Views from the Sieve

Meet the New Owners' event tomorrow evening (Weds 19th) in the Big Hall at 7:30 pm.

Should be interesting and hopefully informative, wondering how many of the owners will be present, I assume Steve Thompson will be there and hope that Ben Strevens also.

Couldn't make the fans forum this evening due to work commitments. How did it go ? Was there any transfer news either in or out ? What's the owners plans for the club ?

Five owners, Steve Thompson and Ben. Very interesting!

Probably the most positive 'meet the new owners' meeting we've had yet.

They are quite impressive in that there are five of them with different interests and skills and they have people behind them too. So for instance, when Marketing was mentioned, the response was they already work with 4 marketing agencies and this will be picked up.

I didn't type up notes because others usually do. Hopefully there will be some more detailed reports coming.

Ben still looking to add two more
players particularly midfielders
plus a game of just trialists this
Friday.
Expressed disappointment at losing
Tavares

Oxhead wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2024 9:57 am Ben still looking to add two more
players particularly midfielders
plus a game of just trialists this
Friday.
Expressed disappointment at losing
Tavares

interesting that a midfielder (or two) was specifically mentioned, but not a new or additional left sided defender

So we want a squad of 19 players when we will have a match day squad of 18? Does that not give anyone else alarm bells?

Lcbdagger wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2024 10:07 am

Oxhead wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2024 9:57 am Ben still looking to add two more
players particularly midfielders
plus a game of just trialists this
Friday.
Expressed disappointment at losing
Tavares

interesting that a midfielder (or two) was specifically mentioned, but not a new or additional left sided defender

Vincent will be our left back next season is my guess, Ling to cover if required.

NBDag wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2024 10:29 am So we want a squad of 19 players when we will have a match day squad of 18? Does that not give anyone else alarm bells?

Very concerning, given the injury records of some even more a worry too. I reckon we need at least 20-22 squad to compete or we will have a similar season to the last one.

Did anyone explain the reasoning behind not coming to terms with Effiong, was it purely financial?

Lilfted this from a post on Facebook for those who aren't on there

Original post and credit at https://www.facebook.com/groups/7824737 ... 377422841/


Notes from the Meet The Owners / Fans Forum event.
Can’t be arsed to edit it, have tried to indicate who was speaking and if it was the answer to a question. If anything doesn’t make sense or isn’t in English please ask, sure someone in the comments will be able to clarify
* Dan- bring Dagenham back to where it should be- used to be a league one club, short term objective that’s where we should be
* Brian- dream to be part of an English club
We want to honour and build upon the stature of an English club- want to hear feedback, even if it’s harsh
Hope to replicate or exceed what we done in Italy
*morgan -
*paul -
Matt- Peter came personally to him about a year ago and was thinking about his succession plan.
We bet on the underdog, can’t think of a better underdog story than this club- going to do our best to win or not try - imagine dreams is Wembley competing for league 2 title
* Paul Gwynne- announced as life time vp of club
* Are the signings all bens? - brought james in- Strevs had asked for a better recruitment process- regular zoom calls with the team
* Tavares offered a new contract, thought Barnet was a better offer -
* Inih was given an offer but dragged out, we couldn’t keep waiting brought the others in
* Dan -Ben picks the teams Ben picks the players - James is the link
* What lessons have you learned from the success in Italy? In Italy had a top 5 payroll but didn’t go ott as they wanted to make sure they had the right set up for the dressing room - ie loan, experience, youth - hoping to replicate that here
* Keenan - Strevs- we are trying really hard for Keenan, went back to West Ham, season finished after, being realistic- but we are trying - Strevs - I took too long to bring him in, second half of the season was fantastic
* Do you see us being like Wrexham? You have a much bigger potential than Wrexham in London- you should be looking to replicate on and off the field
* Match day experience - anything for the kids etc on match days? Looking at creating a family friendly atmos, get kids over etc - dan will be at the West Ham game
* Matt- youth academy is a big part of the strategy, reinvest into the home grown talent
* If we aren’t where we are aiming in 2/3 years are you packing up and leaving like the previous? we are here for the long term
* How long have you been looking to invest in an English club, why here rather than anywhere else?- Dan- the prospect for growth
* Should try and get home fans behind the goal for better atmosphere - will look into it
* Plans to try and link up with better clubs - Dan will be speaking with West Ham at the friendly
* Advertising around the local area ?- plan to revitalise social media and website
* Back up keeper for Elliot? No, striz has signed a new deal
* What do you want the fans to do? Turn up etc, make the ground a fortress
* Rebrand? There’s things that can be improved on incl digital
* Feel good factor - anything for the evenings? Bar is great - wanting to make a community
* Are you going to be contactable? - Dan I’ll be at most games and always be contactable
* Injury prone players - what about squad depth - Josh omura- had injuries last season but a year ago they turned down 100k bid from gills- he wanted to move back to London - done home work on the signings - Strevs- we are looking to do a development group and get the academy going - trial game next Friday, possibly a group of 5/6 youngsters behind the first team
* Strevs want to do it properly as underdogs
* Vision is to recruit on a global level, national league is restrictive, we will show pathway for players if we are at a higher level
* Dan we want to get out the national league this year
* Supporters club - ie away travel will you help the coaches, to ensure they are always on?- we will look at it
* Visibility of the club, - ie no huge signs, no posters - answer is yes we have marketing agencies under our umbrella, we plan to utilise them
* Matt- people often link budget to success, it’s not, it’s building downwards, in the case of the Italian club the fans had to be made excited after relegation from financial irregularities
* Strevs, hope to have one poss maybe two players by first training session - we are in a Better place than this time last year -might see trialsits Aveley and Dulwich games
* How do we keep the positive attitude from second half of last season? Strevs - you could see after Christmas the effort, didn’t want a turnover of players because of that
* Food is shit - prices too high, food gone down hill -Dan we’ll look into it, this is included in the match day experience including for adults
* Why have you decided you’ll put money into football clubs here, US, Italy — Dan it’s to build something - from Medway so it’s local to me, club means something to me
* Thommo- is a really exciting time -
* Thommo West Ham is going to be first team, reserves /u21s is at ebbsfleet That day
* Fixtures tenth July

Thank you for that.

So looking at it, Strevs wants 2 more in for pre-season rather than for August which is much more understandable.

Standard question asked on food I have never been to a stadium with good food. Even Wembley is crap and costs a bomb too. If you get that hungry go to the cafe opposite or the pie & mash shop before!

I've done another summary on the key points here:

https://dagnificent.weebly.com/daggers- ... key-points