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Daggers change of ownership: should we... Stay as we are (Members Club) Go with the East Consortium Go with the Tamplin Consortium Look for another solution View Current Standings

DAGGERS DICTIONARY "Branna" More brown than on a previous occasion ("Ere, Trace, ya look branna today, ave you been on sunbed?")

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27 April 2019 Solihull Moors Home Vanarama National League  Drew 1-1

On This Day

No fixtures played on 25/6

Legend End of Season thoughts by Hardy on 08/05/2017 The 2016/17 season is in the history books for the Daggers. DiggerDagger.com looks at things on and off the field and makes a few suggestions for the future. Some end of season thoughts So the 2016/17 season is in the history books for the Daggers and a very eventful mixed bag it has proven to be. DiggerDagger.com looks at things on and off the field and makes a few suggestions for the future. It is all about money... With the club's nine season stay in the Football League coming to an end in May 2016, the Daggers faced some hard facts during the close season which surfaced druring the summer with controversy around the club's finances. This website covered, hopefully in an even handed way, the resulting saga of the East's, Glenn Tamplin, protests, hysteria, serial Full Members meetings, arguments and the eventual emergence of Glyn Hopkin as the new majority shareholder of Dagenham & Redbridge FC in January 2017. Tamplin's eventual takeover of Billericay Town after the deal with the Daggers fell through, and the circus that has resulted has added fuel to some of the protestors ire. We agree whole heartedly that most of what has gone on at Billericay would not have gone down well at the Daggers, however Tamplin has actually done everything he said he would in terms of investing in the team and infrastructure at Billericay while also getting what was previously a Ryman League backwater club into the press and on TV has massively boosted it's profile. What happens at Billericay from here on in will be an interesting watch from the relative calm of Victoria Road, but would many actually bet against them being at National League level in two or three seasons at the moment? Longer term who knows. Having sat down briefly with Glyn Hopkin and seen his calm nature, enthusiasm and commitment I have to say I am very happy with the outcome. Hopefully people can already see changes in the way the club presents itself to the fans and a much more open communication between the various interested parties, all of whom actually want to see the club prosper, but too often have been pulling in opposite directions over recent years. On the field The Daggers started well with a decent blend of youth and experience on the field of play and were in the mix for promotion back to the Football League pretty much from day one. A series of injuries to key players took their toll though and unlike the Conference championship winning season of 2006/07 John Still was hardly ever able to put out the same team in consecutive games. Inconsistency crept in and too many matches were lost to keep up with the pace setters Lincoln City and Tranmere Rovers. A solid finish in fourth place saw the Daggers into the play offs though where they fell short due to some shocking refereeing in the home leg and a tepid performance in the away one yesterday. With his own future sorted now, John will no doubt be looking to strengthen and build over the summer, but if he can retain the core of this season's squad the future looks bright. Player of the season Corey Whitely (left) and top scorer Ollie Hawkins will no doubt look to improve next season, while the return from injury of players like Luke Pennell and Matt Robinson, plus a fully fit Fejiri Okenabhirie will surely help. Loanees Jordan Maquire-Drew and Shaun Donnellan will return to their clubs with some solid experience under their belts and the thanks of the Daggers faithful. JMD in particular will be one to watch and was occassionally unplayable at this level. We conclude with some thoughts going forward into next season. The pitch The pitch at Victoria Road has been shocking in the second half of the season in particular. With the Daggers being a decent footballing team on their day this has not helped either in results or in watching the football being dished up week in week out. Having wandered across the pitch for the player of the year presentation on the 29th April, it was actually worse than I had previously thought and something serious needs to be done. It has been pointed out that both West Ham's U21s and the Daggers U14s (managed by Glenn Tamplin) have been using the pitch. While this no doubt doesn't help, it is not the whole issue. Usually by the end of the season the pitch is dry and bumpy. This season it is patchy and bumpy. The immediate solution is to re-lay it, which we understand is happening. We would also advocate putting in some kind of sprinkler system like that which we saw at Forest Green's New Lawn (and it was a lawn) yesterday. John Still has a pattern of play he likes to adopt, and despite some people saying it is, it is not actually just hoof it up the field. He has referred to the state of the home pitch several times this year as effecting team performance, and a decent playing surface is never a hinderance to any kind of football. Surely this is an investment worth making, especially if the pitch is being taken up anyway in the close season? Atmosphere While Victoria Road has never exactly been a cauldron, the atmosphere at home games, even when the team has been doing pretty well this season, has been dire at times. Yet it was a fortress in days gone past so why has it become a place that is too easy for away teams in recent seasons. DiggerDagger has been thinking about this and, particularly after a trip to Nailsworth yesterday, has reached the conclusion that... wait for it... ARNU IS RIGHT! One way to effect the atmosphere is to retain the best part of Victoria Road, the Traditional Builders Stand, for the home fans. This will have two effects, firstly making it a home area only will mean that those that want to gather and make a noise can do so, but without having to compete with occassionally noisy away fans and the resulting issues around stewarding. The Pondfield End (right) used to be a long, shallow open terrace, and when it was, it didn't really matter how many away fans gathered there, it was hard for them to dominate the ground with the noise they generated. The effect of this was graphically demonstrated yesterday at Forest Green, where they allocated the Daggers a long shallow open terrace and despite there being pushing 500 people there, we made virtually no noise all game. So, where do we put away fans? Well we have a long shallow open terrace at the Bury Road End (left). It has the worst sight lines in the ground, faces the prevailing wind, and the setting sun and is evil on a rainy day. Perfect for away fans in fact. While this will reduce income from away fans, if it also makes the Daggers a less friendly place to visit for away teams, that has to be a benefit surely? If seats have to be offered to disabled fans they could be accomodated in other areas of the ground, or alternatively, when not take down the old Daggers shop and put a few seats in the corner there? Segregating the Bury Road End is a fairly simple matter of some fencing. It has separate catering and toilet facilities already. There would need to be a modification of gates to be able to get people into the Sieve, which can already be done via Bury Road, and although this is less than perfect it cannot be beyond the wit of man to do. Thoughts appreciated!