many managerial movements during the Premier League season, but two relegated managers paid a heavy price after the final whistles had been blown. Phil Parkinson's six-year tenure at Reading came to an end as he was replaced by Nathaniel Clyne. Meanwhile, Watford dismissed Micah Richards and brought former player Ross Jenkins back to Vicarage Road as manager.
• Losing the Real Sociedad job in November proved to be a blessing in disguise for Abdoulaye Soumaré. While Petr Bystrov quit Sporting CP to take over at the Anoeta, Soumaré succeeded another Russian - Leonid Slutskiy - at AC Milan. Sociedad finished 5th in La Liga, but Milan came 3rd in Serie A and qualified for the UEFA Champions League in their first season under Frenchman Soumaré's guidance.
• After sacking Crotone's former goalkeeping coach Emiliano Viviano for being - quite frankly - utterly incompetent, Roma made another bewildering managerial appointment. Their next head coach was 33-year-old Fabio Ludovici - a former striker at amateur side Cecchina who had no prior coaching experience! Even more incredibly, Ludovici would go on to guide the Giallorossi to victory in the Coppa Italia against Milan!

 

Other Major Stories

• Juventus enjoyed an impressive UEFA Champions League Final triumph over Barcelona in Istanbul. Alessandro Maccioni put them in front after only 28 seconds, and two goals from Marcus Ekberg within the first 13 minutes virtually killed the game off. Barca briefly threatened to launch an extraordinary comeback after Zbigniew Szwarga and Thomas Weber struck late on, but this was to be the Old Lady's night. Juve boss Ciro Ferrara retired from management after this triumph, with Romanian Eric Bicfalvi succeeding him.
• That was Barca's second near-miss in the space of four days, as Real Betis had earlier pipped them to the La Liga title on their head-to-head record. Betis' triumph was inspired by German coach Ilkay Gundogan and his compatriot players Erdinc Gundogdu and Andrzej Wolanski. Playmaker Wolanski made 19 assists in all competitions, while Gundogdu scored an impressive 37 goals after his summer transfer from Valencia.
• Paris Saint-Germain's reign as kings of Ligue 1 was ended by Lyon, who regained their crown after an agonising 23-year wait. Valenciennes only finished 4th, so the ambitious northerners decided, "If you can't beat them, steal their manager!" A mere four days after lifting the title with Lyon, former Bosnia & Herzegovina international Sanel Jahic upped sticks, took the money, and moved to VA!
• Anji Ramenskoye lifted their seventh Russian Premier League title - their first since permanently relocating from Makhachkala. Anji also lifted a first European trophy after beating Valenciennes in the UEFA Europa League Final. Meanwhile, following last season's unlikely triumph for Sanliurfaspor, Turkey's Super Lig had another first-time champion. It was Sivasspor who took the spoils this time, finishing 13 points clear of giants Fenerbahce and Galatasaray!
• Rochdale were bought out by Slovakian-born business tycoon Adrian Roznik on the eve of the League One season. Roznik's revolution got off to an inauspicious start, and he dismissed manager Liam Donnelly after the Dale won just one of their first 11 league matches. Reece Wabara took the reins, and the Spotland side went on to finish just outside the play-off places, but huge things will be expected of them next season.
• Ex-Tottenham Hotspur hotshots Maxim Rybin and Uros Zinic were among those superstars who retired at the end of this season. PSG's legendary Colombian right-back Nelson Parra also bowed out, while former Manchester United left-back David Alaba finally retired aged 38 at Austrian second-tier side SV Grodig.

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Fulham 2-1 Huddersfield Town.

League Cup: Chelsea 1-0 Watford.

Community Shield: Manchester City 4-3 Arsenal.

Football League Trophy: Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers.

 

UEFA Champions League: Juventus 3-2 Barcelona - at Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul.

UEFA Europa League: Anji Ramenskoye 2-1 Valenciennes - at Ullevi, Gothenburg.

UEFA Super Cup: Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool - at Ramón de Carranza, Cádiz.

FIFA Club World Championship: Manchester City 3-0 River Plate - at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.

 

Major European Leagues

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

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

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

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

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

Russian Premier League: Anji Ramenskoye (1st), Kuban Krasnodar (2nd), FC Krasnodar (3rd).

Scottish Premier League: Hibernian (1st), Motherwell (2nd), Celtic (3rd).

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

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Cheick Tigana (Manchester United).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Thulani Kama (Arsenal).

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

Premier League Manager of the Season: Moanes Dabour (Manchester United).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Ratinho (Chelsea and Brazil)
• Stuart Lindsay (Manchester City and England)
• Marijan Djulic (Arsenal and Croatia)
• Mario Poljak (Wolverhampton Wanderers and Croatia)
• Dudu Ashkenazi (Manchester United and Israel)
• Cheick Tigana (Manchester United and France)
• Alexandre Ricardo (Manchester City and Brazil)
• Phil Hunter (Manchester United and England)
• Carmine Fabris (Brighton & Hove Albion and Switzerland)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

 

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

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

European Golden Shoe: Erdinc Gundogdu (Real Betis).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Andrzej Wolanski (Real Betis).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Javier Garagarza (Real Sociedad and Spain)
• Stuart Lindsay (Manchester City and England)
• Christopher Khan (Liverpool and England)
• Estanislao Flor (Manchester United and Spain)
• Andrzej Wolanski (Real Betis and Germany)
• Mick Fisher (Wolverhampton Wanderers and England)
• Nando Ribas (Barcelona and Spain)
• Inaki Arce (Barcelona and Spain)
• Christos Vassiliadis (Bayern Munich and Greece)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

[CFuller]

JULY 2031

While I've been manager of Dagenham & Redbridge, it has never taken me more than three seasons to win promotion from a division. This is our third term in the Championship, and I see no reason why we cannot at least launch a challenge for the play-offs.

 

Last season came to a disappointing end for us, as we slipped to 12th place and only just avoided finishing with a negative goal difference. Scoring goals was not a problem, but conceding them was a massive issue that must be addressed this time around if we're to meet our objectives.

 

I highly doubt, though, that we'll concede anything like the 78 league goals that we shipped last season. Young Kieran Whalley is steadily developing into a dependable goalkeeper, while we have a host of central defenders to choose from, ranging from the experienced Josh Charles to our new French teenager John Moser.

 

Another of our centre-backs is rising homegrown star George Darvill. Unfortunately, we wouldn't have George for almost the entire pre-season... because he was with the England Under-19s squad that was preparing for this month's UEFA European Championship in Scotland. I hoped that he would do us and his country proud north of the border.

 

Also missing the start of pre-season, for a less positive reason, was Dean Martin. A fractured wrist meant that the midfielder would have to sit out our first couple of friendlies.

 

We also said goodbye to a couple of reserve players. Goalkeeper Colin Glasgow went on loan to Conference South side Chelmsford City for six months, while left-back Marc Hopkins made a permanent move to our feeder club Leighton Town for £170,000.

 

There was one incoming just before our opening friendly, as we took ANOTHER centre-half on trial. I decided to take a closer look at 19-year-old American youth international Zola Casey, who'd recently been released by his French club Auxerre. My scouts said that Zola had the potential to be a good Premier League-level defender, which was very exciting, but I wanted to make my own judgement.

 

That first game of pre-season was at Griffin Park against a Brentford side who'd finished 20th in League Two in each of the previous two seasons. Their current manager was former England, Fulham and Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling.

 

5 July 2031: Brentford vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Matthew Fraser is not the most robust of midfielders, but it was still very disappointing to see him hobble off after just six minutes following a rough foul from Brentford's Steven Brown. Jacques Polomat came on for Fraser, whose injury thankfully turned out to be little more than a knock.

 

Our new loanee Baldur Hreidarsson had a shot deflected behind for a corner in the 10th minute, but our first real scoring chance wouldn't come until the 36th. Marvin Green knocked the ball into the Brentford area for Joel Honeyball, who comfortably beat Bees keeper Ron Cole at his near post.

 

Polomat and Hreidarsson each missed chances to extend our lead before the break, by which point we were looking surprisingly comfortable. Both of Brentford's shots at goal during the first half were late long-rangers by Elliott Spear and Oliver McCormick, but only the former's effort seriously troubled Daryl Ryan.

 

Spear got another chance to beat Ryan in the 49th minute after his Bees team-mate Jason Chamberlain had been fouled by Hreidarsson. The Cypriot-born forward fired an excellent 20-yard free-kick into the top corner, and Brentford were level.

 

We then had a host of chances to restore our lead after 54 minutes. Firstly, Shaun Powell's effort was parried by Cole. Shaun then floated in a cross that Mario Tortora headed against the crossbar. Joel raced onto the loose ball and tried to carry it over the line... but Cole plucked it from his feet just in time. Cole was later replaced by Lloyd Wicks, who continued to safeguard the Brentford goal by tipping wide an excellent 25-yarder from Baldur in the 65th minute.

 

Our attack gradually ran out of steam, with Tom Virgo having a shot blocked on 76 minutes before setting up an opportunity that Tortora blazed over from a tight angle. The Bees could not sting us late on, although Harry Leeson almost provided a moment of magic in the 80th minute. The 18-year-old skimmed the woodwork directly from a corner, coming within inches of causing an almighty upset!

 

Brentford - 1 (Spear 49)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Honeyball 36)

Friendly, Attendance 2,104

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Whalley), Puustinen (Banton), Casey (Johnson), Duru (Josh Charles), O'Reilly (Mazzola), Powell (Virgo), Moser (Bailey), Fraser (Polomat (Wright)), Green (Tortora), Hreidarsson (Djokic), Honeyball (Busetto).

 

A draw wasn't a terrible result in the end, considering that we were just getting back up to speed. I expected a better performance, though, when we entertained Queens Park Rangers in our first home friendly. QPR were still coming to terms with their somewhat surprising relegation to League One.

 

8 July 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Queens Park Rangers

QPR's shakiness in defence should've been exploited in the fifth minute, but Marvin Green nervously missed the target after running onto an excellent through-ball from Victor Dam. Several Dagenham corners then went begging before Rangers started to come on strong midway through the half.

 

Daggers keeper Kieran Whalley had to save a couple of long-distance strikes from 17-year-old striker Jason Buss, who would later have to come off with a pulled hamstring. Only one first-half save was required from QPR's goalkeeper and captain Florin Mozacu, who parried a fierce strike by our skipper Mark West after 38 minutes.

 

Anyone hoping for more excitement in the second period would be left very disappointed. Both teams looked distinctly average and not match-sharp at all. QPR had lost their star strikers Gary Harper and Scott Simpson following relegation and seemed rather toothless without them.

 

We weren't a great deal better on the attacking front, although Baldur Hreidarsson and Mario Tortora did threaten the Hoops late on. Two impressive saves from Mozacu kept Baldur and Mario at bay, and one of the most dismal matches Victoria Road had ever witnessed would finish - surprise, surprise - goalless.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Queens Park Rangers - 0

Friendly, Attendance 5,170

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Ryan), Banton (Puustinen), Busetto (Casey), Moser (Josh Charles), Barnes (McCann), Atta (Powell), Cochet (O'Reilly), Dam (Virgo), Green (Honeyball), West (Hreidarsson), Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: Barnes.

 

Have you woken up yet? Then I'll carry on...

 

There was likely to be rather more in the way of excitement when Dutch big boys AZ Alkmaar came to Victoria Road. AZ came 4th in last season's Eredivisie and had only finished outside the top half once in the last two decades. We were missing Joel Honeyball, who was out for a fortnight with a chest injury, and Rocco Mazzola, who was suffering from food poisoning.

 

12 July 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs AZ Alkmaar

The game's first shot at goal came after just over a minute, when Dagenham's Baldur Hreidarsson scuffed a half-volley wide. There would be quite a long wait for either team to threaten the other's goal again. Despite losing defender Jan van Es to a knee ligament injury in the 10th minute, AZ gradually began to show their pedigree.

 

After 26 minutes, Czech striker Jan Malinek surged past Daggers defender Alex Busetto and bore down on goal, only to miss the target by inches. Malinek would get a second chance later on, but not before Baldur snatched at another Dagenham opportunity in the 38th minute.

 

That miss would prove telling two minutes from half-time. Our defence had, by and large, held up well against a strong AZ team, but trialist Zola Casey was caught napping when Malinek beat him to a centre from Sergio Andrés Mancera. A simple finish followed, and the men from Holland were 1-0 up.

 

I demanded an improved performance in the second half... but I wasn't impressed at all by what I saw after the interval. Although our passing was good and we proved more than a match for AZ in the possession stakes, our attack was massively outnumbered by the visitors' defensive players. The only time Daggers captain Mark West rattled AZ's defence was when he tripped Brazilian centre-half Ruy in the 68th minute, earning himself a booking.

 

On 75 minute, our goalkeeper Daryl Ryan was nearly caught out by a deep Mancera cross that he frantically punched behind just in the nick of time. Ryan later saved a couple of powerful attempts from Murilo - another Brazilian centre-back - to keep our deficit down to 1-0.

 

As far as our attackers were concerned, a grand total of two shots at goal - none on target - was never going to cut the mustard against the fabulously-named Cheeseheads. No wonder that our fans were a bit cheesed off at the end of a dull encounter.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

AZ Alkmaar - 1 (Malinek 43)

Friendly, Attendance 4,945

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Ryan), Casey (Duru), Busetto (Johnson), Josh Charles (Moser), Banton (Puustinen), O'Reilly (Sarun), Fraser (Barnes), Virgo (Cochet), Polomat (Martin), Hreidarsson (West), Tortora (Djokic). BOOKED: West.

 

So far, so uninspiring. At least the Dutch Cheeseheads didn't turn our defence into Leerdammer...

[CFuller]

JULY 2031 (continued)

After three disappointing results at the start of pre-season, we left England for the Daggers' first overseas tour. Our destination was the land of chocolate, Tintin, Jean-Claude Van Damme... and that sculpture of a naked boy urinating into a fountain. I am of course talking about Belgium, where we would play matches against a trio of Pro League clubs.

 

Our first stop was in the capital for a meeting with FC Brussels. 'Les Tricolores' had just been promoted to the top flight after finishing runners-up in the second division, which was imaginatively named... er, the Second Division.

 

16 July 2031: FC Brussels vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We had a reason to be concerned just eight minutes into our first match on foreign soil. Skipper Mark West was scythed down by a firm but fair sliding tackle from Timothy de Nooijer and had to come off briefly for treatment.

 

By the 15th minute, though, we were beginning to settle. William Barnes floated a free-kick into the Brussels box, where Philip Duru powered a header wide. Philip was a bit more clinical two minutes later, flicking in Heikki Puustinen's corner for his first Dagenham goal!

 

Mario Djokic and Daniel O'Reilly each had chances to increase our 1-0 lead just before the half-hour, but both were denied by Brussels goalkeeper Tarik Dellevoet. Djokic was gifted another opportunity in the 32nd minute by a miscued headed clearance from Tricolores defender Stefano Pignotti. Mario was almost clean through, but Dellevoet made another fine save before Tom Virgo fired our next effort inches wide. By half-time, the scoreline still did not reflect our almost complete dominance.

 

I tried to motivate my players during the interval, while I also criticised my strikers for being too lazy. Djokic looked particularly offended by my remarks, so I replaced him with Mario Tortora, who took just three second-half minutes to make his mark. Brussels winger Jérémy Riviere had a square pass intercepted by Matthew Fraser, who played it forward for Tortora to power into the net.

 

Tortora had made it 2-0, and he struck the post two minutes later when going for our third goal. Naturally, Mario would be heavily involved when we did go 3-0 ahead in the 55th minute. The Italian ran onto a cunning through-ball from Victor Dam and then cut inside from the left flank into the penalty area. After turning past three Brussels defenders, Tortora cut the ball back to Daniel O'Reilly in space, and the wing-back finished with ease!

 

Our attack was up and running at last, and our defence - or, more specifically, Duru - was doing a fantastic job of keeping the visitors quiet. Brussels would only have one shot on target all game - French striker Julien Huet's 67th-minute effort, which was pushed away by Daryl Ryan. Neither Daryl nor his teenage replacement Jerome Farrell, who made his first senior appearance, would have to put much in more work in the Daggers goal.

 

Meanwhile, Dean Martin had five attempts to complete a Dagenham rout in the final 15 minutes. Two went wide, and two were saved by Brussels' substitute keeper Augusto Pires, but Dean eventually prevailed at the fifth time of asking. Martin's clinical strike in the penultimate minute put the seal on a very impressive, if unsurprising victory.

 

FC Brussels - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Duru 17, Tortora 48, O'Reilly 55, Martin 89)

Friendly, Attendance 1,733

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Farrell), Johnson (Casey), Busetto (Moser), Duru (Green), Puustinen (Banton), O'Reilly (Mazzola), Virgo (Fraser), Barnes (McCann), Dam (Martin), West (Powell), Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: West.

 

To be honest, FC Brussels were very weak and inexperienced top-flight campaigners compared to our next two opponents. Before taking on KV Mechelen, we travelled to Antwerp to face off against Belgian Cup winners Beerschot AC.

 

19 July 2031: Beerschot AC vs Dagenham & Redbridge

After a stuttering start from both teams, Beerschot had their first real attempt at goal in the 17th minute. Ruud Nieuwenhuis' free-kick found the head of Belgium international defender Johan Peters, who flicked it wide.

 

After 25 minutes, Beerschot's other centre-half - Khaldoun Ibrahim Salman - rose high to head away Shaun Powell's corner for the Daggers. 'De Ratten' then launched a devastating counter-attack, which ended with left-winger Wouter Engelen slotting in midfielder Jos Reynders' cross from a tight angle.

 

The hosts would be on top for the rest of the first half, even though they lost attacking midfielder David Bourdin to a broken arm shortly after breaking the deadlock. Disappointingly, we hadn't even got close to equalising by the end of the opening period.

 

Our struggles continued in the 56th minute, as Beerschot grabbed their second goal before we could even register our first shot on target. It was a sloppy goal for us to give away, as left-back Rocco Mazzola's headed back-pass was intercepted by Thomas Gatti, who squeezed the ball between goalkeeper Kieran Whalley and his near post. Mazzola was taken off straight away after his error as we switched to a more attacking strategy.

 

We finally had an opportunity to shoot at goal after 64 minutes, but Powell got nowhere near the target. Mario Tortora got rather closer two minutes later, when his half-volley was palmed away by Ratten keeper Tim van der Linden. The 35-year-old former FC Groningen custodian couldn't keep out our next attempt when it came in the 72nd minute. Teenager Nigel Atta set up a tidy finish for Baldur Hreidarsson, who opened his Daggers account and halved our deficit.

 

William Barnes nearly restored parity after 80 minutes, but his free-kick bounced back off the bar before Beerschot teenager Aaron Torfs knocked it behind for a corner. That corner quickly resulted in another, which Atta floated promisingly to the far post. Unfortunately, our young centre-back Larry Wood couldn't quite keep his header down.

 

We then nearly fell prey to another Beerschot counter in the 86th minute, but Enzo Jacques struck the post from an acute angle. After Marvin Green had one last Daggers effort saved by Stan Leysen, we bravely went down to a 2-1 defeat that wasn't as severe as it could easily have been.

 

Beerschot AC - 2 (Engelen 26, Gatti 56)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hreidarsson 72)

Friendly, Attendance 5,682

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Farrell), Puustinen (Banton), Charles (Wood), Duru (Johnson), Mazzola (O'Reilly), Cochet (Barnes), Martin (Dam), Powell (Atta), Polomat (Hreidarsson), Tortora (Green), Djokic (West).

 

Following that game, we completed the signing of United States Under-20s defender Zola Casey on a free transfer. The 19-year-old from Virginia signed a four-year contract with us after showing plenty of promise whilst on trial.

 

As one teenage centre-back arrived on a permanent deal, another left on a temporary basis. Shaun Johnson was sent on a six-month loan to Brentford as he looked to get his flagging career back on track.

 

We rounded off our Belgian tour with a match against KV Mechelen. The Yellow-Reds were co-owned by Swedish business tycoons Robin Lundkvist and Pontus Soderberg, and they had finished 5th in the Belgian Pro League for three consecutive seasons. Of course, that was nothing compared to their all-time greatest achievement of winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1988.

 

23 July 2031: KV Mechelen vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mechelen were on top from the opening stages and nearly took the lead through a Jean-Francois Ringot volley that skimmed just wide in the 8th minute. Three minutes later, we were almost caught out by a free-kick that Japanese winger Kazuhiko Hirahara took very quickly! Frank van der Vall got his head to Hirahara's delivery... but Daryl Ryan remained alert and tipped it over!

 

However, Ryan would be beaten by Mechelen's next shot at goal in the 19th minute. Dutch left-back Tim van der Pluijm stroked the ball into the path of compatriot Marijn Verlijsdonk, who hit an unstoppable finish.

 

Verlijsdonk went for power again a minute later, but Daryl denied him a quick second goal. Having been almost overwhelmed early on, we showed signs midway through the first half that we weren't going to be beaten so easily. Nigel Atta's 28th-minute drive forced a catch out of Yellow-Blues keeper Maguila, who also kept out a Mark West header on the half-hour. Although we remained 1-0 behind at half-time, I firmly believed that we would be able to fight back in the second period.

 

Captain West did not seem to share my belief. He closed in on a sloppy pass from Maguila in the 50th minute, only to fire it straight at the Brazilian goalkeeper. Mark blazed his next shot over the bar shortly afterwards, leading me to contemplate taking my struggling skipper off.

 

By the 65th minute, I was glad that I had kept faith in West. He flicked in a corner delivery from Matthew Fraser at the near post to secure his long-awaited first goal of pre-season and draw us level!

 

Mechelen wasted a number of chances to get back in front over the next quarter-hour. The most significant of those misses was perhaps Daniel van der Steen's close-range header on 76 minutes, but that was nothing compared to the sitters that would be spurned late on. After Derek Wright and Jacques Polomat each missed late opportunities for the Daggers (the latter striking the crossbar from a free-kick), Mechelen provided some examples of how not to kill off a game.

 

Firstly, in the last minute of normal time, van der Steen hit the bar with another header that Polomat skilfully backheeled clear! Ivica Zlatar then flicked over a Reuben Tsotetsi cross in the second minute of injury time. Finally, in the third additional minute, Verlijsdonk had a half-volley tipped away by Kieran Whalley. By full-time, the Yellow-Reds were wondering how they hadn't won, but I wasn't complaining!

 

KV Mechelen - 1 (Verlijsdonk 19)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 65)

Friendly, Attendance 3,766

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Whalley), Banton (Quinn), Casey (Charles), Moser (Busetto), O'Reilly (Duru), Fraser (Cochet), Dam (Virgo), Atta (Powell), Martin (Polomat), Green (Hreidarsson), West (Wright).

 

With a comfortable win, an unlucky defeat, and a dogged draw to our name, we would look back fondly on our tour of Belgium. We returned to Blighty feeling optimistic about what would lie ahead in our final two friendlies.

[CFuller]

JULY 2031 (continued)

As our pre-season campaign neared its conclusion, Daggers defender George Darvill came to the end of his European Under-19s Championship adventure. England had made it all the way to the Final at Tannadice Park in Dundee, where they would play Spain.

 

George's big day would end in double disappointment. He was left on the bench as England squandered a 1-0 half-time lead and eventually went down 2-1. Darvill did, though, receive a runners-up medal, despite only experiencing around 15 minutes of tournament action - in a group match against Turkey.

 

A day after Darvill's Euro heartache, his Dagenham & Redbridge team-mates took on Premier League giants Fulham at Craven Cottage. Would this be the match in which we finally got one up on our parent club after many years of disappointment?

 

27 July 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fulham

The opening skirmishes certainly suggested that we would push Fulham very close. Mario Tortora sent a vicious strike over the bar in the 8th minute... and he missed an even greater chance two minutes after that! Cottagers left-back Irakli Kvaratskhelia's square pass to his captain Damien Leroux was closed down by Shaun Powell, who then slid the ball to Mario Tortora just outside the six-yard box. Mario went for glory... and struck the post.

 

Tortora cursed his luck again on 15 minutes, when Josh Charles headed over his corner delivery. When Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser carelessly conceded possession to Liam Wood a minute later, Fulham took full advantage. Wood searched out Victor Berceanu on the left wing, and the new £12.75million signing from AC Milan dribbled from his half to our penalty area, where he powered a shot beyond Kieran Whalley.

 

Berceanu had put his new team ahead, and the Romanian was unlucky not to score again from a header two minutes later. Tortora's torture continued later on, as he had a fine effort saved by Christian Allinson in the 21st minute before hitting the woodwork again in the 25th.

 

It clearly wasn't Mario's day, nor was it Fraser's. After playing a smart one-two with the Italian striker on 34 minutes, Matthew tried a low, angled drive that was diverted away by Allinson's fingertips. What would we have to do to force a breakthrough in the second half?

 

Fulham pushed on in the second half and nearly scored again after 52 minutes. Greek striker Lefteris Nasiopoulos flicked over a cross from another new Cottagers signing - former Liverpool right-winger Marcus Cowley. Five minutes later, Lefteris left our defenders in the dust as he sprinted through on goal after a brilliant set-up from Berceanu. Nasiopoulos didn't waste his chance on that occasion, and Fulham were now leading 2-0.

 

Paul Clement's side then eased off a little, although that didn't exactly help us out. Mario Tortora was hugely disappointing, as was Mario Djokic for that matter, as we failed to get a single shot on target in the second half. Our 'best' attempts were from Joel Honeyball and Dean Martin late on, but we continued to draw blanks in front of our disappointed home fans.

 

We were fortunate in the end not to have fallen further behind to the visitors, for whom Cowley almost bagged a third goal in the 75th minute. Whalley sublimely pushed away the England international's volley, but that was little more than damage limitation as far as we were concerned. Another year, another defeat to Fulham...

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Fulham - 2 (Berceanu 16, Nasiopoulos 57)

Friendly, Attendance 8,005

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen (Banton), Busetto (Casey), Josh Charles (Moser), O'Reilly (Mazzola), Barnes (Cochet), Fraser (Dam), Powell (Virgo), Polomat (Martin), Djokic (West), Tortora (Honeyball).

 

That was the last of our three friendlies at Victoria Road, and we hadn't scored in any of them. Considering that our poor home form had been our undoing last season, this was not a good sign at all.

 

While we were getting beaten by Fulham yet again, young winger Nigel Atta was starting a six-month loan spell at Mansfield Town. I'd also agreed to send centre-back Philip Duru out to another League Two club - Exeter City - until the end of January, but not before we played one final friendly.

 

Three days before we travelled to South Yorkshire for our opening Championship game at Doncaster Rovers, we made a rather shorter journey to Bedfordshire. We took on feeder club Leighton Town, who would be playing at Luton Town's Kenilworth Road stadium throughout their first season in the Conference Premier.

 

I chose to rest most of my senior players for this match, but Mario Djokic did make the trip as he tried to recapture his best form before the new season. George Darvill also featured in the centre of our defence, having missed all of our previous friendlies because of international duty.

 

30 July 2031: Leighton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

I gave Mario Djokic the captain's armband for this match... and he repaid my faith by getting booked in the second minute for pushing Leighton's Tom Stradwick. A minute later, we were almost stung by a blistering strike from ex-Daggers left-back Marc Hopkins, who skimmed the crossbar.

 

Baldur Hreidarsson then missed a couple of early chances for Dagenham before finally forcing Reds keeper Colin Lyons into a save on seven minutes. Two minutes after that, the Leighton crossbar kept out Djokic's header from a promising delivery by Arran Banton.

 

Mario was left frustrated again in the 19th minute, when his half-volley was parried by Lyons. We were looking a bit lazy, so I barked at my team to up the tempo and stretch out our non-league opponents. That change of plan worked a treat after 24 minutes.

 

After José Cochet's long ball was meekly intercepted by Leighton defender Jason Sutton, José retook the ball and knocked it forward to Mario. Djokic sent a superb strike into the top corner and was clearly relieved to have finally scored his first goal of pre-season.

 

Michael Craig nearly cancelled our opener out for Leighton in the 31st minute, but we continued to push ahead. Djokic and Hreidarsson had each gone close to increasing our lead before successfully linking up in the 41st minute, when Baldur buried the former's square pass into the far end of the net. The half ended with Dean Martin missing an opportunity to make it 3-0 shortly after he'd been booked for barging Craig in the back.

 

Lyons had to hold firm for Leighton early in the second half. The home custodian awkwardly pushed away an attempt from Joel Honeyball in the 48th minute before making a cleaner save from Hreidarsson four minutes later. One aspect of our game that you couldn't call 'clean' was our tackling. Further bookings for George Darvill and Dennis McCann suggested that we had to take a step back and control our aggression a bit better.

 

Joel could've done with controlling his next shot a bit better before it flew well over in the 64th minute. Derek Wright was rather more threatening to the Reds defence, as his 66th-minute volley was desperately turned behind by Leighton's substitute goalie Josh Milton. Wright did find the net on 74 minutes after finishing a Honeyball strike that had rebounded off the bar, but the offside flag halted his celebrations.

 

That said, we wouldn't need to increase that 2-0 lead we had carried over from the first half. Leighton's shooting lacked any sort of punch, with only one of their eight attempts requiring a Dagenham goalkeeper's save to keep it out of the net.

 

Leighton Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djokic 24, Hreidarsson 42)

Friendly, Attendance 2,518

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Farrell), Casey (Wood), Moser (Duru), Darvill (Sarun), Banton (McCourt), Mazzola (Quinn), Virgo (McCann), Cochet (Hutchinson), Martin (Honeyball (Reynolds)), Hreidarsson (Joe Charles), Mario Djokic (Wright). BOOKED: Djokic, Martin, Darvill, McCann.

 

Almost all of our players went home after that game to prepare for our league opener. Derek Wright stayed behind, however, as he started a six-month loan spell with Leighton. If all goes well for Derek, he could potentially rejoin us as a strong first-team contender.

 

Wright is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Joel Honeyball and Dean Martin, who have gone from youth graduates to first-team regulars. Last season was arguably Dean's best statistically, and having just signed a new three-year contract with us, I hope there's more to come from Martin soon.

 

With regards to the team as a whole, I honestly cannot confidently predict how we'll begin the season. We're rated by most bookmakers as 40-1 outsiders for promotion, but we could make a mockery of those odds if we click into gear early on. On the other hand, it could all go horribly wrong very quickly...

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2031/2032 season

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2031)

GOALKEEPERS

1. Daryl Ryan (age 26, Irish)

Though no longer a regular starter, Daryl remains a solid goalkeeper with few glaring weaknesses.

13. Kieran Whalley (age 20, English)

Kieran made his breakthrough last season and will surely go from strength to strength over the coming years. The Mancunian's decision-making is impressive, but he needs to work on his agility and reflexes.

DEFENDERS

2. Heikki Puustinen (age 30, Finnish)

After a hit-and-miss first season at Dagenham, Heikki is under pressure to keep his starting place. The right-back is a strong tackler with lots of stamina, though he can easily get beaten by the division's paciest wingers.

3. Daniel O'Reilly (age 23, Irish)

Left-sided wing-back Daniel has been at Victoria Road since 2026 and should be here for the long haul. The Republic of Ireland international reads the game very well and is steadily becoming a more consistent defender.

5. Josh Charles (age 30, English)

This could be Josh's final season at Dagenham, but what a servant he has been to us. The centre-back very rarely has a bad game, and you're even less likely to see him get caught out of position.

6. Alex Busetto (age 25, Italian)

Having just signed a new contract, covering defender Alex should play a key role for us this season. Though he's not the most consistent centre-half around, his composure and determination persuaded me to keep him on.

19. George Darvill (age 18, English)

George already looks solid for such a young central defender, even if his concentration sometimes wavers.

22. John Moser (age 17, French)

New recruit John is very mature and well-measured for someone who's not even an adult yet. The France Under-19s international's height - he's only 5ft 11in - is a minor worry, but he's surely destined for a great career.

23. Arran Banton (age 21, English)

Few at Victoria Road can match right-back Arran's work ethic, but the youngster isn't great under pressure.

24. Zola Casey (age 19, American)

Zola will be given time to develop into the reliable centre-back that I believe he can become.

26. Philip Duru (age 19, Nigerian)

Philip will sharpen his defensive skills at Exeter City in League Two until the end of January.

MIDFIELDERS

4. William Barnes (age 22, English)

Multi-talented midfielder William is an aggressive tackler who always gives everything for the team. Our vice-captain showed a lot of resilience to come back from a serious hamstring injury that he sustained last December.

7. Shaun Powell (age 18, Welsh)

Shaun - aka 'The Blond Bombshell' - will be our main right-wing option this season. He is exceptionally quick out of the blocks and will be trained up as an auxiliary poacher to boost his chances of making my team.

8. Victor Dam (age 26, Danish)

Victor's tally of six goals and five assists last season wasn't bad, but I reckon he can do better. Primarily an advanced playmaker, he also has the stamina to act as a box-to-box midfielder if required in that role.

11. Marvin Green (age 21, English)

Creative left-footer Marvin can play on the wing, in attacking midfield, or even up front.

14. Matthew Fraser (age 24, Scottish)

Injuries remain a concern for Matthew, who's only surpassed 30 league appearances once in five seasons with us. Now capped five times by Scotland, the talented midfield playmaker must surely kick on soon.

17. Tom Virgo (age 19, English)

Hampshire-born youth product Tom is a defensive midfielder who's set for his first full season in the senior team.

18. Dean Martin (age 23, English)

Attacking midfielder Dean was exceptional at times last season, notching up 10 Championship assists. He's fearless, skilful, and a potential menace to most defences in this division.

20. José Cochet (age 19, French)

José will probably be loaned out again, as the teenage defensive midfielder's development has slowed.

21. Jacques Polomat (age 19, French)

Jacques will surely become our main advanced playmaker soon, but not before he brushes up on his passing.

FORWARDS

9. Mario Djokic (age 32, Montenegrin)

Mario got 20 goals and 11 assists last season, but then went off the boil towards the end of the campaign. We'll need the left-footed poacher to return to form quickly before his pace begins to wither.

