TO-DAYS GAME 18:24 - Aug 24 with 13777 views | Edindale | Any reports from people who were there or watched the game? Mixed reviews from FGR Forum. | | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 18:41 - Aug 24 with 9563 views | DaleFan7 | We played better than on Tuesday as we cut out the daft mistakes. FGR were well organised but nothing special. Our attacks for the first 70 mins were too predictable. Run down the wing, overlap and play it across the 6 yard box. We seemed to attack more and have a few more shots from distance when the subs were made. I don't think either team would have scored if they were still playing though. I wasn't at Boston but I don't remember Rodney having a shot in the last 3 games. He's wasted in the system we're currently playing, he needs to be central. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 18:50 - Aug 24 with 9491 views | richfoad32 | Pretty tedious. Dale had much of the possession without ever really threatening, Mitchell and Rodney again anonymous, presumably Rodney is over his virus from last season but he looks well off the pace. Burger did alright when he came on. Somebody told me FGR are amongst the favourites for promotion which shocked me, they looked decidedly ordinary as well. Gilmour subbed off with what looked like hamstring, hopefully not too bad. Another point gained from a game that last season we probably would've contrived to lose but at the moment it's really difficult to see where goals are going to come from. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 18:54 - Aug 24 with 9462 views | mikehunt | Well that isn't going to get the crowds flocking back. One of the weariest games I have ever watched. Are our players being paid by the pass? 6 passes then back to the keeper for it all to happen again. We have some players who expect the ball to come to them and don't make a move if it is passed short. Both sides were terrible. FGR did not particularly park the bus but they kept their shape well. We had nothing in our game plan to break them down and get past them. We have built our hopes on Rodney but I cannot see where the next goal is going to come from. Dreary, dull and depressing. Typical Dale. Grumble grumble! | |
| The worm of time turns not for the cuckoo of circumstance. |
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TO-DAYS GAME on 18:58 - Aug 24 with 9430 views | 49thseason | Seemed like both sides were happy with a point. Lots of chuckle brothers not much serious attacking intent, Dale created 4 or 5 "moments" of which a genuine goalscorer would have taken advantage of a couple at least. Defence was fine, midfield was OK , wingers did their jobs, Mitchell and Rodney were missing in action and not obviously working a a pair. 4 games 5 points..... take away the opening game against a team that picked up its first point today and in the last 3 games we have 2 points and a single goal... its fairly obvious where the problem lies...lets hope they can make the traipse down to Yeovil worthwhile.. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:00 - Aug 24 with 9381 views | Newbury_Dale | We're crying out for a Paddy Madden esque talisman to lead the line. Someone who can make intelligent runs. A composed finisher. Virtually impossible to find at this level unless you spend good money on bringing someone from the football league, I concede. Kairo has no footballing intelligence. When the ball comes into the box he's never there. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:06 - Aug 24 with 9309 views | Clivert | The whole matchday experience really is depressing with the crap football on show but we're stuck with that for another 3 years! Surely someone at the club knows how to work the TVs in Studds?? | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:06 - Aug 24 with 9313 views | _Windydale |
TO-DAYS GAME on 18:41 - Aug 24 by DaleFan7 | We played better than on Tuesday as we cut out the daft mistakes. FGR were well organised but nothing special. Our attacks for the first 70 mins were too predictable. Run down the wing, overlap and play it across the 6 yard box. We seemed to attack more and have a few more shots from distance when the subs were made. I don't think either team would have scored if they were still playing though. I wasn't at Boston but I don't remember Rodney having a shot in the last 3 games. He's wasted in the system we're currently playing, he needs to be central. |
Forest Green played alright defensively and had a fair few attacks and loads of corners without really threatening, seemed to go route one find the big number 5 at the back post. No one did anything quite wrong today, but there wasn't anything special happening. Defensively we were good, wide boys did their job. Our goal poachers, forwards not much presence. The one run midfield from Dev was a highlight. Just wish he can do that receiving the ball nearer the penalty box. Tarryns energy was a highlight first half and he linked up great with Sam Beckwith, who's a promising player. Like the way he tries to get forward dragging the opposition away, looking for a pass or creating space. We could have done with it at the start but, East didn't show any attacking flair and range of passing until the 2nd half, There was a good 15-20 minute spell when Hendo came on , that he started to move the ball around. For some reason we are struggling to get Dev running onto the ball where he is at his most dangerous, midfield opting to going down the wings majority of the time. Whether this is that the lack of options or Dev's not pulling his finger out, and moving enough, or were not being adventurous enough with the ball. Wing play's fine however were no threat at all attacking crosses. Either the balls going to the opposition or the headers weak. Kairo's anonymous. He's not bringing much to the games at the moment. Unsure if its his fault, no movement and tenacity, or a lack of service. