Dartford v Slough Town Tue 5 Sep 2023

[Lennylenny]

Parklife summed it up tonight , it’s dinosaur football that went out in the 80,s.We can save money by sacking the grounds man as what is the point of a lovely pitch when we just hoof it anywhere? Football is very fickle and so are fans, to me he has Saturday and Welling to buy himself some time.

[Tony H]

Parklife summed it up tonight , it’s dinosaur football that went out in the 80,s.We can save money by sacking the grounds man as what is the point of a lovely pitch when we just hoof it anywhere? Football is very fickle and so are fans, to me he has Saturday and Welling to buy himself some time.

Totally agree he’s got the next two games!

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Aye, but how many times are we gonna say, ‘he’s got two games?’ IMHO he’s had more than his ‘two games.’ He simply has to go now. Two games? He may draw both and ‘save his ass’ and stay. Then lose two more? That’s too far. Get rid of the cause of the toxicity now. Get in someone who can bring the best out of a good bunch of players and ship out the deadwood. It’s bloody awful and I’m not wasting any more time or money on travelling to watch this shite!

[Spike]

I have frequently been described as one of the "rose tinters" on here, but if I'm going to keep that reputation, Dowse really has to give me something to work with. I'm sorry, but the style of football we are playing is simply horrible to watch and there is absolutely zero flair or creativity in our play. There is no pleasure to be taken from the football in our games, even the two that we won. Fans might put up with this neanderthal football if there are frequent victories at the end of it, but anything less than a win is otherwise guaranteed to be a painful experience. I've been to every game so far this season and the only one where we played anything resembling entertaining football was the first hour against Bath. Since then it's been a chore to watch, there's nothing to raise the spirits, nobody to cheer for, no quality, just lump it upfield and hope we can nick enough goals from long throws and corners to outscore the errors at the back.

Dowse has a massive job on his hands to sort this mess out. He does have quite a few decent players in the squad, but it does feel like one of those grabby claw machines in the amusement arcade has just scooped up a large handful of players and dumped them in his lap. There's a lot of good parts there but we don't yet seem to have figured out how it all fits together. However, whilst that is a major problem, my first piece of advice would be to stop doing interviews forthwith and give the job to Christian Jolley who speaks very well and is always constructive. Dowse's interviews are a car crash (usually involving a bus under which people get thrown) and every time he gives one my heart sinks a little bit further. I'm fed up with hearing about 12 or so clubs have a bigger budget and how the league is going to be so much harder this year. Neither do I want to hear all this stuff about "fixing the club" as this is utter nonsense as the club isn't and wasn't broken. Yes, it's true that the previous manager had alienated too many club officials, staff and volunteers to continue in the role, but that problem was fixed the moment he departed. Dowse has certainly brought the academy back into the fold, which is great, but the club is running very nicely thank you and Dowse's job is to fix the TEAM, not the club. His pre-season interviews were so negative and uninspiring that I can't imagine it helped attract players and I suspect he must have knocked a few dozen off the gate. Calling out the supporters on this forum as idiots probably isn't helping matters either, although having watched all the games and made costly trips to Weymouth and Taunton he could be right on that one.

Finally, Dowse keeps referring to the "Dartford mentality" as if it was some kind of shortcoming inherent in the club, that he is battling to overcome. I have no idea what he is talking about, but whatever "mentality" we have at our club has seen us produce considerably better teams playing vastly superior football than we are seeing currently. Suffice to say that whilst we only lasted 3 seasons in the level above and have subsequently fallen short in the play-offs, we have consistently been up and around the top of this division for several years. People are not going to swallow the notion that we are suddenly minnows at this level and accept that notion as justification for our current shortcomings on the pitch.

[DA Mikey]

Where’s Colin Hunt when you need him!?

[Top Cat]

I’ve seen some poor teams over the years , but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so bad as that rabble last night . The local pub team would of been embarrassed at that performance . No more excuses A D , your recruitment , your coaching , your tactics , your training , your mess . You need to sort it or this is going to be a very long painful season .

[Tony H]

Totally agree with everything you say Spike, and as always (as with PL) a very well constructed opinion. But what next? Do we stick or twist? Obviously as fans, whilst we can express an opinion, it influences nothing and any decision will, and should, be made by the Board.

I’ll restate my opinion based upon what I’ve seen on the pitch so far this season and that is that Dowse should resign or the Board give him an ultimatum. If that is to be two, three, four games then so be it BUT I can’t see that that will make any difference. Act now is what I think whilst there’s time to get things right or else the decline will continue.

I have decided that I won’t be travelling to St Albans on Saturday nor will I probably cut my holiday short and travel home to see the Welling cup tie. Obviously any of us can vote with our feet but, after last nights game I feel as miserable this morning as I did last night. The good many on here will feel the same way because we all care.