10. Mark West (age 33, English)

Mark's a bona-fide Daggers legend and will now almost certainly see out his career with us. Though he's not as strong as he used to be, I'm still expecting our captain to add to his record 125 league goals for us.

12. Mario Tortora (age 20, Italian)

Super Mario's finishing is excellent and the goals will surely flow in as he matures. Mark my words, this lad will be playing in the Premier League - one way or another - within the next two years.

15. Joel Honeyball (age 23, English)

Joel's form comes and goes, but the homegrown poacher will always be in or around the first-team squad.

16. Baldur Hreidarsson (age 20, Icelandic)

On-loan West Ham United youngster Baldur will be our reserve target man this season.

 

RESERVE & YOUTH PLAYERS

Goalkeepers: Jerome Farrell, Colin Glasgow (on loan at Chelmsford City)

Defenders: Paul Habu, Shaun Johnson (on loan at Brentford), Wesley Judge, Rocco Mazzola, Will McCourt, Kevin McManus, Carl Quinn, Victor Sarun, Larry Wood

Midfielders: Nigel Atta (on loan at Mansfield Town), Lloyd Bailey, Joe Charles, Joseph Gerken, Dave Hutchinson, Dennis McCann, Anton Morris

Forwards: Jon Cotterill, Ollie Reynolds, Derek Wright (on loan at Leighton Town)

 

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Fabio Saraiva

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

Fitness Coach: David Wheater

Goalkeeping Coach: Scott Carson

Physios: Sam Cutler (head), Adam Hutchings

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

 

Head of Youth Development: Curtis Langton

Under-18s Manager: Tom Ince

Under-18s Assistant Manager: Aaron McEwan

Under-18s Coach: Joseph Yoffe

[CFuller]

More than one update today - I'm spoiling you, aren't I?  In case you missed my comment from last week, I'll be providing more updates over the coming week in the build-up to my sister's wedding. Because of the upcoming nuptials, there will be no updates next week.

And for the benefit for some of my loyal readers (especially @JayR2003), here's a rough US-style depth chart by position for this season. Note how I've divided up the forwards into 'strikers' (for poachers/advanced forwards) and 'centre-forwards' (for target men/deep-lying forwards).

GK: Whalley / Ryan

D/WB L: O'Reilly / Mazzola / Barnes / Darvill
D C: Josh Charles / Busetto / Moser / Darvill / Casey
D/WB R: Puustinen / Banton / Moser

DM C: Barnes / Virgo / Cochet / Josh Charles

M/AM L: Green / Honeyball
M C: Barnes / Fraser / Martin / Virgo / Dam / Cochet
M/AM R: Powell / Martin / Virgo

AM C: Dam / Martin / Polomat / Green / Honeyball

F C (strikers): Tortora / Djokic / Honeyball
F C (centre-forwards): West / Hreidarsson / Polomat

[JayR2003]

Thanks for the depth chart!  

It looks like your team is really starting to come together, with the new signings working their way in slowly as you climb the table.  That is how you will be able to sustain a promotion since you've built a team rather than bought a team.

[CFuller]

11 hours ago, JayR2003 said:

Thanks for the depth chart!  

It looks like your team is really starting to come together, with the new signings working their way in slowly as you climb the table.  That is how you will be able to sustain a promotion since you've built a team rather than bought a team.

I knew you'd like it, Jay. 

We've only made a few signings heading into the new league season, but they're all fine players who'll complement the rest of our squad.

I find that team-building is just as important as - if not more important than - buying the best players when it comes to succeeding in the lower leagues. A lot of our first-teamers have been at Dagenham since they were teenagers, or in their very early 20s at most, so there's a real sense of togetherness in this squad.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2031

When you're preparing for a tough season-opener away from home, losing a key player to injury on the eve of that game is never ideal. Imagine my disappointment, then, when vice-captain William Barnes sustained a chest injury in weight training before our trip to Doncaster Rovers. Will would have to miss that game, and at least the next two as well.

 

Barnes' withdrawal meant that 19-year-old Tom Virgo was added to the starting line-up for our meeting with Doncaster, who finished 18th last season. Our last visit to the Keepmoat Stadium ended in a thrilling 6-3 away win, but could we triumph again in the rematch?

 

2 August 2031: Doncaster Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Hopes of another strong away victory against Doncaster were raised in the third minute, when Baldur Hreidarsson had a pop at goal from distance. Sadly, he was well off target.

 

Donny's first effort at goal, in the 12th minute, gave us more of a fright. Rovers midfielder Niall Goodison's flick-on was knocked back towards him by Fausto Casiraghi, and Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley had to frantically parry Goddison's point-blank shot. Whalley made another tremendous save two minutes later to push away a vicious drive from Milan Bazina. Alas, the ball fell to Doncaster's other Canadian star, and Sandro Franco unleashed a lethal half-volley at the back post. 1-0 to the hosts.

 

Baldur had a trio of chances to draw us level within the next six minutes, but two went off target and the other was comfortably saved by Godfred Ababio. Doncaster's on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers keeper would make two more simple catches before the half-hour to keep out shots from Victor Dam and Daniel O'Reilly.

 

Our next chance to equalise would come after 35 minutes, when Franco's header from an Ababio goal kick was intercepted by Tom Virgo. The ball was moved forward to Baldur and then Victor before the Danish playmaker picked out Mario Tortora in space. Mario charged towards goal and then finished with ease to quieten the home support.

 

An Italian had removed Doncaster's lead, but another one almost restored it in the 37th minute, when Casiraghi's free-kick was palmed behind by Whalley. Casiraghi would really stamp his mark on proceedings in the last few seconds of normal time. The left-winger's low cross found his right-wing colleague Franco, who found the target for a second time and left us trailing again.

 

We would suffer more misfortune in the second minute of the second half. Josh Charles sustained a dead leg whilst tackling Bazina in his own area, bringing an early end to what had been a disappointing game for him. John Moser came on for his competitive debut in Josh's place, and he and the rest of our defence would soon have to withstand a series attacks from Donny's Canadian dangermen.

 

Bazina had a header saved by Whalley in the 54th minute, while Franco rattled the bar with one of his own two minutes later. Kieran then had to make another superb save on 64 minutes to keep Franco waiting for a hat-trick goal that, thankfully for us, would not come.

 

We then stepped up our push for an equaliser by throwing on Mark West for Hreidarsson. West's first major contribution was to find Tortora in the Rovers penalty box on 68 minutes, but Ababio blocked Mario's strike. Mark would have his only shot at goal in the 75th minute, but the man from West Yorkshire couldn't strike it lucky against the men from South Yorkshire. The final quarter-hour passed by rather quickly as we succumbed to an unfortunate opening-day defeat.

 

Doncaster Rovers - 2 (Franco 14,45)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Tortora 35)

Championship, Attendance 12,724 - POSITIONS: Doncaster 6th, Dag & Red 18th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Josh Charles (Moser), Busetto, Darvill, Puustinen, O'Reilly, Virgo (Martin), Fraser, Dam, Hreidarsson (West), Tortora.

 

The Daggers board announced some more positive news after the disappointing result against Doncaster Rovers. They had started a partnership with Irish Premier Division side Salthill Devon that would see us have first option on any talented youngsters they produce. Also, as of next year, we will be able to send any of our reserve or youth players out to Salthill to gain first-team experience.

 

Although I approved of the board's decision to link up with Salthill, my focus was completely on our first home league game against Cardiff City. The Bluebirds lost their opening match 3-0 at home to Newcastle United, but they didn't have a bad record against us. Indeed, we hadn't scored against them in any of our four previous league meetings.

 

Josh Charles had to miss this game, as well as our next one, with a dead leg. As we now had a bevy of central defensive options, losing Josh for any amount of time wasn't as bad as it would've been about two or three years ago. Zola Casey and John Moser both came into the starting XI to make their full debuts.

 

5 August 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cardiff City

Mario Tortora should've broken our league jinx against Cardiff in the third minute. Tortora struck a half-volley from close range after exchanging passes with Daniel O'Reilly, but young City keeper Graham Skinner made a superb reflex save to thwart the Italian.

 

That early stoppage from Skinner would prove particularly vital in the 11th minute. Cardiff midfielder Will Fox's free-kick into the Dagenham box found our former loanee Les Sawyer, who showed no mercy and put the away side ahead at Victoria Road.

 

Sawyer chased a quickfire second goal three minutes later, when he got his head to Connor Glover's flick-on from a Nathan Walsh corner. Sawyer's header struck the bar, and his rebound was parried by Kieran Whalley, but Malcolm MacKenzie made it third time lucky for Cardiff. Both of the Bluebirds' centre-backs had scored within the first 15 minutes, and I was already fearing the worst.

 

The next half-hour was rather mundane, with our only two attempts at goal ending in disappointment. Tortora fired a 23rd-minute free-kick into Skinner's hands, while captain Mark West couldn't even get near the keeper with his shot in the 38th.

 

I replaced our diamond 4-4-2 with the more standard variation for the second half, in the hope that playing wider would get our attack going. That did not go to plan, as Cardiff kept us on the back foot early on. Republic of Ireland international Séan Davis was denied a third Bluebirds goal on 56 minutes by Whalley, who was at least giving a good account of himself. That couldn't be said of West, who missed the net again four minutes later.

 

Mario Djokic was now partnering Mark up front, but it would also be a very frustrating evening for the Montenegrin. Djokic launched a one-man counter-attack in the 71st minute before being tackled by Cardiff skipper Dan Milton in the penalty area. Mario's cries for a penalty went unheeded, as did my prayers for even one consolation goal.

 

Skinner's point-blank save from a last-minute West header continued our barren run against City, who had earlier had a third goal disallowed. Glover headed home a deep Milton cross after 77 minutes, but he was adjudged to have unfairly impeded on Whalley. That decision wouldn't be of any consequence in the end, as we suffered back-to-back defeats and slumped to 23rd - only Wigan Athletic were behind us on goal difference.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Cardiff City - 2 (Sawyer 11, MacKenzie 14)

Championship, Attendance 7,696 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 23rd, Cardiff 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Busetto, Casey, O'Reilly, Moser (Powell), Fraser, Martin (Dam), Polomat (Djokic), West, Tortora. BOOKED: Martin, O'Reilly.

 

I felt very let down by that performance, which already left us under huge pressure to get a result the following weekend. We travelled to Northampton Town, who'd drawn their first two matches, for the Saturday evening kick-off live on Sky Sports. Earlier results meant that we would potentially go bottom with a heavy defeat.

 

9 August 2031: Northampton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The difference between both sides' confidence was clear from the outset. Northampton twice tried their luck from outside the area early on. Leigham Wilding's attempted piledriver in the third minute was deflected behind for a corner, while Moses Duodu sent a free-kick just over the crossbar three minutes later.

 

On 21 minutes, winger Goran Plimon cleared the bar with a vicious effort from just inside our penalty area. The Slovenian got another chance to shine when Wilding found him unmarked on the right flank about five minutes later. Plimon cut past Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly on his way into the area, and he then found the net with a low drive that we should've seen coming.

 

We hadn't even registered a shot on goal before that moment. Our first came shortly after the restart, but Mark West's weak header was easily cleared by Northampton defender Henri Beckham. Mario Djokic fared slightly better with a long-range swerver in the 34th minute, although he couldn't quite beat on-loan West Ham United goalkeeper Glenn Nordh. We remained 1-0 down at half-time, but I felt we could turn things around after the restart.

 

My optimism was sorely tested two minutes into the second period. George Darvill made a total hash of clearing Paul Lawlor's long ball into the Dagenham box. Carl Hughes could've taken advantage, but the Northern Ireland striker somehow scooped his shot over! Lady Luck then turned against us in the 51st minute, with the Cobblers' crossbar denying Tom Virgo what would've been an excellent first competitive goal for us. That would be a soul-destroying miss.

 

After 57 minutes, Northampton teenager Billy Quinn found substitute Tom Sherwood with a superb direct pass, and the Guernsey gunslinger fired in a devastating shot. Northampton now led 2-0, and to add injury to insult, Matthew Fraser picked up a knock shortly after the resumption. I kept Matthew on for another quarter-hour as we battled in vain to salvage some pride.

 

Sherwood almost killed us off with a 71st-minute header that was caught by Kieran Whalley. Four minutes later, it really was game over. Plimon chipped a free-kick to Quinn, who swerved the ball through a small gap in our penalty area and grabbed the third goal.

 

We now desperately needed to get a goal back, if only to save face. Joel Honeyball was unlucky to narrowly clear the bar in the 80th minute. Four minutes later, Mario Djokic hoovered up a wayward headed back-pass from Quinn and went clean through on goal. The 'finish' that followed told you everything you needed to know about Mario's mindset.

 

Djokic had another disaster four minutes from the end, as Victor Dam played the Montenegrin through before Nordh came forward to snatch the ball from his feet. We would leave the Sixfields Stadium goalless and in last place, below Wigan Athletic - the only other pointless team - on goals scored. What a load of Cobblers.

 

Northampton Town - 3 (Plimon 26, Sherwood 57, Quinn 75)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 9,420 - POSITIONS: Northampton 9th, Dag & Red 24th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Busetto, Darvill, O'Reilly, Powell (Virgo), Fraser (Honeyball), Dam, Green, West (Martin), Djokic.

 

Three games, three defeats, one goal scored... and bottom of the table. Could it get any worse than this?

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2031 (continued)

Before our League Cup game, I loaned out reserve midfielder Lloyd Bailey to Newport County for five months. Bailey was in the last year of his contract and needed to put in some strong performances during his time at the Conference Premier club.

 

Strong performances were also needed when we took on Aldershot Town in Round 1 of the League Cup. Although I took a second-string side to the Recreation Ground, I was hopeful that we could finally claim a victory against the League Two side.

 

12 August 2031: Aldershot Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Joel Honeyball took the Dagenham captain's armband for this match, which he began with a wayward shot in the fourth minute. Aldershot nearly dealt another blow to our fragile psyche two minutes later, when Eddie Jeffrey's strike forced Daryl Ryan into a quick fingertip save. That mini-scare aside, we would be in almost total control against the League Two side.

 

Mario Tortora had a shot blocked by home midfielder Jordan Sherwood's backside in the 15th minute, shortly before his strike partner Baldur Hreidarsson drove an effort wide. When Baldur's next attempt - an audacious 30-yarder - was caught by Shots keeper Dominic Obodo in the 28th minute, I sensed that a breakthrough was imminent.

 

I was not wrong. Three minutes later, Joel's corner was nodded goalwards by George Darvill, and Baldur got above Obodo to head in the finish. The ice-cool Icelander had scored his first competitive goal for Dagenham, and - at long last - we were leading a match!

 

Hreidarsson could've stretched our lead further in the 54th minute, but his swerving effort bent narrowly off target. Darvill and Tom Virgo then failed in their attempts to build a 2-0 Daggers lead midway through the half. French duo John Moser and Jacques Polomat were also unsuccessful in the 70th and 74th minutes respectively.

 

Against a classier team, our profligacy may not have gone unpunished. As it was, Aldershot's only two shots of the second period were so poor that they weren't worth writing about in great detail.

 

When man of the match Darvill snuffed out a late Shots attack two minutes from time, we prepared to hit them on the counter. Mario Djokic took George's header up the left flank before cutting the ball to Rocco Mazzola, who found Moser in the area. John rode past a slide tackle from Aldershot right-back Rasim Ramic, and then miscued his shot horribly. We couldn't add to Baldur's earlier goal, which was just about enough to get us into Round 2 for the third time in eight attempts.

 

Aldershot Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hreidarsson 31)

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 1,331

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Casey, Moser, Darvill, Banton, Mazzola, McCann (Hutchinson), Virgo, Honeyball (Polomat), Hreidarsson, Tortora (Djokic). BOOKED: Hreidarsson.

 

I would've liked more than just the one goal, but at least we completed the win, which - you may remember - we failed to do in our last League Cup Round 1 game!

 

Our Round 2 match later in the month would also be away from home - against AFC Telford United. Telford would be a step up in class compared to Aldershot, even though they were bottom of League One without a goal to their credit.

 

Another young Dagger went out on loan after that game, with defensive midfielder José Cochet joining Bristol Rovers until mid-January.

 

Meanwhile, I beefed up our defence by signing 33-year-old left-back Billy Hurst on a free transfer. Hurst had previously played for Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Crystal Palace in the Championship, and he would act as an experienced alternative to Daniel O'Reilly.

 

Billy went onto the bench for what was surely going to be an extremely difficult home game against the Championship's leading scorers Derby County. Our cause wasn't helped by the absences of Victor Dam, through illness, and Mark West, who would miss the next three weeks with a twisted ankle.

 

16 August 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Derby County

I'll admit that I was surprised to see Derby playing ex-Daggers frontman Ollie Pert at left-wing. We looked to exploit his lack of mobility early on, with Heikki Puustinen making several excellent attacking runs from right-back. Our first real scoring chance didn't come from out wide, though, but from Baldur Hreidarsson in the seventh minute. Derby custodian Mick Whitney made what was in the end a comfortable catch from the Icelander.

 

Pert then forced our goalkeeper Kieran Whalley into a save two minutes later. Kieran also caught a 10th-minute free-kick from Rams midfielder Vladimir Bezak, but in the 14th minute, he was almost caught out by a Pert header that clipped the crossbar! Baldur had three more chances for us midway through the first half, but two went high and the other failed to beat Whitney.

 

The visitors grew stronger later on, with captain Brad Gaunt narrowly clearing the bar with his header from a Lee Jones cross on 34 minutes. Gaunt's strike partner Lee Willis and central midfielder Ian Kerwin also went close in the last few minutes of the first half, with both men having shots pushed away by Whalley. There was still just enough time for us to miss our best opportunity yet, with the bar denying Baldur what would've been a fabulous headed goal against the run of play.

 

That first half, goalless as it was, had given me reason for encouragement. A Dagenham counter-attack in the 55th minute showed real promise before Hreidarsson's low strike was stopped by Whitney.

 

Six minutes later, as Derby's attack began to switch on again, our defence switched off. Teenage defender George Darvill was tackled off the ball by Rams winger Louis Hatter deep in our half, and Hatter set up what should've been an easy finish for Gaunt. Derby's star man somehow headed it past the post, but he wouldn't be so wasteful when we next lost focus.

 

In the 65th minute, it was substitute midfielder Dean Martin who was guilty of squandering possession to Rams counterpart Silvu Dumitrescu. The Romanian moved the ball on to Hatter, who followed a surging run up the right flank with a superb cross that Gaunt clinically headed into the net!

 

Shortly after we went 1-0 behind, I brought on the returning William Barnes for his first appearance of the season. Will spurred our attack on and, in the 74th minute, set up a chance for fellow sub Mario Djokic that was well blocked by Derby. Heikki Puustinen sent a follow-up cross towards Jacques Polomat in the Rams box... but visiting defender Colin Terrell rammed into Jacques and nodded Heikki's delivery away. Our cries for a penalty went unanswered, and we wouldn't get close to threatening Derby's lead again.

 

County had a few more chances to increase their advantage before settling for a 1-0 win that took them up from 5th to 1st. We remained bottom and pointless, with Wigan Athletic's draw against Bradford City leaving us on our own in that latter respect.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Derby County - 1 (Gaunt 65)

Championship, Attendance 8,005 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 24th, Derby 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Casey, Busetto, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo (Martin), Fraser, Polomat, Hriedarsson (Barnes), Tortora (Djokic). BOOKED: Puustinen.

 

I suppose it could've been worse, but the general mood at Victoria Road was still very gloomy. Our fans still hadn't seen us score at home this season - not even in a friendly.

 

I declined to speak to the media afterwards, so my assistant Fabio Saraiva attended the press conference. Fabio is typically a mild-mannered fellow, but he blew his top when asked about the referee's decision not to award us a penalty midway through the second half. He used a few choice words to describe the decision, for which he received a fine and a strong written warning from the FA.

 

We'd now lost our first four games of the season. Dagenham & Redbridge had never kicked off a campaign with FIVE straight defeats, but we would need to get a result against 4th-placed Hull City at Victoria Road to avoid creating a piece of unwanted history. Could we finally get a league win, or even a home goal?

 

19 August 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Hull City

A high-tempo pressing strategy was the order of the day as we immediately took the game to Hull. On the day after his 24th birthday, Joel Honeyball almost found Mario Tortora with a third-minute byline cross that City keeper Russell Lawless smothered just in time. Baldur Hreidarsson later had a couple of long-range punts, neither of which went close to opening the scoring.

 

Dean Martin had a crack from closer to goal in the 17th minute, but Lawless made a superb block with his right leg. 33-year-old Lawless' hands also seemed pretty safe, as he held onto a Josh Charles header in the 22nd minute.

 

We would have a number of opportunities later in the half, but only Martin went remotely close to beating Hull's experienced goalie in the 37th minute. Dean threatened to stab in a drilled cross from Daggers debutant Billy Hurst before Tigers captain Alastair Johnston made a superb block that allowed Lawless to retrieve the ball safely. By half-time, we were up into double figures in terms of shots, and we were dominating on most of the other match stats - just not the most important one.

 

A lack of confidence can turn even the most prolific goalscorer into a quivering wreck, and that was no more apparent than in the second minute of the first half. Honeyball found Tortora in acres of space on the edge of Hull's penalty area, but Mario nervously took the ball towards goal before pulling it miles wide.

 

I then decided that enough was enough, and replaced Tortora with Mario Djokic, who wasn't exactly at the top of his form either. Djokic used his pace and dribbling skills to tear through Hull's defence in the 53rd minute... and then he struck the far post from a tight angle. Honeyball and Martin chased after the loose ball, with Dean getting there first to prod it into a gaping net! There was a huge roar across Victoria Road as we finally ended a long wait to score at home!

 

The Tigers then roared back, as Nathan Morgan and Brad Hardwick each went close to equalising before the hour. By the 64th minute, though, there was no doubt about which team was in control. William Barnes ran onto an incisive Honeyball pass, turned beyond Lawless, and finished with ease!

 

Four minutes later, we thrusted a third and fatal Dagger blow into the wounded Tigers. Heikki Puustinen's long ball up the right flank was flicked out left by Hreidarsson into the path of Djokic. Mario was clean through with only Lawless to beat, and - even when low on self-belief - a striker of his class could not possibly miss such a clear-cut opportunity! 3-0 to Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

The contest was almost over, so we could now relax, although Djokic arguably took things a little too easy! He missed a number of chances to double his money in the closing stages, most notably in the final minute of normal time. It didn't really matter in the end, as we finally got off the starting blocks and moved up to the heady heights of... erm, 23rd place. Hull slumped to 9th, having mustered just one shot on target - from Morgan in the 86th minute.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Martin 53, Barnes 64, Djokic 68)

Hull City - 0

Championship, Attendance 7,696 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 23rd, Hull 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Josh Charles, Moser, Hurst, Barnes (Virgo), Fraser, Honeyball, Martin (Green), Hreidarsson, Tortora (Djokic).

 

After the darkness, came the light. Would it lead us away from the relegation zone?

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2031 (continued)

Our next match was sure to be our toughest so far. We travelled to the Madejski Stadium to play Reading, who had finished 5th in the Premier League just two seasons earlier! That was followed by an incredible collapse that saw the Royals plummet into the Championship, where new manager Nathaniel Clyne had led them to three victories in their first five matches.

 

We hoped to have Victor Dam back after his battle with the flu... but just two days before our trip to Berkshire, the Danish midfielder strained his back. His return would have to be delayed by at least three weeks.

 

Losing one of our key men was a major blow to us, considering the calibre of players Reading had in their side. Uruguayan striker Miguel Rodríguez had scored 184 league goals in a decade at the club, his fellow forward Bobby Preece was a two-time England international, and right-back Danny McVey had won 100 caps for Scotland.

 

23 August 2031: Reading vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Each team threatened the other early on in proceedings. Baldur Hreidarsson sent a Dagenham half-volley wide in the second minute, while Danny McVey fired just over for Reading in the 8th. We got our next chance to strike in the 10th minute after William Barnes was brought down by Ricky Hales just outside the Royals' area. Our skipper took the free-kick himself, and he curled it sweetly into the top corner! 1-0 to the Daggers!

 

Reading's first attempt at a reply was an awful shot from midfielder Paul Sherwood after 12 minutes. A better opportunity came their captain Miguel Rodríguez's way in the 20th minute, when he ran onto a promising through-ball from Tero Vesalainen. Rodríguez had to shoot from a tight angle, but Kieran Whalley parried his effort before Josh Charles cleared the ball into touch.

 

That would be the Royals' only shot on target in the first half. The rest of the period was fairly comfortable for us, and Barnes was unlucky not to score from another direct free-kick in the 35th minute.

 

Reading continued to falter in the second half. On 50 minutes, Rodríguez found Vesalainen with an excellent pass that the Finnish midfielder drove hopelessly wide. The Royals' next attack collapsed six minutes later, when McVey's crossfield pass was cut out by Daggers winger Shaun Powell. Shaun played the ball short to Baldur, who then hoisted it forward for Mario Djokic to run onto. Djokic narrowly beat Reading centre-half Jesper Forsstrom to the ball, which he cut into the far end of the net for 2-0!

 

It was difficult to imagine that we were up against a team who were playing in the UEFA Europa League last season. The Royals were anything but regal, as a shot from Bobby Preece sailed wide of goal in the 65th minute. When Sherwood sent a free-kick over the bar in the 80th minute, a large group of home supporters gave up and went home.

 

With the Madejski Stadium growing quieter, Daggers substitute Mario Tortora threatened to twist the knife in. Tortora's header from a Powell cross on 88 minutes couldn't quite beat Reading keeper Davor Gligic, who impressively tipped it over. Hreidarsson also missed an opportunity to grab our third goal late on, but a 2-0 win still fired us up the table... and out of the bottom three!

 

Reading - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Barnes 10, Djokic 56)

Championship, Attendance 17,818 - POSITIONS: Reading 7th, Dag & Red 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Josh Charles, Busetto, O'Reilly (Hurst), Powell, Fraser, Barnes, Honeyball (Green), Hreidarsson, Djokic (Tortora).

 

That result was a very pleasant surprise. Losing right-back Heikki Puustinen for a fortnight, after he damaged his elbow in the build-up to our next game, was not.

 

That said, Heikki wouldn't have been in my plans anyway, as I left most of my regular starters behind for our League Cup Round 2 match at AFC Telford United. The Bucks had recently stopped a four-game losing rut in League One with back-to-back wins, although I still expected us to get past them.

 

26 August 2031: AFC Telford United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Neither defence faced much opposition during a dismal opening half-hour. The referee did have a bit more involvement than he would've liked, mind, as he booked AFC Telford duo Kenny Corbell and Kelly Phillip for clumsy fouls.

 

The Bucks were generally very rough, as Jacques Polomat would find out to his cost in the 22nd minute. Telford captain Lee MacFarlane went in hard on the young Daggers midfielder just outside our area, although he did, to his credit, put the ball out of bounds when it became clear that Jacques was seriously hurt. Polomat was stretchered off, and Baldur Hreidarsson came on to try and liven up our attack.

 

Baldur would register our first shot on target after 38 minutes, when his long-range drive was pushed behind by goalkeeper Angus Gibb. That aside, both teams were very poor going forward, and it was no surprise that the half-time score remained 0-0.

 

The shooting at either end didn't get much better in the first few minutes of the second period. Another attempted piledriver from Hreidarsson drifted well wide on 49 minutes, as did Pat Fitzgerald's effort for Telford a minute later. In the 52nd minute, Dagenham midfielder Dean Martin hit a powerful strike that Gibb did well to catch.

 

The breakthrough would come shortly afterwards. Our reserve midfielder Dennis McCann played a first-time pass to Hreidarsson, who smashed in a superb shot that Gibb had no hope of getting his gloves to. If that was impressive, then our second goal in the 55th minute really was special. After Martin found him in space, Daggers skipper Joel Honeyball sent a 25-yard chip over Gibb's head and into the net!

 

Going 2-0 up was critical, especially considering that Corbell had come within inches of drawing Telford level very soon after the restart. We then set about putting the Bucks down with a third goal.

 

It didn't come from Mario Tortora after 64 minutes, when his free-kick was caught by Gibb, nor after 73, when he clipped the outside of the post from an almost unmissable position! A minute after his horror miss, though, Tortora made up for his horror miss with a superb assist for Hreidarsson, and we were leading 3-0!

 

I decided to take things easy after that, as I brought on Mario Djokic for Tortora and gave 16-year-old right-back Will McCourt his senior debut. When Fitzgerald pulled one goal back for Telford in the 79th minute, some travelling supporters at the New Bucks Head must've feared that I'd declared too early. They need not have worried, as the Bucks could not find the net again before full-time. Our second hurdle in this season's League Cup had been successfully cleared.

 

AFC Telford United - 1 (Fitzgerald 79)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hreidarsson 53,74, Honeyball 55)

League Cup Round 2, Attendance 4,761

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton (McCourt), Casey, Darvill, Hurst, McCann, Virgo, Martin, Polomat (Hreidarsson), Tortora (Djokic), Honeyball.

 

For the first time in five years, we were into the draw for Round 3 of the League Cup. Our prize for reaching that stage last time was a grand day out at Chelsea. This time around, our reward was a grand day out at...

 

...Aston Villa. A team that I had never beaten in seven attempts as Dagenham manager. Erm... yay?

 

As if that wasn't enough of a mood-killer, the club doctor gave me the scan results of Jacques Polomat's ankle. I had hoped that it was only sprained or twisted, but it had indeed been broken. The French playmaker was out for three months.

 

I had to try and stay positive, because our final match of the month was an Essex derby at Colchester United. The U's were struggling in 23rd place, and we were out for revenge over the late defeat we suffered on our last visit to the Weston Homes Community Stadium. Would we get it here?

 

30 August 2031: Colchester United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Colchester had only won one Championship game so far, but they certainly made a confident start here. In the 10th minute, right-back Terry Curry had a dangerous cross punched away by Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley.

 

Kieran made another important save six minutes later, parrying a close-range effort from U's captain Matt Peters. Josh Charles then made a vital intervention to stop Peters from converting the rebound. He did, though, concede a corner that would lead to another Colchester chance. Peters hit an audacious 30-yarder that was well held by Whalley.

 

Things then went rather quiet until we first threatened United's goal in the 34th minute. A poor Curry clearance was intercepted by Matthew Fraser and headed towards Baldur Hreidarsson. Baldur then found Mario Djokic with an excellent through-ball, but was horrified to see his strike partner hit the post.

 

After 37 minutes, our captain William Barnes was booked for upending Harrison Atkins. Another clumsy Daggers foul - from Daniel O'Reilly on Colchester striker Regan Stroud - led to the home side taking the lead six minutes later. Young Dagenham defender George Darvill failed to intercept Joel Ashley's free-kick delivery to Stroud, who sent us a goal down.

 

We would also finish the half a man down, as Barnesy failed to keep his aggression in check in the last minute of normal time. Will brought down Atkins with another needlessly rough tackle, and his second yellow card left us with a huge mountain to climb.

 

The second half began very nervously for us, with Whalley needing to make a couple of early saves from Peters and Stroud. Meanwhile, Barnes' earlier dismissal didn't stop the tackles from flying in at both ends. Josh had his name written into the referee's book after 50 minutes, and he would soon be joined by Colchester's central midfield duo of Vinny Ashdjian and Atkins. On 66 minutes, shortly after the latter's booking, Daggers sub Dean Martin got a horrible connection to the ball when chasing an equaliser.

 

Our attacking fortunes didn't get any better later on. Hreidarsson went very close to scoring with a blistering strike in the 76th minute, but another awful attempt from Martin in the 88th ended our hopes of taking anything back.

 

Two more Dagenham players had seen yellow in between our final couple of shots, and it could be argued that indiscipline had brought about our downfall here. Our fifth defeat of the campaign sent us crashing back into the relegation zone, with the U's leapfrogging us and moving up three places.

 

Colchester United - 1 (Stroud 43)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 4,936 - POSITIONS: Colchester 20th, Dag & Red 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Josh Charles (Banton), Busetto, Darvill, O'Reilly, Powell (Martin), Fraser, Barnes, Green, Hreidarsson, Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: Barnes, Josh Charles, Fraser, O'Reilly. SENT OFF: Barnes.

 

This has officially been our worst start to a Championship season. After seven matches, we're third-from-bottom, and already six points adrift of the play-off spots.

 

Unsurprisingly, a few of the lads have started moaning that we're underachieving... and I can understand where they're coming from. This team should be performing much better, and frankly, so should I. Nobody at Dagenham & Redbridge wants to be embroiled in a relegation dogfight.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2031

Despite our poor start to the Championship, there were no movements in or out of Dagenham & Redbridge before the transfer window shut. I felt that our struggles were largely down to confidence, or a lack thereof, rather than any glaring weaknesses in the squad.

 

Our defensive record seemed to have improved somewhat, certainly in comparison to last season. Despite his fateful error in our most recent game, I'd been impressed by teenage centre-back George Darvill's maturity, so much so that I gave him a new and improved four-year contract.

 

If I was to criticise one area of my team, it was probably our attack. Loanee Baldur Hreidarsson had impressed me, particularly in the League Cup, and Mario Djokic was steadily coming into form, but Mario Tortora and Mark West had both been disappointing. After a three-week lay-off with a twisted ankle, West came back into the fold for our first match in September - but he would really have to up his game.

 

A trip to Watford didn't exactly inspire us with much confidence after five defeats in our first seven league matches. The Hornets were in 6th place, having lost just one of their Championship openers following relegation from the Premier League.

 

13 September 2031: Watford vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We've been guilty of missing too many early scoring chances this season, and that was the case again after eight minutes. Daggers captain Mark West nodded the ball on to Mario Tortora, who bore down on goal and had a shot blocked by Diederik Reekers. Watford's Dutch goalkeeper made another big save in the 20th minute, catching Joel Honeyball's free-kick just before Dean Martin could get a headed connection to it. The Hornets then countered through their popular captain Dean Golemac, whose fierce drive forced Kieran Whalley into an awkward parry.

