Alan Dowson sacked

[KSTDART]

Board Statement: Alan Dowson

Over the years, we have said many times that Dartford Football Club is nothing without the network of supporters, local sponsors, friends and wider community who make the club what it is. The non-league game is very different from the big money business that national football has become and the role of a Board in clubs like ours is very different too. We are all local people who love the club and we try, often against considerable odds, to ensure we serve the community and create opportunities for players and supporters to be part of a friendly and well-run club.

Our current league is competitive and unforgiving. Sometimes results simply don’t reflect the amount of effort and goodwill that individuals put in to secure success. However, one thing we all know about sport is that results matter and part of being custodians of a club like Dartford is the need to always reflect on what’s best for the future.

Dowse’s arrival at Princes Park was widely welcomed by the DFC family and we all looked forward to a period of success on-and-off the field. No one can question the enthusiasm and commitment of Dowse and his wider management team. They are passionate football people through-and-through and on a personal level it has been a pleasure to work with every single one of them.

However, we have to accept that the results have not been forthcoming and the Board has a responsibility to make decisions to focus on progression. The Board has taken the difficult decision to relieve Dowse of his managerial responsibilities for the men's senior team at Princes Park and Tony Burman will take temporary control until a new manager is appointed.

It should go without saying that we thank Dowse and his team for their efforts and wish them all well in whatever they pursue next in football. They will always be welcome guests at Princes Park.

[Mark Sweet]

It's unfortunate it has come to this, I really liked the appointment and his first season at PP was a success, his interviews were, on the whole, positive and it looked like he would be able to push on and again challenge for promotion.

This season has been nothing apart from a failure, interviews have got worse and we have not looked like a team at all. I am still disappointed with how it's ended.

Thank you Dowse, but the board has made the correct decision imo.

The next appointment is crucial.

[Bagdhad Billy]

Amazing news ! Too late to stop us being a mid table side this
year however I am so glad it’s happened!

Part of me would love to see Peter Taylor take charge with
Tom Bonner as his number 2 as it would by far and away the
best football I have ever seen Dartford play when he was player
coach before albeit a long time ago !

COYD’s will be attending the next game now

[Mark Sweet]

Peter Taylor would be such a backwards appointment. Pointless sacking Dowse to get Taylor in.

[Pedro]

Sorry to see Dowse go but inevitable really. Wish him well wherever he goes but hopefully we can make a decent appointment to replace him. I fear that there will need to be a clear out of the squad so whoever comes in will need at least the rest of this season and part of next to settle down and we will just have to be patient.

[Trevor B]

I will always stand behind this current board and appreciate how difficult the decision has been but I must thank them for taking this action and I am sure all of the many long term and current supporters will look forward to seeing Tony in action again until a new manager is appointed.
I can see many fans returning for our next home game and singing out for Tony Burmans Black & White army and it just needs the players to back him and show that they are committing 100% to their performances.

[Grassbank]

I am sad that the Board have felt it necessary to take this action, but I believe it to be the right action and for the best reasons. Dowse came to us with a good reputation and, for whatever reason, his approach has just not worked out this season. Not only have results been disappointing, but the performances have been below the level that the majority of us consider the players on the pitch to be capable of. Something was clearly wrong.

I have no ill feeling towards Dowse or his support team and I wish them well in their next football journey. I am sure that he will be successful again and we may well end up playing against a team of his in future.

I believe that we should applaud and support the action of our Board of Directors. It could not have been an easy action to take. They made the appointment in the best of good faith and I believe that they can feel unfortunate that it did not prove to be more successful for the club. The statement that they have issued shows how strong their belief in the importance of the club within the wider community is. Whilst the wording will have been carefully considered, it has a strong personal feeling to it rather than being a corporate press release. The Board has behaved in a very professional manner, for which we should all be grateful.

