| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 21:06 - Mar 2 with 76194 views | Sandyman |
Any predictions as to how it will go?
I'm guessing the script will be 100% "poor little Rochdale". Never mind the struggles of other clubs, NOBODY will have had it as bad as "poor little Rochdale". We can't compete with anyone, ever, because we are "poor little Rochdale". Being in 4 consecutive relegation dogfights in League One will be repeated as "historic success". Ambition and positivity will not be mentioned as those present salute each others abilities.
Add lashings of extra "poor little Rochdale" for good measure. [Post edited 2 Mar 2021 21:14]
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:00 - Mar 10 with 3220 views | IOMDale |
BBM’s taken a leaf out of Rio Ferdinand’s book and is just merking us - he made up his extension and so that they don’t look stupid, the board just comply. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:03 - Mar 10 with 3185 views | Sandyman |
Firstly, best wishes to club stalwart Andrew Kelly with his health issues. He's done a great deal for The Dale in his time.
So. The panel look forward to welcoming us all back. Great. The form this season, the standard of football on offer, a refusal to dismiss the management team responsible (who knows what BBM's contract is) who are in denial, and being absolutely welded to "the plan" which is not working with unsubstantiated promises of jam tomorrow. A sort of glorious afterlife that can't be proven. They seem to have forgotten the small matter of watching your team and being entertained, excited and proud of your club through thick and thin. Winning games, especially at home. "The plan" is all. They want to "walk through hell" (apologies if the quote isn't entirely accurate) for "the plan". If you don't follow "the plan" you misconstrue "the context".
I just want to turn up on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday night and watch the only team I support put a shift in. I think back to last season. Sunderland here on a Tuesday night. We lost, but every fan stayed behind to applaud that team off the pitch because our lads could not have done more in that game. That made me so proud as a fan, in defeat.
Sticking to "the plan" and watching the utter kak we've seen at the COA this season, which, despite being down there with our worst home form ever is ok, because "the plan" and "the context" say so. They have completely, or deliberately misread the mood of supporters. Season card sales will be at an all time low if project "the plan" continues without the blindingly obvious changes needed. There won't be many to welcome back for sure. Walk up sales will be virtually non-existent.
Nah, I'm not having it. They are playing games with the club and ruining it. Open your eyes and ears FFS!!
Good luck with the Halloween tours - they'll do well and deservedly so!
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:03 - Mar 10 with 3178 views | D_Alien |
He's got a mentor much closer to home in how to make / extend positions for oneself | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:12 - Mar 10 with 3066 views | mingthemerciless |
Did I hear BBM say the transfer of Baah to City was off ? | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:13 - Mar 10 with 3048 views | swiggy |
Didn’t fail medical, just one of his heart readings was off so they called it off. Make of that what you may, another bizarre exchange | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:16 - Mar 10 with 3025 views | dingdangblue |
Thank Christ BBM is here another year then - we'd be lost, struggling to win games without attracting these Prem kids. | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:19 - Mar 10 with 3002 views | blackdogblue |
That’s wasted mate without a picture of a “Communist” sorry.... PC.. “Commemorative” mug 🤣
From what I listened to tonight, a map of which grounds were going to next season would be a hit for a marketing ploy for the last catch up freebie on the family cards ... | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:22 - Mar 10 with 2983 views | blackdogblue |
Ffs... give KB a 5 year contract then.. WTF we got to lose????
Read this BBM & DB... | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:22 - Mar 10 with 2975 views | judd |
I really don't know what to think.
Any reasonable fan, especially those who know about football, will appreciate just how difficult it must be to run a professional football club in this undeserving town, and to those unpaid Directors, I have always offered my unending gratitude.
But tonight, the desperate need to establish credentials of a fan since 1968, since 1968, of 50 years...
That ONE journalist says we are the BEST club to visit in the WHOLE of the football league (does he say that to every hosting club?)
That players from far and wide want to play for this manager but we cannot attract a winger with this budget..
That everyone works hard... (really...?)
That staff morale at the club has NEVER been so high (how do YOU know?)
We are getting a seed machine...
That Trust board membership cannot work because they cannot see confidential stuff which compromises their position (really...? Jesus wept, never mind anyone else)
That a long standing main board director had clearly not been informed of a manager's contract extension and had to be informed by the manager himself...