 

Golemac would lead by example again in the 24th minute. Shortly after being fouled by Arran Banton, the Australian left-winger swung in an excellent free-kick that was half-volleyed home by Belgian defender Francois Poulain.

 

That gave Watford their first goal, and another Golemac set-piece almost resulted in a second goal two minutes later. Poulain received his skipper's corner at the near post and cut the ball back to on-loan Granada midfielder Rafael Aullón, whose strike was pushed away by Whalley.

 

Kieran's next save came in the 30th minute, from a deflected Golemac shot. Striker David Cabezas and midfielder Ricardo Antonio Jiménez missed chances to put the Hornets further ahead shortly before the break.

 

We showed a bit more attacking ambition in the second half, with Martin setting up an early opportunity for Tortora. Mario did the hard work by dribbling past Watford's centre-backs, but he pulled his shot inches wide. The Hornets then pushed forward again, with Ecuador striker Cabezas heading a fine chance into Whalley's hands after 51 minutes. Cabezas' next effort on 53 minutes went narrowly off target, as did Golemac's free-kick a minute later.

 

When Kieran frantically turned over a vicious strike from Cabezas in the 61st minute, we looked to be firmly under the cosh. John Moser had just replaced the struggling Zola Casey at centre-half for us, and he and Alex Busetto would have to work particularly hard to keep the deficit down.

 

I brought on two more subs in the 74th minute, one of whom would almost make an instant impact. Baldur Hreidarsson ran into space and collected a Martin pass before attempting a lob that Reekers superbly pushed away.

 

Five minutes later, the Hornets gave us another nasty sting. Left-back Jure Miletic's half-volley into the Daggers box found Dave Alcock, whose header looped over the despairing Whalley and killed off our hopes. Although Watford had right-winger Jordan Harris and Poulain booked late on, they recorded a comfortable shut-out win - their third in a row in all competitions.

 

Watford - 2 (Poulain 24, Alcock 79)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 13,851 - POSITIONS: Watford 3rd, Dag & Red 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Casey (Moser), Busetto, Josh Charles (Virgo), O'Reilly, Honeyball, Fraser, Martin, West (Hreidarsson), Tortora.

 

To be fair, the pressure was off in that match. It would be very much ON when we hosted Bradford City three days later.

 

Bradford were back in the Championship after winning the League One play-offs, and they hadn't started too badly, sitting in 15th place. The Bantams provided the sort of opposition that we HAD to beat to get out of our predicament. Failure would not be tolerated.

 

16 September 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bradford City

Adopting a narrow 4-3-1-2 formation had helped to deliver us a win in our last home game against Hull City, and I hoped that it would bring us more good fortune here. The early indications were not promising. Bradford winger Lucky Okoli could've scored against his old team nine minutes into his return to Victoria Road, but Kieran Whalley made a big save at the critical moment.

 

Kieran's heroics would be rendered academic two minutes later. Okoli found long-serving Bradford striker Robbie Cummins with a fine pass, and the Republic of Ireland international fired a low rocket past Whalley.

 

One Australian-born forward had already scored against us... and it certainly wasn't looking like a g'day for us when another found the net after 17 minutes! A devastating counter-attack resulted in left-winger Matthew Mitchell driving in a fabulous strike that put us 2-0 behind.

 

I was furiously bouncing up and down the touchine like a kangaroo, and Mario Tortora didn't exactly calm me down when he missed a sitter for us shortly after the restart. Tortora would get a second bite at the cherry almost immediately. Daggers midfielder Joel Honeyball nodded Bradford keeper Peter Petrus' goal kick on to Dean Martin, who then searched out Mario. The Italian's second shot was a marked improvement on his first, and we were back to 2-1!

 

That was the high point of a second half that ended frustratingly for us. Mark West scooped an awful shot well over the crossbar in the 41st minute. Our beleaguered captain almost reached a Daniel O'Reilly cross two minutes later, but Petrus punched the delivery clear to keep us behind at half-time.

 

With our seventh defeat in nine league games looming large, I resorted to shock tactics during the half-time interval. I spent the best part of 15 minutes tearing into my team - particularly my defence - before sending them out all fired up for the second half. George Darvill could've given us the perfect start in the 47th minute, but his header from a corner was cleared off the Bradford goal line by captain Gareth Hyland.

 

The Bantams later won three corners in quick succession, almost scoring from the last of them after 60 minutes. Bradford-born former Manchester United midfielder Anthony Davie drifted in a corner that was headed just over by Owen Hillier. Three minutes after that, William Barnes chipped a Dagenham free-kick into City's area. West's header was awkwardly palmed away by Petrus before our skipper fired the rebound into the side netting.

 

I'd now lost faith in Mark, so I brought on Baldur Hreidarsson to replace him straight away. Hreidarsson was barely four minutes into his cameo when he received an excellent through-ball from Martin. Baldur calmly struck it first-time past Petrus, and the game was level!

 

The crossbar denied Hreidarsson his second and our third goal in the 74th minute, with Honeyball and Tortora also missing chances to complete the fightback. Then, with eight minutes to go, Bradford centre-back Marc Catterick cleared our defence with a 50-yard ball to Hillier, who was clean through on goal. Hillier chested the ball, fired it past the rushing Whalley... and missed a gaping net by inches!

 

That surely would have won the game for Bradford. The Bantams would lose it after 84 minutes, when Catterick clattered into Hreidarsson in the box. The ref's decision to award us a penalty angered City's players - and particularly Catterick, who picked up a yellow card. When things calmed down, Matthew Fraser stepped forward to take the penalty, firing it beyond Petrus' reach! The Victoria Road faithful went wild as we completed an incredible comeback from 2-0 down and claimed a priceless 3-2 win!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Tortora 20, Hreidarsson 67, Fraser pen85)

Bradford City - 2 (Cummins 11, M Mitchell 17)

Championship, Attendance 8,005 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 20th, Bradford 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen (Banton), Josh Charles, Darvill, O'Reilly, Barnes, Fraser, Honeyball (Green), Martin, West (Hreidarsson), Tortora. BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

Was that to be the match that kick-started our season? We would get a better idea four days later, when Stoke City came to Victoria Road. The Potters were in 6th place and had lost just twice thus far.

 

20 September 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Stoke City

Tom Virgo hit an excellent strike for Dagenham in the first minute, and was denied by an equally brilliant catch from Stoke goalkeeper Igor Pinheiro. Less than a minute later, it all went horribly wrong for us - and for Daniel O'Reilly in particular.

 

Daniel tried to pass a free-kick forward to Dean Martin, only to see Potters winger Tony Dupire come forward and take possession. The Frenchman surged towards our penalty area, and although O'Reilly got back to intercept, he miscontrolled the ball and lost it to Dupire again! The ball was then knocked on to Billy Murphy, and the Glaswegian striker tapped in an easy finish for Stoke.

 

We had a couple of chances to equalise quickly, but William Barnes' free-kick was caught by Pinheiro in the 9th minute, shortly before Baldur Hreidarsson missed the target from a long distance. By the 14th minute, we were in the midst of a living nightmare. Stoke defender Robin Andersson climbed above Kieran Whalley to head in a Dupire corner and score the first goal of his fledgling City career. We'd gone 2-0 down early on for the second home game in succession.

 

There would be no incredible Daggers resurgence this time, and indeed, Esteban Morin almost volleyed the Potters into a 3-0 lead on 35 minutes. Our forwards continued to misfire for the Daggers at the other end, while Swedish centre-half Andersson kept the Stoke defence watertight. At half-time, there was no sign of us getting back into this game.

 

Mark West replaced Mario Tortora for the second half, and our captain's arrival would reinvigorate our attack. Martin missed the target from just outside the area in the 46th minute, although a much better opportunity arose three minutes later. West picked up a superb pass from Martin and then drove the ball ahead of Mario Djokic, who drilled it into the net from a tight angle! Unfortunately, the referee's assistant caught Djokic fractionally offside.

 

Our brief glimmer of hope was snuffed out quickly, and we meandered hopelessly through the rest of the match. Had Stoke not taken their foot off the pedal, we could well have lost by a greater margin than 2-0. The Potters' best chance to get goal number 3 came through a clever team move in the 71st minute that ended with Murphy pulling his shot wide.

 

West and Djokic missed our final two scoring attempts in the last ten minutes, and so we came away from this match empty-handed. To compound our disappointment, Hull City's surprise win at Leeds United later that evening sent us sliding into the bottom three again.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Stoke City - 2 (Murphy 2, Andersson 14)

Championship, Attendance 7,832 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 22nd, Stoke 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Josh Charles, Busetto (Darvill), O'Reilly, Virgo, Barnes, Martin (Honeyball), Hreidarsson, Tortora (West), Djokic. BOOKED: O'Reilly, Barnes.

 

You know it's going to be a season of struggle when you follow up a spirited win with a sorry performance like that. Talk about after the Lord Mayor's show...

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2031 (continued)

A League Cup Round 3 tie at Aston Villa gave us an opportunity to forget about our league woes and hopefully make some history. If we could record a first-ever win over the Villans, we would advance to Round 4 of this competition for the very first time.

 

23 September 2031: Aston Villa vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Attacking midfielder Dean Martin was at the heart of our early advances towards the Aston Villa goal. He had three attempts at goal in the first nine minutes... and all three missed the target. Marco Galvao produced Villa's first chance in the 11th minute with a low drive that was pushed behind by Daryl Ryan. Four minutes later, Galvao floated a corner into the box for Martin Crowder, whose header was nodded off the line by Daggers right-back Heikki Puustinen!

 

Surprisingly, our defence would not be seriously troubled again until the 31st minute. It was left-winger Galvao who once again led the way for Villa, forcing Ryan into another save. Daryl would make his third save after 42 minutes, stopping the Villans' Greek summer signing Vaios Limnios from point-blank range.

 

The hosts were at least getting their shots on target, which couldn't be said of us... until injury time. We finally made serious inroads into the penalty area when Mark West knocked a first-time pass forward to Mario Tortora. Mario's effort was parried by Villa's teenage goalkeeper Jonathan English, but only as far as Martin, who had the goal at his mercy and showed none whatsoever! Against the run of play, it was 1-0 to Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

Our renewed optimism took a dent four minutes into the second half. Heikki landed hard on his wrist after slide-tackling Aston Villa striker Marcelo in the penalty area, and the Finn's game was over early. Villa couldn't quickly capitalise on the loss of our main right-back. They missed the target on a couple of occasions before Brazilian centre-back Lima tested Ryan with a header on 61 minutes.

 

Nine minutes later, another Brazilian killed the carnival-like mood in the away end of Villa Park. Marcelo capitalised on a weak headed clearance from Matthew Fraser to go through on goal and grab Villa an undeserving, though not unexpected, equaliser. Fraser took most of the blame, but that goal had stemmed from a rushed clearance by our left-back Billy Hurst. Billy was already carrying a booking, so I took the veteran off before he could inflict any more self-damage.

 

It was all Aston Villa from then on, and by the 77th minute, they had turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Vasil Popov's right-wing cross for the hosts almost found Marcelo before it was knocked into the net by our very unfortunate 17-year-old defender John Moser.

 

We went for broke after that, but there was no use. Fraser had to come off with a knock in injury time, leaving us a man light for the final few minutes of our joint best-ever League Cup campaign. Like Chelsea five years ago, Aston Villa had recovered from a goal down at half-time to break our hearts.

 

Aston Villa - 2 (Marcelo 70, Moser og77)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Martin 45)

League Cup Round 3, Attendance 15,715

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen (Banton), Casey, Moser, Hurst (Mazzola), Virgo, Fraser, Dam (Green), Martin, West, Tortora. BOOKED: Hurst.

 

I felt utterly deflated at the final whistle. We had given our all and should've been through to the next round... but we just never seem to get a rub of the green against Aston Villa.

 

Thankfully, our injuries weren't too serious. Heikki Puustinen had to sit out our next couple of matches with a strained wrist, but Matthew Fraser quickly recovered from his knock and took his place on the bench at the DW Stadium against Wigan Athletic.

 

If we were having an awful season, Wigan's could be described as absolutely appalling. They were bottom of the Championship with just five points and a solitary win against Middlesbrough. Manager Denny Johnstone was said to be on the brink of losing his job, and a fifth successive Daggers victory against the Latics would surely push him over the precipice.

 

27 September 2031: Wigan Athletic vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham midfielders William Barnes and Dean Martin failed to impress with a couple of very early shots at goal. Wigan's first attempt came from Brazilian striker Franca in the 5th minute, and Kieran Whalley made an easy save. A Daggers breakaway five minutes later ended with Mario Djokic's low strike being pushed away by Latics goalkeeper Antonis Voutsakelis.

 

The deadlock would be broken after 19 minutes, as two of Wigan's homegrown talents combined to devastating effect. Midfielder John Woods - who was born in the nearby town of Atherton - drifted in a corner that was headed home by centre-back Jimmy Atherton. 1-0 to the hosts.

 

We almost conceded again in the 26th minute, but Kieran tipped Tony Robinson's cross over the bar just before it could find Cezar Teodorescu. That was followed two minutes later by an utterly dreadful miss from Mark West after he'd been played through by Djokic. Martin did make Voutsakelis work with an attempt at goal on 38 minutes, but other than that, we failed to seriously trouble a Wigan defence that was being held together like glue by Atherton (the player, not the town).

 

It wasn't until the 54th minute that our game started to come together. West knocked a long Whalley free-kick down to substitute midfielder Joel Honeyball, who lobbed a volley further towards the Wigan area. Djokic was the recipient, and he teed the ball up with his right foot before lashing home a half-volley with his left! The match was level!

 

Honeyball brought more fear into the Wigan team on 60 minutes, when he dribbled into the area before Woods went in with a tackle. The ball was knocked on to Marvin Green, who unfortunately blazed a shot over.

 

I then replaced West with Baldur Hreidarsson midway through the half. Hreidarsson's first contribution after coming on was to head Barnes' free-kick against the Latics bar. Josh Charles went after the loose ball, but centre-halves Atherton and Mick Murphy combined well to see off the attack.

 

Two minutes after our near-miss, in the 71st minute, Wigan had one of their own. Teodorescu got his head to a right-wing cross from Franca and flicked it towards goal, but Whalley intervened just in time. Another couple of minutes passed, and then Athletic moved forward again. Slovakian midfielder Lubomir Juhasz defied a rib injury to knock the ball to substitute Shaun Wilkinson in the Daggers area. Wilko then delivered a knockout blow, with his vicious shot beating Whalley and sending Wigan 2-1 up.

 

Green had a tame effort saved by Voutsakelis in the 78th minute, but we wouldn't get close to grabbing a second equaliser. By the final whistle, our hitherto excellent record against the Latics was in pieces.

 

Wigan Athletic - 2 (Atherton 19, Wilkinson 73)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Djokic 54)

Championship, Attendance 9,203 - POSITIONS: Wigan 23rd, Dag & Red 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Busetto, Josh Charles, O'Reilly, Powell (Honeyball), Barnes, Martin (Fraser), Green, West (Hreidarsson), Djokic. BOOKED: West.

 

It was now clearer than ever that I would have to make some tough decisions with regards to my regular starting XI.

 

First off, Daryl Ryan would be going back in goal on a regular basis. Kieran Whalley hadn't done a lot wrong, to be fair to him, but a record of two clean sheets in 11 games suggested that he hadn't done a lot right, either.

 

In addition, captain Mark West would be taken out of first-team contention until after the next international break. He hadn't scored in eight matches thus far, and with his 34th birthday looming, it seemed that time was catching up with the big man.

 

Watching Mark in recent games had felt like observing an aging, beloved family pet staggering through their final days before going off to doggy or kitty heaven. It was sad to see him decline so quickly, but I hoped a spell in the reserves would give him a new lease of life.

 

I also hoped that we could spark our campaign into life against Crystal Palace, in front of a capacity crowd at Victoria Road. The Eagles were 7th in the table, mind, and we'd only beaten them once in our previous four Championship meetings.

 

30 September 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Crystal Palace

After delivering a rousing team talk, I watched on as we began to play some excellent, and fearless, possession football. Baldur Hreidarsson had a couple of long-distance shots at goal in the first four minutes, and he wasn't too far off target with either.

 

Our Icelandic loanee - playing behind the two Marios in attacking midfield - would get another opportunity after 11 minutes. Arran Banton's cross into the Crystal Palace area caused some consternation amongst the visiting defenders. Brian York attempted to slide the ball away, but he only found Baldur, who hammered in his fifth goal of the season!

 

Our tails went up after that opener, and in the 18th minute, Hreidarsson created a chance that Mario Tortora unfortunately pulled wide. As for Mario Djokic, his first major involvement in a Daggers attack came after 31 minutes. Djokic's lob was nodded on by Tortora to Hreidarsson, who would surely have scored again but for a quick reflex save by Jemel Hull.

 

A minute later, Hull had a goal kick intercepted by George Darvill, who nodded it back into the Palace half and found Hreidarsson. Baldur chipped the ball forward to Djokic, who turned away from his marker York and lashed in a sublime 25-yarder! We were two goals to the good, and we were entertaining the Victoria Road crowd to boot!

 

Sometimes, moments happen in a football match that convince you that it IS going to be your day. One such moment for me came two minutes into the second half. Alan Hare's corner for Crystal Palace was headed goalwards by Craig Hodgkiss, and I was half-expecting him to find the net... until Victor Dam heroically nodded it off the line!

 

The subsequent Dagenham counter-attack ended rather prematurely, but we would soon be celebrating a 3-0 lead. On 53 minutes, Djokic crossed the ball into the Eagles' six-yard box. As soon as Orlando Munday attempted to clear the ball away, Tortora was there to flick it back towards goal and in off the post!

 

Crystal Palace had no answer to our silky-smooth possession game, with not even our old nemesis Toby Cook able to fire his team back into contention. Hreidarsson was running the show from the 'hole', so it was only fitting that he made a major contribution to our final goal after 79 minutes. Two minutes after he almost scored for the second time, Baldur set up a clinical finish for Tortora, who claimed his brace.

 

With that fourth goal, the demolition job was complete. Crystal Palace had their one and only shot at goal in injury time, but Jimmy Kyere's awful shot capped a miserable evening for the south Londoners.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Hreidarsson 11, Djokic 32, Tortora 53,79)

Crystal Palace - 0

Championship, Attendance 8,005 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 19th, Crystal Palace 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Josh Charles (Casey), Darvill, Hurst (O'Reilly), Virgo, Fraser, Dam, Hreidarsson, Tortora, Djokic (Honeyball).

 

We've had a couple of false dawns already. Is our dismantling of Crystal Palace a sign that we have finally, genuinely turned a corner?

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of September 2031)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  12    8     3     1     22    11    +11   27
2.          Reading                12    7     2     3     21    16    +5    23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Stoke                  12    6     4     2     18    11    +7    22
4.          Newcastle              12    6     3     3     26    15    +11   21
5.          Northampton            12    6     3     3     18    11    +7    21
6.          Leeds                  12    6     2     4     17    14    +3    20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Luton                  12    5     4     3     25    16    +9    19
8.          Watford                12    5     4     3     18    13    +5    19
9.          Crewe                  12    5     4     3     19    15    +4    19
10.         Peterborough           12    4     6     2     15    13    +2    18
11.         Sheff Utd              12    4     5     3     14    9     +5    17
12.         Crystal Palace         12    4     5     3     13    14    -1    17
13.         Plymouth               12    4     4     4     13    12    +1    16
14.         Middlesbrough          12    4     3     5     16    25    -9    15
15.         Bolton                 12    3     4     5     11    11    0     13
16.         Notts County           12    2     7     3     17    20    -3    13
17.         Millwall               12    3     4     5     13    21    -8    13
18.         Cardiff                12    2     6     4     11    13    -2    12
19.         Dag & Red              12    4     0     8     14    17    -3    12
20.         Hull                   12    3     3     6     18    31    -13   12
21.         Doncaster              12    3     2     7     10    18    -8    11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Bradford               12    2     4     6     18    22    -4    10
23.         Colchester             12    2     4     6     8     17    -9    10
24.         Wigan                  12    2     2     8     15    25    -10   8

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2031

We kicked off October with a north-east double. Before we took on the Smoggies of Middlesbrough, the Geordies of Newcastle United paid their first visit to Victoria Road.

 

Newcastle lost in the Play-Off Semi Final last season and were now desperate to regain their top-flight status at the second time of asking. The man tasked with attempting to win them promotion was Owen Coyle - the 65-year-old former manager of Celtic, Liverpool, and countless other clubs.

 

4 October 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Newcastle United

After a mundane start, Newcastle first threatened our goal in the 11th minute, when Guy Hogan's attempt was turned away by Dagenham keeper Daryl Ryan. Hogan had another go ten minutes later, dribbling at our defence before blazing the ball over.

 

We would launch our first serious attack on 25 minutes. A string of excellent Daggers passes ended with Mario Djokic entering the penalty area and smashing a shot against the post. Though we enjoyed more possession than Newcastle, we could arguably have created more opportunities in the first half had we been braver when it came to chasing after loose balls.

 

Our atypical hesitancy would lead to us coming unstuck after 37 minutes. The Magpies stroked the ball forward, almost unchallenged, until Hogan unleashed a shot from just outside our area. Ryan did brilliantly to parry it, but he and our defenders were too slow to react to Cristóbal Olate's rebound.

 

Olate had given Newcastle a 1-0 lead, which captain Mijo Djuzel went close to extending from long range in the 44th minute. United goalie Tim Coleman had to save a banana shot from Baldur Hreidarsson in injury time, but I was still not happy with how this match was progressing for us.

 

Newcastle looked on course to go further ahead early in the second period. Hogan went through in the opening minute, only to see his angled shot drift beyond the far post. Olate then had a couple of opportunities to double his money, but Ryan denied the Chilean twice in the 55th and 56th minutes. Victor Dam and Daniel O'Reilly each fired wide mini-chances for the Daggers at around the hour mark.

 

A more clear-cut opportunity arose after 63 minutes. Newcastle's Brazilian right-back Charles appeared to pull down Djokic in the penalty area, and although the Magpies tried to convince the referee that Mario had dived, the official still pointed to the spot. Matthew Fraser quickly placed the ball on that spot before calmly and effectively firing it past Coleman!

 

With the scores level at 1-1, and Newcastle's players growing wearier, I sensed that this game was ours for the taking. Dean Martin came on for Dam, and he made a major contribution in the 72nd minute - just five minutes after his introduction. Martin chipped an excellent ball ahead of Djokic, who broke away from Magpies defender Bruno Fontes and slotted a superb strike underneath the diving Coleman!

 

A second home win in quick succession looked to be on, but Newcastle were the Championship's top scorers for good reason. Djuzel's excellent low strike a minute after the restart was parried by Ryan, while Hogan missed a couple of close-rangers over the next couple of minutes.

 

Then, with five minutes to go, a nervy John Moser conceded a corner to the Magpies. Djuzel's delivery was intercepted by Martin, but Olate nodded the ball back towards Fontes in our area. The Portuguese centre-back squared the ball to Hogan, who fired a lethal bullet that not even Ryan's quick reactions could keep out.

 

It was now 2-2... but our hopes of winning the game weren't quite over. On 87 minutes, Hreidarsson played a weighted pass to Djokic in the penalty area. Mario's effort was pushed away from point-blank range by Coleman, but Baldur got to the rebound... and he clipped the upright. We would have to settle for a draw after all.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Fraser pen64, Djokic 72)

Newcastle United - 2 (Olate 37, Hogan 85)

Championship, Attendance 8,005 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 20th, Newcastle 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton (Josh Charles), Moser, Darvill, O'Reilly, Fraser (Virgo), Barnes, Dam (Martin), Hreidarsson, Tortora, Djokic. BOOKED: Banton.

 

A win would've taken us four points clear of relegation, but I suppose a draw wasn't too poor a result for us in the end.

 

Newcastle returned to Tyneside fairly content with their point, and we travelled to Teesside three days later to meet their local rivals Middlesbrough. We had drawn all of our previous four meetings with the Boro, who were in 17th place after making a so-so start under new manager Connor Ogilivie.

 

7 October 2031: Middlesbrough vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our first few attacks showed promise, but neither Baldur Hreidarsson in the third minute nor Josh Charles in the eighth could give us an early lead. To be fair to Baldur, his opening salvo had come from quite far out. The Icelander would have three more attempts from distance in the first half. Unsurprisingly, he wouldn't score from any of them.

 

Middlesbrough goalie Ronnie Devereux only had to make a couple of saves in the opening period, from Hreidarsson after 15 minutes, and then from Daggers captain William Barnes after 34. Boro's skipper, Aaran Barrett, struggled through much of the half with a gashed leg following a 28th-minute tackle from Tom Virgo. Barrett's left-wing team-mate Adis Kosnik had also picked up a minor injury earlier on.

 

Middlesbrough's wounded warriors soldiered on, and they would come on strong just before half-time. Doug Morton sent a swerving effort not too far wide in the 41st minute, while Calum Black's header in the 45th minute led to Ryan making a nervy fingertip save.

 

Our right-back Arran Banton also came under stress in the second minute of injury time. Whilst being pressurised by Kosnik, Arran hacked away a shaky clearance that Morton flicked into the Dagenham area. Josh tried to save his colleague's skin by knocking the ball away, but he could only divert it into the path of 18-year-old Jonathan Cavener, who tapped in the opening goal for Middlesbrough. It was yet another defensive disaster from the Daggers.

 

Charles looked to repair the damage in the 53rd minute by withstanding a Middlesbrough attack and kicking off a breakaway move for Dagenham. Substitute midfielder Victor Dam finished the move with an excellent cross to the head of Djokic... but Devereux heroically palmed the Montenegrin's effort behind. Devereux was on form again three minutes later, catching a swerving strike from Victor

 

 Middlesbrough striker Black then picked up a knock to give his manager Connor Ogilivie another headache. Boro were growing very tired, but Ogilivie wisely took off his three injured stars - Kosnik, Barrett and Black - and brought on some fresh legs to prevent us from building any momentum.

 

We tried to increase the tempo even more as the half wore on, to no avail. A robust Middlesbrough defence largely restricted us to shooting from outside the penalty area, and the frustration told as three Dagenham players got themselves booked for committing needless fouls. Late Devereux saves from Barnes and Dean Martin only heightened our sense of frustration. Another disappointing evening for the Daggers ended with Dean scooping our final, forlorn attempt at an equaliser over the bar in added-on time.

 

Middlesbrough - 1 (Cavener 45)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 13,072 - POSITIONS: Middlesbrough 13th, Dag & Red 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Josh Charles, Busetto, Casey, Banton, O'Reilly, Virgo (Dam), Barnes, Martin, Hreidarsson (Powell), Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: Banton, Djokic, Josh Charles.

 

That was our ninth defeat in 14 Championship matches. I was now getting tired of making excuses for my players. They just weren't pulling their weight, and our defence was still as vulnerable as it had been last season.

 

I had to make a change, and so - over the international break - I brought in my third new centre-back of this season.

 

31-year-old Gareth Lloyd was a beefy 6ft 4in defender with plenty of Championship experience, having previously played there for his hometown club Swansea City and later Bradford City. He went on spend a year in the Scottish Premier League with Celtic before being released this summer. Gareth was also the vice-captain of the Wales national team, for whom he had won 64 caps.

 

Lloyd's arrival, on a £4,000-per-week contract until the summer of 2033, meant that one of our younger centre-back signings would have to temporarily make way for experience. I chose to keep Zola Casey for the time being, and sent John Moser away to League One mid-tablers Leicester City on a three-month loan.

 

I hoped that Gareth would be the answer to our defensive crisis, which worsened further with a couple of injuries in the build-up to our next game. Josh Charles sprained his ankle and was expected to be out for around six weeks, while Arran Banton would miss the next four with a back strain.

 

Those injuries hampered my preparations for what was sure to be a tricky encounter at home to Peterborough United. Peterborough had lost just one of their last 11 league matches and were in 9th spot.

 

18 October 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Peterborough United

The match began on a low note for Dagenham left-back Daniel O'Reilly, who was booked in the fifth minute after bundling Peterborough's Paul Millen over. We had our first shot at goal a minute later, but Baldur Hreidarsson's effort was easily caught by Posh goalkeeper Pat Fehmi.

 

When our next attack broke down after nine minutes, the visitors launched an excellent counter-attack that almost paid off for them. Right-back Daniel Westerlund's first-time cross found frontman Darko Baturina, who cracked a header against the woodwork. Peterborough threatened us again three minutes later, with Daggers keeper Daryl Ryan having to react quickly to catch midfielder Marc Cutler's shot.

 

We started to come good again on 17 minutes, as a display of intricate, fast-paced passing ended with Mario Tortora being denied by Fehmi. Although Tortora didn't find the net, he did find Hreidarsson in the Posh area four minutes later. Baldur then drilled in a bullet to give us the lead!

 

We were soon controlling the game and cutting holes through the Peterborough backline. Matthew Fraser's 35th-minute through-ball almost led to Daniel O'Reilly getting us our second goal, but Fehmi saw him off. A minute after that, Dean Martin lobbed the ball ahead of Tortora to send the Italian through on goal. With Fehmi charging off his line, Mario surely had to score... but he struck the ball far too hard and sent it over. Would that missed sitter come back to haunt us in the second period?

 

Tortora was one-on-one with Fehmi again in the opening minute of the second half, with William Barnes' long ball giving him an opportunity to dispel his demons. It wasn't to be, as the Peterborough goalie - on loan from Aston Villa - saved his team again.

 

Another potentially costly miss came from Hreidarsson after 58 minutes. Baldur did brilliantly to dribble past Posh centre-back Gordon Ross and break away, but he miscued his shot horribly. Three minutes later, it was Martin's turn to miss the target from an excellent Barnes free-kick.

 

All those spurned chances gnawed away at our confidence, but Peterborough too were unable to make the most of their openings. Millen drifted an effort wide on 66 minutes, while Baturina was thwarted by a stunning fingertip save from Ryan five minutes later.

 

Daryl was having a fine game, as was his opposite number Fehmi, who made two more saves from O'Reilly and Mario Djokic later on. Peterborough had one last attempt to save a point in the 87th minute... but substitute Alistair Hamilton-Omole sent it just wide, and we held on for a narrow victory.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hreidarsson 21)

Peterborough United - 0

Championship, Attendance 7,542 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 18th, Peterborough 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Busetto, Darvill, O'Reilly (Hurst), Fraser, Barnes, Dam, Martin (Green), Hreidarsson, Tortora (Djokic). BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

After receiving his fifth yellow card of the season, Daniel O'Reilly was banned from our midweek game at home to mid-table Plymouth Argyle. The Pilgrims' previous manager Joe Miller had retired this summer, and he was replaced by another coaching stalwart in ex-Everton, Hibernian, Wigan Athletic and Burnley boss Mark Robins.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2031 (continued)

21 October 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth's leading scorer Ugonna Thompson was out injured, but his replacement on the left wing posed a real threat to us early on. Ahmed Hussein Tahir attempted a shot from just outside the area in the fourth minute and wasn't too far off target. Mate Simic didn't exactly send the ball miles wide, either, when he stroked a 7th-minute free-kick just over the crossbar.

 

Matthew Fraser fizzed our first attempt over the Pilgrims' bar a minute after that. Plymouth keeper Darren Conneely would face sterner tests in the 18th minute, when he saved a couple of 25-yarders from Dean Martin and Victor Dam.

 

Each side missed an additional attempt from far out before we first broke into Argyle's area on 32 minutes. Heikki Puustinen played an excellent centre to Mario Djokic, but the striker's header couldn't quite beat Conneely. Less than a minute later, Danny Coxall's headed effort for Plymouth was caught by Ryan.

 

There was a sense that the opening goal was not too far away... and the deadlock would indeed be broken after 36 minutes. Baldur Hreidarsson climbed above Argyle centre-half Che Grocott to head Fraser's corner into the net, and we were leading 1-0 at the interval!

 

Matthew and Baldur almost combined brilliantly for a second set-piece goal in the 58th minute. Unfortunately, Hreidarsson could only flick the Scotsman's free-kick over.

 

Meanwhile, Gareth Lloyd was having a solid debut at the back for Dagenham. He could've marked his bow with a dream goal on 61 minutes, but he couldn't get a clean collection to William Barnes' cross and Conneely claimed the ball. What then followed was a mesmerising 14-pass move from Plymouth, ending with Mike Khan's cross to Roger Rothery in the Daggers area. Rothery's first shot at goal from a tight angle was parried by Ryan, but the Pilgrims striker nodded the rebound home to level.

 

We didn't need much time to recompose, as we advanced towards goal again in the 64th minute. Hreidarsson drove a first-time pass into Plymouth's penalty area for Djokic to run onto... but Mario was halted by a clumsy slide tackle from Barry Bond. Our players appealed for a penalty... and the referee pointed to the spot! Could Fraser now beat Conneely to restore our advantage? Of course, he could, with a lethal penalty making it 2-1 Dagenham!

 

The rest of the match was rather nervy, at both ends of the pitch. On 74 minutes, Conneely gathered a long-distance attempt from Baldur that could've given us a little more breathing space.

 

Rothery set up a great opportunity for Plymouth to level again in the 76th minute, but Mike Khan didn't strike the ball accurately enough. The Pilgrims would not get a better chance, and so we secured back-to-back league wins for just the second time this season! We at last had some daylight between us and the relegation spots, with third-from-bottom Bradford City now four points behind.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hreidarsson 36, Fraser pen65)

Plymouth Argyle - 1 (Rothery 62)

Championship, Attendance 7,946 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 16th, Plymouth 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Lloyd, Darvill, Hurst, Fraser, Barnes (Virgo), Dam (Honeyball), Martin, Hreidarsson, Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: Barnes.

 

Matthew Fraser was named man of the match after an energetic display that saw him continue his prolific penalty record - he'd scored from each of his last EIGHT spot-kicks! He wouldn't add to that tally in our next match, as he was given the weekend off to recuperate.