Finally, Mr Burman. I am sure that Tony does not particularly relish the challenge that he has been handed, but his continued involvement in the club has provided an immediate interim solution. Tony has a huge amount of goodwill not only at Dartford, but throughout non-league football. I am sure that many people from outside of our club will be hoping that he can stabilise the ship until a permanent appointment is forthcoming. It is now down to us, as supporters, to give Tony, the players and our Board of Directors a renewed vote of confidence by playing our part in the remainder of this season. The Weymouth match is our next home appearance and the first opportunity for many of us to welcome Tony back to the 'top job' once again.

We need to help the team make PP a fortress where away teams know they will face a huge challenge to take even a point from us. Lets do this!

[KentC]

Peter Taylor would be such a backwards appointment. Pointless sacking Dowse to get Taylor in.

Don’t say I agree but maybe his post was more based on emotion, after all it’s been emotionally very tough recently.
Also it’s all about opinions.

[Matt85]

Massive shame it’s had to go this way.
Dowse cannot be faulted for trying to get the club back to where it should be.
Some of that squad and players he showed faith in need to have a long hard look at themselves, will be interesting to see how many of the “injured” lot suddenly find some fitness.
Results don’t lie so this was always inevitable.
Wish Dowse well for the future, hopefully a new young coach gets the job now and we can finish the season on a high.

[KentC]

Don’t share some of the emotion on here for him.
I wish him and his family well and all the best for the future of course.

He criticised the fans, more than once.
Had car crash interviews where the blame went from calling out individual players.
Repeatedly blaming the budget and in my opinion disrespecting the board.
Complaining he doesn’t have feee rain of the COMMUNITY facilities we’re lucky to have that also generates income what ironically would help with finances towards the budget.
Complaining he can’t sign certain players on social media, again disrespecting the board in my opinion.
His side kick Tyler doesn’t help either with blaming plastic pitches and he also repeatedly complaining about or alluding to the budget again.

The fact the teams been poor and his tactics are awful is almost secondary and attendances are declining is a massive issue.

If he just didn’t work out you can say thanks and move on but taking into account everything I said above, he’s disrespected everyone and I’m glad he’s gone.
Nothing sad about it at all he deserved the criticism he got.
It wasn’t just about the football.

Well done board I’m sure it wasn’t easy.

[KentC]

And I can’t wait to get back I’ll be there for the rest of the season at every game I can attend around work

[The Duke]

Dowse had his chance but the his many mistakes surrounding fans , recruitment and results show that getting rid of him was the correct decision and I feel sure that under Tony Burmans stewardship we will consolidate this season and the " Dartford Feel" will come back into the Club , he has mine [ and 100s of others backing ]

We do NOT need to rush into a quick appointment , get in a youngish ,quality , forward thinking Coach [ NO more aged names , Peter Taylor etc ] and build for the future , Darts fans will totally back a genuine , honest guy !!!!!!

Now looking forward to getting back to PP to back a " Tony Burman " team !!!!!

UP THE DARTS

[Sleightly Deceptive]

I’m another who isn’t, now, with a welcome sense of relief, gonna say, “oh well, unlucky, lovely bloke etc etc” though the latter may be true - you get my drift.

It’s a hearty ‘good riddance’ from me with ambivalent feelings for his future. Dowson is singularly responsible for all the bad vibe surrounding this wonderful club and its fantastic loyal supporters.

His all-too-clear poor management went on for far too long. The writing was on the wall when his first ‘move’ was to host a f’kin karaoke! Abysmal signings and letting the likes of Dan Wilks, Jernade Meade and Tom Bonner walk out the door were criminal. His train crash interviews were, at BEST, unprofessional and how many times he threw players (unjustified imho) under the bus and snidely criticised the Board in relation to funds and facilities and not to mention calling us long-suffering fans “forum idiots” - collectively render him a blithering buffoon who additionally caused some supporters to fall out amongst each other.

Being one of those who said, some time ago, that I’m not returning to PP until he’s gone, I’m utterly delighted and the gin bottle is being opened early today! See you all on 27th. Hoping for a bumper ‘statement’ crowd with the returning Yoof and drummer and a hearty belting out of “Tony Burman’s black and white army” and “we’re gonna bounce in a minute!”

[Bagdhad Billy]

Peter Taylor would be such a backwards appointment. Pointless sacking Dowse to get Taylor in.