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:20 - Aug 24 with 9090 views | nordenblue |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:00 - Aug 24 by Newbury_Dale | We're crying out for a Paddy Madden esque talisman to lead the line. Someone who can make intelligent runs. A composed finisher. Virtually impossible to find at this level unless you spend good money on bringing someone from the football league, I concede. Kairo has no footballing intelligence. When the ball comes into the box he's never there. |
Or an Ian Henderson type player..... one that sits on the bench each game | | | | Login to get fewer ads
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:37 - Aug 24 with 8913 views | EllDale | Bit like deja vu from last Saturday to my mind. It’s alright firing balls across the box but there’s no-one with the footballing brain to get on the end of them. Certainly not Mitchell. And a lot of the crosses aren’t class ones either. Taryn was good in that first period but Connor McBride is a mystery to me. His attempt when he had a free header from a corner in front of the Sandy was wowful. And I didn’t notice him in the second half until he fouled someone on the hour mark. Burger was a vast improvement. To be honest if anything I was disappointed with FGR and all those expensive players. They were there for the taking and for the second consecutive Saturday two points were spurned. Hope Gilmore is ok but it’s difficult to see where the goals are coming from. Frustration boiled over in front of me towards the end as well with a heated argument going on about the style of play. Nothing that a win won’t solve though. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 20:12 - Aug 24 with 8546 views | 442Dale |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:37 - Aug 24 by EllDale | Bit like deja vu from last Saturday to my mind. It’s alright firing balls across the box but there’s no-one with the footballing brain to get on the end of them. Certainly not Mitchell. And a lot of the crosses aren’t class ones either. Taryn was good in that first period but Connor McBride is a mystery to me. His attempt when he had a free header from a corner in front of the Sandy was wowful. And I didn’t notice him in the second half until he fouled someone on the hour mark. Burger was a vast improvement. To be honest if anything I was disappointed with FGR and all those expensive players. They were there for the taking and for the second consecutive Saturday two points were spurned. Hope Gilmore is ok but it’s difficult to see where the goals are coming from. Frustration boiled over in front of me towards the end as well with a heated argument going on about the style of play. Nothing that a win won’t solve though. |
Yeah, very much like the D&R game first half. Mitchell has got to be doing more in the penalty area, his he fully fit because he isn’t looking at sharp? The way we do get wide and look forward from there is an improvement but it’s not resulting in goals due to the lack of movement/quality with the final cross. Allarakhia and TAR are causing teams problems but at the moment they also know they can defend their six yard box. Agree on McBride, he’s got ability but doesn’t affect the game as much as Burger has so far. If Gilmour hadn’t got injured I’d have gone with a midfield three at Yeovil and Henderson and Rodney up front. As it is there’s an option to play Allarakhia further forward and Armstrong at LWB. Whatever McNulty does, he needs to acknowledge that we look very very average when not playing at pace and, crucially, something has to change in the final third. Oh, and stop talking about budgets. We are Rochdale, it’s what we do with our budget that matters, not the one we are playing against. At the moment a good squad probably needs a couple of additions, allowing more flexibility in games, until that happens the manager needs to be doing better with what we do have. Based on what we’ve seen that can be achieved, we’re probably underachieving by 2/3 points. The performances are fine, that’s been addressed, results matter most though. | |
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TO-DAYS GAME on 20:19 - Aug 24 with 8501 views | NorthernDale | Forest Green were poor, did they have a shot on target, I cannot remember one. I thought their no 5 Innis had a good game. Rochdale dominated the game, as been the case for most games this season, but created virtually now't and this a recurring theme at the moment, I am wondering if Mitchell and Rodney can play effective together up front and crucially why are they and the other players not running into gaps and shooting at the first opportunity. The team is good enough for the play offs, but we need to more active in front of goal, this may mean recruiting another striker to put pressure on Mitchell and Rodney. Hendo did okay, when he came on, I would have brought him on sooner and Allarakhia is looking a good player already. But McNulty needs to address the lack of goals and why we are not creating them, it is fine saying we played well and dominated the game, but we did not score. In truth today was boring to watch even for the diehards, god forbade what any neutrals thought of the game. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 20:45 - Aug 24 with 8358 views | scarrow |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:06 - Aug 24 by Clivert | The whole matchday experience really is depressing with the crap football on show but we're stuck with that for another 3 years! Surely someone at the club knows how to work the TVs in Studds?? |