 

One Daggers stalwart who did make the long trip to 9th-placed Sheffield United was our Yorkshire-born captain Mark West. Mark had been out of the first-team recently due to poor form, but after scoring a hat-trick for the reserves in midweek, he was welcomed back to the senior squad with open arms.

 

25 October 2031: Sheffield United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Sheffield United midfielder Jon Morris gave away a costly free-kick after bringing down Dagenham's Victor Dam in just the second minute. From Alex Busetto's free-kick onwards, we stroked the ball quickly and effectively around the pitch, bamboozling our hosts. I counted at least a dozen consecutive passes before Tom Virgo spotted a run from Dam, who pulled his pass into the corner of the United net!

 

It was a nightmare start for the Blades, whose playmaker Paul Hart was hurt in a firm tackle from William Barnes after eight minutes. Hart was still receiving treatment on the sidelines in the 11th minute, when we dealt another Dagger blow to the Bramall Lane faithful. Virgo knocked the ball down the line for Baldur Hreidarsson, who then squared it across the United goalmouth for Mario Tortora to finish! It was still very early in the game, and we were already 2-0 up!

 

A third Dagenham goal might've followed in the 15th minute, but Daniel O'Reilly's drive was pushed away by goalkeeper Juraj Gallo. Sheffield United launched their first real attack two minutes later. Damon Charlton's long ball sent Joe Pritchard-Ellis through on goal, but Daryl Ryan saved the striker's shot before Alex Busetto headed away the follow-up cross from Blades winger Tim Demetriou.

 

Pritchard-Ellis wasted another chance on 31 minutes, heading wide from Demetriou's delivery. Demetriou would then threaten us twice late on, drawing Ryan into a difficult save in the 41st minute before striking the woodwork a minute later from a half-volley. We still led 2-0, but we were looking far from comfortable.

 

A mistake from Sheffield United defender Moses Langton gave us an opportunity to extend our lead in the 50th minute. Langton's missed interception saw Dam run onto a superb cross from O'Reilly and charge through, only for Gallo to rush from his line and parry the ball away. Hart then missed an opportunity to halve our lead in the 55th minute.

 

We now needed cool heads and composed defending to stop the Blades from getting back in contention. Alas, Ryan showed neither characteristic a minute later, when he desperately scrambled away a long ball from United winger Marcelo Andrade that was going wide. Daryl's clearance bounced towards Morris, who half-volleyed into an unguarded net from 30 yards out.

 

With our advantage down to a single goal, an already tense match became even more so. Ex-Daggers star Andrade drove wide a vicious attempt to score against his former club on 64 minutes. Three minutes after that, Blades substitute Aaron Byrne's free-kick bounced behind off the crossbar.

 

Byrne was then booked in the 72nd minute for upending George Darvill, becoming the second of four Sheffield United players to see yellow in this half. A couple of minutes after his booking, Byrne surged past Darvill and looked odds-on to draw his team level. That was until Daryl pulled off a superb save to tip Byrne's strike behind and keep us in the ascendancy! That would be the defining moment of this match. The Blades would not get another shot on target, as we battened down the hatches and ground out our third consecutive single-goal win.

 

Sheffield United - 1 (Morris 56)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Dam 2, Tortora 11)

Championship, Attendance 19,094 - POSITIONS: Sheff Utd 10th, Dag & Red 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Busetto, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Barnes, Honeyball (Martin), Dam (McCann), Hreidarsson (West), Tortora. BOOKED: Virgo.

 

That was only our second league victory away from home this season... but it very nearly wasn't. I had not been impressed by Daryl Ryan's scuffed clearance that let Sheffield United back in the match, and I considered bringing Kieran Whalley back into the side at his expense. That was until Kieran gashed his head in training, thus ruling him out of our next two matches.

 

Daryl, therefore, retained his place in goal when we met newly-promoted Notts County at Meadow Lane. Captain Mark West made his first start in over a month as he attempted to finally end his long goal drought.

 

28 October 2031: Notts County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Notts County striker Ian Neary had over 200 Football League goals to his name, so it was vital that we kept his chances down to a minimum. Alex Busetto obviously didn't get the memo. Busetto lost his marbles in the 16th minute, tripping Neary in an off-the-ball incident and needlessly conceding a free-kick close to our goal. Alex was lucky not to get carded for that foul, and he was very relieved when Neary's free-kick was caught by Daryl Ryan.

 

Daryl would deny Neary again four minutes later, parrying his Irish compatriot's strike from an excellent Ross Duff cross. Gareth Lloyd then hacked the ball away into touch to give us some respite, albeit temporarily.

 

Busetto almost gifted Neary another chance with an awful headed clearance after 21 minutes, but Matthew Fraser rescued us with a fantastic slide tackle. Shaun Powell then played the ball back to Ryan, who tried to scramble it away. Magpies midfielder Patrick Sinclair got to the clearance first and volleyed it at goal... but Daryl gathered the ball just in time.

 

Brandon Turner had a relatively quiet first half-hour in the County goal, not making his first save until he pushed away Victor Dam's shot on 32 minutes. Turner then kept out a couple of Marvin Green efforts before half-time, at which point the match was very much on a knife-edge.

 

Mario Djokic replaced Mario Tortora up front for Dagenham in the second half, and he very nearly scored within five minutes. Turner could only push away an excellent Fraser free-kick into Djokic's path, but an excellent tackle from Magpies defender Warren Hilton denied the Montenegrin an opportunity. County then countered, with Neary having another shot kept out by his international colleague Ryan.

 

Then came the Dagenham counter from the counter. Powell played the ball out left to Green, who dribbled into Notts County's area before being tackled by Liam Simpson. Djokic reacted quickly, firing the loose ball past Turner to finally give us the lead after 51 minutes!

 

We were fortunate to stay ahead in the 62nd minute, with Daryl having to keep out yet another Neary strike. I then brought on William Barnes to replace the tiring Victor Dam. Will's first touch of the ball, after 64 minutes, couldn't have been much better. Barnesy floated a free-kick sweetly into the net after Djokic was fouled just outside County's area, and it was 2-0 to Dagenham!

 

Notts County were now really looking bruised and battered, both physically - a couple of their players were carrying knocks - and mentally. When Ryan pushed away a stunning 40-yard strike from Jamie Lynch in the 74th minute, the Magpies must've been wondering if we'd secretly taken the legendary Andy Boyes on loan from Manchester City! By the 79th minute, they were perhaps feeling like they were actually playing against the Citizens! Turner made a couple of quick saves from Djokic, and then blocked a third from Mark West... but he couldn't do much about Fraser's tap-in for his first goal from open play this season.

 

A stunning second-half performance had given us a 3-0 win, though that would've meant nothing but for some outstanding goalkeeping from Ryan. Daryl secured his clean sheet - and the man of the match award - by stopping a FIFTH attempt on goal from a very unlucky Neary, whose strike partner Lynch had to come off injured just before the final whistle.

 

Notts County - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Djokic 51, Barnes 64, Fraser 79)

Championship, Attendance 7,999 - POSITIONS: Notts County 19th, Dag & Red 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Lloyd (Casey), Busetto, O'Reilly, Powell, Fraser, Dam (Barnes), Green, West, Tortora (Djokic).

 

What a difference a month makes! About five weeks ago, we were in the bottom three and wondering if this would be a season of struggle. Now, we're in the top half - for the first time this term - and only three points off the play-off places!

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2031

Our opening match in November would give us a real idea of whether we were ready to launch a firm challenge for a play-off place. Bidding to end our four-game winning streak were Leeds United, who came to Victoria Road sitting just outside the play-off spots on goal difference. We would go level on points with the Whites if we could rack up a fifth straight victory.

 

1 November 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Leeds United

Dagenham midfielder William Barnes and Leeds counterpart Mick Riley went well off target with their respective sides' opening shots in the first 11 minutes. Another of our central midfielders, Matthew Fraser, was badly hurt in a slide-tackle from Riley on 14 minutes. Matthew complained that he'd stubbed his toe, but I told him to play on through the pain. It would be a decision that I very nearly regretted.

 

After 23 minutes, Fraser underhit a pass that was closed down by Leeds' energetic workhorse Riley. The 32-year-old moved the ball out right to Ilias Ntalaperas, whose through-ball found Jaroslav Krejci in the Daggers area. Daryl Ryan came forward to save the Czech striker's shot, and he also survived a follow-up attempt from Jeremy Owen.

 

Despite being let off the hook, I felt that I couldn't risk Fraser any further, so Tom Virgo came on in the Scotsman's place. At the other end of the pitch, our strikers continued to starve and our midfielders carrying on missing from distance. A couple of woeful attempts from Dean Martin, and one from Victor Dam, were the best we could manage in the latter part of the first half.

 

United's strongest attack came four minutes from half-time. After a hasty clearance from Dagenham left-back Billy Hurst, Leeds quickly moved the ball back up the pitch. Krejci passed to Ntalaperas in the semi-circle, and the Greek sidefooted the ball ahead of Bosnian winger Bozenko Mikulic, whose first goal in English football opened the scoring for the Whites.

 

Dagenham captain Mark West's woes continued in the 58th minute with a dreadful swerving effort that went nowhere near the goal. Barnes did at least go close with a curler of his own seven minutes later, although he still couldn't beat goalkeeper Pat Sheridan.

 

As my temperature gradually rose, Leeds substitute Steve Heaton turned the heat on us even more. The 21-year-old striker connected with a superb pass from Ntalaperas after 73 minutes, and only an impressive low save from Ryan prevented him from finding the net.

 

Four minutes later, West did at long last find the net for the Daggers. Sadly, he was caught offside after turning in an incisive pass from Mario Djokic, who would also end the day goalless. Throughout the whole 90 minutes (plus additional time), we failed to register a single legitimate shot from inside the Leeds box - a statistic that told you exactly how poorly we had played.

 

When all was said and done, we were lucky to have only lost by a single goal. Heaton twice went close to doubling Leeds' winning margin, but he was thwarted by Ryan after 78 minutes and the woodwork after 84.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Leeds United - 1 (Mikulic 41)

Championship, Attendance 7,859 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Leeds 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Darvill, Lloyd, Hurst (O'Reilly), Fraser (Virgo), Barnes, Dam (Tortora), Martin, West, Djokic. BOOKED: Barnes.

 

Our winning streak had petered out, and pretty much everything that could've gone wrong for us elsewhere did go wrong. Other results saw us fall back into the bottom half, while the gap between us and 6th place was increased to six points.

 

Matthew Fraser's stubbed toe would keep him out of our next match the following weekend at Bolton Wanderers. The Trotters were already in a relegation scrap, but a home win at the Reebok Stadium would potentially see them drag us back into the battle.

 

8 November 2031: Bolton Wanderers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Neither team was afraid to get physical in what proved to be a combative first period. Dagenham defender Zola Casey was booked in the 7th minute after clattering into Bolton's on-loan Southampton striker Hasney Mitchell. Bolton then conceded a number of fouls in fairly quick succession before Mitchell nodded wide their first scoring opportunity on 19 minutes. Baldur Hreidarsson was well off target with our first attempt in the 23rd minute, although he was heavily involved in our next attack three minutes later.

 

After Callum Fordham fired a long-range punt over for the hosts, Daryl Ryan hoisted a goal kick into the Trotters' half. Hreidarsson received the long ball and moved it out wide to Shaun Powell. Our Welsh right-winger sauntered past Bolton's left-winger Jimmy Guy and took the ball towards the byline, from where he drilled a cross that Mario Tortora tucked in at the back post!

 

Mario had tortured the Bolton defence once, and he would do so again in the 33rd minute. Baldur was the architect on that occasion, with his through-ball finding the Italian narrowly onside, and a cool finish into the far corner of the net made it 2-0!

 

Bolton already looked dishevelled, with manager Joe Shaughnessy quickly sacrificing midfielder Misel Ipsa in favour of striker Keith Bell. Wanderers left-back Jack Masefield was booked four minutes later after bringing down Powell. We were unlucky not to score again just before half-time, with Marvin Green fizzing a half-volley inches wide.

 

A second Trotters player went into the book after 48 minutes, as midfielder Kelvin O'Leary's shove on Hreidarsson resulted in his name being taken. Two minutes later, however, came the first flicker of life in a side that had already looked dead and buried. Fordham's corner was headed in at the near post by 22-year-old West Bromwich Albion loanee Bell, and Bolton were suddenly back in the game.

 

We could've restored our two-goal lead almost instantly through a corner of their own, but Casey headed wide after Hreidarsson's fierce shot had been tipped behind by Wanderers goalkeeper Bill Miveld. The tension grew in the 53rd minute, when Daggers midfielder Victor Dam was accused of backing into Zema Hilton just outside our area. Bell flighted in the free-kick... and struck the bar! But for a few inches, we might have been pegged back to 2-2.

 

Another big moment came when our captain William Barnes slide-tackled Trotters skipper Ricci Lawrence in the 62nd minute to cut out a pass from O'Leary. Victor collected the ball and sent it forward to Baldur, whose first-time pass sent Mario charging towards the Bolton area. After entering the box, Tortora turned sharply and lashed in the shot that sealed his hat-trick! 3-1 to Dagenham, and we had daylight again!

 

Bolton roared back straight from the restart, with Bell thundering a promising shot narrowly over the bar. Fordham also did his best to try and force a second Trotters goal after 73 minutes, when his free-kick was saved by Ryan. The subsequent Dagenham counter saw Tortora chase his fourth strike of the afternoon, but the execution left a little to be desired on that occasion.

 

Mario had lost his concentration at a key moment, and Daniel O'Reilly did the same in the 75th minute. O'Reilly completely misjudged the flight of Guy's crossfield ball to Fordham, which bounced off his shin and fell perfectly for Fordham to float it into the box. A mistimed jump from Alex Busetto then allowed Bell to connect with the cross and score for a second time.

 

It was a one-goal game again... but barely a minute later, the scoreline changed once more! Daggers sub Dean Martin's clever cut-back was thrashed home by our Italian hero, and it now Mario Tortora 4 Keith Bell 2!

 

Mario had already secured his match ball, and Bell soon decided that he wanted one for himself! As the game entered its 78th minute, Bell sped past our substitute centre-half Gareth Lloyd and struck an excellent shot that Daryl could only palm into the net.

 

Bolton then pushed on to try and turn a 4-3 deficit into 4-4. Mitchell almost hit the sweet spot for them after 80 minutes, but Ryan's quick reflexes kept us on course for a big win. His counterpart Miveld then prevented Marvin from chipping us into a 5-3 lead after 86 minutes. Miveld would be required to make another save a minute later, when Trotters centre-back Tim Pitt impeded Hreidarsson in his area.

 

There was only one candidate to take our penalty. Tortora stepped up to the spot, knowing that 12 yards and one goalkeeper were all that separated him from becoming the first Dagenham & Redbridge player to score FIVE goals in a competitive match. Mario blasted his spot-kick powerfully to Miveld's left... but the goalie went the same way and palmed it behind! Tortora had missed his chance to make club history, but his still-impressive quadruple had nonetheless ensured that we would emerge victorious.

 

Bolton Wanderers - 3 (Bell 50,75,78)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Tortora 26,33,62,76)

Championship, Attendance 24,052 - POSITIONS: Bolton 20th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Casey (Lloyd), Busetto, O'Reilly, Powell, Barnes, Dam (Martin), Green, Hreidarsson, Tortora. BOOKED: Casey.

 

Goodness me! What a match that was! I need a lie down...

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2031 (continued)

The international break saw Daryl Ryan pick up two more caps for the Republic of Ireland - he now had 15 to his name. Shaun Powell featured twice for Wales Under-21s, while George Darvill had a great time with England's Under-19s, who beat Scotland home and away.

 

Back at Dagenham, we welcomed back Arran Banton, Josh Charles and Jacques Polomat to full fitness following their injury lay-offs. However, we would soon lose our first-choice left-back, as Daniel O'Reilly strained his back and wouldn't be kicking a ball in anger again for four weeks.

 

After a fortnight's recuperation, we resumed our league campaign with a couple of home matches. First off, we faced a Crewe Alexandra side who had made the most of their second chance after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. Thomas O'Ware had guided the Railwaymen to 8th place after a run of one defeat in ten games.

 

22 November 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Crewe Alexandra

After two years at Queens Park Rangers, Gary Harper was enjoying a triumphant return to Crewe Alexandra - the club where he started his professional career. The 25-year-old striker was in red-hot scoring form, as he showed nine minutes after kick-off. Harper took advantage of some hesitant defending from Alex Busetto to slide Rachid Zaidi's centre into the net and bag his 17th Championship goal of the season.

 

Crewe's opening goal had come just moments after their crossbar prevented Baldur Hreidarsson from drawing first blood for us. The scoreline belied our early dominance when it came to keeping possession and having shots at goal. Our first effort on target was Dean Martin's 19th-minute drive, which Alex keeper Warren Rodwell just about got a glove to. Crewe survived another major scare four minutes later, when Mario Tortora's corner was flicked over by Hreidarsson.

 

The Railwaymen then threatened to derail us again after 31 minutes. Zaidi floated a cross into our area for Harper, whose header looped over Daryl Ryan and into the net. Harper thought he'd scored his 20th goal in all competitions this season... but the offside flag said otherwise.

 

Following that close shave, we finally upped our game - and upped the pressure on Crewe. After 37 minutes, Daggers left-back Billy Hurst provided Hreidarsson with a low cross that the ice-cool Icelander stroked into the net!

 

We could've followed up our equaliser with a second goal three minutes later. Hurst and Victor Dam did some excellent work up the left flank before the latter played the ball to midfielder William Barnes, who was approaching the box. Alas, Rodwell's save from Will's drive meant that it was still 1-1 going into the interval.

 

Crewe midfielder Russ Grierson gave Ryan a real test from 25 yards out in the 48th minute, but a fine save from Daryl retained parity. Rodwell also kept the scores level three minutes later, pushing Hreidarsson's low attempt from right-back Heikki Puustinen's weighted pass behind his goal.

 

The Railwaymen couldn't completely dispel Matthew Fraser's corner, and Matthew would soon put them under strain again with an excellent centre into their six-yard box. George Darvill collected the ball and then cheekily back-heeled it for Hreidarsson to drive home his and our second goal! At long last, our greater class was counting for something.

 

Baldur was enjoying another barn-storming game, but his strike partner Mario was nothing like the lethal finisher we had seen against Bolton Wanderers. A weak diving header on 57 minutes would be Tortora's only real shot at goal before he was replaced by Mario Djokic midway through the half.

 

By then, Australian winger Richard Zappia had come on to try and give Crewe some zip. On 75 minutes, the 20-year-old cut inside and approached our area before driving the ball off target. The introduction of another Alex substitute - full-back Deakin Kennedy - would arguably prove more significant.

 

When an attempt to strengthen our lead broke down in injury time, Crewe replied with a fast-paced counterstrike. Zaidi sprayed the ball out right to Kennedy, who promptly swung in a deep cross to the far post. Rees Wallace - Crewe's other substitute, who had replaced Harper at half-time - headed the cross against the bar, but he muscled Busetto off the rebound and squirmed it across the goal line. The home crowd at Victoria Road was stunned into near-silence as a potential 2-1 Daggers victory turned into a disappointing 2-2 draw.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hreidarsson 37,52)

Crewe Alexandra - 2 (Harper 9, Wallace 90)

Championship, Attendance 7,871 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Crewe 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Busetto, Darvill, Hurst, Fraser (Virgo), Barnes, Dam (Honeyball), Martin, Hreidarsson, Tortora (Djokic).

 

How bloody typical of us to drop points in a home game that we had dominated for so long. Surely we would be much more ruthless when 15th-placed Millwall arrived at Victoria Road?

 

25 November 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Millwall

After his double against Crewe Alexandra, Baldur Hreidarsson began this match in a confident mood. His fierce drive in the third minute was palmed behind by Millwall goalkeeper Drey Blackburn. Four minutes later, he set up a chance that Mario Tortora fired miles wide.

 

Also off target, albeit not by as big a distance, was Matthew Fraser via a free-kick in the 16th minute. More and more Dagenham opportunities went to waste as the half progressed, although Blackburn looked in great form between the Lions' sticks. He was particularly impressive in the 29th minute, when he caught a header from Tortora at his near post.

 

Blackburn also made light work of a long-distance attempt from Hreidarsson on 42 minutes. At the other end... well, the Lions didn't so much as meow at us. Daryl Ryan had a very quiet first half in goal, and the only time our defence was even remotely tested was when Arran Banton cleared away a weak header from visiting striker Mick Baird in the 37th minute.

 

Millwall may have looked like pussycats in the first period, but they roared like Lions after the restart. Two minutes into the second period, winger Kadeem Blackwell passed the ball short in the Dagenham area to Baird, who drilled in a simple finish. Having bossed much of the match, we now found ourselves trailing.

 

Tortora should've put things right from Hreidarsson's through-ball in the 53rd minute, but Blackburn pulled off another fine save. Creating that opportunity would be the last thing Baldur did before being replaced by Mark West.

 

On 57 minutes, West went down under a tackle from defender Dan Walters as they both tried to reach Billy Hurst's deep cross into the Millwall area. The referee ruled that Mark had dived and promptly booked him. The Lions attacked straight from their free-kick, and Ryan had to get his fingertips to a promising strike from forward Bill Nolan.

 

Millwall's next attempt was blazed well over by Nolan after 63 minutes. The visitors did find the target for a second time after 76 minutes, but Liam Jeffers barged into Ryan to allow Blackwell's cross to dip into our net. That 'goal' was rightly disallowed, and less than a minute later, we threated to equalise. Marvin Green thought he'd smashed in a leveller until Blackburn got just enough of his right hand to the ball to tip it behind.

 

Josh Charles and substitute Dennis McCann also tried and failed to draw us level late on, and so most of a capacity crowd at Victoria Road went home disappointed. We'd lost our fifth home match this season, and it was still only November.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Millwall - 1 (Baird 47)

Championship, Attendance 8,005 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 14th, Millwall 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Josh Charles, Darvill, Hurst, Powell (Honeyball), Fraser (McCann), Barnes, Green, Hreidarsson (West), Tortora. BOOKED: West, Josh Charles.

 

Would you bloomin' believe it? We'd blown it at Victoria Road again, and we'd LOST this time! Was it any wonder that we were falling short of expectations when our home form was so hit-and-miss?

 

Our away record wasn't much better, to be honest. That said, I felt confident that we could return to form at Cardiff City - as long as their centre-backs didn't feel like becoming centre-forwards again.

 

I made a host of notable changes to the starting line-up for this match. Most notably, Kieran Whalley and Jacques Polomat made their first competitive starts in two and three months respectively, while left-back Rocco Mazzola was given his full league debut.

 

29 November 2031: Cardiff City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our defence was severely tested in the first half, with Gareth Lloyd having a particularly busy return to south Wales. After 10 minutes, the former Swansea City man cleared behind a Seán Davis cross to concede a corner to Cardiff. Will Fox's delivery found the head of City centre-half Josh Dumphy, but Daggers goalie Kieran Whalley began his return to first-team action with a comfortable catch. Whalley had to keep out another header in the 18th minute, when he tipped Aristote Mbala's effort behind.

 

Kieran had settled back in quickly, as he showed again by pushing away a shot from Davis on 30 minutes. We tried to counter-attack two minutes later, but Jacques Polomat pulled his strike just wide.

 

Another couple of minutes passed, and then Cardiff had us panicking again. Antonis Antoniou laid the ball forward to Mbala, and the DR Congo international struck a vicious effort that was awkwardly parried by Whalley. George Darvill then made an excellent tackle to stop Mbala from having another attempt at goal. Cardiff may have been just a couple of points behind us, but they were clearly on top here.

 

The hosts went even closer to finally breaking through after 48 minutes. Nathan Webbe's cross found Davis at the back post, and if it wasn't for our crossbar, the Irishman would surely have headed home. We then had a couple of weak attempts at goal through Baldur Hreidarsson and Polomat before coming under pressure again. Whalley continued to excel in goal, denying Antoniou and Mbala just before the hour mark.

 

Cardiff would be presented with their best opportunity yet after substitute midfielder Nicky Hargreaves was pulled back by Dagenham captain William Barnes on 65 minutes. Another City sub stepped up to take the free-kick... and winger Connor Glover was just inches away from pulling off a wonderful 30-yard goal!

 

A minute later, Darvill hoofed the ball over Cardiff's defence and found Hreidarsson. Baldur struck far too early to get anywhere near the target, and he would soon make way for Mark West. It would be yet another forgettable cameo appearance from Mark in yet another goalless draw against City. At least Lloyd was named 'man of the match' after an exceptional defensive display.

 

Cardiff City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 17,361 - POSITIONS: Cardiff 15th, Dag & Red 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Lloyd, Darvill, Mazzola, Virgo (Powell), Barnes, Dam, Polomat (Honeyball), Hreidarsson (West), Djokic. BOOKED: Barnes, Dam.

 

The match was forgettable, but the journey back home to Dagenham certainly wasn't. I was strongly critical of Victor Dam's performance in midfield - and in the heat of the moment, I warned him that he would be transfer-listed if he didn't up his game. Victor was understandably upset, and he wouldn't talk to me again for the rest of the day.

 

Thankfully, this situation was swiftly resolved the following morning. I apologised to Victor for treating him too harshly, and we kissed and made up (okay, maybe not the kissing part). Restoring Dam's morale had been quite easy, but repairing the whole team's confidence after a three-match winless run could prove rather trickier.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of November 2031)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  24    14    6     4     44    23    +21   48
2.          Stoke                  24    13    5     6     37    25    +12   44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Newcastle              24    11    8     5     46    28    +18   41
4.          Leeds                  24    12    4     8     36    31    +5    40
5.          Watford                24    10    9     5     37    27    +10   39
6.          Northampton            24    11    5     8     43    25    +18   38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Reading                24    11    5     8     41    34    +7    38
8.          Peterborough           24    10    8     6     28    22    +6    38
9.          Sheff Utd              24    9     10    5     34    22    +12   37
10.         Crewe                  24    9     10    5     46    35    +11   37
11.         Doncaster              24    11    4     9     36    31    +5    37
12.         Crystal Palace         24    9     6     9     34    38    -4    33
13.         Millwall               24    8     7     9     25    36    -11   31
14.         Dag & Red              23    9     3     11    30    29    +1    30
15.         Cardiff                24    6     10    8     27    33    -6    28
16.         Plymouth               24    7     7     10    26    33    -7    28
17.         Luton                  23    7     6     10    37    36    +1    27
18.         Notts County           24    6     9     9     32    37    -5    27
19.         Middlesbrough          24    7     5     12    29    47    -18   26
20.         Bolton                 24    5     9     10    27    33    -6    24
21.         Bradford               24    5     9     10    36    43    -7    24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Colchester             24    5     9     10    17    31    -14   24
23.         Wigan                  24    6     4     14    38    56    -18   22
24.         Hull                   24    4     6     14    29    60    -31   18

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2031

You may remember that, two seasons ago, I literally and figuratively put up the 'Christmas tree' at Victoria Road. Experimenting with a narrow 4-3-2-1 formation proved to be the catalyst for an incredible surge that saw us move away from a relegation battle and, ultimately, into the play-off places.

 

That experiment did not last much longer before I switched back to more conventional tactics. But now, with our form beginning to drop off and the weather getting colder again, I felt that it was time to bring back the 'tree'.

 

I tested this tactic out in an away game against Luton Town, who'd enjoyed a solid if not spectacular first half-season back in the Championship. Victory at Kenilworth Road would see us move within five points of the top six.

 

Dean Martin would've featured as one of our two attacking midfielders, but he was forced to pull out after sustaining a chest injury on the eve of this fixture. Jacques Polomat remained in our starting XI as a result, and I hoped that this would be the match in which the injury-prone French youngster really kicked on.

 

3 December 2031: Luton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

You know I said Jacques Polomat was injury-prone? Guess what happened in the fourth minute. That's right - Jacques was brought down by Luton midfielder Sol Abbey and picked up a knee injury that brought his game to a very early end. Marvin Green came on in Polomat's stead, and after a lengthy delay, Matthew Fraser fired the free-kick that had resulted from Abbey's foul into the Luton wall.

 

The Hatters' first attack at our goal saw Ashley Douglas fire the ball over our bar after 10 minutes. Douglas' next attempt five minutes later was parried by Kieran Whalley and then cleared by Arran Banton. Four minutes after that, Green blazed over a real opportunity to give us the opening goal. It wouldn't really matter.

 

Arran's superb tackle on Town winger Vic Kavanagh after 22 minutes started off the counter-attack that resulted in us drawing first blood. Captain William Barnes hoisted the ball forward to Mario Tortora, who burst clear, got round Luton's goalkeeper Deni Radic, and tucked in a simple finish from an acute angle!

 

Mario's 10th goal of the season was nearly followed by his 11th, but he couldn't quite double our lead on 32 minutes. By the 36th minute, we didn't have a lead at all! Green played a suicidal long back-pass that was gobbled up by Darrin Norris - and with Whalley well out of his six-yard box, Norris was free to hammer the ball into an unguarded net!

 

Kieran was furious, and a little embarrassed, but he didn't take long to recompose himself. Alex Busetto's interception from a 43rd-minute Kavanagh cross could only divert the ball to Luton centre-back Dale Pounder, who pounded the ball towards goal and was thwarted by a superb save from Whalley!

 

That led to the first of two corners in fairly quick succession for the Hatters. When the second was handled by Dagenham left-back Rocco Mazzola, the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Douglas stepped up to try and give his team a 2-1 lead on the stroke of half-time... but Whalley saved our skins again to keep the scores level!

 

Another Luton set-piece gave us some bother in the 47th minute, when Whalley was required to push away Tony Nelson's free-kick. On 52 minutes, Nelson headed away a Joel Honeyball corner for Dagenham. Tortora retook the ball and laid it off to Barnes, whose vicious bullet was cleared out of harm's way by Hatters captain Ruben Loftus-Cheek!

 

Two minutes later, Loftus-Cheek went from denying a goal to almost scoring one. The 35-year-old former Sunderland, Liverpool, and one-time England midfielder struck an excellent free-kick... but Whalley still caught it comfortably.

 

The Hatters would throw even more attacks at us over the next 10 minutes or so. Kieran did well to keep out a couple more attempts from Douglas, while Nelson and Abbey each struck the bar. The hosts lost their momentum after 66 minutes, when Nelson tripped Banton in his own half. Matthew Fraser played the free-kick deep into the Luton area, and Zola Casey rose up to head in his first goal for Dagenham!

 

We were now 2-1 up, and many at Kenilworth Road were doubting if the Hatters had the energy to fight back. I went for the kill in the 79th minute, bringing on speed demon Mario Djokic for Tortora, who was carrying a yellow card. Luton boss Mark Wilson had made his final substitution just before then, sending on right-winger James Kirby. With eight minutes to go, Kirby opened us up with a superb chip to Douglas in the penalty area. Douglas' first header was parried by Whalley, but Kieran couldn't react quickly enough to keep out the second.

 

Luton had levelled again, and in injury time, it looked like they would really rub it in with a late winner. Abbey's long-range free-kick almost squirmed underneath Whalley's grasp and into the net, but the goalkeeper thankfully didn't lose his grip. The home custodian also held firm in the dying moments, with Radic preventing Honeyball from grabbing all three points on our behalf.

 

Luton Town - 2 (Norris 36, Douglas 82)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Tortora 23, Casey 66)

Championship, Attendance 10,300 - POSITIONS: Luton 15th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Casey, Busetto, Mazzola, Fraser, Barnes (McCann), Honeyball, Polomat (Green), Hreidarsson, Tortora (Djokic). BOOKED: Tortora.

 

Our third draw in four attempts left us seven points away from the top six, and the same distance away from the bottom three. We were quintessentially mid-table.

 

Four of our next five league matches were at home, and if we could make Victoria Road a fortress again, it would really help our bid to make the play-offs. Unfortunately, we would have to go into that run without Jacques Polomat, who would sit out the next six weeks at least with strained knee ligaments.

 

Doncaster Rovers came to Victoria Road on the first weekend of December as we sought vengeance for our opening-day defeat to the South Yorkshire side.

 

Donny had had a bizarrely up-and-down first half to the season. They were TOP after the first two games, BOTTOM by mid-September, and then - after winning 10 out of 12 matches - in 6th place come the latter part of November. A defeat at Newcastle United and a home draw against Sheffield United in their most recent games suggested that Rovers were on the way back down, but it would've taken a brave person to predict the outcome of this match.

 

6 December 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Doncaster Rovers

Matthew Fraser's match got off to a very painful start after three minutes, when he pulled his groin whilst passing the ball to Heikki Puustinen. Matthew was in some agony, but we kept him on as we looked to take control early on. Mario Djokic fired wide a chance to give us the opening goal in the fifth minute. Daggers captain Joel Honeyball also hit a very disappointing effort from distance in the 16th minute, shortly before Doncaster's Aarran Bryant missed the target from slightly closer to goal.

 

A tepid game warmed up after 23 minutes, as Fraser broke through the pain barrier to help us make a breakthrough in the scoring. Matthew's outswinging corner was perfectly weighted for Josh Charles to head in his first goal of the campaign!

 

We could've increased our new 1-0 lead later on after winning a couple more corners. However, the second of them would result in Doncaster drawing level on 27 minutes. Our attack collapsed when Tom Virgo was outmuscled by Rovers winger Fausto Casiraghi, who dribbled all the way up the left flank and towards our byline. Casiraghi then crossed for Milan Bazina, who leapt above Kieran Whalley to nod it home. Some of our players argued in vain that Bazina was offside, but Donny's leveller stood.

 

We almost restored our advantage in the 31st minute through Mario Tortora, who was unlucky to drive a vicious shot just the wrong side of the crossbar. Nine minutes later, however, we were trailing by 2 goals to 1. Casiraghi was the creator again, with Aaron McEwen squirming in his corner at the near post to give Doncaster the advantage.

