There have been just a few murmurings recently on the Fans
Forum about the management of the
Daggers in recent weeks as the it reaches a point where it starts to become
obvious that the season is all over bar the blooding of a few youngsters over
the coming couple of months. It has been a bit of a roller coaster again with
two poor runs of consecutive defeats and some horrible performances interspersed
with some great results.
I spent a while going back over the interviews John has given to BBC Essex
(which can be found here)
and throughout the ups and downs of the current season the message remains consistent, the club is
rebuilding, we need to bring the youngsters on slowly, money is tight and there
are no miracle cures. Win or lose John does not get over excited or over
critical and there is obviously a deep understanding of what the Daggers are
about as a club.
John was not my first choice for manager when Garry Hill left the club as I
thought he was too much the "safe" choice, and we have had a couple
of major disagreements over issues like
bringing in Paul Bastock as emergency cover, but his consistent straight
talking style has won me over now and I really believe he is a man with a clear
view of what is needed to get the Daggers moving forward once again and
challenging for honours in the future.
John has given youth a chance and the vast majority of the players signed
have been ones with a bright future ahead of them. They may prosper or not, but
if they do the Daggers will profit in the future either on the field or by
selling them on to bigger things. It is somewhat ironic that most of the mad
blood rushes this season have come from the experienced players with Tony
Roberts, Ashley Vickers, Tim Cole and Jake Leberl being the recipients of the
costly cards. 
Ashley Vickers sees red at Aldershot
(copyright Dave Simpson)
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