REPORT FROM THE FANS FORUM - 26th October 2018

Discuss all matters related to Dagenham and Redbridge
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Auntie Merge
Posts: 2178
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 3:43 pm

(I'm happy to be corrected on any point).
Those answering questions:-

Craig Unger = CU (New owner)
Peter B Freund = PBF(New owner)
Paul Gwinn = PG (Chairman)
Steve Thompson = ST (Managing Director)
Peter Taylor = PT (Team Manager)


Introduction

Peter B Freund (PBF)
Background on why I am here and how I found Dagenham. I was in a family business for 20 plus years, family business but I have a passion and love for sports, and it started to resonate to a business side and I was able to purchase a baseball team, the Memphis Redbirds ,and take it forward. And we wanted to take it further. We own a football (soccer) side in the USA too and we started to look for opportunities in the UK. Ultimately what sold us on this club was the dedication of all of you, the supporters and Paul and Steve. Here was a club which had financially hit rock bottom but you were all still prepared to support it. It is your club, not ours. When I met ST it just felt right. But our plans for the club are pretty simple, we want what you want for the club to succeed and be successful and be an important part of the community. And how important this club is to the community

We got some flack on social media about some new seats we put in because they can’t score goals but we want to do things that are meaningful and add value to the club so you can be proud of it.

We have got to know Peter Taylor and we really like him and his philosophy. We’ve been able to do a couple of signings today but it isn’t the best time of the season to sign new players, everyone points to January.

My goal is to have this club back in the English Football League and my commitment is to stick around and see this thing through.

I have known Craig about 3 years through the St Louis Cardinals and then through the Memphis RedBirds.

Craig Unger
This is so much fun. The one word which sums up everything we want to do is ‘opportunity’. To do the best for the team, the supporters, have a forum like this. The opportunity that we have to make a difference and taking the team from where it is and take the team back to the football league. Also the opportunity to help Finley Connelly walk again. It is about the people who come together. We want you to be proud of Victoria Road, and the new seats are part of that. We are here about growing the fanbase and developing the next generation of fans. The opportunity to move back to the football league, we have to be ready for when that opportunity comes. Thank you for the warm welcome and we look forward to hearing from you.


Peter Taylor
I am hating match days at the moment. The young players have dropped their heads. I do know that your not as happy with the situation at the moment. On Tuesday night I thought we were hopeless. We looked tired and looked negative and this concerned me a lot. At the moment we are not good enough and we’ve got 3 new players now, who should all be playing tomorrow.


Q We’ve got 27 players on the books, obviously we’re going to get some new players in but are you looking to offload some too?
A - PT - We’ve got 27 players and we are probably going to offload 4-5. We could do to be getting rid of some players. At the start of the season I got in a squad of players now because of a fantastic situation of the football club, we are now in a position to improve the squad. It doesn’t mean that you can instantly get rid of, as they are under contract. It is isn’t so easy to offload players that aren’t in the first team. We are trying to get other players out on loan. Some of the young players here at the moment are probably not good enough but might be in a years time.

Q Watching the game at Boreham Wood it was the first the time I’ve seen the supporters turn on the players. What surprised me was that we didn’t start on Tuesday that finished on Saturday. Why?
PT - The team we finished with on Saturday didn’t start on Tuesday. I don’t like starting with a player who you know you have to take off. The shape we played with on Tuesday they should have asked the same questions but they didn’t. I know there were some cheers when Mullins came off.
Mullins has lost someone very close to him and he has had a very difficult two weeks. When he has got it right, he is the 6ft 5in centre forward that we’ve needed, against Ebbsfleet and others.
We’ve got all bits of ammunition that should help us get goals. Mullins has got to get better and I firmly believe he will.

Q I wanted to ask about Liam Gordon. He has won man of match a couple of times this season and he seems to get withdrawn or left out on a regular basis.
PT - I love Liam Gordon, he is going to be a good player. I haven’t left him out, I may have substituted him as he needed a rest. This year he has had to play every game. I am going to rest him tomorrow too.

