Dartford v Weymouth Sat 27 Jan 2024

[Dart of Herts]

We looked promising in the opening 25 minutes; I now realise that was all down to Barzey who I’ve voted for motm - nobody else deserved it. Weymouth were sloppy and I genuinely thought it was a game we couldn’t lose. They pick up towards the end of the first half, then - as others have said - all Weymouth second half.

Miller-Rodney got into good positions but lacks the ball control to do any danger. I actually reckon the pen wasn’t given because his touch was so poor the ref thought must have come off the defender.

Coulson has brilliant ball control and uses it to dribble sideways or backwards. No leadership either

Burman must see some leadership qualities in Rooney and I reckon we’ll see him at CB again but he needs to pass quicker; got caught in possession too many times.

Wall was the worst by far. He has good ability but he’s lazy and not a team player. When we had him on loan 9/10 years ago I thought he had potential to play at a much higher level but he never lost the attitude. He’ll be playing Isthmian league next season and so will we if we if he stays in the team.

It’s the first time I’ve left a game without clapping the players. I’m normally optimistic to the point of delusion but this season is a write-off and it’s going to take years to get back to where we were last January. We need to appoint a creative manager with a long-term plan, even if it means Burman staying to the end of the season.

[ozymandias]

When the game ended I was outside the gate.
As said Rooney looked wooden at the back, often out run for pace. Only came good well into the game. Wall a waste of time.
Was Coulson injured? Weymouth were poor.
I said at the beginning of the season that Tonbridge were probably the worst team I'd seen in the NLS.
I stand corrected. We were awful.

[Tall Dart]

I think everyone associated with the club are fully aware we are very close to a relegation scrap?!

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Oh well. We tried first half and played some decent football for a while. Even Wall had the referee in his pocket, for, er, about two minutes. Then he reverted to being Alex Useless Wall again, getting a yellow and awaiting, what I thought, would be an inevitable red. However, the referee wasn’t up to the job. If he fails to apply advantage for the keeper’s foul, then he simply has to show red! The referee hadn’t left the dressing room all game. Too much of it in this league, sadly.

Wow, what a struggle we are in. Poor ol’ TB. What a crock of shit he had inherited. I can’t see where we go from here. Just hope the bottom lot stop bloody winning cos I can’t see us scoring again all season! Great to be back though in the post-Dowson ‘fresh air’ - (Gawd, didn’t he just suck the enjoyment out of football at PP?) And great to see familiar faces back on the terraces again. Battle on Tony B. Am right behind you. Mammoth task. See you at Farnborough.

[rambo]

Good interview from Tony
We started well and put tons of effort in to the game, far more than under dowse
However once Barzey went off we never looked like scoring
We ran out of steam in the second half and unfortunately a loss was on the cards.
Tony has a big job on his hands and I hope he can pick up a win somewhere before a new manager is appointed
Desperately sad news re Charlie and I sincerely hope whatever the issue is things work out better for Charlie and his family/friends
I really hope we can see him on the field again soon

[rick]

[rambo]

One thing I forgot to mention there were 1063 through the gate today and I believe that’s at least 100 more than would have been had dowse been in charge
It’s possible that the extra numbers put £500/£1000 into the coffers today
You can’t fix something overnight but that’s a start , I hope the Board recognise how important it is to get the fans in the ground
The atmosphere was still flat but at least it was not toxic
Getting some effort from the players is a start
Over the summer I hope the Board have a rethink and work out how to encourage and welcome young fans into PP

[KentC]

Was good to hear from him, speaks a bit of composed sense and not utter shite what we were used to. Good to see him back to fill the void.

[MickW]

Good interview from Tony
We started well and put tons of effort in to the game, far more than under dowse
However once Barzey went off we never looked like scoring
We ran out of steam in the second half and unfortunately a loss was on the cards.
Tony has a big job on his hands and I hope he can pick up a win somewhere before a new manager is appointed
Desperately sad news re Charlie and I sincerely hope whatever the issue is things work out better for Charlie and his family/friends
I really hope we can see him on the field again soon

What's with the Charlie comment?

