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Not sure we helped ourselves though either SL, far too nice all over the pitch while D&R seem a lot more streetwise, loads of pointless possession fannying around while they looked to press forward whenever in possession.
Onto the match. Poorest home performance of the season, despite the break we look tired and lacking in momentum all over the pitch.
Need to try and stop the season petering out somehow. Though mid table would still have been acceptable before we started you’d hope we can still find some form again.
Some of the interplay between EEL and Fergusson was breathtaking. Precision passing, vision, guile and very entertaining to watch. Hope our forward line enjoyed it too. Any fans tempted back after the Boxing Day bonanza will surely feel they got vfm paying full price for that feast of football. 2-5 in the last 2 games and zero points. The gap between performance and play off football looks too big to span at FT today. Sadly.
We were very poor today and as others have said we were too slow building in possession. In fairness though I’d argue that probably 5 or so of our players who make us quicker have either left, are injured or in the process of coming back:
Moulden- capable of 60/70 yard passes Nevett- best defender at playing the ball forward Hayes- best player for being direct with the ball Clayton- best midfielder for passing forwards Mitchell- player who allows us to go most direct
Hopefully the new signings and a few players returning will see performances improve considerably.
Some of the interplay between EEL and Fergusson was breathtaking. Precision passing, vision, guile and very entertaining to watch. Hope our forward line enjoyed it too. Any fans tempted back after the Boxing Day bonanza will surely feel they got vfm paying full price for that feast of football. 2-5 in the last 2 games and zero points. The gap between performance and play off football looks too big to span at FT today. Sadly.
71 points was 7th place last season.
We therefore need at least30 points from 16 games - 1.87 points per game - to reach that marker.
5 of the 16 are away at teams in the top 8.
Not impossible but off the dire way we played last weekend at Aldershot and then again today doesn’t suggest that level of consistency will be achieved.
Must win at Altrincham next week if we are to remain in the playoff hunt.
George Bernard Shaw had it right:
"He who can does; he who cannot, teaches."
https://www.visittheusa.co.uk/
We therefore need at least30 points from 16 games - 1.87 points per game - to reach that marker.
5 of the 16 are away at teams in the top 8.
Not impossible but off the dire way we played last weekend at Aldershot and then again today doesn’t suggest that level of consistency will be achieved.
Must win at Altrincham next week if we are to remain in the playoff hunt.
Today was shocking, we had no ideas and does McNulty not realise passing the back four or minor triangle passing is not watchable, when you do not get forward. As someone said near me, McNulty seems more interesting in possession football then anything else, the result being was a poor defeat and did we have a shot in the second half? I agree the referee was shocking and there is no way in this world was that a penalty, but that does not excuse such a dismal performance.
A really bad day at the office. All the talk about how Spotland had suddenly become a fortress was rudely ended by an insipid performance. I totally get Big Jim’s style but I don’t pay good money to see the goalkeeper stand with his foot on the ball 15 yards outside the penalty area. As ever though it’s a matter of fine margins. If that freekick of Sinclair’s goes into the top corner then a point might have been salvaged but their keeper produced a stunning save. As mentioned there are always plusses. It was nice to see Mitchell and Jes back on the pitch. And we look to have a competent replacement for Moulden although should he have been beaten at his near post for their first goal? Totally wrong footed. Was it a penalty? Not to my mind, in fact it seemed a really soft decision. The maddening thing though is that it happened in first half stoppage time 30 seconds after we had a direct freekick just outside their box but instead of going something positive chose to try a complicated passing sequence which ended in Dagenham breaking away. I’m not sure why Ferguson had to indulge in a theatrical collapse after their bloke pushed him though which to my mind resulted in a silly yellow card. Unless Dale start winning soon though and embark on a spectacular run I think we can forget about the playoffs. A gap of five points has opened up between the top eight clubs in the table and the rest. However, if you had said before the season started that we would be in the top ten, I would have taken that.
We saw a great Dale goal. The rest was not much more than clueless and embarassing. 3 weeks ago, we looked tired and needed a rest. Today, we looked twice as knackered and slower. One fan in Ratcliffe's after the game told me it was a repeat of the incompetence he saw at Aldershot.
So slow. It was like watching over-60's walking football. I've seen faster and more accurate pass and move on a Subbuteo pitch.
If this is a pub league, we were the Dog And Duck 2nd XI on a Sunday morning on Firgrove after a massive night on the beer.
Jim is the right man for the job, but tonight's post-match (especially after Aldershot) is the same again. A one track tactic that is easy to suss out ain't working and not at all easy on the eye - you need some humility to accept that it isn't working and in no way encourages repeat visits to the COA beyond the faithful.