Q What do you think is the best position for Cheeki Kandi?
PT - He has got great pace and he isn’t as good in the air as he should be. Because of his pace he played wide right. But there seems to be less and less end product, he wasn’t passing people he should have been. He has a lot of promise. (Asked if he would play him as a centre forward), yes I could give him a go. I promise every time we play I am thinking of the best team.
We’ll see.

Q I am very impressed with Jack Munns when can we see him in the team regularly?
PT - He wasn’t match fit but he is now. He’s been working really hard and he will get the opportunity now. Tomi Adeloye is also full of promise. He just needs a goal.

Q Two players I’ve watched - Ben Goodlife and Lamar Reynolds - why do you think Goodliffe has been sent off twice?
PT -He was at Boreham Wood reserves before he went to Wolves. He is a young player and he is learning the hard way. We are not an easy team to play for at the moment. We are hoping we will get more experience in the team to make us more organised. Lamar Reynolds on his day, could be anything, but there has not been enough product. If he gets it right he could be exciting but he hasn’t yet got it right early enough.

Q Elliot Romain?
PT - He works his socks off. I felt as though (I’m blaming the new owners on this), if we get the players we want, he wouldn’t be in the first team as a regular. Maidstone rang me and I asked him if he wanted to go, and he went. My target is to get better than that. In a few weeks time you’ll see a front line where he wouldn’t get in the team.

Q You’ve mentioned several times about needing experience on the pitch, but Gavin Hoyte hasn’t featured, why?
PT - Gavin Hoyte it hurts me more than anything not to play him. Especially if we are playing wing back, we need a McQueen or Nunn. He is more a centre half.

Q Are there any more signings imminent?
PT - Yes! I know that 9 points out of 48 is sackable but that is the last thing I want to happen. And I am determined to get it right. The owners talk to me about 'what do we need?’. There is no way I’m going to spend over the top, I still spend it like it is my own money. We are looking at bringing in the right players, not just those who drop by and sit in the stands.

(Peter Taylor leaves the meeting)

Q Club badge. More a thank you than a question. But thank you for putting merchandise in the club shop that we actually want to buy as it has the old badge

Q Now that Peter’s gone, how many games is he going to get to improve?
PBF - This is what I will say about PT. He put together a team on a minuscule budget but it is only fair now that we can give him the resources he needs that we give him time to get results.


Q One of my favourite bans is Van Halen and my favourite track is jump, can you play it to Mullins?
(Laughs)


Q One of the things we have been pretty poor on is marketing this club.
PBF - That is why we are here. We can talk about how we market and grow a club and it is everything we know how to do from ticketing, website, social media, branding, bringing in commercial managers and sales people and making this club what it can be.


Q How do you go from having a £70 million bid for Aston Villa to buying Dagenham and Redbridge?
PBF We were at a Brentford v Queens Park Rangers game and we met a broker, who deals in football clubs. The next day the back page of the Times said we were buying Aston Villa. We never buying the club or even spoke to Aston Villa.

Q What does long haul mean from where we are now?
PBF I don’t know. We talk about 3-5 year plans. It isn’t my plan to disappear in 3-5 years. I’m doing this because it is something I am committed to. I am in for the long haul but I can’t answer the long haul as I don’t know.

Q I think I read that just avoiding the drop this season would be acceptable. There is a big fear in this room that we would get relegated.
PBF I do not want this to happen but if it does, we will all go down together and all come up again together. We are making these investments
What I do here has a bearing on what I do in the United States, my sponsors and commitments and I do not want to get the reputation for bailing.

Q Will the Junior Daggers be coming back?
ST It is something that we want to get started again and we will try to move it forward.
CU Those are some of the things that we have done very successfully in the US and we have been talking to the people in the office here. That goes back to the engagement of the community and the marketing of the team. We have to be able to create a better connection with the community. We want other people to come in and see how much fun it is. We have to find more opportunities and this will be one of them.

Q Is the old badge coming back?
PBF The concept of the old badge is that there is incredible history here and just because you have a new badge doesn’t mean that the old one disappears. You will see both in the shop but not necessarily on the team kit.