 

My fury at our first-half collapse was not eased in the second period. Nine minutes after the restart, our defenders were left desperately chasing Bazina before the Canadian blasted in an excellent pass from Bryant. That devastating counter-attack from Doncaster had come about after Niall Goodison had intercepted a cross from our left-back Billy Hurst. I subbed Hurst right away, but the damage had been done.

 

We were now 3-1 down, and we were shooting far too ineffectively from too far out to seriously threaten Rovers. The likes of Tortora and Honeyball were very wasteful, although Tom Virgo did at least trouble Donny goalkeeper Marc Ferguson in the 67th minute.

 

Our inability to get back in the match also stemmed from some late indiscipline, with Victor Dam and substitute William Barnes each getting booked in the final 15 minutes. When the full-time whistle blew, we were roundly booed off the field following our sixth home defeat of the campaign.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Josh Charles 23)

Doncaster Rovers - 3 (Bazina 27,54, McEwen 40)

Championship, Attendance 7,966 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Doncaster 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Darvill, Josh Charles, Hurst (Lloyd), Virgo, Fraser (Barnes), Dam, Honeyball, Tortora, Djokic. BOOKED: Hurst, Dam, Barnes.

 

When the players returned to the changing room after another dismal home result, I roared at them, “You lot are an ABSOLUTE DISGRACE! That's four home games in a row now that you've failed to win! The fans expect much more than this, and so do I!

 

“How many times this season have we been punished for not creating enough chances in or around the penalty box? The way we're going, I'll run out of fingers to count them on soon!

 

“You've got to stop hitting and hoping. You've got to start making real inroads into that penalty box, and start killing teams off when you've got them by the throat. That's what the fans expect when they come to see Dagenham & Redbridge play. Do not let them down again.”

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2031 (continued)

Four days after our latest home defeat, we were desperate to make it up to the Victoria Road faithful against Northampton Town. The Cobblers were also struggling for form, so this was a great opportunity for us to put on a crowd-pleasing show.

 

Mark West and Baldur Hreidarsson led our attack, with West making his 250th league appearance for Dagenham and looking to finally end his barren run of nearly eight months without a competitive goal.

 

Our midfield was without William Barnes, who was suspended after falling foul of the Football League's disciplinary rules. Matthew Fraser was therefore required to play on for another game, despite straining his groin against Doncaster Rovers. Alongside Fraser was teenager Dennis McCann, who was given his first league start for the Daggers.

 

10 December 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Northampton Town

I changed my entire defence from the back five that had caved in against Doncaster Rovers. Our new backline was opened up after less than 30 seconds, but Northampton striker Tom Sherwood was flagged offside before he drilled in a shot from a tight angle. Marvin Green went close to half-volleying us into the lead a minute later, only to be denied by a fine save from Cobblers goalie Glenn Nordh.

 

Our keeper Daryl Ryan was then tested twice by Northampton captain Leigham Wilding in the 5th and 6th minutes, but the Irishman prevailed on each occasion. Victoria Road was later bombarded by a hailstorm, although it didn't exactly rain goals. An attempt from Cobblers winger Goran Plimon in the 21st minute drifted well wide.

 

Sherwood made another advance towards goal on 29 minutes and was stopped by a strong challenge from Alex Busetto. Alex's tackle actually did our Italian defender more harm than good, and when he stayed down, it became clear that something was wrong. Busetto had to be stretchered off and replaced with Zola Casey.

 

That forced alteration to our defence didn't unsettle us, mind. After 35 minutes, our right-back Arran Banton rode past a tackle from Northampton's Robbie Killick and drifted in a cross that Baldur Hreidarsson headed clinically past Nordh! Four minutes after opening the scoring with his 10th goal of the season, Baldur would be involved in another excellent Daggers attack.

 

Hreidarsson's attempted flick-on to Green was cut out by Cobblers defender Curtis Newton, who could only slide it into the path of our captain Mark West! Mark broke away and then sent Dagenham's fans into raptures with a tidy low finish! It was the 200th Football League goal of West's career, and - more importantly - it was his FIRST of this season!

 

Matthew Fraser had needed painkillers to get through this game, but the midfielder wasn't afraid to get stuck into the Cobblers. Matthew and Baldur each picked up bookings late in the first period, but we still went into the interval leading 2-0.

 

Both keepers were kept busy in the second half. Nordh did well to stop either Green or West from sending us even further clear before the hour mark. Meanwhile, Ryan's 54th-minute save from Paul Lawlor shut off a possible route back into the game for Northampton.

 

The action continued to switch back and forth throughout the half, though we created significantly more scoring opportunities than our opponents. One of our best efforts came after 69 minutes. Victor Dam lobbed the ball over Cobblers centre-back Henri Beckham and to his Nordic colleague Baldur, whose shot was pushed away by Swedish-born England Under-21s international Nordh.

 

Dennis McCann then became the third Daggers player to be booked before making way for 16-year-old Dave Hutchinson. With nine minutes remaining, 'Hutch' moved the ball out left to Dam via Green. Victor then chipped it forward to Mark, who was forced wide but still managed to cut a shot into the far corner of the net!

 

West had his second goal, and although he missed an opportunity to score a third in the 89th minute, it was still a great night for him. Having lost 3-0 in our last meeting with Northampton, it felt great to clobber the Cobblers by the same score!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hreidarsson 35, West 39,81)

Northampton Town - 0

Championship, Attendance 7,974 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Northampton 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Lloyd, Busetto (Casey), Mazzola, McCann (Hutchinson), Fraser, Dam, Green, West, Hreidarsson (Powell). BOOKED: Fraser, Hreidarsson, McCann.

 

The only low point from that match was Alex Busetto's injury, which was as bad as I had suspected. Alex had torn his hamstring and wouldn't be back in action until March at the earliest.

 

Matthew Fraser was still hurting somewhat after getting through 90 minutes with a groin strain. However, he would have to play through the pain again three days later, as we faced our toughest away game yet.

 

Just like two years earlier, Derby County were taking the Championship by storm. A brief and miserable stay in the Premier League last season hadn't dented the Rams' confidence, and they were four points clear at the top before we took them on at Pride Park.

 

13 December 2031: Derby County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Derby fired their first warning shot in the opening minute, when Silviu Dumitrescu sent a free-kick wide. We then gave the Rams something to think about in the 12th minute. Matthew Fraser, who'd undergone a second dose of painkilling injections before this game, drove a 20-yard attempt past Derby keeper Mick Whitney's left-hand post.

 

On 19 minutes, Mario Tortora sent an excellent corner into the hosts' penalty area. Daggers defender George Darvill leapt above his Derby counterpart Colin Terrell to connect with Mario's delivery, which he could only head wide.

 

Terrell then went close to scoring at the other end three minutes later before the stranglehold was broken in the 26th minute. Dagenham left-back Rocco Mazzola played a superb long ball to Baldur Hreidarsson, who withstood slide tackles from Derby centre-backs Terrell and Gregor Couston before driving the ball home.

 

That was Rocco's first competitive assist, and another Italian made our day even better seven minutes later. Couston could only head a Shaun Powell cross on to Tortora, whose lethal volley saw him join Hreidarsson on 11 league goals for the season. More significantly, we were 2-0 up away to the league leaders at half-time!

 

The second half was a couple of minutes old when Shaun cut a low cross into Derby's six-yard box. Hreidarsson stretched his left leg out to try and poke it home, but Whitney's desperate parry prevented his team from going 3-0 behind. Baldur spurned another opportunity to extend our lead on 51 minutes.

 

This was turning into a nightmare game for Derby, and particularly their captain Brad Gaunt, who'd picked up a rib injury late in the first half and was struggling to make an impact. After 59 minutes, however, the 'Pride of Pride Park' roared back to life. Rams right-back Billy Fowler floated a cross into the area, where Gaunt broke free from Josh Charles and headed home. Derby were back in the game, and they were in control in virtually every department from then on.

 

Two minutes after Gaunt's goal, Ollie Pert was denied an equaliser when Daryl Ryan caught the ex-Daggers forward's header. Three minutes after that, Marvin Green flicked over a William Barnes free-kick that could've sent us 3-1 up and eased the pressure. Marvin had missed quite a few sitters already this season, and that one would be particularly costly.

 

Derby's almost inevitable leveller came on 72 minutes, and you can probably guess who scored it. Gaunt's 16th goal of the Championship season, from a fantastic Vladimir Bezak delivery, completed the comeback as far as the Rams were concerned.

 

Derby eased off for the final quarter-hour, giving us time to try and retake the lead. It wasn't to be, however, as Whitney saved a banana shot from Joel Honeyball in the 81st minute and then watched Baldur fire just wide in the 85th. Nevertheless, a 2-2 draw at Pride Park was still a great result, even if we had been 2-0 ahead.

 

Derby County - 2 (Gaunt 59,72)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hreidarsson 26, Tortora 33)

Championship, Attendance 32,009 - POSITIONS: Derby 1st, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Josh Charles, Darvill, Mazzola, Powell (Dam), Fraser (Virgo), Barnes, Green (Honeyball), Hreidarsson, Tortora.

 

Matthew Fraser had played through another tough match, and there was now no point in delaying the treatment for his groin injury any longer. It appeared that we had actually aggravated the injury further, as our head physio Sam Cutler said that he couldn't foresee Matthew playing again before February. That was disappointing news, but I knew the risks and I had to accept the consequences.

 

Fortunately, we had Daniel O'Reilly back in the team the following weekend after he recovered from his back strain. Dean Martin had also resumed full training, but he wasn't quite fit enough to be named in the squad.

 

We were at home to Reading, who sat in 5th after a difficult November knocked them out of the automatic promotion places. This match saw us officially open the new expansion to our west stand, which put the new capacity of Victoria Road at 11,750.

 

20 December 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Reading

Our largest ever home crowd at Victoria Road - only 400 seats were left unsold - almost witnessed a very early goal for Reading. A second-minute strike from Royals winger Paul Sherwood had to be palmed away by Daryl Ryan in the Dagenham goal. Our home fans breathed a collective sigh of relief, but they were wincing in agony after 10 minutes, when Daggers vice-captain William Barnes struck the bar from a free-kick.

 

We would have another close shave three minutes later. Left-back Josef Strandh's centre should've been headed home by Juan Daniel Ramos, but the Spanish midfielder somehow flicked it inches past a gaping net. However, Strandh did get his assist in the 20th minute. The Swede's deep cross found former England striker Bobby Preece, who beat Daggers centre-half Zola Casey to the header and made it 1-0.

 

Another home defeat was now looking likely for us, especially with Reading's goalkeeper Davor Gligic in sensational form. The 34-year-old Bosnian had already kept out one great effort - from Baldur Hreidarsson - prior to the Preece goal, and he would make several more excellent saves afterwards.

 

Josh Charles and Mark West were each thwarted by Gligic before the half-hour, as was Hreidarsson for a second time on 40 minutes. Two minutes after that, a Dagenham corner from Mario Tortora led to mayhem in the Royals box. Firstly, Mark crashed a header against the crossbar. Josh's rebound effort at the back post was then pushed away by Gligic... but only to the opposite post, where Zola made it third time lucky for the Daggers! Casey's leveller sent us and our fans into the second half in a positive mood, and we now felt that we could beat the Royals for the second time this season!

 

Sensing that we were dominating Reading in the air, I encouraged my team to play more long balls after the restart. However, we would spend most of the half having to withstand attacks from the visitors. Sherwood was off target after 52 minutes, although Preece did have a header saved by Ryan after 64. Daryl next came to our rescue in the 72nd minute, when he kicked away a low drive from Ramos.

 

In between all that, Hreidarsson was unfortunate to narrowly miss the target from 30 yards out in the 65th minute. Fortune - or a lack of it - would prove to be key for us in this game. Substitute winger Shaun Powell could've set up a goal for Tortora on 82 minutes, but Mario could only flick his cross wide.

 

Powell attempted to cross the ball into Reading's area again in the penultimate minute of normal time. The ball drifted towards goal... and then smacked the crossbar before bouncing out at the other end of the pitch. That was the third time we'd hit the woodwork in this match. Our misfortune was thankfully not too damaging, as an injury-time miss from Reading midfielder Ricky Hales ensured that we would at least come away with a draw.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Casey 42)

Reading - 1 (Preece 20)

Championship, Attendance 11,350 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 14th, Reading 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Josh Charles, Casey, O'Reilly, Virgo (Powell), Barnes, Dam (McCann), Hreidarsson (Green), West, Tortora.

 

Although we'd now drawn back-to-back games, those last couple of results had shown that we could mix it with the very best teams in the Championship. We were starting to believe in ourselves again.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2031 (continued)

A very Merry Christmas was followed by a tasty Essex derby against Colchester United at Victoria Road. You might remember that the U's beat us by a single goal in August, but a lot of water had flowed under the bridge since then.

 

For one thing, David Holdsworth was no longer in charge of Colchester. He had been sacked in November, with former Brighton & Hove Albion and Wigan Athletic manager Tony Fraser taking the helm. The U's now sat third-from-bottom, and it was looking likely that their third season up would end with them going down.

 

27 December 2031: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Colchester United

A cagey start saw two of our midfielders - William Barnes and Dean Martin - have shots blocked by Colchester's defenders in the 13th minute. A third Daggers middleman got an effort on target shortly afterwards, as Victor Dam's fierce drive was tipped behind by U's goalkeeper Shayne Griffin.

 

Our custodian Daryl Ryan was first called upon in the 19th minute, when he made light work of a swerving attempt by Harrison Atkins. The action then switched back to the other end in the 24th minute. Mario Tortora's cross found the head of Mark West, and another impressive fingertip save from Griffin diverted the ball behind for a corner. Mario took that corner and swung it towards the near post, where Daggers centre-half Gareth Lloyd beat Colchester full-back Michael Bridges to flick it into the net!

 

Gareth's first goal for the club had got us off the mark, but we couldn't quite take full control of the game after that. Matt Peters headed wide an equalising opportunity for Colchester in the 30th minute before the remainder of the first half petered out. This was not a classic Essex derby by any means.

 

We survived a couple of United corners early in the second half and then pushed forward again in search of our second goal. Tortora's dribbling skills saw him fashion a chance on 52 minutes before Griffin got a glove to his low drive. Mario then moved through a Colchester channel three minutes later, but Griffin was once again on hand to deny him his moment of glory. An encouraging spell for the Daggers ended in the 59th minute with an awful shot from Martin that flew over the bar.

 

The U's began to apply some attacking pressure of their own ten minutes later. After some Chuckle Brothers-style 'to me, to you' passing exchanges with his midfield colleague Marcus Appleton, Atkins found winger Joel Ashley in space. Ashley teed himself for a piledriver... and sent it miles off target.

 

On 74 minutes, Bridges knocked the ball up the left flank for Peters to run onto. As our defenders rushed back into our area, Peters played a byline cross to U's striker Victor Hamsher, who flicked it wide.

 

Colchester were building up considerable momentum, particularly on the flanks, so I switched formation from 4-3-1-2 to 4-4-2 and told my players to adopt a more direct passing approach. With four minutes left to play, that tactical switch almost produced a second goal.

 

Tortora closed down Griffin's pass to United centre-back Eric Ford and sent our captain West through on goal. Mark's shot was too tame to seriously worry Griffin, and his next effort a minute later went wide, but we would soon be back on the attack.

 

In the penultimate minute, following a dreadful Colchester miss from Atkins, Ryan hoisted a goal kick towards West. Mark then played a lovely pass in front of Mario, who burst into the area and only had to beat Griffin. The keeper parried the original shot, but the ball bounced off his team-mate Ford and fell perfectly for Tortora to seal a 2-0 home win for the Daggers!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Lloyd 24, Tortora 89)

Colchester United - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,470 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Colchester 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Casey, Lloyd, O'Reilly, Virgo (Powell), Barnes, Dam (McCann), Martin (Honeyball), West, Tortora. BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

Revenge is sweet, isn't it?

 

Our next opponents also had vengeance on their minds to some extent. We went to the KC Stadium on New Year's Eve, but Hull City were desperate to spoil our party, having been thoroughly outplayed in our previous meeting.

 

To be fair, though, a lot of teams had 'thoroughly outplayed' Hull this season. That's why the Tigers were bottom of the Championship with just four wins, 16 defeats, and a miserable goal difference of -36. City tried and failed to halt their slide three months ago by bringing in former Scotland Under-21s coach Callum McConnell to replace Ross Barkley, who's now at second-from-bottom Wigan.

 

31 December 2031: Hull City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Russell Lawless was keeping goal for Hull, so it seemed apt that there was anarchy in the Tigers' penalty area over the first two minutes. We won three quick corners in the opening stages, the second coming about after Lawless had made an outstanding fingertip save from a vicious drive by William Barnes. The keeper was beaten by our third corner, which was headed home by captain Mark West. However, the linesman had spotted a push from Dagenham defender George Darvill on his opposite number Paul Harris, so Hull were awarded a free-kick instead of going 1-0 down.

 

Lawless would later make two more impressive saves from shots by Daggers midfielders Dennis McCann and Victor Dam in the 5th and 16th minutes. This was only McCann's second league start for us... and the pressure would soon get to the 19-year-old.

 

As we tried to defend against a Hull corner on 21 minutes, Dennis carelessly pushed City winger Diogo Soares over in the penalty area. The Tigers were awarded a spot-kick, and there was little doubt that Kevin Wells would make the most of it. 1-0 to Hull.

 

McCann almost made amends with an impressive set-up for Joel Honeyball in the 26th minute, but Joel scooped over a possible equaliser. Four minutes later, Wells' attempt to extend Hull's advantage was easily caught by Daryl Ryan. The home team would remain narrowly ahead at half-time, but not before Barnes and Mario Tortora each missed a couple of opportunities to draw the Daggers level.

 

McCann was replaced by Dean Martin at the half-time interval, but our substitute almost gave away a second Hull goal on 53 minutes. Martin's clearance was closed down by City's American right-winger Stephen Tolley, who crossed to Soares at the back post. The Portuguese left-winger, on loan from Fulham, sent his header clean over the bar, and we were let off the hook.

 

There would be more wasted opportunities at either end of the pitch as the match remained nicely poised. It wasn't a night to remember for Tortora, whose best attempt at goal was tipped wide by Lawless shortly after that missed sitter from Soares. The inconsistent Italian later made way for the experienced Mario Djokic.

 

Although Djokic's first strike limped well off course on 68 minutes, his next attempt four minutes later saw a massive improvement. Hull full-back Mark McIntosh inadvertently hooked a long ball to the feet of a very surprised West, who then drove it ahead of Djokic. Mario narrowly beat out Harris in the chase for the ball, which he powered into the net for the equaliser!

 

We were alive again... but in the 77th minute, our defence went comatose at exactly the wrong moment. Five Daggers lined up in a wall to try and defend a Tolley free-kick, so they were completely caught out when Tolley bypassed them and played a low pass to substitute Stewart Collister in the area. The outcome was inevitable, as 16-year-old Collister - who was born in Hull but is a Wales Under-19s international - stroked in just his second senior goal.

 

Hull led 2-1, and that scoreline almost changed to 3-1 a couple of minutes later. Fortunately, the woodwork saved our skins when Wells met Tolley's cross into the six-yard box with an excellent header.

 

Tigers midfielder Robert Gultekin provided us with a couple of hairy moments in the 90th minute. Gultekin's long-range free-kick bounced into Ryan's hand, but the Swede had another attempt at goal moments later from a piledriver that fizzed behind.

 

The game then went into four minutes of stoppage time. As the last of those minutes began, Barnes found our substitute forward Baldur Hreidarsson in the Hull area. Hreidarsson drove the ball towards goal, but Lawless pushed it away... to the feet of none other than Mark West. A poacher's finish from our captain sent the away fans wild and salvaged a point - right at the death!

 

Hull City - 2 (Wells pen21, Collister 77)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djokic 72, West 90)

Championship, Attendance 11,394 - POSITIONS: Hull 24th, Dag & Red 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, McCann (Martin), Barnes, Honeyball (Hreidarsson), Dam, West, Tortora (Djokic).

 

Our travelling supporters were delighted with the result, which extended our unbeaten sequence to five games, but I wasn't. Hull were arguably the weakest team in the Championship, and we had come within seconds of losing to them.

 

That said, a last-gasp draw has sent us 12 points clear of the relegation zone - the furthest we've been from it all season. If we can really kick on in the New Year, a play-off place might still be attainable, but as things stand, another season of mid-table stability beckons.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of December 2031)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  30    17    7     6     56    32    +24   58
2.          Newcastle              30    16    8     6     59    31    +28   56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Leeds                  30    16    6     8     50    34    +16   54
4.          Reading                30    15    7     8     49    37    +12   52
5.          Peterborough           30    14    10    6     39    27    +12   52
6.          Sheff Utd              30    13    11    6     46    29    +17   50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Watford                30    12    13    5     51    38    +13   49
8.          Stoke                  30    14    7     9     43    33    +10   49
9.          Crewe                  30    12    12    6     58    44    +14   48
10.         Crystal Palace         30    13    7     10    41    43    -2    46
11.         Millwall               30    11    9     10    36    42    -6    42
12.         Doncaster              30    12    5     13    42    43    -1    41
13.         Northampton            30    11    7     12    48    39    +9    40
14.         Dag & Red              30    11    7     12    43    39    +4    40
15.         Luton                  30    8     10    12    46    48    -2    34
16.         Plymouth               30    9     7     14    31    39    -8    34
17.         Notts County           30    8     10    12    42    52    -10   34
18.         Cardiff                30    7     12    11    36    45    -9    33
19.         Bradford               30    7     10    13    42    54    -12   31
20.         Middlesbrough          30    7     9     14    35    58    -23   30
21.         Bolton                 30    6     11    13    30    40    -10   29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Colchester             30    6     10    14    25    42    -17   28
23.         Wigan                  30    7     4     19    47    70    -23   25
24.         Hull                   30    4     9     17    32    68    -36   21

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2032

December was quite a good month for Mario Tortora. The Italian forward won the Championship's Young Player of the Month award after an impressive run of form that saw him score three goals. One of those strikes - his fabulous solo effort at Luton Town - was even named as the division's Goal of the Month.

 

Having scored 26 league goals in his first year-and-a-half at Dagenham, Super Mario was making big waves. He was also getting rather big for his boots.

 

You see, Tortora had heard reports linking him with a move to Aston Villa, who were bottom of the Premier League and already looking set for an immediate return to the Championship. That said, the lure of playing in the top flight for as big a club as Villa was very tempting to this impressionable 21-year-old.

 

At the start of the first full week in January, Tortora came to my office and asked for a transfer. I wasn't going to give in straight away, so I tried persuading him to stay at Victoria Road and fulfill his ambitions with us. Mario was willing to hear me out, and when I told him that I was aiming to get Dagenham & Redbridge promoted to the Premier League by the end of next season, he was won over.

 

It looked like Mario was staying, for the time being, but I had a feeling that this story wasn't over just yet...

 

A couple of days later, another striker asked to meet me in private. It was our captain and all-time leading scorer Mark West, who'd made a big decision about his future. He was going to retire from playing at the end of the season.

 

I wasn't surprised, in all honesty. Mark was now 34 and clearly on the wane, so it was perhaps best for everyone that he wound down his career before he became a total liability.

 

West had been a wonderful servant to us for the last seven seasons, and I really wanted him to remain at Victoria Road beyond his playing days. Mark said that he would consider staying on as a coach, but he wouldn't make a firm decision until the season was over.

 

In other Daggers news, I welcomed back a couple of loanees. Goalkeeper Colin Glasgow had shown real promise at Chelmsford City, leaving them at the top of the Conference South.

 

John Moser had also been very impressive during his three-month spell at Leicester City. John really was reaping the benefits of playing regular first-team football, so I decided to offer him out to some other League One clubs. About a week later, he agreed to join Rochdale until the end of the season.

 

Another young Daggers centre-back who was heading into League One was Larry Wood. Shortly after signing his first professional contract, 17-year-old Larry was farmed out to Portsmouth for the remainder of this campaign.

 

With all that business sorted out, I could now look ahead to our opening match in this season's FA Cup. We'd been given a tricky Round 3 draw at home to Wrexham, who were top of League One.

 

10 January 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wrexham

I knew just how good Wrexham could be on their day, so it was important that we burst out of the traps. We did precisely that in the second minute, when Mario Djokic rifled in a half-volley after running onto a superb lob from Baldur Hreidarsson! We'd opened the scoring after just 82 seconds!

 

Two minutes later, Fredi Horvat headed wide a chance to equalise for Wrexham, who'd clearly been shaken by our lightning-quick start. In the 11th minute, the men from North Wales fell foul to a devastating attack from a couple of our Nordic players. Victor Dam skilfully evaded a sliding tackle from Dragons midfielder Rob Matthews and fed the ball through to Hreidarsson, who drove in his 12th goal of the season! 2-0 to the Daggers, and we were already asserting our authority on this match.

 

Had Djokic made the most of a great opportunity to make it 3-0 in the 26th minute, the tie would surely have been over. As it was, Mario missed, and Wrexham pressed forward a couple of minutes later. Striker Colin Warren had us worried until Gareth Lloyd came in with a superb block to keep out his shot. Shortly after that, Daggers midfielder Tom Virgo drilled a shot towards the corner of Wrexham's net, only for goalkeeper Paul Boyham to gather it easily. The rest of the first half was rather tame, but we remained in front by a couple of goals.

 

On 54 minutes, our third Nordic player - right-back Heikki Puustinen - curled in a cross to Dam at the near post. Victor aimed a promising header at goal but couldn't quite get the better of Boyham.

 

Wrexham did get the better of our goalkeeper Kieran Whalley a couple of minutes later. Two substitutes linked up brilliantly as defender John Goodwin's long ball was nodded on by striker Joe Jones into the path of Horvat. Wrexham's Slovenian captain then unleashed a vicious shot that stung Kieran's palms on its way into the net.

 

We'd lost half of our two-goal lead, but we had an opportunity to get it back just a couple of minutes later. William Barnes' free-kick into the Dragons box found Baldur, whose header was caught just ahead of the goal line by Boyham. We then had a close shave from the resulting Wrexham breakaway, which saw Jones slip Horvat's through-ball just past the post.

 

Whalley then had to beat away another attempt from Horvat on 59 minutes, just before Andrew Judd - the visitors' third substitute - miscued a headed effort. Wrexham's brief spell of attacking pressure ended there, and save for a poor header from Horvat in the 77th minute, they wouldn't seriously worry us again.

 

Meanwhile, Hreidarsson spurned several opportunities to wrap up the win with a third goal for Dagenham. The biggest howler of the afternoon, though, was reserved for substitute Mario Tortora in the 87th minute. Wrexham left-back Tyrone Lawford's awful headed clearance was intercepted by Shaun Powell, who shinned it forward to send Tortora through on goal. Super Mario attempted to chip Boyham... but his strike was not super, clipping the bar before deflecting over. That miss didn't really matter in the end, as we still made it through to FA Cup Round 4, though not without a scare or two.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djokic 2, Hreidarsson 11)

Wrexham - 1 (Horvat 56)

FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 9,805

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo (Powell), Barnes, Dam, Hreidarsson, West (Green), Djokic (Tortora).

 

We made a club-record £288,000 in gate receipts from that match, and progression to Round 4 would give us another financial boost. However, I was not best pleased when I found out who we would be playing in the next round.

 

You'll probably remember that Tottenham Hotspur ended our FA Cup campaign last year in Round 5 at Victoria Road. We would now have to play them again - a round earlier, and at the AIA Stadium. What a nightmare.

 

It was back to league action before then, though, as we travelled to Valley Parade to face struggling Bradford City. Regular readers will recall that our last clash with the Bantams was, erm, quite exciting!

 

17 January 2032: Bradford City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

William Barnes picked up his almost customary yellow card for Dagenham in the very first minute after tripping Bradford midfielder Owen Hillier. I had another reason to be concerned in the 9th minute, when Bantams winger Matthew Mitchell's shot was parried by Daryl Ryan. Daniel O'Reilly scuffed his clearance to City forward Robbie Cummins, who moved the ball forward again to right-winger Lucky Okoli. The Nigerian cut inside... and scooped the ball inches over the bar.

 

Bradford launched another attack on 14 minutes, but Mitchell's header didn't cause Ryan any real problems. The Bantams' domination was then interrupted by an injury to midfielder Anthony Davie, who strained his groin in the 21st minute. Normal service then resumed, with Cummins and Glenn Husband each going close to putting the hosts in front just before the half-hour.

 

Cummins wasted a real opportunity after 33 minutes, flicking Okoli's corner wide. Husband and Hillier then had shots saved by Ryan before we finally started to push forward. Mario Tortora's 40th-minute strike ricocheted off Bradford defender Lewis Turner and deflected to Dean Martin, whose half-volley was easily caught by goalkeeper Peter Petrus. The Slovakian would hold onto another Martin shot in injury time as we finished the first half very strongly.

 

Bradford had almost overwhelmed our deep defensive line in the first half, so I went for a more proactive, attacking approach in the second half. I brought on Victor Dam and Tom Virgo for Powell and Barnes, but I was soon wondering if I should've taken off Marvin Green instead. The latest in a long line of Green gaffes came a minute after the restart, when he burst through on goal and blazed a sitter over!

 

Our retiring captain Mark West then missed the target a couple of times before we finally came good in the 59th minute. Victor laid an excellent ball forward to Mario, who got past Bradford centre-half Marc Catterick and applied a fabulous finish!

 

Our 1-0 lead was nearly snuffed out within three minutes, as only a superb point-blank save from Ryan denied Cummins a quickfire equaliser for City. The match then got rather scrappy, though we remained largely in control of proceedings.

 

A clever attacking move saw us find the net again after 78 minutes. Martin's first-time pass into the area was nodded back by Tortora to Green, who provided a through-ball that West slid across the goal line. It would've been a great goal were it not for the fact that Mark had been caught offside.

 

Cummins and Hillier then fired wide a couple of long-range shots for Bradford, though there was little to suggest that the Bantams were going to fight back. I told my defenders to ease off on the pressing and conserve their energy... but that tactical decision would backfire in the 83rd minute. As we struggled to clear away a left-wing cross from Bradford full-back Connor Millar, an unmarked Hillier picked up the ball on the edge of our penalty area and drove it into the net.

 

I thought we had thrown away the win. Then my final substitute - Baldur Hreidarsson - set out to prove me wrong. Two minutes after we lost the lead, left-back Daniel O'Reilly cut out a pressured clearance from Turner. He then stroked the ball forward to Hreidarsson, who was 25 yards from the Bantams' goal. Baldur turned on a sixpence, and then attempted to chip the ball left-footed over Petrus. When the ball looped over the despairing goalkeeper and landed in the net, the away fans went wild!

 

That was a spectacular goal worthy of winning any game, and it would win us this, despite a late attempt from Okoli to cancel it out late on. Our second victory over Bradford this season took us back into the top half.

 

Bradford City - 1 (Hillier 83)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Tortora 59, Hreidarsson 85)

Championship, Attendance 14,620 - POSITIONS: Bradford 19th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Josh Charles, Casey, O'Reilly, Powell (Dam), Barnes (Virgo), Martin, Green (Hreidarsson), West, Tortora. BOOKED: Barnes.

 

That was our seventh game in a row without losing. I didn't expect that run to carry on any further, as next up for us was a very unenviable task in the FA Cup.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2032 (continued)

I spent much of the build-up to our big cup tie doing some administrative work in my office. To begin with, I decided to settle any doubts about Mario Tortora's future. I was aware of speculation linking Tortora to Aston Villa, but to find out if they really were interested, I went straight to the horse's mouth - and phoned Villa boss Jacob Mellis.

 

Mellis was genuinely interested in Tortora, although he declined to make a firm bid. To set the ball rolling, I told him that I would be willing to sell Mario for £8million and a significant sell-on fee percentage. The line went dead almost immediately.

 

I guess Mario's not going anywhere, at least not yet. Yeah, I can live with that.

 

Four more Dagenham reserves came back from loan spells over the week. Among them was midfielder Lloyd Bailey, who'd been underwhelming in his five-month stay at Conference Premier outfit Newport County.

 

Winger Nigel Atta, midfielder José Cochet, and defender Shaun Johnson all returned from spells in League Two. Nigel scored six goals for Mansfield Town but struggled for consistency, while Shaun had battled against relegation with Brentford. Johnson also strained his knee ligaments on New Year's Eve and was unlikely to play again until March at the earliest.

 

As for José, he had been very disappointing at Bristol Rovers. I felt that the Conference Premier would be more to Cochet's liking, so I loaned the defensive midfielder out to our feeder club Leighton Town for three months. While I was at it, I also lent Leighton another Frenchman - attacking midfielder Jacques Polomat, whose development at Dagenham had been badly hampered by injuries.

 

On the subject of injuries, Arran Banton twisted his knee in training just before what was likely to be our biggest game of the season.

 

Very few people gave us much hope of beating Tottenham Hotspur, given that they destroyed us in Round 5 of the FA Cup last season. However, this Round 4 tie would take place under a very different set of circumstances.

 

To begin with, Tottenham were badly underperforming in the Premier League, sitting in 10th place. They also had a new manager, as ex-Fulham boss Paul Clement had been drafted in to succeed Chris Powell at the turn of the year. In addition to that, Damien King - the former England striker who'd played a key role in our second-half destruction 11 months earlier - had left Spurs over the summer.

 

Then there was the venue. This game would be played at Spurs' AIA Stadium, as opposed to our own Victoria Road. Opened in 2017, the 49,191-capacity ground was the first in the Football League, let alone the Premier League, to have its own retractable roof. Heavy rain had been forecast in north London, so the roof was closed.

 

Finally, there was the small matter of this match being broadcast live on the BBC, with a potential audience of millions. How would we cope with the added pressure?

 

25 January 2032: Tottenham Hotspur vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The answer to that question was... surprisingly well. Although Baldur Hreidarsson was well off target with our first attempt after four minutes, we would get closer with our next effort.

