Hopes high for Daggers ahead of the new season

AFTER the struggles of last season, where they propped up the nPower League Two table for long periods, the Daggers will be confident of a more successful campaign this time.

Having released experienced players in the form of captain Mark Arber, Jon Nurse, Peter Gain and Damien McCrory - all of whom played a big part in the clubs play-off triumph at Wembley in 2010 - manager John Still is looking to rebuild his squad.

Although having one of smallest budgets in the league, Still has secured the signing of former Arsenal defender Gavin Hoyte on a 2 year deal. The 22 year old right back, who has enjoyed loan spells with AFC Wimbledon, Lincoln City, Watford and Brighton and Hove Albion, is the brother of Middlesbrough full back Justin Hoyte - who also began is career at Arsenal - and looks to be great addition to the squad.

Meanwhile, several of the younger members of the squad have been offered extended contracts. Promising midfielder Billy Bingham has signed a new 3 year deal and Still has great faith in the 21 year old, who made 30 appearances last season, scoring twice.

"Although he has been here a while he has suffered with injuries, but has returned to pre-season looking fit and sharp, so we are hoping he can really push on," Still said.

Another youngster tied in to a long-term deal is striker Dwight Gayle. Signed last summer, Gayle was sent straight out on loan to Bishops Stortford, where he scored 42 goals in all competitions for the Blue Square North side.

"He got a good year's experience at Bishops Stortford," said Still. "I am hoping he can follow in the footsteps of the likes of Paul Benson, Tresor Kandol, Ben Strevens and be a fantastic forward for us. He has all the attributes."

Abu Ogogo is another to be offered a new contract while also being named as club captain, while striker Brian Woodall, who had a great season, has been rewarded with a new 3 year deal.

Another striker, Sam Williams, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, will be expected to play a major role this time, and his partnership with Josh Scott up front will be vital to the success of the team.

Scott himself has suffered terrible injury problems over the last couple of years - missing virtually the whole of the 2010-11 season - but he is back now and ready for the challenges ahead.

In midfield Matt Saunders, who was signed on a free transfer in February, has also had his fair share of injuries, but everyone at the club has high hopes for him after impressing in the few appearances he was able to make last season.

Expectations for the Essex club are usually low, but I think they could cause a surprise or two this season. If the young players - like Woodall and left back Femi Ilesanmi - continue to develop as they have been, and the team recaptures the form it showed at the end of the last campaign, I can see them challenging for a place in the play-offs.

Still came in for some unnecessary stick from the fans last season but he proved once again to be the right man for the job. Let's hope the club can be rewarded for the loyalty they showed him with another trip to Wembley in May.

Racism in football? Fact or fiction??

DID YOU watch 'Is Football Racist?' the other night? What did you make of it? Do you think we still have racial problems in the game, or is it just another case of mountains out of molehills?

Personally I think the racial issues in football are nowhere near as bad as Clark Carlisle was making out. As he said himself, he has never been subjected to any racism, despite being in the game for 17 years, and most of the players he spoke to had hardly encountered any either.

Northampton striker Ade Akinfenwa told of a team-mate who once called an opossing player a 'black c**t' during a game, but apologised for it straight after the match. Hardly a major issue then. Things are sometimes said in the heat of the moment. Of course that does not make it right, but it is easy for something to slip out in these high-pressure situations. I doubt the player in question is actually a racist, and Akinfenwa certainly did not appear to have a problem with him. He accepted the apology and moved on.

Then we had Stan Collymore. It appears the worst he has suffered has been a few remarks on Twitter. Hardly surprising when you see some of the rubbish he comes out with, both on social media and the radio. While I am not condoning bringing race into it, we should remember this is a man with a very questionable past, so for him to get on his high-horse about a few comments on Twitter really does lack a lot of creditability.

Funnily enough the most harrowing story in the programme was that of Carlisle's father. He spoke of the racial abuse he suffered as a young man, both on the pitch as a semi-professional player and on the terraces as a fan. He said that was one of the reasons he never took his son to matches. Very sad. But this was back in the 1970's. Things were very different then.

He lost a lot of sympathy from me, however, when he looked to blame his failure on making it as a professional on his colour. Really?? I don't recall it standing in the way of Viv Anderson or Cyril Regis, for example, or later John Barnes. My guess is Mr. Carlisle was just not quite good enough.

In fact it was Barnes who was up next. I remember watching him play for Watford back in the early 1980's and thinking what a fabulous player he was. I was on the North Bank when he tore Arsenal apart in 1982 and I left that game thinking I just seen the greatest player ever. He was the new Pele.

But Barnes was one of the first black players I can remember getting racially abused at football. We all recall the banana throwing incidents at Liverpool, but I also remember an England match where he was abused by his own fans. Monkey chants every time he got the ball and some refusing to celebrate the goals he had scored. Unbelievable. Maybe Collymore should remember that before he starts playing the victim...

I guess it is unsurprising that Barnes now appears to have a chip on his shoulder. I always saw him as a trail-blazer for black players in this country but he ruined it all by trying to blame his colour on his lack of managerial opportunities. I recall him doing a terrible job at both Celtic and Tranmere Rovers so that is more likely to be the reason he has not been flooded with offers since. The same goes for Paul Ince.

So I don't buy into the argument that club chairmen are racist. Every chairman wants the best man for the job regardless of their colour. Yes, there has been a lack of black managers and coaches in the game but I think that is more to do with culture. Most black players seem to go into the media when they finish playing. Mark Bright, Ian Wright, Leroy Rosenior, Garth Crooks, Collymore etc. Perhaps coaching does not appeal to them in the same way it does to white players?