Don't go then. Somevof the over reaction recently is crazy. | |
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TO-DAYS GAME on 20:51 - Aug 24 with 8306 views | EllDale | Won one out of the last six at home by my reckoning including the end of last season with five draws? Last home win was in March against Maidenhead. Hardly a fortress although I’m sure BJ called Spotland just that on the radio recently. I’m beginning to wonder as well if this three year target for promotion is leading to a sense of complacency? If your KPI isn’t being measured until 2027 why rush? I know you shouldn’t look at league tables until ten games have elapsed but the league at the moment (with the exception of Eastleigh) looks pretty much as I envisaged it before the season started. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 20:57 - Aug 24 with 8231 views | Clivert |
TO-DAYS GAME on 20:45 - Aug 24 by scarrow | Don't go then. Somevof the over reaction recently is crazy. |
You're right, they've got my money for another season. Glad you enjoyed another game of 'McNultyball'. 3 fookin' years. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 21:02 - Aug 24 with 8180 views | dingdangblue | Like watching England at the Euros. Very dull. Jim thought we did well though holding the big hitters at home. Glad he's happy. | |
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TO-DAYS GAME on 21:12 - Aug 24 with 8095 views | Daley_Lama | Predictable, unimaginative, one dimensional, slow. Rodney is nullified by defence sitting deep and no space for him to run into Mitchell is nullified by nothing through central midfield We move the ball slowly across the back meaning when the ball is eventually played wide, opposition double up easily. Henry when he came on at least shifted it to TAR a couple of times. It’s rather reminiscent of last season. | |
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TO-DAYS GAME on 21:53 - Aug 24 with 7863 views | Sandyman | Jim has rightly mentioned the difficulties he had to deal with regarding off field issues 2023-24 and how the new ownership has changed things so much for the better. What do we see on the pitch? We look livelier than last season but equally as ineffective, which is frustrating to watch, especially after two encouraging home wins in friendlies. We had a great attacking spell in the second half today, as we did v D&R in the first half, but not one goal has accrued from those particular spells of pressure. Jim talking about others budgets does not mask our own inadequacies. One goal from the last three games. The last five home league games have resulted in 0 defeats, 0 wins, and FIVE draws. Does that enthuse what support we have? It's a results business, not an academic exercise in "performance" which you feel takes priority given some of the managers remarks. A niggly argument on the terraces as mentioned above and a few boos at full time indicate some restlessness. Yes, we try to go forward more now, which is to be applauded, but wasting time faffing around with the ball between keeper and defence so often, particularly in time added on when we need to go for a win, indicates an easy willingness to lapse into last season's Chuckle Brothers mode and little desire for victory. Let's see what's changed by this time next week. Tarryn Allarakhia's endeavour has been the highlight of the season so far. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 23:06 - Aug 24 with 7500 views | rich_dale | We're in year 1 of the three year plan and we're better than this time last year. To get promoted we'll need to splash more money and get a Mullin or Grigg or similar. Big picture feels like we're doing ok. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 23:15 - Aug 24 with 7441 views | Dalenet |
TO-DAYS GAME on 19:06 - Aug 24 by _Windydale | Forest Green played alright defensively and had a fair few attacks and loads of corners without really threatening, seemed to go route one find the big number 5 at the back post. No one did anything quite wrong today, but there wasn't anything special happening. Defensively we were good, wide boys did their job. Our goal poachers, forwards not much presence. The one run midfield from Dev was a highlight. Just wish he can do that receiving the ball nearer the penalty box. Tarryns energy was a highlight first half and he linked up great with Sam Beckwith, who's a promising player. Like the way he tries to get forward dragging the opposition away, looking for a pass or creating space. We could have done with it at the start but, East didn't show any attacking flair and range of passing until the 2nd half, There was a good 15-20 minute spell when Hendo came on , that he started to move the ball around. For some reason we are struggling to get Dev running onto the ball where he is at his most dangerous, midfield opting to going down the wings majority of the time. Whether this is that the lack of options or Dev's not pulling his finger out, and moving enough, or were not being adventurous enough with the ball. Wing play's fine however were no threat at all attacking crosses. Either the balls going to the opposition or the headers weak. Kairo's anonymous. He's not bringing much to the games at the moment. Unsure if its his fault, no movement and tenacity, or a lack of service. |