Q What other improvements have you got?
PBF We have a list and it is a significant list. We need to balance it, as we don’t have a limitless budget. So we are prioritising. The scoreboard for instance. Like the building in the car park is a frigging eyesore. We see everything you see, and we have seen it all!

Meeting ends.
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Penfold
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Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:06 pm

Thanks Auntie.

I am quite surprised that the forum ended after an hour? Was it not attended well or did Thommo end it swiftly once there was an opening for him to be seriously questioned?
"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there."

"You never realize what you have until it's gone. Toilet paper is a good example"
Alan
Posts: 1464
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2014 2:34 pm

Cheers Merge.
Diggerthedog
Posts: 3892
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:08 pm

Sounds promising. Thanks Merge.
Dagdale
Posts: 1188
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:33 pm

Interesting and genuinely sounds like the new owners are very committed, most of us have seen very tough and frustrating times with Dagenham & Redbridge and probably still more to come but desperately need to keep good mates all round and hold firm and believe in a good finished article.
Lcbdagger
Posts: 1872
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:17 pm

Cracking report... fundamentally need some wins though... be all and end all right now... fascinated to see what this new front line looks like at Christmas

Hoping if the team gets stronger we can go back to a flat back four
EssexDagger!
Posts: 531
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 5:40 pm

Big thank you, Merge for taking the time to do that for us!

Can anybody tell us if it was a good turn out tonight ?

Also hope everybody can give Mullins an easy ride tomorrow after hearing about his personal issues these past few weeks, say what you want on here but hopefully we can give the guy a break & ease up on the stick come matchday...
Daggernewbie
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Posted your link
RampantDuke
Posts: 379
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:01 pm

Pretty good turnout I would say. Probably around 150 people. These guys are either the real deal or incredible salespeople. I really think they are what we need. Good times ahead!
Broom Broom Broom - Let me hear you say Wayo - Wayo!
Bluenose
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:27 pm

Was "we were hopeless on Tuesday" a direct quote?
stanton101
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:56 am

Thanks Merge.

Hopefully we'll get a positive result tomorrow.
Diggerthedog
Posts: 3892
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:08 pm

EssexDagger! wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 10:23 pm Big thank you, Merge for taking the time to do that for us!

Can anybody tell us if it was a good turn out tonight ?

Also hope everybody can give Mullins an easy ride tomorrow after hearing about his personal issues these past few weeks, say what you want on here but hopefully we can give the guy a break & ease up on the stick come matchday...
Mullins I’m sure has everyone’s sympathy but he was poor at Maidstone and if he was effected by this matter so badly why has the manager persisted with playing him. Gordon has been rested on and off for 4 weeks, even on these quotes Taylor sounds clueless and even if he keeps us up I hope a young and hungry coach is given the job.
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Auntie Merge
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Bluenose wrote: Sat Oct 27, 2018 1:32 am Was "we were hopeless on Tuesday" a direct quote?
Yes.

IMO Peter Taylor was a bit too honest about players in a way that John Still would never be.
JS would always protect players in any interview or Q&A. Different styles yes, but with good reason. I didn’t report every single word from PT as a result, but what I reported is what he said.
rebeldagger
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I thought all gave a good account of themselves, was good to see the Americans mixing with the fans also. Naturally it's far too early to tell, yet all the right things are being said and done, Peter and Craig explained why money has been spent on aesthetics, and they're right. Money needs to spent not just on the pitch but also on the ground itself, I for one will be delighted to see that peeling red pre-fab go!

They came across and open and honest and even enjoyed a joke or two with fans over the night. All in all, I'm looking forward to this afternoon even more.
RampantDuke
Posts: 379
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:01 pm

This is a taste of their track record;

https://www.milb.com/memphis/news/memph ... -198228674

The Duke is particularly looking forward to the Grit and Grind night, it might take him back to his bachelor days ;-)
Broom Broom Broom - Let me hear you say Wayo - Wayo!
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