That we have reduced the cost of running the lottery by 33% (is that ALL? Jesus wept, again)
I appreciate these people putting their collective heads above the parapets, and would also wish Mr Kelly the best and speediest of recoveries, but I feel there has been a rushed cobbling together of what worked last time, fans are being treated as gullible and however passionate anyone may be about their job at the club, tears don't wash the white away.
Did I also see/hear an attempt to claim Cloughies legacy as a success on their part? | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:23 - Mar 10 with 2968 views | sooty_dale |
My thoughts for what they are worth. I'll start with some positives.
In the main the event was well managed and apart from a couple of minor technical difficulties went smoothly. Credit to those who took part and giving up their time. There also seemed to be a good number of fans watching.
Most of the main topics were brought up and at least addressed in some way, albeit not always comprehensively.
Clearly the board and staff are united in the direction of travel which I think is positive. A split club behind the scenes is helping no-one. Whatever your view on it, at least we have clarity that BBM is here to stay now.
I thought there was some grit from BBM in some of his responses which is encouraging, I want to see that he's not happy with this too.
The gratitude to fans and their support felt sincere and it did come across that we are missed.
I feel the club were up front about the financial situation (context) that we face and the lack of support that we have had from the EFL during this time.
As much as a relegation would hurt, I absolutely agree with the sentiment of securing the future of the club as being the priority and not spending beyond our means in a bid to stay in the division.
The BBM contract situation needs clarifying by the club ASAP. I can't decide whether that exchange between BBM and the director was rehearsed or actual confusion. Either way supporters need to be brought up to speed.
The response to the question about what are we doing to sure things up defensively wasn't satisfactory. Switched to zonal on set pieces and just working on what we were working on before. Not the most encouraging answer.
It felt at times that the default answer to the football related questions was to hide behind injuries, money, etc rather than an acknowledgement that tactics have been poor at times. Fine to make mistakes, just learn from them!
Finally the lack of clarity about the Dan and Emre situation was disappointing. If anything the responses have added to the confusion.
That'll do for now I think. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:24 - Mar 10 with 2958 views | Brierls |
Both Dale fans, the latter being very active responding to the Official account on Twitter.
There’s plenty to get annoyed about, no need to make shit up because you’ve got an over-active imagination. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:27 - Mar 10 with 2937 views | 442Dale |
What now doesn’t make much sense is why we sacked Keith Hill in the first place. He has a structure and philosophy in place that was proven to work within the Rochdale model. After one and a half bad seasons in the league he then lost his job.
Someone make sense of the decision making and the words. Because that’s what we heard tonight, lots of words but nothing visibly better. | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:27 - Mar 10 with 2935 views | blackdogblue |
Quote from the twitter feedback
You dont look at Social Media (the current fans voice) but here goes anyway -
Proud of ZEN internet as a sponsor - lost connection with people half way through
Bottomley 'cried' more than we've scored recently
Went as far as to why the pitch isn't as green as it was
“the zen if true is a reflection of how broke we truly are” | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:33 - Mar 10 with 2875 views | Brierls |
I really don’t know what to make of that overall.
I thought the answers were honest, but the back slapping over how well and hard everybody at the club is working was annoying.
Things are worse than I thought financially.
DB, for all his perceived faults, cares deeply about the club.
GR always comes across poorly at forums but that was his worst to date. That said, he can write a speech.
AK sounds very poorly. Best wishes to him and a speedy recovery.
DId BBM just buy himself another year or have we seriously given him an extension and not announced it?!
There is a genuine impression of togetherness from those working for the club. I’m undecided if that’s a good thing; it’s only good to pull in one direction when it’s the right direction. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:47 - Mar 10 with 2802 views | Sandyman |
I don't "do" Twitter. The blindingly obvious ROFL smiley indicates levity. And both names got lots of questions in to the exclusion of others who didn't get one in, which isn't making shit up. Hard times and I'm not falling out with you over it  | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:51 - Mar 10 with 2786 views | 49thseason |
Had to leave it at 9.00 ish but it was underarm bowling by that point and the quickies had been dropped as it was a spinners wicket.
Some observations:
1. This board desperately needs help, the butchers and bakers need a couple of hard -nosed US investors to steady the ship and bring some funds onboard.
2. Bottomley is trying to hard to be in charge. Clearly its personal for him , but then he is a salesman and knows how to make presentations and press people's buttons. Personally I'm not buying it, I suspect he is too used to be telling everyone else what to do rather than doing it himself. Working in an environment like a football club brings a different set of critics... so who is setting his targets? A sales director would have his objectives driven by the business needs and would meet them come high water or else. He seems not to be under the control of the rest of the board.
