House of Flying Daggers

[neilhoskins77]

I've spent the last few days catching up on this Mr Fuller......

*Wales bottom of the Group at a European Championships?
*Richard Keys is dead? (Was it sudden? Do we know where Charlotte Jackson was at the time?)
*Turning down the opportunity to throw your name into the hat to be the new messiah on Tyneside? Really?
*The mighty Daggers scorching a path through the Football League?
but most unbelievably of all
*England winning not just penalty shoot outs, but also major tournaments?

The World that you live in has gone absolutely mad......and I'm loving every minute of it. Congratulations on your award winning story, it's been a superb read up to this point, and I'm sure that will continue. I think the signing of Veratti, even in his twilight years, could bring the experience needed to stay in a League like the Championship, where two bad results can drop you from the Playoffs to a relegation scrap. But with all the rollercoaster seasons that this save has taken in, I've got to think that at age 44, your hair is going to be the colour of a badgers backside my friend!

[CFuller]

Apologies for the lack of updates this week. I've had a few family problems of late, and Football Manager has pretty much been on the back-burner for me. I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things by Monday, though.

29 minutes ago, neilhoskins77 said:

I've spent the last few days catching up on this Mr Fuller......

*Wales bottom of the Group at a European Championships?
*Richard Keys is dead? (Was it sudden? Do we know where Charlotte Jackson was at the time?)
*Turning down the opportunity to throw your name into the hat to be the new messiah on Tyneside? Really?
*The mighty Daggers scorching a path through the Football League?
but most unbelievably of all
*England winning not just penalty shoot outs, but also major tournaments?

The World that you live in has gone absolutely mad......and I'm loving every minute of it. Congratulations on your award winning story, it's been a superb read up to this point, and I'm sure that will continue. I think the signing of Veratti, even in his twilight years, could bring the experience needed to stay in a League like the Championship, where two bad results can drop you from the Playoffs to a relegation scrap. But with all the rollercoaster seasons that this save has taken in, I've got to think that at age 44, your hair is going to be the colour of a badgers backside my friend!

Thanks for all the comments and observations, Neil.

Wales really have dropped off, especially now that the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale are long, long retired. Thank your lucky stars that you're not Irish, though - the Republic of Ireland really have become dreadful and are more used to finishing bottom of their group than qualifying for major tournaments.

Yep, I am afraid to say that Richard Keys died from laughing at the prospect of a woman playing in a professional men's match. In unrelated news, Andy Gray was in a coma for about 12 days. As for Charlotte Jackson, she was enjoying life as Marbella's most glamourous retiree with her husband Chris Coleman.

Become Newcastle manager? For goodness sake, Neil, I'm not a masochist! 

Little old Dagenham & Redbridge are indeed in the Championship - and we've not started too badly, either! Could a third promotion in four years be on the cards?

England becoming world champions is proof that my save game has sadly corrupted somewhere and will surely become completely unplayable before too long. 

"Award-winning story", though? This story has been award-nominated, but it didn't actually win anything when we were in Big Sam's bank vault a few weeks back. Maybe next year.

You're probably right - my hair might well be rather less brown at 44 than it was when I started out at 27. In real life, though, my dad has only just started going visibly grey at 52, so maybe my hair won't be going the same way for a while yet.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2029 (continued)

Our League Cup record wasn't great, but the draw for this season's competition gave us a golden chance to reach Round 2 for just the second time this decade. We entered the cup with a Round 1 tie at home to Charlton Athletic, who were 23rd in League One after narrowly avoiding relegation last term.

 

14 August 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Charlton Athletic

We were incredibly slow out of the blocks, with Charlton enjoying more possession and chances in the early stages. Addicks midfielder Marko Mihacic swerved a shot wide after 14 minutes, and colleague Joe McLaughlin forced Daggers debutant Kieran Whalley into his first save after 22.

 

We really struggled going forward, and our woes only worsened when Dean Martin hurt himself while fouling Mihacic in the 27th minute. Dean came off with a knock and was replaced with Paul Parkinson.

 

The tide did start to turn in our favour in the 33rd minute, when Parkinson moved the ball across to Mason Bennett on the edge of Charlton's penalty box. Bennett's drive was parried by Charlton goalie George Long, who also saved a free-kick from Marco Verratti three minutes later. The half ended with one final chance for the Addicks in the 42nd minute, but Ewan Barclay's right-wing cross was headed just over by striker Martin Short. Had Athletic missed a massive opportunity to cause an upset?

 

Ten minutes into the second half, we almost broke the deadlock through a massive stroke of luck. A first-time cross from full-back Daniel O'Reilly sailed rapidly towards the Charlton goal before Long tipped it away just in time!

 

In the 59th minute, it was our turn to get lucky. Addicks winger Connor Glover intercepted a poor throw from Arran Banton and fed the ball to his team-mate Alan Tomassen, who hammered a shot against the crossbar! Dagenham centre-back Colin Butler intervened before Tomassen could convert the rebound, allowing Shaun Johnson to clear the ball into touch.

 

Colin would make a major impact at the other end two minutes later. His long ball into the box found Ollie Pert, who chested it and struck that long-awaited first goal for Dagenham!

 

Our lead looked comfortable for a while after that, but Charlton pushed forward again during the final 15 minutes. Victor Dam and Butler each earned yellow cards after conceding free-kicks that Mihacic struck narrowly wide for the underdogs. We just about held on, and when we got a breather early in added-on time, we looked to seal the win.

 

Parkinson lobbed the ball ahead of Bennett, who took it into the area before being felled by a sliding tackle from Charlton captain Ben Barber. The referee awarded us a penalty - a decision that infuriated the Addicks players, who had earlier tried to argue that Ollie's goal was offside. The ref was unmoved, and when playmaker Matthew Fraser thrashed in the penalty, our place in Round 2 was sealed.

 

There was a minor scare when Matthew was hurt in the ensuing celebrations. Thankfully, the injury-prone midfielder turned out to be alright, and we got through out League Cup opener unscathed.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Pert 61, Fraser pen90)

Charlton Athletic - 0

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 1,582

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Butler, Johnson, O'Reilly, Martin (Parkinson), Verratti (Fraser), Dam (Warren), Honeyball, Pert, Bennett. BOOKED: Dam, Butler.

 

The difficulty level would be ramped up in Round 2, as we were pitted against Everton away. That said, I was excited about the prospect of us playing against one of the Premier League's most famous clubs, and I would relish our trip to Goodison Park in a fortnight's time.

 

There was also some exciting news regarding our youth goalkeeper Colin Glasgow, who won his first cap for Northern Ireland Under-21s. Sadly, Colin's debut turned a bit sour, as he conceded three goals in Holland.

 

Later in the week, I received a couple of bids for Geraint Harding. AFC Bournemouth wanted to take him on a season-long loan for 10% of his wages, while Rotherham United offered a pitiful £28,000 to buy the Welsh midfielder outright. Needless to say, both offers went straight into the trash.

 

We returned to league action at the City Ground, where we faced an uphill struggle to prolong our unbeaten start. A lot of smart money was on Nottingham Forest to win promotion, and Colin Cameron's men had begun strongly, with two emphatic victories and a draw.

 

If we were the Championship's 'have nots' in terms of financial muscle, Forest were most certainly among the 'haves'. They were paying first-choice goalkeeper Oldrich Rehak £46,500 per week - a good £5,000 more than we were paying our entire squad!

 

18 August 2029: Nottingham Forest vs Dagenham & Redbridge

On-loan defender Colin Butler was ineligible to play against his parent club, so 17-year-old Shaun Johnson made only his fourth league start for the Daggers. I feared that Shaun would struggle under pressure, but he looked solid early on, as did the team in general. In the 7th minute, our strikers Mark West and Mason Bennett pounced on a sloppy kick from Forest goalkeeper Ondrich Rehak to produce our first attack. The pair played the ball back and forth to each other before West's shot was parried by Rehak.

 

The hosts had their first chance on 15 minutes, and they were much more clinical, as full-back Michael Prochazka's cross was volleyed in by winger Vasil Popov. It was 1-0 to Nottingham Forest, but we weren't too disheartened.

 

In the 23rd minute, William Barnes played an excellent long ball to Bennett, who raced through the offside trap before his cross won a corner off Rehak. That sadly didn't lead to much, and in the 31st minute, we were under pressure again. Forest captain Romeo Ghinea whipped in a left-wing cross that bent its way into our net, but not before striker Terry Swann had barged into our goalkeeper Daryl Ryan. That moment of poor sportsmanship got the goal disallowed, but we were desperately holding on for our lives.

 

Ryan had to make an excellent low save to turn away a 41st-minute drive from Swann. Jurgis Putnins picked up the loose ball and tried to cut it back to Nathaniel Yiadom... but our vice-captain Gavin Dalton cut the ball out with a superb tackle on the West Ham United loanee. A couple of late chances from Bennett went wide before we entered the dressing room still trailing by a single goal.

 

In the 50th minute, an excellent pass from West allowed Bennett to race through on goal. However, Forest's defenders managed to force Mason wide before Putnins made a superb tackle on the veteran forward. Barnes blasted wide our next scoring attempt in the 59th minute, and Victor Dam snatched at a chance from close range seven minutes later. Those opportunities aside, Nottingham Forest looked in control and surely would've been further in front had they taken their own chances.

 

As Colin Cameron's men grew wearier, I sensed with ten minutes to go that this was the perfect time for us to hit back. When Dalton took the ball off Ghinea's feet after 84 minutes, we clicked into gear. Mark picked up Gavin's clearance and played it forward to Mason just as both men entered the Forest half. Bennett then knocked the ball inside to Hicks as Joel Honeyball found space in the penalty area. Max played a slide-rule pass to Joel, who tapped in an equaliser for the Daggers!

 

We still needed to hold on for the final few minutes, and with Dalton and Johnson in such excellent form in the centre of our defence, there was little doubt that we would do so. We had taken a point away from home against Nottingham Forest!

 

Nottingham Forest - 1 (Popov 15)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Honeyball 84)

Championship, Attendance 16,981 - POSITIONS: Nottm Forest 4th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Dalton, Johnson, O'Reilly (Warren), Barnes, Fraser (Verratti), Honeyball, Dam (Hicks), West, Bennett.

 

We didn't have long to celebrate an excellent result on our travels, as an action-packed August continued with a midweek home game against Cardiff City. The Bluebirds were lucky not to be relegated from the Championship earlier this year, but they'd made an encouraging start to this campaign, racking up two wins and two draws.

 

21 August 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cardiff City

The first half saw an exhibition of headed shooting from Cardiff striker Aristote Mbala. More specifically, it was a masterclass in how NOT to shoot with your noggin. The first of Mbala's heading howlers came in the 8th minute, when he flicked Cardiff captain Dan Milton's cross against the Dagenham bar. Eight minutes later, the DR Congo international met Seán Davis' right-wing delivery with a woeful connection, and the ball bounced harmlessly wide.

 

Mbala had another chance in the 28th minute, and again, his header from a deep Nathan Walsh cross flattered to deceive. Our defence deserved plenty of credit for not giving Mbala room to thrive, but our attack was rather less impressive. By the end of a miserable first half, we had registered a grand total of ZERO shots at goal.

 

Cardiff goalkeeper Jed Steer saw much more action after the break. In the 47th minute, the 36-year-old caught a long drive from Victor Dam. Victor missed the target completely with another ambitious strike on 51 minutes. Six minutes after that, Max Hicks got the home fans excited with an excellent cross to Mark West, but our captain could only flick it straight at Steer.

 

Both sides continued to cancel themselves out in the middle of the park until the 81st minute, when an uncharacteristic error from Marco Verratti gave Cardiff a great chance to strike. Bluebirds winger Bjarni Ólafur Einarsson took flight after intercepting Marco's attempted pass to Shahed Hector, and he then knocked the ball to Mark Latham in the Dagenham area. Latham's shot rattled the crossbar, and his follow-up was blocked by Gavin Dalton, who was superb at centre-half once again. Einarsson tried to create another chance just moments later, but his cross was blown safely into Daryl Ryan's hands.

 

As full-time loomed, Victor had another effort saved by Steer in the 86th minute. That was followed in the 89th minute by a narrow miss from Daggers substitute Ollie Pert. An uninspiring game ended with the score still at 0-0, although I wasn't too disappointed with that.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Cardiff City - 0

Championship, Attendance 5,183 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Cardiff 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton, O'Reilly, Harding, Fraser (Verratti), Honeyball (Dam), Martin, West (Pert), Hicks.

 

That was another point on the board for us, and our unbeaten start to the season remained intact. Yes, we may have only won one of our first five league games, but I didn't mind that. My motto for this season was "slow and steady secures survival".

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2029 (continued)

We had a north-western double at the end of August. Before our trip to Goodison Park in the League Cup, we arrived at the DW Stadium for a Championship clash with Wigan Athletic.

 

Wigan came 9th in the Championship last season - their worst league finish for over a quarter of a century. They had lost their first two matches of this campaign, but a good run of form had since moved the Latics back up to 14th.

 

25 August 2029: Wigan Athletic vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mason Bennett spent seven years at Wigan early in his career, scoring 21 league goals for the Latics during that time. Four minutes into his return to the DW Stadium, Bennett struck home his first competitive goal for Dagenham & Redbridge! Mason played a clever one-two with Mark West and then smashed the ball past the rushing Wigan keeper Antonis Voutsakelis.

 

We would only stay in front until the 17th minute. Latics local boy Thomas Potter spotted namesake Thomas Junker in space, and the Danish winger dribbled to the byline before cutting the ball across for Valeriy Sulim to tuck away.

 

Junker almost made another assist for Sulim in the 20th minute, but the Belarus striker headed over the bar. Wigan would have several more chances over the next few minutes, most notably when Potter's header was caught by Daryl Ryan on 28 minutes.

 

Three minutes later, Potter was the victim of a rash sliding tackle from Dagenham midfielder William Barnes. Will escaped without a caution, but he didn't get off totally scot-free. Former England right-back Steve Guy curled the free-kick into our six-yard box, and Wigan's Russian defender Igor Ivanov outjumped Daniel O'Reilly to flick it home.

 

Wigan were now 2-1 up, and American midfielder Curtis Smith came within inches of volleying them into a 3-1 lead after 42 minutes. The half ended with two chances for West to restore parity for the Daggers. Mark had a 20-yarder saved by Voutsakelis just seconds into added-on time, and then struck the bar with a header from a Dean Martin cross in the following minute.

 

Wigan twice threatened to move two goals clear in the 52nd minute. Daryl kept us in contention with a point-blank save from Potter's header before watching Latics midfielder Dusan Petkovic bend a shot just over his bar. Our hopes of getting back level grew in the 61st minute after Wigan left-back Zander MacKinnon was booked for barging into Martin. They fizzled out again when Junker headed away Matthew Fraser's free-kick, allowing the home team to counter.

 

Wigan's breakaway ended with a crucial interception by Daggers centre-back Colin Butler, just as Smith was about to connect with Abdelkrim Hamrouni's cross into our area. Shahed Hector cleared the danger, and Fraser then headed the ball forward to West, who drove it ahead of Bennett. Mason raced clear of the last defender and took the ball into the Latics' box before slipping it past Voutsakelis! We had countered the counter-attack and drawn level!

 

A thrilling encounter died down for a good while until the 87th minute, when Ryan caught Brazilian substitute Franca's attempt to put Wigan back in the ascendancy. Voutsakelis prevented Victor Dam from doing likewise for Dagenham in the final minute of normal time.

 

A draw now seemed almost certain, and when two minutes of injury time expired, I expected the referee to blow his whistle. However, he gave Ryan enough time to hoof a long goal kick to Martin. Dean played a quick through-ball for Mason, who ran onto it and delicately chipped it over the Latics' Greek goalkeeper! The former Wigan striker had scored a hat-trick and earned us a memorable last-gasp win!

 

Wigan Athletic - 2 (Sulim 17, Ivanov 31)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Bennett 4,62,90)

Championship, Attendance 11,220 - POSITIONS: Wigan 16th, Dag & Red 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton, O'Reilly, Martin, Fraser (Harding), Barnes (Dam), Honeyball, West (Hicks), Bennett.

 

Incredible, absolutely incredible! If you told me at the start of the season that we'd still be unbeaten after six games, and we'd have defeated Wigan Athletic on their own turf, I would have told you that you were the next Terry Pratchett! But it really was true - our Championship honeymoon was still going!

 

With our dream start showing no sign of ending any time soon, we fancied our chances of causing a League Cup upset three days later. We entertained an Everton side who had finished 11th in the previous Premier League campaign, and who had just been beaten by newly-promoted Huddersfield Town.

 

28 August 2029: Everton vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Any dreams we had of causing a shock were cast aside less than two minutes after kick-off. Everton winger Renzo Duenas crossed a corner to striker Nencho Bozhilov, whose shot was blocked by our teenage centre-back Shaun Johnson. The ball deflected back to Toffees centre-half Oscar Staple, who made it 1-0.

 

Not content with stapling us to the cross, the hosts reached for their nail gun - and wreaked havoc. The massacre got underway in the 5th minute, with Doyle Clayton scoring from a direct free-kick after his colleague Callum Whealing had been fouled by Johnson.

 

Clayton was then involved in a third Everton goal after eight minutes, as his incisive pass was fired in off the bar by Whealing. 23-year-old striker Whealing had come through the Toffees' youth academy before emerging as a first-team regular at Goodison Park.

 

Less than a minute after his first goal, Whealing bagged his second, leaping above the flapping Kieran Whalley to flick Bozhilov's left-wing cross into the net. We weren't even through the first nine minutes, and Everton were already 4-0 ahead, having scored from their first four shots at goal!

 

There was a real fear that Everton would race off into double figures unless I made changes. I was half-tempted to take off Whalley the wally, but instead, I sacrificed left-back Matt Warren in favour of Daniel O'Reilly. We looked a bit more solid after that, although to be fair, the Toffees took things easier after that fourth goal. Their next four shots were all off target, with Roman Ilko, Duenas, Bozhilov and Whealing all failing to pile on the misery.

 

Everton goalkeeper Tomas Mravec was given his first real tests by our attackers midway through the half. The Slovakian parried a low effort from Max Hicks in the 22nd minute before pushing behind a thunderbolt from Geraint Harding five minutes later. Ollie Pert also had a decent opening after 44 minutes, but he ballooned his shot over the bar. Forget Z-Cars - this was a car crash of a first half from the Daggers!

 

I made my last two subs during the interval, bringing on Gareth Flood and Mason Bennett as wingers. Bennett made a quick impact after barely a minute... by giving Everton a fifth goal. Mason was pressured into a desperate clearance deep in his half, and Toffees midfielder Cristiano Machado flicked it on to Whealing, who wheeled away in delight after tapping in his third goal.

 

At 5-0 down, it was safe to assume that we were not going to reach the next round of the League Cup. All I wanted now was at least one consolation goal. Mravec kept us waiting when he saved a couple of attempts from Max in the 52nd and 59th minutes. Two minutes later, another Slovak added to our pain. Right-winger Ilko received a delicious long ball from Machado and cut it across to Bozhilov, who headed home for 6-0. SIX-effing-NIL to Everton.

 

Leighton Baines' Toffees weren't quite finished yet, and they should've made it 7-0 in the 67th minute. Fortunately, Peru winger Duenas drove a ball inches past Whalley's right-hand post. Kieran hoofed the subsequent goal kick to Marco Verratti, who then nodded it forward to Hicks. Max's flick-on was volleyed in by Ollie, and there were some ironic cheers from those Daggers fans who have travelled all the way to Liverpool to watch us get slaughtered.

 

Pert was by some distance our best player, and he was unlucky not to score a second goal before the humiliation finally ended. Three minutes after nodding a chance into Mravec's hands in the 71st minute, Ollie put another header over the bar. Everton then coasted through a very anti-climactic final 15 minutes before wrapping up a 6-1 win - and a place in Round 3 that had always had their name on it.

 

Everton - 6 (Staple 2, Clayton 5, Whealing 8,9,47, Bozhilov 61)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Pert 68)

League Cup Round 2, Attendance 9,536

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Banton, Dalton, Johnson, Warren (O'Reilly), Harding (Flood), Verratti, Honeyball (Flood), Dam, Pert, Hicks.

 

I now know how David Bowie felt when he starred as Thomas Jerome Newton in 'The Man Who Fell To Earth'.

 

After my heaviest defeat as Dagenham & Redbridge manager, I could've been forgiven for locking my players up in a hotel for the rest of the month. Instead, I tried to find some positives in our performance, no matter how insignificant they were. (“Erm... Marco, I thought your passing was excellent!”) I also reiterated my belief that league results mattered more than a 6-1 thrashing in a silly old Mickey Mouse Cup.

 

Geraint Harding's short-term future at Dagenham was resolved later in the week as the transfer window closed. Several clubs had offered to sign Geraint, either on loan or permanently, but none of them met my demands. I therefore decided that the Welsh midfielder could stay with us - at least until this season was over.

 

We also got lucky just before the window shut. More specifically, we got 26-year-old right-winger Lucky Okoli on a free transfer.

 

Lucky was born in Nigeria and had won three caps for his homeland, although he actually grew up in Essex. He began his career at Colchester United and broke into their first-team before moving to Sheffield United in 2024. Okoli was an important part of the Blades side that won back-to-back titles in League One and the Championship, but he made only eight Premier League appearances last season and was released in the summer.

 

We don't typically play with wingers nowadays, but Lucky will hopefully bless us with good fortune whenever we do.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2029

It was still very early in the campaign, but the embryonic Championship league table certainly looked very encouraging for us:

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  6     3     3     0     14    7     +7    12
2.          QPR                    6     4     0     2     12    7     +5    12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Aston Villa            6     3     2     1     11    3     +8    11
4.          Nottm Forest           6     3     2     1     11    4     +7    11
5.          Dag & Red              6     2     4     0     7     5     +2    10
6.          Oldham                 6     3     1     2     13    12    +1    10

 

To be in 5th place with one of the only two remaining unbeaten sides was quite impressive for a newly-promoted side that many people had tipped to struggle. To be fair, Oldham Athletic weren't doing badly either in 6th place, having come up with us from League One.

 

You had to drop down to 19th to find our next opponents - Plymouth Argyle. The Pilgrims arrived at Craven Cottage with one of the division's worst defensive records, and without a win since the opening day.

 

1 September 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth have become a very attacking team under new manager Joe Miller, and that was evident right from the start. Portuguese midfielder Pedro Igor Ribeiro felt compelled to shoot from 25 yards in the fifth minute, although he unsurprisingly missed the target. Striker Roger Rothery also failed to score from much closer to goal in the sixth minute, while winger Marco Galvao had a shot saved by Daryl Ryan shortly afterwards.

 

On 14 minutes, Dagenham midfielder Geraint Harding was hurt in a tackle from Mate Simic, though he played on after some treatment. Five minutes later, Argyle goalkeeper Rory Luchford caught a swerving long-ranger from our captain Mark West.

 

When Veselin Spasov attempted to bend the ball home for the Pilgrims after 25 minutes, he caused our goalie much greater problems. Spasov's shot from just inside our area hit the near post and then deflected off Daryl's shoulder before rustling into the net! It went down as a Ryan own goal, and Plymouth were 1-0 up.

 

Mason Bennett also struck the post for Dagenham in the 34th minute. Unfortunately, he struck the outside of it from a tight angle. He would get a better chance to equalise, though not before Daggers debutant Lucky Okoli was booked for diving. Our right-winger was struggling somewhat, but it was a different story for our left-winger. In the last minute of normal time, Gareth Flood floated in a cross that the Pilgrims failed to clear before Bennett stabbed it into the net. 1-1!

 

Plymouth were dominating the middle of the park, so at half-time, I took off my wingers and replaced them with midfielders. Switching to a narrow 4-4-2 worked wonders for us early in the second half. The Pilgrims didn't know what had hit them in the 50th minute, when a string of first-time Dagenham passes was rounded off by a strong finish from Mark.

 

Our inspirational captain had given us the lead, and three minutes later, he doubled it. Substitute Marco Verratti was unlucky to hit the bar from 30 yards, and a hesitant Plymouth defence allowed West to race through and convert the rebound.

 

Verratti attempted another shot from distance in the 56th minute, fizzing it just past the post. Galvao and Rothery each wasted chances to halve Argyle's deficit shortly afterwards. We then had a host of opportunities to move three goals clear between the 75th and 80th minute. Among them were a couple of close-range headers from Colin Butler and Matthew Fraser that cleared the bar.

 

After 84 minutes, though, a lack of concentration from Daggers right-back Shahed Hector almost resulted in our ex-loanee Dean Oliver getting a goal back for Plymouth. I brought on the experienced Josh Charles in a nervy Hector's place, but three minutes later, the whole Dagenham team was feeling jittery. Rothery's sublime header from an equally impressive Simic corner pulled the Pilgrims back to 3-2.

 

Rothery would also have a great chance to equalise in the last few seconds of injury time. Fortunately, he pulled defender Symon Scarlett's pass beyond the far post, and we held on for yet another narrow victory.

 

That win moved us up to 2nd place, behind only Derby County on goal difference. We only stayed there for a couple of hours, though, as Queens Park Rangers knocked us back into the play-off spots after a last-minute leveller gave them a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Bennett 45, West 50,53)

Plymouth Argyle - 2 (Ryan og25, Rothery 87)

Championship, Attendance 5,262 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Plymouth 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector (Charles), Dalton, Butler, O'Reilly, Okoli (Verratti), Fraser, Harding, Flood (Martin), West, Bennett. BOOKED: Okoli, Harding.

 

Incredibly, we had gone unbeaten in our first seven matches as a second-division club! That run would continue for at least another fortnight, thanks to the international break.

 

During our enforced break, chairman Antonello Scolaro summoned me to his office, where he congratulated me on my continued good work. Mr Scolaro then revealed why exactly he had called me in - he was in serious discussions about selling Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Mr Scolaro had been at the helm for nearly eight years, overseeing Dagenham's relegation to the Conference Premier and their later resurgence under my management. He was also about to celebrate his 64th birthday in just a few weeks, and after a long and successful business career, he wanted to retire to his native Italy, though not before finding someone who could bankroll this club in the long-term.

 

Another piece of worrying news concerned Matthew Fraser, who pulled his hamstring while playing for Scotland's Under-21s against their counterparts from Germany. Matthew was unlikely to play again before the month was out.

 

Elsewhere, Daggers stalwart Jonathan Roche - now on a season-long loan at Birmingham City - finally won his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland at the age of 26. It was not a happy experience, as a lacklustre Irish side lost 3-1 at home to Norway in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.

 

After the interlude came back-to-back away games, the first of which was against 9th-placed Swansea City. Our last visit to the Liberty Stadium two seasons ago ended in a famous FA Cup victory for the Daggers, but the Swans were looking to set the record straight.

 

15 September 2029: Swansea City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Homegrown hero Shaun Phillips was a potential threat up front for Swansea. That threat was dispelled after less than two minutes, when a strong challenge from Gavin Dalton forced Phillips off with bruised ribs. His replacement was 17-year-old Alun Harding, whose shot in the 11th minute was parried by Daryl Ryan and then cleared by Gavin.

 

Prior to Harding's attempt, Swans right-winger Tony Robinson had put a couple of attempts over the bar and left-winger Ron Cowlishaw had sent one into the side netting. Also off target after 21 minutes was Swansea's appropriately-named striker Grant Swan - an England Under-19s international on loan from Liverpool.

 

Our passing in the first half was awful and our tackling even worse, which meant we seldom got near the City goal. Our one glimmer of hope came after 34 minutes from a Mark West through-ball that found Max Hicks, whose shot was parried by Swans goalkeeper Ali Buttery. Despite Swansea's obvious dominance, we went into the break still level thanks to some solid keeping from Ryan, who caught a late drive from Swan.

 

Switching to a slower tempo stopped our hosts from building up any more momentum in the second half, though not for too long. In the 61st minute, Ron Cowlishaw curled a long-range free-kick wide after his Swansea team-mate Richard Rimmer had been pushed by William Barnes. In the 64th, West drove wide a desperate attempt to get our noses in front.

 

Less than two minutes later, a slip-up from captain Mark would prove very costly. A developing Daggers counter-attack broke down when West knocked the ball on to Rimmer, who then played in Robinson. The former Liverpool trainee cut inside from the right and slid the ball ahead of Swan into our area. Shahed Hector hesitated to clear the ball, and his dithering allowed Swan to score for the Swans! I was far from happy with Shahed, but I was still hopeful that we could save at least a point.

 

On 68 minutes, Dean Martin exchanged passes with West and then made a run towards goal. Dean's run was halted by an excellent tackle from Swansea defender Paul Harris, and our young midfielder collapsed in a heap. Something appeared to be seriously wrong with Martin, who was clutching his thigh, and he had to be stretchered off the field.

 

I was - at the very least - able to substitute Dean, which was what Swansea could not do when their hero Swan went down injured in the 72nd minute. City had to play out the final 18 minutes plus stoppage time with only 10 men. Sadly, we just weren't playing well enough to make our advantage in personnel count. The match fizzled out into an anti-climax, and we suffered our first league defeat of the season.

 

Swansea City - 1 (Swan 65)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 12,266 - POSITIONS: Swansea 5th, Dag & Red 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton, Warren, Okoli, Barnes (Harding), Martin (Dam), Honeyball (Flood), West, Hicks.

 

The unbeaten start was now in pieces, as was Dean Martin's hamstring. Dean would have to undergo surgery to repair it, putting him out of action for approximately three months. It was a bitter blow for the youngster.

 

Three days after our fruitless visit to south Wales, we made a much shorter journey to south London. Millwall had been perennial relegation battlers since returning to the Championship in 2026, and they were in 16th place when we arrived at The Den.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2029 (continued)

18 September 2029: Millwall vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Millwall made a flying start, with Dagenham goalkeeper Daryl Ryan having to turn the ball behind his goal twice before either Danny Armstrong or Kevin Robson could score. Those saves resulted in two early corners, and a clearance from Colin Butler saw the Lions win a third. That third corner would be the charm for Millwall, as Neil Scott climbed above Butler to head home Ron Bell's inswinger.

 

After barely two minutes, it was already 1-0 to the home team. 2-0 looked very likely in the 11th minute, but Kadeem Blackwell's fierce effort from just inside the box fizzed inches past the post.

 

Three minutes later, Millwall keeper Niall Sutcliffe was forced into action for the first time. Daggers captain Mark West broke away from his marker Jon Williams to run onto a weighted pass from Mason Bennett. Alas, Sutcliffe was well-placed to deflect West's shot clear.

 

Compared to our performance against Swansea City, we were finding the target with our passes much more regularly. Finding the target with our shots was a different matter altogether. Bennett was very disappointing with a breakaway attempt in the 28th minute, although West did get slightly closer to the goal a minute later.

 

That said, I was unimpressed by our performance in a first half that ended on another low. William Barnes, who'd been booked earlier in the period, risked a second yellow card in injury time when he slid in on Bell. However, he only ended up hurting himself, sustaining a dead leg that forced him off before half-time. Gavin Dalton also suffered a knock during the first half, and he too would be substituted prior to the restart.

 

Ryan caught a 47th-minute shot from Lions centre-back Williams, but it was actually us who had the best chances early in the second period. Mark missed a couple of shots from outside the area in the 57th minute, and Mason fired another straight at Sutcliffe two minutes later.

 

Millwall were now conceding quite a lot of fouls, disrupting the flow of the game for both sides. However, a foul against us in the 69th minute would lead to a potentially crucial moment in the match. Our substitute centre-half Shaun Johnson pushed Robson in our 'D', giving Millwall a free-kick inches from our penalty box. Armstrong tried to curl the set-piece into the net... but he swung it wide.

