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Reply | Striker anyone?!
at 14:14 16 Aug 2018
As an outsider, it appears the club should be taking risks but unfortunately not many have paid off in recent memory.
Danny Rowe at Fylde woukd have been the obvious candidate but would require parting with a few hundred grand and I'm sure memories of Shaw, Muldoon and Christie (remember him?) loom large. |
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Reply | World Cup squad
at 08:50 17 May 2018
He seems to get halfway there, does Southgate.
He's clearly got a plan, but with that you need 'Plan Bs' - ironic that Wilshere has arguably deserved a squad place the one time he hasn't got it. There's another way to look at things of course - those that have played less could be fresher.
I would have sacrificed Loftus-Cheek's place for Lallana and Wilshere who I think can both come off the bench and do a job. His gambles should have been Sancho and Sessegnon in those wide areas against tired full-backs, especially if you complement that with Shelvey's range of passing, in the final half hour of games.
Don't see the point in Delph being there - doesn't sound like he's being taken as a left back and I wouldn't play him in midfield.
The less said about Cahill and Welbeck the better. |
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Reply | The new manager effect
at 09:09 21 Mar 2018
Accrington usually run on a much higher budget than people give them credit for - hence why they're not massively popular round these parts - especially when they do their 'Save Accy' plight thing every couple of years or so. They were also responsible for our 18-point deduction, but that's another story.
On my Salford save on FM, Rochdale sacked Hill when on the cusp of relegation (i.e. around now) but obviously the game won't take into account his lucrative contract! Replaced him with Danny Cowley who took Dale straight back up and kept them there. We all know how accurate FM can be, so... |
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Reply | Attendance
at 08:39 6 Mar 2018
I was there with a +1 (he's from Whitefield but no real allegiance outside City), I reckon the coldest bit was in the bar/toilet area at half-time - I couldn't wait to get back out into the ground for a bit of collective warmth huddled together!
Great story for your two lads Adshead and Thompson getting out on the pitch, and what a real shame the game was effectively over as a contest 5 minutes into the second half. I must admit I gave up after 80 mins when they started sweeping the lines.
Really enjoyed it though, see you all soon. |
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Thread | Knowing your best XI and playing it
at 08:47 19 Feb 2018
Hi there,
Alty fan here (too young to remember the election era, don't worry).
The last Dale game I attended was at Oldham towards the end of last season and I got a glimpse of everything that was frustrating about Hilly - started with a really balanced 4-3-3 and then made some strange subs at 1-0 to throw it all out.
It seemed the theme has run all season - until I saw the Guardian preview for yesterday, looked at the XI and thought 'yep, that's the right team'.
Seems as though Bunney's departure and Delaney's arrival has cleared Hilly's mind a little bit - reverting Done back to WB has really done the trick - I just wish he'd play McGahey every week, he was immense at Oldham and again yesterday (I believe it's a contract issue?)
The 3 CM's seem to be really thriving in the system too - but anyway I didn't want to come here and tell you all what you already know (or even be negative on a day like this) - congratulations and I just happen to be in London on the 28th so fingers crossed that's the Wembley date as I'll hopefully be sat with you.
All the best for the rest of the season too (hopefully with the same XI!) |
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Reply | 3rd round tv games
at 12:34 8 Dec 2017
For me personally, yes  - from Alty, it's probably the mighty Witton. Funnily enough we've sung about hating Witton for years (must be from the pre-Conference Cheshire league days) but I never thought we'd actually face them
Might dump my wife in IKEA when we head over to Ashton  |
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Reply | 3rd round tv games
at 08:40 8 Dec 2017
Our fiercest rivals are Macclesfield, who aren't exactly over the road from a geography point of view - but we generally followed each other through the various league systems over the years (wasn't much between us until the mid-90's) in the same way Brighton and Palace did - so I'm willing to go with it.
I remember there was a lot of fuss when Glenn Murray turfed Brighton to join Palace - and then went back again... |
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Reply | Strikers and KH
at 11:12 23 Nov 2017
Thanks for your thoughts - you're right it's impossible simply to lurch from one strategy to another - and you certainly wouldn't want to be doing what Bury are doing.
