The frustrating yet somewhat inevitable news of Saturday's scheduled trip to Barnet being postponed meant we were instead forced to watch, helplessly, as the teams around us closed the gap further. It meant Daryl McMahon's wait for a first National League match in charge will extend to three weeks, which can either be perceived as a blessing or a curse in that it gives him more time to implement his new philosophies on the team, but conversely means we will have gone a long time without a league fixture at a time where sharpness is absolutely integral. In addition to this, a fragmented schedule isn't exactly ideal in our current predicament; you want a full week to devote to the Saturday game. Fine margins are invariably crucial in this league and can prove the difference between staying up or not. Every point now has extra value, every game comes with more pressure. That our game at Barnet was called off on Saturday only means there will be more at stake when it's eventually played. The reality is that the teams behind us are slowly picking up form as if the magnitude of the situation had dawned upon them, while we're hovering dangerously above them, there to be shot at. Though we're in good hands with McMahon, who has already overseen a notable improvement in performance during his first game in charge against Notts County in the FA Trophy, he's neither a quick fix nor a miracle man. He's a long-term appointment under whose reign the club is expected to undergo steady, continual progress. However, it will take time for him to make his mark on the team, and time isn't a luxury we have. He will be backed, undoubtedly. He's already brought in two new faces, experienced centre-back Gabriel Zakuani on a deal until the end of the season and striker Alex Reid on loan from Stevenage, though neither would've proved too costly an acquisition. The important question is: will the owners bank on us being just about good enough to survive this season and start afresh in the summer, so they don't have to eat into additional funds they may not have expected to have had to use? Or will they see relegation as a prospect they simply cannot risk, and therefore allow McMahon to bring in more faces that ultimately could keep us up? There are certainly arguments to support both of those possibilities, though I for one would dispute the fact that we're good enough to survive. For the past three or four months we've been statistically the worst team in the division, and have struggled against the sides currently below us. In fact, of the six games we've played against those teams, we've collected just five points from a possible 18. We shouldn't have to rely on a single player but the return of Balanta will be vital and simply can't come soon enough, but it could take him a little bit of time to get to the performance levels he was reaching beforehand.
Our run of fixtures isn't particularly generous. Four of our next six games are against teams currently in the play-off picture or higher, and the other two are potential relegation six-pointers against outfits who will be just as desperate for the win as we will. Our dreadful form leading up to this crucial stage in our season is well-documented, with us recording just a solitary win in three months' of football. We need to find our feet, and fast.
Meanwhile, the gap between us and the relegation zone has decreased to such an extent that there barely is a gap anymore. We've watched it diminish gradually as the threat of slipping into it's grasp grew more and more imminent; now it's time for the team to step up and fight their way out of the mess they've brought upon themselves. The manner of the season so far indicates it's almost destined to end in catastrophe for the club, but this isn't time to feel sorry for ourselves or dwell on what has been a write off of a campaign in terms of our initial aspirations. I just hope this team are better at dealing with a relegation scrap than they were a possible promotion challenge. When Balanta and Phipps are back in action, it may be a different story. Alex Reid might prove to be the crucial striker we needed. There may be signings on the way to change our fortunes. But one thing that's guaranteed is that with teams behind us picking up points and demonstrating their ability to grind out results, the pressure is on for us now. Survival is not a certainty and we now have 16 massive National League games, starting with an unenviable but ultimately must-win clash at home to Notts County.