 

The Lions had not killed us off, and they would go on to regret that. With six minutes to go, captain Jason Stark cleared the ball into our half, where Butler intercepted it and pumped it into Millwall's box. The recipient of his long ball was Ollie Pert, who came on to replace West shortly after that big miss from Armstrong. Ollie brushed off Lions centre-half Dan Walters to collect the ball and stab in an equaliser for the Daggers!

 

Things almost got better for us after 87 minutes, when Stark conceded a free-kick 30 yards from his goal - and received a booking - for pushing Marco Verratti. Marco tried his luck from the set-piece, which Sutcliffe caught with ease. Nevertheless, I was still pleased that we'd managed to save a point after being 1-0 behind for so long.

 

Millwall - 1 (Scott 3)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Pert 84)

Championship, Attendance 7,239 - POSITIONS: Millwall 16th, Dag & Red 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Butler, Dalton (Johnson), Banton, O'Reilly, Barnes (Harding), Verratti, Dam, West (Pert), Bennett. BOOKED: Barnes.

 

William Barnes' injury was not that serious, as it turned out to be nothing more than a dead leg. Regardless, we would now be without three regular midfielders for our home game against Blackburn Rovers.

 

Blackburn had hit a rough patch in recent weeks, going on a six-game winless run that included a shock League Cup exit at the hands of Kingstonian. The Lancastrians were sitting in 15th place after nine Championship matches - way below their expectations.

 

22 September 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn won a couple of corners early on, the second coming after midfielder Mick Roberts' shot had been pushed behind by Dagenham keeper Daryl Ryan. Roberts was also the recipient of the resulting corner from Vangelis Vyzas, which he headed home to give Rovers a 1-0 lead after less than four minutes!

 

We were slow to respond to that early opener, although we did have a chance to hit Blackburn on the counter after 14 minutes. Alas, Mark West fired off target from a difficult position outside the area. West was much better with his next effort, which was tipped over the bar by Blair McCord in the 22nd minute. Geraint Harding's corner was headed away by Blackburn defender Wahid Quartey, and we were firmly on the back foot from that point.

 

Left-winger Alan McLaughlin almost boosted the Rovers' advantage with a blistering strike on 24 minutes. Former West Bromwich Albion striker Clive Camp did exactly that after 29 minutes, blasting the ball into the top corner.

 

We continued to sink shortly after the restart, and Blackburn moved 3-0 ahead after just under half an hour. Vyzas shook off a knock to volley in a cross from Wales midfielder Stuart Johnson and leave us with an almost impossible task in the second half.

 

To be honest, we weren't playing particularly badly. Our passing looked crisp, and Mason Bennett could've headed us back to 3-1 in the 36th minute, but our defending - and our tackling in particular - was really disappointing.

 

We tightened up in the second period, and the addition of winger Gareth Flood gave us more zip going forward. He made an excellent run at goal in the 51st minute, only for a superb point-blank save from McCord to keep him off the scoresheet.

 

In the 59th minute, we needed Ryan to prevent Blackburn from notching up a fourth goal via McLaughlin. Seven minutes later, a swerving free-kick from Vyzas almost caught our defence out before bouncing wide. I later brought on Lucky Okoli to give us even more of a threat out wide, but luck was a commodity we did not have. When midfielder Matt Warren was cut down by an outstanding tackle from Roberts in the 77th minute, we were reduced to 10 men. Matt was thankfully not badly hurt, although our midfield was still left badly exposed.

 

Roberts sought to exploit our fragility by having a number of pops at our goal in the last 10 minutes. Daryl did some damage limitation by stopping a couple of Roberts' attempts in the 86th and 89th minutes, but those saves brought little joy to the Dagenham fans, who witnessed our first home defeat of the campaign.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Blackburn Rovers - 3 (Roberts 4, Camp 29, Vyzas 30)

Championship, Attendance 5,020 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Blackburn 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Butler (Dalton), O'Reilly, Harding (Flood), Warren, Dam, Bennett, West, Hicks (Okoli).

 

That was almost a carbon copy of our last match against Blackburn, in the FA Cup in February 2028. In both games, we went 3-0 down in the first half and had to batten down the hatches in the second. The big difference here was that we had been comprehensively outplayed at home, and that was a major worry.

 

The following weekend saw us play another home match against a side who were badly underperforming. Leicester City had failed to score in their last three games and were in 17th position.

 

29 September 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Leicester City

Unlike in our last home game, we made a bright start, with Mark West flicking a Shahed Hector cross narrowly over in the third minute. Two minutes later, midfielder William Barnes tried to beat Josh Gooderick from 35 yards, but the teenage Leicester keeper was never going to be caught off his guard.

 

Goalkeeper Daryl Ryan was also very alert in the 21st minute, when his quick reactions kept out a shot from Foxes captain Ilias Ntalaperas. The subsequent corner gave us much more to fret about.

 

Jamie Kerins - that's the former Liverpool midfielder, not the ex-Dagenham youth striker - drilled it to Leicester centre-back Carl Shaw, who got past Daggers counterpart Gavin Dalton and aimed for goal. Much to our relief, Shaw hit the post, and Mason Bennett slid the ball behind for another, less effective, corner. Leicester wouldn't again get close to scoring in the first half, although West did miss a decent opportunity to put us ahead in the 43rd minute.

 

Any Daggers fans wondering what happened to former loanee Rikki Scarlett were given quite a shock in the 52nd minute. In the 52nd minute, recent Foxes signing Scarlett struck a powerful shot towards goal, forcing Ryan to turn it against his bar! Daryl made another big save five minutes later, tipping away a 25-yarder from Kerins.

 

The Foxes couldn't gain any further ground in the final half-hour, even though we did our best to help them out with a number of careless fouls. Joel Honeyball was booked very early in the half, with West and Victor Dam following suit midway through the period.

 

Neither team was playing with any confidence when going forward, so it was no surprise that this match finished 0-0. The last few minutes were notable only for a brief cameo from our fast-improving teen midfielder Tom Virgo, and a woeful injury-time attempt at goal from Mason Bennett.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Leicester City - 0

Championship, Attendance 5,178 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Leicester 17th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Dalton, Warren, Harding, Verratti (Virgo), Barnes, Bennett, West (Pert), Honeyball (Dam). BOOKED: Honeyball, West, Dam.

 

Well, that was a thriller, wasn't it? I was pleased that we were able to keep a clean sheet, obviously, but the goals seemed to have dried up for us.

 

The Championship honeymoon is definitely over. Now the toil begins.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of September 2029)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  11    6     4     1     27    12    +15   22
2.          Swansea                11    6     3     2     14    11    +3    21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Aston Villa            11    5     5     1     20    7     +13   20
4.          Stoke                  11    5     4     2     14    10    +4    19
5.          Sheff Utd              11    5     3     3     22    18    +4    18
6.          Colchester             11    5     3     3     18    15    +3    18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Oldham                 11    5     3     3     21    19    +2    18
8.          Bolton                 11    5     3     3     11    10    +1    18
9.          Crystal Palace         11    5     3     3     16    16    0     18
10.         Blackburn              11    4     5     2     16    12    +4    17
11.         QPR                    11    5     2     4     15    11    +4    17
12.         Nottm Forest           11    4     3     4     17    10    +7    15
13.         Dag & Red              11    3     6     2     11    12    -1    15
14.         Cardiff                11    2     8     1     15    11    +4    14
15.         Peterborough           11    3     5     3     12    15    -3    14
16.         Millwall               11    3     4     4     12    14    -2    13
17.         Leicester              11    3     3     5     10    17    -7    12
18.         Wigan                  11    3     2     6     15    20    -5    11
19.         Plymouth               11    2     4     5     15    22    -7    10
20.         Chester                11    2     3     6     20    25    -5    9
21.         Middlesbrough          11    2     3     6     10    21    -11   9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Hull                   11    2     2     7     10    16    -6    8
23.         Crewe                  11    2     2     7     13    23    -10   8
24.         Coventry               11    0     7     4     12    19    -7    7

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2029

On the evening before our visit to Crewe Alexandra, I was invited to dinner by a local businessman - and not just any local businessman. The inviter in question was potentially my new boss.

 

I had no idea what to expect when I met Neil Booth for the first time at his home in Barking - a few minutes' drive from Dagenham. All I knew about him was that he'd made a successful living in the telecommunications industry, although you wouldn't have guessed from his modest surroundings that he had a personal fortune worth around £50million.

 

After two hours in the company of Mr Booth and his wife, I had absolutely nothing to be worried about. He was Dagenham through and through, having lived in the borough for all of his 49 years. He was very passionate about the Daggers, as was his elder brother Jack, who was already on the club's board.

 

Neil was in dialogue with Antonello Scolaro about buying the club. If his takeover was successful, he would wipe out an outstanding bank loan of £750,000, and take a considerable weight off our shoulders. For me, Mr Booth was just the right man to take ownership of this football club.

 

While takeover talks continued, I switched my attention back to matters on the pitch. October began with back-to-back away matches, the first of which was at the Alexandra Stadium against Crewe. Our hosts had lost three games in a row and were 23rd.

 

2 October 2029: Crewe Alexandra vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Neither of our strikers looked particularly hot to begin with. Ollie Pert was booked after 8 minutes for body-checking Crewe defender Daryl Rowley, while Max Hicks almost blasted a shot out of the stadium after 16.

 

The Railwaymen had their first chance in the 17th minute, when a long-distance effort from Daniel Farmer was parried by Daryl Ryan. Home captain Noel Charles was first to the loose ball, but before he could strike, he was tackled by Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly. On 24 minutes, Charles passed a promising Alex free-kick short to Farmer, who pulled the ball pathetically wide.

 

Later in the half, Crewe won a succession of corners that ultimately went without reward. After 34 minutes, though, they almost took the lead. Farmer shot from the edge of our area, and a combination of skill and luck saw Daryl divert it behind his goal.

 

Our scoring chances were fewer and much further between... but we did convert one of them two minutes from half-time. A clever through-ball from William Barnes sliced the Crewe defence open, and Ollie smashed it into the top corner! 1-0 Dagenham!

 

If the end of the first half demonstrated Barnes at his best, the start of the second period showed Will at his worst. Less than two minutes in, the young midfielder dove in with both feet in a vain attempt to slide the ball off Leigham Wilding. The Crewe man didn't go to ground, but he didn't need to, as the ref had a clear view of the incident and immediately pulled out the red card!

 

Will took the walk of shame down the tunnel, and we had to defend our lead with only 10 men. We went perilously close to losing it after 54 minutes, but Ryan made a great diving save to keep out Themis Saunders' free-kick. About a minute later, Hicks missed another attempt to score against his former club. Max would miss the target a couple more times in a disappointing return to Gresty Road.

 

As far as Alex were concerned, they just could not find a way into our penalty area, with Colin Butler and co shutting them out superbly. A rare chance came via a Charles free-kick in the 63rd minute, and it went when the skipper fired it wide. Charles would later be booked as Crewe's discipline wavered in the closing stages.

 

That was particularly evident in added-on time, when substitute Jesse Baker was booked for a clumsy foul on Victor Dam. Victor played the free-kick short to Geraint Harding, who quickly moved it on to Matthew Fraser. Baker then lost his marbles completely, tripping up Matthew and picking up another yellow card, just seconds after his first! His dismissal ended any fleeting hopes that the Railwaymen still possessed, and we notched up our first league win in five games.

 

Crewe Alexandra - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Pert 43)

Championship, Attendance 6,378 - POSITIONS: Crewe 24th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Butler, Dalton, O'Reilly, Okoli (Hector), Fraser, Barnes, Flood (Harding), Pert (Dam), Hicks. BOOKED: Pert. SENT OFF: Barnes.

 

William Barnes was never a shirker when it came to tackling, so I was not surprised that he'd picked up a first career red card. I was still disappointed, though, and I fined him a week's wages as a result. A three-match ban from the Football League served as further punishment for a young man who still had much to learn.

 

We went from the north-west to the north-east for our next outing against Middlesbrough. Memories of playing in the Premier League and European competition seemed a very long time ago for Boro, who were already battling to avoid dropping into League One again.

 

6 October 2029: Middlesbrough vs Dagenham & Redbridge

When Middlesbrough struggled to clear a Marco Verratti free-kick in the fourth minute, we sensed an opportunity to draw first blood. It wasn't to be, as Mason Bennett's shot was blocked by Boro's goalkeeping captain Ross Archer, and Lucky Okoli pulled the rebound wide.

 

Mark West and Josh Charles also missed early chances for the Daggers, but - having started so strongly - it was surely only a matter of time before we did score. That time came after 23 minutes. Lucky recorded his first Dagenham assist when his right-wing cross was headed home by Mason.

 

At the other end, a strong Dagenham rearguard spearheaded by Colin Butler frustrated the hosts and shut them out in the first half. Middlesbrough's best chance came in the 32nd minute, when on-loan Reading striker Aarran Bryant's fierce strike was diverted over by Daryl Ryan's fingertips.

 

Boro tried to test us a bit more in the opening stages of the second half, although Bryant's scuffed half-volley in the 52nd minute left their fans feeling underwhelmed. We survived again in the 56th minute, when Ryan quickly tipped away an effort from Middlesbrough midfielder Doug Morton.

 

Daryl was at it again ten minutes later. A stunning reflex save from our Irish shotstopper left substitute Aaran Barrett and the home supporters wondering if their luck would improve. After 73 minutes, they found out the answer.

 

Despite twisting his knee earlier in the half, young Boro winger Dennis Robson was still able to curl a cross into our penalty area. Josh's brave block kept the ball away from Kevin Arnold, but not Morton, who slid it across the goal line.

 

With Middlesbrough back level, we switched our focus to regaining our lead. In the 77th minute, a shot from Bennett was palmed away by Archer before Boro right-back Pedro Rosario cleared it into touch. Mason now had Ollie Pert up front with him instead of Mark, and that young-and-old partnership would spark into life after 80 minutes. 20-year-old Ollie squared a pass into the area, and 33-year-old Mason hammered it past Archer!

 

That put us 2-1 up, but Pert wasted a shot at 3-1 in the 85th minute. We would look back at that miss as a key moment. Two minutes later, the excellent Butler tried to head away a Boro corner from Robson. Alas, Colin could only knock the ball back to Eduardo, and the former Portugal Under-21s defender half-volleyed it home! Middlesbrough had come from behind twice to take a point!

 

Middlesbrough - 2 (Morton 73, Eduardo 87)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Bennett 23,80)

Championship, Attendance 11,177 - POSITIONS: Middlesbrough 20th, Dag & Red 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Charles (Dalton), Warren, Okoli, Verratti (Harding), Dam, Flood, West (Pert), Bennett. BOOKED: Charles.

 

We had to forget about that missed opportunity quickly, as our next match was sure to be a very tricky one at home to Aston Villa. Gary Rowett's Villans were already looking good to win promotion back to the Premier League, as they were in 2nd place with a frightening +20 goal difference.

 

9 October 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Aston Villa

The deadlock was broken after just five minutes... and it was broken by us! Matthew Fraser swung a long free-kick into Aston Villa's area, and visiting midfielder Armen Nersesyan headed it on to Daggers defender Shahed Hector, who prodded in his first goal for us!

 

It was a dream start, but I was wary of a potential Villa backlash. I ordered my defenders to keep their shape and stand off the opposition. The plan worked very well, as the visitors didn't even get a shot at our goal until the 21st minute. Even then, Patrik Horak - a teenage Czech midfielder on loan from Chelsea - could only fire the ball straight at Daryl Ryan.

 

On 23 minutes, another Fraser free-kick gave us a chance to move two goals ahead. Matthew fired his set-piece against the wall, and Mason Bennett met the deflection with a diving header that was blocked by Apostolos Sapanis.

 

In the 36th minute, our defence came under real pressure for the first time. Uros Zinic, who won the Premier League Golden Boot twice when at Tottenham Hotspur, looked all set to score before being superbly dispossessed by Josh Charles. The ball was deflected back to Zinic's fellow Villa striker Marcelo, whose shot was parried by Ryan before Matt Warren cleared it behind.

 

Josh had hurt himself quite badly in that tackle on Zinic, and while he came off briefly for treatment, we survived a Villans corner that Marius Pricop headed wide. After withstanding that late storm, we took a 1-0 lead into the second period.

 

Both teams had chances to score from free-kicks early in the second half. Victor Dam's attempt for Dagenham in the 48th minute struck the wall, while Muharrem Kurt's set-piece for Aston Villa three minutes later drifted just wide. Bennett then messed up a decent opportunity for the Daggers just before the hour.

 

Villa's next attempt on goal came in the 67th minute, when Armenia international Nersesyan's long-range strike was caught by Ryan. The Villans' disappointment grew six minutes after that, as Zinic snatched at an edge-of-the-area chance that he would've gobbled up in his Spurs heyday.

 

As we continued to hold firm, the visitors grew more and more agitated. We sensed their frustration and pressed forward in search of a second goal late on. After 85 minutes, Bennett got his head to a centre from Fraser, but he could only nod it into Oliver Hansson's hands. Mason's luck eluded him again three minutes later, when a swerving shot clipped the bar and went behind.

 

At that point, I considered taking off Charles, who was defending superbly but really starting to tire. However, I dared not to substitute my star performer, so I instead brought off Bennett and gave in-form youth striker Derek Wright his senior debut. That would prove to be a massive misjudgement.

 

When Derek lost the ball to Villa defender Lloyd Watts in injury time, the Villans went on the counter-attack. As our defenders struggled to get back into their positions, Villa midfielder Tomas Vesely took the ball towards the byline and crossed it into our box. Gavin Dalton's attempted interception was in vain, as Nersesyan came in to steal a point for the visitors! Not again!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hector 5)

Aston Villa - 1 (Nersesyan 90)

Championship, Attendance 5,590 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Aston Villa 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Dalton, Hector, Charles, Banton, Warren, Harding, Fraser, Dam (Verratti), Pert (West), Bennett (Wright).

 

Goodness, that was sickening. We should have been on a three-game winning streak, but two late goals had deprived us of four points - four precious points that could've put us back into the play-off places. (Sigh)

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2029 (continued)

After two agonising draws in quick succession, the international break came at a great time for us to regroup and recompose. There was still no word on that possible takeover, but we were firmly focused om footballing matters.

 

That break had also given us some extra time to sharpen up our shooting. Only six teams had conceded fewer goals than us across the first 14 games of the Championship season, but at the same time, only six sides had scored fewer goals than us.

 

Derby County did not have any problems when it came to finding the back of the net. Derby were the division's top scorers with 31 goals, and they also had a pretty solid defence. The in-form Rams arrived at Craven Cottage in 4th place, with just one defeat - a 3-1 reverse at Aston Villa - on their record.

 

20 October 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Derby County

Mason Bennett began his career at Derby County, and he was unfortunate not to score against them in the first minute. A fine save from Derby goalkeeper Grant White denied us a very early opening goal.

 

In the sixth minute, it was the Rams' turn to rue their lack of luck. Lee Willis flicked a Silviu Dimitrescu corner towards goal at the near post, and Daggers goalie Daryl Ryan could only push the ball on to County centre-back Jeremy Pemberton at his far post. Pemberton looked almost certain to convert a diving header... but a breathtaking clearance from Daniel O'Reilly kept the scores at 0-0!

 

There was more drama four minutes later, as Dagenham forward Ollie Pert pulled wide a low drive when he only had to slot it past White. Ryan made a trio of excellent saves over the next few minutes to prevent Brad Gaunt, Dumitrescu and Willis from giving Derby the advantage. Unsurprisingly, the action then died down somewhat after a frantic start.

 

It wasn't until the 43rd minute that the game sprung back to life. Willis headed a Matthew Fraser cross out of Derby's penalty box, and the Rams charged at us for a counter-attack. Norwegian striker Espen Lundberg collected the ball and drew some of our defenders towards him. Lundberg spotted Gaunt making an unchallenged run up the left flank and played a long pass ahead of his team-mate, who raced clear and drove in the opening goal. That was Derby at their promotion-chasing best.

 

Two minutes into the second half, Dumitrescu failed to find the target with a free-kick that could've put the Rams 2-0 up. Marco Verratti did likewise for Dagenham in the 58th minute, when he was aiming to level the scores. Three minutes after that, Pert made a complete Horlicks of an attempt to chip the ball over White. Ollie never looked like being our saviour, so I brought on Mark West to replace him just after Pemberton nearly headed in Derby's second goal on 63 minutes.

 

One of our own centre-backs almost gave us parity in the 73rd minute, when Josh Charles' header was caught by White. As it turned out, another defensive Dagger would strike a crucial blow for us three minutes later. Wing-back O'Reilly picked up a clever pass from Geraint Harding and thrashed it into the top corner from the edge of the area!

 

It was now 1-1, and when substitute Victor Dam made a run for goal in the 83rd minute, we believed that a shock win was possible. Sadly, those thoughts lasted a very short time before Dam fired the ball straight at White.

 

We wouldn't be taking all three points from this match - indeed, we wouldn't even be taking one. In the last minute of normal time, our right wing-back Arran Banton carelessly bundled Gaunt over in the Dagenham area. Derby appealed for a penalty, and they got their wish, as the referee pointed to the spot. Gaunt then powered his spot-kick past Ryan to earn the Rams a 2-1 victory. We had choked yet again.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (O'Reilly 75)

Derby County - 2 (Gaunt 43,pen90)

Championship, Attendance 6,007 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 14th, Derby 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Butler, Dalton (Hector), Banton, O'Reilly, Harding, Fraser, Verratti (Dam), Pert (West), Bennett.

 

“When you drop points late in a game once, it's unfortunate. When you do it twice in a row, it's careless. But when you do it THREE TIMES on the trot, it means you're F***ING SPINELESS!

 

“You're not in League One anymore, lads. If you think you're going to lose your focus in the Championship and not get punished for it, then you'd better think again. I don't want ANY MORE of that from now on. HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?”

 

Yes, you could say I was quite angry after that result.

 

I had made it perfectly clear to my players that they couldn't let their concentration slip again when we travelled to Peterborough United. After all, three years ago, Peterborough's manager won a little old competition called the FIFA World Cup.

 

Sir Sean Dyche's post-England career had not been particularly happy or glorious. After unsuccessful stints at Dundee United and Huddersfield Town, the 'ginger Alf Ramsey' was bidding to take Peterborough back into the Premier League. With the Posh sitting in 15th place, Sir Sean clearly had some way to go.

 

23 October 2029: Peterborough United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Peterborough won a corner barely 15 seconds into the game after Jon Rowe's volleyed centre was nodded behind by Daggers right-back Shahed Hector. Posh left-winger Sinisa Curic angrily protested for a penalty, saying that Shahed had beaten him to the cross unfairly, but the original decision stood. Rowe's corner was nodded on by Alistair Hamilton-Omole to Peterborough skipper Deen Zanou at the far post. Zanou's volley was parried by Daryl Ryan, and James Rudd's attempted follow-up for the hosts was blocked superbly by Gavin Dalton!

 

We would come under more pressure in the eighth minute. Dimitris Pagalis swung in an excellent left-wing cross to Rowe, but the Arsenal loanee headed it over the bar. We then survived a couple of Pagalis free-kicks midway through the half before the referee dished out a yellow card to each side. Gavin was booked for barging into Rudd in the 26th minute, shortly after Hamilton-Omole had been cautioned for pushing William Barnes.

 

Our attacking players were struggling to keep possession and struggled to create a meaningful chance until just after 35 minutes. Victor Dam sliced the ball through Peterborough's offside trap, allowing Max Hicks to break clear and slip his shot beyond the advancing Posh keeper Juraj Gallo!

 

That was our first shot of the entire game, and our second almost resulted in a goal as well! Barnes attempted to blast a 30-yarder home first-time in the 37th minute, and he was incredibly unlucky to clip the crossbar. That scare roared United back to life, and by the 44th minute, they were level. Brazilian full-back Filipe's cross was headed in by Rowe, who left our fans despairing over the loss of another narrow lead.

 

Our confidence had been badly shaken by that late first-half equaliser from Peterborough. A rare mistake from centre-half Colin Butler in the 47th minute allowed Pagalis to get away from him, but the latter's shot drifted away from goal. Peterborough struggled to get into their rhythm after that miss.

 

As we entered the final half-hour, we racked up three corners in a matter of minutes. The last of them, from Geraint Harding after 68 minutes, was punched away by Gallo. Pagalis had stayed forward for the Posh and was first to the loose ball. Pagalis and his team-mates advanced deep into our half, and London Road held its breath as the Greek crossed the ball into our penalty area. Daryl came off his line to try and collect the cross... but Croatian substitute Darko Baturina got there first and headed it past our Irish goalkeeper! I kicked a drinks bottle in frustration, earning myself a ticking-off from the fourth official.

 

With our poor form set to continue, I became increasingly desperate. For the last 20 minutes, I went for a quick, direct attacking approach. That change of strategy went so well that, er, the full-time whistle blew before we could even have another shot at goal. We had lost back-to-back matches for the first time since entering the Championship.

 

Peterborough United - 2 (Rowe 44, Baturina 69)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hicks 36)

Championship, Attendance 7,804 - POSITIONS: Peterborough 14th, Dag & Red 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton (Verratti), Warren, Harding, Fraser (Charles), Barnes, Dam, West (Pert), Hicks. BOOKED: Dalton.

 

The feelgood factor at Dagenham & Redbridge has well and truly disappeared. We've won just one of our last nine league matches, and we're now 15th in the Championship - our worst position so far this season.

 

And what about Neil Booth's rumoured takeover? To be honest, I'm not entirely confident that'll even go through now...

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2029

It had been a little over six weeks since I first heard that Antonello Scolaro was in talks to sell Dagenham & Redbridge. I'd heard nothing about his negotiations with Neil Booth since mid-October, and I was getting rather restless.

 

“Any news yet?” I asked Mr Scolaro on the eve of our trip to fellow Championship newcomers Oldham Athletic. “These things take time, Christopher,” the chairman replied, before going into detail about why the takeover had not yet been completed.

 

I couldn't make head nor tail of all this corporate mumbo-jumbo and business jargon, which sounded even more confusing in Mr Scolaro's impenetrable Italian accent. I'm a football manager, not Elon Musk.

 

With the takeover situation still as clear as mud to me, we arrived at Boundary Park the following afternoon for what was sure to be another close match. Oldham were in 11th place, having made a surprisingly strong start to life in the second tier.

 

3 November 2029: Oldham Athletic vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Oldham were playing above expectations, but I did not anticipate that they would race out of the traps so quickly. In the first minute, striker Ross Stone pulled a low shot just beyond Kieran Whalley's left-hand post. In the second, our league debutant keeper was beaten by Latics captain Leo Chambers' header from an excellent free-kick delivered by Aristote Kudimbana.

 

We were badly shaken, and we didn't test Oldham's goalkeeper until the 16th minute. Left-winger Gareth Flood cut inside before seeing his shot turned behind by Stoyan Karaneychev. Things didn't look so promising for our other winger. Lucky Okoli picked up a minor injury in the 23rd minute, although he tried to play on through the pain. There was also anguish on Max Hicks' face five minutes later, when he snatched at a golden opportunity to level the scores.

 

In the 32nd minute, Oldham struggled to fully clear the danger following a Dagenham corner. That allowed us to go on the attack again through Flood, who was about to shoot when Latics right-back Tom Dakin slid the ball off his feet. Daggers captain Mark West was first to the loose ball, and Karaneychev could only help his shot into the net! Mark had drawn us level with a landmark goal - his 100th competitive strike for Dagenham!

 

Sadly, West's historic goal also be fairly meaningless. Oldham were back in front by the 38th minute, as Darren McQueen's drilled cross was incisively finished by Stone. Could things get any worse for us?

 

They almost did in the 50th minute, when a strike from Latics left-back Alan McGarvey swerved inches past the post. Oldham's next chance two minutes later didn't cause Whalley too much bother, as midfielder Nikola Kolev fired a 25-yarder right at Kieran. Another two minutes passed, and then we went forward for the first time since the restart. Max played a clever one-two with Mark and entered the Oldham area, only to screw up the pair's hard work with an awful finish.

 

I hauled Hicks off straight away and gave Joel Honeyball his first senior run-out since September. Joel quickly made his mark, finding the net after 58 minutes. Unfortunately, he was offside when he scored from West's through-ball, although his time would come in the 67th minute. Honeyball latched onto another incisive West pass, broke into the Latics area, and drilled the ball into the corner of the net. That goal did count, and so the score was now 2-2!

 

All of a sudden, Oldham were looking rather jittery. When centre-back Frank McConville picked up a knock with a quarter of an hour to go, they replaced him with the vastly-experienced former England defender John Stones. As Stones solidified the Latics backline, Stone looked to cause some damage at our end. With four minutes remaining, he went for glory... and clipped the post.

 

In the 88th minute, Stone's strike partner James Galloway broke through our defence on receiving a pass from McQueen. A couple of our defenders cried offside, but when Galloway slipped his shot into the net, the referee pointed to the centre-circle. 3-2 Latics.

 

Like a bare-knuckle boxing Charles Bronson (the one who's not a dead actor), we went ultra-aggressive in the closing minutes, but it was all to no avail. Yet another late goal had cost us dearly.

 

Oldham Athletic - 3 (Chambers 2, Stone 38, Galloway 88)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 32, Honeyball 67)

Championship, Attendance 10,584 - POSITIONS: Oldham 7th, Dag & Red 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Hector, Charles, Butler, Warren, Okoli (Atta), Fraser, Barnes (Harding), Flood, West, Hicks (Honeyball). BOOKED: Barnes.

 

This was fast becoming a joke. Over the course of five games, we had lost EIGHT points in the final five minutes. We were now just five points clear of the relegation zone.

 

Next up was a home game against Queens Park Rangers, who were in 10th place. Encouragingly, QPR had lost their last three games and were, like us, short on confidence.

 

6 November 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Queens Park Rangers

Craven Cottage was the home ground of QPR's great rivals Fulham, so this local derby of sorts virtually ensured a record crowd for a Dagenham & Redbridge home game. Those who arrived in time for kick-off saw a couple of early chances for the hosts.

 

Victor Dam's first-minute effort was pushed away by QPR keeper Florin Mozacu, who also saved a tame attempt from Marco Verratti in the fifth minute. The Hoops' Romanian goalie was called upon again after 12 minutes, when he showed fine reflexes to divert a strike from Mason Bennett. Our early momentum died down eventually after Dam snatched at an opportunity in the 15th minute.

 

QPR then had a couple of long-range efforts through Luke MacKenzie and Scott Simpson, who were both off target. Sam Taylor fared better for the R's in the 27th minute, forcing Dagenham's Daryl Ryan into a save. Neither team would go close again before half-time.

 

We were a team badly in need of some good fortune, but that certainly didn't arise in the 51st minute. Bennett had a great opportunity parried away by Mozacu before Sheridan Turner slide-tackled him off the rebound. The ball was diverted towards Mark West, who looked set to tap it home until Ashley Dawson made a sensational block for QPR.

 

Mason's luck didn't get any better on 57 minutes, when his header from Arran Banton's cross was easily caught by Mozacu. Five minutes later, R's captain Simpson pulled up and had to come off injured. QPR had already made all three of their subs by then, so we now had a glorious opportunity to win against 10 men.

 

However, in the 68th minute, it nearly went horribly wrong for us. Hoops midfielder Malcolm Hooson knocked the ball off William Barnes' feet as he tried to dribble it out of danger, and that left 17-year-old Lee Nutter with a real opportunity to strike first blood. Thankfully, Daryl came to our rescue with a superb parry - one of only two saves he would have to make on his way to a comfortable clean sheet.