[rambo]

Good interview from Tony
We started well and put tons of effort in to the game, far more than under dowse
However once Barzey went off we never looked like scoring
We ran out of steam in the second half and unfortunately a loss was on the cards.
Tony has a big job on his hands and I hope he can pick up a win somewhere before a new manager is appointed
Desperately sad news re Charlie and I sincerely hope whatever the issue is things work out better for Charlie and his family/friends
I really hope we can see him on the field again soon

What's with the Charlie comment?

Listen to Tony’s post match interview Mick, he explained re Charlie

[DA Mikey]

Even with no voice, TB is easier to understand and simply a better listen than the Geordie. The damage has been dealt to us though, we need about 14 points from sixteen games which is not a given. Welling, Havant, Dover and Eastbourne will scrap for their lives to maintain National League status, Truro and Taunton won’t go down without a fight either. Second half yesterday was amongst the worst football we’ve ever been served up at PP, so we’ve got a tough three months coming up.
At least TB’s video explains the Manor & Sheringham situations, quite bizarre how we’ve gone from four 6’3” forwards to one (effectively) in a week. Good to see a few returning faces yesterday, hopefully they didn’t want to see a decent game of football!

[tommytollbooth]

Sadly Tony did not have a magic wand to wave, first half OK second half poor. Another injury to one of our better players who joins Chinny and the kid from Gillingham on the side lines. Lewis Manor goes to Hornchurch another player who in my opinion was never given a chance its a shame Tony couldn't keep him and convince Hornchurch to sign Alex Wall. Dowse left a crock of s---t behind Tony will have to work hard to clear it up.

[Taunton Dart]

I think that some people expected Tony to be able to wave an immediate magic wand. Not possible. He has inherited a poor squad, from what we've seen so far this season, and also lost players. TB will want to play a different style - that can't change overnight.

From his interview he clearly is already working on things. Tony's teams of the past were always amongst the fittest in the league - that is not the case with this squad and it will take a while to get there. Tony is DFC through and through and if anybody can get us out of this slide -Tony is the best man for the job. No bones about it he has a tough task as confidence will be at rock bottom

[Tony H]

One thing I forgot to mention there were 1063 through the gate today and I believe that’s at least 100 more than would have been had dowse been in charge
It’s possible that the extra numbers put £500/£1000 into the coffers today
You can’t fix something overnight but that’s a start , I hope the Board recognise how important it is to get the fans in the ground
The atmosphere was still flat but at least it was not toxic
Getting some effort from the players is a start
Over the summer I hope the Board have a rethink and work out how to encourage and welcome young fans into PP

Totally agree with that Rambo - it’s a start. What we mustn’t forget is the damage that Dowse caused this team with his style of play and general negativity. The players will start to get their mojo back but it may take a couple of games to get there. Little spring shoots were there to see yesterday, in the first half anyway.

I disagree with what a few have said about Romney’s performance. I thought. He added some presence to the back four. My MoM vote goes to Jordan Wynter though. Hardly put a foot wrong imo and is very much an unsung hero in the Darts squad.

Final point - did Bobby Wilkinson state his case for our Manager position yesterday?

[MickW]

Good interview from Tony
We started well and put tons of effort in to the game, far more than under dowse
However once Barzey went off we never looked like scoring
We ran out of steam in the second half and unfortunately a loss was on the cards.
Tony has a big job on his hands and I hope he can pick up a win somewhere before a new manager is appointed
Desperately sad news re Charlie and I sincerely hope whatever the issue is things work out better for Charlie and his family/friends
I really hope we can see him on the field again soon

What's with the Charlie comment?

Listen to Tony’s post match interview Mick, he explained re Charlie

Will do - ta

[ozymandias]

Tony has a huge job but I think it's all too late for him. Looking at the fixtures left, as said on another thread, not one now looks an easy match.
The ground is ' flat' full of despondency and now with all that red facing you when looking from the Princes road side it looks f**king awful, even depressing.

