Peter Taylor's post Christmas sacking put the postage stamp on a decade of mostly misery for Dagenham and Redbridge. Really, the manager's departure had been inevitable for a long while now but where did it go wrong for the former England caretaker?
People often point to a lot of things when a manager is sacked. Poor man management, baffling team selection and a poor relationship with supporters are just a few of the things that often get said. For me, the two most important things to a manager being successful are their philosophy and the players that they bring in to implement it. Those in charge who often bite the bullet normally get at least one of them two things wrong. Those who succeed normally nail both parts.
Case in point, let's go back to the glory days when John Still led the Daggers to two promotions in 4 seasons. A John Still team back then was easy to pinpoint. No nonsense centre backs who could defend, full backs adept at playing balls into the channels, energetic warriors in midfield, direct, fearless wingers and two strikers to form a deadly partnership; one of whom was a good hold up man and another who possessed intelligent movement. You can all envisage the players who took up these positions. Still's turnover of his squad was also exceptional. Despite losing key men such as Danny Foster, Sam Saunders and Ben Strevens one summer, Still brought in players who matched, and added to, the attributes of those who had left. Abu Ogogo, Danny Green and Josh Scott all played their part in the club's rise to League One; the last success that the club had experienced to date. What was also impressive was how Still reacted to critical injuries. Stuart Thurgood having to retire could have derailed the club's promotion season, yet Romain Vincelot was unearthed as a midfield dynamo. The season prior saw Paul Benson ruled out for the majority of the campaign but Jon Nurse stepped up to be an ideal partner for Ben Strevens' most prolific season.
A clear example of recruitment being pivotal to success is through looking at Wayne Burnett's tenure. The current Spurs U23 coach does not evoke warm feelings from the majority of fans largely down to his demeanour and the way in which he responded to criticism. Still was a master manipulator of the media whereas Burnett was certainly not. However, in a different world, the Daggers could have achieved success under Wayne Burnett. It was clear to anybody that he was a talented coach who wanted to imprint a possession based style of football on the club. With such a technical ideology though requires a specific type of player. Centre backs who can carry the ball into midfield and pass out from the back, midfielders comfortable under pressure, attacking players able to change a gear and break down compact defences.
After dicing with relegation, Burnett had a summer to recruit. It's fair to say that he already had a talented spine at the club in Luke Wilkinson, Scott Doe, Abu Ogogo, Billy Bingham and Luke Howell. Following an underwhelming season, Josh Scott, Jake Reed and Brian Woodall were moved on with Rhys Murphy and Zavon Hines coming in. They proved the be the jewels in the crown; the difference makers. I could be sitting here writing about a promotion season right now...except for the fact that both Murphy and Hines suffered season ending injuries and the Daggers finished in 9th. Two players not easy to replace. Who knows whether Dominic Samuel might have been that man had he not been injured during an impressive debut? Unfortunately, Ashley Chambers and Blair Turgott were not up to the standard of Hines and the Daggers season fizzled out.
Whilst it's hard to blame Burnett for that, the recruitment over the following two seasons is baffling when you consider the way in which the manager wanted to play. In what way was Nyron Nosworthy the progressive, ball-playing centre back that the club needed? How did Damien Batt meet the criteria of a modern day full-back? What did Burnett see in Matt McClure that made him believe he would be as prolific as Rhys Murphy? The much maligned manager did get the odd transfer right with Andre Boucaud being a perfect composed possession master for a Burnett team and Jamie Cureton hitting the goals that stopped the club from seriously flirting with danger during the 2014/15 season. However, too many poor in-comings eventually cost Burnett his job. It says a lot that he ended his final season relying on teenage prodigy Jodi Jones to bail him out of games with occasional moments of magic rather than having a team capable of breaking and wearing down the opposition. Whilst hamstrung with a minuscule budget, Burnett ultimately paid the price for bringing in 'the leftovers' rather than looking lower down the footballing pyramid for the type of enthusiastic young warriors that typified the successful Daggers teams of the past. This is a clear example of how the recruitment stopped matching the philosophy.
We all know how the next part of the story goes by now, I'm sure. John Still returned and didn't save the club from relegation to the National League. However, what he did do was get his recruitment spot on in the first 12 months. Still's philosophy had been moulded somewhat doing his spell at Luton where he had the luxuries of Andre Gray spearheading an attack with a clever number ten in the form of Luke Guttridge threading intelligent passes and getting on the scoresheet every other game. For the Daggers, Oliver Hawkins became an excellent focal point for the team whilst the likes of Fejiri, Corey Whitely and Jordan Maguire-Drew were dynamic and possessed the quality and fearlessness to break down stern defences. However, this time, Still wasn't able to adapt quite as well when the injuries hit. Chike Kandi proved not to be up to scratch when leading the line in Hawkins' absence whilst Craig Robson's makeshift move to centre mid was only partially successful in Matt Robinson's absence. The following season saw Still make two critical mistakes with his recruitment. The first was a failure to buy a specialist left back and the second was to not replace the guile of Luke Guttridge behind the striker. Still's team instead became incredibly unbalanced; capable of devastating attacking play but also rather lopsided and easy to get at. As it is, we'll never know how the Daggers would have done had their season not been majorly disrupted by financial problems. One thing for sure is that they never would have seriously threatened a title challenge due to inconsistency. A successful John Still side always had leaders and 'men' at the back and this team certainly didn't. Another example of where recruitment let a good manager down.