 

Mozacu would also remain unbeaten, despite the best efforts of Mason and substitute Joel Honeyball late on. In the end, we could consider ourselves very unfortunate not to have won.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Queens Park Rangers - 0

Championship, Attendance 11,716 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 16th, QPR 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles (Harding), Butler, Dalton, Banton, O'Reilly, Dam, Barnes, Verratti (Honeyball), West (Pert), Bennett. BOOKED: West, Barnes.

 

The losing streak was now over, but we were now on a run of six league games without victory. Not good enough.

 

I was desperate for the takeover saga to be resolved one way or the other. Things finally came to a head on the Saturday morning before our visit to Bolton Wanderers.

 

Just we were about to board our flight from London City Airport to Manchester, we were greeted by a middle-aged man, who asked us, “Mind if I join you fellas?”

 

One of the players turned to be quizzically and asked, “Who's this old bloke, then?” I knew exactly who he was.

 

It was Neil Booth, who proudly proclaimed, “I'm the new chairman of Dagenham & Redbridge.”

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2029 (continued)

The flight from London to Manchester gave me my first opportunity to speak to Neil Booth since he first announced his intention to buy Dagenham & Redbridge. Now that his takeover had finally been completed, I was keen to pick my new boss's brains about his plans for the club.

 

I was very disappointed to hear that Mr Booth had gone back on his initial plans to wipe out our outstanding bank loan. He was also reluctant to invest any of his money into the club for the time being. Apparently, his telecoms business was in a legal dispute with a rival over a patent, and he couldn't provide us with much investment until that had been resolved.

 

Still, I was relieved that the takeover process was finally over, and that the club's financial future was now in the safe hands of a lifelong Dagger.

 

We hoped to impress Mr Booth when we entertained Bolton Wanderers in his first game as chairman. The Trotters were the archetypal dull mid-table club - a side who didn't score or concede a lot of goals. A bit like us, really.

 

10 November 2029: Bolton Wanderers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Bolton really got stuck into us in the first 15 minutes. Honduran midfielder José Guillermo Bonilla fouled Daggers counterpart Matthew Fraser twice in quick succession, earning himself a yellow card after just 10 minutes. Five minutes later, a firm tackle from Trotters defender Tom Pitt left our striker Joel Honeyball with a twisted ankle. Like the resolute professional that he is, Joel played on, despite being in obvious pain.

 

There would be more agony to come for us after 17 minutes. Dagenham goalkeeper Daryl Ryan's` attempted pass to the left flank was cut out by Bolton right-winger Reiss Benjamin, who played it forward to former Portugal striker Ricardo. The 32-year-old had been experiencing a goal drought, but that ended when he drilled the ball into the far end of Daryl's net. 1-0 to the Trotters.

 

Mark West and Victor Dam each missed chances to equalise for Dagenham before the half-hour, at which point it became clear that Joel wasn't going to simply run off his ankle problem. Teenager Derek Wright came on in his place, but we would soon have to deal with another injury.

 

Pitt accounted for another Daggers striker in the 43rd minute, when his sliding tackle brought down West. Captain Mark seemed to have hurt his groin in the impact, and so he was replaced with Ollie Pert. This match was going from bad to worse for us.

 

We were largely restricted to long-distance attempts in the first half, though we did get closer to goal early in the second period. After 50 minutes, a header from Matthew Fraser deflected off Bolton skipper Moris Hasanovic in the six-yard box and fell nicely to Colin Butler. Unfortunately, Trotters goalkeeper Aidan Ruddy caught the ball just before Colin could prod it home.

 

Butler returned to his defensive duties three minutes later, as he attempted to clear a cross from Benjamin. Trotters left-winger Kerry Horne quickly volleyed it towards goal, but Ryan made an assured catch. A bit later on, Pert powered a couple of headers towards the home goal without success.

 

Then came a period of real panic for our travelling supporters. In the 69th minute, Callum Fordham attempted to bend the ball into our net from a narrow angle, only to be denied by a fabulous save from Ryan. Daryl was unable to get to the follow-up shot from Ricardo... but he was relieved to see it hit his post and stay in play! Bolton went forward again through right-back Kyle Brown's cross, which Fraser had to knock behind before Ricardo could make a connection.

 

After that particular storm had been weathered, we would not be severely tested again. Sadly, we could not get ourselves firmly back into the game, as Wright's skyward attempt on 78 minutes proved to be our last chance. This was our seventh game without a win, and our slide down the Championship table continued.

 

Bolton Wanderers - 1 (Ricardo 17)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 24,766 - POSITIONS: Bolton 11th, Dag & Red 18th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Butler, Warren, Harding, Fraser, Verratti, Dam (Okoli), West (Pert), Honeyball (Wright).

 

Following our latest setback, I learned the full extent of our strikers' injuries. Mark West would be out for three weeks with a groin, and Joel Honeyball for around four weeks with a twisted ankle.

 

Before our flight back to London, I made a final phone call to our outgoing chairman Antonello Scolaro, wishing him the best of luck for the future. I then discussed our misfortunes with the new chairman. Mr Booth suggested that we needed an experienced midfield creator, and I was inclined to agree with him.

 

A few days later, Mr Booth and I announced the signing of Armenia international Samvel Karapetyan until the end of the season. The 33-year-old attacking midfielder had spent nine years at Hibernian, making over 250 competitive appearances for them before his contract was terminated in August.

 

Sam wasn't able to make his Daggers debut in our home game against Sheffield United, as he was on international duty with Armenia. To compound our midfield woes, we would also be without Victor Dam, who'd strained his wrist in training.

 

United were 7th in the Championship after winning their last three matches. Former Daggers left-winger Marcelo Andrade started for the Blades at Craven Cottage, but Paul Hart was unable to play due to a facial injury.

 

14 November 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Sheffield United

Much to our fans' delight, we took the lead after just over two minutes... with a little help from Sheffield United captain Pierce Sweeney. The Republic of Ireland skipper's flick-on was intercepted by Ollie Pert, who then weighted a pass to Mason Bennett. Our loanee striker dribbled into the area, then made a sharp turn before driving in the opener!

 

Mason tried to return the favour to Pert in the 7th minute, but Ollie blazed over a shot that could've made it 2-0. Four minutes later, Daggers centre-back Colin Butler was booked for pushing Blades striker Aaron Byrne.

 

United's first attempt at goal was a wayward one from our old friend Marcelo Andrade after 17 minutes. The Blades were struggling to get into the game, and they needed goalie Albert O'Flynn to keep Pert off the scoresheet three minutes later. In the 26th minute, William Barnes' superb long ball gave Bennett a fine opportunity to double his money - and our lead. Mason raced through the defence to reach the ball just before it bounced over the byline, but he couldn't quite get an angled shot the right side of the post.

 

That miss looked like being a turning point, as Sheffield United pushed forward and edged closer to an equaliser. Two narrow misses from winger Tim Demetriou bookended a shot on target from midfielder Jon Morris, who was denied by Daryl Ryan in the 28th minute. Jim Dearden and Byrne also missed chances for United before the half-time whistle blew with us still 1-0 up.

 

Andrade came off at half-time, with Sheffield United boss Elvis Scoria hoping that substitute Bright Emuejeraye would brighten up his day. The former England youth midfielder had a pop at goal in the 52nd minute, but it was blocked by Daggers sub Josh Charles, who'd come on for Butler.

 

The Blades would have a few more stabs at our target, with their best attack coming from Byrne in the 60th minute. Once again, Daryl made an excellent save, and that one would be particularly vital. Just three minutes later, Arran Banton's first-time centre into the United box found Bennett, who deftly flicked it past O'Flynn. There were suspicions of offside, but the goal stood, and we were 2-0 to the good!

 

Those Blades fans who'd travelled all the way from Sheffield were starting to wonder why they'd bothered, particularly when Emuejeraye and Morris missed further chances midway through the second half. Then, in the 78th minute, Morris - a former Sheffield Wednesday player, no less - gave them fresh hope with an exquisite free-kick powered into the top corner. Surely we weren't going to choke yet again?!

 

Three minutes after the Blades halved our lead, Lucky Okoli sent Bennett through with a glorious opportunity to restore our two-goal cushion. Mason bore down on goal with just Sweeney and O'Flynn to beat... but the latter made a superb save from point-blank range.

 

Another big moment came in the 87th minute, when Dearden tugged on Pert's jersey to stop him from collecting a Geraint Harding pass. It didn't look like a particularly cynical foul to me, so I was just as shocked as the United fans when the referee pulled out his red card! Dearden's dismissal was very controversial, but it made things rather easier for us.

 

Matthew Fraser played the free-kick short to Gareth Flood, and he knocked it forward to Bennett, whose shot struck the post and went behind. It should've been 3-1 to us, but all we had to do now was keep our heads and we would win. Simple enough? Try saying that to Charles.

 

In the second minute of injury time, Josh lost his head with a needless trip on Blades left-back David Davies in the six-yard box. The ref turned to his assistant... and awarded Sheffield United a last-gasp penalty!

 

Ricky Palmer now had the chance to draw the Blades level from 12 yards and extend our winless run to eight games. Palmer fired powerfully down the middle of the goal... but Daryl stood firm and punched it away! When the final whistle blew about a minute later, there was a huge sense of relief at Craven Cottage. We'd won a football match for the first time in six weeks!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Bennett 3,63)

Sheffield United - 1 (Morris 78)

Championship, Attendance 4,160 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 15th, Sheff Utd 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Butler (Charles), Dalton, Warren, Okoli, Barnes (Harding), Verratti (Fraser), Flood, Pert, Bennett. BOOKED: Butler.

 

After seven matches without success, we were finally back to winning ways. Was that the tide-turner for our season?

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2029 (continued)

Gareth Flood, Daniel O'Reilly and Daryl Ryan won a cap apiece for the Republic of Ireland during the international break. Daryl made his 3rd appearance in a 3-0 loss to Colombia, while Gareth was handed his 3rd cap in a 1-0 victory over Lithuania - a match that saw Daniel make his senior international debut. Meanwhile, our new signing Samvel Karapetyan earned two more caps for Armenia, taking his personal tally up to 89.

 

None of those four were available to play in our midweek league game against Crystal Palace, and there were five more Daggers absentees for that game. Joel Honeyball and Mark West were still injured, Victor Dam and Dean Martin were not quite back to full fitness, and Gavin Dalton was at home with a virus. I had to fill out the bench with four youth players, and - worryingly - I did not have a goalkeeper in reserve.

 

Crystal Palace were just one place above us in 14th, and they had their own problems to contend with. Before arriving at Craven Cottage, the Eagles had gone through five league games without winning a single one.

 

21 November 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Crystal Palace

Any confidence we had from the win over Sheffield United evaporated within a minute of the first whistle. Anthony Henry floated in an excellent left-wing cross, from which Toby Cook headed Crystal Palace into a 1-0 lead after just 48 seconds.

 

We quickly went into panic mode, with Max Hicks blazing over a couple of long-range shots in the first six minutes. After 10 minutes, Cook almost nodded another Henry cross into our net, but Kieran Whalley was much better positioned to catch that particular effort. Whalley also turned behind a header from Palace's other striker Matt Woodward on 16 minutes.

 

Eagles goalkeeper Daniel Dawes had made his first save in the 13th minute to turn away an angled effort from our left-back Matt Warren. Dawes also shut out attempts from Mason Bennett in the 29th minute and an increasingly hapless Hicks in the 34th.

 

On 40 minutes, Crystal Palace forced our backs to the wall again. Daggers midfielder Geraint Harding tried to tackle the ball of Palace winger Rob Wannell's feet, but all he ended up with was a nasty gash to his left leg. That injury ruled Geraint out of the rest of this game, not to mention our next match. Then, in the last minute of normal time, we went further into arrears. Mel Gillett's free-kick led to bedlam in the Dagenham area before Cook drilled in his and Palace's second goal of the game.

 

One of the few bright sparks in our team was young target man Ollie Pert. Ollie could've put us back in contention two minutes into the second period, but his header was comfortable for Dawes.

 

The Eagles flew towards our goal again in the 57th minute, when an excellent strike from Cook was turned over by a brilliant save from Whalley. Cook had been denied his hat-trick... but Crystal Palace would not be deprived of theirs. Two minutes later, Cook played a superb counter-attacking long ball ahead of Jimmy Kyere, who burst through our defence. Whalley came off his line to block Kyere's effort, but he couldn't prevent Wannell from burying the rebound.

 

At 3-0 up, the Eagles could take it easy. As for the Daggers, they just took my stress levels to the limit. William Barnes hit a hopeless strike from 20 yards in the 61st minute, although his next attempt in the 72nd minute did at least make Dawes work for his clean sheet.

 

Four minutes from full-time, Barnes picked up his almost customary booking for tripping Palace full-back Ade Lye. Dagenham's desperado wasn't finished just yet, though. Less than a minute later, Will flew in on Callum Jennings, leaving the referee no choice but to issue a second yellow card. By the time he'd brought out the red card, Barnes had already gone on his way to the tunnel.

 

That wasn't quite the end of our heartache tonight. In the 89th minute, young substitute Derek Wright played a fine one-two with Pert, only to screw up a great chance to bag his first senior goal. I can't tell you why this match went so catastrophically wrong - it was just one of these nights.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Crystal Palace - 3 (Cook 1,45, Wannell 59)

Championship, Attendance 11,249 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 17th, Crystal Palace 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Hector, Butler, Charles, Warren, Harding (Fraser), Barnes, Verratti (Atta), Bennett, Pert, Hicks (Wright). BOOKED: Barnes. SENT OFF: Barnes.

 

William Barnes had let me down again. After his second red card of the season, I fined the 20-year-old two weeks' wages - but like a rebellious adolescent, he complained that I was treating him unfairly.

 

A furious row between manager and player broke out, and I warned Barnes that I would look to sell him in January if he didn't control his temper. That only served to fan the flames of Will's anger, and by the end of the meeting, it seemed that I'd lost the faith of one of my most talented players.

 

One player that I had lost faith in was striker Max Hicks. In 29 games last season, Max scored 19 goals and was on target with 53% of his shots. In 14 matches this term, he had found the net once - and his shots-on-target rate was just 23%.

 

I called Hicks into my office the next morning and told him that he would be free to leave the club in January. I'd accepted an offer from League Two side Stockport County to sign him, but the player subsequently rejected the opportunity to move back to his native Cheshire. His future was very much up in the air.

 

With Hicks out of my first-team plans, I rushed through the signing of a new striker before the free transfer deadline expired. 30-year-old Montenegro striker Mario Djokic signed a 19-month contract with us following his release by Aston Villa earlier this summer.

 

Mario was a speedy striker with lethal finishing ability, as he showed by scoring on his debut in a reserve game against Luton Town. He then took his place on the bench for our away league game against fellow strugglers Coventry City. Our other new signing, Samvel Karapetyan, made his Daggers debut from the start.

 

27 November 2029: Coventry City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

When Coventry full-back Vampeta won a corner off Lucky Okoli after barely 20 seconds, I thought, “Here we go again.” Thankfully, City did not do a Crystal Palace and score in the opening minute. Indeed, we were unlucky not to score from a corner of our own in the 8th minute, as Matthew Fraser's delivery was flicked just wide by Josh Charles.

 

On 10 minutes, Daggers goalkeeper Daryl Ryan made a routine catch from a Coventry free-kick taken by winger Cameron Watson. The 21-year-old Scotsman pressured us again through another set-piece in the 16th minute. Dagenham target man Ollie Pert headed Watson's corner away, making the first of what would be many skin-saving interceptions for us.

 

Charles also made a vital clearance in the 19th minute, but he bruised his thigh whilst doing so. Josh would bravely play on through the rest of the half before being substituted as a precaution.

 

More Coventry chances came and went later in the half. Striker David Chaffey smashed a 20-yarder against our crossbar just after the half-hour point was passed. Petar Angelov also tried to score from outside the area in the 34th minute, but Ryan made light work of his shot. Just over a minute later, it was our turn to hit the woodwork. Pert nodded Okoli's byline cross against the bar, thus wasting what was our best opportunity to strike before half-time.

 

I made two substitutions for the second half, bringing on 16-year-old defender George Darvill for Charles, and new arrival Mario Djokic for a surprisingly quiet Mason Bennett. Djokic wouldn't have much to say early on, as Coventry looked to take control of proceedings. Watson's thunderous drive from just outside the 'D' after 47 minutes was hacked away by Ryan.

 

Eight minutes later, we started to feel the heat. Daggers left-back Matt Warren made a pig's ear of Sky Blues striker Jonathan Connor's header into our area, gifting Chaffey a chance almost out of nothing. Chaffey struck from a tight angle, and Daryl could only divert it against his near post. Chaffey then pulled his follow-up straight at the keeper, who clung onto it for dear life.

 

Warren knew that he had been let off the hook. After 61 minutes, he atoned for his potentially costly defending with an excellent long ball to Pert, who headed it on to Djokic in space. The Montenegrin broke free from Coventry's defenders, and when City's goalkeeper-captain Lars Henriksen rushed off his line, he pulled the trigger. Djokic couldn't have struck his first Dagenham shot any better, and we were 1-0 up!

 

Mario's second attempt in the 69th minute left a bit more to be desired, although he did get another chance to double our lead in the 78th. Fellow debutant Samvel Karapetyan played a delightful pass to Djokic, whose effort was parried by Henriksen. I thought Mario was unlucky not to score again, but that miss would be decisive.

 

With less than nine minutes remaining, Sky Blues substitute Jamie Archer tapped home a through-ball from Connor to give Coventry a barely-deserved equaliser. A few of our defenders suspected that Archer was offside, but this wasn't the first time that they had buckled under pressure this season.

 

Two minutes later, Djokic attempted to render City's goal moot with an opportunity to put us back in a winning position. Sadly, his header from a promising Okoli cross was plucked out of the air by Henriksen, and we once again had to settle for just one point instead of three.

 

Coventry City - 1 (Archer 82)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Djokic 62)

Championship, Attendance 13,399 - POSITIONS: Coventry 20th, Dag & Red 18th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Charles (Darvill), Butler, Warren, Okoli, Fraser (Verratti), Karapetyan, Flood, Pert, Bennett (Djokic).

 

Over the course of three months, we had played 16 league matches, and won just THREE of them. On no fewer than five occasions, we had managed to throw away points by conceding goals in the last 10 minutes. The Championship was very unforgiving.

 

We now sit only three points above the drop zone, albeit with a game in hand. That said, we desperately need Mario Djokic and Samvel Karapetyan to build on their encouraging debuts, otherwise we could well drop into the bottom three before too long.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of November 2029)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  23    11    10    2     48    24    +24   43
2.          Swansea                23    12    6     5     34    23    +11   42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Blackburn              23    11    8     4     36    23    +13   41
4.          Aston Villa            23    9     12    2     41    18    +23   39
5.          Nottm Forest           23    11    5     7     39    22    +17   38
6.          Colchester             23    10    8     5     34    27    +7    38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Stoke                  23    9     9     5     32    23    +9    36
8.          Crystal Palace         23    9     7     7     35    34    +1    34
9.          Bolton                 23    9     7     7     20    20    0     34
10.         Sheff Utd              23    9     6     8     37    37    0     33
11.         Cardiff                23    7     11    5     34    33    +1    32
12.         Oldham                 23    9     5     9     37    43    -6    32
13.         QPR                    23    8     5     10    25    27    -2    29
14.         Peterborough           23    6     11    6     24    27    -3    29
15.         Wigan                  23    7     7     9     31    36    -5    28
16.         Chester                23    6     8     9     35    39    -4    26
17.         Plymouth               23    6     8     9     33    38    -5    26
18.         Dag & Red              22    5     10    7     22    28    -6    25
19.         Millwall               23    5     9     9     27    31    -4    24
20.         Coventry               23    4     11    8     27    33    -6    23
21.         Hull                   22    6     5     11    26    37    -11   23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Leicester              23    5     7     11    20    37    -17   22
23.         Crewe                  23    4     6     13    21    35    -14   18
24.         Middlesbrough          23    3     7     13    19    42    -23   16

[Black and Yellow]

Good debut for Djokic, and a shame that you couldn't hold on to what would have been a nice win!

Hoping you survive!

[CFuller]

22 hours ago, Black and Yellow said:

Good debut for Djokic, and a shame that you couldn't hold on to what would have been a nice win!

Hoping you survive!

We've not been scoring as many goals as I would've liked, so it was vital that Djokic got off to a strong start. He and Karapetyan could well prove to be the difference between survival and relegation for us.

I'd like to think that we're good enough to survive, but there are some very tricky fixtures ahead in December. If we fail to get any positive results, then things could be looking rather grim for us.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2029

When you're struggling for form, you don't really want to play three away games in the space of eight days. It also doesn't help if your team is struggling for fitness and confidence, or if you - as a football manager - are running out of ideas. That was the scenario we found ourselves in at the start of the final month of the 2020s.

 

Kicking off a run of potential away-day nightmares was a visit to the Britannia Stadium against 7th-placed Stoke City. I gave teenagers Lloyd Bailey and George Darvill their first league starts, in the hope that they could carry over their strong form for the reserves into the senior side.

 

1 December 2029: Stoke City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Matt Warren took the captain's armband for this match, but he had an absolute nightmare right from the off. Not only did Warren have difficulty in retaining possession, but Stoke's tricky winger Emmanuel Chioma kept drawing fouls from our increasingly weary left-back. One such foul on the edge of our area after nine minutes led to the Potters' first real chance. Zvonko Trajkovic curled it over our wall and towards the top corner before Daryl Ryan made a stunning save to divert it away.

 

Victor Dam then hit the bar with a Dagenham free-kick in the 12th minute before Warren's woes continued. Yet another foul on Chioma after 14 minutes resulted in a booking for Matt, who was relieved to see Ian Dillon head the resulting Trajkovic free-kick wide.

 

Warren wouldn't get away with his next error three minutes later. His inability to close Chioma down resulted in the Nigerian's centre finding Trajkovic at the far post. Trajkovic's first shot was parried by Ryan, but the follow-up gave Stoke their opening goal.

 

The pulverisation continued in the 21st minute, with Daryl having to catch a close-range shot from Esteban Morin. In the 28th minute, Chioma found a way past Warren again and crossed to Dillon, whose header hit the bar and went out.

 

At that point, I decided to pull Matt out of the firing line. Samvel Karapetyan took the captaincy, and Daniel O'Reilly took Warren's spot at left-back. Daniel's much fresher legs went some way to limiting Chioma's impact for the rest of the half, although Stoke did miss a few chances to extend a 1-0 lead that was more comfortable than it looked.

 

A couple more Dillon headers went wide early in the second half as Stoke continued to let us off the hook. We responded by pretty much doing the same whenever we got any chances. Substitute Mario Djokic did not make as strong an impact in his second Dagenham appearance as in his first, missing the target with his only two shots at goal in the 56th and 64th minutes.

 

Our other attacking players had greater opportunities to equalise later on. After 70 minutes, Ollie Pert chased a long ball from O'Reilly and tried to flick a header past Stoke's goalkeeper from outside the penalty area. Unfortunately for Ollie, Sasa Vucemilovic-Grgic got just enough of his fingertips to the ball to divert it just past his post.

 

Mason Bennett pulled wide a decent chance in the 72nd minute, and he was cursing himself again in the 89th. His headed connection to Shahed Hector's cross looked like being successful until Vucemilovic-Grgic made another stunning fingertip save.

 

In between all those misses, the Potters had missed even more opportunities to kill us off. By the second minute of injury time, they'd became tired of toying with us, and finally got round to destroying us. Trajkovic's left-wing cross was buried by Allan Moffat for a 2-0 home win.

 

Stoke City - 2 (Trajkovic 17, Moffat 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 16,289 - POSITIONS: Stoke 6th, Dag & Red 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Darvill, Butler, Warren (O'Reilly), Bailey (Flood), Fraser, Dam (Djokic), Karapetyan, Pert, Bennett. BOOKED: Warren, Pert, Karapetyan.

 

We remained three points above the drop zone with a game in hand. We played that extra game - a potential relegation 'six-pointer' away to Hull City - just three days later.

 

Hull were in 21st place, but they had found some form under new manager Ross Barkley, who was celebrating his 36th birthday. It was also sure to be a big occasion for Tigers centre-back Benjamin Ashton and striker Willie Dickson - both former Dagenham players.

 

5 December 2029: Hull City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mark West returned to the Dagenham line-up after his long injury lay-off, and he almost created a goal for new strike partner Mario Djokic within a minute. Mark's attempted through-ball to Mario was poorly intercepted by Hull's Frantisek Krabec, gifting Djokic a shot that he could only fire straight at keeper Russell Lawless. Djokic missed another opportunity to score in the second minute, fizzing a drive just past the post.

 

Also returning to our starting XI was William Barnes following his two-match suspension. Sadly, Will only lasted 15 minutes before a strong tackle from former team-mate Benjamin Ashton left him with a game-ending leg injury. Ashton would be a thorn in our attackers' side throughout the first half, making several excellent interceptions and clearances. On 32 minutes, West had a shot saved by the onrushing Lawless before striking a post with the rebound. Ashton then hacked the ball away from a lurking Djokic.

 

After frustrating us at their end of the pitch, Hull set out to do the same at ours. Willie Dickson and Nick Breward each had decent chances to put the Tigers in front deep into normal time, but Ryan made a couple of saves that could've been vital. Alas, they were not. An attempted clearance from Daggers defender George Darvill in injury time rebounded off Hull midfielder Nikos Mytilinaios and fell to Tigers forward Kevin Wells, who set up a diving header for Dickson. Our old friend had dealt us a cruel blow.

 

Both sides missed great chances at around about the 60-minute mark. Firstly, in the 58th minute, Victor Dam snatched at an equalising attempt after Djokic had played him through on goal.

 

Three minutes later, Ryan charged out of his area to clear a long ball, only to see it fall to Jim Price. Hull's wideman had a clear target to shoot at from 30 yards out, and we were very relieved to see him miss it. Price's next attempt in the 69th minute did force Ryan into a save, but our defence would otherwise be largely untroubled for the rest of the half.

 

The final 20 minutes saw a host of Dagenham misses, including a spectacular one from Dam, who scooped the ball over City's bar after 71 minutes. Later on, centre-back Colin Butler headed a couple of Matthew Fraser corners towards goal. The Irishman nodded one attempt over the bar in the 77th minute, and then struck it with another in added-on time.

 

After 13 shots at goal, and just two on target, we came away from the KC Stadium empty-handed. The Tigers leapt above us in the standings, leaving us fourth-from-bottom and wondering when this dreadful slump would end.

 

Hull City - 1 (Dickson 45)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 10,966 - POSITIONS: Hull 19th, Dag & Red 21st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Darvill, Hector (Dalton), Butler, Banton, O'Reilly, Barnes (Karapetyan), Fraser, Dam, West, Djokic (Bennett).

 

William Barnes' gashed leg ruled him out of the last of our three consecutive away games. If we lost that one, there was a real chance that 22nd-placed Leicester City would catch us up on points (although probably not on goal difference).

 

When we hosted Colchester United back in August, we were completely and utterly dominant, and somehow only won by a single goal. I expected our Essex rivals to really struggle after that, but while our Championship campaign floundered, theirs went from strength to strength. Ahead of our visit to the Weston Homes Community Stadium, Colchester were in 7th place - just one point adrift of the play-off spots.

 

It wasn't quite Christmas, but I decided to put up the 'Christmas tree' for this big derby match. Having tried and tinkered with my usual formations without success, I decided to test out a narrow 4-3-2-1 for the first time. Would having such a packed midfield allow us to control the game and get a much-needed win on the board?

 

8 December 2029: Colchester United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

My new approach had the desired effect, as we took the lead within six minutes. Dean Martin sent us on the counter with an excellent long ball to Mario Djokic, who dribbled from just inside Colchester's half into their penalty box. After teasing Colchester defender Casey Phillips with his fancy footwork, Djokic turned outside the U's skipper and cracked a low drive into the net! Colchester's feathers had been well and truly ruffled.

 

On 16 minutes, United right-back Josh Simpson went in hard on Mario to win the ball off him and launch a counter-attack. The end result was a tame shot from striker Matt Peters that Daggers goalkeeper Daryl Ryan made light work of. Daryl also caught a cross from Michael Bridges in the 17th minute before it could find the hosts' other centre-forward Regan Stroud.

 

Shortly after the half-hour, Stroud had two chances to draw his team level. The first was headed over the bar after 32 minutes, and the second - two minutes later - was somehow turned behind by a breathtaking point-blank save from Ryan. Daryl had saved our bacon, though only temporarily. The resulting corner from Jim Raven was tucked home at the near post by Peters, and we were already fearing that we'd blown yet another potential win.

 

Colchester made a positive start to the second half, with another counter-attack on 51 minutes culminating in a chance for Peters to give them the advantage. Peters swerved a shot from the edge of the 'D', and Ryan secured it well. Three minutes later, the momentum shifted back our way. Mason Bennett sent a hanging-ball corner over to Dagenham captain Gavin Dalton, who powered in his first goal of the season!

 

We were almost instantly galvanised, and we could've scored again in the 56th minute. Mason did well to set up an opportunity for Mario, whose long-range attempt was caught by Colchester keeper David Croft.

 

We would then expose United's vulnerability at corners for a second time in the 66th minute. Substitute Joel Honeyball marked his return from injury with a fantastic delivery to Josh Charles, who broke his scoring duck for the season with a header at the near post. It was now 3-1, and there was still more to come from the resurgent Daggers!

 

On 72 minutes, Djokic took a Bennett flick-on into the area, but just as the ball was about to run behind the byline, Phillips lunged in on Mario. The Montenegrin went down, and we were awarded a penalty! From said spot kick, Marco Verratti became the third Dagger in this match to open his scoring account for the season. Indeed, the powerful pen was 37-year-old Marco's first ever competitive goal for the club!

 

We never looked like losing from 4-1 up, as the U's launched a couple of unsuccessful attacks before effectively conceding defeat. After picking up just one point in our last four games, we had roared back to life with our biggest win of the season. Leicester City also won on the road, so we were still only three points clear of relegation, though we did shoot up four places in the table.

 

Colchester United - 1 (Peters 35)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Djokic 6, Dalton 54, Charles 66, Verratti pen72)

Championship, Attendance 7,631 - POSITIONS: Colchester 7th, Dag & Red 17th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Dalton, O'Reilly (Warren), Harding, Verratti, Karapetyan (Honeyball), Bennett, Martin, Djokic (West). BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

One swallow does not make a summer, but I might have stumbled onto something here...

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2029 (continued)

After our all-important league win at Colchester United, we found out who we'd be playing in Round 3 of the FA Cup. An away game against League One high-flyers Ipswich Town wasn't the best we could have hoped for, but it did give us a good chance of reaching Round 4 again.

 

That cup game would take place in the New Year. Of more immediate concern to me was a run of three straight home matches in the league. That sequence began with a Sunday afternoon showdown against Chester - our old rivals from the lower leagues.

 

Chester may have had the Championship's leading scorer in 21-goal captain Deale Flynn, but to be honest, he was merely keeping them out of the relegation zone. A poor defensive record, married with a run of four games without victory, had left Marcus Bignot's Blues in a bit of a pickle.

 

16 December 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Chester

A second-minute attempt from Dagenham captain Mark West was blown ridiculously wide, although he was much unluckier with his next effort three minutes later. Gareth Flood surged up the left flank and crossed to Mark, whose header was tipped over the bar by Chester goalkeeper Steve Rowbotham.

 

Ex-Daggers striker Troy Hands went close to scoring for the Blues in the 8th minute, when his shot skimmed the top of our bar. Two minutes later, another superb save by Rowbotham prevented Lucky Okoli from bagging his first Daggers goal.

