After the slight improvement from Saturday’s game in the cup against Morecambe. There was a little glimmer of hope that I had after witnessing a hard working performance, especially from our midfield and at times our defence. Having walked away on Saturday, despite the disappointment of not winning, I had seen enough to believe there might be a light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. Knowing that although we hadn’t created much, the signs were there, that we were becoming stronger in other areas and the likelihood would be that the confidence gained from the clean sheet would transfer itself to the rest of the team.
Unfortunately all that hope was thrown back in the bin after last nights performance against Oxford in the JPT.
My heart sank as soon as I heard the line up and the inclusion of Ashley Chambers in the starting eleven. It got worse though as soon it became apparent that Jodi Jones didn’t even make the bench.
When Wayne Burnett first took over as manager he spoke about the sort of players he liked to watch. I remember him stating at the time how much he liked players who excited him, players who made him get off his seat, players who can dribble and make things happen. My question to Wayne is, does he really think we have that sort of player in Ashley Chambers. When Jodi Jones gets the ball the crowd gets up and they are hopeful he can do something, even if it is cutting inside and having a shot with his left foot. When Mulraney gets the ball there is a sense of hope and a belief around the ground that he will make something happen, Hemmings, on his day has the same effect on the fans, but with Chambers everytime he gets the ball I have no confidence that he is going to deliver anything, and what is worse he doesn’t look as though he believes he will deliver anything either.
When he does get the ball I do shout “go on Ash”, in the hope he will do something, unfortunately on most occasions his runs end in no end product. Yesterday was a perfect example, at one point in the first half he picked up the ball ran at the defence and then, I shit you not he he just stopped to look about a bit. He eventually passed the ball back, and we lost possession.
At the start of the game I guessed that Chambers would start on the right wing. It tops up though he wasn’t starting there and in fact seemed to be in his number ten role, I thought this was a bit strange as our formation looked terribly unbalanced, at one point it seemed Chambers was our most advanced player. I was scratching my head. After about 15 minutes or so Chambers eventually began to drift to the right wing. I have said before that I really don’t think Ashley should be a right winger, he just has not got the positional sense to play there. He never makes a run down the wing, he never crosses the ball and by the end of every game he has ended up at right back. Even at a throw in he never looks for the ball. He reminds me of a Sasquatch, plodding about the pitch and every now and again you see him peering around a tree, the tree in this case being an opposition’s defender.
Don’t get me wrong I am not blaming the defeat last night on Ashley Chambers. I was just under the impression that this was a game we wanted to win, so if that was the case why does he constantly get picked and asked to do this creative job that he is quite obviously not up to. I don’t dislike Chambers and I want him to do well but how many chances do you give someone when there is obviously better options within the squad.
It was a poor performance last night, with probably only Labadie and Dunne coming out of it with any credibility. I thought Mulraney did well when he came on and Dikamona did himself no harm when he came on for Ayo. The rest of the team however should have a a long hard look at themselves, as their performances were well below the expected level required.
It is hard to find any more positives from the game and it is probably best to put the result and performance behind us and concentrate on getting an away win at Morecambe in the cup next Tuesday.
I really thought that Saturday was a step in the right direction and I thought if we just added a bit of creativity we would be able to push on. After that , last night though, I am struggling to find a modicum of positivity to cling to, that will give me hope of a win next week.
On the way home last night my 10 year old son asked me if we could roll down the Pondfield hill next time the Daggers win at home. I told him that by the time Daggers next win at home he will probably be in his 20’s so he won’t have to ask me.
I am writing this the day after and was hoping I would see things a bit differently, Unfortunately I don’t. At this moment I am a very, very frustrated fan who is gradually having the positivity sucked out of him.
I still believe it will get better eventually, I just hope it happens sooner rather than later!!
Up the Daggers!!
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