Taunton Town v Dartford Sat 20 Aug 2022

[ozymandias]

Obviously people are not happy today. We can't say we should really have got something from this game. but the opening signings in the Summer didn't exactly set things alight for me. It was only the signings of Carruthers, Coulson, Rodari and Fonkeu that sparked interest. But it is what it is, no depth in squad and probably a long season ahead.
Can't comment on today's game. But at 1-0 half time I was hopeful of getting a response to the defeat midweek which I thought was a fair game for us and we were unlucky. But alas, not to be.

[Kebabus]

Well rye bright spark who said they are the whipping boys got his reward today, comments like that are put up on the dressing room wall and makes Dartford sound BBS.

Disappointed but far from throwing the towel in. I would of had a day out in Taunton today but the greedy train people put paid to that.

I got 1% this year by the way!

[Park Life]

[Lennylenny]

Please keep up , I know reading can be difficult, I said chestnut were the whipping boys not Taunton, if u had friends u might if got a lift and hear there was a coach.I’m glad u got 1 per cent rise , if u look at what train drivers, nurses , postman are getting offered is a rise as long as they take a drop in hours etc , meaning a loss, I’m glad u got 1 per cent, happy days for u

[The 5th Searcher]

Fair play to Dowse he said he can see where we’ve got problems and he can also see those players who are interested or trying and if that’s the case he will look elsewhere and those players could find themselves the door.
Some of the players are pushing towards 30yrs old and are may be a bit past it as they haven’t got the legs and if that’s the case he may have to go with younger players or look to bring in some younger players.

It’s time for the players to buck their idea’s up and step up to the plate or they’ll be out.

[Bkev180]

Said for a while need a bradders or noble type of player in midfield not 1s after a final pay packet that think I've played football league I'm the best I'm afraid Sam's got found out at full back every attack they attacked him players of the bench today dan was full of running if supply was better who knows 1st half looked comfortable nice chat with dowse b4 the game he knows wat he wants let's hope he gets what he wants
Up the darts

[Jonty]

There is no need to panic just yet, this is our first poor performance of the season. Let's face it, last year we had 5 months of bad performances after that Sudbury match. This season was always going to be a challenge as we are several weeks behind the curve of most teams with the change of management, plus a reduced playing budget. Again, I didn't want to see SK go but after speaking with people within the club, it was the correct call. Sadly, there are couple on here who cannot accept the decision that SK has gone and you can almost detect it from the content and nature of their posts, they seemed to want the new management team to fail.

Anyhoot, hear is a little number from our dearly departed wine drinker! You guessed it...its Pimm's O' Clock. Enjoy!

[The Duke]

I didnt go today so have no opinions on the match but of course I am disappointed with the results and hearing Dowse's comments about some of the players , it is early days but best strike early to correct rather than dithering about doing nothing
IT would seem that we will see at least a couple of " ball winners " coming in which can only improve the team cause the creativity with players like Caruthers and Coulson are producing the quality but need the support !!!

Will be at Worthing game next saturday expecting to see improvement !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Park Life]

This season was always going to be a challenge as we are several weeks behind the curve of most teams with the change of management, plus a reduced playing budget.

Jonty me old mate, agree we have a fair bit of catching up to do but hope it's sooner rather than later because today we were..............not very good.

As for the budget, i would check with your sources and i will do the same but i'm pretty sure you couldn't be any further form the truth.


Listened to Dowses interview again and you cant say he's anything less than honest.
However, perhaps an interview right after the final whistle is not always the best time after a performance like today's as i think a lot of this should only be said behind closed doors.
Which is why i will wait until i comment on today's game.

[SKennedyDFC]

Told today's attendance was 743 for those interested.

[Mark Sweet]

To say today was a disappointment would be an understatement, especially after going 1 up against a team that hasn't scored all season.

I'm still trying to stay positive, if we learnt anything from last season it's that the season isn't won or lost in the first 10 games as long as we can get some results! But Ebbsfleet do look very strong.

Hopefully today was a one off and Dowse can get the lads going for next week. Worthing will be a huge test as they are still unbeaten.

[Harry]

Fair comments from Dowse, perfectly entitled to say it exactly as he see's it, little point in fronting up to a post match interview and giving glib "manager speak" responses.

[Spike]

Please keep up , I know reading can be difficult, I said chestnut were the whipping boys not Taunton,

You did. It was in that post where you said said you wouldn't be posting on here any more.

[Ajaxman DFC]

If there's one thing that comes across in Dowes's post match interviews then it's his utmost respect for the fans. At this level without the fans you have no club.
Therefore, if there are players who are not up to the task or are under achieving they shouldn't be allowed to hide.

[JCJ]

Cannot comment on the game as I missed my first game but seen every other game including preseason games.

