After 36 games of the season, Dagenham and Redbridge FC were languishing on just 31 points, four adrift of safety and rock bottom of the Football League.

However since then, a revival has seen us safe in 19th place in the table and what a rollercoaster of a season it has been.

Losing just one of the last 10 games has certainly felt like watching a different team in a different season, epitomised by our biggest win of the season on Saturday, a 4-0 victory over Bristol Rovers.

Why has this happened? The biggest issue has been injuries. Nine operations have besieged the Daggers squad. That’s a challenge for any club let alone one of the smallest in the Football League.

The amazing promotion form in the last 10 games of the season has coincided with the return of players capable of forming a genuinely competitive squad, giving John Still options not only on the pitch but from the substitute bench as well.

One other reason I can give, perhaps controversially, is a bit of a hangover from missing out on a 2nd season in League One by a single point. Such a fantastic effort by the players when the critics had dismissed any hope of survival deserved a higher placed finish. The third and final difference is improvement in both boxes. Too many times this season the Daggers have been the better team in a match, only to succumb to defeat by missing chances or stupid mistakes at crucial times.

Whilst all players deserve credit, the spine of the team in the past 10 games has been fantastic. Chris Lewington, playing his first season as number one goalkeeper in the football league has been immense. I haven’t seen a better shot-stopper in the entire league. Mathieu Baudry has come in from Bournemouth on loan and frankly looked two levels too good for League Two, let alone one. Without doubt the best defender I’ve seen to have put on the beloved red and blue shirt.

In midfield, probably our most high profile player: Michael Spillane. He has shown since he joined he is more than technically able to unlock defences and score goals himself, despite coming here primarily as a defender. While in attack, former forklift truck driver Brian Woodall has scored some great goals, his attitude on the pitch represents the sort of spirit John Still looks for in a player. Great credit should go to the manager for these performances. Despite taking a lot of criticism this season the club did the right thing in my opinion by sticking with him, bucking the trend in the Football League. He discovers players with little to no resources, and moulds them into better ones.

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The summer will see the age old problem for the Daggers: keeping hold of our best players. Brian Woodall has already been linked with a string of Championship clubs. I for one hope he doesn’t go. For clubs like ours, September 1st and the end of the transfer window cannot come quick enough. If (and it’s a big if) this squad can be kept together I see no reason why we can’t be challenging for the play offs next season. Bright times are ahead.

You can follow me on Twitter @scottycrowe92 for even more Daggers discussion

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Managing England at a glamorous international tournament is the dream of many a football manager and Roy Hogdson is the latest to be bestowed with the prestigious honour at this summers’ Euro 2012 Championships. Another blessed with leading the Three Lions onto the global frontier in the past was Kevin Keegan who believes the current crop have prepared sufficiently enough for success despite today’s evening match with Sweden representing just the fourth game of Hodgson’s new found tenure.

“He (Roy) had three or four weeks and as we’ve said the expectation level isn’t manic, he’s picked his squad, rightly or wrongly, and he will be looking forward to working with them and building a siege mentality. Not because people hate us, but because he needs to say, whatever people think or say about us, we are in charge of our own destinies. If we win football matches, if we play well and get together, we can win this. You can look at team like Denmark who didn’t even qualify in 1992, got in late in the day and won it. There are examples of teams that have been worst prepared than we are, with less time than us and done very well, excellent in fact.”

“For more insight from Kevin Keegan and other leading managers plus all the coverage of Euro 2012 go to yahoo.eurosport.com”

The fixtures have come out this week for the Football League and the Premier League, and the fixture accumulators have not given Millwall the easiest start of the season by any stretch of the imagination.

The Lions will kick off the season with the exact way they finished it, welcoming the tangerines of Blackpool to The Den, not the easiest game to start of with seeing as Blackpool are the losing play off finalists, after losing 2-1 to West Ham.

It’ll be the second season in a row that the Lions will kick off against the season before play off losing finalists.