[Lars Resort]

I don't think that the forward line is his only problem. For me there was no quality in the side. Dowse has a much bigger job on.
Slough's 10 and 24 frightened us with pace and quality. They played together, something that we are just not doing at the moment.
St Albans Saturday and at this time, another defeat on the table.
As for Coulson in the first half he was over on the left shrugging his shoulders every time he received the ball because he didn't have any options..
Absolute rubbish at times, I say at times, about 80 per cent of the game.

[tommytollbooth]

The young kid from West Ham must be wondering what he has let himself in for, he was the only bright light in our side reminded me of a young Lee Noble. Yes we do have a lot of injuries but some of these players do seem injury prone. I thought the attendance wasn't bad for a Tuesday night and considering the way our team are playing but the Dartford faithful are getting the hump and its starting to remind me of the atmosphere when Flanagan and Coyle were joint Managers. Tony Burman for caretaker manager anyone!

[Bkev180]

Slough wanted this more than dartford 1st to the ball and any lose ball they were there
Why does dowse keep saying we need certain players but never delivers sat post match we need a nippy forward nope nowhere if manor was playing sat we score goals well he playedlast night and we don't put crosses in the box
The kid from West ham was quality
Beginning of season we need a leader on the pitch luke coulsen isn't imo
Yes we have injuries but how many players used this season ?
Onwards and upwards

[KentC]

I don't think that the forward line is his only problem. For me there was no quality in the side. Dowse has a much bigger job on.
Slough's 10 and 24 frightened us with pace and quality. They played together, something that we are just not doing at the moment.
St Albans Saturday and at this time, another defeat on the table.
As for Coulson in the first half he was over on the left shrugging his shoulders every time he received the ball because he didn't have any options..
Absolute rubbish at times, I say at times, about 80 per cent of the game.

I was there last night and I watched Stalbans at welling Saturday and they were very poor so we go there with a bunch g chance

[KentC]

I don't think that the forward line is his only problem. For me there was no quality in the side. Dowse has a much bigger job on.
Slough's 10 and 24 frightened us with pace and quality. They played together, something that we are just not doing at the moment.
St Albans Saturday and at this time, another defeat on the table.
As for Coulson in the first half he was over on the left shrugging his shoulders every time he received the ball because he didn't have any options..
Absolute rubbish at times, I say at times, about 80 per cent of the game.

I was there last night and I watched Stalbans at welling Saturday and they were very poor so we go there with a big chance

[Lars Resort]

Wood was good but not the answer to this problem.. Even he was losing possession and not producing quality crosses. Manor was slow and lumberous. Golding didn't exactly help being pushed up the pitch and the introduction of Charlie was a waste of time.
Wynter and Altintop??? Got the Ball and didn't look up at times just stuck it back with 10-15 yard balls. Interesting

[Kebabus]

The writings on the wall, we look broken, sad to see, crowds will dwindle.
Need hope please and fast.

[Skip]

I have frequently been described as one of the "rose tinters" on here, but if I'm going to keep that reputation, Dowse really has to give me something to work with. I'm sorry, but the style of football we are playing is simply horrible to watch and there is absolutely zero flair or creativity in our play. There is no pleasure to be taken from the football in our games, even the two that we won. Fans might put up with this neanderthal football if there are frequent victories at the end of it, but anything less than a win is otherwise guaranteed to be a painful experience. I've been to every game so far this season and the only one where we played anything resembling entertaining football was the first hour against Bath. Since then it's been a chore to watch, there's nothing to raise the spirits, nobody to cheer for, no quality, just lump it upfield and hope we can nick enough goals from long throws and corners to outscore the errors at the back.

Dowse has a massive job on his hands to sort this mess out. He does have quite a few decent players in the squad, but it does feel like one of those grabby claw machines in the amusement arcade has just scooped up a large handful of players and dumped them in his lap. There's a lot of good parts there but we don't yet seem to have figured out how it all fits together. However, whilst that is a major problem, my first piece of advice would be to stop doing interviews forthwith and give the job to Christian Jolley who speaks very well and is always constructive. Dowse's interviews are a car crash (usually involving a bus under which people get thrown) and every time he gives one my heart sinks a little bit further. I'm fed up with hearing about 12 or so clubs have a bigger budget and how the league is going to be so much harder this year. Neither do I want to hear all this stuff about "fixing the club" as this is utter nonsense as the club isn't and wasn't broken. Yes, it's true that the previous manager had alienated too many club officials, staff and volunteers to continue in the role, but that problem was fixed the moment he departed. Dowse has certainly brought the academy back into the fold, which is great, but the club is running very nicely thank you and Dowse's job is to fix the TEAM, not the club. His pre-season interviews were so negative and uninspiring that I can't imagine it helped attract players and I suspect he must have knocked a few dozen off the gate. Calling out the supporters on this forum as idiots probably isn't helping matters either, although having watched all the games and made costly trips to Weymouth and Taunton he could be right on that one.