 

In the eighth minute, Heikki Puustinen's cross to the far post was nodded on by Victor Dam to Mario Djokic, whose half-volley rattled the upright. Shortly after that, Mario Tortora floated in a corner towards George Darvill, but the young centre-back couldn't get his header past Tottenham goalkeeper Reece Flemming. Spurs then launched a counter-attack that ended with Vladimir Sipcic pulling a shot wide.

 

There was a heart-stopping moment for Daggers fans in the 11th minute, when Spurs midfielder Thomas Groves' point-blank header from a Bruno cross was desperately pushed away by Kieran Whalley. The referee then awarded us a free-kick after ruling that Groves had pulled down Puustinen.

 

Tottenham would go back on the attack later, but not before Djokic's 19th-minute header skimmed their bar. Groves then flicked wide a header of his own two minutes later.

 

After Baldur sent a couple of piledrivers high and wide, our next shot on target came when Djokic nodded Dam's long ball into Flemming's hands on 37 minutes. Victor would soon have to come off after twisting his knee, but we held firm and kept the deadlock intact going into the second half.

 

The second half was where Spurs came alive last time round, and that would be the case again. Although we successfully defended against a couple of corners, we gave away an even more dangerous set-piece in the 52nd minute. Hreidarsson's trip on England left-back Gareth Twyman earned Tottenham a free-kick on the edge of our area. Alvaro Carrascal curled it forward to Ecuadorean substitute Marlon Godoy, who drove the ball home from close range and finally opened the scoring.

 

We could've easily waved the white flag there and then, but we most certainly did not. On 64 minutes, Daggers vice-captain William Barnes swerved a free-kick just wide. We brought on our captain three minutes after that, with Mark West taking Tortora's place in the team.

 

West made his first notable contribution when he nodded Puustinen's long ball out to Hreidarsson after 71 minutes. Baldur then attempted to repeat his heroics against Bradford City by scoring from long range... but this particular effort flew just the wrong side of the crossbar. Nevertheless, that was a good effort, and so was Dean Martin's 73rd-minute punt, which skidded across the turf before Flemming caught it.

 

Meanwhile, our defence continued to prevent Spurs from extending their lead, with centre-half Gareth Lloyd in particularly impressive form. On the attacking front, Lloyd nodded well wide from a Barnes free-kick in the 82nd minute... but our other centre-back would soon pose a threat to Tottenham.

 

We were in the 89th minute when Puustinen floated in what was surely an all-or-nothing corner. George popped up to flick Heikki's delivery towards the far post. The ball took a bounce, deflected off Spurs full-back Marvin Havenaar's thigh, and crossed the line! An unfortunate own goal from the ex-Holland international had given us an unlikely draw! We had taken Tottenham Hotspur to a replay in the FA Cup!

 

Tottenham Hotspur - 1 (Godoy 52)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Havenaar og89)

FA Cup Round 4, Attendance 39,779

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Virgo, Barnes, Dam (Martin), Hreidarsson (Honeyball), Tortora (West), Djokic.

 

The draw for Round 5 had been made just before this match got underway. We now knew that, if we could beat Tottenham at Victoria Road in the replay on 4 February, we would be hosting another Premier League team - Blackburn Rovers - in the last 16.

 

Sadly, Victor Dam was unlikely to play any part in the replay, or even in Round 5 if we got that far. He'd twisted his knee late in the first half and was now looking at an absence of two to three weeks. Also on the sidelines was Josh Charles, who pulled his hamstring a few days later and would be out for three weeks at least.

 

Meanwhile, two more Daggers returned from loan, with Philip Duru and Derek Wright coming back from Exeter City and Leighton Town respectively. As they came in, another couple went out, as midfielders Lloyd Bailey and Dennis McCann were loaned to our Irish affiliate club Salthill Devon until the summer.

 

We finished off January by hosting Watford, who'd lost only five league games all season but were just outside the play-off spots. This match saw Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser return from a groin strain.

 

31 January 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Watford

Watford made it clear straight away that they wanted to make a quick start. Captain Dean Golemac's blistering strike from just inside the area was awkwardly pushed away by Daryl Ryan in the second minute. In the sixth, Argentine striker Hugo Baena surged past Daggers centre-back Zola Casey and then beat Ryan with a powerful rocket. That quick opener quietened a huge part of a capacity crowd at Victoria Road - the first since our new ground expansion was completed.

 

Our fans were nearly silenced further a minute later, when Ecuador forward David Cabezas sent Watford's next shot wide. The Hornets surprisingly eased off afterwards, giving us plenty of time to try and sting them back. In the 17th minute, Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly chipped the ball into the Watford area and found Mark West, who stabbed it home. Alas, Mark was offside.

 

Our only other attacks in the first half failed to produce an equaliser. William Barnes was well off target from a distance in the 35th minute, and an effort from Baldur Hreidarsson just before half-time was comfortably pushed aside by Hornets keeper Diederik Reekers.

 

“Right, lads, we need to make some changes,” I told the boys at half-time. “Baldur, you haven't been pulling your weight this afternoon, so I'm taking you off,” I said to Hreidarsson, who looked far from happy with my decision.

 

I then told George Darvill that he was coming on in Baldur's place before continuing, “We're switching to 3-5-2, lads. We need to stop Baena and Cabezas from causing any more damage, and more importantly, we need to give Mark as much service as possible. If we can dominate the aerial battles, we can get back in this game!”

 

Our new three-man defence was quickly put to the test. On 50 minutes, Watford left-back Jure Miletic drove the ball through our backline and towards Ryan, who made a simple save.

 

Daryl would come under even greater pressure in the 64th minute. After getting his gloves to a fierce strike from Baena, the Irishman made another great save from Cabezas' follow-up volley. Watford midfielder Ekrem Sabic then knocked the loose ball away from Barnes and back to Cabezas, who drilled it into the corner of the net. However, the referee had already blown his whistle for Sabic's trip on Barnes, and the goal did not count.

 

As Sabic received his yellow card, I brought on teenager Dave Hutchinson for the tiring Matthew Fraser. It was a bold move to throw the 16-year-old in at the deep end, but Dave handled the situation well, even if his shot at goal in the 77th minute left a lot to be desired.

 

Marvin Green came on as my final substitute soon after that, and he would play his part in our next attack after 84 minutes. Marvin found the overlapping run of right-back Heikki Puustinen, whose centre into the Watford area was unconvincingly cleared by Francois Poulain. Barnes quickly retook the ball for Dagenham and fed it into the box, where O'Reilly chipped it towards West. Honduras defender Yermy George did well to tackle the ball off Mark, but Mario Tortora drove home the rebound to give us a long-awaited leveller!

 

Reekers then had to prevent West from scoring what would've been a sensational winner in the 85th minute! That said, I was more than happy with a draw against a Watford team who'd boasted a very strong record away from home.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Tortora 84)

Watford - 1 (Baena 6)

Championship, Attendance 11,750 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Watford 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Lloyd, Casey, O'Reilly, Fraser (Hutchinson), Barnes, Martin (Green), Hreidarsson (Darvill), West, Tortora. BOOKED: Martin.

 

Our unbeaten run in all competitions now stands at nine games. It's also perhaps worth noting that we haven't lost a single game away from home for nearly three months. Our home form is still a minor concern, but we're generally performing as well as I can expect us to. There's no need for me to bring in any more players this season.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of January 2032)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  32    19    7     6     61    32    +29   64
2.          Newcastle              32    17    9     6     64    33    +31   60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Leeds                  32    17    6     9     51    38    +13   57
4.          Reading                32    16    7     9     53    39    +14   55
5.          Sheff Utd              32    14    12    6     50    32    +18   54
6.          Peterborough           32    14    11    7     40    29    +11   53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Stoke                  32    15    7     10    46    37    +9    52
8.          Watford                32    12    15    5     53    40    +13   51
9.          Crewe                  32    12    13    7     58    45    +13   49
10.         Crystal Palace         32    14    7     11    43    45    -2    49
11.         Millwall               32    12    10    10    41    43    -2    46
12.         Dag & Red              32    12    8     12    46    41    +5    44
13.         Northampton            32    11    9     12    49    40    +9    42
14.         Doncaster              32    12    6     14    42    47    -5    42
15.         Cardiff                32    9     12    11    39    46    -7    39
16.         Plymouth               32    10    7     15    33    41    -8    37
17.         Luton                  32    8     11    13    47    50    -3    35
18.         Notts County           32    8     11    13    45    58    -13   35
19.         Middlesbrough          32    8     9     15    37    60    -23   33
20.         Colchester             32    7     11    14    27    42    -15   32
21.         Bradford               32    7     10    15    46    60    -14   31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Bolton                 32    6     12    14    31    42    -11   30
23.         Wigan                  32    8     4     20    49    73    -24   28
24.         Hull                   32    4     10    18    34    72    -38   22

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2032

As I said last time round, I had no intention of making any more signings before the transfer window. I spent much of deadline day quietly looking forward to a massive cup game that would take place later in the week.

 

I was, of course, referring to our reserves' Essex Senior Cup Semi Final against Takeley on Tuesday night. Fabio Saraiva's second string arrived at Takeley's Station Road as favourites, and they justified that tag by going 2-0 up through Derek Wright and Anton Morris. The hosts did take a goal back, but we held on for the win.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge's reserves were therefore through to face Concord Rangers in the Essex Senior Cup Final on 1 May. I was unsure about whether I would let Fabio lead the team out for that game or take the reins myself, but I had plenty of time - three months to be precise - to make a decision. Of course, I might well have greater priorities by then, especially if our league form continues to improve...

 

Less than 24 hours later, it was the senior team's turn to face a crucial cup match of their own. There were no spare tickets available at Victoria Road when Tottenham Hotspur came to town for an FA Cup Round 4 Replay. We had dramatically stolen a draw in the initial tie at the AIA Stadium, and with the home advantage now ours, we felt that a major upset was on the cards.

 

Paul Clement wasn't going to take any chances with his Tottenham line-up, mind. Clement had rested most of his first-team regulars in the original game, but he fielded arguably his strongest possible team this time round. In came the likes of captain Lasse Larsen, defensive midfielder Rob King, and American goalkeeper Stephen Palacios.

 

Inexplicably, this match wasn't selected to be shown on live television. Instead, Virgin Sports or BTSPN or whatever they're called now decided to broadcast the night's other FA Cup replay - yet another potential borefest between Arsenal and Liverpool. Had they really made the right choice?

 

4 February 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Tottenham Hotspur

Vladimir Sipcic headed over Tottenham's first chance in the second minute of what would prove to be a scrappy opening half. The referee issued early yellow cards to Dagenham skipper William Barnes, who brought down opposing midfielder Thomas Groves, and Spurs right-back Estevao, who tripped Joel Honeyball. Joel was sent through on goal by Mario Djokic in the 8th minute, but Tottenham keeper Stephen Palacios came off the goal line to claim the ball from his feet.

 

Honeyball had started the game in midfield, although he would soon be forced into a more advanced position. After 17 minutes, our attacking midfielder Baldur Hreidarsson was concussed in a collision with Spurs midfielder Rob King. Baldur had to be subbed, with Joel moving behind the main strikers, and Tom Virgo coming off the bench to take his place in midfield.

 

With the defensive-minded Virgo now on, Matthew Fraser was given a more attacking role than usual, and he seemed to revel in it. After Djokic was tackled by Spurs defender Samir Muzinic in the 25th minute, Fraser took the loose ball and fired it not too far wide. Sipcic then scuffed a Tottenham chance a couple of minutes later.

 

By the 38th minute, a close contest was seriously heating up. After Heikki Puustinen floated a cross into the Tottenham area, Muzinic attempted to head it behind. The Bosnian could only find Djokic, though, and the Montenegrin's header looped over Palacios to send Victoria Road wild! To the amazement of many, the half-time scoreline would read Dagenham & Redbridge 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0!

 

As Arsenal sleepwalked towards a tame single-goal win at the Emirates Stadium, the TV executive who had decided to broadcast that game instead of this must've been fearing for their job. Two minutes into the second half, their P45 was perhaps on its way. Fraser started a Dagenham counter-attack by cutting out a slack pass from Spurs winger Marlon Godoy, and finished it moments later with a superb pass to Honeyball, whose shot flew into the top corner of the net! We were leading the Premier League giants 2-0!

 

Three minutes later, however, we were sent crashing back down to terra firma. Spurs striker Gerald Parsons ran fearlessly at our defence, racing past centre-back Gareth Lloyd before drilling in one of the two goals his team needed to get back in the game.

 

The second would come in the 59th minute, after we failed to take advantage from a host of attacking corners. Parsons made a mug of our other central defender George Darvill, as he breezed clear of the youngster and created a carbon copy of his first finish. We hadn't learned our lesson, and now we were back at square one.

 

Our response to Tottenham's equaliser was to up the ante even more, and press their players as much as we could. We also showed much greater attacking intent, as in the 66th minute, when Djokic knocked Daniel O'Reilly's cross down to Barnes, who unfortunately couldn't keep his half-volley on target.

 

Two minutes later, a communication breakdown in the Spurs defence saw us given another chance. Ed Rowland's throw bypassed its intended target Groves, and Muzinic was too slow to react, leaving Honeyball clear to close the ball down and run unchallenged towards goal. Alas, Joel could only run the ball into the advancing Palacios' grasp.

 

One of our defenders had a hairy moment in the 75th minute, when a hesitant Heikki lost the ball to Parsons. The striker then cut inside and had a shot blocked by Lloyd, who knocked it behind for a corner. Parsons then flicked Godoy's corner inches over, but Puustinen's almost fatal error was the last straw for me. Heikki was replaced by young left-back Rocco Mazzola, with O'Reilly switching over to the right flank.

 

This shake-up didn't disrupt our defence too much, as they held firm in the final few moments to prevent Tottenham from winning the game. Fraser could've then won it for us in the 86th minute, but his free-kick flew well over. This tie was destined for extra-time.

 

After the referee blew to end the initial 90 minutes, I called my team over to the touchline for a pep talk. “Okay, forget about what happened before,” I told the players, referring to the loss of our 2-0 lead. “You're still in this game. Spurs think they should've won it, but they're really getting tired now. I reckon the next goal will win this, and I know you can get it!”

 

I also opted to make my final substitution, saying, “Good effort, Tortora, but you're coming off. This is the big man's time now.” I then patted Mark West on the back and told him, “Don't let me down, Beasty.”

 

The first half of extra-time certainly gave me reason for encouragement as our midfield continued to thrive. Virgo's strike in the opening minute was caught by Palacios, while Tottenham had a couple of players booked for fouls on Barnes. Will would fire a shot off target later in the half, as would Matthew, but we certainly had more momentum going into the second period.

 

On 107 minutes, Honeyball sent a corner to the near post, where Darvill flicked it goalwards. West then leapt up to apply the finish... but his header rattled the bar before deflecting away for Rowland to clear! Another agonising moment came three minutes later, when Fraser was floored by a superb tackle from Godoy. Matthew seemed to have hurt his knee, but he had to stay on to try and get this game won before the lottery of penalties. The Scotsman's determination and will to win would be vital.

 

With two minutes remaining, Fraser exchanged passes with Djokic and then knocked the ball forward to West. Mark then nodded the ball to Joel, who was swiftly closed down by Tottenham defender Shane Hussey. The England international's tackle inadvertently diverted the ball to Djokic's feet... and when Mario fired it viciously past Palacios just before the six-yard box, the whole ground erupted in wild celebrations! We had surely won the game now!

 

Spurs still had time to fight back and break our hearts... but they no longer had the energy. Once the final whistle blew about three minutes later, there was no stopping the invasion of thousands of Dagenham supporters onto the Victoria Road pitch! Forget about all those promotions from the past, because THIS was the greatest moment of our sporting lives so far!!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Djokic 38,118, Honeyball 47)

Tottenham Hotspur - 2 (Parsons 50,59)

[after extra time]

FA Cup Round 4 Replay, Attendance 11,750

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen (Mazzola), Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Fraser, Barnes, Honeyball, Hreidarsson (Virgo), Tortora (West), Djokic. BOOKED: Barnes.

 

I was almost lost for words afterwards, and I'll admit that I was also a little emotional. This was Dagenham & Redbridge's first ever competitive win over a top-flight club... and it had come against by beloved Arsenal's greatest rivals.

 

Our reward was an opportunity to create another major upset in Round 5 of the FA Cup. Blackburn Rovers would be travelling to Victoria Road on 14 February, and if we could beat the team ranked 13th in the Premier League, then we would certainly fancy our chances against the side ranked 18th.

 

Sadly, Matthew Fraser would not be able to replicate his tireless performance, as he was ruled out for a fortnight with a twisted knee.

 

Just three days after arguably our greatest ever victory, we resumed our Championship campaign at Stoke City. A few of our giant-slayers, most notably William Barnes, were absolutely exhausted following their midweek exploits, so they were given the day off. Baldur Hreidarsson would also miss out with concussion.

 

We therefore arrived at the Britannia Stadium with a much-weakened starting line-up, and a number of youngsters on the bench. If 7th-placed Stoke couldn't end our 10-match unbeaten record here, then they really would have to be ashamed of themselves.

 

7 February 2032: Stoke City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Not unexpectedly, Daryl Ryan faced a barrage of Stoke shots early on. Daryl pushed behind a fierce low drive from midfielder Kaveh Salmani in the first minute. In the second, he did well to smother the ball after Stoke forward Billy Murphy's shot had bounced off a couple of Dagenham defenders and deflected towards his strike partner Allan Moffat. Ryan also made a fabulous catch in the fourth minute from Murphy, who sent a piledriver over the bar three minutes later.

 

The Potters then conserved their energy for a while before attacking again in the 20th minute. Winger Tony Dupire's cross into the Daggers box was intercepted by George Darvill, who then brilliantly blocked a half-volley from Murphy. When Moffat's 24th-minute header was comfortably saved by Ryan, you could sense that the home fans were growing restless.

 

When City's centre-back Robin Andersson took a knock three minutes later, we could sense a possible weakness in their defence. We steadily built up something that resembled an attack in the 29th minute, only for it to fall apart when young midfielder Tom Virgo was tackled by Stoke skipper Strahil Pankov. The next Dagger to touch the ball was Ryan, who was picking it out of his net half a minute later after Moffat had drilled Murphy's through-ball home from a tight angle.

 

Following the Potters' opening goal, it seemed almost unavoidable that the floodgates would give way. Within six minutes, Moffat doubled his and Stoke's tally with a lethal header from Tomas Simak's cross.

 

The half did end on a bright note for us in the 42nd minute, when Mario Tortora ran at the Stoke defence and hit a promising shot that Igor Pinheiro just about held onto. That was our first shot on target, but we would need many more in the second half to avoid defeat.

 

In my heart of hearts, I knew that we were destined for defeat, and my half-time substitutions reflected that. I made all three personnel changes at once, with returning loanees Philip Duru and Nigel Atta coming on alongside midfielder Joe Charles - a first-team debutant at 17.

 

It would take an incredible Stoke collapse for us to get back in the game, but Connor Wickham's side were as solid as anything. Their defence - led brilliantly by centre-half Calvin Mwanga - wouldn't give us even a sniff at goal in the second half. Their midfielders controlled the game with their silky-smooth passing, while the attackers had several chances to increase the winning margin.

 

Moffat was denied a hat-trick when Daryl pushed away his half-volley in the 51st minute, but the Scot's big moment would come exactly half an hour later. Murphy capped off his virtuoso supporting performance with a majestic lob to his compatriot, who dinked a cheeky header over the onrushing Ryan. 3-0 to Moffat, 3-0 to Stoke - game well and truly over.

 

Stoke City - 3 (Moffat 30,36,81)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 17,762 - POSITIONS: Stoke 6th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Casey (Duru), Darvill, Mazzola, Powell (Atta), Virgo, Honeyball, Green, West (Joe Charles), Tortora.

 

Our first defeat in two months was not a surprise, but the manner of our defeat was. Even though my team was missing several key players, I felt that they should've at least put up a fight. It was very disappointing, and I would have to seriously consider going back on my decision not to make any new signings before the summer.

[oche balboa]

Great result against Spurs. But let your reserve team manager lead out the team for the Senior Cup final. He got them there 

[neilhoskins77]

Go on, admit it. You did a lap of honour around your street after beating Spurs, didn't you Chris? 😀

[JayR2003]

Heck, I almost did a lap around the office FOR Chris...

[mark wilson27]

To lose a two goal lead against Spurs must have been gut wrenching and then to win it brilliant mate...Great result lets hope it spurs (Mind the pun) your side on

[CFuller]

22 hours ago, oche balboa said:

Great result against Spurs. But let your reserve team manager lead out the team for the Senior Cup final. He got them there 

We don't have a proper reserve team manager yet - my assistant manager Fabio Saraiva just takes charge of reserve matches. I let Saraiva take charge when we last reached the Essex Senior Cup Final, but we lost that one, so I'm very tempted to take the reins this time (unless we make it to the play-offs, in which case I'll concentrate on that).

One of the biggest regrets I had from the Romford chapter of this career was that I never won the Essex Senior Cup, despite having so many great opportunities to do so. I'd like to finally put that right here at Dagenham & Redbridge.

21 hours ago, neilhoskins77 said:

Go on, admit it. You did a lap of honour around your street after beating Spurs, didn't you Chris? 😀

If by "my street" you meant "my office/bedroom", then yes, I did do a mini lap of honour! 

15 hours ago, JayR2003 said:

Heck, I almost did a lap around the office FOR Chris...

Get back to work! 

14 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

To lose a two goal lead against Spurs must have been gut wrenching and then to win it brilliant mate...Great result lets hope it spurs (Mind the pun) your side on

Goodness me, I would have been devastated had we lost that one. Thankfully, we held on, and hopefully we can make more history by repeating the trick against Blackburn.

Speaking of that, here comes the latest installment of our FA Cup tale...

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2032 (continued)

Having sensed that our midfield was perhaps lacking in depth, I brought in some additional cover on loan in the lead-up to our FA Cup Round 5 game against Blackburn Rovers.

 

Joining us from Peterborough United for the next three months was Robin Gould - a 26-year-old deep-lying playmaker who'd been woefully neglected at London Road. He's tall, incredibly strong, and very creative, so he would certainly be a useful squad player at least for most Championship sides.

 

Gould came through West Ham United's famed youth academy, but Daggers fans with very long memories might recall him playing - and scoring - against us while at Scunthorpe United. Robin spent four years with the Iron, and he made 19 assists in League One during his final campaign at Glanford Park - just two seasons ago. This guy's got plenty of quality, that's for sure.

 

Robin's arrival was actually rather well-timed, because just a day later, our young defensive midfielder Tom Virgo was ruled out for six weeks with a sprained ankle. Virgo would've started against Blackburn, but his bad luck meant that Gould would go straight into the team as his replacement.

 

Our last FA Cup meeting with Blackburn four years ago ended with us getting our backsides thoroughly whipped. Rovers were expected to repeat the punishment, as although they were in the Premier League relegation zone, Eddie Howe's side arrived at Victoria Road on the back of some excellent results. That said, after claiming the scalp of Tottenham Hotspur in the previous round, I believed that we could cause another major shock.

 

14 February 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Blackburn Rovers

Robin Gould didn't need long to feel right at home at Victoria Road. In just the second minute, Gould unleashed a fierce shot at goal that forced Blackburn goalkeeper Marino Franic into a tricky save. Croatia international Franic was tested again after four minutes, when he got his hands to a strike from Mario Tortora.

 

This looked like being a nervy start from Blackburn, who didn't have their first shot at goal until the 16th minute. Midfielder Masixole Themeli drifted in a corner to striker Mick Beresford, who flicked it over the crossbar.

 

By the 17th minute, the Rovers had really been riled. Robin knocked the ball to Mario Djokic, who entered the penalty area as his colleague Tortora found some space. The elder Mario sidefooted the ball to his younger namesake, and a cool finish from the Italian made it 1-0 to Dagenham!

 

Blackburn's first attempt to level the scores came in the 24th minute from a Beresford long-range that was comfortably saved by Kieran Whalley. Blackburn continued to falter, and by the 35th minute, we were looking good for a 2-0 lead. Gould continued to pull the strings in midfield as he threaded the ball ahead of Djokic... but the usually clinical Montenegrin blazed his shot high and wide. We still led by one goal at the break, but was that miss a sign that we were feeling the pressure?

 

The early stages of the second half would see more frustration on the attacking front. A well-worked team move shortly after the restart ended with Dean Martin playing in Djokic, who slipped his shot just the wrong side of the post. Another sitter was missed in the 48th minute... by our other Mario! Gould's impressive debut continued when he found Tortora in acres of space, but the youngster struck Robin's through-ball horribly and crashed it into the hoardings.

 

It was proving to be a painful half for our strikers - particularly Djokic, who was hurt in a slide tackle from Blackburn defender Amine Ben Said after 56 minutes. He quickly recovered from his knock, and we continued to take the game to Rovers. Neither Martin nor Gould could cue our next couple of shots properly, but by the 69th minute, Blackburn were looking like they needed snookers.

 

Rovers left-back Dennis Katsoulakis clumsily brought down Heikki Puustinen as our right-back dribbled into the penalty area. That prompted the referee to point to the spot. Djokic took the penalty... and he put his earlier missed sitters behind him with a well-placed kick into the corner of the net! We were now about 20 minutes away from reaching the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup!

 

Blackburn's predicament prompted Eddie Howe to send for his secret weapon - former Manchester United winger Alexis Manfredi, who was capped once by Italy five years ago. Manfredi's crossing ability won a corner off Daniel O'Reilly in the 76th minute. Themeli sent an outswinger to Ben Said, whose effort was safely caught by Whalley.

 

I later brought on Mark West to replace the tiring Djokic as we pushed forward for a third and surely decisive goal. On 80 minutes, a fast-paced Daggers attack saw Gould send Tortora through on goal. Mario tried to beat Franic with a long-distance lob, but the ball drifted wide.

 

Three minutes later, that miss was starting to look quite significant. Martyn Ozmen's shot for Blackburn was parried by Whalley and then knocked behind by O'Reilly for a corner. Manfredi's delivery found Tunisian centre-back Ben Said, whose header stung Kieran's palms and bounced against the crossbar before crossing the line.

 

At 2-1, the visitors were back in the game. Just a minute later, though, their saviour Ben Said tripped West, earning himself a booking and killing his team's forward momentum. We desperately clung onto our single-goal lead for the last few minutes, and then we could celebrate. Another Premier League giant-killing had seen us through to the last eight of the FA Cup!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Tortora 17, Djokic pen69)

Blackburn Rovers - 1 (Ben Said 83)

FA Cup Round 5, Attendance 11,329

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Puustinen, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Gould, Barnes, Honeyball, Martin (Dam), Tortora, Djokic (West).

 

How about that? Dagenham & Redbridge were into the draw for Round 6 of the FA Cup for the very first time!

 

That draw was held the following afternoon. The like of Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham United were still in the competition, and although we avoided those three, we couldn't elude another Premier League giant.

 

As was the case in the League Cup five seasons ago, we would have to face the daunting task of playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Although their days of winning or even challenging for the Premier League title were long gone, the Blues still had an exceptional squad and would be another step up in class compared to Tottenham or Blackburn.

 

Our big game, to quote the BBC's draw master, “will take place on the weekend of 20 and 21 March”.

 

In the meantime, we would have to focus on the Championship - and getting our play-off bid back on track. Just three days after our historic cup win over Blackburn, we welcomed another struggling side from the north-west to Victoria Road. Wigan Athletic had lost six of their last seven games and were now in real danger of slipping into League One.

 

17 February 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wigan Athletic

Robin Gould attempted to score two minutes into his league debut for the Daggers, but his piledriver didn't cause Wigan keeper Antonis Voutsakelis too many problems. The Latics' first attacking forays didn't make us sweat a great deal, either. Cezar Teodorescu's header from a Lubomir Juhasz free-kick bounced wide on six minutes.

 

Three minutes later, a rare sloppy pass from Daggers captain William Barnes was cut out by Wigan winger Abdelkrim Hamrouni. The Tunisian then found Teodorescu with a pinpoint pass, which the Romanian striker fired tamely into Daryl Ryan's hands.

 

We would then dominate much of the next 20 minutes, although Wigan did well to restrict us to a couple of wild shots from Victor Dam and Mario Tortora that sailed well off target. It wasn't until the 28th minute that we really began to open their defence up. Mario Djokic drew centre-back Jimmy Atherton out of position before knocking the ball on to Baldur Hreidarsson, whose easy finish gave him his 10th league goal of the season!

 

The Latics nearly cancelled Baldur's goal out within a couple of minutes, but captain Thomas Potter's corner was headed just over by Shaun Wilkinson. Teodorescu also wasted an opportunity to draw Wigan level after 41 minutes.

 

I got rather angry during the half-time interval, as about half of my team seemed to doze off after I told them to go for the jugular in the second period. Djokic looked particularly disinterested, so I openly criticised his lack of focus and replaced him with Mark West.

 

Wigan manager Ross Barkley couldn't have been too impressed with his team's attitude, either. Teodorescu blazed wide another Latics opportunity in the 49th minute, while midfielder Juhasz was booked in the 52nd for tackling Dam from behind. Wigan continued to sleepwalk through the match, while we had woken up again by the hour mark.

 

Gould found West with an excellent weighted ball into the Latics' area, but Voutsakelis charged out of his six-yard box and knocked the ball away from Mark. Dam then had a shot saved by Voutsakelis on 63 minutes, in between a couple of Dagenham corners.

 

Our next real scoring chance came after 72 minutes, following Wigan left-back Martyn Ward's clumsy foul on West in the area. Tortora elected to take the penalty and attempt to make it 2-0... but he nervously smashed his shot against the woodwork!

 

Not-so-super Mario would later be replaced by Shaun Powell, with Dean Martin coming on for Dam at the same time. In the 85th minute, Dean Martin drove a lovely ball towards Welsh speedster Powell, who tried to beat a rushing Voutsakelis to it. The Greek goalie won that particular race... but he fumbled the ball over his head, leaving Shaun free to tap his first Daggers goal into an unguarded net! Powell was delighted, and so was I after a comfortable 2-0 victory!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hreidarsson 28, Powell 85)

Wigan Athletic - 0

Championship, Attendance 9,975 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Wigan 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Gould, Barnes, Dam (Martin), Hreidarsson, Tortora (Powell), Djokic (West).

 

There was quite a lengthy break until our next match, so I decided to push my players even further in training ahead of our visit to Crystal Palace. Despite a more intensive training schedule, none of our first-teamers picked up any injuries... but one Dagger who was on loan elsewhere did have a very unlucky break.

 

José Cochet was midway through only his third game for Leighton Town when an opposing Bromley player cut straight through him like a knife. José went down in a heap and was in an awful lot of pain afterwards, so he was quickly stretchered off and taken to hospital. The Frenchman underwent a scan the following day, when his worst fears were confirmed - he'd fractured his tibia.

 

When I found out the news, I immediately recalled Cochet and sent him to a leg injury specialist, so that he could receive the best possible treatment. He would require at least five months of rehabilitation before he could play again.

 

As José began his long road to recovery, we looked to continue our surge towards the top six at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. The Eagles were in 10th place, but we would overtake them if we won.

 

28 February 2032: Crystal Palace vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Matthew Fraser pulled our first shot wide after just 16 seconds. In the fifth minute, Shaun Powell almost followed up his maiden Daggers goal in the previous game with a second, only to be denied by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Jemel Hull. The Eagles launched a counter-attack shortly afterwards, but on-loan Rangers striker Trevor Terrell couldn't keep his vicious drive down.

 

A better shot from the hosts came after nine minutes, when Matt Woodward's rocket was palmed away by Daryl Ryan. Another Palace midfielder - the experienced Anthony Henry - then went close with a couple of free-kicks inside the next five minutes. The first drifted inches wide, while Ryan had to tip Henry's second effort against the bar.

 

The Eagles looked to be on top... but our 'Brave Falcon' would soon swoop on them and draw first blood. After receiving a pass from Baldur Hreidarsson in the 19th minute, Montenegro international Mario Djokic bamboozled Palace's defenders with some fancy dribbling as he jinked into the penalty area. Mario then slipped the ball beyond Hull to give us a 1-0 lead.

 

Alas, we would only be in front for two-and-a-half minutes. The home team cut our defence into shreds with a series of quick and incisive passes, the last of which from Terrell led to an excellent finish by Irish midfielder Joe Maher.

 

As the half progressed, it looked increasingly likely that Crystal Palace would take the initiative. Henry flighted another free-kick just off target in the 24th minute before Terrell and Woodward spurned further opportunities. We did start to come good again two minutes before half-time, as Baldur had a long-distance attempt pushed clear by Hull, but this was a Daggers team that badly needed to sharpen up.

 

I attempted to fire the boys up for the second half, but just five minutes after the restart, Toby Cook almost fired Crystal Palace into the lead. The Palace substitute attempted to drive the ball home from 30 yards out, and he only just cleared the top of the bar. Cook would frighten our defence again in the 61st minute. He played an excellent ball forward to Terrell, but the young Welshman couldn't direct his shot goalwards.

 

This looked like being a game in which the defences would excel, with centre-halves Bob Cairns and Gareth Lloyd both having excellent games for Crystal Palace and Dagenham respectively. Those two would compete for the ball in the 67th minute, when Henry delivered a free-kick into the Daggers area. Crucially, Gareth won out, heading the ball on for Joel Honeyball to send us forward for a counter-attack.

 

Honeyball took the ball deep into Palace's half before cutting it back to William Barnes, who then found Hreidarsson in space. Baldur knocked the ball first-time to Mario, who turned past Cairns on his way into the penalty area. Djokic then cut the ball into the far end of the net, and we were back in the lead!

 

The Eagles had been badly shaken, but they steadied themselves before battling back in the final 10 minutes. Woodward struck a fierce piledriver that Ryan pushed wide in the 85th minute. Woodward tried his luck from distance again a few moments later, but Daryl prevailed once more, tipping the ball behind. The Irishman would then stop a couple more efforts from Cairns and Terrell before we shut up shop and saw out another narrow victory!