This brings me on to Peter Taylor. It's not completely fair to judge his first summer where he had to bring in and mould a group of youngsters into a resolute team capable of competing for points. However, I will say that he recruited excellently when he had access to an improve budget by bringing in Angelo Balanta, Manny Onariase, Jack Munns and Conor Wilkinson. In terms of a philosophy, Taylor is from the old school in that he likes his teams to be compact, controlled, clean sheet machines. That isn't to say that he doesn't like creativity or flair but it's not a lie to say that he would rather not lose a game than gamble for a victory. Onariase helped shore up a previously leaky defence whilst Balanta and Wilkinson, in particular, helped add the quality down the other end of the pitch. The season ended in mixed fashion with the squad being exposed to a few injuries which led to results and performances bouncing from one extreme to another.
With backing from the new owners and a license to bring in his own players, the recruitment over the summer was key. Starting at the top, it would be a blow for any side to lose a player of Conor Wilkinson's calibre at this level. However, Taylor had a long time to bring in a goal grabber and he categorically failed at that with the purchases of Joe Quigley and Reece Grant. Neither possess enough impetus or presence to unsettle a defence in the way that Wilkinson did. When you look at who other sides in the division signed up front during the summer, it rankles that we wasted a big chunk of our budget on these two players. The next critical error were the purchases in the wide areas. Playing Taylor's favoured 4-4-1-1 formation required two wingers balanced enough to defend and provide. Ultimately, a mess was made in signing James Dobson and Joan Luque. Neither have any interest in defending and therefore immediately unbalance the side. If they're on their game, they both possess credible attacking threat but neither have maintained any form of consistency throughout the season. As for Bagasan Graham, the less said, the better.
The central area is one part of the pitch in which I think Taylor recruited well. The season prior saw a very pedestrian midfield duo in Robinson and Wright for the most part and it was an area that needed dynamism and goal threat. The Daggers signed both of these in the form of Harold Otamatey and Mitch Brundle. Losing Otamatey for almost the entirety of the season along with ideal replacement Harry Phipps has been dreadful luck and isn't something that the manager can really be blamed for. In their absence, Robinson and Brundle have been passable without ever really shining. Arguably both are left exposed and are forced to relinquish their position far too often by the wide men's failure to track back which is the real criminal piece of Taylor's recruitment here. In terms of the defence, Taylor settled on four players (Croll, Clark, Onariase, Wright) whose first instincts are to defend, which fits in with his compact philosophy.
However, despite there being a plethora of injuries, the one which really killed Peter Taylor was that of Angelo Balanta. The number 10 was the hub of everything good that the Daggers did. Comfortable on the half-turn and adept at finding space between the lines, Balanta was the link man for nearly all of the Daggers attacking play. When he succumbed to injury, Taylor should have been looking for an immediate replacement. Ultimately, it took far too long for him to bring Sam Deering in. Whilst a debut injury to the former Billericay man was unfortunate, it just further outlined the poor summer recruitment in the forward and wide areas. Pressure has mounted and the team stopped doing the basics well; especially from set pieces and crosses which was the foundation for a lot of the goals conceded.
When problems surface, solutions are needed yet Taylor did not changed his approach despite not having the personnel to perform in the style that he wanted. Right until his position was almost untenable, Taylor persisted with a back four. One solution could have been to have played a back three with wings backs (Liam Gordan and Andrew Eleftheriou would have been ideal here) and two strikers. This would have rid us of the inconsistencies from the likes of Luque, Dobson, Graham and Kandi in the wide forward areas. Only right at the death did Taylor attempt something along these lines although it was more of a 3-4-3 which once again highlighted the lack of quality in these attacking wide players.
If the manager was so determined to play with this more advanced central midfielder, then I am baffled as to why he did not give Dobson a go in this role. The wide man is lamented for his defending but this role would have freed him of that responsibility whilst allowing him to strike from range and play between the lines. Those who did get a go in the role such as Alex McQueen do not possess the vision or guile to effectively replace a player as influential as Balanta. That's not to say that Dobson would have been a revelation. His one footedness would certainly have seen him frustrate at times but I certainly believe it to have at least been a logical choice; a trait that was sorely lacking in the decision making during the final weeks of Taylor's tenure.
Ultimately, we move into 2020 with a fractured team and our direction unknown. The season is over in terms of our ambition but is not concluded in terms of survival. In the hope that we do confirm our position in this division next year, I just hope that the new man recruits wisely in the summer around the style of play that he wishes to implement. It's been too long since supporters of Dagenham and Redbridge have been able to clearly explain the team's identity. Let's hope that a new decade represents a fresh start in that respect.
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