Barnet are back in action this weekend as they travel to Dagenham & Redbridge hoping to return to winning ways.
They go into tomorrow’s game off the back of a 1-0 away defeat at Boreham Wood on Boxing Day. Bradley Ash netted on 88 minutes as the Bees walked away empty handed.
Following on from John Still’s retirement, Darren Currie will take charge tomorrow.
Last Meeting:
The last time these two sides met was back in August, the Bees winning 2-1 that day at the Hive London on that occasion.
It was the visitors who struck first though after Elliott Romain netted inside the first minute before Wes Fonguck grabbed an equaliser four minutes before half-time. Jack Barham turned the game on its head just past the hour mark with a spectacular volley from the edge of the box.
Manager: Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor was appointed Dagenham boss in the summer following the departure of John Still and has gone on to clinch ten league wins this season.
The former winger, who made four caps for England, kicked-started his managerial career back in 1986 with Dartford after a 19-year football career. Taylor played for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient before he was named player-manager at The Darts 32 years ago.
The Rochford-born boss has been around the block, that’s for sure. After Dartford, Taylor became manager at Southend United before leaving for Dover two years later. Despite signing a new contract with The Whites, England boss Glenn Hoddle came knocking, offering him an opportunity he couldn’t refuse. Taylor left Dover shortly after committing his future in order to become the new England U21 boss where he went on to oversee 11 wins in 15 games.
After leaving his international duties in 1999, he moved back to the Football League, spending a year at Gillingham. His first stab at managing the Gills lasted only one season, ending with a quarter-final FA Cup finish and promotion to Division One.
His next destination was Leicester City, spending just over a year at the Foxes. During that time, he was appointed England caretaker boss, overlooking a 1-0 defeat to Italy. He also named David Beckham as Three Lions skipper for the very first time.
After guiding Brighton to Division Two triumph in 2002, he went on to manage a Hull City side who clinched back-to-back promotions, rising from Division Three to the Championship. During his spell with the Tigers, Taylor was back in England colours, returning to the U21 side. He kept his role when he swapped Hull for Crystal Palace in 2006, a club he spent three years at as a player.
He then moved to Stevenage before guiding a Wycombe side to League Two promotion in 2009, just under a year before he was appointed Bradford manager. Bizarrely, after a short spell with the Bantams, he became boss of the Bahrain national team.
After spending just under two years in Asia, Taylor then took charge of the England U20 side before returning to Gillingham seven months later.
His second spell with the Gills only lasted a year and after that, it was a return to Asia for Taylor, taking charge of Indian Super League franchise Kerala Blasters. After leaving only five months later, he took a break from management before returning just under a year later to become the assistant manager of the New Zealand national team.
His most recent spell as manager before Dagenham came in 2017 where he became interim boss at Gillingham shortly after returning to the club as Director of Football. However, he left both roles in October of last year.
One to Watch: Angelo Balanta
Forward Angelo Balanta joined Dagenham in October and has since gone on to bag three goals for the club.
Those strikes added to the three he already had in the league this season after starting the campaign with Boreham Wood.
Balanta is a proven goal scorer in the division and has settled in really well at the Daggers and since he joined, his side have only tasted defeat once.
The forward is full of confidence at the minute and the Barnet back-line will have to be on top form if they are to prevent him from extending his goal tally.
Recent League Form:
After a disappointing start to the season, Dagenham are on top form at the moment having only endured one defeat in their last 10 games.
The Daggers now sit 13th on 34 points but a win for the Bees tomorrow will see the pair level on points.
Tomorrow’s hosts go into the game unbeaten in their last five league games. A 3-1 win over Havant & Waterlooville at the end of November was quickly followed up with a 2-1 victory away at Hartlepool. They had to share the points in their next game against Halifax though, drawing 1-1. They returned to winning ways two weeks later, impressively beating Salford City 2-1 away from home. They won 2-1 against another promotion chaser in their most recent fixture, beating Leyton Orient at home on Boxing Day.
As for their home form, the Daggers have clinched five of their 13 matches at Victoria Road this season.
They’ve also bagged 30 goals, six more than the Bees but the latter hold a better defensive record, conceding 27 to Dagenham’s 32.
Last 5 league games: WWDWW
Connections:
Similarly to his time with the Bees, our new Head of Football John Still also took charge of Dagenham on three separate occasions. The 68-year-old returned to the club in 2004 and 2015 after his first spell back in 1992. During his time with the Daggers, he guided them to League Two promotion in 2010, three years after topping the Conference National.
When Still took over as manager in the summer, he brought in quite a few faces that Dagenham fans will be very familiar with, one of them being goalkeeper Mark Cousins. The 31-year-old arrived at the Hive after spending four years with the Daggers where he made over 100 appearances.
Craig Robson is another one who could be facing his former club tomorrow after signing from the Daggers this summer. He made 79 appearances, scoring four goals over two years spent at Victoria Road. He was also Dagenham captain last season and picked up the Supporters Player of the Season award before his departure.
Bees midfielder Charlee Adams joined Dagenham from Birmingham City in 2017 and went on to make over 20 appearances for the side in his first and only season with the club.
Andre Boucaud is another summer signing who followed in the footsteps of Still in arriving from the Daggers. He spent four years at Victoria Road after joining from Notts County in 2014, making over 150 appearances for the club.
Dan Sparkes could also come up against old team-mates tomorrow after making 25 appearances for the Daggers in the National League last season, netting four times.
Barnet’s long list of summer arrivals that have featured for Dagenham stretched even further when Medy Elito arrived at the Hive last month. The 28-year-old first joined tomorrow’s opposition on loan from Colchester in November 2010, a spell which lasted two months. After returning to his parent club at the end of the campaign, he was soon released meaning the Daggers could make their move. Elito signed permanently in 2011 and made over 100 appearances in three seasons with the club, scoring 18 goals.
Ricardo Santos began his career at Dagenham, progressing through the youth set-up but failed to make a first-team appearance, leaving the club in 2013.
Off the field, Darren Currie was Still’s number two at Dagenham after a playing career which saw him pull on the Daggers shirt in two separate spells. He made over 41 appearances for the club, scoring one goal.
As for the opposition, defender Gavin Hoyte is a former Bee. He arrived at the Hive back in 2015 but his short stay at Barnet was overshadowed by a cruciate knee ligament injury. The defender made over 20 appearances before leaving for Eastleigh in December 2016.