[ozymandias]

Actually, thinking about it. Ebbsfleet would love to have it down there.
The way things are going we could be asking Dennis if he fancied the manager job.

[Park Life]

First half i thought we started well and TB got the reaction form the players he would of wanted. Unfortunately we didn't make it count in that period and Weymouth came back into it but i thought we edged the first half.
Second half we never really got going or threatened their goal and it was no surprise they got the winner, albeit a wonder strike form distance.
Personally i would have started with Adebowale and not subbed Coulson and Alexander as imo they are the two players we have who are most likely to create/score and with no other forward options on the bench i thought it made us less of a threat. Tough for TB though as he had to try something and atm he has no other attacking options.

I thought the players looked committed and gave it everything but along with TB they have been left in a difficult position as the squad is, and has been for ages so top heavy in some areas and lacking in others we will need some additions to turn things around.

The turning point was when Brandon went off as we had no other wide player to come on and highlights one area where we are lacking, sure it's always likely that some players will go when a manager leaves but we've been well short in some areas since our previous manager took over and were so predictable in our game plan it's going to take a while to change that. This highlights what a total mess he's left us in on the pitch and the atmosphere he has left off it as well. He has done so much damage to our club it's going to take a while to get things going again.

Now taking into account we may only have 1 wide player and 2 forwards fit/available we will need some reinforcements asap. Problem we have though is as TB is only caretaker will he want to sign players if a new man is possibly coming in soon? So it may mean our only option is loanees, the return of Chin and MacArthur may help but how long are they out and can we get them back?

I had a good chat yesterday with a member of the board and said i was happy to wait to for a new manager but looking at how short the squad is and the total lack of options we have in some areas i'm starting to think we may need to move a lot quicker.

[Taunton Dart]

My thought would be to get TB to run things to the end of the season. Then he can try to fix things. If we look to appoint for the end of the season some other candidates could well become available as the better managers will be looking to complete their session in style with the clubs in with a chance of trophies and/or promotion.

Good luck to Tony however long he has the reins

[KentC]

Positives

Standing at the dugout where he watch the games at 215 for the first time in god knows how long I felt an excitement and happiness just to be there. It’s been a while.
I thought some of our football in the first half was excellent at times, we had several very close opportunities to score. Unfortunate or poor finishing I’m not sure but we had the opportunities and I thought we deserved a lead.
Good to see TB guiding and pulling up players from the touch line, lots of communication from the bench to the players, this is something Dowse seriously lacked, he barely said much yet yesterday TB and the team were bang on it from the start. Very reassuring to see.


Negatives

Rooney receiving votes MOM is a surprise, he rarely looked across the line , one would step up and he would hold keeping their attackers on side with a straight run to goal while he’d have to turn and run back.
I think he is a decent player and I know he’s out of position but someone really needs to organise that line. Oh for Tom B.
We looked knackered after 65 mins, after their worldy they dominated and we looked miles behind them in terms of quality.
We just looked the worse of two poor teams.
From where I was it looked like their keeper could have been sent off. The ref was abysmal one of the absolute worst with constant wrong decisions, the basic ones and the big ones for both teams. He’s clearly guessing at everything depending on how long the embarrassing screams of the opposition last.


I never really considered a relegation fight but it’s really coming isn’t it.
TB can’t do anymore than he did and it’s a bit hard for him I think, massive respect for him taking this nightmare on. No danger of him diminishing his reputation in fact in my book it’s sky rocketed. Can’t thank him enough for holding fort for a few months, I believe I saw a difference already.
He can only work with what he’s got and that’s not a lot , I’m shocked I’ve read before some saying we have good players.
On the whole as a team, do we?

As crap as this sounds TBs most important job imo is just keep us up, then the board need to do their homework and get the right man in. Im sure they will.