3. Finances clearly aren't great, but how will this squad fare in L2, can they work hard enough and be resilient enough? Or will there need to be further cheese paring? BBM seemed to be indicating that most of the squad including the "Conors" would be fine, so hopefully not many loanees. Notably there were no real ideas about how to sell more tickets or other ways to bring cash in which really should be the real strategic work being undertaken by FF and the board, not patting each others backs because they have switched a few Lotto members onto DDs. What is the target for Lottery income for the rest of this season and the next one?
4. The BBM contract question was pure farce. My view is that he is "contracted to 2021" but has a watertight agreement for another year if HE wants it. Probably the price he exacted for putting a squad together for a toffee and two bits of string.
5. The rest was a huge swerve away from the burning issues, once the discussion started to become about the pitch and tickets there was a general sigh of relief. A bit like the batsmen had realised they had avoided the follow-on. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 23:55 - Mar 10 with 2765 views | Dalenet |
Depends what his motive was? We are a captive audience. He told us that cash was tight last year and the directors had to use their own money to manage cashflow but the directors didn't have the money to subsidise the club (and we don't expect that). He said that he was still unsure that we had enough cash to get us to summer, despite the loans, the grants and the EFL advance. So he painted a picture to spook us - we need your money, you need to buy season tickets or it will get even worse etc etc. I felt sufficiently guilty to buy a couple of 50:50 draw tickets with 5 minutes to go.
He was honest and created a sense of concern. If that didn't deter people from voting with their feet then not much else would. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 01:14 - Mar 11 with 2623 views | Shun |
It's a good and fair question, and the only thing I can offer is that Hill was well known to be demanding of the board. It's been well documented that we had our highest ever wage bill under Hill's latter years. Perhaps BBM's more compliant nature to the whims of the board, and his agreement to work with a much smaller budget, is what's saving him where Hill failed. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 01:24 - Mar 11 with 2617 views | Shun |
My thoughts near enough exactly. I've been left in no doubt that the directors care about the club intensely, and I accept that I'm in the minority here but I believe the tears were a genuine outpouring of emotion, strain and desperation rather than a feigned attempt at anything else.
The thing I was most disappointed about, though, was the lack of clarity about Altman and Marcelli. I would've absolutely loved to hear Kelly's thoughts on the matter after that impassioned speech he wrote a year ago, but sadly that wasn't possible. As a replacement Rawlinson seemed to stumble through any attempt at an answer, and it left me feeling he was hiding something and that I'm more in the dark about the Americans than ever before. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 02:02 - Mar 11 with 2589 views | Hopwoodblue |
Facts are, the clubs in a mess heading for an even bigger mess with less money coming in next season in League two and sadly I don’t think the board have what it takes to sort it out. What will the squad look like next season when the wage bill, which is already small has to be trimmed ?
What’s the biggest away following we can hope for if Bolton get promoted?
I just wonder where the money will come from for a sporting director ?
At least it will save Brian answering the phone and he can get on with coaching the team how to defend set pieces.
We will be the only club in div two with more staff than players.
I couldn’t be more depressed after watching that. | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 04:41 - Mar 11 with 2501 views | Nigeriamark |
I didn't attend but I would have thought it was only the American's who can answer that question. You can't invite yourself to a board, so the club must have asked them and they initially must have said yes. The club can only answer why they invited them to the board ( was that explained). Only the Americans can answer why they changed their mind, & perhaps they haven't let the club know. Sounds odd but not from the club's perspective | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 07:13 - Mar 11 with 2334 views | funkkk |
I don’t think it helped that the ‘news’ was delivered by Rawlinson. As mentioned, he did not come across well at all. | | | |
| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 08:03 - Mar 11 with 2204 views | tony_roch975 |
agreed - that specific question about why the Board did invite them was asked & G Rawlinson said he didn't know, which is clearly worrying. As someone else posted the key miss last night was Andrew Kelly - if you take out the Executive Directors (Grindrod, Fielding) and with Pockney & Bottomley being new(ish) there's few left of the old guard and GR has never given me the feeling he's a very 'active' director. Feels like the Board's in transition - from 'nice old chaps' (visiting CEO's private comment) to a more youthful (professional?) one | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 08:08 - Mar 11 with 2178 views | James1980 |
Now, who could Robert Hume, our consume? that is what want to know. | |
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| Fan's forum 10.3.2021 on 08:18 - Mar 11 with 2135 views | DaleiLama |
You mean this? 
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