The Petrol Light Had Been Flashing; Now We've Broken Down.
Daryl McMahon’s side
losing 1-3 to a Notts County team that weren’t only down to ten men – but without
a recognised keeper – was a new low for the Daggers. This time, he and his
players just couldn’t get to the petrol station in time to save themselves from
breaking down [defeat] and in this case, embarrassment.
The Warning Signs:
These games are reminiscent of those
under Peter Taylor, where our away record was horrific, so much so – you were
resigned to the fact we’d lose away. Or, if not, a point was always a valuable
one on the road.
Now, Daryl McMahon has sought to change
this mentality but he hasn’t (as of yet) – you may suggest he should’ve done by
now and he has therefore failed. But, we’ll get onto his part in this demise
later.
The inconsistency is the problem, and
where the frustration comes for many; we play well in games like the FA Cup
ties and Torquay away – also picking up a win in the league. But, then we put
in the types of performances previously mentioned! Now, we even do this within
games – this Jekyll & Hyde nature of performing I’ve referenced previously.
This nature has seemed to take a
different form of late, in that we go behind due to constant slow starts –
sometimes two goals down, like at Wrexham – before then putting up a fight.
This almost self-sabotage of giving ourselves a disadvantage before playing how
we should; is costing us time and again.
Only this time we were unable to claw
back, despite the circumstances seemingly in our favour, that I’ll outline next
below. As McMahon and the players’ luck finally ran out at Meadow Lane.
The Breakdown:
Images like those below show how on
Tuesday night, Notts County and their ‘new hero of a keeper’ Doyle were lauded
with praise by national outlets, but by the same token – Dagenham & Redbridge
were ridiculed.
The focus of National League ridicule
this week, were the Daggers, being described as ‘mannequins’ following their
disastrous showing at Meadow Lane – in amongst the frost – this defeat really
did bite.
So, unlike just 3 days prior in North
Wales, the Daggers were unable to salvage a point against a team where a 5’8 midfielder
took up the role between the sticks. We speak of ‘papering over the cracks’ but
then some say ‘no, it was just great character, fight, determination and desire’
that rescues us in the end.
I saw none of those traits on Tuesday,
zero. Now, I mentioned McMahon at the beginning of my piece, and we’ll get onto
him in good time – after his belated post-match interview – for the time being,
I’d like to focus on the players.
For all the arguments, at the end of
the day, those 11 (later to be 14 in all) players went out onto that pitch and as
soon as they cross the ruled lines of the football pitch – it’s over to them.
They put on what some would see as a comedy; but for us supporters it was a
horror show of the very finest order.
We started okay and then a lapse in
concentration just threw us off, after merely 600 seconds of action, from there
on in we just wanted to get out of the Nottinghamshire cold. As McMahon said (I
agree with his analysis but we’ll move to his failings shortly), ‘we looked
scared’.
Paul McCallum missing a penalty
really was just the beginning of a dire 75 minutes of football and I won’t go
into detail as it’s painful to relive as I type this – but, it was one of the worst
performances many supporters have seen from players in a Dagenham & Redbridge
shirt.
 |
| My reaction following the awful display on Tuesday. |
The players who came out of that game
with any credibility (some may be closing the article at this point, but hear
me out!) were the goal-scorer Matt Robinson and substitute George Saunders. It
was an embarrassing display and the Magpies relished every second as they revelled
in the heroic shift they were putting in – with ten men and no goalkeeper.
 |
| Matt Robinson took to Twitter following the disappointing defeat |
In The Driver’s Seat: Daryl
McMahon
‘Why is he still here?’
one supporter commented ‘He’s clearly lost the dressing room’ concluded another.
The urge for the
Irishman, who occupies the Manager’s office at Dagenham & Redbridge, to
leave – reached boiling point on Tuesday. Even myself, a supporter of McMahon’s
and an optimistic (some may say far TOO optimistic at times) Dagger – was left
with nothing to defend what was the indefensible.
His decisions on like-for-like substitutions
and persisting with three centre backs on the pitch baffled me on Tuesday –
rendering me speechless.
I kept my phone close to my possession
for the entirety of Wednesday; thinking that there was a possibility of a club
statement being released. There are often angry comments after games with ‘McMahon
Out’ and what not, understandably so as your team is losing: you are left
frustrated and upset.