 

It was clear early on that Chester were struggling to cope with Lucky and Gareth's pace down the flanks. Nevertheless, they did have several chances to take the lead themselves midway through the first half. However, Daryl Ryan was proving to be in fine form, as our goalie kept out a 19th-minute strike from Bickram Cook and couple of efforts from Deale Flynn. Daryl's contributions would prove very significant.

 

After just under half an hour, Okoli moved inside from the right wing to collect a pass from Matthew Fraser. The Nigerian advanced towards the Chester 'D', and then turned sharply before drilling a low drive into the far end of the net! Lucky's first strike for Dagenham & Redbridge had made it 1-0! We just about held onto that lead at half-time, as Daryl pushed away a strike from Hands just before the break.

 

Chester winger Garry Rice picked up a knock in the first half, and the Blues also had concerns about midfielder Kurtis Younie after he collided with Dagenham's Geraint Harding early in the second. Marcus Bignot's men would soon have more on their plate. After 57 minutes, Matthew floated an excellent Daggers corner to Colin Butler, whose header Rowbotham tipped behind for another set-piece. This time, it was Gareth who swung in the corner to Colin, who nodded it against the far post before Leon Clark cleared for Chester!

 

Shortly afterwards, in the 59th minute, West flicked a Ryan goal kick in front of Mason Bennett. With just an extra yard of pace, Bennett would surely have got to the ball before Rowbotham caught it. Mason was unfortunate not to add his name to the scoresheet before Mario Djokic took his place.

 

Two minutes into his cameo, in the 74th minute, Mario had a low shot saved by Rowbotham. That miss could've been costly, as Chester went on the counter in the 78th minute before Ryan denied Flynn again.

 

Barely a minute later, the Blues began to wane. Leon Wane passed the ball short to Dave Croft deep in Chester territory, only for Daggers left-back Matt Warren to tackle the ball off visiting right-back Croft's feet. Matt's quick thinking deflected the ball towards Mario, who slotted in his third Daggers goal in five appearances!

 

We were 2-0 up, and although Mark hit the bar with a header in injury time, we would not need a third goal. Our defence had managed to shut out free-scoring Flynn and send Chester home disappointed.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Okoli 30, Djokic 79)

Chester - 0

Championship, Attendance 4,565 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 16th, Chester 21st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton, Warren, Okoli, Fraser, Harding (Martin), Flood (Honeyball), West, Bennett (Djokic). BOOKED: Butler.

 

Back-to-back league wins had put us on the right track again, but our charge was soon threatening to derail again. Less than 24 hours after scoring against Chester, Mario Djokic twisted his knee in training, putting him out for three weeks.

 

Later on in the week, Daryl Ryan and Dean Martin were both struck down by flu. Dean was sent home to recuperate, but Daryl had little choice other than to continue training, else Kieran Whalley would've been our only fit goalkeeper.

 

Meanwhile, we rejected a couple of offers from Danish clubs for our attacking midfielder Victor Dam. I was looking to cash in on Victor, whose contract was due to expire in six months, but neither FC Midtjylland nor Vejle BK met my £200,000 valuation of him.

 

Dam got one more chance to convince me to let him stay when we hosted 4th-placed Nottingham Forest. I put my new 'Christmas tree' formation to use again in our final game before the holidays.

 

22 December 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Nottingham Forest

Unlike at the City Ground in August, we were not afraid to dictate terms against our more prestigious opponents. Mason Bennett was denied a sensational first-minute opener by a superb save from Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Ondrich Rehak. The Czech custodian would keep out another effort from Mason in the 5th minute before catching a close-range header from Gavin Dalton in the 9th.

 

Before long, though, we'd found a way to cut through Forest. Marco Verratti's free-kick into the visiting area brought an uncomfortable clearance from Forest right-back Michael Prochazka. Prochazka's header was intercepted by Josh Charles, who evaded a slide tackle from Andy Willis and knocked the ball across for Samvel Karapetyan to thrash it into the net! To the delight of our fans, we were 1-0 up against one of the Championship's biggest teams after 12 minutes!

 

We could well have taken a 2-0 lead just three minutes later, as a long-distance effort from Marco swerved narrowly over. More Dagenham misses followed before Verratti nearly scored directly from a free-kick in the 23rd minute. A stunning fingertip save from Rehak kept out our best opportunity to move two goals clear.

 

Forest launched a number of attacks later in the half, though nearly all of them missed the target. Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley, who was deputising for the sickly Daryl Ryan, didn't need to make a single save before the half-time whistle blew with us still holding the advantage.

 

If Victor Dam wanted a new contract with us, he had a fantastic opportunity to impress me in the 56th minute. A superb pass from Verratti, followed by a poor interception from Nottingham Forest defender Bernard Bell, allowed Dam to go one-on-one with Rehak. Unfortunately, the Dane's moment slipped away from him as Rehak charged out of his area to push the ball clear.

 

Five minutes after nearly gifting us a second goal, Bell threatened to take our lead away. The St Lucia defender volleyed Juan Daniel Ramos' free-kick towards goal, but Kieran reacted quickly to deflect the shot away from the target. Bell had another go just seconds later, and Whalley denied him again before Charles cleared. That was one of the few occasions on which Forest looked anything like their formidable best.

 

We controlled possession for the final half-hour, finishing with 60% of possession and an 85% pass completion rate. Meanwhile, Gavin Dalton and co defended almost impeccably, leaving the East Midlanders with just a couple of crumbs. Ramos and striker Terry Swann each failed to take their chances, and so we held on for another great win!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Karapetyan 12)

Nottingham Forest - 0

Championship, Attendance 5,072 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 15th, Nottm Forest 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Hector, Charles, Dalton, O'Reilly, Harding, Fraser, Verratti (Barnes), Karapetyan (Warren), Dam (Honeyball), Bennett.

 

We had won three consecutive matches for the first time this season, moving seven points clear of the drop as a result. Suddenly, we were looking more comfortable than we had been a fortnight earlier.

 

We spent Christmas Day with our families before our next home game against Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day. I'd hoped to forget about football briefly while enjoying Christmas with my loved ones, but my dinner was rudely interrupted by a phone call.

 

“Merry Christmas, Mr Fuller. This is Josh Hall - Chief Executive of Norwich City Football Club. I'm sorry if I've disturbed you, but I'm just calling to enquire if you are interested in becoming our new first-team manager?”

 

I was half-tempted to reply, “Oh, God, not you again.” It had been 18 months since Norwich had first approached me about becoming their new manager. When I turned them down, they appointed Craig Bryson instead. Bryson had now moved on to a new job at Arsenal, so the Canaries decided to make another bid for my services.

 

“I'm very sorry, Mr Hall, but I have no interest in leaving Dagenham & Redbridge.” I told the Norwich CEO. “And for the record, I do not wish to be considered for any vacancy at Norwich City in the future unless I have applied for the job beforehand. Have a nice day.”

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2029 (continued)

Our Boxing Day match at home to Wigan Athletic was sure to be a belter. Wigan had recovered from a poor start and had recently hit their stride under new manager Denny Johnstone. A run of six wins in their last seven games had shot the Latics up from 19th to 12th.

 

26 December 2029: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wigan Athletic

Our first chance to attack Wigan came in the second minute, when captain Mark West's header was caught by Latics goalkeeper Daniel Lye. Fulham loanee Lye was playing at his home ground of Craven Cottage, and he appeared quite settled, as he turned a Joel Honeyball shot round his post in the fifth minute. After those two early saves, Lye and his defenders had to remain on their guard throughout the first period.

 

We created a whole host of scoring chances, although our shooting appeared wayward. West hadn't scored for nearly two months, and when he skied an effort high and wide in the 14th minute, it looked like his barren spell would continue. Another cause for concern was our foul count, with defender Colin Butler and midfielder Matthew Fraser each picking up bookings.

 

In the 31st minute, Thomas Junker swung a Wigan free-kick into our box. Daggers defender Josh Charles did well to head it away to West, who dribbled into the Athletic half. Mark then knocked the ball across to Joel, who advanced forward and exchanged passes with Daniel O'Reilly before drilling a shot into Wigan's net!

 

That strike delighted our fans, who grew even louder in the 35th minute. After Lye had turned behind a blistering shot from West, Fraser swung a corner towards Gavin Dalton, and the centre-half flicked it across the line!

 

We were suddenly 2-0 up... but Wigan would soon roar back. Five minutes before half-time, Brazilian striker Franca leapt above O'Reilly to head a centre from Abdelkrim Hamrouni into the net.

 

Despite losing half our lead, we weren't shaken. Indeed, Mark was unlucky not to restore our two-goal cushion in the 43rd minute, when Lye hacked away a fierce strike from the burly Yorkshireman.

 

Having failed to convert several chances in the first half, West was determined not to pass up any more in the second period. Barely two minutes after the restart, he blasted a Samvel Karapetyan pass first-time into the net, giving us a 3-1 lead!

 

Honeyball and Karapetyan then missed chances for a 4-1 advantage before West gave us that with a landmark goal in the 56th minute. After latching onto a long ball from Butler and chipping it over Lye, Mark wheeled away to celebrate his 100th league goal in a Dagenham & Redbridge shirt!

 

West was now on two goals for the afternoon, and another Dagger drew level with him three minutes later. A poor interception from Wigan captain Gustavo Solórzano knocked the ball into the path of Honeyball, who continued the rout with an incisive finish!

 

Incredibly, that would not be the end of the Latics' second-half meltdown. The club who claimed to have former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev as a fan went into full Chernobyl mode in the 66th minute, when Joel set up a hat-trick goal for Mark! Within less than 20 minutes, a 2-1 Dagenham lead had become 6-1!

 

After his confidence-boosting treble was secured, West came off to a standing ovation and was replaced by Ollie Pert. Unsurprisingly, our attack slowed down without the presence of our inspirational skipper.

 

At the other end, Wigan just could not get their attacks going. An 84th-minute strike from Thomas Potter, which was pushed away by Daggers goalkeeper Kieran Whalley, proved to be the Latics' only shot on target in the second half.

 

Six minutes later, a horrendous afternoon for the Mancunians came to a farcical conclusion. Karapetyan's shot from the edge of the area took a heavy deflection off Wigan midfielder Ricardo Antonio Jiménez and then bobbled almost apologetically into the net! That put the seal on one of the most extraordinary victories in our recent history - 7-1 over Wigan Athletic!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 7 (Honeyball 31,59, Dalton 35, West 48,56,66, Karapetyan 90)

Wigan Athletic - 1 (Franca 40)

Championship, Attendance 4,322 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Wigan 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Charles, Butler (Hector), Dalton, Banton, O'Reilly, Barnes, Fraser (Harding), Karapetyan, West (Pert), Honeyball. BOOKED: Butler, Fraser.

 

Well, I did not expect that result at all! From the pits of despair, we had managed to put together four excellent victories in a row - and this was undoubtedly the zenith!

 

Three days later, we travelled to South Wales to play a Cardiff City side whose form had gone south. The Bluebirds were chasing a first win in eight matches and looking to avoid dropping into a relegation scrap.

 

29 December 2029: Cardiff City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

After bludgeoning Wigan Athletic to death, we looked to continue where we left off at the Cardiff City Stadium. In the fourth minute, pint-sized Marco Verratti somehow got his head to a floated cross from Shahed Hector. Sadly, Marco's header was easily caught by Cardiff keeper Jed Steer. Verratti had another attempt in the 11th minute, through one of his more traditional long shots. Steer also saved that one, tipping it over his bar.

 

We continued to stroke the ball around the Bluebirds' half, though not with much success. Steer's 27th-minute parry from an angled strike by Geraint Harding was the last save he would have to make in the first half.

 

Five minutes later, a rare Cardiff attack culminated in striker Lewis Askey nodding a deep Darren Holt cross into the net. Askey was miles offside, though, and the officials didn't hesitate to rule the goal out. Daryl Ryan was a relieved Dagenham goalkeeper, and the Irishman made late saves from Bluebirds captain Dan Milton and midfielder Nicky Hargreaves to keep the scoreline at 0-0.

 

Verratti continued to try his luck from long range in the second half, but a couple of strikes in the 53rd and 54th minute drifted wide. Mason Bennett was also unable to hit the target when he attempted a crashing drive from 20 yards in the 56th minute.

 

The deadlock was still unbroken going into the final quarter, so I abandoned our possession-based 4-3-2-1 for a more direct 4-4-2. Lucky Okoli and Mark West came onto the field, and their early attacking forays showed promise. Okoli was un-Lucky to clear the bar with a swerving effort in the 71st minute.

 

West narrowly missed the target two minutes later, and then had a diving header pushed behind by Steer another minute after that. Mark's third attempt came from a long way out in the 83rd minute, but he still couldn't beat the impressive 37-year-old. With five minutes remaining, Bennett - who set up all of West's chances - headed just past the post from Hector's cross. Our attack ran out of steam after that, and for the second time this season, Cardiff and Dagenham remained locked in a goalless stalemate.

 

Cardiff City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 17,896 - POSITIONS: Cardiff 16th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton, Warren, Harding (Okoli), Fraser, Verratti (West), Bennett, Karapetyan (Barnes), Honeyball. BOOKED: Verratti.

 

Although the winning run is now over, we're still unbeaten in five games as we head into the New Year - and a new decade.

 

The transformation that Dagenham & Redbridge has undergone in the 2020s has been extraordinary, and I'm hoping to carry that on into the 2030s. Who knows where we'll be by the end of 2039?

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of December 2029)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  29    14    13    2     58    30    +28   55
2.          Aston Villa            29    12    14    3     50    24    +26   50
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3.          Blackburn              29    13    10    6     44    29    +15   49
4.          Swansea                29    13    10    6     41    29    +12   49
5.          Crystal Palace         29    13    8     8     44    39    +5    47
6.          Bolton                 29    12    10    7     28    24    +4    46
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7.          Nottm Forest           29    13    6     10    49    31    +18   45
8.          Stoke                  29    11    11    7     39    29    +10   44
9.          Colchester             29    11    10    8     40    36    +4    43
10.         Sheff Utd              29    11    9     9     46    43    +3    42
11.         Oldham                 29    12    5     12    48    54    -6    41
12.         Peterborough           29    9     13    7     33    32    +1    40
13.         Dag & Red              29    9     11    9     36    33    +3    38
14.         Wigan                  29    10    7     12    39    50    -11   37
15.         QPR                    29    10    6     13    32    39    -7    36
16.         Cardiff                29    7     13    9     35    41    -6    34
17.         Hull                   29    9     7     13    40    50    -10   34
18.         Chester                29    7     9     13    45    52    -7    30
19.         Plymouth               29    6     12    11    37    45    -8    30
20.         Leicester              29    7     9     13    28    47    -19   30
21.         Millwall               29    6     11    12    37    42    -5    29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Coventry               29    5     14    10    36    44    -8    29
23.         Crewe                  29    6     7     16    24    41    -17   25
24.         Middlesbrough          29    5     9     15    25    50    -25   24

[mark wilson27]

13th Place not too shabby at all and only 8pts off the playoffs. Surely another promotion couldn't be on the way  

On a serious note do you reckon you have a squad to challenge for promotion if not this year maybe the next couple

[CFuller]

23 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

13th Place not too shabby at all and only 8pts off the playoffs. Surely another promotion couldn't be on the way  

On a serious note do you reckon you have a squad to challenge for promotion if not this year maybe the next couple

We're certainly looking good for at least a mid-table finish at the moment, but it could only take another three- or four-game slump to knock us back down towards the relegation zone.

Are we strong enough to challenge for promotion? Realistically, no. Our defence, while decent enough, is not solid enough for the top end of the Championship, and we're lacking a bit of creativity in midfield. I'd say we won't be ready for a serious promotion challenge until our third or fourth season up (possibly second if we're lucky).

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2030

The new decade began with an award for vice-captain Gavin Dalton. Gavin was named as the Championship's Player of the Month for December after putting in some outstanding performances for Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Just hours after hearing the good news, Gavin led the Daggers out at Home Park against Plymouth Argyle. This was the Pilgrims' fifth season in the Championship, but a six-game winless run had left them battling for survival.

 

1 January 2030: Plymouth Argyle vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham midfielder Victor Dam didn't have a particularly great start, as he was tackled off the ball by Plymouth counterpart Veselin Spasov in the sixth minute. The ball was knocked on to another Argyle midfielder in Pedro Igor Ribeiro, who dribbled unchallenged towards our area before hitting a woeful shot. Plymouth had another attempt in the 10th minute, when Roger Rothery's strike was parried by Dagenham goalkeeper Daryl Ryan.

 

On 11 minutes, Mason Bennett floated a Daggers cross into the hosts' penalty box Joel Honeyball, who attempted to head it on to Dean Martin. Pilgrims defender Ilias Iraklis blocked the flick-on, but his team-mates failed to clear the danger before Dam half-volleyed the loose ball into the net! Victor's first goal of the season had got us off the mark!

 

Another Dagenham goal could've followed on 19 minutes, but Joel's close-range header was caught by Rory Luchford. We looked fairly comfortable for the rest of the half, with Plymouth's high foul count stopping them from building up any momentum. 20-year-old striker Menendes Sahin had their best chance of the period after 32 minutes, and he volleyed it into the stands.

 

Plymouth's first scoring attempt of the second half came within the opening 30 seconds. Ribeiro found his fellow Portuguese-born midfielder Marco Galvao in space, but the former England Under-21s international swerved a shot just over the crossbar. With Dagenham centre-backs Josh Charles and skipper Gavin Dalton defending so resiliently, Argyle found it increasingly difficult to open us up again.

 

In contrast to our solid backline, the Pilgrims' defence looked far from shipshape. In the 68th minute, an aimless punt from Shawn Gourlay was nodded back towards the Plymouth goal by Daggers midfielder William Barnes. Victor latched onto Will's header and then half-volleyed in another goal! It was now 2-0, and with the hosts struggling to control their discipline, we were firmly in control.

 

I could afford to throw on youngsters Shaun Johnson and Lloyd Bailey for the last quarter-hour without fearing that our lead would be compromised. Indeed, that lead was only strengthened in the 86th minute. Dam played a part in our third goal, as his pass to Bailey was slid forward by the teenager into the path of Geraint Harding. The Welshman coolly dispatched the ball into the net, making it 3-0!

 

Rothery did score an injury-time consolation for Plymouth, tucking away a left-wing Des Evans cross from close range. Despite that, we still came away from Devon with all three points in the bag, as well as a place in the top half.

 

Plymouth Argyle - 1 (Rothery 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Dam 11,68, Harding 86)

Championship, Attendance 9,942 - POSITIONS: Plymouth 21st, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Charles, Dalton (Johnson), O'Reilly, Harding, Barnes, Martin (Bailey), Bennett, Dam, Honeyball (West). BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

A man-of-the-match performance from Victor Dam certainly boosted his chances of earning a new deal at Dagenham. The following day, Victor turned down an offer to join Vejle BK on a Bosman free transfer in the summer and reaffirmed his desire to stay with us. However, I won't open contract talks with the Danish midfielder until his agent lowers his demands.

 

In other news, we recalled striker Roy Ganfield early from a nightmarish loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, for whom he played in just three competitive matches. Wycombe cheekily tried to nab winger Paul Parkinson on loan instead, but I had no desire to let them stunt another Daggers youngster's development.

 

Our first weekend match of the New Year was in the FA Cup, away to Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys were rated as slight favourites, even though they were 4th in League One and we were now a mid-table Championship team. The fact that we were unable to call upon midfielders Matthew Fraser (thigh strain) and Geraint Harding (cold) might just have swung it for the bookies.

 

5 January 2030: Ipswich Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The third minute of this match was no time to take any undue risks. That was exactly what our goalkeeper Daryl Ryan did when he walked the ball around 40 yards from his goal, à la René Higuita at his most loco. Much like the Colombian on a number of occasions, Daryl would be left with egg on his face.

 

As Ipswich striker Iain Partner started to close Ryan down, the keeper desperately hacked the ball away... to a Tractor Boy. Winger Colin Joyce intercepted the clearance and passed first-time to Scottish midfielder Fraser Tait. The ginger ninja then smashed the ball into a gaping target from about midway up our half, and Daryl was almost blushing in embarrassment as he rushed back towards his goal without success.

 

Two minutes after that howler, my face turned a darker shade of red. Joyce created another Ipswich goal when his byline centre was tapped in by Partner, giving the Tractor Boys a 2-0 lead within the first five minutes! We could not have started much worse than that.

 

To be fair to Ryan, he didn't seem to ponder on his early clanger for long. In the 10th minute, he superbly denied Tait a second goal with a low fingertip save. In the 13th, Daryl hacked the ball right off his line as Ipswich's Michael Jordan slammed it towards goal. As the Tractor Boys continued to move forward, our defence had to stay calm and make sure they didn't concede again.

 

Ipswich were soon resorting to underhand tactics in a bid to put the game beyond our reach. On 33 minutes, Matthew Gibson curled a right-wing cross into our area, and Partner obstructed Ryan to allow Gibson's delivery to fly straight over him and into the net. The officials didn't take too kindly to this, and Ipswich's third goal was ruled out.

 

Partner was unlucky not to get a third goal by more legitimate means a minute later, when he only just cleared the bar from the edge of our 'D'. Partner was denied again in injury time, when Daryl diverted his header over to ensure that we would only be trailing by two goals at the break.

 

I was rather annoyed that we'd allowed the hosts to roll us over in the first half, and I hoped that my half-time team talk would get my players fired up for the second period. Encouragingly, they went on the attack within the first minute, though Victor Dam could only scoop his shot over the bar. Another opportunity came from a Marco Verratti free-kick in the 53rd minute. Mark West flicked the Italian's delivery forward to Gavin Dalton, who fouled Ipswich keeper Jonathan Oakes in a vain attempt to head it home.

 

We were left frustrated again in the 58th minute, when Town midfielder Alan Byrne headed away a William Barnes strike that looked set to fly into the net. About two minutes after that, Daggers playmaker Samvel Karapetyan struggled to clear a free-kick from Tait. Ipswich full-back Samuel Benson took the ball on the bounce, and his shot came within inches of putting us 3-0 down.

 

Benson went close again in the 64th minute, with a superb Ryan save keeping out the Ghanaian's free-kick. Seven minutes later, a moment's hesitancy from Josh Charles gave the Tractor Boys another chance to kill us off. Byrne tackled the ball from Charles' feet and then dragged a shot past the far post.

 

By that point, I'd brought on Mario Djokic to partner West up front. Alas, neither Mario nor Mark could get us back into the game, and we stumbled out of the FA Cup without scoring a single goal.

 

Ipswich Town - 2 (Tait 3, Partner 5)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 23,834

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Dalton, Warren, Okoli (Verratti), Barnes, Karapetyan, Flood (Dam), West, Honeyball (Djokic). BOOKED: Flood, Barnes.

 

A deep run in the FA Cup sure would've boosted our finances, so I was none too pleased to see us crash out so early against a lower-league team, albeit a very strong lower-league team.

 

After our cup exit, I decided to loan out a couple of promising reserve players. Midfielder Lloyd Bailey went to League One side Kingstonian for the rest of the season, while defender Shaun Johnson will spend the remainder of this campaign in League Two with Hereford United.

 

At the same time, we said goodbye to loanee Mason Bennett. The 33-year-old striker returned to Rangers after six months with us. Mason scored eight goals in 25 appearances for the Daggers, which is not a terrible record on the face of it, although his form did tail off late on.

 

With the experienced Bennett gone, I lined up the signing of another striker - one for the future. He won't actually join us until next season, but I think we've got an absolute steal.

 

19-year-old Inter Milan striker Mario Tortora has signed a pre-contract agreement with Dagenham & Redbridge. I'm not joking. From next season, one of Inter's best prospects will be ours - for free!

 

Tortora is a very well-rounded young poacher; he's quick, strong, skilful, intelligent, and - most importantly - he can finish. Two seasons ago, he scored nine goals in Serie B while on loan at AlbinoLeffe. He has also netted five competitive goals at Inter and represented Italy at Under-19s level.

 

Clubs of the stature of Benfica, Feyenoord and Monaco were all looking to sign young Mario, although only we and Spezia made firm offers for his services. Spezia are an established mid-table Serie A team who finished 5th as recently as 2024... but he's chosen to join us ahead of them!

 

Remember the name - Mario Tortora. You'll be hearing that a lot from July onwards.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2030 (continued)

We faced back-to-back home matches in the middle of January, with 4th-placed Swansea City travelling to Craven Cottage before we played host to Millwall. Swansea had been in the top two for much of this season, but they'd dropped off the pace in recent weeks.

 

13 January 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Swansea City

Mark West had a shot blocked by Swansea captain John French in the third minute, but we were quickly given another chance to take the lead. Mario Djokic was brought down by Ron Cowlishaw as he tried to reach the deflection, winning us a free-kick in a dangerous position. In fact, it was in just the right position for William Barnes to curl it over the wall and into the top corner! 1-0 to the Daggers!

 

Swans goalkeeper Ali Buttery denied us another early goal in the 10th minute, when he comfortably saved a first-time drive from Samvel Karapetyan. Six minutes later, our lead was gone. Cowlishaw's left-wing cross was nodded on by Tony Robinson to Matej Chlup, and the 17-year-old frontman on loan from Juventus volleyed in his first league goal!

 

Not to worry, said Djokic. A pinpoint pass by Karapetyan from just inside our half kicked off fantastic solo run from the 30-year-old Montenegrin, which ended with him smashing in our second goal on 22 minutes.

 

We again had chances to further strengthen our position afterwards. However, Buttery pulled off a couple more saves to keep West off the scoresheet in the 24th and 26th minutes. Our captain was not having much luck, and his day wouldn't be getting any better.

 

Mark's attempted flick-on to Flood in the 34th minute was cut out by Robinson, and Swans midfielder Dan Francis then played the ball forward to Chlup. The Czech striker then chipped the ball to another 17-year-old Juventus loanee - Rinus Kessels, who raced clear and slotted the ball past Daryl Ryan. Swansea were level, and having the Italian champions as a parent club was helping them no end.

 

The Welsh side almost took the lead two minutes later through a free-kick from the very English left-back Mick Coar. It was otherwise a very poor performance from Coar, who was struggling to keep our right-winger Lucky Okoli in check. As the first half went into added-on time, Lucky shrugged off Coar to head Daryl's goal kick out left to Djokic. Mario went forward into the area, and although his first shot was parried by Buttery, the second found the net! We were in the lead once again at 3-2!

 

Swansea started the second half with a couple of early attempts from Cowlishaw and Kessels. The latter was thwarted by an easy save from Ryan in the 53rd minute. A couple of minutes after that, we continued to exploit the Swans' vulnerability down the flanks. Flood look for the run of left full-back Daniel O'Reilly, whose cross was half-volleyed in by... Mario Djokic! It was a hat-trick for Mario, who'd given us clear daylight at 4-2!

 

Having made it four goals for Dagenham, Djokic nearly made it four for himself in the 57th minute. A fabulous through-ball from Mark gave Mario yet another opportunity, but he failed to take that one. Swansea also failed to take their chances, although they weren't exactly blazing all of them well wide. Swedish midfielder Victor Engstrom was a little unfortunate not to beat Ryan with a header in the 68th minute, likewise Robinson with a piledriver in the 70th.

 

Shortly after that, I decided to substitute both Djokic and West in order to keep them fresh for our next home game. Mario got a standing ovation from the home fans as he came off the pitch to be replaced by Max Hicks. This was Max's first senior appearance for us since November, and he was determined to prove that he was not washed up. On 81 minutes, Craven Cottage looked on in awe as Hicks charged through the Swans defence and smashed in a marvellous goal - just his second of the campaign!

 

Hicks was at it again barely a minute later, as he jinked his way into the penalty area. This time, he selflessly gave the glory to Gareth Flood, who wrapped up a thumping 6-2 win! Our last home game was that 7-1 demolition of Wigan Athletic, which was now looking anything but a fluke result!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 6 (Barnes 3, Djokic 22,45,54, Hicks 81, Flood 82)

Swansea City - 2 (Chlup 16, Kessels 34)

Championship, Attendance 5,178 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Swansea 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Butler, Dalton, O'Reilly, Okoli, Barnes (Harding), Karapetyan, Flood, West (Pert), Djokic (Hicks). BOOKED: Barnes, Karapetyan.

 

It wasn't that long ago that we were just three points above the relegation zone. That gap had now increased to a very comfortable 15... and what's more, we were only five points adrift of the play-offs!

 

My delight at an excellent result was tempered somewhat the following day by some bad news on the transfer front. We were all set to complete the club-record £100,000 signing of Millwall's 19-year-old defensive midfielder Sol Abbey... until Luton Town made an offer at the 11th hour and beat us to his signature!

 

I was absolutely gutted, because I thought we were going to get a really exciting prospect in former England Under-19s international Abbey. He was a strong tackler, very athletic, quite intelligent, and he was an east London boy, which certainly would've gone down well with Daggers fans. It really got my goat that he chose to join the team ranked 8th in League One instead of a team that was really going places in the Championship.

 

Incidentally, Millwall were the next team to play us at Craven Cottage. The Lions had been wounded by four successive league defeats and were third-from-bottom, so we were red-hot favourites for another home win.

 

19 January 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Millwall

We were playing in front of one of our biggest home crowds of the season... but our supporters were nearly silenced after just three minutes. Millwall full-back Jason Stark floated an excellent free-kick from out wide to on-loan Fortuna Dusseldorf striker Ryan Vaughn. The German-American's header struck the bar, bounced back into play, and was then cleared into touch by Colin Butler!

 

Vaughn had another pop at goal in the 8th minute, but Daryl Ryan kept him at bay on that occasion. Millwall midfielder Stewart Thompson was booked for diving two minutes later as the Lions' roar became weaker.

 

Teenage goalkeeper Patrick Corns had to make no fewer than three saves for the visitors between the 13th and 18th minute. Mark West, Gavin Dalton, and Samvel Karapetyan were all denied... but Mario Djokic would not. In the 24th minute, Lions full-back Dan Walters knocked William Barnes' pass away from West and into the path of Djokic, who broke the deadlock with a tidy finish.

 

Barnes was credited with the assist, and our young playmaker was at it again after 27 minutes. On that occasion, Will played a superb weighted ball for Geraint Harding, and the hitherto goal-shy Welshman tucked in his second strike in three league games!

 

Millwall tried to pull one goal back from a counter-attack in the 30th minute, but Thompson headed wide from a difficult angle. This Lions team was very short on self-belief, and we could've dented their confidence even more late in the first half. A couple of misses from Sam and Mark, though, meant that we were still only two goals ahead at the break.

 

A two-goal lead can be dangerous... if you're not playing a team who are as pitifully poor as Millwall were at Craven Cottage. The Lions' sheepish defence almost allowed us to roll over them in the second period. In the 58th minute, Djokic wasted a great chance to give us a 3-0 advantage by powering his shot straight at Corns.

 

Millwall's hopes of stemming the bleeding suffered a major blow after 62 minutes. Stefan Davies - the least-bad member of an awful Lions back four - gashed his arm in tackling the brilliant Barnes, and though he played on, he was obviously in discomfort. The same could be said of his goalkeeper in the 67th minute. Dagenham substitute Victor Dam's first contribution after replacing Karapetyan was to cut inside and hit a shot that struck the bar and bounced over the line off Corns' back!

 

That was the third goal we had put past Corns, and it wouldn't be the last. A deft chip from Dam found Djokic marginally onside, and the Montenegrin ace gave us a four-goal cushion after 69 minutes! Mario had continued his excellent vein of form with his fifth goal in two games.

 

Djokic wouldn't make it back-to-back hat-tricks, though, before Max Hicks replaced him with ten minutes to go. We started to relax at that point, although maybe overly so. Thompson pulled a goal back for Millwall when there were five minutes remaining.

