Wild Bill wrote:Christies Child wrote:I look at what Daggers have achieved
The Daggers are doing well be have achieved
nothing so far. The smaller clubs in and around London are always at an advantage as they can snap-up rejects for their many bigger neighbours or get some decent loan deals in.
A good debate but a few misconceptions. Firstly, the above. The Daggers haven't snapped up any rejects. Every player bar one has come from a non-league club, the vast majority from below the Conference. The only one that was is Will Antwi from Wycombe and he was on loan at Northwich Victoria. Proof that players will travel. They also have no players on loan.
The point CC is trying to make is that Daggers are making a concerted effort to invest in talented youngsters (over 20 of them) from the lower leagues and its working. When it works, as it clearly is, then you have a much lower wage bill and the potential to sell players on, as we saw with Carl Baker, Danny Carlton, John Hardiker etc. What it needs is a manager with the commitment to go scouting as much as possible as is the case with John Still.
We've decided as a club to go down the route of investing in proven players (for the most part) and loanees, which are easier to get. By their very nature they cost more in wages and signing on fees, hence why our wage bill is much higher than that of a lot of League 2 clubs.
Bradford have had some joy with players signed this summer from Bamber Bridge, Guiseley and Cambridge City. Peterborough are in the Championship in part because of players like Aaron McLean, George Boyd and Craig Mackail-Smith. I suppose you've got to choose what you spend your money on.