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Wandering to the top

A classic road to Glory
Started on 9 November 2021 by JT
Latest Reply on 4 February 2022 by JT
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Incredibly tight up there. But much better to be in a tight battle at the upper end of the league than the lower!

Dorking Wanderers FC: March 2023


As Tango quite rightly mentioned, it was always going to be a case of who blinked first lost. Well ladies and gentlemen we haven't blinked as we pulled off the perfect month with 5 wins from 5. Four of the wins coming with a clean sheet as well as Shamir Mullings put everyone down scoring 8 goals in the first 4 games before taking a well earned rest for the final game of the month. The man is a machine and has 35 goals in 37 starts across all competitions.

If anyone reading this decides to start a lower league English save, sign him. He has 64 goals in 2 seasons for us and is a beast of a target man. Just get the ball to his head and he will outjump 80% of the opposition defence.

We did look at some last minute transfer business but decided not to sign anyone. James McShane was loaned out to Welling for the rest of the year with them picking up most of his wages and paying us a small monthly fee as well.

Analysis and Thoughts


5 Games to go to decide our fate. Will it be play-offs or will it be a back to back league title. March blew the door open and has given us the chance of a lifetime to get back to back promotions and into the football league proper. We just need to be ready to step forward and walk through that door. Fixture wise this is what it looks like


Southend and Tranmere are going to be the toughest ties on paper. Southend are fighting to get into the play-offs whilst Tranmere are one of the teams chasing us down. Hopefully if we navigate the two games before that we should be ok even if we slip up against Tranmere. Woking beat us earlier in the year in the FA Trophy but we beat them in the League whilst Dag & Red and Maidenhead are in the relegation zone. 10 Points from 15 puts the title in our hand. Now its time to go do it
You got yourself a nice breathing gap but there are still a handful of games to go and some tough challenges await you. However, that is exactly why we build gaps
That place in the EFL is within touching distance now, it's just about holding your nerve and getting yourselves over the line. 1-0 wins will do!

Dorking Wanderers FC: Gameweek 42


So a slight change of pace as i bring you the game, match by match as we head into the run in. With the FA Trophy still going on and some of our rivals involved, it is only a half a fixture list. We take on Southend who are trying to get into the play-offs themselves. The other games of note see inform Yeovil go away to 6th place Chesterfield whilst Notts County host Woking to keep their chances alive.


A draw between Chesterfield and Yeovil doesn't help either team whilst Notts County pretty much put an end to their title chances by losing 2-1 to Woking. However, we couldn't extend our lead as we also lost losing 3-1 to a Southend side that was on fire. We took the lead through Spasov but two quick succession goals knocked the stuffing out of us and we just couldn't get back into the game. It leaves the table like this


Still looking good for the title but once again, just like last season we are going to make hard work of it. Next up we have relegation threatened Maidenhead so hopefully we can bounce back with the win

Dorking Wanderers FC: Gameweek 43

Gameweek 33 saw the fixtures get split over two seperate days due to the FA Trophy. In the first half of fixtures there was Aldershot going away to local rival Woking whilst Chesterfield were also going away to Torquay. We were in the 2nd half of fixtures away to relegation threatened Maidenhead, Notts County had a similar tie away to Dagenham and Redbridge. Tranmere had a tough home tie against fellow play-off hopefuls Eastleigh whilst Yeovil entertained Bromley at home. So how did it go


A mixed bag of results. Aldershot got a vital win whilst Chesterfield now feel out of the running having lost to Torquay. Notts dismantled Dagenham & Redbridge as expected whilst Yeovil slipped up in a surprise twist as they were the in-form side. Tranmere picked up another victory to really put the pressure on us. Not that we need any help in that department as we drew with Maidenhead. Now to be fair i rotated the squad a lot as we play in just 3 days time against Tranmere but it was another sluggish performance and if it wasn't for a last minute penalty we would have lost another game. The table looks like this


As you can see our points lead has been cut to 3 points and Tranmere are that team and thats who we have next at home. A win there and I would say we are going to be champions, a draw and we should hopefully have enough in the tank to do it and a loss, well that will be devastating.

A true 6 pointer up next. Lets go!
Massive game this one! I agree a win and the title is all but secured! Best of luck.

Dorking Wanderers FC: Gameweek 44


A massive Gameweek, one that was probably worth the 7 day break from posting (Sorry about that) as we took on our nearest rivals Tranmere. A game that ended up in a draw (Just) as the League Title was almost in our grasp but a 92nd Minute Callum McManaman goal snatched a draw for Tranmere.

