The White Shirts of Dover

Cruising away at the top of the league! Keep it up!

I can see only one outcome so far... Championes, Championes,
Ole! Ole! Ole!

Goddard is a very good player, I think he'll grow into a very good player with the right management and he'll get that with you at Dover. A fantastic season so far, I can only see promotion also at the moment. No pressure!

JANUARY RESULTS

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So we had to have a major shakeup for this game based on the fact we had literally just played a match YESTERDAY!! So I was pretty much forced into changing the whole lineup. On the flip side Boreham Wood had been forced into a similar position and after looking over their second string I was confident ours was stronger. True to my belief, we created 18 chances on goal to their 3, and although we struggled to find the back of the net, we did secure a comfortable 1-0 victory to kick off 2017 in style.


FA Cup 3rd round saw us travel to Ewood Park to face an in form Blackburn Rovers side. Knowing this was going to be a tough game, we set up defensively with the hope to knick a goal or two on the counter attack. We had successfully implemented this a couple of times this season in the league and had picked up a couple of smash and grab wins. As expected, we were completely dominated, Blackburn creating 23 chances to our 6. However, a quick breakaway and fantastic headed finish from Ricky Miller secured us the 1-0 victory and my tactic had worked to perfection. We maybe were a little lucky that Blackburn's strikers didn't turn up but you're always going to need a little bit of luck in games like this and I'll take it all day long! Dover march onto the 4th round and are now the only remaining non league side in the competition.


Wrexham were coming into this game on the back of an unbeaten 5 game run and were in high spirits. We faced a tough game against them at home, so I decided to stick with the defensive tactic that had worked last week against Blackburn. Youngster Cy Goddard joined on loan from Spurs this week and there was plenty of anticipation amongst the travelling Dover fans to see our new man in action. And boy did he deliver, marking his debut with a 25 yard screamer in the 37th minute to give us the lead. Following the sending off of our RB Loui Fazakerley, we came under strong pressure from Wrexham as they really turned the screw. They pushed 3 up front late on and we were able to wrap up the 3 points with a late breakaway and goal from substitute Ricky Modeste. The defence did me proud today with a really solid performance.


FA Trophy 2nd round match and young loanee Cy Goddard stole the headlines again with another 2 goals in only his 2nd game for the club. This kid's turning out good I was overheard saying to Assistant Manager Brede Hangeland on the sideline, with a huge smile on my face. Ricky Modeste started up front in place of Ricky Miller (rested) and banged in his 2nd goal in 2 games too.


Switched back to a slightly more attacking formation in the league today and my boys did me proud. A fantastic performance. 4 goals from 4 different players. 4 different players also got the assists too. 15 chances created and we limited them to only 9 of which 8 were long shots. Ricky Miller obviously appreciated the rest in the last game as he returned with a man of the match performance and a goal and assist to his name.


So the FA Cup 4th round saw us host a Derby County side who are really struggling in the Championship. Wallowing in 19th position, with morale at an all time low. So I decided not to go for the smash and grab, sit back and defend style. Maybe it was the wrong decision but we were heavily expected to lose and I thought my fans would rather see us go out there and give it a real go and I wanted the boys to enjoy themselves on the big occasion. So I set us up with the tactic that had been so successful this year in the league, 4-1-4-1 with attacking wingers and full backs. And even though we lost, we did give it a real go too. We wasn't outclassed at all as we held our own with 51% possession and 11 chances of our own created to their 16. But in the end, quality did shine through for Derby and our cup run had come to an end. But I have to say I'm extremely proud of the boys and with a sell out crown in attendance today we have brought in a much needed boost to the club's bank balance.


An away trip to York was next on the agenda and I think the long distance travel and only 3 days since the Derby game had effected the boys as we simply looked knackered. York were struggling down in 18th position and were on a winless run of 4 games. But it turned out to be a very even match and 1-1 was probably a fair result on the face of it. But it was clear I needed to give a number of first teamers a rest for a game or 2.[/img]

JANUARY REVIEW

I do apologise as I forgot to screenshot the league table at the end of January but I'm happy to report that we are still sitting pretty at the top 8 points clear of 2nd place Tranmere Rovers.

