Today, having witnessed my first relegation, I can honestly say that it is painful. It hurts. You feel like nothing will ever be the same again.
But what's worse is that, even though we knew it was coming, we suffered our relegation to Leyton Orient, our biggest rivals. This was the worst possible ending to the worst Dagenham season I have ever witnessed. Out of our entire squad I'd say about five can emerge with any kind of recognition. Ultimately, we haven't been good enough. That's all I can say before a full inquest determines the more underlying reasons behind our horrific plight. We simply haven't been good enough and we paid the price. So while we have four games left, preparation for next season must begin if we are to stand any chance of making an immediate return to where we 'belong'. I don't care if we lose the last few games, just as the players seemingly haven't cared about losing all season, but we need a big restructure in the summer and so that must be implemented now. Today I saw us face Leyton Orient and we simply weren't good enough. To be 1-0 down in three minutes is simply unacceptable, and in all honesty it's a miracle we didn't lose by at least six goals. Somehow we scored two goals in a minute which gave us hope, but yet again we were sloppy and threw it away. The final whistle saw the deflated players sink to the floor, to an onslaught of abuse from the furious 444 away supporters unleashed a barrage of derogatory chants. The outrage continued outside the ground and undoubtedly on the coach home. Next season is going to be one of the most challenging campaigns in our history. We will lose a big core of our squad, a big core of our fanbase, and have a lot of regrouping to do. Seeing Cheltenham who have made an instant return to the Football League, at least gives hopethat we can come back, and stronger at that. I'd like to say that we will, I'd like to say it's only a minor setback - but the truth is that I really don't know where Dagenham & Redbridge go from here. But one thing I do know is that I am forever a Dagger, and will be whatever league we are in. And so, I urge all of our loyal, dedicated fanbase to stick with the team at this difficult time, as we try to overcome the difficult task which awaits us. Until then, let's just enjoy what could be our last four Football League games for a very long time.
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If they hadn't already, Dagenham & Redbridge fans have finally consigned themselves to the dreaded relegation we had all feared, following the league's latest set of results. Our time as a Football League Club, a League 2 club, and, more importantly, a professional club, is coming to a horrific end which unfortunately will taint 24 wonderful years of existence.
And if there's one image that epitomises the season so far, it's the one of fans in a heated exchange with Wayne Burnett who had to justify himself and his team after a shocking 2-0 exit to Southport in the FA Cup first round replay on 18th November 2014. That wasn't this season, but that fateful night in Merseyside led to a hideous chain of events which ultimately cost him his job and seemingly will cost us all of the above. As the crucial part of the season arrives and the fear of relegation hits home, teams around us are beginning to play with some spirit and endeavour, grinding out points however they can. Yet we haven't had a game for almost three weeks for various reasons, so as I and no doubt many other concerned fans witnessed heard results elsewhere go against us, there was an overriding feeling of sheer powerlessness. We missed out on the Easter fixtures, a quick-fire opportunity to pick up back-to-back wins to generate some-much needed momentum. We also lost our fixture on April 2 as our opposition Oxford were in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final, although that fixture was brought back to an early date where we were beaten 4-0. Good Friday saw Stevenage somehow collect an unlikely draw at high-flying Oxford United, while York City also managed a point and Hartlepool picked up all three with 1-0 success over Wimbledon. Three days later and Hartlepool again gained a victory, beating Orient 2-0 away from home. Elsewhere, York City suffered a 3-2 loss to Plymouth but, like us, Stevenage didn't play due to International callups. There was another full fixturelist on Saturday 2nd April when York drew with Orient, Stevenage recorded a victory at Luton and Hartlepool edged out Mansfield. Another disappointing set of results from our perspective. All of this, combined with our difficult set of fixtures and the fact we are well adrift anyway, means our misery could be compounded and the tears we wanted to prolong could happen as early as Tuesday when we entertain Morecambe at Victoria Road. Dagenham & Redbridge will be relegated on Tuesday if they fail to beat Morecambe and Stevenage defeat Yeovil. Anything otherwise will only be a stay of execution that prolongs the agony. - just put us out of our misery already. The worst possible end to a season of misery and disappointment. |
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January 2024
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