We looked nervous in the first half and our nerves really prevented us getting going and it was no surprise we went 1-0 down just before half time. Some stern words and a few subs at half time seemed to turn the tide as as Shamir Mullings and Josh Taylor turned the game around but we just couldn't clear our box late in the game as we drew. It left the table like this


We are down to a 4 horse race and with 2 games to go we need just 4 points to secure back to back league titles and promotions and in theory we have much easier games against Woking and Dagenham and Redbridge. The full fixture list for Week 45 looks like this


It is time to sit and pray. We are struggling, Bobby-Joe Taylor is injured but can we limp over the finish line as we really don't want to do another year in Non-League. All I can think right now.... is don't do a DrBenjy, Don't do a DrBenjy

Dorking Wanderers FC: 22/23 End of Season

The Season is over and the question is could we finalise our second promotion in two years and get to the football league proper. We just need to hold our nerve and we can avoid the lottery of the play-offs. First up we had Woking in the penultimate game of the season.


It was a nervy, tight affair but we managed to steal a 1-0 win with former Woking player Slavi Spasov bagging the only goal of the game to virtually seal the title. We just needed to draw our final league game of the season against Dagenham & Redbridge to win the title. Easy right?


We made hard work of it but we got that point. Slavi Spasov scoring in the first minute but we conceded a penalty in the 27th minute and we had to hold on for the point but it was enough to leave us champions by just 1 point.


An Incredible season but one with the right pay-off. Having seen Lollujo struggle in Non-League this season, I have to say its a relief to get out of the divisions in just the two seasons. Now the real work begins

Analysis & Thoughts

What a season! I still can't quite believe it as its the first time I have been able to do back to back in England and we are now a Professional football club and we need to have a real think on how we build a team capable of hanging in League 2. However, here are some of the standout performers this year

Callum Hawkins came in to be the No.1 and was voted the League's best signing. He rarely made a mistake all season.

Bobby-Joe Taylor. The star man once again bagging 24 assists and 9 goals. He was voted the League's best player and unfortunately for me, he is destined to leave the club on a free transfer having wanted to play football higher up. Now that we are in League 2, I hope i can sway him to stay as we can offer that. Over 50 assists across two years, he is rightly seen by the club as a Legend.

Shamir Mullings, the Big man was the League's top scorer and was just 1 goal shy of equalling the Vanarama National record for goals in a season. 36 Goals this year bettering his tally by 7 from last season. 65 Goals for the club, he is now the 2nd highest scorer in the club's history and surely will become the record goal-scorer next season. A Non-league must!

Slavi Spasov. For me Slavi was our best signing this season. The young Bulgarian easily replaced Jason Prior and 23 goals for his first season is no slouch.

Our professional status means I need to negotiate every player contract to move them to full time. Staff wise, all of their contracts are on month to month so its going to be a rebuild job in the backroom as well next season.

Budgets and squad planning


Not the greatest budget with the wage budget remaning flat. To be fair we are way under the budget so we still have plenty of room to play as long as the move from part time to full time doesnt see wages shoot up too much. Transfer budget is pretty much forgettable as right now we are going to focus pretty much all of our efforts on free transfers and loans for the time being.

As a quick side note we had our youth intake and just like the year before we added one new face to the squad. Meet Scott Sanderson who has some decent stats although is a little slow. We will see how he develops but for the most part our journey is going to mainly new transfers. So what do we need.

Well interestingly, even though I have just put praise on Hawkins, Spasov and Mullings, I think we are going to need to be in the market for a new goalkeeper and probably one more striker to compete with the two big men. If Mullings and Spasov struggle in the higher leagues, I need another option. We are also going to have to think about life without Bobby-Joe Taylor meaning we need to get a new left winger and that elusive right hand side winger that I have been after for the last two years.

Defensively, a partner to go alongside Nsiala will come in handy whilst more cover at right back and central midfield would also round out. The rest is going to depend on sales but I suspect we could easily see 7 or 8 new faces in. Keeping team cohesion together is going to be the toughest task.
JT's avatar Group JT
2 yearsEdited

End of Season Wrap up

So let's see who the winners and loser's were in the 2022/23 season.