A decent month for results. Reaching the 4th round of the FA Cup was a fantastic achievement and the boys did me proud in holding their own against Derby County when knocked out. Good to see us progressing in the FA Trophy too, a cup I have full confidence we can win after the excellent showing in the FA Cup. League results were good in between all the distractions of the cup with 3 wins and a draw.

Youngster Cy Goddard coming in on loan from Tottenham has been fantastic and has to be my player of the month for January. He's had a really positive influence on the team and given us all a mid season lift, which I'm sure will help us in pushing forward over the next couple of months to secure the title. Ricky Modeste came in up front for a couple of games as and when I rested Ricky Miller and continued to score goals which is encouraging to see that we don't just rely on Miller to bang in all of our goals.

FEBRUARY RESULTS

So we kicked off a busy February schedule with a tough away draw in the FA Trophy at Eastleigh, who were still playing well and sitting pretty in a playoff place in the league. Expecting a tough match, we fielded a full strength team and things were not looking good at all when we went in 2-0 down at half time. The boys got a stern talking to but we didn't really respond and still looked the worse team early into the second half. I changed things up and packed out the centre of the pitch, ignoring the flanks as it clearly wasn't working. Suddenly things changed and we kicked into life, scoring two quick goals to get the scores level at 2-2. I thought we'd thrown it away when we conceded in the 79th minute, only for winger Dale Jennings to fire in an 89th minute equalizer to take the game to a replay.


Another game now to be played in February which I wasn't particularly pleased about but fancied us to win this, earning the replay at our place. However, it wasn't to be. A very even game with chances at both ends but it just wasn't our day. Disappointed to go out of this competition though as with our performance in the league this year, I felt this was a very winnable competition for us.


Inviting pre season title favourites Forest Green to the Crabble Athletic Ground was not exactly ideal following the disappointing defeat in the FA Trophy. However, my boys responded perfectly playing some excellent football at times and securing a solid 2-0 victory. CM Ryan Burge getting himself back on the scoresheet to show youngster Cy Goddard that he isn't going to give up his place in the team too easily.


We made it back to back 2-0 victories in the league with a good away performance at struggling Southport. Cy Goddard and Ryan Burge clearly having a ding dong battle for the goals competing for that CM position in my team! Loving the competition!! Ricky Miller scores for the 3rd game running.


Last time we played Maidstone, we didn't put in the best performance and I put it down to the fact that my players were rattled by all the pre match comments and goading from Jay Saunders. Guess what, he tried it again, starting early in the week with the mind games. This time, I didn't get involved, maintained my professionalism and simply let him get on with it! It clearly worked as my team went out with clear heads knowing what I expected of them and duly delivered an excellent 4-0 win! Ricky Miller scores for the 4th game in a row!


Solihull Moors were sitting 23rd in the league and so I fancied us to get a result here. However, they turned up in great spirit and for most of the game I found myself wondering how this team were so far down the league as we just couldn't deal with them at times. They created 17 chances against our 7... On the face of that I had mixed emotions, disappointed we had struggled against such a low placed side, but happy to take a draw from a game we didn't deserve anything from! Ricky Miller scores for the 5th game in a row!! 6 goals in his last 5 games, probably his best month of the season!


Finished the month with a bore draw....and it was exactly that. Only 8 shots between the two teams. An awful game for the fans. I came away from this game feeling a little disappointed we hadn't won....which is credit to the boys and shows just how far we've come this season. At the start of the year, I would have taken a draw against the likes of Macclesfield all day long.

FEBRUARY REVIEW

Another good unbeaten month in the league sees us pull 10 points clear with only 10 games to go. I'm starting to think that surely this title is now ours to throw away. Barring a really poor run we should have it sewn up.

Ricky Miller is the standout performer in the month scoring in nearly every game and chipping in with 3 assists as well. How he didn't win player of the month I'll never know! I have to give all of the defence a special mention this month as they bagged 3 clean sheets in the 4 league games.

