It’s around the time where all the rugrats are writing their Christmas lists to post to Santa, whilst protesting how well behaved they’ve been throughout the year. Well, the Daggers have been pretty well behaved compared to most of the little buggers we’ve encountered, so hopefully the big bearded wonder can deliver a few things for us.

A fully fit Josh Scott

Josh was signed to replace the departing Ben Strevens and has had a marvellous impact. With Mark Nwokeji and Hakeem Araba injured, and Jon Nurse possessing the presence of a gnat, Josh has already become a key player. His physical attributes of pace and strength are matched by his fierce shot and ability to hold the ball up. We are simply a much better team when he plays, but unfortunately for us he has been limited to twelve starts from twenty games due to niggling injury problems. If he can stay fit for the majority of the season we will pose a much greater attacking threat, not least because it should revitalise Benson’s game. Any evidence required can be found in yesterday’s game against Bury.

A settled side

With well under half the season gone, we are already onto our third left-back, third right-back, and umpteenth midfield permutation. Scott Doe’s early-season performances at right back left the way open for Abu Ogogo, but his red card at Macclesfield meant Chelsea loanee Nana Ofori-Twumasi got the nod. With regular left-back Scott Griffiths leaving the club, Matt Lockwood and now Jamie Day have attempted to fill the void. The midfield is perhaps the worst case though – already nine different players have started league games in our midfield with several others getting a chance from the bench. Gain has constantly been shifted from the left wing to the middle, Spiller’s injury problems have caused him to miss the majority of games, and more recently the loan signings of Miller and Currie have yet to make a real impact. We desperately need to find a blend that works, and then be lucky enough for it to stay intact until May.

An uneventful transfer window

As usual, there is plenty of speculation regarding the club’s young stars with the January transfer window approaching. Josh Scott is clearly the star turn at Victoria Road at the moment, but rumour has it that Danny Green is attracting attention. Scott Doe may slip under the radar due to early-season form but his games at centre back have been excellent. We really could do without losing any more players – you would hope we don’t need the money after recent sales and if we have any promotion ambitions, we can’t allow anybody else to leave until the summer. One thing we could do with though is a morale-boosting signing. Darren Currie is apparently signing but he will do little to set the place alight if his early form is anything to go by. Just a single exciting arrival could be just the boost we need to take us into the new year in good form.

Promotion?

Even discussing this possibility seems ridiculous considering our budget, but there is no point in coming this far and not daring to dream. Our club is the size of a Conference outfit, but could we ply our trade in League One next season? The players and management are doing a great job and the win against Bury was a superb return to winning ways. If we can carry this forwards and avoid any more dips in form, then there is no reason that we can’t finish in the top 7. And then, anything can happen!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.