This match will go one of two ways, Blackpool will be even more determined to get promoted and provide a usual hard game as usual, or the play off hangover will still be over them and Millwall could see a result go their way. Plus rumours of players such as Thomas Ince and Matty Philips leaving the club, it could be a very different team from the play off final, with all this I could see a Lions win.

The first away trip will be to Peterborough United. This will be considered one of the easier away trips in the division, with players such as George Boyd and Paul Taylor being transfer listed due to contract talks breaking down, the Posh will have lost most of their goal threat.

But players are being bought in by manger Darren Ferguson, even though the majority are being signed from League Two and Blue Square Premier. The Lions managed to record a 3-0 win the last time they played at London Road and I’d expect the Lions to get the same kind of result.

The South Londoners then face a tougher away trip next with a trip to play newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls will be still on a high following promotion, and previous seasons show that at least one of the promoted teams carry on the last season form onto the start of the next season, plus Dave Jones has already bought in players such as Joe Matlock and one time England international Chris Kirkland, the Lions will be hoping to carry on last seasons away form but I can see this being a struggle to get points from this game.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions as they then welcome play off hopefuls Middlesborough to The Den. ‘Boro narrowly missed out on the play offs last season and Tony Mowbray’s team will be determined to go one better and on. A vital move away from the Riverside has already happened with winger Barry Robson off to the sunny side league of the MLS by signing for Vancouver Whitecaps, but by losing a vital player, they also signed a new one, Grant Leadbitter, who was undoubtedly Ipswitchs’ best player last year. This will be another strong test.

Milwall will then travel to the KC stadium and play Hull City,who have recently been taken over in management by Steve Bruce.

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With Hull missing out on the play offs, the Tigers were underachieving by their own standards, but Bruce will be hoping to change that. With rumours such as Emile Heskey signing for the club, Hull will be trying to bring a higher quality of player to the club, and Bruce may be the man to do that due to previous Premier League experience. A unknown game at the moment for the Lions, Hull’s starting XI could be completely different come August.

The Lions start the season with some tough games, yet again in the Championship which games aren’t? All I can say is bring it on! Only two months to go…..

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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he is closing in on his first signing for the club.

The Northern Irishman took over from Kenny Dalglish at the end of last season, and despite a busy transfer window being expected at Anfield, no new players have joined the club as yet.

However, the new coach has stated that a number of new faces are close to agreeing moves to the Merseyside club.

“There certainly won’t be as many as has been labelled out,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think the reality is that for players to be associated with Liverpool is great, but the reality is that we have only made three or four enquiries about players.

“Hopefully we can close out one deal this week, maybe two. Hopefully we can do one and then look to add to it over the course of pre-season.

“I will never speak about targets or possible players, it’s not something I like to do.

“All I will say is that there has been a whole raft of players linked with coming to Liverpool and there is very few of them that are actual targets for us,” he admitted.

Meanwhile, Rodgers has also stated that despite transfer rumours, he has not heard from AC Milan over a possible move for Andy Carroll.

“I haven’t heard anything from them at all.

“He’s a good player, Andy. He will always be linked whether he was here or not.

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“I have spoken to Andy on his holidays and he knows exactly where he stands. He’s a very good young player and he will be linked with clubs like that because he’s such a good player,” the trainer concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Liverpool recorded a 1-0 win over FC Gomel in the Europa League qualifiers in Brendan Rodgers’ first match in charge as manager.

In a hard-fought display the Merseysiders’ victory was sealed by a Stewart Downing strike, with the tie now coming back to Anfield for the second leg.

Rodgers was happy with the display of his side and downplayed injuries picked up by Glen Johnson and Joe Cole.

“It will take time until Liverpool start playing the way Swansea did last season (tactically),” he told Sky Sports after the win.

“Actually the way you play depends on the players you have.