But. Tuesday’s performance would have
met the threshold, in my view, for a manager to be relieved of his duties given
our league position – so I didn’t miss any potential news of a sacking; I
checked my phone throughout the day.
The announcement didn’t come, I must
say I would’ve been - not shocked – but surprised if it did. The issue of
sacking McMahon, it’s not an easy decision of course to sack anybody, but his
side have shown signs throughout the season of reaching the levels expected. Therefore,
I see it as a bigger predicament as first thought; once you scratch the
surface.
This is the most frustrating part, we
have seen what they are capable of – but the Daggers so rarely showcase it and
this leads to the levels of inconsistency we’ve seen.
What’s this got to do with the
manager? He has cited excuses, fairly reasonable ones, of injuries and COVID
for the inconsistent team selection and what not. This does unfortunately lead
to minor inconsistencies in performance, but, not to the level we’ve seen
recently. These are indefensible.
He has assembled a squad of players
he wanted, with a generous budget, and can’t manage to get a tune out of his
squad consistently. Now, I know player availability is an issue this season
(for all clubs) but he could stick with a formation – could he not?
On this idea of changing the
mentality of the club, I see it as a smaller-club mentality if you’re changing
your team and formation to suit the opposition – when, we should be the ones
bold and confident; sticking to our own playing style. I accept against a few
of the big teams you’ll have no choice but to do this: but not every game!
This approach could explain in part
the timid nature McMahon has criticised his players of having, wanting them to
be bold and confident – admittedly, as he said, that comes with winning games.
But, I just look to last season – as I know many do – and simply scratch my
head.
Where has this ‘on the front foot’
and attacking approach from when Daryl first took over gone? Surely, with
supposedly better players at his disposal; they should at least be matching
those performance levels – but they just haven’t been matched.
Player Responsibility + Sacking Realistic?
Abu Ogogo brought a bit more of this
ruthless nature to the line-up, and with that fight for the badge, Abu having been
in one of the best Daggers sides ever previously. However, it seems since his
departure there has been none of that and again, using McMahon’s very words – ‘these
are the basics’.
The minimum he and the fans expect is
for players to work hard and fight for the badge, as I said, I only ever saw
Matt Robinson do that on Tuesday in all honesty. Now, the players are the only
ones that can do that themselves, but part of a manager’s job is to motivate
the players – has Daryl really implemented his intent and this mentality on the
dressing room?
Some go as far to say he has lost the
dressing room… now I’m not sure on that and only time will tell, but for the players
not to even show that fight we’ve seen previously – it was a new low. This hard
work is a minimum expectation, putting aside the sheer lack of quality on
display from these players.
I say time will tell, how much time
will he be given? Now, when I look at wanting a manager to be sacked: I look at
the results and performances, can they turn it around and is there a viable
replacement. I’d say that with Darren Currie, a possible replacement, waiting
in the wings to return to football management and recent performances – you’d
say that it’d be right to sack him and get Currie in.
However, on the second question, (I
know it isn’t the case for everyone and that’s why they want him gone) I am yet
to decide whether he can turn it around. Though, I acknowledge McMahon has to
start backing up the talk with action; he’s saying a lot of the right things
but we’re just not seeing it play out on the pitch.
The Jumpstart: Just how can we improve?
I’ve had my
say on the sacking situation and that is one way you can get out of a rut: but since
we’ve hit rock bottom, in my view, the only way is up (whatever the decision
taken). So, the question is more, how far can we bounce back now and how do we best
do that?
Matt Robinson,
the only player to speak following Tuesday, said that we ‘must bounce back’ against
Hartlepool – a win against them would start that process. But, we’d need a good
run to repair the damage done by such a humiliating loss against Notts County.
Joey Jones, is
he the answer? The defensive player seemed to breathe new life into the side
and sure up the back line; he is said to be close to return. But can he sort
out those defensive problems, as we are yet to replace Manny Onariase in my
opinion?
Look, I could
go on… but the only people who can change our fate are the players and to an
extent the manager. If the players aren’t prepared to show the fight,
determination and Daggers spirit (which is the minimum expectation) then you can
expect McMahon out of a job and the team in aperilous position.
I’ll end it
there,but being five points off relegation and with a discontent (to say the
least) fanbase: the hard work for the players needs to begin.
Thanks for
reading,
Keane
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