Premiership Winner Liverpool
Relegated Fulham, Bournemouth, Southampton

Championship
Winner Newcastle
Promoted Blackburn, West Brom (Play-offs)
Relegated Blackpool, Rotherham, Coventry

League One
Winner Ipswich Town
Promoted Charlton, Derby County (Play-offs)
Relegated Forest Green, Cheltenham, Port Vale, Exeter City

League Two
Winner Bristol Rovers
Promoted Accrington Stanley, Rochdale, Morecambe (Play-offs)
Relegated Newport County, Grimsby Town

Vanarama National
Winner: Dorking Wanderers
Promoted Aldershot (Play-offs)
Relegated Dag & Red, Maidenhead, Darlington, Weymouth

Vanarama North
Winner Gloucester City
Promoted Fylde (Play-offs)
Relegated Nuneaton, Ashton United, Curzon Ashton, Hitchin Town

Vanarama South
Winner Oxford City
Promoted Dover Athletic (Play-offs)
Relegated Wealdstone, Poole Town, Hendon, Welling United

Community Shield: Newcastle 1-3 Man United
FA Cup: Man City 4-1 Tottenham
Carabao Cup: Tottenham 1-2 (e) Man Utd
Papa John's Trophy: Peterbrough 2-2 (p) Huddersfield
FA Trophy: Aldershot 2-0 Torquay United



Champions League Man Utd (p) 1-1 Real Madrid
Europa League: Juventus 2-0 Hertha Berlin
Europa Conference League: Nice 2-2 (p) Lazio
European Super Cup: Dortmund 1-1 (p) Man City

Champions League: Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd
Europa League: Arsenal, Leicester
Europa Conference: Aston Villa


2022 World Cup: Germany 2-3 Italy
Christ, eh, who is managing Manchester United on your save?
2021-12-21 15:50#286210 Harleygator : Christ, eh, who is managing Manchester United on your save?

Believe it or not its Ole. He is having a blinder on this save

Dorking Wanderers FC: Pre-season 23/24

Our first pre-season as a professional club was not an enjoyable one. We repeatedly lost out on targets due to our strict wage budget and by my count I think we had 17 players actively choose not to come and play at Dorking. The fact is, we were not only losing out to fellow League 2 sides but also to Vanarama National sides who could offer more in wage than we could. It was tricky but nonetheless we did add a plethora of new faces to the side as we try and survive in the 4th Tier.

Outs

There were a few players that left the club on a free transfer for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, Bobby-Joe Taylor was one of them men as he decided not to renew his contract, never allowing me the chance to give thim the Professional level football he craved and instead he went on the free transfer market. I did stalk him and offer him trial contacts as well as professional contracts but he refused to even talk to us and eventually he signed a deal with Oldham. Our creative outlet for the last two years, this is going to be a huge gap for us to fill. Also leaving the club at the end of their contracts were Jamie Bradley-Green, James Rowe, Niall McManus and Barry Fuller who was out on loan last year with Chippenham.

The last four were all expected and planned. The most surprising and annoying loss though came with Teenage Mountain Porsteinn Aron Antonsson whose contract expired and he failed to get a Work Permit meaning we have the option of keeping him at the club but not being able to play him or let him go. With a heavy heart, I decided to let him go which is a real shame as he was a solid player last year and one with lots of potential.

The final three players to leave were James McShane (£0) to Hampton and Richmond, Blaine Rowe (Loan) to Dulwich Hamlet and Mitchell Roberts (£21.5k) to Aldershot. McShane leaves as the clubs all time appearance maker and top scorer but never really played that well for me on a consistent basis. Rowe is leaving to get some first team football as I think his chances will be limited this year whilst Roberts was unhappy i didnt give him a new contract mid way through last season and wanted to leave. His Sale has meant I had lost 3 centre halves in the summer meaning that was a No. 1 Priority for us to try and fix.

Ins

A total of 10 new faces to get through and I don't think I am done yet as we go into the main season. The first two through the door, both joined from that email you get in the inbox about youth players being released and were the only two that were good enough to improve the squad. Max McKnight joins from Tottenham and gives us another option at right back as well as an option on the problem right midfield spot. The second one was Arsenal youngster Mauro Bandeira who at 6"4 continues to add real height to the team. A Box to Box Midfielder i will be looking at him to be a focal point on set pieces as well as trying to get past the strikers and get more men in the box.

Then after 100's of trials and near misses we started to add to the team further. Finnish U21 International Viljami Sinisalo joined on a free transfer having been released by Aston Villa having made just the one appearance for the Villians. He will be our new No.1 which could be seen as harsh on Hawkins but in terms of ability Sinisalo is more well rounded and should be good enough for this level. Jake Andrews was next through the door, again on a free transfer as our direct replacement to Bobby-Joe Taylor. Comparison wise he is slightly better then Bobby-Joe and he maintains our set piece threat. Jake was at Tranmere last year where he barely got a look-in which is my only reservation but he should have enough to get us by.


So I also took the move to change our parent club away from QPR to Moneybags Newcastle having been unimpressed by the loan signings from QPR last year. The first man to make the jump is Remi Savage who comes in to give me options at both left back and in the centre of defence where we are short, albeit he is a little short for a CB for my liking. A solid squad player to keep around.