 

There would be no incredible fightback from the Lions, as we well and truly killed them off two minutes later. Victor's hat-trick of assists was rounded off by an excellent set-up for Hicks, whose strike was so powerful that Corns could only help palm it into the net. Another resounding home victory was ours - incredibly, we'd now scored 18 goals in our last three matches at Craven Cottage!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Djokic 24,69, Harding 27, Corns og67, Hicks 87)

Millwall - 1 (Thompson 85)

Championship, Attendance 11,191 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Millwall 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Butler, Dalton, Banton (Hector), O'Reilly, Harding, Barnes, Karapetyan (Dam), West, Djokic (Hicks).

 

Due to our early exit from the FA Cup, that was actually our last match in January. We finished the month just three points off the play-offs - something that would've been inconceivable back in December!

 

The long wait for our next game gave me plenty of time to do some administration late in the transfer window. Firstly, we bade farewell to centre-back Colin Butler, who returned to Nottingham Forest after seven highly impressive months at Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

I also welcomed back a raft of players who had been on loan elsewhere. Alex Busetto (Scunthorpe United) and Marvin Green (Birmingham City) returned to first-team duty at Dagenham, while Mitchell Paratusic (Boreham Wood) and Tony Rattle (Bristol Rovers) went back into our reserve side.

 

Tommy Scott also completed a loan spell at Boreham Wood, only to find that I'd sent him off to League Two side Hereford United for the remainder of the season. Likewise, left-back Marc Hopkins had barely left Kidderminster Harriers before I farmed him out to another League Two team - Yeovil Town.

 

Also going out on loan was youth midfielder Tom Virgo. About a week after signing his first professional contract with us, the 17-year-old was sent all the way to Barnsley in League One, where he would be playing for the rest of the season.

 

There was also a new contract on the table for defender Daniel O'Reilly. The 21-year-old had recently emerged as my first-choice left-back, and he was rewarded with an improved four-and-a-half-year deal. His Daggers career is in full swing, but our Irish left flanker looks to be on his way out...

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of January 2030)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  32    16    14    2     64    33    +31   62
2.          Blackburn              32    14    12    6     49    32    +17   54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Aston Villa            32    12    17    3     52    26    +26   53
4.          Colchester             32    14    10    8     54    39    +15   52
5.          Swansea                32    14    10    8     45    37    +8    52
6.          Stoke                  32    13    11    8     43    31    +12   50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Crystal Palace         32    14    8     10    48    47    +1    50
8.          Nottm Forest           32    14    7     11    52    34    +18   49
9.          Dag & Red              32    12    11    9     50    37    +13   47
10.         Peterborough           32    11    14    7     39    34    +5    47
11.         Bolton                 32    12    11    9     30    28    +2    47
12.         Sheff Utd              32    12    9     11    52    47    +5    45
13.         QPR                    32    12    6     14    36    41    -5    42
14.         Oldham                 32    12    6     14    50    59    -9    42
15.         Cardiff                32    9     13    10    38    44    -6    40
16.         Wigan                  32    11    7     14    44    57    -13   40
17.         Hull                   32    10    8     14    42    54    -12   38
18.         Plymouth               32    8     12    12    42    49    -7    36
19.         Coventry               32    6     15    11    42    49    -7    33
20.         Chester                32    7     10    15    48    63    -15   31
21.         Leicester              32    7     10    15    29    54    -25   31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Millwall               32    6     11    15    39    53    -14   29
23.         Middlesbrough          32    6     11    15    29    51    -22   29
24.         Crewe                  32    6     9     17    25    43    -18   27

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2030

Although the transfer window had now shut in England, that didn't mean there would be no more business concerning us. On deadline day, we received an offer of £200,000 from Shamrock Rovers for our left-winger Gareth Flood. Gareth had not really fulfilled his potential at Dagenham & Redbridge, so I was happy to cash in on him.

 

The deal had not yet been completed when the English transfer deadline passed, but the Irish window was still open, so Flood had plenty of time to discuss terms with the League of Ireland giants.

 

While Gareth was dealing with Shamrock Rovers, we dealt with Blackburn Rovers in a Championship match at Ewood Park. This was my first match since being named as the Championship's Manager of the Month for January, and I had almost my entire squad to choose from. The only absentee was Marco Verratti, who would be out until March with a hernia.

 

2 February 2030: Blackburn Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We typically don't start well against Blackburn, who'd led 3-0 at half-time in each of our last two meetings. I feared that Rovers would score another early goal after barely a minute, when Matthew Fraser's back-pass was intercepted by home captain Martyn Ozmen. Thankfully, Josh Charles spared Matthew's blushes by knocking the ball off Ozmen's feet. The Blackburn striker had another opening half a minute later, when Daryl Ryan pushed away his strike from the edge of the area.

 

Blackburn's goalkeeper Blair McCord also came into the game when he tipped over a fine effort from Daggers midfielder Dean Martin in the fourth minute. In the ninth, Mario Djokic blasted over his first chance to continue his purple patch for Dagenham. Rovers attacked again after 16 minutes, with Ozmen heading Vangelis Vyzas' left-wing cross over the bar.

 

The hosts' defensive midfielder Neil Mainwaring fizzed a shot just past the post in the 20th minute, but I told my players, “Don't panic!” They didn't, and five minutes later, they had our best chance yet. Geraint Harding played a one-two with Samvel Karapetyan and hit a crashing drive that McCord brilliantly palmed away.

 

On 30 minutes, we survived another Ozmen header that narrowly cleared the bar. Indeed, we would survive the entire first half without conceding - quite some feat for us against Blackburn!

 

The second half started pretty evenly. Alan McLaughlin snatched at an opportunity for Rovers in the 48th minute, and Harding had another long-range punt for Dagenham saved by McCord in the 50th minute. We rode our luck again two minutes after that, as another Ozmen header went out of play, though not before striking the woodwork.

 

Shortly after that near-miss, we had a golden opportunity of our own. William Barnes knocked the ball through the Blackburn defence to find substitute Joel Honeyball, whose shot from a tight angle was parried by McCord.

 

McCord produced another big save in the 60th minute, with Rovers' Scottish keeper stopping a bullet from Karapetyan on that occasion. The home side countered quickly, and within seconds, Clive Camp had sent McLaughlin one-on-one with Ryan. Daggers defender Gavin Dalton tried in vain to intercept Camp's pass, but Daryl bailed him out by turning McLaughlin's shot behind.

 

When Camp pulled another great chance inches wide on 65 minutes, that first goal appeared to be on the horizon. Both teams replaced their flagging strikers with fresher legs, but while Max Hicks wouldn't even threaten the Blackburn goal, Joe Pritchard-Ellis posed much more of a danger to us. In the 84th minute, Pritchard-Ellis got his head to a floating delivery from McLaughlin, but Ryan was well-placed to catch it.

 

I later brought on another sub, giving Alex Busetto his first Daggers appearance of the season. The 23-year-old Italian had three late shots at goal - the first was blocked, the second went wide, and the third was caught by McCord. By full-time, both sides had registered 12 shots at goal, but neither had actually found the net. A goalless draw it was.

 

Blackburn Rovers - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Championship, Attendance 9,609 - POSITIONS: Blackburn 2nd, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Dalton, O'Reilly, Harding, Fraser (Busetto), Barnes, Karapetyan, Martin (Honeyball), Djokic (Hicks).

 

A couple of days after that goalless stalemate, it was confirmed that Gareth Flood had completed his move to Shamrock Rovers, for what was a record £200,000 fee for the Irish club. After 87 league appearances in five years, the winger's association with Dagenham & Redbridge was over.

 

Our next outing was at the King Power Stadium against out-of-form Leicester City. The Foxes were having a miserable campaign and were sat just a couple of places above the drop zone.

 

9 February 2030: Leicester City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The difference between both teams in the confidence department was clear after just four minutes. Dagenham defender Josh Charles cleared Leicester winger Rikki Scarlett's header off our goal line to start a counter-attack.

 

Moments later, Lucky Okoli received the ball about 25 yards from our goal... and he proceeded to take it all the way to City's area! The Foxes defenders stood still almost in fright as Okoli finished his Maradona-esque dribbling with a lethal strike into the top corner! It truly was a sensational opening goal, and it got the home fans clapping as well as our own!

 

Lucky's strike could've given us so much momentum to build on, but we didn't capitalise on it. Leicester threatened to equalise in the 19th minute, when Darren Wood's header from a Scarlett free-kick was caught by our goalkeeper Daryl Ryan.

 

On 33 minutes, a shot from Foxes midfielder Scott Hamilton was deflected behind off Shahed Hector. The hosts almost levelled from the resulting corner, but Ryan managed to scramble Romeo Perkovic's header behind. That gave Leicester another corner, from which defender Carl Shaw had a header saved by Ryan. Hamilton missed one more chance for City before a nervy first half came to an end.

 

Leicester carried on attacking early in the second half through Brewster Bailey, who fired an effort wide in the 48th minute before forcing Ryan into a difficult save four minutes later. We were now looking to sit deep and withstand the Foxes' assaults before going on the counter-attack. One of our breakaways after 56 minutes ended with a terrible finish from Mario Djokic.

 

By the 65th minute, the defensive part of our strategy had broken down. Leicester quickly moved the ball into our penalty area from the left, with Perkovic's centre being half-volleyed in by our former loanee Scarlett.

 

The King Power Stadium had been hit with Scarlett fever, and three minutes later, we were feeling very ill. Tricky Rikki chipped the ball to Bailey, who turned past Charles and fired in a quickfire second goal for Leicester. Our counter-attacking strategy went out of the window, and we decided to go route one.

 

Josh almost made up for his involvement in City's second goal in the 72nd minute, as his header from Samvel Karapetyan's corner came within inches of levelling the scores. Daggers captain Mark West was even unluckier not to score three minutes later. Mark rode a slide tackle from Shaw and then smashed a shot against the post.

 

Excluding an 86th-minute Alex Busetto header that was caught by Leicester keeper Mohammed Addo, West's miss was our last chance to get back level. After going nine league matches unbeaten, we had finally been out-Foxed.

 

Leicester City - 2 (Scarlett 65, Bailey 68)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Okoli 4)

Championship, Attendance 13,698 - POSITIONS: Leicester 19th, Dag & Red 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Busetto, O'Reilly, Okoli (Dalton), Fraser (Dam), Barnes, Green (Karapetyan), West, Djokic.

 

The unbeaten run had to end at some point, but to lose it after leading against out-of-form opposition really annoyed me.

 

We now had 10 days to wait for our next match, at home to rock-bottom Crewe Alexandra. The Railwaymen were also the Championship's lowest goalscorers, although they did beat leaders Derby County earlier in the month, so we couldn't afford to think that they would be pushovers.

 

19 February 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Crewe Alexandra

Crewe's long-serving goalkeeper Bill Taylor faced a host of early attacks from the Daggers. In the fifth minute, Taylor had to tip behind a Matt Warren cross that was sailing towards his goal. Shortly after that, he picked up a deflected shot from Lucky Okoli. Taylor's third save of the opening nine minutes came when he caught Gavin Dalton's header from Warren's corner.

 

Things then got rather quiet for Crewe's defence until the 28th minute, when Taylor caught a swerving effort from our playmaker Samvel Karapetyan. At the other end, the Railwaymen struggled to take the ball of us and posed little danger to our backline. Noel Charles did head a Themis Saunders cross wide on 13 minutes, but that was Alex's only chance... until they won a corner five minutes from time. Saunders' delivery into the six-yard box was cut out by Karapetyan, but Crewe defender Nicky Reynolds picked up the loose ball and fired it into the net!

 

I found it humorously ironic that a player called Nicky Reynolds had scored against me, but things quickly got serious again. Despite dominating the first half, we ended it 1-0 behind, and had Daryl Ryan not caught an effort from Charles in the 43rd minute, we might've faced a bigger deficit.

 

Our long-ball strategy was not working against, so before the second half, I told my players to play it through Alex's defence as opposed to over it. I also encouraged them to run at the defenders, as substitute Dean Martin did before firing a shot into Reynolds on 52 minutes. Martin's cameo ended after an hour, after he bruised his rib in a challenge from Crewe centre-half Darren Greenhouse.

 

That didn't set us back too greatly, as in the 63rd minute, Mario Djokic ran through a gap in the visitors' backline before firing wide. Mario got another chance less than a minute later. Gavin intercepted Taylor's goal kick and headed the ball forward to Marvin Green, who cushioned it on to Djokic. Mario then ran at the defence again before slotting in his ninth goal of the season!

 

That put us level, and Dalton nearly gave us the lead after 68 minutes with a close-range header that clipped the top of the bar. Sam also missed out on a potential game-winning goal for us in the 77th minute.

 

Three minutes after that, a breakaway from the Railwaymen could've given them all three points. Themis Saunders played in his namesake Joey Saunders, whose left-wing delivery found Charles just outside the six-yard box. Charles nodded it wide and couldn't seal the win, but at full-time, Crewe were far happier with their solitary point than we were with ours.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Djokic 64)

Crewe Alexandra - 1 (Reynolds 40)

Championship, Attendance 4,379 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Crewe 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Busetto, Dalton, Warren, Okoli (Barnes), Fraser, Karapetyan, Green, West (Martin (Honeyball)), Djokic.

 

If January had been a delightful month for us, February had been much more of a disappointment. We'd taken just two points from three games and slipped away from the top six.

 

The rest of the month was dedicated to intensive training as we steeled ourselves for the final quarter of the season.

 

As was to be expected, there were a couple of injury casualties. One of them was Marvin Green, who'd recently penned a new four-and-a-half-year deal with the Daggers. The left-winger picked up a thigh strain, ruling him out of our next two fixtures.

 

A more serious injury befell our attacking midfielder Samvel Karapetyan, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back. Sam will be out of action until mid-April at the earliest, and we can't be sure that he'll play for us again this season.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2030

Our last home game against lowly Crewe Alexandra had ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw, so I hoped for a better result when another relegation-threatened side travelled to Craven Cottage. Middlesbrough were in 22nd place at the start of March, but they were actually in decent form, having not lost in the league since December.

 

Shahed Hector pulled out of our squad to play Boro through illness. Captain Mark West was also left out, though on my terms. Mark hadn't scored since his Boxing Day hat-trick against Wigan Athletic, and I felt that a spell out of the first-team would spur him on to get his mojo back.

 

3 March 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Middlesbrough

Gavin Dalton was unlucky not to give us the lead after five minutes. Gavin got his head to a brilliant near-post corner from Marco Verratti, but Middlesbrough captain Ross Archer kept it out with an even better fingertip save.

 

The quality of Archer's goalkeeping was not matched by his team-mates' shooting. Youngsters Dennis Robson and Aarran Bryant drove a couple of long-rangers wide of goal in the 14th and 19th minutes respectively.

 

The visitors' hopes were dented in the 21st minute, when right-back Pedro Rosario pulled his groin in a challenge from Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly. Rosario would somehow play on for the full 90 minutes, but he and the other Middlesbrough defenders would soon come under real pressure.

 

Dagenham midfielder Geraint Harding pulled a shot wide on 22 minutes before volleying his next attempt just over the bar ten minutes later. We were dominating in almost all facets, and it wouldn't be long before we made the breakthrough. It came from a Harding corner after 37 minutes. Gavin attempted to flick Geraint's delivery to Josh Charles at the far post, but Boro's Neal Moody knocked it away from Josh. Luckily for us, the ball was diverted into the path of Joel Honeyball, who drove in our opener!

 

Joel could've scored again after 40 minutes, when he unleashed a fierce strike from just outside the box. A somewhat difficult parry from Archer kept Middlesbrough just about in contention going into the second half.

 

When Middlesbrough left-back Reece Richards' foul on William Barnes in the 49th minute earned him a yellow card, we appeared to be in total control. In fact, it took one stroke of Boro luck two minutes later to erase our lead. Marc Kane drove a tame cross into our penalty area, where the ball took a nick off Dalton's heel and deflected across our goal line! Daryl Ryan was left dumbfounded, but we had to quickly regain our composure.

 

It didn't help that Mario Djokic missed a massive chance to restore our lead just seconds after the restart. A couple of minutes later, Daggers midfielder Victor Dam went into the book for a careless foul on Boro counterpart Jack Jacobs.

 

Meanwhile, Kane's right-wing crosses continued to cause us problems. Ryan had to punch away one such delivery in the 63rd minute before Middlesbrough striker Kevin Arnold could get his head to it. Kane tried to find Arnold again four minutes later... and he succeeded, as did the latter with his shot.

 

With Middlesbrough now 2-1 up, I brought on Ollie Pert to give substitute Max Hicks some company up front for us. Ollie certainly gave Archer plenty to think about with a close-range header in the 70th minute. Archer made an acrobatic save to keep it out, but we would soon be back in Boro's half. Six minutes later, Gavin tried to negate the effect of his own goal with a header at the right end that flew just the wrong side of the bar.

 

On 80 minutes, Marco Verratti's tackle on Doug Morton started our next counter-attack. Dean Martin reached the loose ball and half-volleyed it long to Pert, who burst up the right flank and into the area. Instead of going for goal himself, Ollie centred to Max, who got his head to the ball just before Moody could reach it! Hicks' diving header flew into the net, and we were level! We later had a trio of chances to turn one point into three, but we would ultimately have to settle for another home draw.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Honeyball 37, Hicks 81)

Middlesbrough - 2 (Dalton og51, Arnold 67)

Championship, Attendance 5,336 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Middlesbrough 21st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Banton, Charles, Dalton, O'Reilly, Harding (Martin), Barnes (Pert), Verratti, Dam, Honeyball, Djokic (Hicks). BOOKED: Dam.

 

After the match, we announced the pre-arranged signing of another European prospect who would be joining us on a free transfer next season.

 

The lad in question was 18-year-old French attacking midfielder Jacques Polomat. He hadn't yet played a league game for his second-division side Caen, but my scouts reckoned that this skilful playmaker was destined for stardom. After watching some footage of Polomat playing for Caen's youth side, I decided to snap him up on a four-year deal that will take effect from July.

 

Our current squad's next match was at Villa Park against 3rd-placed Aston Villa. Following his late equaliser against Middlesbrough, I decided to start Max Hicks up front alongside Ollie Pert, who'd been begging me for more first-team football for weeks.

 

9 March 2030: Aston Villa vs Dagenham & Redbridge

A scrappy first half saw both teams struggle to find the target, and Aston Villa struggle to control their discipline. Villa right-back Apostolos Sapanis was booked in the 14th minute for fouling Max Hicks, and his team-mate Marcelo also saw yellow ten minutes later for 'simulation'.

 

Shortly after that second booking, we had our first real chance of the match. Ollie Pert lobbed the ball over the Villans defence to William Barnes, whose shot was parried by Oliver Hansson. Barnes then attempted a quick follow-up, which was blocked by defender Lloyd Watts.

 

It would be a generally frustrating half for both of our strikers. Hicks also had an effort saved by Hansson in the 31st minute, while Pert clipped the post two minutes later after an incisive pass from Alex Busetto had sent him clear. Aston Villa had just one shot on target in the first half - a 43rd-minute header from centre-half Marius Pricop that was acrobatically tipped over by Daryl Ryan.

 

A Dagenham counter-attack in the 49th minute showed real potential. Pert took Matthew Fraser's through-ball to the side of Aston Villa's penalty area before finding Arran Banton in said box. Banton squared the ball to Barnes, whose shot was blocked and cleared by Luke O'Leary. Barely two minutes later, Villa launched a more convincing retort. Denmark winger Muharrem Kurt's cross was flicked into the net by on-loan Tottenham Hotspur striker Gerald Parsons, and the Villans were finally in front.

 

By the 54th minute, they had gone further ahead through another loanee. Jordan Holder - on loan from our parent club Fulham - stroked experienced full-back Josh Jacobs' cross into the net to give Gary Rowett's side a clear advantage. They threatened to score again in the 57th minute, but Parsons' next shot was blocked by Banton.

 

When Hicks missed a clear-cut opportunity to halve our deficit two minutes later, I looked to my bench for a substitution. “You're up, Mario,” I told Mario Djokic, “Go out there and get us some goals.” Djokic didn't look particularly bothered as he took off his tracksuit top, though, so a few seconds later, I changed my mind. “On second thoughts, you're staying on the bench. I'll give Max a few more minutes.”

 

I did make some substitutions about 15 minutes later... but Max stayed on the pitch, and Mario remained off it. Instead, I brought on Mark West for Ollie Pert, and young centre-back George Darvill for the underperforming Busetto. Our defence would come under significant pressure soon afterwards, in the 75th minute. Ryan had to make two saves in fairly quick succession to stop either Parsons or Holder from scoring again.

 

Those two saves from Daryl, plus another in the 81st minute to keep out Marcelo's strike from the edge of the area, would be very important. Another Dagenham breakway seven minutes from time finally produced a goal, as Hicks capped off a superb solo run with a tidy finish. My last-minute decision to keep Max on had paid off... and four minutes later, it was looking like an accidental masterstroke!

 

Our other substitute, Joel Honeyball, knocked the ball past Watts to find Hicks, who slotted it past Hansson for a second time! We had come from out of nowhere to salvage a draw at Villa Park!

 

Aston Villa - 2 (Parsons 52, Holder 54)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hicks 83,87)

Championship, Attendance 31,295 - POSITIONS: Aston Villa 4th, Dag & Red 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Dalton, Busetto (Darvill), Banton, O'Reilly, Harding (Honeyball), Fraser, Barnes, Pert (West), Hicks. BOOKED: Banton.

 

The last time we played Middlesbrough and Villa back-to-back, we conceded late equalisers in both matches. This time, the roles had been reversed, with a resurgent Max Hicks saving us a couple of points.

 

Our delight at Max's return to form couldn't disguise the fact that we had now gone five games without a win. Yes, we'd drawn four of those five matches, but with a play-off place looking attainable, this was not a good time to lose our spark.

 

I was also a little disappointed with this year's youth intake. We signed up centre-half Larry Wood, full-backs Wesley Judge and Victor Sarun, winger Joseph Gerken, and strikers Jon Cotterill and Ollie Reynolds to youth contracts after a trial match, but I'm not convinced that any of them will make the grade.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2030 (continued)

We could have picked a better time to have played Championship leaders Derby County at home. We arrived at Pride Park on the back of a five-game winless stretch, and even the most optimistic Dagger expected that run to stretch into a sixth match.

 

Derby were the Championship's top scorers by some margin - not very surprising, given that their own Brad Gaunt was leading the division's Golden Boot race with 28 goals. Manager John Sullivan was on course to take the Rams from League Two to the Premier League within five seasons.

 

16 March 2030: Derby County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

If there was one glimmer of hope for us, it was that Derby had won only one of their last six league games. They didn't show any lack of confidence in the opening stages, though - not by a long chalk. In the second minute, Silviu Dumitrescu cut inside from the left touchline and dribbled to our penalty area. Our defenders expected Dumitrescu to shoot there and then, but instead, he quickly tapped the ball short to Brad Gaunt, who slotted in his 29th league goal of the campaign.

 

Our response to that very early opener for the Rams was a feeble strike from Victor Dam shortly after the restart. Gaunt had found the net again for Derby in the 9th minute, tapping in a through-ball from strike partner Lee Willis. The home fans' celebrations were cut short by the offside flag, but they restarted a minute later.

 

Dumitrescu was the pride of Pride Park again when he made another mazy run into our penalty area after Tom Milner had stolen the ball from his Daggers midfield counterpart William Barnes. This time, the Romanian left-winger took the shot himself, comfortably beating Daryl Ryan. It was 2-0 to County.

 

Dumitrescu almost scored his second and Derby's third goal after 16 minutes, when he volleyed Louis Hatter's cross just the wrong side of the post. He made a rare error two minutes later, when his attempted cut-back to Milner was cut out by Barnes. Will took the ball forward and played in Max Hicks, who ran beyond a retreating Derby defence and converted his fourth goal in three games!

 

Our hopes of coming back from 2-0 down lasted barely a minute before Derby resumed normal service. Some intricate passing from the hosts ended with a one-two between Gaunt and Willis, whose blistering drive from the 'D' made it 3-1 to Derby.

 

That wasn't the end of our first-half agony, as Dumitrescu continued to put us through the wringer. On 31 minutes, he looked set to find Gaunt with a left-wing cross before Ryan fisted it behind. Two minutes later, though, Dumitrescu had the beating of Ryan again, with a stunning free-kick sending us 4-1 down. We really were like lambs to the slaughter.

 

Our defence was not exactly Ram-proof, but Josh Charles at centre-half was particularly vulnerable against Gaunt. I replaced Charles at half-time with rising star George Darvill, while I also sent on Mark West for Ollie Pert. George actually put up a strong second-half resistance against Gaunt, although to be fair, Derby weren't playing with the same intensity as in the first 45 minutes.

 

It also helped us that Dumitrescu started getting a little jittery as he chased his hat-trick. The Romanian's 50th-minute free-kick was saved by Ryan, but his next set-piece eight minutes later missed the target. Hatter also wasted a chance for 5-1 after 61 minutes. After 68, the American right-winger had another pop at goal, which Ryan pushed behind.

 

Daryl remained unbeaten through the half, and although overall victory was surely beyond us, we were determined to at least try and win this second period. Hicks skied a real opportunity to score again on 79 minutes. Two minutes later, Max set up an attempt from Victor Dam, but Grant White denied the Dane.

 

White had looked solid in the Rams' goal... but a moment of madness in the 84th minute gifted us a consolation strike. White charged out of his area to try and beat West to a lobbed through-ball from Joel Honeyball. Mark got to it first, leaving himself with an open target in which he slotted in his first goal for nearly three months! That reduced our final deficit to a more respectable two goals.

 

Derby County - 4 (Gaunt 2, Dumitrescu 11,33, Willis 19)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hicks 18, West 84)

Championship, Attendance 29,393 - POSITIONS: Derby 1st, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles (Darvill), Dalton, Warren, Okoli (Harding), Barnes, Dam, Honeyball, Pert (West), Hicks. BOOKED: Hicks, Honeyball.

 

It had not been a great day for us... and there was more bad news to come from France. Jacques Polomat - that young attacking midfielder we've agreed to sign in the summer - had broken his foot while playing for Caen's reserve team. Polomat would miss the rest of this season, and probably also a large chunk of his first pre-season campaign at Dagenham. Great.

 

In happier news, the renovation work at Victoria Road had finally been completed. We could now say goodbye to Craven Cottage and move back to our dear old ground - now an all-seater stadium!

 

Our first game back in Dagenham was a mid-table tussle with Peterborough United. The Posh had done away with Sir Sean Dyche in November (the former England boss is managing Aberdeen these days), and young Scottish coach Robbie Muirhead was now calling the shots for them.

 

24 March 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Peterborough United

There was little to talk about in a sluggish opening 20 minutes. The referee handed out bookings to Dagenham's William Barnes and Peterborough's Miroslav Cap in between a scary moment for our defence on 16 minutes. An attempted clearance from Josh Charles rebounded off Posh winger Paul Millen and towards striker Darko Baturina, whose header was comfortably saved by Kieran Whalley.

 

We settled down after that, and within ten minutes, we had got our noses in front. We steadily built an attack together before Max Hicks knocked the ball through to Victor Dam, who breached the visitors' defence and slotted the ball underneath keeper Brandon Turner!

 

We would remain 1-0 up at the interval, as Peterborough defender Gheorghe Somfalean headed wide their best chance to level in the 34th minute. Shortly after that, his team-mate Millen was cautioned following a foul on Daniel O'Reilly.

 

Peterborough brought on Dimitris Pagalis to strengthen their attacking options for the second half. Pagalis lasted just ten minutes before breaking his wrist, leaving Robbie Muirhead with a major headache. On-loan Norwich City striker James Rudd was sent on as the substitute's substitute, and the Posh continued to struggle in their attempts to break our defence.

 

We were quite happy to take things slow and withstand a barrage of corners, especially with Josh and captain Gavin Dalton making so many excellent interceptions. Gavin only let his guard slip once - in the 82nd minute, when he failed to prevent Sinisa Curic's cross from finding Rudd at the near post. Fortunately for Dalton, Whalley was well-positioned to parry Rudd's effort, and Charles then cleared the ball long.

 

Josh would be named man of the match, marking an impressive turnaround after his torrid display against Derby County the previous weekend. It was also a fine day for Victor, who was denied a second goal when Turner caught his free-kick in the 84th minute. Nevertheless, Dam's earlier goal would be enough for our first win in seven attempts. It may not have been a thrilling return to Victoria Road, but at least Victor had made it a victorious one!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Dam 26)

Peterborough United - 0

Championship, Attendance 5,654 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Peterborough 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Hector, Dalton, Charles, O'Reilly, Harding, Fraser, Barnes (Martin), Dam, Honeyball (Green), Hicks (Djokic). BOOKED: Barnes, O'Reilly.

 

That win kept us in the play-off hunt, as we were now only six points off 6th place. More importantly, we now needed just five more points to guarantee survival!

 

We looked to take another huge step towards safety when we took on Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. The Blades' play-off hopes were flagging after they took a single point from their previous three fixtures, and their star man - a certain Paul Hart - was out of form. Could we do the double over them?

 

30 March 2030: Sheffield United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Surprisingly, it was Dagenham full-back Daniel O'Reilly who had the game's first scoring chance after three minutes. Less surprisingly, O'Reilly pulled it wide. Sheffield United's first attempt also went wide in the 9th minute, as Paul Hart snatched at an opportunity to score against his old club.

 

After that, both teams got bogged down in a scrappy game at a rainy Bramall Lane. Each side was also guilty of conceding too many fouls, but the only yellow card was handed out to Daggers skipper Mark West in the 36th minute for pushing Michal Krejcik. Shortly before then, Hart had curled wide another chance to draw first blood for the Blades.

 

The men from South Yorkshire couldn't strike a blow... but one man from West Yorkshire did exactly that for us just before half-time. In the last minute of normal time, Halifax-born West drilled in a 20-yarder for his 10th goal of the season, which sent us into a 1-0 lead!

 

Our captain may have been up and running, but his strike partner wasn't quite up to speed yet. Having missed a decent scoring opportunity late in the first half, Mario Djokic spurned two more early in the second. Shortly after kick-off, Matthew Fraser played a pinpoint through-ball to Mario, who came under pressure from Sheffield United keeper Bartosz Lukasik and missed the target. Djokic raced through on goal again two minutes later, only for Lukasik to come forward and turn his shot behind.

 

Cameron Bagshaw wasted a chance for United shortly afterwards, but the Blades went back on the attack in the 52nd minute. Substitute Adem Iljazovic's cross found Hart in our area, and the ex-Dagger took his time before swerving the ball over the crossbar! That was indicative of a nervy display from Hart, who was wilting under heightened scrutiny.

 

One Blade that wasn't quite as blunt was midfielder Jim Dearden, who fired a stunning volley against the post after 61 minutes. Shortly after that, I replaced Djokic with Max Hicks, in the hope that his pace could unlock the United defence for a second time.

 

In the 67th minute, Max used his best asset to accelerate past Blades centre-back Mikael Nordnes, but he shot too early and far too powerfully. When Fraser found an opening for West four minutes later, Mark provided a much more controlled and precise finish. Our captain's double had put us firmly in the driving seat.

 

When Blades right-back Ken Moore limped off with a thigh strain in the 76th minute, reducing his team to 10 men, the hosts' chances of fighting back were effectively wiped out. We also finished with 10 men after Josh Charles came off with a knock in the 89th minute, but the rest of our defence saw the job through. To be fair, they hadn't faced a single shot on target from Sheffield United.