Finally, Dowse keeps referring to the "Dartford mentality" as if it was some kind of shortcoming inherent in the club, that he is battling to overcome. I have no idea what he is talking about, but whatever "mentality" we have at our club has seen us produce considerably better teams playing vastly superior football than we are seeing currently. Suffice to say that whilst we only lasted 3 seasons in the level above and have subsequently fallen short in the play-offs, we have consistently been up and around the top of this division for several years. People are not going to swallow the notion that we are suddenly minnows at this level and accept that notion as justification for our current shortcomings on the pitch.

I can always rely on Spike to call it exactly how it is but with the added benefit of allowing me an early morning chuckle to start the day. Whilst I only witnessed the Bath match (lucky me, as it was the only decent one), Spike has encapsulated how I have seen the early league campaign unfold from afar through reading everyone’s comments on the forum and Twitter and listening to some of Dowse’s interviews. It appears we’ve gone backwards from last year in terms of the style of football with the fifty yard punt to the fore but with little success. Can I suggest, if we are to CONTINUE down this line, that Dowse gets himself into one the charity shops in town; has a peruse of the VHS rack and dusts off a copy of the Crazy Gang. Not the comedic troupe of Flanagan and Allen etc but the Wimbledon FC version. It’s fair to say the south London club had a modicum of success when employing a similar style. Oh, and I remember them going on about budgets and mentality, too … but only in a positive way.

[Trevor B]

I felt sorry for their keeper who had absolutely nothing to do all game with no need to catch a cross or make a save as we didn't look like scoring.
Then he made a mistake and let in a simple shot which most behind the goal thought was going wide so we were on even terms.
But it was only going to be a matter of time before Slough scored again as they had so many chances and we just kept lumping the ball up field giving it away and the result was never really in doubt once they got their second goal.
As several have commented on here and behind the goal during the game this looks like a Flanagan and Coyle team and performance with no spirit being shown by the players and no ideas from the manager.
I will expect little or no changes being made by Dowse for the next game unless he can get back to us playing balls on the ground not in the air finding white shirts with passes and having shots on goal and the players having a fighting team sprit which we expect.
The only good thing for me during the whole game was when Slough scored their goal in the 12th minute and I had the golden goal but I went and collected my winnings outside from the club shop and but for me needing a lift home with the 5th Searcher I don't think I would have gone back into the ground for the second half

[PeteSamson]

I've waited until this morning to post 'cos I have needed time to reflect on that performance, and indeed, what a dire performance it was. If I wasn't a Darts fan, I might have thought Slough were the home team.

I thought we had turned the corner after the 2 recent wins, and thinking that we could be in for a good FA Cup run. But even that seems off the radar after last night's performance. The Duke has been describing it as Hoofball, and indeed, that is what it was from the kick off for the first 30 mins. I felt sorry for Bradbury, because he worked his socks off, chasing down and back, but absolutely no service to him at all. No creativity from midfield whatsoever. No confidence, no patterns, 2nd to the ball. Players turning on a sixpence, with no one to pass to. It was though players were playing with each other for the first time.

There was an improvement when we came out for the second half, and we did get back in the game, mainly because I thought we kept the ball on the deck and did keep possession, so it can be done.

It would also be good if supporters were given more information on player availability. And if we have players on international duty, why not be shouting it from the roofs instead of a poster having to ask why players aren't in the team.

Slough were up for that game from the very beginning, and it was our kick off!! Conversely, our players didn't seem as though there was a match to be played. That was the vibes i was getting from watching the streamed game. When we conceded a corner, in the second half, I counted 10 players within the 18 yard box. Any clearance was very unlikely to find the one player up field, so we would have been immediately under pressure as another attack was launched.

Whilst it is being said this league is going to be stronger than ever this year, there are so many mixed results that even with our under par performances, and prior to last night's games, we were still very much in contact with the playoff places. Now, we don't seem too far away from the relegation places. Three points last night would have made a massive difference to us, but sadly, and deservedly, it was Slough who took them, and it left me wondering where our next win would be coming from, as yet another home game was added to the imbalance of our home/away games played.

[Lars Resort]

To be fair their keeper did have to bend to pick the ball up once from the back of the net.

[BrianL]

Sadly, it's all been said, so little to add to a dreadful non-performance. Nothing in midfield apart from Woods showing some creativity and willingness to get possession, but final pass often missing, maybe with no-one looking for space to receive it.
Our equaliser seemed a rather tame effort coming from nowhere, and the only bit of excitement was a good late shot and a very good save. Apart from that their keeper was never troubled.
Surprisingly good and vocal support from a bottom of the table team in midweek. Good luck to them; at least some of the attendance had a nice evening out.

[Mark Sweet]

As others have mentioned, a big problem is a lack of leadership on the pitch.

While Luke is a good technical player nights like yesterday are when captains need to show why they are club captain. Fire the team up, stick rockets up players arses if they're not pulling their weight. There was none of that last night.