For the next few signings, time was running out and we were struggling to get a squad together due to our many missed signings and there was an air of desperation in some of these moves. Kane Thompson-Sommers was signed after a glowing scout report and although he has some base skills for a left sided winger, I Am not convinced he will be a starter here but does at least give one more body to call on. D'Margio Wright-Phillips comes in to give me an option on the right wing. Signed mainly because of his family connections, he does have some good pace and is a natural in a position we have failed in for two seasons now. He will have competition from Aaron Nemane who like Wright-Phillips came through from Man City. He has spent the last two years at Notts County in the Vanarama National and although this is a step up for him, he has the core attributes to hopefully suceed.

The Brilliantly named Zidane Iqbal was snapped on a free having been released by Man Utd. The Iraqi International has the passing, technique and vision to unlock defences and is certainly our most creative player and we will look to him to help fill the assist gap that Taylor's departure has left us with. The final new face joined just as the season was about to kick off as we added Tyreece Onyeka on loan from Crewe Athletic for the season. Picking up just a tiny % of his wages, he is another relatively tall striker that can operate both as a Target Forward and as an Attacking Forward, the two roles that we play and he gives us more options in case Mullings or Spasov struggle with the leap up the leagues.

On top of all of this we completely revamped the whole back-room bringing in a whole new team. We still need at least 2 more playes before i have a squad that i am entirely comfortable with but hopefully we have done enough

On the field


We have stuck with the 4-4-2 throughout pre-season with just a few minor changes. The central midfield duo rather then being a BWM (D) and Mezzala (A) have moved to a DLP (D) and a BBM to cater for Iqbal and Bandeira. The other small change is Tobi Omole (Also our new club captain) has moved to CB from LB due to our huge shortage of CB's at the club.

On the field we have largely been good. A 0-0 draw against a strong Newcastle side in the first game at the Dorking Stadium being a particular highlight. Now whether i will need to mix it up, time will tell, we still have the other formations from last year although we dont have the personnel for the 3 at the back formation so that one may need to get dropped in replacement of a formation we could actually field. More transfer work is still to be done though so I won't make that final decision until the transfer window closes.

Thoughts and Analysis

So our 3rd season at Dorking and we are living up to our Wanderer's name tag with our 3rd stadium in as many years and it is going to be interesting to see how we adapt to these new surroundings. We are predictably predicted to finish last with odds of 450-1 to win the league and everyone predicts us to come straight back down. Hopefully momentum can continue and we can defy that but i would be gobsmacked if we get a third straight promotion. Our reputation is still tiny and in reality we need to solidify in this league for a little bit before moving up to allow the finances and reputation to catch us up. That way it will be a lot easier to compete for players and we can then build from there.

In the short term we need at least 2 new CB's and if we can get one more striker in that should mean we have enough to get through to January where we can reassess again.

Dorking Wanderers FC: August 2023

So how did our first month in Professional football go? Did we do enough in the window to allow us to compete? Well early signs are very possibly.


A fairly solid month all around as we stay undefeated in the league picking up 7 points from the 9 possible as we took our two year momentum and carried it forward. Tyreece Onyeka has settled in well picking up a superb 94th minute winner against Swindon Town in our first competitive match at the Dorking Stadium. He also bagged the crucial 3rd goal in the 4-3 win over Sutton United.

Colchester was a tough game but Shamir Mullings managed to score an equaliser to make sure he has scored in 3 different divisions for us. The big man has struggled in the opening games of the season but hopefully that goal will spark some life into him and he is able to get the goals to not only become the clubs all time top scorer but lead us to safety.


The one blemish for us has been the Carabao Cup as we lost in the 1st round to League 1 Bristol Rovers who were able to pick us apart after we took the lead through Jake Andrews from the penalty spot. It was a heavily rotated squad as right now I am putting all of my efforts into the League. Expect the same in the Papa Johns trophy where we have West Ham U23, Oxford United and Peterborough.

We have added a few players to the team as we signed the desired centrebacks we needed. David Agbontohoma joins on loan from Sheffield Wednesday. He is big and physical and should dominate at the back aerially whilst also providing an aerial threat from set pieces. Zane Monlouis joins on a free having been released from Arsenal and he will be a back up this season but adds bodies to a thin defence. The final new face was a deadline day move as Rowan McDonald signs to give us another option in the midfield which could be crucial as its increasingly likely we will switch to a 3 man midfield at some point


Analysis and Thoughts

A better than expected start but we are surviving rather than being truely convincing. I think I have enough to get us to the 50 point mark but we are going to be outclassed a lot this season and its going to be about stealing wins and bouncing back quickly from the set backs we face. The Papa Johns annoyance starts in September but my main aim is if we can stay midtable at the end of the month then it will be a good job so far
still early days, but it is nice to start far away from the relegation zone

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