 

Sheffield United - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 45,71)

Championship, Attendance 18,923 - POSITIONS: Sheff Utd 12th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Charles, Dalton, Busetto, Banton, O'Reilly (Warren), Barnes, Fraser, Dam (Martin), West, Djokic (Hicks).

 

After the final whistle, I quickly checked at the other results. Coventry City in 22nd place drew with Crewe Alexandra in 21st - a result that ensured the latter couldn't catch us. 23rd-placed Leicester City's home game against Stoke City was the big one for me, though. When I saw that Leicester had lost 1-0, I turned to my assistant Fabio Saraiva and said, “We did it, Fabio. We've survived!”

 

Fabio then glanced at the league table before replying, “We're four points behind 6th place. I guess we can aim for the play-offs now, can't we?”

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of March 2030)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  40    20    15    5     82    44    +38   75
2.          Blackburn              40    19    14    7     68    39    +29   71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Swansea                40    19    11    10    57    46    +11   68
4.          Stoke                  40    17    13    10    57    43    +14   64
5.          Aston Villa            40    14    21    5     60    34    +26   63
6.          Nottm Forest           40    17    10    13    69    48    +21   61
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Crystal Palace         40    17    9     14    63    65    -2    60
8.          Colchester             40    15    14    11    64    50    +14   59
9.          Dag & Red              40    14    15    11    61    48    +13   57
10.         Peterborough           40    13    18    9     46    40    +6    57
11.         Bolton                 40    15    12    13    40    41    -1    57
12.         Sheff Utd              40    15    11    14    62    55    +7    56
13.         Plymouth               40    14    14    12    60    54    +6    56
14.         Cardiff                40    13    16    11    51    56    -5    55
15.         Wigan                  40    15    8     17    56    71    -15   53
16.         QPR                    40    14    7     19    45    53    -8    49
17.         Oldham                 40    13    9     18    55    72    -17   48
18.         Hull                   40    12    10    18    52    68    -16   46
19.         Millwall               40    11    12    17    53    61    -8    45
20.         Middlesbrough          40    10    14    16    42    60    -18   44
21.         Crewe                  40    9     12    19    37    56    -19   39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Coventry               40    7     17    16    50    62    -12   38
23.         Leicester              40    8     12    20    36    69    -33   36
24.         Chester                40    7     10    23    54    85    -31   31

[CFuller]

APRIL 2030

To be honest, I expected us to stay up this season. After all, we came up from League One with a strong, well-knit squad. What I didn't expect was for us to still be in play-off contention with six games to go.

 

We were four points adrift of Nottingham Forest in 6th position, but if we could build on our back-to-back wins against Peterborough United and Sheffield United, we would surely fancy our chances of overtaking them.

 

A favourable run-in, with four matches at home and only two away, would certainly help our cause:

6 April: vs Hull City (H) - Hull were 18th, and had won just twice since New Year's Day

14 April: vs Oldham Athletic (A) - Oldham were 17th, and had lost three matches in a row

16 April: vs Queens Park Rangers (A) - QPR were 16th, and had one of the division's worst home records

19 April: vs Bolton Wanderers (H) - Bolton were 11th, and the lowest scorers amongst our final six opponents

22 April: vs Coventry City (H) - Coventry were 22nd, and had won two of their last 15 league games

27 April: vs Crystal Palace (A) - Crystal Palace were 7th, the highest-ranked of our remaining opponents

 

The middle of that run-in was particularly iffy, as we faced four matches in the space of just nine days. I didn't worry too much about that, though. I had a pretty good squad rotation system in place, and I was firmly focused on starting the month with a home win against Hull City. Incidentally, that game was my 400th as Dagenham & Redbridge manager.

 

6 April 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Hull City

There was much laughter at Victoria Road before kick-off, when the stadium announcer struggled to pronounce Hull defender Triantafyllos Georgantzopoulos' name - and eventually decided to call him Demis Roussos instead! Things became rather more serious for us in the third minute. Tigers winger Leon Cook almost found target man Willie Dickson with a cross to the near post, the outside of which he was unlucky to clip.

 

We went on the attack for the first time a minute later, but Daniel O'Reilly's half-volley drifted well off target. Mario Djokic was nowhere near as wasteful when he got a sniff at goal in the 10th minute. Matthew Fraser played a delightful long ball to Mario, who glided past visiting centre-back Benjamin Ashton and stroked a shot into the far end of the net! Like Mark West a week earlier, Djokic had hit double figures for goals this season.

 

After 11 minutes, Mario almost matched Mark's 11-goal haul. His far-post header was fumbled by Hull keeper Russell Lawless before Ashton nodded it clear. That was followed two minutes later by a near-miss from City's Jonathan Quansah, and a blocked free-kick from Dickson in the 20th minute.

 

We next tested Lawless on 25 minutes, with a bullet from Daggers midfielder William Barnes forcing him into a difficult save. Six minutes later, the former Forest Green Rovers goalkeeper was beaten by a Djokic header that narrowly grazed the top of the bar.

 

Then, in the 38th minute, Mario turned from scorer to provider. His clever through-ball found West, who'd broken free from 'Demis Roussos' before chipping a flawless effort over Lawless!

 

We were now 2-0 up... but some crossed wires in our defence resulted in that lead being halved just before half-time. O'Reilly and Gavin Dalton both hesitated to clear a flick-on from Tigers captain Nathan Morgan, leaving Dickson with a great opportunity to score. Dickson's initial strike was parried by Kieran Whalley, but as both Daniel and Gavin continued to dither, the Scotsman half-volleyed in the rebound. Suddenly, our position didn't look quite so secure.

 

The Tigers started to roar again four minutes into the second half. Dickson played a free-kick short to Welsh youngster Kevin Wells, who smashed the ball against Whalley's right-hand post. Barnes and West later fired wide opportunities to reinstate our two-goal cushion. Hull's captain Morgan then sent a 59th-minute effort straight into our keeper Kieran's hands.

 

Shortly after that, one of the Tigers was wounded in a tackle from Djokic. It was Hull's long-named Greek defender, who to me looked more like Nana Mouskouri than the 'Demis Roussos' our PA man had christened him as... but I digress. Georgantzopoulos played through the pain barrier, and one of our own defenders - Alex Busetto - almost caused him further agony when he headed just wide in the 65th minute.

 

On 67 minutes, Alex went from potential hero to possible zero, as his long ball was hoovered up by Tigers full-back Frantisek Krabec. The ball was quickly moved forward from Krabec's feet to Rhys James', and then to Morgan's, before the 19-year-old Hull captain lobbed it ahead of Dickson. The former Victoria Road favourite only had to beat Whalley... but he made a right wally of himself with a powerful shot that flew into a packed stand.

 

Dickson had missed a massive trick for Hull and was clearly very frustrated. He took that frustration out on Barnes in the 69th minute, getting himself booked for a needless shove on our young midfielder.

 

On 74 minutes, Dickson regained enough composure to thread the ball towards James in our area. O'Reilly tried to cut the pass out, but he only diverted the ball to Morgan, who tapped in what he thought was his 15th goal of the season. That was until the linesman's offside flag came to our rescue.

 

Save for an 87th-minute shot from Quansah that was well stopped by Whalley, Hull would not seriously threaten our lead again. After a Victoria Road thriller, we took our third straight win and moved to within two points of the play-off places!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djokic 10, West 38)

Hull City - 1 (Dickson 44)

Championship, Attendance 5,829 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 8th, Hull 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Hector, Busetto, Dalton, O'Reilly, Okoli (Paratusic), Fraser, Barnes (Verratti), Green (Honeyball), West, Djokic.

 

We stayed at home for our next match against Oldham Athletic, which started a marathon run of four games in little over a week. We would have just five days' rest during that run, so I would need to make good use of my full squad.

 

Our task would be made more difficult when Alex Busetto picked up an injury that reduced our defensive options. The Italian centre-half damaged his heel in training and would therefore be unable to play again until our final match of the regular season.

 

14 April 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Oldham Athletic

Oldham had been hurtling down the table in recent months, and from the evidence of the first ten minutes, it was easy to understand why. One of the Championship's worst defences just could not cope with fast-paced attacks, and that was very clear in the fifth minute. Captain Mark West received an excellent crossfield ball from Matt Warren and teed up Mario Djokic for our opening goal.

 

Mark and Mario linked up brilliantly again on nine minutes, but Djokic couldn't provide the finish on that occasion. Not to matter, as less than a minute later, West powered in our second goal from a Marvin Green centre.

 

We then slowed down the tempo for a while before getting back up to speed in the 25th minute. Djokic's footwork left Oldham captain Leo Chambers flat-footed before the Montenegrin played in his skipper West, whose low drive drifted wide. Two minutes after that, Djokic fired an edge-of-the-area effort straight at Latics keeper Stoyan Karaneychev.

 

Karaneychev would later keep George Darvill and Geraint Harding off the scoresheet before saving a vicious effort from West on 35 minutes. Unfortunately for the Bulgarian, he could only parry Mark's shot at Mario's feet, and Djokic easily tapped in our third goal! We continued to pile on the pressure until half-time, and although we wouldn't score again, we still had a very comfortable advantage.

 

Dagenham keeper Kieran Whalley was a virtual spectator in the first half, but he saw much more action after the restart. About a minute into the second half, Whalley caught a free-kick from Oldham's Nikola Kolev, who would be booked for tripping Matthew Fraser shortly afterwards. Yellow cards would also be handed out to Kolev's team-mates Oscar Brown and Ross Stone, along with Djokic, as tackles flew in from both sides.

 

In contrast, the Latics' shots did not exactly 'fly in'. Roberto Harrop wasted a chance to give them renewed hope in the 70th minute. Six minutes later, defender Alan McGarvey became the fourth Oldham player to be booked following a foul on our substitute forward Ollie Pert. We launched a quick attack from the resulting free-kick, as youngster Mitchell Paratusic surged up the right flank. He then cut the ball across to Marvin, whose strike was somehow kept out by Karaneychev!

 

The final ten minutes saw Oldham throw caution to the wind, as they looked to take at least one consolation goal - if not an unlikely point - back to Greater Manchester. Stone and McGarvey each struck the woodwork in the 83rd and 85th minutes respectively, while Whalley made a host of saves to preserve his clean sheet.

 

Kieran's highlight was a fabulous fingertip save to deny former England defender John Stones in injury time. We also had a late Joel Honeyball goal disallowed for offside before time was called on an excellent 3-0 win at a packed Victoria Road.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Djokic 5,35, West 10)

Oldham Athletic - 0

Championship, Attendance 6,047 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Oldham 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Hector, Dalton, Darvill, Warren, Paratusic, Fraser, Harding (Barnes), Green, West (Pert), Djokic (Honeyball). BOOKED: Djokic.

 

That made it four wins on the bounce as our late surge towards the play-offs continued. We were now only a single point behind 6th-placed Nottingham Forest.

 

We couldn't really do it in our first season up, could we?

[JayR2003]

Djokic has been a godsend of late.  What is that, 11 or 12 league goals now?  And with West having a dip in form, it is a good thing Hicks is still on the payroll.  The three of them (with West's recent recovery) have really powered this late season surge.

[CFuller]

9 minutes ago, JayR2003 said:

Djokic has been a godsend of late.  What is that, 11 or 12 league goals now?  And with West having a dip in form, it is a good thing Hicks is still on the payroll.  The three of them (with West's recent recovery) have really powered this late season surge.

I don't think you'll disagree with me, Jay, when I say that Mario Djokic has saved our season. We needed a top-quality finisher to pull ourselves away from relegation, and Djokic has proven to be that man. And you're right - he is now on 12 goals for the season.

Hicks has proven that he was perhaps worth keeping on with some vital goals here and there, particularly against Villa. He's provided Djokic and (to a lesser extent) Honeyball with serious competition for the advanced forward/poacher role alongside our regular target man West. The latter's return to form has also come at the perfect time for us, as we look to turn what could've been a season of struggle into (whisper it) a potential crack at a second successive promotion.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2030 (continued)

After just one day's respite, our marathon run-in continued at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers. We knew that we could possibly move into the top six with another victory, while 16th-placed QPR had to win to keep alive their very, very slim hopes of making the play-offs.

 

16 April 2030: Queens Park Rangers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Although we were high on confidence after four straight wins, we didn't start this match like a side bang in form. QPR winger Gary Harper made a sensational solo run at goal in the fourth minute, and he would've capped it with a goal were it not for Kieran Whalley's save.

 

I had more reason for concern in the 13th minute. Daggers striker Max Hicks was tackled by Hoops midfielder Martin Plachy in the hosts' penalty area and landed awkwardly on his ankle. Max had to be stretchered off with a game-ending - and potentially season-ending - injury.

 

We bounced back quickly, with Victor Dam's 16th-minute drive forcing QPR keeper Florin Mozacu into a save. Three minutes later, Victor showed great vision to spot a run from Mark West, who skimmed a shot in at the near post. Our captain had put us ahead with his 14th goal of the season!

 

After half an hour, QPR's skipper eradicated that lead with his 17th strike this season. Plachy's hanging-ball corner was flicked on by Harper to 32-year-old Scott Simpson, who unleashed an unstoppable volley!

 

Having equalised, QPR went on to finish the half strongly. Plachy had a powerful free-kick blocked in the 36th minute, and on-loan Arsenal youngster Nick Hutchings nearly found a way past Whalley just before half-time. All the momentum was clearly with the hosts now.

 

Another Plachy corner caused us problems in the 52nd minute. The Czech veteran's delivery found Harper, who headed it just over the bar. Plachy was a constant threat to us on the right wing, as was Harper on the left.

 

Our right wing-back Arran Banton was struggling to cope with Harper's pace, so in the 62nd minute, I decided to make changes. Centre-half George Darvill came on for Banton, and Shahed Hector moved over to the right side of our defence. Big mistake. In the 68th minute, Hector failed to keep a Harper cross away from Simpson, who drilled the Hoops into a 2-1 lead.

 

Shahed would make an even costlier mistake two minutes later. The full-back's dismal clearance was hooked to QPR midfielder James Marshall, who kicked off a devastating counter-attack. The killer ball once again came from Harper, whose centre was poorly intercepted by Gavin Dalton before Hutchings finished for 3-1. The England Under-21s striker had sent Rangers supporters cock-a-hoop!

 

The game was slipping away from us, so we frantically pushed forward again. Alas, the closest we would come to getting one goal, let alone the two we needed, was an 80th-minute drive from Dam that was blocked by Mozacu. Whalley then had to make a last-minute save to prevent Simpson from sealing his hat-trick and increasing the Hoops' winning margin.

 

That 3-1 win was not enough to keep QPR in the play-off race. Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Colchester United - the teams ranked 6th, 7th and 8th - all won their games to move out of Rangers' reach. Needless to say, those results didn't do us much good, either.

 

Queens Park Rangers - 3 (Simpson 30,68, Hutchings 70)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 19)

Championship, Attendance 10,936 - POSITIONS: QPR 16th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Charles, Hector, Dalton, Banton (Darvill), O'Reilly, Dam, Barnes, Verratti (Martin), West, Hicks (Honeyball).

 

Max Hicks' twisted ankle would put him out for the rest of the regular season. As unfortunate as that injury was for Max, it wasn't my main concern.

 

That single-point gap between Nottingham Forest and us was now at four points, with nine left to play for. Any more slip-ups from us would surely end our play-off ambitions.

 

We had a 100% record at home since we returned to Victoria Road, and we wanted to keep things that way in our next two games. The first of them was against fellow play-off outsiders Bolton Wanderers.

 

19 April 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bolton Wanderers

We had a number of early shots at goal as we looked to find our range. Ollie Pert missed the target completely with a half-volley in the fourth minute, while Marvin Green headed just wide in the eighth. On 11 minutes, though, we did find our mark. Bolton defender Simon Smith's interception from Paul Parkinson's cross fell to Daggers playmaker Matthew Fraser, who took the ball forward and slotted it into the net!

 

Matthew's delight was very clear to see, as he'd just his first league goal for Dagenham & Redbridge! Sadly, the smile on his face would be wiped off after 26 minutes. Fraser was stopped by a strong but fair sliding tackle from Bolton midfielder Ricci Lawrence, and he went down with a crunch. The Scottish midfielder screamed in utter agony, leaving no one in any doubt that something was terribly wrong. A stretcher was immediately sent for Matthew, who was taken off to applause from both sets of fans.

 

Geraint Harding came on as a substitute, but we were clearly affected by such a serious injury to one of our star men. Geraint had our only chance to increase our lead, firing it just wide in the 42nd minute. As for Bolton, they just couldn't get their attack going at all in the first half.

 

The Trotters' first shot on goal came about a minute-and-a-half into the second period. Winger Reiss Benjamin broke free from our defence to collect a through-ball from Donoghue, and Daggers goalie Daryl Ryan had to come off his line to block Benjamin's shot.

 

We would be opened up again less than two minutes later. Benjamin shrugged off one of our centre-backs, Josh Charles, and passed the ball to striker John Thomson, who raced away from our other central defender Gavin Dalton. Thomson picked his spot in the far end of our net, and we suddenly had cold feet.

 

Our young target man Ollie Pert was particularly low on confidence. Ollie had scored just two league goals for us this season, and the closest he came to getting a third was in the 58th minute, when his banana shot bounced back off the far post. Paul Parkinson and Joel Honeyball also missed chances for us either side of Pert's next attempt, which was caught by Bolton goalie Aidan Ruddy in the 69th minute. I quickly lost patience with Pert, and brought on Mark West for the closing stages.

 

As the match entered injury time without much more drama, it seemed that Mark's impact would be minimal. Then, in the third and final extra minute, we launched one last attack. Marvin played the ball to Joel in the Bolton area, and our homegrown hero was brought down by a strong tackle from Lawrence. The referee promptly pointed to the spot - we had a last-minute penalty!

 

Captain West stepped up to try and win us all three points. Unfortunately, Ruddy stopped his shot... but fortunately, the ball was parried to Mark's feet, and 'The Beast' scored at the second attempt! Victoria Road went wild as our great home form continued!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Fraser 11, West 90)

Bolton Wanderers - 1 (Thomson 49)

Championship, Attendance 5,973 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Bolton 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Dalton, Charles, O'Reilly, Parkinson, Fraser (Harding), Martin, Green, Pert (West), Djokic (Honeyball). BOOKED: Harding, Dalton.

 

I should've been delighted with that win, which moved us up to 7th place. However, my thoughts quickly turned to our stricken star Matthew Fraser.

 

When I visited Matthew in hospital the next morning, his doctor delivered some grim news. He had fractured his tibia. There was no chance of Fraser playing again for at least five months.

 

This diagnosis left me stunned. I knew that Matthew was not the most robust of footballers, but you never expect one of your players to break their leg.

 

This had come at a particularly bad time for the midfielder, who'd asked me a few weeks earlier for a new contract. The injury meant that I couldn't promise him one now, but I pledged to at least stand by him throughout his recovery.

 

The rest of the Championship teams played later that afternoon. Once the dust had settled, we learned that we were two points adrift of Nottingham Forest in 6th place.

 

We now knew that a home victory against Coventry City on the Bank Holiday Monday would take our play-off challenge into the final weekend. In fact, it was possible that we could actually move into the top six if we did win. Coventry had their own motivation, as defeat would effectively relegate them to League One.

 

22 April 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Coventry City

William Barnes replaced the stricken Matthew Fraser as our deep-lying playmaker, but he had an injury concern of his own shortly after kick-off. A risky challenge on Coventry striker David Chaffey left Will in some pain, and although he was suspected to have bruised his ribs, he was able to play on. Indeed, he played a part in us taking the lead after six minutes.

 

Barnes played an excellent forward pass to Mario Djokic, who made a fine run into the penalty area. Sky Blues left-back Vampeta halted Djokic's run, but his tackle knocked the ball on to Mark West, whose strong finish continued his fantastic form! He had now scored in his last seven matches for the Daggers!

 

Mark was unlucky not to find the net again in the 17th minute, nodding Matt Warren's corner against the bar. In the minutes before then, Jonathan Connor and Christopher Osborne had both missed chances to draw Coventry level. Connor later gave our goalkeeper some more thorough tests, which Daryl Ryan passed with crucial saves in the 22nd and 25th minutes.

 

Daryl was looking good, but his opposite number was not. City's goalkeeper/captain Lars Henriksen pulled up injured after 27 minutes, and that resulted in him being replaced with former Daggers loanee Keith Sheppard. The Sky Blues' backup keeper would have much to do before half-time, as a poor header from West on 34 minutes was the best we could manage in our bid to go two goals clear.

 

Barnes wouldn't be back for the second half, having been replaced by the returning Samvel Karapetyan. Another player had to come off hurt four minutes after the restart, as Coventry midfielder Jamie Lynch's game was ended by a clash with Djokic.

 

As City became increasingly fragile, the Daggers threatened to push the knife in. Joel Honeyball wasted an attempt at goal in the 61st minute before his first-time cross two minutes later was headed inches over by West.

 

On 65 minutes, yet another player was plagued by injury. Dagenham's Victor Dam became the latest victim when he twisted his knee in a slide tackle on the Sky Blues' right-back Mario Dzaja. Victor was subbed for left-back Daniel O'Reilly, with Warren moving up into midfield.

 

Dam's exit didn't affect us too badly, as in the 76th minute, Karapetyan hit an excellent start that was well gathered by Sheppard. Our troubles began five minutes later. Centre-back George Darvill showed his inexperience when his interception from Osborne's long ball found Coventry forward Sasa Milovic. The Croatian cut the ball back to Vampeta, whose first-time cross to the far post was flicked wide by Connor. Milovic went for goal himself in the 88th minute, thundering the ball wide.

 

The Sky Blues were now getting tired, and with results going against them, it was starting to dawn on them that they were about to be relegated. When Osborne broke his arm in added-on time, reducing Coventry to 10 men for what little time remained, the final nail was hammered into their coffin.

 

A fifth straight home win was ours, and it seemed that we were about to overtake Stoke City and move into the play-off spots... until Stoke scored a 93rd-minute equaliser at Sheffield United. Even so, we were still only one point adrift of 6th place going into the deciding round.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 6)

Coventry City - 0

Championship, Attendance 5,784 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Coventry 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Darvill, Charles, Warren, Okoli, Barnes (Karapetyan), Dam (O'Reilly), Honeyball, West, Djokic (Wright).

 

We were now potentially 90 minutes away from the Championship play-offs. We were still massive underdogs, but we'd upset the odds plenty of times before, and there was no reason why we couldn't do so again.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2030 (continued)

27 April 2030 - the final day of the Championship season. Derby County and Blackburn Rovers were already assured of automatic promotion, and Aston Villa were certain to be in the play-offs. Now the race was on for those three remaining play-off places. Five teams were in contention, and we were one of them.

 

This was how the race was shaping up heading into Saturday afternoon:

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
4.          Swansea                45    20    12    13    63    58    +5    72
5.          Nottm Forest           45    20    11    14    79    51    +28   71
6.          Stoke                  45    18    16    11    65    49    +16   70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Dag & Red              45    18    15    12    70    53    +17   69
8.          Crystal Palace         45    20    9     16    72    69    +3    69

 

And here were those potentially decisive games:

• Swansea City were at home to runners-up Blackburn. The Swans needed one point to guarantee a play-off place, and the only way we could overtake them would be if they lost their game and we won ours.
• Nottingham Forest were also at home, against 3rd-placed Aston Villa. Forest's situation was similar to Swansea's, in that one point would send them through.
• Stoke City also played their final match on home soil against mid-table Peterborough United. Although they would guarantee a top-six finish with a win, all we had to do to jump above them was better their result. In other words, a Stoke defeat would allow us to reach the play-offs with a draw, whereas if the Potters drew, we had to win.
• And finally, we - Dagenham & Redbridge - were away to Crystal Palace, who were behind us only on goal difference. Defeat for either team at Selhurst Park would eliminate them from contention, but while it was possible that we could sneak into 6th with a draw, Palace needed nothing less than a victory to stay in the hunt.

 

Our fate was pretty much out of our hands, although we still had to take it upon ourselves to get a result. That was certainly possible against a Crystal Palace side who were very inconsistent, particularly at home, and liable to ship goals. If we could beat them, and at least one of our other rivals slipped up, we'd be quids in!

 

27 April 2030: Crystal Palace vs Dagenham & Redbridge

I made two massive tactical calls in adopting the 'Christmas tree' formation and dropping Mark West. My reasoning behind benching the bang-in-form West was that both of Crystal Palace's centre-backs were very tall, but not very quick, so I reckoned that pace would be a more useful weapon to use against them.

 

There was some method to my madness, and by the fourth minute, my masterplan was coming together. A Daggers breakaway saw attacking midfielder Joel Honeyball nod the ball forward to striker Mario Djokic, who charged at the Palace defence. That attack broke down when Djokic ran into Eagles full-back Ade Lye, but we went back on the offensive just moments later. Samvel Karapetyan - who'd almost scored in the first minute - found Honeyball in space, and Joel slotted in our first goal!

 

Indeed, a second goal would follow after eight minutes, as Honeyball went from scorer to creator. He hoisted the ball above the Crystal Palace defence to Djokic, who sidestepped the centre-backs and powered home!

 

We'd made a dream start at Selhurst Park, and it almost got even better in the 11th minute, when Joel struck a banana shot that was saved by Palace goalkeeper Stacy Levy. Moments later, we heard that Stoke City had gone 1-0 down to Peterborough United. That was great news, because if we won and Stoke didn't, we would jump into the play-offs at their expense!

 

Palace needed to bounce back quickly if they were to have any chance of sneaking through. Mel Gillett almost pulled one goal back for them in the 13th minute, while Moldovan striker Mihai Guran volleyed well wide another chance for the Eagles two minutes later. Guran's next opportunity also went to waste, as his miscued header in the 31st minute bounced past the post.

 

On 32 minutes, Crystal Palace went up in flames. Honeyball drove the ball ahead of Djokic, who tried to squeeze his way between Lye and Bob Cairns. Mario couldn't, but Levy fumbled the loose ball to give him a lifeline! Djokic grabbed that second chance, squaring the ball for Joel to slot it into the net!

 

Our fans were now celebrating a 3-0 lead for Dagenham, as well as a second goal for Peterborough! They quietened down, though, when it emerged that Stoke had quickly pegged a goal back. The next time they heard from the Britannia Stadium was in the 41st minute... and it wasn't good news. From 2-0 behind, the Potters had levelled at 2-2. With Swansea City and Nottingham Forest both avoiding defeat in their games, as things stood, one more Stoke goal would render any Dagenham win moot.

 

The away supporters' nerves weren't exactly settled by events late in the first half at Selhurst Park. Toby Cook messed up a great opportunity to score for the Eagles in the 40th minute, while Daggers goalie Daryl Ryan had to make his first save three minutes later from Rob Wannell. We still held a comfortable 3-0 lead at the interval, but our mission was far from complete.

 

Our defence had to come to the fore in the second half as we looked to preserve our lead. In the 53rd minute, captain Gavin Dalton made a superb tackle to keep Matt Woodward's cross away from Guran. The challenge left Guran with a knock that he struggled to shake off, so Crystal Palace had to look elsewhere for goals. On 55 minutes, a through-ball from Cook was fired home by on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Gillett, reducing our lead to 3-1.

 

A few minutes before then, events at the Britannia had taken a dramatic turn... and they'd turned for the worse in our view. Peterborough had been reduced to ten men following a red card, increasing Stoke's chances of going in front and snatching a play-off berth. Swansea were still drawing against Blackburn Rovers, and Forest had gone 1-0 up against Aston Villa, so their places in the top six looked secure. Ours was most certainly not.

 

After 72 minutes, Marco Verratti almost settled any Dagenham anxieties regarding our result. The Italian struck an excellent free-kick that was superbly tipped over by Levy. I made my first two substitutions a couple of minutes later, sacrificing Warren and Karapetyan for Daniel O'Reilly and Marvin Green.

 

My third sub was made just over 10 minutes from time. Djokic got some well-earned rest, making way for teenage striker Roy Ganfield, who had almost been forgotten about this season. This was Roy's first Daggers appearance of the campaign, and he almost marked it with a stunning goal in the 83rd minute. Sadly, Ganfield's 30-yard drive fizzed just over the bar.

 

After that, we decided to sit deeper and defend our two-goal lead. In the first minute of injury time, however, our advantage became a lot less comfortable. Palace left-back Billy Hurst floated a first-time cross into the Dagenham box, where Cook slid in a second goal for the Eagles. Forest had lost their lead by then, but their 1-1 draw was of little consequence to us, as was a similar result for Swansea. We now had to desperately hold on for dear life in the closing moments AND hope that Stoke hadn't beaten Peterborough.

 

Showing almost no regard for defence, we attacked straight from the kick-off, with Dean Martin hitting a venomous strike that Levy pushed behind for a corner. There was just enough time for Geraint Harding to take that corner, but as soon as Cairns headed it clear, the referee blew for full-time.

 

We'd done our bit by beating Crystal Palace 3-2, and now the anxious wait for the final whistle at Stoke began. About four minutes later, the PA man at Selhurst Park announced over the tannoy, “Final score at the Britannia Stadium - Stoke City 2...” and then pandemonium ensued in the away end! Our fans didn't need to hear the rest of the scoreline, because we were in the PLAY-OFFS!!

 

Crystal Palace - 2 (Gillett 55, Cook 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Honeyball 4,32, Djokic 8)

Championship, Attendance 19,421 - POSITIONS: Crystal Palace 8th, Dag & Red 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Charles, Dalton, Warren (O'Reilly), Martin, Harding, Verratti, Karapetyan (Green), Honeyball, Djokic (Ganfield).

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
4.    Pl    Swansea                46    20    13    13    64    59    +5    73
5.    Pl    Nottm Forest           46    20    12    14    80    52    +28   72
6.    Pl    Dag & Red              46    19    15    12    73    55    +18   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Stoke                  46    18    17    11    67    51    +16   71
8.          Crystal Palace         46    20    9     17    74    72    +2    69

 

Can you Adam and Eve it? This is our first season in the Championship, and we've only gone and finished 6th!

 

It really has been a campaign of two halves. At the end of November, we were only three points above the relegation zone. Even when we returned to Victoria Road in mid-March, it seemed that a top-half finish was the best we could hope for. But an incredible run of seven wins in our final eight games has seen us sneak into the play-off places by the skin of our teeth!

 

We now have a fortnight to rest and regroup before we go into the Championship Play-Off Semi Final against 3rd-placed Aston Villa. We'll host the first leg at Victoria Road on 12 May, with the second leg due to be played at Villa Park three days later. The other Play-Off Semi will see Swansea City and Nottingham Forest go toe-to-toe.

 

Six years ago, we were a non-league club. Now we're possibly three matches away from the biggest league of all!

[tenthreeleader]

Outstanding result and good luck in the playoffs!  Clearly the Championship MOTY

[CFuller]

On 11/25/2016 at 15:51, tenthreeleader said:

Outstanding result and good luck in the playoffs!  Clearly the Championship MOTY

It was an incredible late surge, and that result against Palace was on the icing on the cake. I don't think Manager of the Year is quite so cut and dried, but if we can get through those play-offs, that might well swing it in my favour...

[CFuller]

MAY 2030

It seemed like a pipe dream a few months ago, but here we were - the Championship Play-Offs. If we could beat Aston Villa over two legs, we would earn ourselves a trip to Wembley, where a place in next season's Premier League would be on the line.

 

Villa - with their vast array of top-flight experience and a well-travelled coach in Gary Rowett - were the bookmakers' clear favourites, although the facts suggested that things would be much closer. The Villans only finished three points ahead of us in the regular season, and we held them to a couple of draws - indeed, we were about a minute or so away from beating them at Victoria Road.