“As for today I saw two things which were very important for me, I saw desire and commitment. I am very grateful to my players for a good game.

“Obviously it was a serious test of the players’ fitness and I am really happy with the result.

“This was my first competitive game in charge of Liverpool and for me it didn’t really matter whether the game was played in Belarus or Brazil as I am really honoured to manage this side.

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“The substitution of Glen was planned and as for Joe the injury is not serious and more of a precaution,” the Northern Irish coach confirmed.

By Gareth McKnight

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England’s kit looks set to undergo a massive revamp as Nike have taken over Umbro’s contract to be their official kit supplier, according to the Daily Mail.

It ends the sportswear company’s long association with FA, which has existed since the 1950s as well as the current £20 million-a-year deal.

Umbro’s contract with the England national team originally ran until 2018, but a new Nike-designed away strip could be available for fans as early as next spring.

The deal appeared to allow Umbro to continue supplying shirts for the team, despite Nike’s £285 million takeover of the firm in 2007.

The American company’s supposedly lucrative deal is likely to have turned the heads of FA officials, especially as Umbro are now facing an uncertain future.

It is news which looks set to anger the more consumer-minded fans, especially as a new Umbro-designed home kit was only released in February.

The FA have refused to comment on the story, but it is understood that officials were ready to formally announce the plans last week.

Manchester City are also set to follow suit and change from Umbro to Nike,  something which local rivals Manchester United did ten years earlier, as their £6 million-a- year deal signed in 2009, will be overtaken.

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Mancini’s men will be kitted out by Nike from next season, ending their current 10-year deal.

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Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby has picked up a muscular injury and is now a major doubt for upcoming fixtures.

The box-to-box player has starred for the Gunners in their solid start to the new Premier League campaign, and will be an important man in filling the gap left by Alex Song, who was sold to Barcelona.

Diaby suffered a frustrating season in 2011-12 due to niggling injuries, but did feature for France against Finland in World Cup qualifying.

However, Les Bleus’ coach Didier Deschamps has revealed that Diaby has suffered an injury, and hence is a doubt for their game against Belarus on Tuesday.

“Diaby took a bad shot and he has muscular discomfort. He is not free in his movements,” the trainer is quoted as saying in The Daily Mail.

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Arsene Wenger will hope that the injury is not overly serious but it remains to be seen whether the French midfielder will be available for the Gunners’ game against Southampton on Saturday.

When you have a forward line with the likes of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez, it is never going to be easy for an aspiring youngster to break into the first-team- as Josh King is finding out at Manchester United. talkSPORT reports.

The promising Norwegian footballer has represented his country at every age-group from Under-15 to Under-21, but is growing frustrated with the lack of first-team opportunities with United.

The 20-year-old has made just one substitute appearance so far and admits he would be willing to return to Norway in January and join Molde, managed by United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

King previously played for Valerenga before being spotted by United and has since had loan spells at Borussia Monchengladbach, Preston North End and Hull City.

Will Keane is another striker coming through the ranks and Sir Alex Ferguson hoped he could be involved with the first-team this season, but he damaged knee ligaments and will not feature this season.

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This week heralded the return of the Capital One Cup and the third round certainly lived up to expectations. We have now grown accustomed to the annual midweek programme in September that brings us evening football under the lights, the anthemic melodies of Texas’ Inner Smile and and most importantly the future stars the competition brings to our attention.

Indeed, the League Cup has now become synonymous as a pathway through which young talents emerge, intermingle with first team regulars and look to catch the eye in the hopes of a more frequent role at first team level in the league and potential overtures in Europe. Almost like a one off audition perhaps.

It may be difficult to pin point exactly when it became fashionable for managers to utilise the League Cup as a springboard and anticipated opportunity for fans to get a sneak peak of the stars of tomorrow, but we have now grown used to scrolling through our match day programmes to find a few names draped more in mystery than instant recollection.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has always made public his desire to blood younger talents in the competition and a pattern has started to emerge predominantly across the top two divisions with the many league regulars being replaced in the midweek by a cast of eager, hungry first timers hell bent on making an impression.