I’ve said to many people this team does not excite me like Kingys did,, we have gone from many players to a very thin bare squad in my opinion,, and our bench players do not seem to have an impact when they come on, not sure if Alex Wall is fit or just not interested , Kieren I feel gives away to many balls and to honest if not a little harsh I’m not sure what Charlie will bring to the team when fit.

We are behind with player recruitment just hope we are not to far behind even though I did see JBA is a free agent would love to see him back at the club, I do worry that we do not have the budget this season but also noticed when I was at Bath we seem to have a lot more backroom staff this season so maybe some of the budget has been used on them, but then again I have been told numerous of occasions the budget is the same/bigger than last season.

Hopefully Dowse will get it right and I will be fully behind him like I have been since the mid 70’s supporting this club, I was a Kingy supporter and many people have said after talking to other people it was the right decision but I don’t know them reasons so I can only see it that the club sacked a fairly successful manager who more or less guaranteed play offs each season and it bloody hurts to see other local clubs starting the season well but then again so did we last season and if I remember rightly Maidstone and Dorking did not and both got promoted so still lots of points to play for but we just need to a few adjustments.

[Undercover Elephant]

Wanted to wait until today and post rather than a knee jerk reaction.

I don’t like to single players out but for me Kieran had his worse game in a Dartford shirt, give the ball away far to much for my liking and not for the first time.

Dowse needs to get out and get some players in that can change the game coming from the bench, as I understand it the budget is under spent so room to bring in a few players.

Luke Allen was MOTM yesterday.

Someone mentioned Alex Wall, for me I don’t think it’s a case that he isn’t interested he is not fit, he missed most of the pre season so hasn’t had any real game time so not going to be at the races but not sure how you put that right, when Kingy was around we organised some friendlies during the week but we don’t have the depth in the squad at the moment to do that so we can get players fit that need game time.

Just a mention to Dan Roberts he tried hard but yesterday it never came off!

And as we know you need to go on a run and can end up top, but we are a long way from that, mid table at best at the moment.

See you Saturday!

[M1 South]

I for one would love to see JBA back at the club?
I thought he definitely signed for Aldershot though??

[JCJ]

I for one would love to see JBA back at the club?
I thought he definitely signed for Aldershot though??

My understanding JBA is a free agent and I thought I read somewhere he was at Maidstone preseason but they obviously did not sign him

Is Cameron Broadie injured?

[Jonty]

This season was always going to be a challenge as we are several weeks behind the curve of most teams with the change of management, plus a reduced playing budget.

Jonty me old mate, agree we have a fair bit of catching up to do but hope it's sooner rather than later because today we were..............not very good.

As for the budget, i would check with your sources and i will do the same but i'm pretty sure you couldn't be any further form the truth.


Listened to Dowses interview again and you cant say he's anything less than honest.
However, perhaps an interview right after the final whistle is not always the best time after a performance like today's as i think a lot of this should only be said behind closed doors.
Which is why i will wait until i comment on today's game.

To be fair PL, in the grand scheme of things the difference in budgets between last season ain't big. I was told that it was the same as last season, less the amount paid to the previous management team's severance payment.

The good news is that Dowse still has around 15-20% of the budget still to play with and that a couple of the current squad are on as a pay as you play basis, which ain't a bad thing as it stands. Its quite clear that a couple of players need moving on, especially one of them from last season. Our biggest issue appears to be the depth/quality of the squad, which I hope our manager can find a solution to ASAP.

I wasn't at the game yesterday but I have to agree with you on Dowse's post match comments, I found it hard to watch as he named those players who played poorly, which is something that should stay within the dressing room. He certainly appeared different to his earlier light hearted interview's. Catch up with you next Saturday PL, with the expectation of some positive news on player front.

[Park Life]

I've been to all the games so far this season and this was the first one i went to quietly confident of getting a result, how wrong was I.

What a disappointing display from the team and a big drop in performance levels from Tuesday night.
I can't remember the last time we gave away possession so often with misplaced passes and we created hardly anything to make it a day to forget. Our goal came about as a result of a poor back pass and hesitation between their defender and goalie which Rodari took full advantage of and i can only recall one other decent attempt on goal. We didn't control any periods of the game and were pretty ineffective all afternoon.

My expectations for this season haven't changed and they are the same now after this game as they were at the start of the season so it's not sour grapes, but i think Taunton are the weakest team we have played so far and i think they may be in a relegation battle all season, don't forget they hadn't scored a single goal before playing us!! They're a nice friendly club but would have been good to have been able to get a cold draught beer in the bar rather than semi cold cans, then we could have drowned our sorrows better.

We have a core of good players but i've already stated my thoughts on the quality and depth of the squad so i'll leave Dowse to sort that.

MOTM a real tough one and imo only two players are worth a mention. Wilksy for taking a heavy knock early on but carrying on and putting in a decent display and Luke Allen who kept trying to create something with his runs form midfield. Gave it to Luke in the end.

Special mention to our fans who turned out in decent numbers again and gave good support to the team.