The other thing is confidence in the loan market which I know has been mentioned before - it seems a while since Dale put that to good use, and I know Hilly isn't a fan of using it whatsoever unless it's an emergency.
At Alty we've found out all too well what happens when you stand still whilst others around you invest in their infrastructure, their recruiting models etc - two years ago we were beating Barnsley in the FA Cup, now we're playing league fixtures with the likes of Coalville and Barwell. |
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Reply | Strikers and KH
at 08:52 23 Nov 2017
Alty fan here in peace.
There's a general business rule that, if you stand still for 3 years without altering your business model, you very quickly go backwards. Interestingly Hilly has been with you for nearly 5 (second stint).
This isn't an endorsement to dispense with him, by the way - far from it. But what I'm saying is, there seems to be too much of a 'we do things differently here' attitude at Dale that doesn't help. At a different level, it didn't serve United well when Fergie moved on.
What I'm saying, is - the club has been fairly healthy financially for a while now (even before the Hogan money, through his own initial sale and also that of Dawson, etc) so should the club be much more fearless when it comes to paying fees?
I'm not saying for a minute he would have come to Dale over Sheffield Utd - but everyone could see O'Connell was a class act - and available for c.£300k. He's now one of the best centre halves in the Championship and worth 20-30 times that much.
Similarly would someone like Danny Rowe have been available from Fylde? I get the impression the lad from Barrow came because he was the only one being quoted at a 'bargain basement' price in this day and age.
I wonder whether the club looks at previous outlays on the likes of Connor, Platt etc and seem scared to do it now when there's more money flying around. Similarly there are less instances of 'free transfers' like Charlie Austin taking the third tier by storm now. |
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Reply | Sunderland .
at 08:38 1 Nov 2017
We're hoping Watmore gets a good run of form under his belt from now until January so we can get a Hogan-style sell-on if he attracts attention. The only problem is he's probably one of the low-earners (and better performers) so they might not necessarily see the need to sell when the time comes. |
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Reply | Ollie Rathbone
at 19:31 22 Jul 2017
Obviously I'm not a FT Dale fan but it did baffle me why the Lund-Camps-Rathbone thing that brought so much success in the New Year was dispensed with so quickly? (yes granted Lund was injured/suspended/int duty a fair bit)
Does he not start instead of Allen in a Keane-Camps-Rathbone midfield next season? Genuine question. He seems to have done a lot right in his time with the club and not a lot wrong...? |
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Reply | Burnley/Dawson
at 13:43 5 Jul 2017
The problem with Dawson in the Prem is that he's never looked particularly good at centre half for WBA whenever he's played there.
If he moves on, with a year left on his current deal I imagine the fee wouldn't get to £10m - even with today's silly money. |
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Reply | Shopping List
at 09:42 12 May 2017
Based purely from watching the Oldham game, if a decent CB is found to partner Harrison then it solves the CM problem to a degree as it should be built around Keane at the base (Camps and one of Allen/Rathbone in front).
If your budget allows for a Mellis-type player then great, With him / Camps as one type of player and Allen/Rathbone as the other, one of each on the pitch at any one time would be a good way forward.
I notice the lad from Bolton, Tom Walker that was on loan at Bury, is available. Haven't watch him play much, but he tends to play on the left wing and might be the type of (I assume cheap) young lad Hilly might feel he can bring on a bit. |
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Reply | Please come and sign my client
at 08:56 26 Apr 2017
He's a very good player - although it's funny he moved from Fylde to Stockport to 'fulfil his promotion ambitions' - the Coasters then coasting to the title, as it were.
Non-league's a funny old game - for every Vardy / Austin there's a Shaw / Christie. If the money's right then I'm sure Hilly is more than aware of these types of lads and whether the risk level is right.