Over the years more and more Premier League sides and now Championship outfits alike are following the Wenger ideal by letting their precocious youngsters loose in the competition and who can blame them?

The Capital One Cup offers passionate fans a competitive environment and good old fashioned knockout football that can only be beneficial to the development of any young pro. Vociferous encouragement from the crowd and geeing up from a respected first team accomplice, is a far cry away from the ripple of applause that could be witnessed during a reserve or youth team fixture that would usually represent the surroundings for mere 20-somethings.

With this extra confidence and an understandable adrenaline rush having been given this experience it is no surprise that so many youngsters perform so well and become a first team fixture at their respective club given this initial opportunity.

With sides competing on a number of fronts including the Premier League, FA Cup and European tournaments, the Capital One Cup distinguishes itself on giving frequent first team opportunities to younger pros who wouldn’t gain as much playing time if the competition ceased to exist. Robbie Fowler, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard have all made their name in the League Cup and have gone on to achieve an impressive standing in the game.

This time last year Manchester United handed debuts to young Ezekiel Fryers and Larnell Cole in their fixture against Leeds at Elland Road, and way back in the 2003/4 campaign, a fledgling Cesc Fabregas then wearing squad number 57 scored his first ever goal for Arsenal in the League Cup in a home tie to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Highbury.

With some Premier League clubs entering the competition at the second round phase this year, there was plenty of evidence in the selected rosters that this occurrence of youth is just as prevalent as ever.

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West Ham brought on Matthias Fanimo and George Moncur in their victory against Crewe Alexandra, Aston Villa replaced Australian first teamer Chris Herd with young Irishman Graham Burke during a tie against League One Tranmere Rovers and Southampton boss Nigel Adkins saw Stevenage as the perfect location to hand opportunities to development squad members Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers and Cobey Moore.

This invaluable experience in the Capital One Cup opening phases has now become a staple part of the footballing calendar and more and more clubs are using it as the perfect and assumed opportunity to blood youth.

It is unquestionable that the Capital One Cup conveyor belt is certainly still in motion. All that is left to mystery is just who will become the young star that takes the Capital One Cup by storm this year and really makes a name for themselves.

Everyone loves Fantasy Football, it dominates our thoughts the closer we get to a new Premier League season, we can spend hours pouring over the information before we settle on our side. A key component of this is picking players that will score goals in positions that don’t normally rely upon them, such as a goalscoring centre-half or full-back. With this in mind, do we overrate goalscoring defenders? Ando do we let them off lightly when it becomes to their defensive deficiencies because they happen to be good at finding the back of the net? Fantasy Football has a lot to answer for….

I’m a sucker for goalscoring defenders may I just say begin with. My fantasy football teams at school always, always included Everton’s David Unsworth (45 goals in 445 games) and Leicester’s Matt Elliott (70 goals in 589 games), with the occasional nod to Julian Dicks (55 goals in 379 games). They were invaluable, the poorness of the defences they played in was completely counter-acted by the points they’d get me for their inevitable solid five-goal a season return. Heck, I even had Gary Cahill (21 goals in 234 games) and Mats Hummels (17 goals in 162 games) in my Euro 2012 side until injury cruelly robbed me of the former, while the other never bloody scored.

The short but simple fact is that everyone loves a goalscoring defender. We love the unexpected nature of their forward forays up the pitch. We love the fact that because they can clear the ball a whopping great distance means, this all of a sudden qualifies them as a free-kick expert. However, does this mean that we shy away from criticising them for doing the job that they are actually paid to do, which is defend?

