Our next tip is for 13th place - the place we often refer to as top of the next page on teletext. For this spot, we've opted for Dagenham and Redbridge.
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13th - Dagenham |
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If there'd been any justice at all last season, then Dagenham would have made the play offs. Not in a "Dagenham deserved it but Shrewsbury didn't" sort of way as Salop picked up a 2-0 victory on the final day in their very own version of the "It's up for grabs now" match but at times last season, Dagenham were sensational and without doubt the surprise package of the season.
You could point to Exeter for their automatic promotion in their first season after promotion from the Conference, but Dagenham were the absolute outsiders, tipped by one and all for relegation, and had it not been for a terrible spell of injuries, then they may even have threatened the automatic promotion places.
We had John Still down as your archetypal journeyman manager. Decent at getting sides into the League but once there, never did anything with them. He'd been the same at Barnet and if anything, all the signs were that he was yesterday's man - you'd certainly not have down as the up and coming type
But his Dagenham side from last season came out of nowhere and Still did an excellent job in assembling a side put together on a pittance that could battle their way against any side in the division, without having to resort to kick and rush tactics along the way.
Is he capable of repeating that success? Well history would suggest no he isn't without wanting to totally dismiss him as a manager. Last season was no fluke, its just repeating it may test Still's abilities to the extreme.
There were many aspects to their success last season that have unfortunately for fans of the Daggers moved on to pastures new. Strevens has gone off to Brentford, as has Saunders and Foster, Richards returned to Pompey before going to Notts County which will be a real blow, as he stood out against ourselves last time out. Jon Boardman has left to join Woking, but am sure that somehow they'll battle through without his services.
One player who has remained is striker Paul Benson. He was one of the stars of League Two last season, and few would have predicted that he'd still be at the Victoria Road ground this next season. After his 21 goals, there's been widespread interest with Brentford, Gillingham and Shrewsbury all having made bids for the former White Ensign striker.
But Benson has remained with the club. Whether than continues to be the case, we shall see by the end of August, but for now, all the indications are that he is happy where he is, and whilst he is there, no opposition will fully relax when they're up against D&R.
As for the new signings, we must confess to knowing very little about them. They've signed a defender from Arsenal, slightly cheaper than the Arsenal defender who has signed for City. Abu Ogogo joins after a nine game spell at Barnet last season which brought two red cards. They've also brought three others in from the non league circuit, two of which haven't played league football before.
So they'll be up against it again this time round, and despite the fact that there's still a fair bit of quality left within that squad, it's impossible to look upon that squad as being as strong as it was last year and therefore we can't see them finishing as high as they did last time round. And if Benson was to depart early on, we'd have serious reservations about them finishing where we have them down to. |
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