BALL SECURES 2ND MANAGER OF THE MONTH AWARD

GOALKEEPER INJURY CRISES AT DOVER

Injuries are starting to creep in as the season draws to a close and worryingly we lost both our goalkeepers, Steve Arnold and Mitch Walker, in the space of a week to long term injuries that would see them both miss the rest of the season! I needed to jump on this quickly as this is something that could really hinder our final push for the title!

DOVER MANAGER LOOKS TO CHARLIE BURNS TO SOLVE GOALKEEPER CRISIS

After scouring the transfer market for a loan goalkeeper for the last 10 games of the season, my best available option was 21 year old Charlie Burns from MK Dons. Charlie joins us with only 25 games under his belt all at a lower level playing for Truro and Hayes & Yeading, but I felt confident he was a decent option to see us through the season and with a little faith shown in him by me, he could definitely do a job for us!

MARCH RESULTS

Sutton were never going to be an easy proposition as they sat 6th in the league one place outside the playoffs and would be looking to push to move up the table. We were the better team with 14 chances created to their 8 and 59% possession, but squandered a few chances. It definitely looked like the pressure of 'that record' was affecting Ricky Miller today as he snatched at chances and generally looked frustrated. Hopefully this wasn't something that was going to affect him too badly going into the final 10 games, when we needed his goals more than ever to get us over the line.


Felt confident going into this one. North Ferriby have scored fewest goals in the league this year with only 29 and are struggling in 23rd position. My confidence was not misplaced as we were very comfortable throughout this game and walked away with a good 2-0 win which could have easily been 5 if that man Ricky Miller had been on form. Two games without a goal and a rating today of only 6.2 makes me wonder if that record is playing on his mind. I might have to take control of this situation and have a word with the player before our next game.


The focus of the pre match team talk was on what I'd say to Ricky Miller who had been poor in our last two games. I told him there was no pressure on him and to get out there and play his natural game. Although he didn't score, he did step up his performance to an 8.1 as he got both assists for both of winger Dale Jennings goals. Dale had been knocking on the door recently for more first team starts, and I told him I'd give him a couple of opportunities this month, so its good to see him repaying my faith in him!


We lost away at Chester, so it was important for me to tell the team to get out there and exact their revenge in this game. I haven't had the opportunity to use this team talk much this season and I'm pleased to say it got the boys fired up and raring to go! They were excellent in this game, creating 19 chances to Chester's 4. And good news....Ricky Miller is back after 3 games without a goal he banged in a brace today. Dale Jennings also getting on the scoresheet for his 3rd goal in 2 games.


Ended the month with a solid 1-0 away win. Ricky Miller takes himself to within 3 goals of the club goalscoring record. The question on everyone's lips was 'could be do it before the end of the season?'

MARCH REVIEW

Another unbeaten month, meaning that we still haven't suffered defeat in the league in 2018. What an incredible run we are on....I'm so proud of my team. Everyone is fighting through the fatigue of a long season to get us closer to that title which is getting closer and closer now! With a 12 point lead at the top and only 5 games to go, 4 points will secure English League Two football for us next year, something we could have only dreamed about at the start of the season.

Dale Jennings gets a mention this month for his performances on the left wing. Young winger James Caton has been fantastic in this position all year and that has made opportunities for Dale pretty few and far between. He came to me at the start of the month and said he wanted a chance. Weighing things up, I though Caton could do with a rest in a couple of games so I made Dale a promise I would give him a shot. He repayed that faith with goals and assists and consistently good ratings throughout the month.

DOVER WIN VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE TITLE

2nd game into April and following a 2-2 draw with Barrow, we secured the Vanarama National League title with a win against Eastleigh. We played excellent throughout and RB Loui Fazakerley and CB Sam Magri bagged the goals to win us the league! An unbelievable achievement and we have now racked up 17 games unbeaten in the league and have still not lost in 2017! What an incredible season it has been and I'm so excited to be taking Dover into League Two for the first time in their history next year!