Yes the ref made several howlers, our players made more. People are busting a gut and making sacrifices to help Squad Builder. We saw today why it is needed. We also saw why an occasional supporter would never step inside the ground again - it was that bad.
A good friend of mine is a Daggers fan. He was in the away end today. He's been telling me for weeks how poor they have played. With little change to their modus operandi, Daggers win. Dale's fault, nobody else's.
Maybe Jim is going to keep playing tippy tappy in the hope of joining BBM at City......
Painful and dull to watch though.
On current form we are heading for 62-63 points, so well short of any hope of reaching the playoffs. The last 8 games have reflected the shortage of players in the squad,, every major metric has declined, fewer goals scored, more conceded. Maybe the return of Hayes and Mitchell will help with one last push, but D&R was a winnable fixture and 3 pionts would have kept us in touch but the gap to the playoffs is growing ever greater. I watched McNulty last night and wondered if he was perhaps too close to his players, he is like a big mother hen looking after her chicks, no criticism is allowed...I get that, once the atmosphere turns the whole shebang is lost, hence all the hugging from Klopp and Guardiola. But, there has to be some means of winding them up too.... good cop, bad cop. Perhaps we need a cynical old pro in or around the dressing room to say the things that Mcnulty doesn't want to. I agree with the sentiment that we would have taken a mid table finish at the start of the season, but we seem so close to a possible playoff finish that it would be a pity if the season simply peters out, the continuing of 1 point per game from the last 8 will not cut it going forwards. Yesterday was very much a lost opportunity.
Watch the highlights - never ever a penalty. Awful decision by the match referee.
Definite penalty. Soft yes but Keohane catches his leg and their number 10 didn't need much encouragement to go down. He played for it and unfortunately Keohane put his foot in where he should have just ran with him. Stupid challenge to make when the half was over.
Its a BRILLIANT goal to cap a BRILLIANT start by Rochdale - Don Goodman 26/08/10
Definite penalty. Soft yes but Keohane catches his leg and their number 10 didn't need much encouragement to go down. He played for it and unfortunately Keohane put his foot in where he should have just ran with him. Stupid challenge to make when the half was over.
Hill ran full pelt at SAJ's leg, trying desperately to initiate contact, and threw himself to the deck as if he'd been taken out by a long-range sniper. I watched the cheating tw@t walking down the tunnel at HT and he had the biggest (guilty) smirk on his face imaginable as he got dog's abuse from Daleys. He knew exactly what he'd done.
Continuing SL's OP theme, the ref should be able to differentiate between a foul and a dive. The only thing Hill deserved was a yellow in my eyes.
Hill ran full pelt at SAJ's leg, trying desperately to initiate contact, and threw himself to the deck as if he'd been taken out by a long-range sniper. I watched the cheating tw@t walking down the tunnel at HT and he had the biggest (guilty) smirk on his face imaginable as he got dog's abuse from Daleys. He knew exactly what he'd done.
Continuing SL's OP theme, the ref should be able to differentiate between a foul and a dive. The only thing Hill deserved was a yellow in my eyes.
Change settings to 0.25 speed and Jimmy kicks his leg clear as day. If it was for us we'd be wanting a penalty.
Its a BRILLIANT goal to cap a BRILLIANT start by Rochdale - Don Goodman 26/08/10
Change settings to 0.25 speed and Jimmy kicks his leg clear as day. If it was for us we'd be wanting a penalty.
Still don't think he kicked him DDB, but looking at in that forensic detail, I would have to concede (at least to my eyes) he planted his foot in the turf in the path of Hill and he accepted the invitation. I still don't see the contact at 0.25 speed, but accept you and others may have a different opinion. I also concede my opinion may be coloured by the fact that Hill spent most of the game on his back crying to the ref and got into quite a nasty tussle with Sinclair I think it was from memory, where he kicked out at what looked like our player but in fact he got fresh air. Nasty piece of work.
Still don't think he kicked him DDB, but looking at in that forensic detail, I would have to concede (at least to my eyes) he planted his foot in the turf in the path of Hill and he accepted the invitation. I still don't see the contact at 0.25 speed, but accept you and others may have a different opinion. I also concede my opinion may be coloured by the fact that Hill spent most of the game on his back crying to the ref and got into quite a nasty tussle with Sinclair I think it was from memory, where he kicked out at what looked like our player but in fact he got fresh air. Nasty piece of work.
