There was inevitably going to be interest in the Daggers’ squad after an unexpected 8th place finish in League 2. However the worst-case scenario occurred when almost all of the out-of-contract players were plundered by other clubs, leaving John Still with a significant rebuilding job on his hands.
Ben Strevens, Sam Saunders and Danny Foster all decided on Brentford as their destination after a drawn-out saga, all 3 players being courted by numerous suitors. Ben Strevens had already been the subject of a January bid from Wycombe but after talking with John Still this was declined in order to see out the season at Victoria Road. At this time it is rumoured he rejected a contract extension although the club have never revealed the details.
It would be a little harsh to suggest that Ben rejected this move in order to secure himself a bigger signing-on fee at the end of the season; at the time it was far from certain that Wycombe would win promotion. With several other sides also interested, it seemed Ben himself was courting Exeter and had plenty to say on the matter:
“Exeter was lovely and every time I have played there the fans have seemed to be really good. I have got the utmost repsect for what the gaffer has done there. Back-to-back promotions is brilliant and I think they will do well again in League One. I like playing football and Exeter were one of the best footballing side we played against last year. If I was there I would enjoy playing for Exeter.”
This was probably not the best way to ingratiate himself with the Brentford fans. Danny Foster and Sam Saunders similarly had plenty of clubs queuing up for their signatures. Danny rejected two other offers to sign for the Bees, and made it clear that there was only one move he was interested in:
“I had a few other offers but Brentford was by far the best and the only place I was really interested in coming to. I think it’s a big club – growing up you always knew who Brentford were. I’m used to playing in front of small crowds at Dagenham and compared to that Brentford is a massive club.”
Whilst Ben has been quoted speaking of his fondness for his time with the Daggers, Sam Saunders has probably been the most positive of the trio:
“They were my first proper club. I’ll certainly be looking for their result first after Brentford’s next season. Everyone from the tea lady to the kitman to the fans and the other boys were brilliant at Dagenham. We used to joke with the fans that we were a pub team from Essex and I will miss that but Brentford is a big club.”
Despite the kind words spoken about the club upon their departure, could the Daggers expect a little more from 3 players they plucked from non-league? Despite a decent spell at Crawley, a broken cheekbone meant Strevens was unlikely to be attracting much attention from any League clubs. Sam Saunders was signed from Carshalton and took several years of work to become a regular goalscorer and performer on the right flank, and Danny Foster was given a chance as a 20-year-old upon his release from Spurs.
Whilst it is true that none of these players were earning high wages, it is probably also true that very few, if any, other clubs would have given them the chance to showcase their talents at the top of the Conference and in the Football League. You cannot blame any of them for wanting to further themselves, but surely some form of compensation for their development is warranted. The reward for developing these players was promotion to the Football League for the first time ever, but the players also got this reward and then some with their moves to an even higher level.
An amount, regardless of how small, was on offer for Strevens in January and you would expect that the level of interest in the players could have raised a fee. Take the example of Stevenage’s Steve Morison. With clubs clearly interested in his services, he agreed to sign a 1 year contract in January with the agreement that he could leave should the club fail to win promotion. When the club failed, they actively helped him seek a move and obtained a £130k transfer fee from Millwall.
Of course nobody would pay this sort of money for any of the Daggers’ trio, but surely an agreement could have been reached to allow the players to leave for a token £20k per man? If League 1 clubs aren’t willing to pay this low fee, then that probably shows how much they care about making the signing. Even raising £60k would have helped a club like ours which has to count the pennies in order to survive. All three players have made a step up and got sizeable wage rises, but the club are left with half a team and no money.
The final player to have taken his chance and left we have ignored until now: Magnus Okuonghae. Going nowhere prior to his time with the Daggers and then spending his first season out injured, it is fair to say Magnus has got far more out of the club than the club got from him. Without even telling the club of his decision, he turned up and signed for Colchester upon expiry of his contract. With the Us not willing to pay anywhere near the amount the Daggers valued the player at, the fee will now be decided by a tribunal. Whilst the club will get a fee (probably much lower than the player’s true worth), at least the other three handled themselves with some class. Maybe money isn’t everything.