So, in conclusion, much progress has been made over the last 30 years or so and black players are no longer disadvantaged in the game. There are more black players now than ever before so it is inevitable the number of black coaches will eventually increase as they come to the end of their playing careers. But I still do not think we will see a massive change. If you look at some of the black players currently reaching the end of their careers, how many appear to be management material? Ashley Cole? Rio Ferdinand? I don't think so. That is not racism, it is simply that they are not cut out for a career in management.

Yet they expect to be considered for these jobs simply because of their colour. Positive discrimination I believe it is called. Or just discrimination as I call it. The best man for the job should get it, be they black, white or green. And most black managers have just not been good enough. In fact, with very few exceptions, you could argue that most white managers are not good enough either. I mean most of them get sacked, don't they? Is that racism too?

Carlisle is an intelligent guy. He is very good role model for all young lads looking to make a career in football. He has been given an important role within the game and is proof that colour will not hold you back if you do not allow it to.

So instead of the likes of Ince and Barnes blaming 'inverted racisim' on their woes, perhaps they should take a look at themselves. Go away and improve your management skills. Do not expect to be given a job simply because of your colour.

Instead of Collymore complaining about a few Tweets, he should understand it is him people do not like, not his colour. The more you look to blame your colour on your failings, the more you create racist feelings.

Of course racism exists in society. I think it always will. And it is not just blacks who are victims of it either, let's not forget that. But if the programme proved anything at all it is that racism is not a major problem in football in 2012. Suarez and Terry incidents apart ,we really have very little to be ashamed of.

So is football racist? I would say not, but what do you think??

The King is dead, long live the King

SO VAN Persie is not going to sign a new contract. Are you surprised? I know I'm not. He is 28 years old and been at Arsenal for 8 seasons. In that time he has won just one major trophy - the FA Cup in 2005. Surely a player of his ability deserves to have won more?

With big names like Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri long gone, the club has remained as far away as ever from the big prizes in recent years. Van Persie has decided he has seen enough. He wants to finish his career with a flourish and he feels he will not be able to do that at Arsenal.

But lets not kid ourselves. No player is bigger than the club. Others, far better than the Dutchman, have left before and the club has survived. Moreover, van Persie has spent more than half his 8 years at the club on the treatment table anyway.

It has only been in the last 18 months that he has finally remained injury-free, a spell that has seen him reach new levels of genius. 48 Premier League goals in 56 matches since January 2011 tells its own story. But if he does leave now I, for one, will not shed a tear.

As soon as a player no longer wants to play for you, you have to get rid of him. We will get good money for him too, although we are unlikely to re-invest that in the team. We never do. But at least we will be able to post a healthy profit again next year.

Before the Euros I thought the future success of the club rested with van Persie staying, but I think I may have got it wrong. I believe we will now move forward even stronger. Being known as 'RvP and the other 10' was not good for the club as a whole and others will now have to step up and take responsibility.

The arrival of Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud means we now have two very good forward players, while maybe this could be a good time to finally play Theo Walcott in a more central position. A front two of Giroud and Walcott, with Podolski just behind, could actually make us an even more potent attacking force.

I would therefore like to see any money from the RvP sale used on the defensive area of the team. A central defender and a holding midfielder - Matt Hummels and Yann M'Vila for example - are the sort of players we need to challenge for the title this season.

So the King may be about to leave, but long live the King. We should not forget the magical moments van Persie gave us, especially in the last season and a half, but we need to look to the future now. And what a glorious future it could be.

We still have a very good squad of players - with the bonus of a fit-again Jack Wilshere to come back in as well - so I am convinced we will be celebrating a Premier League or Champions League triumph next May. And how will Robin feel then??

Wimbledon. Can the second week live up to the drama of the first?

WHAT AN incredible first week of Wimbledon that was. From Rafa Nadal's surprise early exit to late-night matches under the roof on Centre Court, it has certainly been a week that will live long in the memory.

Nadal was beaten in five amazing sets by little known Czech Lukas Rosol on Thursday evening, before six-time Champion Roger Federer was taken all the way by Frenchman Julien Benneteau the following night - finally coming through 6-1 in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray made it a third night of late drama when he finally over-came Cypriot Marcos Baghdadis at 23.02 on Saturday night, the latest ever finish at the All-England Club.

On top of the drama on court there was the return of the old debate over equal prize money for men and women off it. Frenchman Gilles Simon claimed, after his second round exit to Xavier Mallise, that women do not deserve equal money as their matches only last half as long as the men. He also claimed the men's game is more exciting.

Maria Sharopova, favourite to lift the women's title, countered by claiming her matches attract more attention than his, but her argument was rather let down by the clash between current Champion Petra Kvitova and Varvara Lepchenko the following day, which lasted barely 53 minutes.

Nadal was not the only former Champion to suffer an early exit, however, as Venus Williams crashed out in straight sets to Russian Elena Vesnina in the first round. Sister Serena, meanwhile, ensured a Williams did make it through to the second week after squeezing past Zheng Jie, 9-7 in the final set.

Defending men's Champion Novak Djorkovic has eased through the first week and is now favourite to retain his title, although in this Jubilee year can Murray finally end the 76 year wait for a British Men's Champion?

His biggest hurdle in reaching the final, apart from his suspect temperament, are Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and David Ferrer, who beat him in the French Open last month. But history may be on his side as the last British Champion, Virginia Wade, also lifted the title in a Jubilee year - 1977.

So we have much to look forward to as the second week kicks off this afternoon, weather permitting of course.