Was 100% not pointless sacking Dowes regardless of who I would
like to see back at the helm I’m good with a young up and coming
manager as well as a steady hand and TB is of the same ilk of Peter Taylor with regards to experience etc etc so for me it would make no difference if we let TB steady the ship or a Peter Taylor!

It certainly couldn’t get any worse ! Massively under achieving as a squad this year and we might just see with the correct leadership if this team can consistently deliver. We have had some great results against the Yeovil’s of this league just not seen anywhere near often enough…

COyD’s

[Colspaz]

Sad to see Dowse go, he definitely had his heart on his sleeve and spoke what he believed was true unfortunately that cost him the fans support and in the end the club’s support, still plenty of games to get ourselves in the playoffs, so would like a manager appointment for at least until the end of season confirmed soon. We could look for a young coach like Deren Ibrahim knows the club very well, must have decent contacts and could work with TB above him, another name already around the club is Martin McCathy manager of the ladies.

[rambo]

Simply well done The Board, good riddance to a group that were not good enough and welcome back and good luck Tony

Just my pennies worth on a new manager. I put forward the name of Charlie Sherringham who I believe has his coaching badge and I assume he intends to go into management. I hope the Board speak to him , it would be a shame for us if he made it as a manager and bypassed DFC especially as this is a little history of a DFC/ Sherringham connection

[Ajaxman DFC]

For me, in Martin Tyler's last interview not only did he hang himself but took Dowse with him.
To suggest Maidstone's players were disciplined and the substitutions were clever says more about our coaching staff than theirs. To listen to him you'd think the pair of them had only been appointed a few weeks ago.
I was delighted when Dowse was appointed. He ticked all the boxes. But when a tradesman starts blaming his tools on a regular basis it's hard to take.
Maidstone are nothing special. They got relegated, had to cut their cloth accordingly and reverted back to being part time. They also appointed an untried manager leaving people thinking 'George who?' But they are also on a bloody good cup run. Were the lowest ranked side in the third round and they're still in it.
So now we really are rudderless, sailing into the unknown. And going backwards, back in time.
I will say this about Tony Burman though. Providing he hasn't lost his edge, the players will know they've been in a training session before the next game.
We've never quite had the quality compared to some of the players who have graced Princes Park in recent years but Burman took a team of crack commandos into the National League.
Fast forward to last Tuesday night and we had some highly skilled individuals on dispay but at the end of the day the fixture might just as well have been billed as Maidstone United v National League South XI.

[Spike]

It must have been a tough call for our board, but as always, they have made a decision in the best interests of DFC. Dowse was ruining our club with his relentless negativity both on and off the pitch and was entirely responsible for the apathy epidemic that has infected the terraces like a cancer this season. If his football wasn't bad enough, his interviews were considerably worse, comprising of relentless criticisms of everyone and everything at our club, backed up with a litany of excuses for his own failures. Dowse lost me before this season even started, when he was constantly prattling on about how everything was going to be harder this year and coming up with all sorts of reasons why we should struggle to achieve anything, and then wondered why players changed their minds about joining us. He even admitted that his primary goal was to lower the fans expectations. Well, in that respect ... mission accomplished.

It's not nice to take pleasure from someone losing their job, but if truth be told, I was really happy to hear this news and for the first time this season, am excitedly looking forward to the next game. I don't mean to be unkind, but that is truthfully how I feel. Whilst Dowse's recruitment has been woeful, I feel as though the players we have are capable of a lot more than we have seen so far. For the first time this season I feel optimistic and I will definitely be making the trip down to Plymouth to cheer on Tony Burman's Darts against Truro next Tuesday.

[Hitchin Dart79]

It’s the right decision (also was the right decision to appoint him imo) and who knows who comes in now but it can’t be any worse than the previous 6 months of mediocrity!

[old git]

I feel a sence of relief that Dowse has gone, and now fresh hope for the future. I will now listen to TB`s post match interviews, pleased that they will be understandable. TB will steady the sicking ship, and give us all something to shout about. COYD`s