According to the Premier League’s own player performance index, Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen was the 58th best player in the top flight last term. His season was interrupted by injury on ocassion, but he still managed to complete 29 league games, scoring six goals in the process. He made 29 clearances, 11 blocks and helped his side to 11 clean sheets during his time in the starting eleven. At the other end of the pitch, though, he finished the campaign with 37 shots, five crosses and one assist – not too bad at all for a centre-back it has to be said, certainly more than a lot of the deadwood currently at the club are capable of (I’m looking at you Park Chu-Young and Marouane Chamakh).

On the face of things it would seem like he had a very good season, would it not? However, Vermaelen has developed a worrying propensity to get dragged out of position, as was clearly in evidence during the 3-3 draw against Norwich last season at home, where he was quite frankly all over the place. He was far from his best throughout the course of the campaign, with partner Laurent Koscielny the superior partner for the most part.

Upon arriving in England, it was noted that at just 6ft tall, he looked a tad on the short side to be a commanding centre-half, but his aerial ability is one of his greatest strengths and plays a large part in his prowess in front of goal. To talk about Vermaelen in terms of criticism, he rarely comes in for any flak considering his poor positioning. He’s quick on the ground, mobile and decent on the ball, so anything that isn’t seen as a positive is conveniently glossed over.

Jonny Evans last season was the main beneficiary of Nemanja Vidic’s season-ending knee injury, going on to play 27 times for Manchester United as they were pipped to the post for the title by bitter rivals Manchester City. He has often been made out to be a scapegoat by many fans, yet he managed 30 blocks, 56 clearances and 16 clean sheets in less games than Vermaelen. The crucial difference is he doesn’t offer anything going forward and any mistake at the back is magnified tenfold, whereas with Vermaelen it is not.

We often gloss over the glaring weaknesses in a defender if they manage to chip in with the odd goal. John Arne Riise had an excellent first few years at Liverpool, but then spent his last two seasons trying to replicate his goal against Tottenham from 40 yards out every single time he crossed the halfway line. Matt Taylor suffers from a similar flaw. To call it frustrating to watch would be an understatement, yet at Fulham last season, shorn of his pace at 31 years of age, he looked a much better defender than his final couple of years at Anfield, but he had no goals in 40 appearances to show for it, despite his best efforts at breaking his duck.

Taye Taiwo managed to score 23 goals in 253 games at Marseille, where his job was to bound beyond the winger down the left-hand flank and he became a key part of their style of play. He then moved to AC Milan but struggled, as it seemed nobody actually checked first if he was any good at this defending lark before being farmed out to QPR on loan in the second half of last season. He’s full of energy, built like a tank but seems oddly unsure of where to actually stand when he’s on the back foot and is hugely susceptible to a ball played in behind him, a common occurrence for pacy full-backs these days.

Andreas Granqvist managed to bag 11 goals for Groningen in the Eredivise the year before last, but Wigan fans will remember a defender frightfully out of kilter with the pace of the top flight, yet AC Milan and Inter are rumoured to be interested in the Swede this summer after a decent first year at Genoa in Italy. It’s all about striking the right balance.

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Ian Harte, Marco Materazzi, Daniel van Buyten, Naldo, Alex all made headlines for their goalscoring exploits in their respctive leagues over the years but they all have obvious flaws to their game. It’s when the goals become solely what they are remembered for that you start to worry and Vermaelen is in danger of falling into that trap.

The likes of Brazilian centre-half Juan, Sami Hyypia, Robert Huth, Sergio Ramos and Diego Lugano are all remembered for their defending first and foremost, with their attacking prowess just an added bonus, which is why they’re quite rightly regarded as superior players to the aforementioned list above, Vermaelen aside.

It may not solely be the result of Fantasy Football, but something has become distorted along the way – goalscoring defenders are judged on their abilities further forward just as much as they are on their ability to stem an attack at the back and that’s a worrying trap to fall into. We should treat the goalscoring defender as a positive, they bring unexpected joy to the terraces and every side likes to have one in their side, but they have to be good enough defenders first, otherwise, that’s a slippery slope to head down.