It was abundantly clear that McMahon is a man that lives and breathes the finer intricacies of the beautiful game and, just as he had at the previous evening's Fans' Forum, he spoke with a refreshing sense of honesty and realism. While to a large extent the 36 year-old mirrors the excitement of our fanbase following a string of seemingly astute additions, he also recognised the fact that there are a number of sides besides ourselves that will also have both the ambition and quality to compete towards the summit of the division. In his own words, names on a piece of paper do not automatically acquaint to a great team, but he would not have taken on the challenge without believing that we are capable of becoming one. The interview is available both as an audio link at the very bottom of this post, or in the form of a written transcript. This, the second of two parts, covers McMahon's first few months at the club, including our performances between his arrival in January and the season's eventual curtailment in mid-March. I WANTED TO TAKE YOU WAY BACK TO LAST YEAR, WHEN YOU WERE IN ATTENDANCE FOR OUR HOME GAMES AGAINST BOTH BOREHAM WOOD AND BROMLEY. LOOKING BACK, DID YOU SEE ANY INDICATION THAT WE WOULD STRUGGLE AS MUCH AS WE EVENTUALLY ENDED UP DOING?DM: It's always difficult to tell at the beginning of a season how it is going to pan out. The Boreham Wood game in particular was very early in the season. You could see that Dagenham had some good players but sometimes it takes a while for the new players to settle down. Boreham Wood proved to be a very good side throughout the season, but as I said you can never tell that early on. The Bromley game which I covered for BT Sport I thought was a good game between two very good teams. There was good energy and good football played. You could see that Dagenham had some good players, but sometimes it takes a while for the new players to settle down. A few months on and you were Dagenham manager. How difficult was it to walk away from Macclesfield, the side who had given you your first managerial opportunity in the Football League?DM: I really enjoyed my time at Macclesfield - I loved it there. The fans were amazing to me, I loved the place and I loved my team. We were the youngest team in the country and I was the youngest manager in the Football League. We knew our sole ambition was to stay in the division as we had the smallest budget and it was a real challenge. It was difficult to walk away but I didn't walk away to come here - I was doing that anyway. Going into January with the problems the club had and the fact I had been paid late quite a few times, I promised my wife and two kids that if it happened again that would be the end for me there, and it was. It was difficult to walk away but I didn't walk away to come here - I was doing that anyway. You inherited a team that were in freefall, having lost 9 games from 11 going into the new year. Just a few weeks into your reign, though, and we'd beaten Notts County and Solihull Moors, while also pushing league leaders Barrow far further than most sides manage to. How were you able to get a tune out of a group of players that were struggling so much?DM: I just tried to make people believe in themselves. The club still had some very good players when I came in. Normally when you walk into a job it is because the group is under-performing and you have to pick up a team in a bad situation, very rarely will you get a job when the team is flying. There were many reasons, the club had been riddled with injuries for example but you have to put all that to one side and put your own stamp on things as quickly as you can. I'd known some of the players very well having managed them before so in that sense it was easy for me to settle in. I also knew the club well after working here for three and a half years and a lot of people here were still working behind the scenes then. It was very easy for me to come in and get comfortable straight away so I could get on with my job. Normally when you walk into a job it is because the group is under-performing and you have to pick up a team in a bad situation, very rarely will you get a job when the team is flying. We managed to register more clean sheets under yourself than in the entire previous five months under Peter Taylor. Given that you had exactly the same defensive players at your disposal, was there anything in particular you instructed our backline to do?DM: I only saw Peter's team play twice, those two games you mentioned, so I can't really pick apart what he did. I played for him at Stevenage, though, and he is a very good coach. We're probably different in our approaches and how we want to play. We tried to defend in the opposition's half, as high up the pitch as we could, and used our energy to get after teams. I think the players enjoyed that. We tried to defend in the opposition's half, as high up the pitch as we could, and used our energy to get after teams. I think the players enjoyed that. WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS on the fitness of the players? We TENDED TO CONCEDE MORE GOALS AT CERTAIN INSTANCES OF GAMES PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL SO I WAS WONDERING WHETHER YOU DEEMED THE PLAYERS NOT STRONG ENOUGH IN THAT DEPARTMENT.DM: I never said to the players that they weren't fit enough. They were obviously a fit team to have played that many games before I came in. Were they as fit as I wanted them to be in terms of how I wanted to play? That's a different kind of fitness. I think they worked extremely hard for me in the seven games I had and I can't knock any one of them for their effort and professionalism. Were they as fit as I wanted them to be in terms of how I wanted to play? That's a different kind of fitness. I think they worked extremely hard for me. So far you've given the impression of an all-or-nothing manager who will throw everything at the opposition in order to earn three points. This was particularly evident in the Aldershot Town fixture where we ended with five attacking players on the pitch.DM: To go back to one of your first questions about how we managed to change things, if I end the game with five attackers on the pitch I'm sending the message out to my players that I want to go out and win. I believed we were good enough to go out and win away at Barrow, and I believed that my players could do it. We deserved at least a draw that day. Ian Evatt said to me after the game that he'd watched our previous games and told his players that he didn't think they'd be able to out-football our team. He was impressed with what we were doing. It would've been nice if we could've finished the season by finishing higher and kicking on, but it is what it is. I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into next season and know the players are too. The new lads are looking forward to the challenge, and some of the ones who have been here for the last couple of years might be looking to right a few wrongs. Ian Evatt said to me after the game that he'd watched our previous games and told his players that he didn't think they'd be able to out-football our team. He was impressed with what we were doing. It goes without saying that we won't be able to play like that all the time, but it did seem like we were making a lot of progress when the season was ultimately cut short.DM: I think we were getting there in the games we had, as disjointed as they were. We conceded five goals and scored nine, which wasn't enough. Fylde in particular was a game where, especially in the second half, we should've scored more. To be honest, we were better against Fylde than Aldershot, where I didn't think we were that great overall. We had the game totally in our control but I felt we got into a lazy mentality of thinking we'd always get another chance. You have to be a killer when you're on top. We had the game totally in our control but I felt we got into a lazy mentality of thinking we'd always get another chance. You have to be a killer when you're on top.
1 Comment
Peter King
23/8/2020 04:31:57 pm
A nice part 2 think he will take the club forward lets see where they end up? Well done Joel on this keep going.
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