 

Crystal Palace - 1 (Maher 22)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djokic 19,68)

Championship, Attendance 15,826 - POSITIONS: Crystal Palace 12th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Powell (Martin), Barnes, Fraser (Dam), Honeyball, Hreidarsson, Djokic (Gould). BOOKED: Barnes.

 

We have now lost only one of our last 14 competitive matches. Relegation is surely out of the question now, but with nine points separating us from 6th, we still have an outside chance of making the play-offs.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2032

March began with some great news regarding our young French centre-back John Moser. His recent performances on loan at Rochdale had been so impressive that he was named as League One's Player of the Month for February. At just 17 years of age, John was already showing the maturity and consistency of a seasoned campaigner.

 

Moser had spent the middle part of this season at Leicester City, and that was where another of our promising central defenders would end his campaign. Zola Casey was sent to the King Power Stadium for two months as Leicester aimed to make a late surge into the League One play-off places.

 

Our attempts to break into the Championship play-offs continued on Tyneside as we faced an in-form Newcastle United team. Owen Coyle's Magpies had won all but one of their last ten league games and were on course to end their two-year exile from the Premier League.

 

2 March 2032: Newcastle United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

My 500th game as Dagenham & Redbridge manager began nervously, with veteran striker Jack Colkin firing wide for Newcastle in the first minute. The Magpies would really test our defence over the first 10 minutes or so, though our teenage centre-back George Darvill made a couple of great interceptions to keep them at bay.

 

However, in the 9th minute, young George showed a real lack of experience. After cutting out a header from Colkin, Darvill tried to carry the ball out of our penalty area, only to be stopped by a crunching tackle from Newcastle midfielder Ahmed Gely. The ball was knocked on to former Arsenal and Schalke 04 striker Drazen Gvozdenovic, who put the hosts ahead with an easy finish. It was a schoolboy error from George, but one that I was willing to forgive him for.

 

Darvill had another hairy moment in the 17th minute, when his clearance from Pedro Henriques' cross drifted into the path of Newcastle forward Nikolaj Gyldenohr. The 20-year-old Dane tried to volley home from a tight angle, but Daryl Ryan pushed his effort behind.

 

That narrow escape had come after we'd wasted several opportunites to draw level. We would fare better with another attack in the 25th minute. Dean Martin got ahead of Magpies centre-half Bruno Fontes to nod Heikki Puustinen's cross on to Mario Djokic, who secured his sixth goal in his last five games! The scores were level, and the rest of the first period reflected that.

 

Gvozdenovic wasted a couple of Newcastle openings just before the half-hour, while Baldur Hreidarsson was off target for Dagenham soon after. The third goal would come four minutes from half-time... and it would see Fontes atone for his earlier mistake. The ex-Portugal international headed in United captain Mijo Djuzel's free-kick to leave us trailing 2-1 at the break.

 

We should arguably have gone into the dressing room level at 2-2, only for Djokic to waste a chance one would surely have expected him to gobble up. Victor Dam picked out Mario with a fantastic long ball over the Newcastle defence, and the Montenegrin tried to sidestep Newcastle's goalkeeper Tim Coleman, only to then hook his shot wide.

 

Newcastle started the second half just as well as they had in the first. Djuzel attempted a shot from the edge of the area in the 50th minute but was off target. A minute after that, Henriques' deep cross was headed in by Guy Hogan, who was then flagged offside.

 

The action died down somewhat until the 69th minute, when Djokic intercepted a crossfield ball from Djuzel to start a Dagenham breakaway. Mario was soon racing through on goal, having received an excellent defence-splitting pass from William Barnes. This chance was even greater than the one Djokic had missed just before half-time... but the Montenegrin somehow pulled the ball wide again! I subbed him off immediately and gave Mario Tortora the opportunity to try and get us back in the game.

 

The younger Mario would have one shot at goal in the 78th minute... and Coleman pushed it away. Hreidarsson and Matthew Fraser then missed late chances of their own before the latter's evening ended on a sour note. Fragile Fraser was forced off with a knock in injury time, leaving us a man down as well as a goal down.

 

Despite that, we carried on attacking until the end, even as the allotted three additional minutes stretched on into five. When our final attack broke down, the Magpies launched a devastating counterstrike. Although Cristóbal Olate struck the bar from centre-back Garrincha's cross, French youngster Gely got his head to the rebound and secured a 3-1 win for the hosts. In truth, it was no more than Owen Coyle and his team had deserved.

 

Newcastle United - 3 (Gvozdenovic 9, Fontes 41, Gely 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Djokic 25)

Championship, Attendance 36,630 - POSITIONS: Newcastle 2nd, Dag & Red 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen (Mazzola), Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Fraser, Barnes, Dam, Martin (Josh Charles), Hreidarsson, Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: Martin.

 

With just two shots on target out of 11 in total, it was clear that we had to brush up on our finishing, not to mention our attacking movement. The next match gave us a perfect opportunity to do just that.

 

Middlesbrough arrived at Victoria Road in 20th place and with one of the worst defensive records in the Championship. They had also only won twice since their promising 18-year-old forward Jonathan Cavener broke his leg at the start of November. The Boro had an injury crisis up front, so another youth product - 17-year-old Mike Watson - was given his league debut alongside leading scorer Calum Black.

 

As far as my starting line-up was concerned, there was a raft of changes following the defeat at St James' Park. I changed almost my entire defence, with Alex Busetto - back from injury after three months out - among those who came into the side. I also gave a full Championship debut to 16-year-old midfielder Dave Hutchinson.

 

6 March 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Middlesbrough

Both sides had very early shots at goal, but neither Middlesbrough winger Marc Kane nor Dagenham midfielder Victor Dam could get anywhere near the target. Victor was, though, heavily involved when we did open the scoring after 15 minutes.

 

After his initial through-ball to Mark West was cut out by Boro defender Hassan Fleming, Dam received the ball again from Dave Hutchinson and tried his luck for a second time. This time, Victor's pass did find its target, and so did Mark's shot, which produced only his fourth league goal of the season!

 

With the opening goal in our pocket, we looked to take the game to Middlesbrough, but our visitors had other ideas. Kane's cross into the Dagenham area on 22 minutes almost resulted in a dream debut goal for Mike Watson, but Kieran Whalley threw himself in front of the teenager's shot. Kieran then saved a follow-up from Adis Kosnik before the referee blew his whistle... and gave Boro striker Calum Black a yellow card for diving.

 

Whalley's counterpart Ronnie Devereux saved a couple of shots from Mario Djokic and West later on as he tried to keep our lead down to 1-0. His efforts would be for nothing, as we doubled our advantage in the 29th minute. After playing a clever one-two with Hutchinson, Joel Honeyball sent Boro midfielders Wayne Bruce and Daryl Newton running around in circles and then smashed in a stunning piledriver!

 

A third Daggers goal was on the cards after 33 minutes, but Djokic somehow nodded Arran Banton's cross over the bar from inside the six-yard box. Would we go on to regret that miss?

 

Absolutely not. When Honeyball set up another lethal finish from West in the 54th minute, we found ourselves 3-0 up and strolling towards victory.

 

Three minutes after that, West's lob to Djokic gave Mario a chance to really rub it in for the visitors. Djokic missed yet another sitter, though, and he soon made way for 18-year-old midfield prospect Nigel Atta.

 

That miss wouldn't make a great deal of difference, but Bruce's wasted opportunity to give Middlesbrough fresh hope from a free-kick shortly afterwards did. By the 60th minute, the Boro were well and truly dead and buried. West gave their centre-back Neal Moody the blues by knocking the ball past him and to Honeyball, who joined his skipper on two goals for the afternoon!

 

The rest of the game was virtually a procession as we dominated Middlesbrough in almost every department. A fifth goal was always looking likely, and sure enough, it came after 74 minutes. Hutchinson's impressive full debut ended with a second assist, this time for Dam, who hammered the final nail into the Boro coffin.

 

We could now enjoy the final few minutes, and so could veteran left-back Billy Hurst, who came on for his first league run-out in exactly three months. Our opponents returned to Teesside utterly broken as we secured our most resounding victory of the season.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (West 15,54, Honeyball 29,60, Dam 74)

Middlesbrough - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,474 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Middlesbrough 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Josh Charles, Busetto, O'Reilly (Hurst), Hutchinson, Gould (Barnes), Honeyball, Dam, West, Djokic (Atta).

 

After that game, I decided that left-back Rocco Mazzola could go out on loan for what remained of this season. The Italian would be building up his first-team experience at Oldham Athletic, who were battling to avoid relegation from League One.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2032 (continued)

Following the disappointment of watching our play-off hopes fall apart, I looked ahead to the future... and our latest crop of youth recruits. After a team of schoolboy trialists beat our Under-18s, I signed up eight players to join our youth set-up with immediate effect. The most promising of them were defender Jefferson Moran, midfielder Martin Thompson, and strikers Tristan Egueh and Peguy Kasongo.

 

The senior team's final league game before the latest chapter of their cup adventure was at home to 5th-placed Sheffield United. Interestingly, the Blades were also building up to an FA Cup Quarter Final in west London - against Fulham. They were, though, without a certain Paul Hart, who tore a calf muscle in January and was very unlikely to play again this season.

 

Having been a second-half substitute in our last game against Peterborough United, Mario Djokic returned to the Daggers' starting XI for this one. Incidentally, Mario's last appearance - his 25th in the league this season - had triggered an automatic one-year extension to his contract, so he'll definitely be staying with us next term.

 

17 March 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Sheffield United

Dagenham left-back Daniel O'Reilly skimmed the crossbar with a scorcher from distance in the third minute. Sheffield United would also get close with their first shot at goal after eight minutes. Daggers skipper Mark West could only head Fraser Tait's corner away to Blades striker Joe Pritchard-Ellis, whose drive narrowly cleared the bar. A couple of minutes after that, Robin Gould's low bullet for Dagenham was tipped wide by United goalkeeper Juraj Gallo.

 

Daggers custodian Daryl Ryan then gathered a half-volley from Tim Demetriou in the 15th minute. Neither keeper would be called upon again until the half-hour mark, when Gallo caught Mark's header. Five minutes later, Sheffield United right-back Damon Charlton almost found Pritchard-Ellis with a cross that Ryan just about diverted over his crossbar.

 

That had me worried, and I was concerned again in the 38th minute, when Matthew Fraser's flick-on to Victor Dam was hoovered up by United midfielder Sjors Laros. The Dutchman knocked the ball forward to Aaron Byrne, whose first-time pass was somehow slotted wide by Tait.

 

The Blades also had a close shave on 41 minutes, as Mario Djokic's effort was parried by Gallo to West, whose follow-up drifted against the upright. A frustrating half from a Dagenham perspective finished on a sour note for Heikki Puustinen, who broke his wrist after a collision with Byrne. The flying Finn's game was over, and the remainder of his season was in serious doubt as well.

 

George Darvill had been excellent at the back for us during the first half, and he almost scored our opening goal early in the second. Unfortunately, his 54th-minute header from Fraser's corner went narrowly over. O'Reilly then missed the target with another effort two minutes later, but another Daggers defender would deliver on the attacking front after 64 minutes.

 

Josh Charles, who'd been shifted to right-back after Heikki was forced off, half-volleyed the ball first-time towards the far post. His delivery evaded Sheffield United's defence, but not Djokic, whose 15th goal of the campaign put us ahead!

 

That lead was nearly snuffed out after 71 minutes, though, thanks to another needless giveaway from Fraser. Byrne intercepted Matthew's crossfield pass to kick-start a Blades counter. The visitors steadily worked their way towards our goal before Tait decided to shoot from distance. The Scot missed by some distance, though his next effort on 78 minutes forced Daryl into a save.

 

Our defenders would have to hold their nerve throughout the final ten minutes as United went closer and closer to finding the net. Captain Mikael Nordnes flicked a Tait corner inches over in the 85th minute. Two minutes after that, Ryan made a solid catch from an attempt by Demetriou. Daryl produced one more save, from Blades substitute Karl Tierney in added-on time, before we saw the game out and earned a fifth straight home victory!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Djokic 64)

Sheffield United - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,221 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Sheff Utd 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Puustinen (Duru), Josh Charles, Darvill, O'Reilly, Gould, Fraser (Barnes), Dam, Martin (Atta), West, Djokic. BOOKED: Djokic.

 

With three more league points in the bag, we could now prepare for a truly momentous occasion - our first ever game in Round 6 of the FA Cup.

 

Five-and-a-half years ago, we arrived at Stamford Bridge looking to knock Chelsea out of the League Cup. We actually went pretty close, taking an early lead before eventually going down to a brave 2-1 defeat. Now, we were back - and readier than ever to challenge the giants of west London.

 

You could say, though, that Chelsea were sleeping giants. They weren't even close to challenging for the Premier League, but they had a chance to appease their fans with a first FA Cup win for two decades. Since last lifting the trophy in 2012, the Blues had only reached one Final - in 2028, when they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Manchester City.

 

If manager Ard van Peppen was taking the FA Cup seriously, then his matchday squad didn't exactly reflect that. Only four of his starting XI - England defender Christopher Khan, Sweden winger Tomas Jazvin, and midfielders Valdivia and Almir Murtic - could be considered first-team regulars. van Peppen left most of his other star players, including legendary strikers Derek Halliday and Casca, out of the squad altogether.

 

21 March 2032: Chelsea vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Two of Chelsea's key men linked up for their first attack in the fourth minute. Tomas Jazvin squared the ball from out wide to Brazilian midfielder Valdivia, who drilled his shot wide. Four minutes later, the Blues' wingers gave our full-backs hell for the first time. France international Denis Bordes evaded a slide tackle from Arran Banton as he floated a left-wing cross to the far post. On the other end of his delivery was Jazvin, who leapt above Daniel O'Reilly and flicked the ball in off the crossbar.

 

Jazvin had given Chelsea a 1-0 lead from a header, and he would soon double it by setting up another. The Swede's 12th-minute corner was nodded home by Valdivia, and it was already looking ominous for Dagenham.

 

Our defence was hardly able to cope with Jazvin's relentless crossing, which almost led to another goal after 18 minutes. Bordes rose above Banton to head the delivery goalwards, but Kieran Whalley held it well. Kieran also made a couple of point-blank saves midway through the half - in the 22nd minute from Jazvin, and in the 26th from England centre-back Christopher Khan.

 

This match was in real danger of turning into the Tomas Jazvin show... but when Chelsea did make it 3-0 on 27 minutes, their attack was created from the centre rather than out wide. Midfielder Almir Murtic cut the ball through a chaotic Daggers defence and towards Croatian striker Dean Stimac, whose goal sent us plunging deeper into the abyss.

 

Dagenham skipper Mark West did have our first shot at goal in the 32nd minute, but it never got close to threatening the Blues' reserve keeper Jon Wigley. Chelsea would then attack again just before half-time. Jazvin was again denied a second goal by Whalley in the 41st minute, and Welsh teenager Callum Lea smashed a chance over in the 43rd.

 

Our desperation was clear two minutes into the second half, as West tried a 50-yard shot that had no hope in hell of getting near the target. West would get another chance to get us off the mark in the 54th minute. O'Reilly hoisted the ball forward to Mario Djokic, who took it up the left flank before moving into the penalty area. Djokic cut the ball across to West, who beat Chelsea left-back Harry Millen to it and provided a simple finish.

 

Millen was immediately replaced by Steffan Stampe, who later trod on our fleeting hopes of getting back into the game. The Dane headed in a cross from England Under-19s full-back Aidan Bobbins to give the Blues a 4-1 advantage after 59 minutes.

 

The tie was surely over bar the shouting now, but we continued to battle for some more pride. The upright denied Djokic what would've been our second goal in the 65th minute. Victor Dam then missed a couple of shots from outside the area before he and Mario were substituted. Djokic's place was taken by Joel Honeyball, who had a couple of shots on target but couldn't beat Wigley on either occasion.

 

Surprisingly, Blues boss Ard van Peppen took Wigley off eight minutes from time and brought on his regular goalkeeper Valentín Castillo. That came across as a tad disrespectful to us, and another sub who came on at the same time would later rub salt into our bleeding wounds.

 

A painful afternoon for us was completed in the final minute, when Croatia Under-21s striker Bojan Abramovic knocked a Jazvin cross from George Darvill's feet and into the net. We'd been soundly beaten 5-1, and we couldn't really complain. Chelsea's class had shone through, and Jazvin was named man of the match after attempting an incredible 36 crosses! We just couldn't handle the silky Swede.

 

Chelsea - 5 (Jazvin 8, Valdivia 12, Stimac 27, Stampe 59, Abramovic 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 54)

FA Cup Round 6, Attendance 43,000

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Fraser, Barnes, Dam (Atta), Martin (Duru), West, Djokic (Honeyball). BOOKED: Djokic.

 

Well... the ride was fun while it lasted. We may have knocked out Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers, but we never really had much hope against a team with as many world-class players as Chelsea.

 

Still, even getting to Stamford Bridge did wonders for our financial situation. Our share of the gate receipts ran up to well over £500,000, slashing our debt in half with one fell swoop. That was one positive we could take back home with us.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2032 (continued)

With our FA Cup campaign finally over, we could focus on the league for the last few weeks of this season. A play-off place was looking very unlikely, but I was still aiming to finish in the top half for a third successive Championship campaign.

 

Victory at Home Park against Plymouth Argyle would certainly go some way to meeting our new objective. Plymouth had not won for over two months and were slowly slipping into a relegation battle.

 

27 March 2032: Plymouth Argyle vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Plymouth's leading scorer Ugonna Thompson caused us problems right from the start. In just the second minute, the pacey Nigerian drew a foul out of Josh Charles, who was booked after clattering into him. Thompson then got his head to the resulting free-kick from Ahmed Hussein Tahir... and clipped the crossbar.

 

A fourth-minute strike from Dagenham striker Mario Tortora was pushed away by Argyle's goalkeeping captain Rory Luchford. There was more frustration for Tortora two minutes later, when his through-ball was drilled wide by winger Marvin Green. Mario then wasted a couple more chances of his own before the action died down for a while.

 

Our next scoring chance came after Tahir tripped our right-back Arran Banton in the 37th minute. Matthew Fraser hoisted his free-kick into the Pilgrims' box... and Robin Gould leapt majestically to head in his first Dagenham goal!

 

Another long ball from Fraser two minutes later could've resulted in our second goal, but Tortora pulled it past the side netting. Regardless, we still led at half-time against a poor Plymouth side who hadn't come close to scoring since Thompson's very early near-miss.

 

Plymouth had a very shaky start to the second half. After 49 minutes, Luchford made a meal of Shaun Powell's right-wing cross into the box, but he redeemed himself by catching a powerful shot from Gould seconds later. A minute after that, the Pilgrims' injury-prone left-winger Tahir strained his neck after heading a clearance from defender Ilias Iraklis into touch. His Plymouth colleagues would soon be in discomfort when Robin's square ball was drilled home by Mario, putting us 2-0 up after 52 minutes!

 

We were looking comfortable, but a careless pass from Fraser in the 59th minute threatened to change that. Tahir defied his neck injury to intercept Matthew's ball and cross to Rikki Scarlett, whose diving header was caught by Daryl Ryan.

 

Our old friend Rikki might not have halved our lead, but another Pilgrim would do just that after 66 minutes. Thompson collected a long ball from Iraklis and fed it through to strike partner Eddie Hughes, whose calm strike gave fresh hope to the Home Park faithful.

 

Three minutes later, Thompson found Tahir in a great position to continue the comeback. Thankfully for us, the Sweden international could only fire it straight at Ryan. The rest of the match was low on quality, as Daggers captain Mark West missed a couple of opportunities to make our position a bit more secure.

 

Plymouth could've punished us in the 77th minute, when midfielder Mike Khan's corner found defender Che Grocott in the six-yard box. Grocott's header was blocked, and there was a melee for the ball before Alex Busetto booted it into the stands. Argyle's hopes of avoiding defeat suffered a near-fatal blow when Khan fractured his cheekbone shortly afterwards. The hosts never recovered from that, and we held on for the win.

 

Plymouth Argyle - 1 (Hughes 66)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Gould 37, Tortora 52)

Championship, Attendance 9,594 - POSITIONS: Plymouth 20th, Dag & Red 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Josh Charles (Duru), Busetto, Hurst, Powell (Martin), Fraser, Gould, Green, West, Tortora (Djokic). BOOKED: Josh Charles.

 

That was a very close encounter, and we were likely to face another just two days later, on Easter Monday. We were hosting Notts County, who - despite being in 18th place - had one of the league's most fearsome forwards in Ian Neary. The experienced Irishman had 29 goals and 15 assists to his name, so you could say that the Magpies would've been in major trouble without him.

 

29 March 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Notts County

William Barnes got stuck in early on, as his tackle on Charles Hodson in the fourth minute left the Notts County playmaker with a stubbed toe. The Magpies' other central midfielder, Kevin Thornton, dragged a shot well wide shortly afterwards, while Ian Neary drove the ball narrowly over after seven minutes.

 

Our first real attack in the 13th minute ended unluckily for Mario Djokic, who flicked Shaun Powell's cross past the far post. Both sides later had their main frontmen booked, with Neary cautioned for tripping Daggers defender George Darvill, and Djokic accused of diving. The deadlock would then be broken in the 22nd minute... but not by either of them. It was Joel Honeyball who opened the scoring for us, as he slipped past County skipper Dillon Powell and drilled the ball in at goalkeeper Lewin Smith's near post!

 

Six minutes later, though, our new-found lead would come under threat. A weak clearance from Darvill flicked the ball towards Notts County forward Patrick Sinclair, who somehow scooped the ball over the bar, much to the home fans' relief. We remained 1-0 up, and but for a couple of late Smith saves to deny Baldur Hreidarsson and Barnes, the Victoria Road faithful might have had even more to celebrate before half-time.

 

A luckless afternoon for Djokic continued when he clipped the upright in the 50th minute. Joel squared the ball back to Mario, whose follow-up shot was cleared by Notts County defender Louis Taylor. Djokic wasted an arguably greater opportunity a minute later, and the misfiring Montenegrin would soon be substituted. Coming off at the same time as Mario was Victor Dam, who had also been booked in the first half.

 

Replacements Mario Tortora and Robin Gould struggled to make their mark as the Magpies fought back midway through the second half. On 68 minutes, Neary quickly chipped a free-kick into the Daggers' box, where Liam Simpson flicked it inches wide. Neary unsuccessfully claimed for a penalty a minute later after being on the receiving end of a strong tackle from Daniel O'Reilly.

 

Baldur would then have a couple of shots saved by Smith before our goalkeeper Daryl Ryan passed his biggest test yet on 75 minutes. Neary fed the ball into the danger area for his new strike partner Jamie Lynch, but Daryl diverted the substitute's shot behind. Then came a real turning point just two minutes later. A strong tackle from Thornton left Barnes seriously hurt and in no fit state to continue.

 

Our vice-skipper's exit was a massive boost to Notts County, who upped the attacking pressure late on. Right-winger Ross Duff and holding midfielder Thornton each troubled Ryan with long-range attempts at goal, the latter of which ultimately resulted in Daggers right-back Arran Banton conceding a corner.

 

The first minute of added-on time was in full swing when Thornton swung his corner to Neary at the near post. The big Irishman leapt above Banton and Powell to nod the delivery into the net, drawing County level with his 30th league goal of the campaign. For us, it was a case of so Neary, yet so far.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Honeyball 22)

Notts County - 1 (Neary 90)

Championship, Attendance 11,038 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Notts County 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Powell, Barnes (Green), Dam (Gould), Honeyball, Hreidarsson, Djokic (Tortora). BOOKED: Djokic, Dam.

 

Ian Neary's late equaliser left us 10 points behind 6th spot, with only five games remaining. As far as the play-offs are concerned, it's surely all over for us now, even if the mathematics say that we still have a chance of qualifying.

 

Sadly, vice-captain William Barnes' season is definitely, unequivocally over. Will tore a calf muscle in that tackle from Kevin Thornton and won't be able to play again until the summer. Let's hope that Victoria Road has not seen the last of him.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of March 2032)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  41    24    9     8     74    38    +36   81
2.          Newcastle              41    23    10    8     86    48    +38   79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Reading                41    22    10    9     68    44    +24   76
4.          Leeds                  41    21    10    10    71    47    +24   73
5.          Stoke                  41    20    10    11    67    46    +21   70
6.          Sheff Utd              41    19    13    9     60    39    +21   70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Peterborough           41    19    13    9     52    40    +12   70
8.          Watford                41    16    18    7     64    48    +16   66
9.          Dag & Red              41    17    9     15    60    52    +8    60
10.         Crystal Palace         41    17    9     15    51    57    -6    60
11.         Crewe                  41    15    14    12    65    57    +8    59
12.         Northampton            41    14    14    13    59    47    +12   56
13.         Doncaster              41    15    8     18    50    61    -11   53
14.         Millwall               41    13    12    16    50    58    -8    51
15.         Luton                  41    12    11    18    56    67    -11   47
16.         Bradford               41    12    10    19    56    70    -14   46
17.         Colchester             41    11    13    17    40    54    -14   46
18.         Cardiff                41    10    14    17    47    59    -12   44
19.         Notts County           41    10    14    17    59    72    -13   44
20.         Plymouth               41    10    11    20    41    57    -16   41
21.         Wigan                  41    12    5     24    61    85    -24   41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Middlesbrough          41    9     10    22    45    80    -35   37
23.         Hull                   41    8     12    21    48    84    -36   36
24.         Bolton                 41    6     15    20    34    54    -20   33

[CFuller]

APRIL 2032

With survival assured and another top-half finish looking highly probable, we were now firmly established as a Championship club. I now felt that I could help us to seriously kick on over the next few years and push towards promotion... but to do that, I would need a new contract.

 

With just 15 months left to run on my existing deal, I asked the board for an extension, and an enhanced salary worthy of a Championship manager. The board granted my wish, giving me a new £7,000-per-week deal that would run until the end of the 2034/2035 season.

 

My long-term future at Victoria Road had been secured, so I could now look short-term - to the end of our third season in the second tier. This was our run-in:

3 April: vs Leeds United (A) - Leeds were 4th, and on course for their first play-off campaign in six years

10 April: vs Luton Town (H) - Luton were 15th, and had won just one away league game this year

13 April: vs Bolton Wanderers (H) - Bolton were 24th, and without a win in 17 matches since December

17 April: vs Crewe Alexandra (A) - Crewe were 11th, with one of the best home records in the league

24 April: vs Millwall (A) - Millwall were 14th, and had won only once since the end of January

 

First off... Leeds United, at Elland Road. Leeds were having a strong season under Ashley Westwood, so there was every chance that they would be the team who mathematically ended our play-off chances.

 

3 April 2032: Leeds United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The first half-hour was quite poor - in fact, I would go so far as to say that it was absolutely diabolical. Although Dagenham midfielder Matthew Fraser's 5th-minute free-kick was saved by Leeds keeper Pat Sheridan, all our other shots were sent well off target. Both sides also went slipping and sliding when it came to their tackles, leading to a shedload of free-kicks and a lot of stoppages in play.

 

As far as the hosts were concerned, their first serious shot at goal was swerved wide by Bozenko Mikulic in the 17th minute. Their second effort, six minutes later, was a fierce strike from Steve Heaton that Daryl Ryan caught superbly.

 

Leeds' third attempt, on the other hand, was right on the button. Heaton delicately chipped the ball towards Ilias Ntalaperas, and the Greek giant rose above Daggers centre-back Alex Busetto to head Leeds into the lead after 26 minutes.

 

Things weren't looking good for us, and our plight wasn't helped when Mario Tortora was booked after felling Whites skipper Bradley Nicholas in the 33rd minute. By the 40th minute, however, it was all change. Victor Dam spotted Mario Djokic making a run into space, so he played the ball through and watched the Montenegrin bear down on goal before confidently tucking his shot away!

 

Mario had drawn us level, and he had given us some momentum. Sheridan would need to make a couple of impressive saves late in the first period to prevent Victor from giving us the half-time advantage.

 

Leeds midfielder Mikulic scored the only goal of our last meeting at Victoria Road, and he almost got United back on level terms here at Elland Road. Mikulic's 49th-minute half-volley was brilliantly parried by Ryan, and the Bosnian then curled a free-kick inches wide five minutes later.

 

Then, on 60 minutes, we looked to counter the hosts for a second time. Tortora stroked the ball in front of Dam, who skirmished with Whites midfielder Jeremy Owen for the ball before dribbling into the penalty area. Nicholas tried to slide-tackle the ball from Victor's feet... but the Leeds captain could only knock it on to Djokic, whose 50th goal for Dagenham was unquestionably one of his easiest! Our veteran poacher had turned the game around, and it was now 2-1 to the Daggers!

 

Ntalaperas had a chance to equalise for Leeds in the 66th minute, but Daryl pushed his strike aside superbly. Our defence continued to hold firm, even when right-back Josh Charles was forced off with an ankle injury after being tackled by United forward Shane Gennings in the 80th minute.

 

Our last major scare would come five minutes later. Nicholas took the ball up the left flank and crossed to Barry Smith at the back post, but the Northern Irish substitute couldn't keep his header on target. The Whites wouldn't threaten us again, and so we beat them on their own turf for the second season running.

 

Leeds United - 1 (Ntalaperas 26)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djokic 40,60)

Championship, Attendance 22,515 - POSITIONS: Leeds 4th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Josh Charles (Banton), Lloyd, Busetto, O'Reilly (Hurst), Fraser, Gould, Honeyball, Dam, Tortora (Hreidarsson), Djokic. BOOKED: Tortora.

 

Josh Charles had twisted his ankle - an injury that would've almost certainly ruled him out for the rest of the season. However, this was likely to be Josh's final season with us, and I wanted the popular defender to have a fitting farewell at Victoria Road. I therefore asked the club doctors to give him a course of painkilling injections, so that he could play in our penultimate home game of the season against Luton Town.

 

Charles would also be given the captaincy on his 189th - and possibly final - league game for the Daggers. Sadly, Mario Djokic could not play in it due to illness. His misfortune led to an opportunity for 16-year-old striking prospect Tristan Egueh, whom I named on the bench after he scored FOUR goals in a reserve game in midweek.

 

10 April 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Luton Town

The first half was a virtual procession as we hogged the ball and kept Luton on the back foot throughout. We were clearly on top on every statistic... except the most vital one. A couple of poor shots in the 16th minute set the tone for what was to come. Dean Martin smashed forward a shot that was blocked by Luton defender Dale Pounder, and Baldur Hreidarsson could only half-volley the rebound past the far post.

 

Another effort that seriously disappointed our fans was Victor Dam's attempted piledriver in the 23rd minute, which he pulled well wide. Although Baldur went close from a free-kick after 38 minutes, it was clear that we weren't playing anywhere near our best.

 

Our first shot on target came in the 54th minute. Hatters goalkeeper Deni Radic finally made a proper save when he caught Dam's banana shot, struck from 25 yards out.

 

It had also been a quiet day for our goalie Daryl Ryan until he held onto a Jonathan Smith free-kick after 64 minutes. Luton launched another attack four minutes later, when James Kirby crossed from the right to Smith in the penalty area. Welsh centre-back Gareth Lloyd came to our rescue with a crucial headed clearance, and the Hatters wouldn't hit back again until much later on.

 

Meanwhile, Tristan Egueh came on for the last 15 minutes as we sought to spark a lacklustre game into life. The Djibouti-born schoolboy had two shots in quick succession during the 87th minute, but Luton defender Jiri Penicka was in no mood for fairytales, as he cleared both of them. Nevertheless, those chances signalled the start of a surprisingly thrilling climax.

 

Later in the 87th minute, Radic was fortunate not to tip a Billy Hurst cross into his own net. The Hatters custodian redeemed himself somewhat when he made a fabulous save to deny Joel Honeyball shortly afterwards. The action then switched from box to box at a thrilling pace as the game remained in the balance.

 

Then, in the first minute of injury time, our departing captain for the day - Josh Charles - was muscled off the ball by Luton's Tony Nelson. The Scottish winger took the ball up the left flank and crossed to former Ipswich Town striker Smith, who headed past the rushing Ryan.

 

The Hatters had pinched a late winner... or so they thought. Much to everyone's amazement at Victoria Road, the referee's assistant had flagged for offside, even though it looked clear to me that Hurst had played Smith onside. The match remained goalless, but despite being second-best throughout, Luton - and their manager Mark Wilson - had every right to be aggrieved that they hadn't won.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Luton Town - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,559 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Luton 17th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Josh Charles, Lloyd, Darvill, Hurst, Virgo (Fraser), Gould, Dam, Martin (Egueh), Hreidarsson, Tortora (Honeyball).

 

Josh Charles' likely farewell may not have had a happy ending for the Daggers, but would Mark West's final game have a different outcome?

 

It was sure to be an emotional night at Victoria Road when fans' favourite West took to the field for one last time. The opposition for what would almost certainly be our final home match of this season were Bolton Wanderers, who were in last place and already condemned to relegation.

 

13 April 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bolton Wanderers

The atmosphere at Victoria Road was amazing, and the home fans would be roaring in delight as early as the third minute. Mark West's farewell got off to the best possible start when the skipper half-volleyed in a Mario Djokic through-ball with his weaker right foot! We were already 1-0 up!

 

Marvin Green could've made it 2-0 in the fourth minute, but his swerver was pushed away by Bolton goalkeeper Bill Miveld. That start set the tone for another match that we swiftly took control of. The already-relegated Wanderers were barely putting up a fight, and were it not for some lacklustre Daggers finishing, we could've had a commanding half-time lead.

 

Mario was particularly wasteful, as only one of his four shots at goal was on target. That was in the 36th minute, when Djokic evaded a tackle from Bolton defender Ciprian Popescu to hit a strike that Miveld superbly pushed away. Midfielder Joel Honeyball had rattled the crossbar a minute earlier.

 

By half-time, our shots count was already well into double figures, while Bolton's remained on zero. As if the Trotters' season couldn't get any worse, their right-winger Callum Fordham fractured his wrist just before the interval, bringing his match - and his campaign - to an end.

