To say it has been a disappointing few weeks for the Daggers would qualify as a seismic understatement. The injury-stricken team are unceremoniously tumbling down the division having lost eight from their last eleven league outings including three in succession, while head of recruitment John Still and physio Julien Allwood have both walked away from Victoria Road to embark on opportunities elsewhere.
That the above-mentioned departures haven't even been officially announced by the club somewhat amplifies the emerging discourse between playing personnel and supporters, whose patience is rapidly evaporating in a manner as rapid as their side's season, which begun with such promise yet is now descending into familiar mediocrity. Momentum has shifted to the other extreme - turning the tide is a lot harder than riding the wave. Recurring issues across different segments of the pitch, primarily our own box, has been interspersed with untimely player absences to leave us in this concerning position. Our strongest eleven remains amongst the best in the division but problems arise once that is eroded and we're forced to delve beneath it. McMahon has frequently reiterated a narrative of misfortune yet it's underpinned by a depressing predictability. It was his strategy to operate with a thin squad containing a proportion of historically injury-prone players and the risk has backfired like everybody feared it might. Our demise can be attributed to a multitude of factors that have fused together. Our chronic inability to defend crosses into our box is a problem that never seems to subside and is a key reason why we've only kept a paltry two clean sheets so far. Our tendency to outscore teams was always going to be temporary; our attack is no longer capable of concealing our shortcomings at the other end of the pitch, especially as we continue to lose key players to injury. Another significant moment in our season and something that somewhat foreshadowed our subsequent downfall in the eyes of many was the decision to give McMahon a new three-year deal after just six games. Offering such a lucrative reward for what can retrospectively be viewed as merely a good start, rather than the platform to build on we all hoped, transmitted the wrong message and may have implicitly instilled a more relaxed mentality. All of a sudden, we're one defeat away from dropping into the bottom half. Following our upcoming clash against fellow out-of-form outfit Grimsby Town, we then have a welcome three week break from league action that is punctuated by our entry points to two competitions - the Essex Senior Cup and FA Trophy - between which there is twelve days of valuable recuperation. A second string team will play against Concord Rangers, if we even have the luxury of depth at this stage, while one would also assume we'll rest a few for our logistically arduous trip to Truro City. Those shrink into insignificance, though, compared to the importance of resurrecting our league campaign. Urgent intervention is needed, perhaps through a strategic use of the transfer market, in order to prevent another season of under-performance from occurring. All is not lost but the fanbase are well-versed enough in disappointment to be able to identify when a concerning trend is developing - one glance at our primarily red form guide unfortunately reinforces that.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
WRITERArchives
January 2024
|