So, Peter, we’re still in the ‘getting to know you’ phase of what is hopefully going to be a long managerial reign. Would you say you have a trademark style of football and formation which you are looking to implement upon the Daggers?Well, to be fair, I’m getting on a touch as people would know so I’ve been used to playing lots of different systems. When I first started playing it was a 4-4-2 but even in ‘76 as a player, I was playing a 5-3-2 under Malcolm Allison at Crystal Palace. With England I’ve played a 5-3-2 and with teams I’ve managed, I’ve played a 4-4-2 at the levels of League One and Two but I’ve also played a 4-3-3 at Championship and at times in the Premiership. I’m used to most systems so can see the values and negatives of all the systems so really I always put it down to the players I have in the building. Nine times out of ten, if it means we’ve got the right players for the systems, then that’s what I’ll go with. Obviously there’s no transfer window in the National League which can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it, but are you happy with the calibre of squad you have at this stage?I think everybody at Dagenham this year knows that it’s going to be a very different type of season. It’s going to be a bit of a slog because we haven’t got the financial backing that we would’ve liked which then means you haven’t got the players that you want. You then have to go out looking for bargains and favours from league clubs who might let you have some of their young players on loan. Even on Monday I’m hoping that we’re going to bring in one more player which means we’d have a squad of 22 and I’m very happy with that. A month ago I’d never have even dreamt of getting to that but thankfully through luck I suppose and favours that clubs have given to us - we’ve been trialling a lot of people and many youngsters have come here on low wages which has helped us - we’ve been able to get the players in. In the last few days you’ve made two more additions including the signing of Alexander McQueen. Can I ask why he’s only on a six-month contract rather than the typical one-year deals we’ve been offering?Again I think it’s because we couldn’t offer the terms he was looking for. I actually then said, ‘could you not come to see how it goes for us over a short period?’ and so I think it’s better to have him for six months than not at all. If we hadn’t have gone down that route, I think we would have lost him. And Another signing: Tomi Adeloye. What can you tell us about him?He’s a very strongly-built striker who’s been training at Wycombe all pre-season. Wycombe very nearly gave him a contract and I’ve taken advantage of that. Wycombe were very helpful to me and told us about him. He’s then been training with us for three days and I decided to give him a contract. He’s got a lot of promise, as all of our players have being young and desperate for a chance. He’s another one desperate for a chance; he’ll be substitute today but hopefully gets on and shows us what he can do. So is he the right sort of striker as you described, who can not only score goals but bring other players into the game?That’s exactly what I’m hoping - he’s that type. The other striker I’m hoping we’ll bring in on Monday will again be a young player and is more like a number 9 comfortable with his back to goal. With Tomi, he’s okay with his back to goal but is happy to run in behind as well so has exciting talent. Two games into the National League season and, unfortunately for us, two defeats. However, that doesn’t really tell the full story does it? We’ve been impressive. I’ve been quite pleased with the way we’ve played, not the entire 90 minutes but there’s been good and bad spells in each game. I think we should have more than no points, there’s no doubt about that because we should’ve had a point at Boreham Wood and three points at home to Maidstone. When you’re playing at a good standard and get things wrong, you’re doing to get punished. We defended poorly on two occasions against Maidstone, and for a corner that wasn’t cleared at Boreham Wood but then didn’t take our chances. That’s what a good level does though and if you were playing at normal Sunday League level you’d get away with it, but you can’t in the National League.
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WRITERArchives
January 2024
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