 

It was at Victoria Road where we renewed our rivalry for Leg 1 of our Play-Off Semi Final. We'd won five consecutive matches at our home ground since returning there in mid-March. In fact, our excellent home form in April had played a big part in me being named as the Championship's Manager of the Month.

 

Unfortunately, we were without first-choice left-back Daniel O'Reilly, who strained his knee ligaments in training and would miss the play-offs. The experienced Matt Warren was in line to start both legs of our Semi Final, with Marc Hopkins - fresh from a loan stint at Yeovil Town - on the bench to provide potential backup.

 

12 May 2030: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Aston Villa

Aston Villa looked to make their greater quality count right from the start. They almost monopolised possession for the opening nine minutes before right-back Apostolos Sapanis drilled wide their first shot at goal.

 

We had our first effort at goal two minutes later, when Mario Djokic's drive was saved by Villa goalkeeper Christoffer Kristiansen. The Villans then countered to devastating effect, with Sapanis' byline centre being toe-poked into the net by Brazilian striker Marcelo.

 

The favourites already had the advantage, which they could've doubled after 13 minutes had Marcelo met another Sapanis delivery with a more accurate header. A couple of minutes after that, Muharrem Kurt supplied an excellent left-wing cross for Jordan Holder, whose effort was held by Daryl Ryan.

 

We tried hassling Aston Villa a bit more to try and restrict their time on the ball, but the visitors kept wriggling their way out of trouble. One such example was in the 29th minute, when Villans forward Gerald Parsons glided past Geraint Harding before firing a shot wide. Shortly after that, Parsons set up a chance for Marcelo, who sent a long-range drive into Ryan's hands.

 

Daryl stood firm again on 35 minutes, picking up the ball just as Parsons was about to dribble it past him from a tight angle. Ryan rolled the ball out to our defence before Shahed Hector powered it deep into Villa territory. Mark West latched onto the long ball and advanced into the area, but his shot left a lot to be desired. Mark was struggling badly, and so was William Barnes, who picked up a booking midway through the half and was walking a fine line thereafter. I didn't want tough-tackling Will to overstep the mark, so I decided to sub him at the interval.

 

Sacrificing Barnes was part of a tactical overhaul for the second period. I switched from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2, and instead of telling my players to press Aston Villa, I ordered them to sit back and soak up even more visiting attacks. It was very risky to adopt a counter-attacking strategy at home, but I felt it was my best option in the circumstances.

 

The Villans, unsurprisingly, had the first chance to strike in the second half, with midfielder Armen Nersesyan hitting a woeful effort four minutes after the restart. Things got rather scrappy after that, as Sapanis and Holder both picked up bookings for Villa alongside Dagenham right flanker Arran Banton. On the left flank, substitute Joel Honeyball gave the visitors a major scare after 56 minutes. The local boy cut inside, turned past a slide tackle from Nersesyan, and pitifully miscued his shot.

 

Nevertheless, our counter-attacking approach was giving Aston Villa plenty to think about. More of their shots at goal were either being blocked, like a couple of early attempts from midfielder Tomas Vesely, or flying off target, as was the case with Parsons in the 70th minute.

 

Villa had another cause for concern on 72 minutes, when a tackle from Banton left their Danish winger Kurt with a gashed leg. Kurt had to come off, and Banton would also be off the field by the 79th minute. Arran was replaced with Alex Busetto as I made another tactical switch - to the narrower, more attacking 4-4-2 diamond.

 

Had Villa scored a second goal quickly, the gamble would have backfired. Fortunately, Sapanis cleared the bar in the 86th minute, meaning the game was still on a knife-edge as we entered added-on time. In the first additional minute, ex-Villans striker Mario Djokic chipped the ball to West inside the visitors' penalty area. Mark nodded it on towards Joel, who was felled by a clumsy push from Nersesyan! Penalty to Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

The Victoria Road faithful held their collective breaths as their biggest hero, captain Mark West, stepped forward and placed the ball on its spot. Just like against Bolton Wanderers in April, West was bearing the huge responsibility of taking a potentially decisive penalty in injury time. Just like against Bolton, Mark buckled under the pressure and saw the goalkeeper save his attempt. Crucially, though, unlike the Trotters' keeper three-and-a-bit weeks earlier, Kristiansen managed to divert the ball safely away from our skipper. West was left utterly dejected, and his miss meant that we had to go to Villa Park with a 1-0 deficit.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Aston Villa - 1 (Marcelo 12)

Championship Play-Off Semi Final Leg 1, Attendance 6,077

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Hector, Dalton, Banton (Busetto), Warren, Harding, Barnes (Honeyball), Verratti (Karapetyan), West, Djokic. BOOKED: Barnes, Banton.

 

Was that mistake from Mark West the costliest one of our season? It sure felt that way when we returned to our changing room after the final whistle.

 

We all knew West be a big, virile Yorkshireman, so it was surprising to see his macho facade crumble away under floods of tears. It didn't exactly make Mark feel any better when I shouted and screamed at him, but I was never going to show any sympathy. This was potentially the biggest moment of his career, and he had blown it - pure and simple.

 

The tie wasn't over, of course, but I couldn't risk taking a demoralised West to the second leg three days later. He stayed at home as we travelled to Birmingham, where only a win would keep alive our hopes of reaching Wembley.

[CFuller]

MAY 2030 (continued)

15 May 2030: Aston Villa vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mark West wasn't the only big name I dropped from the Dagenham starting XI for the second leg. Arran Banton, Geraint Harding and Marco Verratti all made way, and the quartet of Victor Dam, Samvel Karapetyan, Dean Martin and Matt Warren came into the side. The Daggers captaincy was also handed over to central defender Gavin Dalton in West's absence.

 

Meanwhile, there were some major changes to Aston Villa's starting line-up. Manager Gary Rowett rewarded goalkeeper Christoffer Kristiansen for his injury-time penalty save in the first leg by dropping him to the bench and restoring regular custodian Oliver Hansson. Rowett also swapped out four of his outfielders, with the experienced Slovenian forward Uros Zinic among those who were brought into the fold.

 

Dagenham fans' hopes of a second-leg comeback were raised when Mario Djokic charged towards goal in the opening minute. Alas, Djokic could only run the ball out of play after coming under pressure from Aston Villa full-back Michael Henney. Mario made another run for goal four minutes later, skipping past centre-half Marius Pricop to reach a long clearance from Warren. Djokic made his way into the penalty area and was about to enter the six-yard box when Pricop came back to hack the ball behind.

 

That won us a corner, from which ex-Villa youth player Josh Charles had a header saved by Hansson. Charles and his fellow Daggers centre-back Dalton were later having to defend against several Villa corners, but they proved more than up to the task.

 

The Villans gradually cranked up the pressure, and we continued to hold firm... until the 24th minute. We were finally opened up by Pricop's left-wing cross to Marcelo, which the Brazilian poked in at the near post, despite Daryl Ryan's best efforts to keep it out. If anything, Dalton took most of the blame, as he couldn't put Marcelo under enough pressure before the Brazilian applied the finish.

 

We now needed two goals to save our Wembley dreams. One should have come when space opened up for Geraint Harding in the 36th minute, but the Welsh midfielder got his shot completely wrong. Marcelo and Gerald Parsons then missed chances to put Aston Villa further clear before the half-time whistle blew. We were 1-0 down on the night and 2-0 behind on aggregate, but I hadn't lost faith in my boys. Not yet, anyway.

 

We spent the early part of the second half defending against further attacks from the hosts. On-loan right-back Shahed Hector joined Josh and Gavin in making a number of excellent interceptions to limit the damage. Indeed, it was Shahed's excellent block on Patrik Horak in the 64th minute that started off our most promising counter-attack thus far. Karapetyan collected the ball and lobbed it ahead of Djokic, who only had to beat Hansson for 1-1. However, it was the Swedish goalkeeper who came out on top.

 

Mario was swiftly replaced with Max Hicks, who was later accompanied up front by Ollie Pert. As time started to slip away, we began playing more directly with a much quicker tempo. With ten minutes remaining, midfielder Dam played a clever weighted ball beyond Pricop to Hicks, who sidestepped the Villans' other centre-half Lloyd Watts. Max was one-on-one with Hansson, but the veteran goalie tipped his shot behind to concede a corner.

 

Warren floated the corner over into the middle of the six-yard box... and Dalton rose highest to power in a header! Captain West may have crumbled three days earlier, but vice-skipper Gavin had risen to the occasion this time around!

 

The second leg was now level, though we still needed another goal to level the tie. Shortly after the restart, Karapetyan volleyed the ball forward to Max, who then flicked it on to Ollie. Sadly, Pert could only nod the ball straight at Hansson, and we wouldn't get another chance after that.

 

Horak had a couple of late opportunities to win the match for Aston Villa - the second of which was saved by Ryan in the 85th minute - but the home side didn't need to score again. The final whistle confirmed that they would be going to Wembley for the Play-Off Final against Nottingham Forest, who'd beaten Swansea City 3-2 on aggregate.

 

Aston Villa - 1 (Marcelo 24)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Dalton 81)

[Aston Villa win 2-1 on aggregate]

Championship Play-Off Semi Final Leg 2, Attendance 42,785

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Hector, Dalton, Charles, Warren, Harding (Honeyball), Barnes (Pert), Dam, Karapetyan, Martin, Djokic (Hicks). BOOKED: Warren.

 

So near, yet so far.

 

Our Premier League breakthrough would have to wait, but in all honesty, I didn't expect us to even challenge for promotion this season. To reach the play-offs in our first ever season as a Championship club was a fantastic achievement - probably the biggest in our 38-year history.

 

I told the lads that they could go on their holidays feeling immensely proud of what they had done. They had helped little old Dagenham & Redbridge to beat and finish above the likes of Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Coventry City - all former FA Cup winners from yesteryear. They had punched well above their weight.

 

Next season is potentially going to be a career-defining one for me. There will be major changes ahead at Victoria Road, and whether we continue to defy the odds or suffer a second-season slump will depend on how I fare in the transfer market.

[mark wilson27]

Unlucky mate but to finish where you did was quite an achievement well done sir

[neilhoskins77]

Disappointing to lose in the Playoffs of course, but what a season to be in that position to start with. Your stock as a manager must be rising sharply. Sean Dyche might not be the only 'Sir' soon ha.

[CFuller]

21 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Unlucky mate but to finish where you did was quite an achievement well done sir

It was indeed quite an achievement. I would have been happy with simply a top-half finish, so the play-offs were very much a bonus.

19 hours ago, neilhoskins77 said:

Disappointing to lose in the Playoffs of course, but what a season to be in that position to start with. Your stock as a manager must be rising sharply. Sean Dyche might not be the only 'Sir' soon ha.

Indeed, Sir Sean might not be the only knight in British football come the end of this year! If England retain the World Cup, it could well be a case of, "Arise, Sir Gianluca Atzori!" 

I understand what you're saying, though. I wouldn't be surprised to receive more job offers from the Premier League, but unless they're from a club that plays in red and white shirts in North London, I'm staying at Dagenham.

[CFuller]

MAY 2030 (continued)

Our end-of-season debrief was rather different to our last one, as Neil Booth was now chairing the meeting instead of the departed Antonello Scolaro. However, there was an inescapable sense of déjà vu.

 

We had to spend most of last season at Craven Cottage while Victoria Road was being upgraded to an all-seater stadium. We triumphantly returned home in mid-March... but the board hadn't anticipated just how many fans would flock to the revamped Victoria Road. Our lowest home attendance after returning to Dagenham was just over 500 short of capacity.

 

Mr Booth had realised that there was increasing demand for tickets to our home games, and that Victoria Road needed further improvements. He obtained planning permission, and a bank loan of £3.4million, to expand the ground's capacity from 6,047 seats to 8,994.

 

This new work was likely to take place until February, so in the meantime, we would be playing our home matches at Craven Cottage again. For the second season in a row, we would feel more like Hammersmith & Fulham than Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

I wasn't complaining, mind. Fulham had been wonderful landlords during our first spell at the Cottage, and the 17-year partnership between the two clubs was stronger than ever.

 

Speaking on the subject of partnerships, Mr Booth was proud to announce that we would be linking up with Southern League champions Leighton Town.

 

Backed financially by Kuwaiti business tycoon Mohammed Al-Rashidi, the Bedfordshire club had blitzed their way into the Conference South and were looking to progress even further. This new agreement would allow us to loan out some younger players to Leighton for first-team experience, while the Reds would host an annual pre-season friendly against us.

 

Our new affiliation with Leighton meant that we pulled the plug on our existing agreement with Dulwich Hamlet, which had been on life support for a couple of years.

 

Later that month, we attended the Football League's annual awards ceremony. My achievement of taking Dagenham into the play-offs was not recognised, as the Manager of the Year award instead went to Derby County's title-winning coach John Sullivan.

 

There was, however, recognition for one Dagger, as centre-back Gavin Dalton was named in the PFA's Championship Team of the Year.

 

Gavin had been an exceptional player for us over the last five years, and although his current contract still had two more years remaining, I wanted him to stay here for even longer. I opened talks with his agent, whose demands were - you could say - bordering on Kanye West levels of excess.

 

“My client wants £28,000,” the money-grabbing rep began, “Per week. But if you want to negotiate, you'll have to pay me 400 grand up front.” I replied with just two words, the first of which rhymed with 'duck'.

 

There's next to no chance of the arrogant agent agreeing to a compromise, so I will soon have to make a very difficult decision. Do I cash in on Gavin now, or do I risk losing him for a much smaller fee next summer, or even nothing the year after that?

 

Thankfully, contract talks with Marco Verratti went much more smoothly. The Italian ace agreed to stay on as a player-coach for another year.

 

Also signing new contracts were youth players George Darvill, Dennis McCann and Derek Wright, who all officially turned professional. Darvill and Wright signed their contracts on their 17th birthdays, with Derek being rewarded after scoring an impressive 16 league goals for our Under-18s.

 

George will be very much part of my first-team plans going into next season, as will Shaun Johnson and Tom Virgo. Those two had continued their steady progression out on loan at Hereford United and Barnsley respectively, although Lloyd Bailey's development had sadly stalled while at Kingstonian.

 

There would be no new deals for either goalkeeper Tony Rattle or winger Paul Parkinson, who subsequently signed for Macclesfield Town and Harrogate Town respectively. Midfielder Tommy Scott returned from Boreham Wood to find that he too would have to find another club.

 

It also looks likely that we'll be parting with Max Hicks, Samvel Karapetyan, and one of our longest-serving players - Geraint Harding - in the summer. Their departures will be quite sad, but if Dalton goes as well, it'll be all the more regrettable.

[CFuller]

Championship Table (End of 2029/2030)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Derby                  46    24    16    6     100   54    +46   88
2.    P     Blackburn              46    21    17    8     75    44    +31   80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Aston Villa            46    17    24    5     75    42    +33   75
4.          Swansea                46    20    13    13    64    59    +5    73
5.    P     Nottm Forest           46    20    12    14    80    52    +28   72
6.          Dag & Red              46    19    15    12    73    55    +18   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Stoke                  46    18    17    11    67    51    +16   71
8.          Crystal Palace         46    20    9     17    74    72    +2    69
9.          Sheff Utd              46    18    12    16    73    61    +12   66
10.         Colchester             46    17    14    15    72    60    +12   65
11.         Bolton                 46    17    14    15    45    46    -1    65
12.         Plymouth               46    16    16    14    69    60    +9    64
13.         Cardiff                46    16    16    14    58    68    -10   64
14.         Peterborough           46    14    21    11    52    48    +4    63
15.         QPR                    46    17    9     20    55    59    -4    60
16.         Middlesbrough          46    15    14    17    53    65    -12   59
17.         Wigan                  46    16    10    20    62    83    -21   58
18.         Millwall               46    14    13    19    62    67    -5    55
19.         Hull                   46    14    11    21    60    77    -17   53
20.         Oldham                 46    14    10    22    59    86    -27   52
21.         Crewe                  46    11    13    22    46    66    -20   46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Leicester              46    10    14    22    41    75    -34   44
23.   R     Coventry               46    8     17    21    55    79    -24   41
24.   R     Chester                46    7     11    28    61    102   -41   32

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2029/2030)

(Includes stats from all first-team matches & 1 Essex Senior Cup match)

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Daryl Ryan                40      48   9    0    73%  -    -    0    0    6.90
Kieran Whalley            12      18   5    0    67%  -    -    0    0    6.75
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Nigel Atta                0 (3)   0    0    0    65%  3.27 0%   0    0    6.80
Lloyd Bailey              2 (1)   0    0    0    70%  3.03 0%   0    0    7.10
Arran Banton              20      0    1    0    76%  3.59 0%   2    0    6.83
William Barnes            32 (4)  2    8    0    82%  6.04 33%  9    2    7.24
Mason Bennett             22 (3)  8    2    2    79%  2.64 48%  0    0    7.18
Alex Busetto              5 (2)   0    0    0    76%  2.61 33%  0    0    6.80
Colin Butler              26      0    3    4    70%  2.33 16%  4    0    7.55
Josh Charles              31 (3)  1    2    4    71%  2.73 40%  1    0    7.51
Robin Cook                0 (1)   0    0    0    56%  -    -    0    0    6.00
Gavin Dalton              40 (4)  3    0    7    70%  3.09 44%  2    0    7.48
Victor Dam                21 (9)  3    6    2    81%  3.55 38%  3    0    7.05
George Darvill            5 (4)   0    0    0    70%  2.93 0%   0    0    7.10
Mario Djokic              16 (5)  13   4    4    73%  2.93 57%  1    0    7.48
Gareth Flood              10 (4)  1    1    0    68%  3.45 66%  1    0    6.85
Matthew Fraser            26 (4)  2    5    1    86%  4.82 38%  1    0    7.25
Roy Ganfield              0 (1)   0    0    0    50%  -    0%   0    0    -   
Marvin Green              5 (2)   0    2    0    72%  2.20 50%  0    0    6.88
Geraint Harding           26 (13) 2    3    0    80%  5.16 32%  2    0    6.98
Shahed Hector             36 (5)  1    0    0    78%  3.75 100% 0    0    7.12
Max Hicks                 15 (9)  7    5    1    73%  2.77 36%  2    0    6.97
Joel Honeyball            19 (14) 7    7    1    77%  3.55 50%  2    0    6.93
Steve Hughes              0 (1)   0    0    0    72%  1.20 -    0    0    6.60
Shaun Johnson             4 (2)   0    0    0    68%  1.81 -    0    0    6.88
Samvel Karapetyan         13 (4)  2    3    0    85%  3.76 35%  2    0    7.31
Dean Martin               12 (8)  0    3    0    82%  5.37 63%  1    0    6.86
Dennis McCann             1       0    0    0    69%  3.75 -    0    0    7.80
Lucky Okoli               15 (3)  2    1    0    76%  3.69 44%  1    0    6.91
Daniel O'Reilly           29 (4)  1    3    0    77%  4.18 14%  3    0    7.02
Mitchell Paratusic        1 (1)   0    0    0    83%  0.77 0%   0    0    6.90
Paul Parkinson            3 (2)   0    0    0    77%  2.87 20%  0    0    6.88
Ollie Pert                12 (13) 4    4    2    77%  2.14 42%  2    0    7.15
Marco Verratti            18 (8)  1    1    0    87%  5.47 37%  1    0    6.92
Tom Virgo                 0 (1)   0    0    0    67%  -    -    0    0    -   
Matt Warren               24 (6)  0    1    1    79%  4.88 50%  2    0    6.90
Mark West                 30 (8)  16   7    6    77%  2.55 50%  3    0    7.28
Derek Wright              1 (4)   1    0    0    73%  2.62 33%  1    0    6.93

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

 

[CFuller]

JUNE 2030

June saw the Dagenham & Redbridge supporters' club vote for their best XI for 2029/2030. There were a couple of surprises in their line-up, which consisted of Daryl Ryan, Shahed Hector, Gavin Dalton, Josh Charles, Daniel O'Reilly, Lucky Okoli, William Barnes, Matthew Fraser, Gareth Flood, Mark West, and Joel Honeyball.

 

Their choice for Player of the Year was a bit more predictable. For the fourth consecutive year, they gave their top award to captain Mark West, who was our leading scorer once again. You could say that he's quite popular!

 

June also was make-up-my-mind time as far as some of my players' futures were concerned. When I did come to make my decisions, I offered new contracts to two players that I had seriously thought about releasing.

 

One of them was Victor Dam, who had been so underwhelming in the first half of the season that I attempted to sell him in January. The Danish attacking midfielder stayed, and although he was in and out of the team thereafter, his form did improve. There were indications that Dam's best days as a playmaker were still ahead of him.

 

And so, just before his 25th birthday, I rewarded Victor with a new three-year contract. I also promised him that he would play a more prominent role in the team next season.

 

Matt Warren was another player that I'd considered letting go. Matt was coming up to 33 years of age, his physical ability was no longer what it was, and he'd lost his place as our regular left-back to Daniel O'Reilly.

 

Crucially, though, he still had exceptional tactical awareness, and his attitude remained a shining example to our younger players. I therefore decided that Matt could continue playing for us - for one more year at least.

 

Victor and Dam both signed new deals, but there definitely wasn't one on the table for Gavin Dalton - not as long as his agent was making ridiculous demands. It was with a heavy heart, then, that I offered Dalton's services out to a host of Premier League clubs for £4million.

 

Huddersfield Town were the first club to come in with an offer - of £3.5million, plus 20% of the profit from any future sale. That offer was lower than I was demanding, but it was still just about acceptable. Nevertheless, I continued my efforts to try and get a better price for Dalton.

 

Unfortunately, things didn't go as I had hoped. Derby County offered a miserly £2.5million, and Scottish Premier League runners-up Rangers submitted a bid that was hardly any better at £2.7million. Both of those offers were rejected, and with no higher bids forthcoming, I reluctantly allowed Huddersfield to speak to Gavin.

 

Negotiations went on for a few days, and then, just hours before the FIFA World Cup kicked off in Spain, I received a phone call from Gavin. It was to say farewell.

 

After making 185 league appearances for Dagenham & Redbridge, Dalton had signed a lucrative four-year deal with Huddersfield. The centre-back could not have even dreamt of playing in the Premier League five years ago, when he was discarded by his hometown club Northampton Town five years ago. We saved him from the scrapheap and turned him into one of the most feared defenders outside of the top flight.

 

“Thanks for all you've done for me, boss,” Gavin said as he bid farewell to the Daggers. “No problem, Gav," I replied. "I wish you all the best at Huddersfield, but if things don't go well, don't forget that you'll always be welcome to return to Dagenham.”

 

The £3.5million transfer fee was by far the biggest Dagenham & Redbridge had ever received. Most of it would go towards paying off the debt for our stadium expansion, although I suspect the taxman will quite happily take a sizeable chunk of it. Greedy sod.

 

Gavin joined a growing list of departures that also included 30-somethings Max Hicks and Samvel Karapetyan. Max moved up to Scotland with Aberdeen, while Sam left us after just seven months to sign for League One newcomers Kidderminster Harriers.

 

Geraint Harding was the next man out after signing with another team recently promoted to League One - Wycombe Wanderers. The Welsh midfielder initially joined us on loan from Stevenage in 2024 and went on to make 209 league appearances for the Daggers. Although not the flashiest of players, Harding had served us tirelessly over the years, and I'll never forget his winning penalty in the 2024 FA Trophy Final. Hwyl fawr a phob lwc, Geraint.

 

Another Daggers stalwart's time at Victoria Road officially ended when Jonathan Roche was released after seven-and-a-half years. The Irish winger scored nine goals in 166 league games for the Daggers, but spent last season on loan at League Two side Birmingham City.

 

Youth players Robin Cook, Grant Drake and Steve Hughes, and reserve midfielder Tommy Scott, completed the list of those who weren't retained.

 

Right-back Shahed Hector also left us, returning to Fulham after his season-long loan expired. I really liked Shahed, and I hope I can bring him back on loan again next term, although that is not looking terribly likely.

 

It seems increasingly likely that Ollie Pert will be leaving Dagenham as well. We failed to agree terms with Ollie on a new contract, and he subsequently opened talks with a number of clubs in England, Scotland, and even Northern Ireland. None of them were able to successfully woo Pert, though, and so his future remained up in the air.

 

Of course, I did make several signings in the summer, and some of them were particularly bold. For the first time in their club's history, Dagenham & Redbridge fans would have to brace themselves for a foreign invasion.

[CFuller]

JUNE 2030 (continued)

After losing one Northampton-born player in Gavin Dalton, we quickly signed another in Ashley Cousins. The 32-year-old ball-winning midfielder joined us on a 12-month deal after his release by Dundee United.

 

Former England youth international Cousins had played for a bunch of different teams throughout his career. After starting out at Chelsea's youth academy, he went on to play for the likes of Hull City, Queens Park Rangers, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Shrewsbury Town. A man of his experience would certainly provide adequate midfield cover in the coming season.

 

Ashley was actually the sole British name in a list of summer signings that included several imports from overseas. Our pre-arranged signings of Inter Milan striker Mario Tortora and Caen playmaker Jacques Polomat both went through without too much hassle. Jacques would later be joined at Dagenham by another 18-year-old French midfielder.

 

The second member of our new Gallic contingent was defensive midfielder José Cochet, who played three times for Stade Reims in Ligue 2 last term. His aggression, work rate and stamina were all attributes that impressed me enough to sign him on a four-year contract. Like with Tortora and Polomat, we wouldn't have to pay a single cent in transfer fees.

 

Our fourth foreign recruit - and yet another free signing - was 29-year-old right-back Heikki Puustinen. Capped six times by Finland, Puustinen won back-to-back Veikkausliiga titles with Inter Turku before leaving the club at the end of last year.

 

Heikki signed a two-year contract worth £3,000 per week, although his wages for that second year will be doubled if we win promotion to the Premier League.

 

There weren't many changes to my backroom staff. Coach Danny Keohane was my only staff member whose contract was due to expire, but I renewed his deal for another year.

 

The only addition to my backroom was a small one, but a fairly significant one at the same time. Former Daggers captain Aaron McEwan had recently retired from playing, so I brought the 33-year-old back as the assistant manager of our Under-18s squad.

 

Our new-look squad convened for pre-season training on the last week of June, when the new Championship fixture list came out. Our league season would get underway on 3 August against League One play-off winners Northampton Town. Funnily enough, we would play Southampton - recently relegated from the Premier League - in our first away league game three days later.

 

Another big-name team who had dropped down with Southampton were Newcastle United. We'll travel to St James' Park on 5 October, and then we'll host the Magpies on 8 February in what will hopefully be our last game at Craven Cottage before we return to an expanded Victoria Road.

 

We didn't take long to settle into the Championship, but it's impossible to predict what will happen next. Will this be a season of stability, a season of struggle... or a campaign to really remember?

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2029/2030

Tyrone Mears had been Romford manager for five years, but he entered his sixth season under pressure to get the club back into the Conference South's top five. Failure to reach the play-offs for a second successive campaign was unlikely to be tolerated by the increasingly impatient Boro fans.

 

Conference South: 5th (Lost in Play-Off Final)

Mears could not have wished for a better start, in truth. Romford picked up 17 points from their first seven matches, catapulting them to the top of the Conference South. Their charge was temporarily derailed by three consecutive defeats, but a thumping 4-1 win over Aylesbury United put them back on the right track. The Boro would lose just twice more before the season reached its midway point at Christmas. By that stage, Romford were top of the division, although Eastbourne Borough and Torquay United were not too far behind.

 

Romford were badly crippled by nerves between Boxing Day and 12 January, when they drew three games and lost the other three. They slumped to 5th as a result, but then roared back to life and were top again by February. Thereafter, the Boro's form kept fluctuating between good and bad, and that inconsistency ultimately cost them their hopes of lifting the title. In fact, they had to win their final game of the season 2-1 against Wealdstone just to take the final play-off place ahead of Milton Keynes Dons.

 

Romford's Play-Off Semi Final was against Eastbourne, with whom they had shared wins in the regular season. The play-offs would not be quite so close. Goals from Ross Elliott and Russell Brooks saw Romford win the first leg 2-0 at Ship Lane, and when the Boro travelled to East Sussex, they ran riot. Darty Fieldwick scored an incredible four goals and assisted a fifth for Gareth Coe to give Mears' men a thumping 7-0 aggregate victory! That put them into the Play-Off Final, where they would play...

 

...3rd-placed Torquay, who'd beaten them home and away earlier on. The Devon side also had the advantage of playing at home, but surprisingly, it was Romford who took the lead at Plainmoor. Elliott's strike late in the first half was cancelled out early in the second by Brian Lewis, and 1-1 was how it stayed, in spite of the Gulls having far more shots at goal than the Boro. A fiery game was also tied on yellow cards, with two full-blooded teams sharing out eight in total.

 

In the end, it took a penalty shoot-out to decide promotion to the Conference Premier. The sides were tied at 5-5 after six kicks each, but Romford defender Roger McClurg's miss gave Torquay captain Nick Latham the chance to send his team up. Latham took his opportunity, and the Boro suffered yet more play-off agony.

 

FA Cup: Qualifying Round 3

Romford started their FA Cup campaign with a straightforward 2-0 home win over Essex minnows Bowers & Pitsea. Sadly, the Boro came unstuck in the very next round, losing by the same score at Ship Lane to Woking, who would go on to win the Conference South.

 

FA Trophy: Round 1

Romford were drawn against divisional rivals St Albans City - managed by ex-England midfielder James Milner - in Qualifying Round 3. After drawing the initial tie 2-2, the Boro won the replay 1-0 to progress. They were also taken to a replay by Tonbridge Angels in Round 1, but it was the Isthmian Premier side who prevailed at the second attempt.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Round 4

The Boro started out in Round 3, where they brushed off Chelmsford City's reserve team. Next up were Tilbury, but following a 2-2 draw, Romford succumbed to the lottery of penalties and crashed out.

 

Best Players

Romford's star man this season was centre-half Ruben Coombes, who had a rock-solid first campaign at Ship Lane following his arrival from Aylesbury. His regular central defensive partner was fellow summer signing McClurg. They were the two consistent performers in an otherwise schizophrenic Boro defence, where new first-choice goalkeeper Mitchell Corbin was particularly unpredictable.

 

Striker Gareth Coe transformed from a bit-part player last season to Romford's top scorer in this, finding the net 16 times. Fieldwick was the Boro's next most prolific scorer, although four of his nine goals came in that sensational play-off win over Eastbourne. Wingers Scott Garland and Russell Brooks led the way on assists - with 14 and 9 respectively - but Elliott proved a frustratingly inconsistent midfield replacement for the now-departed Phil Blake.

 

The Future

Mears has just signed a new two-year contract and looks set to stay at Ship Lane for the long haul. Romford were just four points adrift of Conference South champions Woking this season, so Boro fans are hopeful that next year will be the year that they return to the Conference Premier. That's certainly a realistic aim when you consider that Romford are among the most stable clubs financially in their division.

[CFuller]

2029/2030 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

In Nemanja Covic's debut season as manager, Manchester City became the first English team to win the treble twice, but it wasn't straightforward. City's Premier League tussle with Arsenal was so tight that, had Ryan Bishop not scored a 79th-minute winner for Brighton & Hove Albion against the Gunners on the final day, the title would have been decided by a play-off! The Citizens also needed a late goal from superstar midfielder Juan Manuel Sanz to win the FA Cup, and then had to come from behind to beat holders Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Final. All in all, it was a tense season at the Etihad Stadium, where centre-back Stuart Lindsay was rock-solid yet again.

 

Arsenal, who got to the Champions League Semi Finals before losing to Barca, finished 2nd in the Premier League, with Manchester United and Chelsea completing the top four. Reading were surprise pacesetters for much of the first half of the season, and although they inevitably fell away, they did finish 5th and qualify for the UEFA Europa League. West Bromwich Albion also enjoyed their best campaign in the PL era, coming 6th.