No pen for me, it looked as if the ball was running away from their player following a heavy touch and he decided to go down. Soft under any circumstances but it did seem like the ref was giving Dagenham the benefit of any doubt quite often, something that has been a bit of a theme this season. I recall us picking up a rash of yellow cards for goalkeeper time wasting and throw in time wasting in the early season matches .... a sort of "welcome to the National League" from a few referees with few if any similar cards for opposition players doing exactly same thing. Even on Saturday Dagenham were wasting time on a professional level with no word from the referee. Not to mention their keeper going down with no apparent injury when we had them under the cosh and successfully breaking up our momentum. Their player's sprint across the pitch to their manager and a drink was laughably choreographed. So when is a rule a not a rule? And what are the parameters for a referee to decide what is cheating and what isn't?
Still don't think he kicked him DDB, but looking at in that forensic detail, I would have to concede (at least to my eyes) he planted his foot in the turf in the path of Hill and he accepted the invitation. I still don't see the contact at 0.25 speed, but accept you and others may have a different opinion. I also concede my opinion may be coloured by the fact that Hill spent most of the game on his back crying to the ref and got into quite a nasty tussle with Sinclair I think it was from memory, where he kicked out at what looked like our player but in fact he got fresh air. Nasty piece of work.
Yes when he was subbed and walking infront of the Pearl St he had a smug grin on his face. Definitely the type to look for fouls all game which is why its disappointing Jimmy went near him in the box.
Its a BRILLIANT goal to cap a BRILLIANT start by Rochdale - Don Goodman 26/08/10
On current form we are heading for 62-63 points, so well short of any hope of reaching the playoffs. The last 8 games have reflected the shortage of players in the squad,, every major metric has declined, fewer goals scored, more conceded. Maybe the return of Hayes and Mitchell will help with one last push, but D&R was a winnable fixture and 3 pionts would have kept us in touch but the gap to the playoffs is growing ever greater. I watched McNulty last night and wondered if he was perhaps too close to his players, he is like a big mother hen looking after her chicks, no criticism is allowed...I get that, once the atmosphere turns the whole shebang is lost, hence all the hugging from Klopp and Guardiola. But, there has to be some means of winding them up too.... good cop, bad cop. Perhaps we need a cynical old pro in or around the dressing room to say the things that Mcnulty doesn't want to. I agree with the sentiment that we would have taken a mid table finish at the start of the season, but we seem so close to a possible playoff finish that it would be a pity if the season simply peters out, the continuing of 1 point per game from the last 8 will not cut it going forwards. Yesterday was very much a lost opportunity.
Some of the rhetoric 49th is surely that upcoming run of remaining February fixtures for which he is "setting expectations".
He's done that again today with the line "I'm the Head Coach, I don't run the Club operationally, so I don't know. when referencing a youth player he's picked for the bench. You can only presume he involved that youth player as the two Man United youth players were not allowed to play as Man United manage their workload.
In 2024 (so far), we have 3 points from a possibly 12 over 4 games. There has been 1 good (Kidderminster) and 3 very poor performances (Fylde, Aldershot and D&R).
Coming up we play (currently) 4th, 6th, 15th, 1st and 12th before the month is out.
I think if we get 7 points out of that upcoming run and finish February on 48 or more then we will have done well when you consider the positions of the opposition and the styles of play which in three cases is more direct, attacking and purposeful than our slow and ponderous passing triangles.
If that's the case there will be a few on the beach for March and April given the season ends on 20th April and a lot out of contract / returning to parent clubs this Summer.
George Bernard Shaw had it right:
"He who can does; he who cannot, teaches."
https://www.visittheusa.co.uk/
It’s quite strange that people would think we only play one way. The problem has been when we don’t do what we’re good at, something the manager does indeed have the responsibility to address. He and the players are deserving of constructive criticism after performances like Saturday.
The absence of various players has been a contributing factor. Anyone who knows football can see that. Plus the backdrop of uncertainty of course. The frustration comes from knowing we are capable of getting into the top seven based on what we have and what the division lacks. But if that doesn’t happen we have to be forgiving, more upheaval won’t help.
As someone who wouldn’t have chosen McNulty, I can acknowledge that without him the club would be in an even worse place than it is at present. Too much focus on what’s going on on the pitch will see eyes taken even further off the real meandering issues of the last 18 months+. Deflection does not help our football club.
The telling thing is, despite the availability of still photos, replays and slow motion replays, people are still in disagreement other whether it was a penalty or not. The ref gets to see the incident once in real time. He may or may not have made an error but we still had the whole of the second half to rectify it and could've used the feeling we'd been 'wronged' to play with a bit of fire, instead we barely laid a glove on them. We were poor and deserved nothing.
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