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When these two sides last met on a scintillating September day in Devon three months ago, it was with the Daggers sitting fifth and Torquay just a few places below in tenth. An evenly-matched deadlock, one which managed to be quite entertaining by the usual standards of a goalless draw, ensued but it was a match that gave the impression that both sides would be heavily involved in the promotion picture by the time the return fixture in January rolled around. Now that day has rolled around, and true to expectation both teams do look like they will be involved in a battle. However, it's at the wrong end of the table; in a catastrophic twist of fate since that glorious September day, Dagenham in 20th are now perilously close to the relegation zone and a similarly-freefalling Torquay outfit aren't too far behind in their equally-unceremonious decline. With just five points between them over the past six games, courtesy of Torquay's win over Woking and Dagenham's two draws against Ebbsfleet, this game is now a clash between the two sides at the basement of the form guide. Torquay are an all-or-nothing team, capable of both scoring and conceding large quantities of goals in equal measure. In the past month alone they've scored five in one game and conceded six in another, a statistic that mirrors their unpredictable league form in which they've recently followed a run of seven wins from eight with a contrasting sequence of six defeats from seven. In similar fashion, the Daggers have lost nine of their past fourteen games having prior to that gone unbeaten in eleven. However, these sides' dramatic descents down the division are far more complex than merely being explained by the unpredictability of the National League. For Torquay it's been a dreadful spate of injuries that has crippled them, and as a result they're without eight key players today including imposing defender Jean-Vyes Kiou-Niate (suspended), influential midfielder Armani Little and tricky winger Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala (both injured). Meanwhile, the story of our decline has one man at it's epicentre, Peter Taylor, but 18 months of his largely negative football finally came to an end after last weekend's comfortable defeat at Bromley. In comes Daryl McMahon, a young, progressive, forward-thinking manager who won't be able to manage the team today but whose presence should nonetheless lift the mood around Victoria Road considerably. Hopefully, with players looking to cement themselves into the new manager's plans, we're able to produce a valiant and exciting performance today, the very blueprint on which McMahon bases his teams. While the news of the appointment will have left supporters optimistically looking long-term, it's easy to forget we're in a relegation battle in the here and now. This isn't just about impressing the new boss, it's about getting three points towards survival, which at the minute seems in the balance. Dagenham Predicted XI: Justham, Gordon, Clark, Onariase, Wright, Croll, Robinson, McQueen, Luque, House, Kandi
Torquay Predicted XI: Cavolan, Lemonheigh-Evans, Cundy, Hall, Lewis, Nemane, James, Lloyd, Whitfield, Reid When the last decade got underway with a 2-0 victory at home to Crewe Alexandra enroute to promotion at Wembley, few supporters would've envisaged the environment against which it would end. Nobody would have imagined the small club from Essex soaring to the heights of League One, and few supporters would've imagined the steady decline which would unceremoniously follow the greatest point in the club's history. As the curtain draws on the 2010s and opens on the 2020s, we're left with no vision for the future shaped by anything other than hopes and aspirations. Will we be back in the Football League? Will we slip further down the pyramid? Those questions will long remain unanswered. For today, though, they can remain unanswered; our focus is more short-term, a crucial trip to Ebbsfleet United, the significance of which has been lost amidst days of managerial speculation. The surprising yet long-overdue news of Peter Taylor's departure came as a relief to a significant majority of the fanbase, and it will be interesting to see how the team perform now that they're no longer shackled by his depressing, negative football. It will be interesting to see attacking players like Joan Luque and Alex McQueen unleashed to cause damage, rather than being stifled in a team that sets up for a draw every time they're on their travels. However, while Taylor must burden a significant majority of the blame for our calamitous attempt at a promotion challenge, it's also true that certain players simply haven't delivered on the hype that surrounded them and therefore need to start producing. We're not going to magically become a team of champions, but I am expecting both supporters and players to pitch up at the Kuflink Stadium in rejuvenated spirits, as we slowly enter a new era at the club. It's been just six days since we last met Ebbsfleet, a match where we were inferior with eleven men but managed to salvage something with ten after Chike Kandi found a late leveller to arrest a dreadful run of five straight defeats. It was in truth a game painfully low in quality and so fine margins should once again prove crucial. Despite things looking up for the Daggers after dispensing with Taylor, they're still in the midst of a relegation scrap and desperately need three points from what is a must-win. Tomi Adeloye scored the winner in Daggers' last trip to the Kuflink Stadium, but he'll be in the opposite camp today and contributes to an Ebbsfleet attack which has the capability to cause problems in spite of the side's lowly league position; Gozie Ugwu, John Goddard and Josh Umerah can also cause damage and we'll have to be wary. That day, the Daggers secured safety courtesy of Adeloye - that was our first away victory in three months which is identical to Dagenham's current winless run on the road, so it will take a similar effort today. Ebbsfleet Predicted XI: Holmes, Cordner, Obileye, Ekpiteta, King, Goddard, Sutherland, Grimes, Payne, Adeloye, Reid Dagenham Predicted XI: Justham, Croll, Onariase, Clark, Wright, Luque, Brundle, Deering, Kandi, Quigley, House There's a lot of emphasis on the club appointing a new manager who matches our ambitions, but until then we need to get behind Terry Harris and Jody Brown for as long as they're in interim charge. Let's start the new year with a morale-boosting three points and let it be the beginning of a prolonged period of positivity.
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WRITERArchives
May 2024
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