 

8th-placed Liverpool won the UEFA Europa League, while newly-promoted Huddersfield Town finished 10th and reached their first FA Cup Final for 92 years. Manchester United loanee Moses Penfold won the league's Golden Boot with 24 goals for Watford, who emerged victorious in the League Cup. The Hornets also narrowly avoided the drop, as did West Ham United and Sunderland, who both spectacularly failed to build on last season's promise.

 

Southampton leaked 84 goals as they plunged straight back into the Championship. Burnley joined them on the way down after 17 consecutive seasons in the top flight. Meanwhile, Newcastle United had one brush with relegation too many, finally slipping into the second tier after they lost 2-1 to Burnley on the deciding weekend and bitter rivals Sunderland defeated Huddersfield.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man City               38    22    9     7     73    41    +32   75
2.    CL    Arsenal                38    22    8     8     73    42    +31   74
3.    CL    Man Utd                38    18    14    6     65    43    +22   68
4.    CL    Chelsea                38    19    10    9     79    46    +33   67
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    Reading                38    18    6     14    50    47    +3    60
6.          West Brom              38    16    8     14    56    55    +1    56
7.          Fulham                 38    16    8     14    58    62    -4    56
8.          Liverpool              38    16    7     15    55    57    -2    55
9.          Wolves                 38    14    11    13    58    54    +4    53
10.   EL    Huddersfield           38    16    5     17    50    66    -16   53
11.         Brighton               38    14    9     15    58    59    -1    51
12.         Tottenham              38    14    8     16    65    61    +4    50
13.   EL    Watford                38    13    7     18    66    70    -4    46
14.         Everton                38    12    10    16    53    59    -6    46
15.         Norwich                38    11    12    15    48    47    +1    45
16.         West Ham               38    11    11    16    47    62    -15   44
17.         Sunderland             38    11    10    17    61    65    -4    43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Newcastle              38    10    11    17    49    63    -14   41
19.   R     Burnley                38    8     12    18    43    66    -23   36
20.   R     Southampton            38    7     8     23    42    84    -42   29

 

Championship

Derby County completed their five-season ascent from League Two to the Premier League. John Sullivan's Rams charged to the Championship title after scoring 100 goals, 37 of which came from the outstanding Brad Gaunt. Blackburn Rovers also went up automatically, though not with quite as much panache.

 

The Play-Off Semi Finals saw Aston Villa edge out Championship newcomers Dagenham & Redbridge to set up a Final meeting with Nottingham Forest, who survived a late scare against Swansea City. Stefan Thulin and Michael Prochazka put Forest 2-0 up in the first half-hour at Wembley, and although Tomas Vesely halved their lead, that was as good as it got for Villa. Nottingham Forest will be back in the PL next season.

 

Dagenham edged Stoke City out of the play-offs on the final day, and the other two promoted sides also made bright starts to life in the second tier. Colchester United were in top-six contention before ultimately coming 10th, while Oldham Athletic began promisingly, only to plummet to 20th place in the latter stages.

 

Chester were laid low with a severe case of 'second season syndrome', conceding 102 goals as they crashed out of the Championship. It was also a season of relegation woe for Coventry City and Leicester City, with Leicester dropping into League One for just the second time in their history.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Derby                  46    24    16    6     100   54    +46   88
2.    P     Blackburn              46    21    17    8     75    44    +31   80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Aston Villa            46    17    24    5     75    42    +33   75
4.          Swansea                46    20    13    13    64    59    +5    73
5.    P     Nottm Forest           46    20    12    14    80    52    +28   72
6.          Dag & Red              46    19    15    12    73    55    +18   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Stoke                  46    18    17    11    67    51    +16   71
8.          Crystal Palace         46    20    9     17    74    72    +2    69
9.          Sheff Utd              46    18    12    16    73    61    +12   66
10.         Colchester             46    17    14    15    72    60    +12   65
11.         Bolton                 46    17    14    15    45    46    -1    65
12.         Plymouth               46    16    16    14    69    60    +9    64
13.         Cardiff                46    16    16    14    58    68    -10   64
14.         Peterborough           46    14    21    11    52    48    +4    63
15.         QPR                    46    17    9     20    55    59    -4    60
16.         Middlesbrough          46    15    14    17    53    65    -12   59
17.         Wigan                  46    16    10    20    62    83    -21   58
18.         Millwall               46    14    13    19    62    67    -5    55
19.         Hull                   46    14    11    21    60    77    -17   53
20.         Oldham                 46    14    10    22    59    86    -27   52
21.         Crewe                  46    11    13    22    46    66    -20   46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Leicester              46    10    14    22    41    75    -34   44
23.   R     Coventry               46    8     17    21    55    79    -24   41
24.   R     Chester                46    7     11    28    61    102   -41   32

 

League One

Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers both bounced back into the Championship at the first attempt. Leeds recovered from a shaky start to win the League One title, while Donny pipped Ipswich Town to automatic promotion on goal difference.

 

Bradford City weren't quite able to make it a Yorkshire treble in League One, despite narrowly beating Ipswich in the Play-Offs. Northampton Town were full of beans after a dramatic extra-time win over Wrexham in their Semi Final, and a single goal from teenager Bill Nolan was enough to win them the Final against the Bantams.

 

Cheltenham Town, Kingstonian and Aldershot Town all failed to stay in League One for more than a solitary season. Tranmere Rovers also went down, with Dartford just about living to fight another campaign.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Leeds                  46    26    9     11    72    47    +25   87
2.    P     Doncaster              46    24    12    10    73    46    +27   84
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Ipswich                46    26    6     14    73    50    +23   84
4.          Wrexham                46    25    8     13    77    53    +24   83
5.    P     Northampton            46    22    13    11    58    46    +12   79
6.          Bradford               46    21    11    14    58    59    -1    74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Luton                  46    21    10    15    72    55    +17   73
8.          Rochdale               46    18    19    9     64    51    +13   73
9.          Notts County           46    18    15    13    69    54    +15   69
10.         Oxford                 46    18    13    15    66    55    +11   67
11.         Sheff Wed              46    17    12    17    64    65    -1    63
12.         Portsmouth             46    16    13    17    51    52    -1    61
13.         Rotherham              46    16    12    18    52    59    -7    60
14.         Scunthorpe             46    15    13    18    60    62    -2    58
15.         Morecambe              46    13    19    14    48    53    -5    58
16.         Barnsley               46    11    22    13    55    58    -3    55
17.         Charlton               46    15    9     22    54    67    -13   54
18.         Bristol City           46    13    13    20    50    57    -7    52
19.         Fleetwood              46    11    17    18    46    61    -15   50
20.         Dartford               46    11    15    20    42    58    -16   48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Tranmere               46    10    15    21    58    78    -20   45
22.   R     Aldershot              46    10    14    22    52    74    -22   44
23.   R     Kingstonian            46    6     20    20    50    77    -27   38
24.   R     Cheltenham             46    10    8     28    39    66    -27   38

 

League Two

Shrewsbury Town led for much of the League Two season, only to be overtaken late on by Chesterfield. Those two would be joined in League One by another Midlands side, as Kidderminster Harriers finally made up for years of play-off heartache by winning their first ever promotion to the third tier.

 

Bristol Rovers confidently beat Gillingham 2-0 in both legs of their Play-Off Semi Final and booked a showdown with Wycombe Wanderers, who defeated Stockport County. What followed was a classic Final, as Wycombe took the lead after 25 minutes, only for the Pirates to move 2-1 up within the next six! The Chairboys equalised midway through the second half, and an 86th-minute strike from Aaron Griffin earned them a famous 3-2 win!

 

Ebbsfleet United's second spell in League Two was as short as their first. The Football League also lost one of its real stalwarts, as Walsall - members since 1892 - plummeted into non-league football.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Chesterfield           46    28    4     14    80    50    +30   88
2.    P     Shrewsbury             46    24    12    10    71    40    +31   84
3.    P     Kidderminster          46    21    14    11    59    42    +17   77
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Bristol Rovers         46    22    8     16    66    50    +16   74
5.    P     Wycombe                46    20    12    14    75    65    +10   72
6.          Stockport              46    20    10    16    65    52    +13   70
7.          Gillingham             46    21    6     19    65    54    +11   69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Cambridge              46    19    12    15    56    48    +8    69
9.          Bournemouth            46    18    14    14    64    51    +13   68
10.         Hereford               46    19    11    16    58    56    +2    68
11.         Yeovil                 46    20    7     19    61    59    +2    67
12.         Birmingham             46    18    10    18    56    66    -10   64
13.         Port Vale              46    18    8     20    54    61    -7    62
14.         Exeter                 46    18    6     22    59    64    -5    60
15.         AFC Telford            46    15    14    17    51    51    0     59
16.         Mansfield              46    16    11    19    40    55    -15   59
17.         Grimsby                46    15    13    18    58    70    -12   58
18.         Forest Green           46    16    9     21    44    55    -11   57
19.         Hartlepool             46    16    7     23    51    72    -21   55
20.         Brentford              46    14    12    20    49    60    -11   54
21.         Blackpool              46    15    9     22    46    65    -19   54
22.         York                   46    13    13    20    60    66    -6    52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Walsall                46    13    9     24    44    61    -17   48
24.   R     Ebbsfleet              46    10    15    21    42    61    -19   45

 

Conference Premier

A thrilling final day in the Conference Premier saw AFC Wimbledon pip Carlisle United to the title after scoring a late winner at Barnet.

 

More agony followed for Carlisle, who were thrashed by Bromley in the Play-Offs. Bromley couldn't reach the holy grail of the Football League, however, as Southend United - fresh from victory against Leyton Orient - beat them 1-0 at Wembley. The Shrimpers were heading back into League Two, 15 years after they dropped out.

 

Basingstoke Town were utter liabilities on their Conference Premier debut, picking up just four wins and scoring only 31 goals. They went down with Dorchester Town, Mossley, and former FL members Boreham Wood.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     AFC Wimbledon          46    26    9     11    73    44    +29   87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Carlisle               46    26    8     12    64    44    +20   86
3.    P     Southend               46    22    13    11    53    42    +11   79
4.          Leyton Orient          46    22    12    12    60    44    +16   78
5.          Bromley                46    21    14    11    70    43    +27   77
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          FC Halifax             46    22    10    14    74    56    +18   76
7.          Alfreton               46    23    7     16    61    48    +13   76
8.          Crawley                46    19    16    11    66    54    +12   73
9.          Burton                 46    18    13    15    58    52    +6    67
10.         Macclesfield           46    17    15    14    59    52    +7    66
11.         Canvey Island          46    18    12    16    64    58    +6    66
12.         Gateshead              46    19    8     19    58    63    -5    65
13.         Swindon                46    18    10    18    63    56    +7    64
14.         Barrow                 46    18    10    18    59    54    +5    64
15.         Stevenage              46    15    17    14    48    51    -3    62
16.         Altrincham             46    16    11    19    61    63    -2    59
17.         Barnet                 46    14    13    19    56    64    -8    55
18.         Southport              46    13    13    20    52    61    -9    52
19.         Ashford Town           46    13    12    21    51    68    -17   51
20.         Stalybridge            46    13    12    21    44    62    -18   51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Mossley                46    11    16    19    48    67    -19   49
22.   R     Dorchester             46    10    13    23    41    65    -24   43
23.   R     Boreham Wood           46    9     15    22    45    67    -22   42
24.   R     Basingstoke            46    4     11    31    31    81    -50   23

 

Conference North

Promoted: Corby Town (1st, 107 pts), Matlock Town (2nd, 84 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Lincoln City (3rd, 71 pts), Boston United (4th, 68 pts), Salford City (5th, 66 pts).

Relegated: Soham Town Rangers (20th, 40 pts), Kettering Town (21st, 35 pts), Lancaster City (22nd, 31 pts).

 

Conference South

Promoted: Woking (1st, 73 pts), Torquay United (4th, 69 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Eastbourne Borough (2nd, 71 pts), Farnborough (3rd, 69 pts), Romford (5th, 69 pts).

Relegated: Worcester City (20th, 36 pts), Hampton & Richmond Borough (21st, 33 pts), Burgess Hill Town (22nd, 30 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Gresley (1st), Skelmersdale United (5th).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Maidstone United (1st), Sutton United (2nd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Leighton Town (1st), Newbury (2nd).

[CFuller]

2029/2030 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Manchester United broke the bank - and the English transfer record - when they signed 22-year-old Spain striker Mario for £48million. Mario had scored 20 league goals in his final season at Espanyol before their relegation from La Liga, and he matched that record during his debut campaign at Old Trafford. He was signed as a long-term replacement for the legendary Damien King, who is leaving United this summer after scoring 241 goals in 349 Premier League appearances.
• Chelsea's biggest purchase of the summer was that of Valencia midfielder Valdivia for £25million. The Brazilian international's silky passing was evident from the start as the Blues preserved their top-four status. Chelsea also signed experienced Paris Saint-Germain defender Sebastián Mirabet for £5million, and later added Real Sociedad striker Dean Stimac to their squad for £14.25million in January.
• Arsenal made major changes to their side, with defensive midfielder Thulani Kama their most expensive signing at £17.75million from Sporting CP. The Gunners also bought Sunderland's Canadian goalkeeper Shaun Murat and Brescia centre-back Guglielmo Piemonte, and poached England right-back Gordon Hubbuck on a free transfer from Watford. Josh Dyke was another new arrival, but the former Manchester United striker made just 14 competitive appearances before deciding to leave the Emirates Stadium.
• The Gunners did actually make one other major signing, and that was Greek striker Panagiotis Ntarlas from Manchester City. The 31-year-old scored 15 goals in 27 PL games following his free transfer to the Emirates Stadium. Horacio Ricci went in the opposite direction, joining City for £9.5million, but the Argentine forward was reduced to a bit-part role in a squad that was already ridiculously strong.
• As far as big-name departures from the PL were concerned, the biggest of the summer was Chelsea midfielder Burkay Bosnak, who completed a £15million move to Juventus. West Ham United playmaker Vedran Budimir also left England's top flight after Real Betis paid £25.5million for the 22-year-old Croat.
• Real Madrid surprised a lot of people when they spent £38million on Russian right-winger Denis Vartanyan, even though he'd made just six La Liga appearances in five years at Real Betis. Los Merengues had clearly spotted something that Betis had neglected, as Vartanyan quickly became a regular starter at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Madrid side also signed Holland left-back Marvin Havenaar from Tottenham Hotspur.

 

Managerial Movements

• After winning three successive titles with Manchester City, Ciro Ferrara returned to Juventus for a third spell as manager, succeeding the retired Giuseppe Scienza. Assistant manager Paul Clement took interim charge at the Etihad Stadium, winning the Community Shield for City. Clement also started the Premier League season strongly, but in late October, the Citizens decided to appoint 38-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt boss Nemanja Covic as their new permanent head coach. It would be a wise decision.
• Arsenal also made a wise choice when they axed Kenneth Vermeer in early December, with the Gunners well off the pace. Craig Bryson came in from Norwich City and led Arsenal firmly into a PL title race with City, as well as the UEFA Champions League Semi Finals. Meanwhile, Lee Nicholls took the reins at Carrow Road, leaving Celtic wondering why they kept losing managers to middling English top-flight clubs.
• West Ham United shockingly plunged into relegation danger, costing Darren Ferguson his job after just 10 months. Elvis Scoria came in from Sheffield United to save the Hammers, but Ross Jenkins couldn't do likewise with Burnley following his arrival from Heart of Midlothian. Another Scottish Premier League manager moved to England after the season ended, as Thomas O'Brien left Hibernian to take over at Sunderland, who had dismissed Jim Bentley after a decade.
• Real Madrid's decision to sack Ciriaco Sforza started a mid-season managerial merry-go-round involving several top European clubs. Real controversially appointed ex-Barcelona coach Miodrag Bozovic - a move that saw Porto's Slaven Bilic return to Bayern Munich as Bozovic's replacement. Vitor Pereira then went back to the Estádio do Dragao after a decade away, with his old club Valencia bringing in Steven Davis, who was succeeded at Southampton by Blackburn Rovers' Jack Rodwell. And breathe...
• Two underperforming La Liga coaches were sacked in November, and their replacements had mixed fortunes. Real Betis gave Benat his marching orders and appointed ex-Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who helped them to finish 2nd behind Barca. Real Sociedad could only manage 7th place, though, after Alexander Mejía was replaced with Abdoulaye Soumaré. Mejía finished the season at Liverpool, winning the UEFA Europa League with them just weeks after succeeding Owen Coyle.
• You can always rely on Milan's big two for managerial mayhem. AC Milan booted out José Gomes in favour of Leonid Slutskiy - a former Inter Milan coach, no less! In the blue half of the San Siro, Inter brought Gianni Bruno over from Belgian side Gent after Robin van Persie walked out on them to take the Schalke 04 job. Roma also rose a few eyebrows in Serie A when they sacked Andrea Migliorini and hired Emiliano Viviano - the goalkeeping coach of mid-table Crotone!

 

Other Major Stories

• Manchester City's dreams of a second major treble became reality at the UEFA Champions League Final in Milan. They almost became a nightmare after 20 minutes, though, as a horrendous mistake from goalie Andy Boyes allowed Edson Pedro to give Barcelona the lead! Martin Klonz repaired the damage with an excellent finish early in the second half, and captain Chad Gauss' volley in the 60th minute completed the fightback. City were European champions for the fourth time in seven years!
• Barca's love affair with Neil Lennon continued after he led them to a third straight La Liga title - the 30th in their history. In the Copa del Rey Final, fairytales came true for top-flight minnows Las Palmas, as they beat mega-rich Real Sociedad 2-0 to lift their first major trophy!
• It was a milestone season for Juventus, who officially won their 40th Serie A scudetto. Empoli were once again runners-up, but although the Azzurri will move into a new 47,000-seater stadium this summer, their big-spending days may soon be over. Emirati tycoon Mohammed Mohammed has decided to cut back his funding, 17 years after his takeover transformed the club into European powerhouses.
• A three-way title race in Ligue 1 came to a dramatic but unsurprising end. Paris Saint-Germain won 5-0 at Sochaux on the final day to pip Monaco on goal difference and Valenciennes by a single point. It was PSG's 17th title in 18 years, and their first since moving to the new 71,830-seater Grande Stade Paris. There were major shocks elsewhere, as little-known Sint-Truiden and Sanliurfaspor won their maiden league championships in Belgium and Turkey respectively!
• Anji Makhachkala regained the Russian Premier League title in what will be their final season under their current guise. Due to severe civil unrest in Dagestan, owner Suleyman Kerimov has reluctantly opted to move Anji out of Makhachkala permanently. From next term, The Wild Division will play at the newly-built 48,231-capacity Polyus Arena in the Moscow suburb of Ramenskoye and will adapt their name accordingly.
• England's FIFA World Cup-winning captain Will Hughes announced his retirement after failing to make the squad for this year's finals in Spain. Iván Guillermo, who won the FIFA Ballon d'Or three times while at Manchester City, also called it quits after seeing out his contract at Bayern Munich. Other retirees this year included Arsenal legend Marko Skopljanac and PSG midfielder Lorenzo Crisetig.

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Manchester City 1-0 Huddersfield Town.

League Cup: Watford 3-2 Everton.

Community Shield: Manchester City 1-1 Sunderland (3-1 penalties).

Football League Trophy: Portsmouth 3-1 Notts County.

 

UEFA Champions League: Manchester City 2-1 Barcelona - at San Siro, Milan.

UEFA Europa League: Liverpool 3-1 Valenciennes - at Imtech Arena, Hamburg.

UEFA Super Cup: Barcelona 3-0 PSV - at Letzigrund, Zurich.

FIFA Club World Championship: Barcelona 8-0 Tigres UANL - at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.

 

Major European Leagues

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

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

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

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

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

Russian Premier League: Anji Makhachkala (1st), Alania Vladikavkaz (2nd), FC Krasnodar (3rd).

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

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

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Juan Manuel Sanz (Manchester City).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Ivan Hadziahmetovic (Norwich City).

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

Premier League Manager of the Season: Phil Parkinson (Reading).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Iván Varas (Fulham and Chile)
• Stuart Lindsay (Manchester City and England)
• José Luis (Manchester United and Spain)
• Rocco Gagliardi (Manchester United and Italy)
• Dudu Ashkenazi (Tottenham Hotspur and Israel)
• Juan Manuel Sanz (Manchester City and Spain)
• Alexandre Ricardo (Manchester City and Brazil)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)
• Martin Klonz (Manchester City and Germany)
• Moses Penfold (Watford and England)

 

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

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

European Golden Shoe: Pereira (Paris Saint-Germain).

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

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Ratinho (Chelsea and Brazil)
• Fabián Valino (Real Madrid and Argentina)
• Marcel Schaap (Barcelona and Holland)
• Estanislao Flor (Manchester United and Spain)
• Alison Brito Neves (Juventus and Portugal)
• Juan Manuel Sanz (Manchester City and Spain)
• Nando Ribas (Barcelona and Spain)
• Andrzej Wolanski (Real Betis and Germany)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)
• Pereira (Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil)

[CFuller]

FIFA World Cup review: Spain 2030

Qualification

Despite missing the last World Cup, Portugal's qualification for Spain 2030 was spotless - they went through with a 100% record and no goals conceded! Ghana also won all their qualifying matches, while Australia and South Korea comfortably progressed in Asia, and Brazil topped the South American table. Denmark and holders England stayed unbeaten in their qualifying groups, with the latter benefitting from the 17 goals that Arsenal's Clive Johnson scored.

 

Derek Halliday also bagged 17 goals, but Scotland failed to even reach the European play-offs. UEFA Euro 2028 winners Holland had to get through a play-off against Switzerland, while former world champions Ukraine lost theirs to Slovakia. Chile, who were Quarter Finalists in 2026, were conspicuously absent from this year's finals, as were the likes of Belgium and Cameroon.

 

Two former Soviet republics would make their World Cup debuts after Georgia surprisingly topped their group and Latvia successfully negotiated the play-offs. Morocco made a long-awaited first appearance since 1998, and Saudi Arabia qualified again after missing out on the previous three World Cups.

 

QUALIFIERS: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, England (holders), France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (hosts), Tunisia, United States, Uruguay.

 

Group Stage

Hosts Spain made a roaring start, with Manchester United's Mario scoring seven of their 12 goals in Group A. La Furia Roja progressed with a 100% record, while Croatia also went through after thumping Colombia 5-0. Like their Iberian neighbours, Portugal won all three of their group matches, although South Korea did end their run of clean sheets. Mexico joined Rui Vitória's in-form side in advancing from Group B.

 

Paris Saint-Germain striker Melvyn Schmitt was in imperious scoring form for France, who were the dominant force in Group C. Italy surprisingly crashed out early, with Australia finishing 2nd thanks to five goals from their own hotshot Leonardo Ross. In Group D, Argentina were yet another team to boast a perfect record, although Russia showed their credentials with convincing wins over Japan and Egypt.

 

England's defence started unconvincingly after they shipped a late equaliser to debutants Latvia. Gianluca Atzori's Three Lions would soon bounce back, eventually pipping Tunisia to top spot in Group E. Group F saw some excellent attacking play from Denmark, whose star man - new Barcelona signing Jan Pedersen - scored five times in a 6-1 win over Ghana. Canada also went through the group unbeaten to reach their first World Cup knockout game.

 

Keen not to be overshadowed by their Canadian neighbours, the United States won a tight Group G after shocking Brazil 2-0 in their final match. Brazil's opponents in Round 2 would be fellow South American side Uruguay, who led Group H just ahead of Germany. Surprisingly, Holland lost three games on the trot and had a single Ronald Pot penalty against the Mannschaft to show for their efforts. How typically Dutch...

 

GROUP A: Spain* (1st, 9 pts), Croatia* (2nd, 6 pts), Colombia (3rd, 3 pts), Iran (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP B: Portugal* (1st, 9 pts), Mexico* (2nd, 6 pts), South Korea (3rd, 3 pts), Georgia (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP C: France* (1st, 9 pts), Australia* (2nd, 4 pts), Italy (3rd, 3 pts), South Africa (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP D: Argentina* (1st, 9 pts), Russia* (2nd, 6 pts), Japan (3rd, 3 pts), Egypt (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP E: England* (1st, 7 pts), Tunisia* (2nd, 6 pts), Saudi Arabia (3rd, 3 pts), Latvia (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP F: Denmark* (1st, 7 pts), Canada* (2nd, 5 pts), Czech Republic (3rd, 4 pts), Ghana (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP G: United States* (1st, 6 pts), Brazil* (2nd, 4 pts), Morocco (3rd, 4 pts), Slovakia (4th, 3 pts).

GROUP H: Uruguay* (1st, 7 pts), Germany* (2nd, 5 pts), El Salvador (3rd, 4 pts), Holland (4th, 0 pts).

* through to Round 2

 

Round 2

Spain legend Nando Ribas - playing in his fourth World Cup at the age of 33 - showed against Mexico that he wasn't finished just yet. A Ribas hat-trick blew away the Mexicans, who pulled only one goal back through striker Juninho Paulista. Later on, Portugal's charge ran out of steam in a 2-1 loss to Croatia. Porto playmaker Luis Sá appeared to have taken a close game to extra-time until Dean Stimac converted a last-minute Croatian penalty.

 

Gastón Menéndez' penalty gave Argentina a 23rd-minute lead against Australia, but the Socceroos didn't roll over. Strikes from Dean Golemac and Colin Bird fired the Aussies into a maiden World Cup Quarter Final. There were no shocks in France's game against Russia, which Les Bleus won 3-1 after goals from Tayeb Laib, Schmitt, and Landry Camara.

 

Denmark continued their progress when they brought Tunisia's best ever World Cup to an end. Lasse Kvist assisted both goals for his fellow midfielder Ole Kofod of Everton. England also won easily against potential dark horses Canada, as captain Damien King scored twice before in-form Liverpool man Dave Weaver closed the game out.

 

England were ranked as the world's number 1 team, and they would play number 2 in the Quarter Finals. Brazil saw off a toothless Uruguay side thanks to a goal from Real Madrid's Ulisses and an own goal by Jorge Ramos. Germany completed the elite eight by swatting away the United States. Andrzej Wolanski got them off the mark early in the second half, and Dominic Feldkamp scored a 65th-minute penalty after USA defender Mike Martin was sent off.

 

RESULTS: Spain 3-1 Mexico, Croatia 2-1 Portugal, Australia 2-1 Argentina, France 3-1 Russia, Denmark 2-0 Tunisia, England 3-0 Canada, Brazil 2-0 Uruguay, Germany 2-0 United States.

 

Quarter Finals

The Quarter Finals began with yet more evidence that France were arguably international football's biggest underachievers. Goals from Vedran Budimir and Branko Petravic sent Croatia through at the expense of Les Bleus, who lost their captain Cheick Tigana to injury. Spain did not let their fans down against Australia, thumping the tournament's breakthrough stars 3-0. Mario scored in the 31st and 54th minute, and also had an 85th-minute penalty saved by Aussie goalkeeper Alex Rickard, while Ribas converted a spot-kick of his own in the 33rd.

 

Wolanski put Germany 1-0 up against Denmark after 39 minutes, only for Lars Mark to level just before half-time. Kofod then added a second Danish goal in the 51st minute to put his team into another Semi Final. Joining them in the last four were holders England, who ended Brazil's hopes of ending their 28-year World Cup drought. A volley from Johnson in the 56th minute ensured that Europe's recent dominance of the world finals would continue.

 

RESULTS: Croatia 2-0 France, Spain 3-0 Australia, Denmark 2-1 Germany, England 1-0 Brazil.

 

Semi Finals

Madrid witnessed a striking masterclass from Spain, who put Denmark to the sword. In the first 26 minutes, Mario added his 10th and 11th goals of the tournament either side of a strike from Real Sociedad winger Marcel Henrique. Pedersen replied for the Danish dynamite after 28 minutes, but Barbosa's goal eight minutes later effectively killed the game off before half-time. Javi Castellano's side were into their fourth World Cup Final, although right-back Javier Garagarza would miss it after being sent off for two bookable offences late on.

 

Barcelona hosted the other Semi Final between Croatia and England. A very rare goal from Bayer Leverkusen defender Joe Southwood gave the Three Lions the advantage after 21 minutes, but Alen Kurtovic's free-kick in the 33rd minute restored parity. England restored their lead in the 52nd minute, as Mike Robinson tapped in a rebound after Croatian keeper Marino Franic had denied Johnson. Atzori's champions then held firm to progress.

 

RESULTS: Spain 4-1 Denmark, England 2-1 Croatia.

 

3rd Place Play-Off

Croatia and Denmark served up a classic, inconsequential as it was, in Madrid. Two early goals from Mijo Djuzel gave the Croatians a 2-0 lead, but Pedersen and Mark Steinlein would soon wipe that out. To make matters worse for the Vatreni, winger Mirko Tomasic was dismissed just before extra-time. However, Croatia then showed real character, as Wolverhampton Wanderers left-back Mario Poljak and Chelsea striker Stimac both scored to secure 3rd place.

 

RESULT: Croatia 4-2 Denmark (aet).

 

Final

Many of the nearly 100,000 who attended the 100th-anniversary World Cup Final at Barcelona's Nou Camp expected an epic match. What they got was a very one-sided contest. England ran Spain into the ground straight away, and took the lead after 17 minutes through a stunning half-volley from Johnson. They would double their lead after 38 minutes, when Wolves midfielder Mick Fisher chipped the ball over Spanish goalkeeper Eudald Teijo.

 

Mario struck the woodwork for Spain in the 50th minute, but the hosts' pain was just beginning. They were reduced to 10 men just eight minutes later, as centre-half José Luis received his second yellow card following a seemingly innocuous clash with Weaver. England grew even more confident, and when Robinson finished off a counter-attack in the 89th minute, they could celebrate an unforgettable 3-0 win! The World Cup was staying on English soil!

 

After proudly lifting the trophy on his 143rd cap, King announced that he was stepping down as England captain. Coach Atzori later confirmed that he too would be leaving his post, having won virtually everything he could win as a football manager in England. The Italian's legacy had been sealed, and the Three Lions will surely take some stopping when Argentina hosts the next World Cup in 2034. Can they make it an unprecedented three wins in a row?

 

RESULT: England 3-0 Spain.

 

Award Winners

Golden Ball: Mario (Spain).

Golden Boot: Mario (Spain, 11 goals).

Yashin Award: Andy Boyes (England).

Best Young Player: Sebastián Núnez (Argentina).

Goal of the Tournament: Ole Kofod (Denmark, vs Tunisia - Round 2).

Dream Team:

• Andy Boyes (England and Manchester City)
• Javier Garagarza (Spain and Real Sociedad)
• José Luis (Spain and Manchester United)
• Joe Southwood (England and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Mario Poljak (Croatia and Wolverhampton Wanderers)
• Mike Robinson (England and Manchester United)
• Vedran Budimir (Croatia and Real Betis)
• Mick Fisher (England and Wolverhampton Wanderers)
• Marcel Henrique (Spain and Real Sociedad)
• Melvyn Schmitt (France and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Mario (Spain and Manchester United)

[CFuller]

And that'll be it from 'House of Flying Daggers' until the New Year. I'll be back in 2017 with the next chapters of my adventure with the Daggers, and possibly a brand new FM story or two.

In the meantime, I'll take this opportunity to answer any questions you might have regarding this story or my save game. If there's anything you would like to know, please ask away and I'll respond as soon as I can.

Once again, thanks for reading. Your continued support genuinely means a lot to me.

Christopher Fuller (CFuller)
4 December 2016