 

In the first minute of the second half, Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser knocked the ball into Bolton's area with a superb slide tackle on Ricci Lawrence. Djokic was in prime position to strike, but he couldn't keep his shot on target. Hasney Mitchell had the visitors' first shot of the game a couple of minutes later... but it was from a long way out and got nowhere near Daryl Ryan in the Dagenham goal.

 

By the 54th minute, Bolton were staring at the prospect of a 2-0 deficit. Our teenage midfielder Tom Virgo had his shirt pulled by Charlie Gordon as he entered the area, and the referee thought that was enough to award us a penalty.

 

The stage was now set for West to fire in his second goal of the night from 12 yards out. However, Miveld didn't follow the script, as he spoiled Mark's leaving party with a superb save. Miveld received a chorus of pantomime boos from the crow, but the Trotters' long-serving keeper was nothing if not determined to go down with a fight.

 

Further Miveld saves from Green in the 62nd minute and Honeyball in the 72nd left us wondering if we would even win by one goal, let alone by the rugby score that could easily have become reality. On 76 minutes, a counter-attack from the table-proppers saw Zema Hilton float a cross to his fellow Watford loanee Peter Hahn, who barged into Ryan as he deflected the ball across the goal line. The officials weren't going to fall for such hijinks, and so we remained in the lead.

 

Four minutes later, we extended our advantage. Substitute striker Derek Wright rifled in a half-volley from Dean Martin's delivery to secure the win that guaranteed us another top-half finish.

 

More chances to increase our winning margin in the final few minutes came and went as we finished with an incredible 30 shots at goal! 12 were on target, and only two had found the back of the net, but the important thing was that we signed off from Victoria Road for the season on a winning note.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 3, Wright 80)

Bolton Wanderers - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,343 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Bolton 24th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Duru, Busetto, O'Reilly, Virgo, Fraser, Honeyball, Green (Martin), Djokic (Wright), West.

 

It really was the perfect send-off for a Dagenham legend. There was only one man who could possibly be named man of the match, and that man was, of course... Daniel O'Reilly?!

 

Okay, it may not have quite been the perfect send-off for Mark West, but he was still given a standing ovation by Daggers fans as he did a lap of honour around the Victoria Road pitch. Accompanied by his wife and two children, the 34-year-old Yorkshireman was reduced to tears as he was saluted by thousands of adoring Dagenhamites.

 

It marked the end of a wonderful career that saw West score 205 goals in exactly 400 Football League games. His record for Dagenham & Redbridge in all first-team competitions read: 281 appearances, 135 goals, 57 assists.

 

Mark West, I thank you.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2032 (continued)

Incredibly, for the third season in a row, we were still technically in play-off contention going into the penultimate round of Championship fixtures. Here was the proof:

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
6.          Stoke                  44    20    12    12    69    49    +20   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Peterborough           44    19    13    12    53    47    +6    70
8.          Crystal Palace         44    20    9     15    59    62    -3    69
9.          Watford                44    16    19    9     67    53    +14   67
10.         Dag & Red              44    19    10    15    64    53    +11   67
11.         Crewe                  44    17    14    13    70    59    +11   65

 

To be honest, anyone who was predicting that we would finish in the top six from there was just clutching at straws. It would require us to win our final two matches away from home, Stoke City to LOSE their last couple of away games, and three other teams to slip up. That was highly improbable... though not impossible.

 

Of course, before we could hope for other results to go our way, we would have to keep to our end of the bargain. Victory at Crewe Alexandra was therefore of paramount importance.

 

17 April 2032: Crewe Alexandra vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Both sides had chances to score in the opening minutes. Crewe midfielder Brett Cassidy sent a spectacular volley wide in the third minute, shortly before Daggers counterpart Victor Dam narrowly missed the target from 30 yards out. We then had a major scare in the fifth minute, as goalkeeper Daryl Ryan had to tip Alex full-back Deakin Kennedy's cross behind just before it could reach the head of goal machine Gary Harper.

 

It wouldn't be long, though, before said machine booted up. On 14 minutes, Kennedy whipped in a cross that caught us off our guard, and Harper volleyed in his 30th league goal of the season.

 

Our task had been made a whole lot harder, as we now needed two goals to stay in the play-off running. Hreidarsson missed a real opportunity to get one of them in the 17th minute. Moments after that, following a mistake from Railwaymen midfielder Darren Greenhouse, Baldur threaded the ball through to Mario Djokic, whose shot was pushed behind by goalkeeper Warren Rodwell.

 

Our next big opportunity came in the 32nd minute, when Victor Dam played a great pass to leave Robin Gould with just Rodwell to beat. Robin had already made one costly error in failing to intercept the cross that led to Crewe's opener, and he made another by scooping the ball over the bar.

 

This was as poor a display as I had seen from us for months, and we were lucky not to be 2-0 down at half-time. The post denied left-winger Richard Zappia what wouldn't have been an undeserved second Crewe goal in the last regulation minute of the first period.

 

We made an encouraging start to the second half, with a 51st-minute effort from Hreidarsson forcing Rodwell into a difficult parry. After that, a shaky Daggers side then resorted to shooting hopelessly from long range. Baldur in particular was struggling badly, although Rodwell did have to tip over one of his attempts in the 61st minute. The resulting corner was cleared, but Matthew Fraser curled the ball back into Crewe's area... and clipped the top of the bar.

 

Three minutes after that, Djokic intercepted a goal kick from Rodwell. However, Mario could only flick it back towards our goal... and to the feet of Rees Wallace. The Alex substitute raced away into our area before a cool finish from a tight angle made it 2-0. Our play-off dream was surely over now, so we started to relax a bit more.

 

After 71 minutes, we would suddenly find ourselves back in the game. Crewe's defence momentarily lost focus as Victor delicately chipped the ball to substitute Mario Tortora, who drew level with his namesake Djokic on 17 goals for the season.

 

Two minutes after that, however, the Railwaymen found the net again. Left-back Gareth Powell's low cross was converted by Will Pitt, who was all set to celebrate when the officials ruled his goal out for offside. We still had a tiny glimmer of hope, but that faded away after Hreidarsson and Shaun Powell missed our next shots at goal.

 

I would soon give up the ghost, subbing our best player Dam in favour of giving a senior debut to 15-year-old midfielder Martin Thompson. By the 90th minute, it really was all over for us. Harper's header from an excellent Zappia corner secured a 3-1 win for Crewe, and signalled the end of our Premier League ambitions for another 12 months.

 

Crewe Alexandra - 3 (Harper 14,90, Wallace 64)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Tortora 71)

Championship, Attendance 9,980 - POSITIONS: Crewe 9th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Lloyd, Darvill, O'Reilly, Gould (Powell), Fraser, Honeyball, Dam (Thompson), Hreidarsson, Djokic (Tortora).

 

We could only blame ourselves for that, really. We had more possession than Crewe and an abundance of shots, but most of them were from outside the penalty area. That just wasn't good enough, not for a team of our quality.

 

Not to worry, though. Another top-half finish was my main aim for this season, and that had already been secured, so as far as I was concerned, this had been a productive campaign.

 

With nothing left to play for in the Championship this season, I could afford to give youth a chance in an almost meaningless clash with Millwall. Joel Honeyball was the captain and oldest player - at the ripe old age of 24 - in a starting XI that featured eight teenagers, including two league debutants in right-back Will McCourt and forward Ollie Reynolds.

 

24 April 2032: Millwall vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We were on the defensive for most of the opening 15 minutes, although centre-back Philip Duru did head wide an early Shaun Powell corner delivery into the Millwall box. A corner for the Lions at the other end would prove to be our undoing in the 11th minute. Kadeem Blackwell's cross was met by a near-post flick-on from Paul Sanna to Bill Nolan, who finished at the back post! This was not the start that our young team wanted.

 

Powell almost repaired the damage in the 25th minute with a clever sidefooted pass to Tom Virgo, who unfortunately couldn't keep his shot on target. Millwall's shooting in general was also underwhelming. On-loan Blackburn Rovers striker Nolan would miss the target three times in the latter part of the first half, and the Lions' other frontman Mick Baird hit a disappointing shot of his own after 33 minutes.

 

With Millwall unable to turn their dominance into a substantial lead, the Daggers grew in confidence. On 42 minutes, skipper Joel Honeyball played a smart one-two with Derek Wright and got past Lions full-back Jason Stark before his shot was parried by goalkeeper Drey Blackburn.

 

Wright would also be involved in our next attack three minutes after that. Tom played an excellent 25-yard ball upfield to Derek, who chested it and stroked in his third goal in his last three league games for the Daggers! Millwall felt aggrieved, as their midfielder Adam McNeil had been injured in the build-up, but we were back level and feeling optimistic!

 

Despite our equaliser just before half-time, schoolboy midfielder Martin Thompson still looked very nervous during the interval. I therefore decided to take him off and field Joe Charles in the second half. Millwall began the half strongly, with Nolan's half-volley in the 52nd minute forcing Kieran Whalley into a fine fingertip save. Nolan struck his next attempt well wide on 58 minutes, with Lions sub Lloyd Beasley also failing to hit the net seven minutes later.

 

Our defence was holding firm, with Duru having a blinder at centre-back alongside Shaun Johnson, who was also impressive in his one and only league appearance for us this season. On the attacking front, we were rather less inspiring. Each of Ollie Reynolds' only two shots went well wide, although Virgo did come close to scoring via a free-kick in the 70th minute.

 

I brought on a couple more schoolboys in the closing stages, with 15-year-old right-back Ross Pearson making his debut and the slightly older Tristan Egueh getting a second cameo up front. Neither of them could conjure up the magical moment that could've turned a draw into a win, but the result didn't really matter in this dead rubber. I was happy to finish with one more point, which was enough to take us above Watford and into 10th.

 

Millwall - 1 (Nolan 11)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Wright 45)

Championship, Attendance 12,358 - POSITIONS: Millwall 15th, Dag & Red 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, McCourt (Pearson), Johnson, Duru, Darvill, Powell, Thompson (Joe Charles), Virgo, Honeyball, Reynolds, Wright (Egueh). BOOKED: Duru.

 

Like I said, it had been a productive season for Dagenham & Redbridge. Compared to the previous campaign, we improved on our league position by a couple of places, and we finished just five points adrift of the play-off spots as opposed to 10. Add to that our memorable run in the FA Cup, which included those two big Premier League giant-killings, and we had every reason to be pleased with our efforts.

 

However, the season isn't quite over yet - certainly not where our reserves are concerned...

[CFuller]

MAY 2032

The Championship season may have finished, but we were still in contention for one prize at the beginning of May. Dagenham & Redbridge's reserves were into the Essex Senior Cup Final, and with home advantage against Concord Rangers, they were heavy favourites to take the county spoils for the first time in 12 years.

 

Under the guidance of my assistant Fabio Saraiva, Dagenham had brushed aside Great Wakering Rovers, Romford, Witham Town and Takeley in the earlier rounds to get to this point. We now faced a Concord side who'd finished 11th in the Isthmian League Premier Division and were into only their second ever Essex Senior Cup Final.

 

This competition had been a monkey on my back for nearly two decades since I started my managerial career at Romford. I led the Boro into one Final, which they lost to Dagenham in 2014, and never again.

 

The cup had also eluded me since my arrival at Dagenham in 2022, although Fabio's reserves did get very close to winning it three years ago. On that occasion, I allowed Saraiva to keep the reins for what proved to be a last-minute Final defeat to Southend United Reserves. This time, I felt that it was my turn to give it a go.

 

Fabio and I reached an agreement about how we would manage this year's Final. I would select the squad and formation, and have the final say on tactical decisions, while he would deliver the team talks and bark out the orders from the touchline.

 

I also laid down some guidelines regarding the make-up of our matchday squad. I could easily have picked all of my senior players and demolished Concord by an embarrassing scoreline, but that would've been against the spirit of the competition - after all, our reserve team had made the Final, not the first-team.

 

I therefore wouldn't pick anyone who had played in 20 or more first-team matches for us this season. Returning loanees Zola Casey and Jacques Polomat would also not be considered for selection, even though they were now back from Leicester City and Leighton Town respectively.

 

And so, on 1 May 2032, I arrived at the M&B Sports and Social Club in Romford, looking to finally end my Essex Senior Cup jinx. Could the reserves deliver a fitting finale to one of our most exciting seasons yet?

 

1 May 2032: Dagenham & Redbridge Reserves vs Concord Rangers

We very nearly made the perfect start, as Nigel Atta found Derek Wright clear in the penalty area in the very first minute. Derek just had to beat Concord Rangers goalkeeper Austin Lynn... but his shot fizzed past the post.

 

Concord's first shot, from captain Mark Pledger in the 18th minute, was blocked by Daggers defender Shaun Johnson. The deadlock would be broken four minutes later. A long ball from our holding midfielder Anton Morris was nodded on by Nigel Atta to striker Ollie Reynolds, who drilled his shot into the corner and made it 1-0 Daggers!

 

Pledger threatened to cancel our goal out almost immediately, in the 24th minute, but his free-kick was comfortably caught by Jerome Farrell. The Beach Boys would be punished a couple of minutes later. Morris' defence-splitting pass found Wright, who broke away from Rangers right-back Pat Shaw before driving the ball through Lynn's legs!

 

Lynn did make a couple of saves from Wright and Atta soon afterwards, but he would be beaten again after 42 minutes. Nigel's brilliant corner was converted by centre-back Philip Duru, and we were 3-0 ahead at the interval!

 

We appeared to be in total control of this final... until we made a couple of defensive errors in the 54th minute. Firstly, right-back Will McCourt's clearance was headed into the Dagenham area by Concord midfielder Dale Jepson. The ball found Pledger, who was then barged into by Johnson. Rangers were awarded a penalty, which winger Christian Parkes converted to raise a few questions about whether we could hold on.

 

When Johnson made another mistake in the 70th minute, a Dagenham collapse was looking like a real possibility. After coming under pressure from a couple of Concord forwards, Shaun frantically tried to clear the ball out of harm's way. Shaw got to the clearance and nodded it forward to Jepson, who pulled his shot inches wide.

 

We'd got away with a real clanger... and so did Concord on 76 minutes. A mishit goal kick from Lynn found its way to Reynolds, who went one-on-one with the keeper and somehow failed to secure his second goal of the afternoon.

 

Duru also could've had his second goal in the 89th minute, when Atta sent a hanging-ball corner into the Concord area. Jepson narrowly beat Duru to the ball, only to turn it into his own net!

 

We now had a comfortable 4-1 lead... but just 15 seconds after the restart, that lead was increased to 5-1! Wright tackled Concord midfielder Jonathan Tymon straight from the kick-off and began a quickfire attack that ended with him converting a rebound shot after initially striking the bar. There would be no party for the Beach Boys, but it was a very different story for Dagenham & Redbridge. The Essex Senior Cup was ours!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge Reserves - 5 (Reynolds 22, Wright 26,90, Duru 42, Jepson og89)

Concord Rangers - 1 (Parkes pen55)

Essex Senior Cup Final, Attendance 750

DAG & RED RESERVES LINE-UP: Farrell, McCourt, Johnson (Hurst), Duru, Moran, Atta, Morris, Thompson (Habu), Joe Charles, Reynolds (Egueh), Wright.

 

That Essex Senior Cup monkey was finally off my back, but this was not my victory to celebrate. After congratulating the players on a job well done, I left them to their celebrations. I also handed over my winner's medal to Fabio Saraiva - he deserved it much more than I did.

 

Fabio was also rewarded with a new and improved three-year contract. I've now worked with the 38-year-old for over a decade in total, and I'd be more than happy to keep him as my right-hand man for as long as I am Dagenham & Redbridge manager.

 

However, neither Saraiva nor I will be looking to defend the Essex Senior Cup next season, as I intend to appoint a new full-time reserve team manager over the summer.

 

With the season now over, the board declared their intention to expand Victoria Road yet again. Chairman Neil Booth announced that he had ordered the installation of a whopping 250 new seats, thus taking the ground's capacity to a nice, round 12,000.

 

That seemed a little bizarre to me, and also very costly. This new mini-expansion would eat a £400,000-sized hole into the club's finances. That was 400 grand I really could've done with to fund any new signings or wage hikes.

 

The club's bank balance was now in a rather shaky state, as we found ourselves nearly £1.75million in the red. We also still had to pay off £650,000 of a bank loan over the next three months.

 

I would surely have to sell some of my best assets before I could think about buying new players.

 

One player who could soon be going on the market is Alex Busetto. Our failure to win promotion has activated a release clause in his contract, so if another club submits an offer of at least £2.5million for him, we'll have no choice but to accept it. I doubt anyone will pay such a high fee for Alex, but I'll have to seriously consider any seven-figure bid that comes in for the Italian centre-half.

 

Mario Tortora could also potentially be on the move - but not to Aston Villa. They've been relegated back to the Championship, so there's absolutely no chance of us selling our most valuable jewel to a divisional rival.

 

Before I could start making sales, I had the slightly less stressful job of giving new contracts to a number of players. Among them was right-back Heikki Puustinen, who took a £500 weekly pay cut to stay with us for another year.

 

Teenage striker Derek Wright's promising end to the season saw him earn a new four-year contract. Another frontman - Ollie Reynolds - signed his first professional contract, and youth-team midfielders Joe Charles and Dave Hutchinson did likewise.

 

On the subject of exciting youth, 18-year-old defender John Moser returned from his loan spell at Rochdale. He'd played brilliantly for the Dale, winning back-to-back League One Young Player of the Month awards in March and April. Sadly, it wasn't quite enough to guide the ambitious Spotland club into the play-offs.

 

John's early career in England looks set to get better still after he helped France's Under-19s to qualify for the upcoming European Championship, which'll be held right here in July. George Darvill could also be involved in that tournament as part of the England team.

 

While Moser has reaped the benefits of a loan spell in League One, another young centre-back - Larry Wood - has sadly not. Larry only made three first-team appearances for a Portsmouth side who endured a very disappointing campaign that ended with relegation to League Two.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of 2031/2032)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Derby                  46    28    10    8     89    44    +45   94
2.    P     Newcastle              46    26    10    10    95    53    +42   88
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Reading                46    26    10    10    81    50    +31   88
4.          Leeds                  46    23    10    13    78    53    +25   79
5.    P     Sheff Utd              46    22    13    11    67    43    +24   79
6.          Stoke                  46    20    13    13    71    55    +16   73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Peterborough           46    20    13    13    56    49    +7    73
8.          Crystal Palace         46    21    9     16    62    64    -2    72
9.          Crewe                  46    18    15    13    73    60    +13   69
10.         Dag & Red              46    19    11    16    66    57    +9    68
11.         Watford                46    16    19    11    69    59    +10   67
12.         Northampton            46    16    16    14    64    51    +13   64
13.         Doncaster              46    16    10    20    55    68    -13   58
14.         Bradford               46    15    10    21    65    76    -11   55
15.         Millwall               46    14    13    19    54    66    -12   55
16.         Cardiff                46    13    15    18    58    68    -10   54
17.         Plymouth               46    13    13    20    47    59    -12   52
18.         Luton                  46    12    14    20    61    76    -15   50
19.         Colchester             46    12    13    21    49    67    -18   49
20.         Hull                   46    12    12    22    58    93    -35   48
21.         Notts County           46    10    15    21    63    84    -21   45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Wigan                  46    13    6     27    66    93    -27   45
23.   R     Middlesbrough          46    11    11    24    51    88    -37   44
24.   R     Bolton                 46    8     15    23    39    61    -22   39

 

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2031/2032)

(Includes stats from all first-team matches & 5 Essex Senior Cup matches)

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Jerome Farrell            4       3    1    0    77%  0.25 -    0    0    7.17
Colin Glasgow             1       1    0    0    54%  -    -    0    0    7.00
Daryl Ryan                32      35   10   1    87%  0.03 -    0    0    7.13
Kieran Whalley            22      35   4    0    82%  -    -    0    0    6.88
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Nigel Atta                2 (4)   0    2    1    77%  0.97 25%  1    0    7.28
Arran Banton              24 (4)  0    3    1    83%  4.95 0%   3    0    7.07
William Barnes            33 (5)  3    1    2    87%  6.73 32%  10   1    7.23
Alex Busetto              22      0    0    0    79%  2.21 0%   0    0    7.12
Zola Casey                15 (3)  2    0    0    76%  3.19 67%  1    0    7.16
Joe Charles               3 (2)   1    1    0    77%  3.00 17%  0    0    7.30
Josh Charles              20 (2)  1    2    1    78%  3.09 60%  4    0    7.46
Jon Cotterill             2 (1)   2    1    1    78%  1.03 38%  0    0    7.47
Victor Dam                30 (6)  2    8    3    84%  4.69 53%  4    0    7.23
George Darvill            34 (2)  0    1    2    75%  2.52 20%  0    0    7.34
Mario Djokic              27 (12) 17   9    2    79%  2.49 40%  5    0    7.19
Philip Duru               4 (4)   1    0    2    60%  2.00 33%  1    0    7.50
Tristan Egueh             0 (3)   0    0    0    89%  0.00 0%   0    0    6.93
Matthew Fraser            33 (2)  4    5    1    85%  5.30 25%  2    0    7.17
Joseph Gerken             0 (2)   0    0    0    66%  1.14 -    1    0    6.40
Robin Gould               8 (2)   1    1    1    89%  4.08 63%  0    0    7.21
Marvin Green              14 (10) 1    0    0    76%  2.35 48%  0    0    6.89
Paul Habu                 2 (1)   0    1    0    77%  2.83 -    0    0    6.93
Joel Honeyball            23 (13) 5    5    1    80%  3.51 50%  1    0    7.05
Baldur Hreidarsson        32 (7)  14   13   6    78%  2.79 37%  2    0    7.36
Billy Hurst               14 (5)  0    2    0    80%  4.44 -    2    0    6.86
Dave Hutchinson           2 (5)   0    2    0    83%  2.88 25%  1    0    7.28
Shaun Johnson             2       0    0    0    53%  2.25 -    0    0    7.20
Wesley Judge              0 (3)   1    0    0    69%  2.29 100% 0    0    6.67
Gareth Lloyd              21 (2)  1    0    6    69%  2.70 20%  0    0    7.65
Dean Martin               22 (13) 2    9    1    81%  4.49 40%  3    0    7.10
Rocco Mazzola             7 (3)   0    1    0    77%  3.41 -    0    0    6.81
Dennis McCann             6 (5)   2    1    1    82%  3.39 100% 2    0    7.25
Will McCourt              4 (2)   0    1    0    71%  1.80 -    0    0    7.12
Kevin McManus             2 (1)   0    0    0    78%  2.40 0%   0    0    7.00
Jefferson Moran           1       0    0    0    84%  1.00 -    0    0    7.50
Anton Morris              3 (1)   1    1    0    67%  1.14 25%  1    0    7.33
John Moser                5 (2)   0    0    0    78%  2.99 -    0    0    6.93
Daniel O'Reilly           36 (2)  0    2    1    80%  5.08 31%  6    0    6.99
Ross Pearson              0 (1)   0    0    0    89%  -    -    0    0    7.00
Jacques Polomat           6 (1)   0    0    0    82%  5.57 -    0    0    6.90
Shaun Powell              15 (10) 1    2    0    74%  3.56 50%  0    0    6.85
Heikki Puustinen          27      0    1    0    81%  4.34 -    1    0    6.97
Carl Quinn                3       0    0    0    58%  1.00 -    0    0    7.17
Ollie Reynolds            2       1    0    0    88%  1.62 25%  0    0    7.25
Martin Thompson           2 (1)   0    0    0    66%  3.16 -    0    0    6.50
Mario Tortora             35 (9)  17   4    1    78%  2.44 47%  2    0    7.09
Tom Virgo                 21 (10) 0    2    0    84%  6.53 27%  1    0    6.99
Mark West                 22 (9)  9    4    3    78%  2.13 44%  2    0    7.21
Larry Wood                1 (2)   0    2    0    81%  4.34 -    1    1    7.65
Derek Wright              3 (1)   5    0    0    74%  2.25 46%  0    0    7.65

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

 

[mark wilson27]

Another good season and only 5pts from the play-offs. A great cup run all in all not  a bad season. Lets see if you can build on from this and make the promised land,

As always CFuller an excellent story

[Jambo98]

Yup just wanted to that I read this from the start a month or so, and been keeping up with the updates ever since. Great reading and sounds like a brilliant fun career. Inspired me to try my own hand at writing as well. 

[JayR2003]

While there were aspirations for the Premier League push, the main goal this season had to be to establish the team in the Championship.  Mission accomplished.  On top of that, it sounds like your chairman wants to be ready for Premier League football before you get there, so you'll need to work some financial magic to get in some more guys that will help with the push.  But you have a great core in place, a core that should translate into the Premier League once that jump is realized. 

[CFuller]

19 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Another good season and only 5pts from the play-offs. A great cup run all in all not  a bad season. Lets see if you can build on from this and make the promised land,

As always CFuller an excellent story

It's an improvement, for sure, and getting to the FA Cup Quarter Finals was a big achievement. Looking the squad that we'll have for next season (more on that in the next update), I don't think we're that far off promotion.

19 hours ago, Jambo98 said:

Yup just wanted to that I read this from the start a month or so, and been keeping up with the updates ever since. Great reading and sounds like a brilliant fun career. Inspired me to try my own hand at writing as well. 

Welcome aboard, Jambo. I've read through the first few chapters of your Edinburgh City story, and it looks promising so far.

16 hours ago, JayR2003 said:

While there were aspirations for the Premier League push, the main goal this season had to be to establish the team in the Championship.  Mission accomplished.  On top of that, it sounds like your chairman wants to be ready for Premier League football before you get there, so you'll need to work some financial magic to get in some more guys that will help with the push.  But you have a great core in place, a core that should translate into the Premier League once that jump is realized. 

After three seasons, it's fair to say that we are now an established Championship team. Our aim next season has to be the play-offs at worst. With the signings I've made so far, that probably sounds reasonable.

I've got mixed feelings about the latest expansion to our ground. To be honest, I'm not sure if we'll be able to expand Victoria Road much further after this. The chairman's next move might be to just build a new stadium, and if we're not in the Premier League by then, it could spell trouble for us financially.

[CFuller]

JUNE 2032

It was now time for Dagenham & Redbridge fans to select their best XI for 2031/2032. The eleven players that they selected were Daryl Ryan, Arran Banton, George Darvill, Zola Casey, Daniel O'Reilly, Victor Dam, William Barnes, Matthew Fraser, Dean Martin, Baldur Hreidarsson and Mario Djokic.

 

This season also marked the first time since 2025/2026 that a certain big Yorkshireman DID NOT win the Fans' Player of the Year award. That accolade instead went to Baldur Hreidarsson, who scored 14 goals and made 13 assists in an excellent year-long loan spell from West Ham United. Baldur did struggle for form late on in the campaign, but I would love to bring him back to Victoria Road for another term.

 

I'm also open to the idea of signing Robin Gould from Peterborough United again, possibly on a more permanent basis. The midfielder had impressed me during his brief loan stay with us and would certainly be an important player for us if he did return.

 

There was, though, a rather large sticking point with regards to my chances of re-signing Hreidarsson or Gould. I didn't have a great deal of money to strengthen the squad. Although the club had recently agreed a new kit sponsorship deal worth £600,000 over the next two years, we still had significant debts.

 

My transfer budget for the summer was a minimal £120,000, and my weekly player wage budget was cut down to a little over £82,500. Some big earners would have to move on.

 

I also had to think long and hard about the futures of some of our younger players. Marvin Green, for instance, had developed nicely as a left-winger and attacking midfielder over the last four years, but he wasn't consistent enough to hold down a regular starting place.

 

I put Green on the market, and he was soon the subject of several offers from Scotland. Dundee United and Ross County both made derisory bids, but Dunfermline's offer of £600,000 was deemed acceptable, and so the 22-year-old was heading to East End Park.

 

Shaun Johnson would soon follow him north of the border. A few years ago, Shaun was a really promising young centre-back who I reckoned would go on to captain the Daggers. However, a combination of some awful form out on loan and the emergence of better teenaged centre-halves - such as George Darvill - had seen his stock fall considerably.

 

Johnson was a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday when I told him, with regret, that I would be putting him up for sale. When Scottish Division 1 side Kilmarnock offered £40,000 a few days later, his time as a Daggers prospect was up.

 

If Shaun does prove me wrong and become a star player at Rugby Park, there's a clause in his contract that entitles us to 30% of any profit Kilmarnock make from any future sale. Marvin also has a sell-on clause that could see us benefit in the future.

 

Then came two real big-money sales. If I told you that they were both Italian, you could probably guess who they were.

 

The first of them was centre-back Alex Busetto, who left Victoria Road after making 99 league appearances in five-and-a-half years. Alex was being usurped by younger players in his position, so I was happy to accept a £1.2million offer from AlbinoLeffe, who'd recently been promoted to Serie A.

 

Then came the culmination of the Mario Tortora saga, which had been rumbling on for close to six months. However, it did not have a fantastic ending as far as I was concerned.

 

When I offered Tortora out to other clubs for £5million, it completely passed me by that he had a minimum fee clause in his contract that would allow any Premier League team to sign him for half that amount. After Burnley stumped up £2.5million, plus 25% of any sell-on fee, our chairman Neil Booth stepped in and told me that we had to accept the offer.

 

I started to panic after that, and asked a number of big foreign clubs if they wanted to take Mario. Benfica were interested in him, and they offered £2.5million - plus 50% of his next transfer fee. Their bid was accepted as well.

 

Ask any young footballer if they'd prefer to play for a UEFA Champions League club in sunny Portugal, or a low-level Premier League team in not-so-sunny Lancashire, and about 99% of them would probably go for the former. Burnley could have given Mario more first-team opportunities, but what else did they have to offer? It was a no-brainer, surely!

 

But no, it wasn't. Mario was among the 1%. He turned down a move to the Estádio da Luz, and headed up north to Turf Moor to sign for Burnley.

 

I was close to devastated when I heard the news. The pesky old minimum-fee release clause had shorn us of yet another player for less than his true value, and there was no guarantee that we would make any more money from Tortora in the future. (Sigh)

 

Still, at least we did get some compensation for Tortora, who finished his short Dagenham career with 30 goals in 69 league games. Several other players who left over the summer moved on for nothing in return.

 

Four youth players - Jon Cotterill, Joseph Gerken, Wesley Judge and Victor Sarun - were released. Meanwhile, reserve midfielder Lloyd Bailey moved to Bristol City on a free after an unsuccessful loan stint at Salthill Devon. Dennis McCann had also endured a miserable time at Salthill, not least because he tore a calf muscle in May, but I would keep hold of him for the time being.

 

We also said goodbye to two real Dagenham & Redbridge stalwarts. Josh Charles had made 189 league appearances in six years at Victoria Road, but with younger defenders now overtaking him in the pecking order, I felt that it was time to part with the 31-year-old.

 

34-year-old Mark West also moved on after ending his playing career. The iconic striker had scored a record 131 league goals for Dagenham, and I really wanted to keep him on as part of my backroom staff. However, it was not to be.

 

We failed to agree terms with Mark on a new coaching contract, and so he decided to take a break from football and spend more time with his young family. He might yet return to Victoria Road in the future, but for the time being, it's time to move on and look forward.

 

'The Beast' may have gone, but my first signing of the coming season might just be Mark West, erm, Mark II.

 

22-year-old striker Paul Nixon's young career has not been exceptional by any means. Nixon only scored 11 league goals in five years at Fleetwood Town, who were relegated from League One this season. He has also failed to score in 13 caps for Northern Ireland since making his international debut three years ago.

 

Why, then, have I signed a striker who's not yet proven himself at a professional level? For starters, even at 'only' 6ft 1in tall, Nixon is excellent in the air. He's also very strong, a tireless worker, and he has a pretty strong mentally. This target man needs to find the right club where he can fulfill his potential - and I think we're the right fit for him.

 

We would pay Fleetwood just over £100,000 in compensation to secure Nixon's signature. That fee smashed the Daggers' long-standing transfer record of £14,000, which they paid Purfleet to sign striker Paul Cobb way back in 1997.

 

My next signing was 20-year-old Lars Zandbergen - a Dutch left-winger who arrived on a free transfer from Feyenoord. Lars is a very raw talent who has exceptional pace but could still improve a lot technically.

 

Our first-choice left-winger next season, though, is likely to be Steven Shelton. Already capped four times by England Under-21s at the age of just 19, we signed Shelton on a year-long loan from Premier League champions Manchester City. Steven is fairly quick and an excellent dribbler, although he is quite low on self-belief, so it'll be up to me to boost the Derbyshire-born youngster's confidence sufficiently.

 

My fourth and final acquisition before the start of pre-season was - surprise, surprise - yet another very promising centre-back. I'm collecting them like Panini stickers!

 

Charles and Busetto had now gone, so I felt that we needed a new defensive stopper. With his youthful enthusiasm and a fearless attitude, 19-year-old Velimir Radosavljevic fitted the bill very nicely. The Serbia youth international joined us after being released by FK Rad - a SuperLiga club based in Belgrade.

 

Staff-wise, the only major change I made was to bring in a full-time reserve-team manager. Sean O'Callaghan - a 38-year-old Irishman who spent his entire playing career as a centre-half at Limerick - arrived at Victoria Road to coach our second string.

 

The 2032/2033 Championship schedule was released late in June... and our opening match watered more than a few mouths. We would kick-off the campaign with the small matter of a home match against county rivals Colchester United on 31 July, while our first away game would come against Millwall three days later.

 

Southampton would also lie in wait early in the season, as we would travel to St Mary's on 21 August. The Saints had dropped straight back down from the Premier League alongside Aston Villa, whom we were scheduled to play at home on 23 November and away on 23 April.

 

This will be our fourth consecutive season in the Championship - the longest we've spent in one division since I took over almost a decade ago. Can we push on towards promotion to the Premier League, or will this be yet another year of second-tier consolidation?