I feel sorry for East. He was getting frustrated just like the crowd - about 75 minutes in we had passed the ball about 90 times across the area in front of thei box, the crowd were restless and shouted shoot, and he did. McNulty wasn't happy with him as he wanted him to pass yet again. He clearly isn't being allowed to shoot. I thought Kyron Gordon had a good game today and made half a dozen excellent tackles that in recent years would have got through. Yet the fans got on his back at one point for a back pass and he was visibly upset. He lost his confidence and the next minute they got past him. He is a young lad who seems to be improving - I don't see the point in shouting at the lad like that - share your annoyance with Jim McN who sets them up to play that way. Not a great spectacle - we huffed and puffed. And 500 fans down on last week. We desperately need a win to get people behind the team. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 08:05 - Aug 25 with 6685 views | TalkingSutty |
TO-DAYS GAME on 23:15 - Aug 24 by Dalenet | I feel sorry for East. He was getting frustrated just like the crowd - about 75 minutes in we had passed the ball about 90 times across the area in front of thei box, the crowd were restless and shouted shoot, and he did. McNulty wasn't happy with him as he wanted him to pass yet again. He clearly isn't being allowed to shoot. I thought Kyron Gordon had a good game today and made half a dozen excellent tackles that in recent years would have got through. Yet the fans got on his back at one point for a back pass and he was visibly upset. He lost his confidence and the next minute they got past him. He is a young lad who seems to be improving - I don't see the point in shouting at the lad like that - share your annoyance with Jim McN who sets them up to play that way. Not a great spectacle - we huffed and puffed. And 500 fans down on last week. We desperately need a win to get people behind the team. |
The home games are frustrating because when you are routinely drawing them you are invariably dropping two points that you shouldn't, obviously there are the odd games when we've been second best and you'll take a point. I think we've dropped four points in our first two home games when you look at the possession stats ( Jim). A decent team should have won both those games. The final whistle doesn't end the frustration though, you then have the post match interview with Greg and Jim to contend with and at the end of it you're left wondering if you've watched the same game. Greg needs to start asking some relevant questions that dont include a ready made answer for the manager to piggy back along with. A simple one after the York game would have been 'what was the reasoning behind dropping Beckwith to the subs bench tonight'? Jims been backed by the Ogdens this summer and i suspect he will be backed some more in the next week or so, he needs to respect that when he starts throwing around other clubs playing budgets in an attempt to excuse our performances on the pitch. Many clubs won't have our budget and some are part time, will he mention that when we fail to beat them? Of course he won't. How did we perform against those with the smallest budgets last season? Very poorly. So he needs to stop harping on about budgets and show some gratitude for the backing that the board have given him this Summer. His job is to get results on the pitch, he has the players to do that, he's already given them a ready made excuse for the Yeovil game ( feeling tired). We are no different than any other team in respect of this weekends demands and let's face it, playing on a bank holiday Monday has always been with us. I saw real signs of player frustration yesterday and it was down to the ball not being recycled quickly enough, players taking up good positions and then being ignored in favour of playing the easy sideways or backward pass along the back four. It's killing the players and playing into our opponents hands and it's down to the manager and the coaching staff. [Post edited 25 Aug 8:24]
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TO-DAYS GAME on 08:21 - Aug 25 with 6599 views | NorthernDale | Again, I have to agree with some of the comments, McNulty moaning that other teams have bigger budgets and squads, he mentioned that with Gilmour possible injury, we may have to play less experienced players. He signed the squad, but he as the ability to sign others,he stated previously that he still as money left to spend. I feel the squad is a good squad and is equal to virtually all the top teams in the league, but as others have pointed out, he as the Southgate mentality in that he may change the formation, but to some extent the total options style of possession football is still at the core of his tactics. This poses the the question, is McNulty the problem and not the answer. We have strikers in Mitchell, Rodney and Hendo who scored around 35 goals last season between them, but this season, they seem unable to even get a shot on target this season. This is despite the fact, we have a better squad, it most be frustrating for the players, but McNulty may be on a three year contract, but he needs to remember the Ogdens said this season, they effectively want us to finish in a playoff place. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 08:28 - Aug 25 with 6562 views | TalkingSutty |
