Competition will keep us on our toes, says Flanagan

DARTFORD central defender Adam Flanagan was not impressed with Charlton Athletic during the pre-season friendly between the two clubs on Tuesday night, writes Stephen McCartney.

Despite the Championship club drawing a crowd of 2,210 to Princes Park, Charlton Athletic fielded a squad of unheard off kids.

But Charlton Athletic grabbed a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a stunning left-footed screamer from sixteen-year-old substitute Tamer Tuna, 30 seconds into stoppage time a the death.

Whilst Charlton’s players were enjoying the life as a professional footballer, thirty-year-old Flanagan was hard at work in the office during the day.

Dartford, who are preparing for Ryman Premier League football, were the ones who impressed during their opening warm-up match.

Charlton Athletic fielded six players that romped to a 9-0 victory at Blue Square South outfit Braintree Town at the weekend, but had to settle for a single goal victory against the Darts.

“Disappointing that we lost, I didn’t realise six of those lads played against Braintree,” Flanagan told www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards.

“But all things considered, I don’t think they looked, I know they’re only young lads and learning their trade, but I thought we gave a good account for ourselves.

“There wasn’t that much difference, sometimes you expect from a Championship team with young lads who train every day.

“They should be showing higher fitness levels a lot more even though they did have a little bit more, I wouldn’t say it was that great or that noticeable to be fair.”

Fans tend to forget the sacrifices that players have to go through as part-time players.

“During the day, I’ve got an office job,” said the former Folkestone Invicta defender. “While I’m sitting at my desk just picking up the phone they’re (Charlton’s players) out running, so good luck to them.

“I remember when I was their age and I was doing that every day. It’s a great feeling and I hope they make the most of it and enjoy it and good luck to any of them that make it.

“But as you get older and that opportunity passes, you have to get a job then it’s hard to keep the levels of fitness up and you’ve got to be strong minded, regimented and go out after work, after eight hours of work, depending on what you’re doing.

“If you’re doing manual labour then it’s even more so. You’ve got to be disciplined, go out running, keep yourself in shape, watch what you eat, which sometimes can go out of the window a little bit because you work hard and when it comes to the weekend you feel you just want to relax.”

But Flanagan was impressed with the players’ that are either new, are on trial, at Princes Park.

He said: “There’s a few lads here on trial (and) I thought they all did really well, which is positive.

“I’d say all the crowd have come to watch the team, what the new arrivals and trialists and go away really pleased.”

Flanagan acknowledges the fact that he could lose his place at the heart of Dartford’s defence this season, due to added competition in the ranks.

Dartford mainly used Jamie Coyle, John Guest, Flanagan and Steve Norman - with support from Tommy Osborne - last season.

But Flanagan feels boss Tony Burman should stick to that formula, the one that clinched the Ryman League Division One North title last season.

“I think if you look at any level of football, if you have a back four that’s consistent and know how they play with each other, you get good partnerships going,” he said.

“Everyone knows what each individual does and you kind of bond as a back four and that’s what we done last year.

“You look at the Premiership, you look at Manchester United, Arsenal in the past and Chelsea, all the success they have is a back four that doesn’t change a lot regardless of what happens in front of them.

“I think that will be similar this year as there’s a little bit more competition for places, which is healthy and that will only push the players’ who play to play even better because they know if they don’t deliver then there’s players around who can come in and will do a good job.

“So a difficult season for Tony (Burman) really, big decisions to make. I think he’ll enjoy making those decisions.”

Dartford are expected to field the same twenty players for their next game, against another Championship club, Crystal Palace at Princes Park on Friday night.

“I think there’s going to be a mixture, similar to tonight,” explained Flanagan. “Players who were here last season, trialists and new signings.

“It’s all about getting two equal teams of eleven out for both halves, which I think we had tonight and players’ picking up a level of fitness so when we come to the games that are maybe a little bit more realistic, in (friendly) games we should be winning, we’ll be firing on all cylinders to win those.”

Assistant manager Paul Sawyer is looking forward to the game against Crystal Palace.

The Eagles beat the Darts 3-0 in a pre-season friendly last summer.

“I’m led to believe it’s probably going to be a reserve team so we’ll wait and see,” said Sawyer.

“You never know until these teams turn up. No doubt, it will be a tough night again.

“We’ll treat it very similar, we’ll have the same numbers as we had tonight, they’ll be no additional faces around Friday so we’ll have the same twenty to choose from.

“We’ll be looking to give people at least half a game again. At this stage it’s just getting the lads back into playing as match fitness is definitely different to training.

“You can run and run on the training ground but you get to a game situation then it’s difficult and the more games we play the better the fitness will be.”

Visit Dartford’s websites:  www.dartfordfc.co.uk & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game.

Dartford v Crystal Palace
Pre-Season Friendly
Friday 18^th July 2008
Kick Off 7:30pm
At Princes Park Stadium, Grassbanks, Darenth Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1RT