I wonder what it would take for the lad Rowe to move from Fylde - they can probably pay higher wages than Dale to be honest... |
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Reply | Alan Goodall...
at 11:07 25 Apr 2017
Time's definitely catching up with him now (I know, how outrageous for a nearly 40-year old) - he hasn't been available for a while recently.
Rumour has it he's very popular off-the-field with the younger lads, I assume he's done some of his badges because he had indicated a willingness to stay on and do some coaching (I assume he saw a big club in the Evo-Stik as a good starting point) - but given we're about to appoint a new manager, that obviously won't be his call. |
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Reply | Match thread. Oldham
at 15:02 24 Apr 2017
Quick suggestion: would it have been silly to move McNulty over to LB and bring Canavan on? It seemed to be an aerial bombardment more than anything - something Jim would have coped with better?
It terms of bringing Keane off, what about bringing Cannon on there and leaving Raff where he was? |
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Reply | Match thread. Oldham
at 09:20 24 Apr 2017
I'll give my thoughts having attended the game with my old man...
Harrison is an absolute monster - how old is he? How he's considered anything other than a (very good) centre half I'm at a loss to say.
Bunney was great going forward, but in the same way PV was so effective in L2, he seems to have been found out by long diagonals as he's not the best in the air...?
Raff's great... at full back. The decision to move him to DM instead of bringing Lund on was probably the biggest factor in them equalising.
Keane was brilliant - from a distance my old man was asking who the lad was that looked (and played) like Mascherano. I assume he got injured.
McNulty was OK but there was one instance in the first half where he let the ball bounce and you were all getting anxious in the stand! If Hilly has aspirations of pushing the team on, he'll need a bit better than Jim.
I thought Allen struggled physically and should have been hooked after an hour for Rathbone... given Ollie was such a big part of the winning streak, how come he seems to be so out of favour at the moment? Genuine question.
Camps looked the part, very assured and mixes the footballing and the physical part of the game well enough. Good with that 'energetic' player alongside him.
Calvin had a great game and didn't let the pressure get to him at all. Swapping him for PV showed the gulf in quality between the pair of them.
Hendo relatively quiet by his standards, but I can see what he gives. Seems to get 'involved' with his opponents a lot, can see why he gets booked/sent off.
NML... wow. The first type he got on the ball he sent their defender for a hot dog and set up the goal. Shame he couldn't get on the ball more often.
The team started with a great balance to it, yet Hilly did his best to stifle any momentum with his substitutions. Definitely not his strong suit. The last 20 mins from Dale was like watching Alty with aimless long balls dealt with by Clarke all week. I was showing my frustration in the stand myself.
The referee was atrocious - the very definition of a 'homer'. Didn't give Dale a scrap all game. Seemed to wave on any Oldham discrepancies, and then blow for an identical Dale infringement a few seconds later.
Enjoyed the atmosphere, see you at Spotland at the weekend (I've given up on Alty for the remainder of this season...!) |
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Reply | Alan Goodall...
at 09:03 24 Apr 2017
He's been fairly dreadful for us, to be honest.
Was made captain based on previous reputation, has played most of the season at the back and has probably been one of the worst of an incredibly bad bunch.
Jonah's older and has been infinitely better when he's played - testament to the types of player each of them are I suppose. |
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Reply | Jim McNulty
at 17:40 24 Jan 2017
You talk about higher-league loanees going 'against the grain', but for every Pereira you might just get a Heaton - can't rule anything out.
If a LB that can cover CB is the priority, Borthwick-Jackson isn't getting in the Wolves squad and United are considering recalling him. If I was KH I'd be asking United to recall him and send him up to Spotland for a couple of months. But since when did Hilly ever do the expected?
I'd say it's an interesting week ahead, but I think you can take loanees for a bit longer so who knows... |
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Reply | Defining weekend
at 08:58 9 Jan 2017
You've got 5 midfielders arguably worth £1m+. 2 of them don't get on the pitch at any one time - currently those 2 are Allen and Cannon. Let that sink in!
We've got local derbies with Ashton United next season. Good job I'm too young to remember the election days... |
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