TO-DAYS GAME on 08:21 - Aug 25 by NorthernDale | Again, I have to agree with some of the comments, McNulty moaning that other teams have bigger budgets and squads, he mentioned that with Gilmour possible injury, we may have to play less experienced players. He signed the squad, but he as the ability to sign others,he stated previously that he still as money left to spend. I feel the squad is a good squad and is equal to virtually all the top teams in the league, but as others have pointed out, he as the Southgate mentality in that he may change the formation, but to some extent the total options style of possession football is still at the core of his tactics. This poses the the question, is McNulty the problem and not the answer. We have strikers in Mitchell, Rodney and Hendo who scored around 35 goals last season between them, but this season, they seem unable to even get a shot on target this season. This is despite the fact, we have a better squad, it most be frustrating for the players, but McNulty may be on a three year contract, but he needs to remember the Ogdens said this season, they effectively want us to finish in a playoff place. |
It takes an eternity for the ball to even reach our strikers, that's the biggest problem. By the time it has reached them they are marked or even double marked and our opponents have been settled into their low block just waiting to close down the space. It's easy for them. The home friendlies and first two league games gave me hope that we would be more direct and play at a higher tempo, the last two games have me thinking we are regressing into what we saw last season..safety first, keep possession at all costs and always look to recycle the ball back to the defenders for EEL to act as the playmaker🙄. We have a young manager, who should now be capable of moving away from the coaching manual and be capable of identifying and overcoming problems ( Mitchell and Rodney misfiring). I don't know much about his assistant Kevin Gibbons, what experience does he have in the professional game, coaching etc? From what I can see he's no experience of coaching professional footballers in a results driven capacity. So we have a management duo with very little experience, theres nobody to help McNulty in that respect. [Post edited 25 Aug 9:07]
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TO-DAYS GAME on 09:04 - Aug 25 with 6421 views | EllDale | A couple of good points there. The first is about tiredness. If a coach keeps going public about fatigue and having to rotate his squad then psychologically the players can begin to feel tired mentally. Just don’t mention it. And the attendance was lower than the previous Saturday but a lot of that could be down to families being on holiday. The away support didn’t look to differ overmuch across the two games although I haven’t seen it announced. There were some noticeable gaps in the Sandy yesterday though compared to last week. It will be interesting to see the attendance next Saturday. | | | |
TO-DAYS GAME on 09:14 - Aug 25 with 6383 views | TalkingSutty |
TO-DAYS GAME on 09:04 - Aug 25 by EllDale | A couple of good points there. The first is about tiredness. If a coach keeps going public about fatigue and having to rotate his squad then psychologically the players can begin to feel tired mentally. Just don’t mention it. And the attendance was lower than the previous Saturday but a lot of that could be down to families being on holiday. The away support didn’t look to differ overmuch across the two games although I haven’t seen it announced. There were some noticeable gaps in the Sandy yesterday though compared to last week. It will be interesting to see the attendance next Saturday. |
Professional footballers shouldn't need resting at the start of the season, Beckwith was dropped to the subs bench after two games. He wasn't injured because he came on as sub late in the game. I suspect that decision was overthinking by the manager in relation to marking Sinclair, he dropped our best defender and the winning goal came from that side of the pitch. It played into their hands if that was the case. There is cover for Gilmores absence, Henry is a suitable replacement and we've also signed Barlow. Not sure why McNulty mentioned he would have to look at young players. The manager made mention of FGRs budget but ignored the fact that they only had five subs on the bench compared to our seven and they had no recognised right back. The lad who played at right back had never played that position before. Cotterill didn't use that as a excuse for the performance though. [Post edited 25 Aug 10:10]
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TO-DAYS GAME on 09:52 - Aug 25 with 6128 views | EllDale | There’s an argument that we don’t need young, inexperienced players but rather ones who are older, more robust and more streetwise. That doesn’t mean old EFL veterans but players who have been in and around this level successfully for a couple of seasons. | | | |
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