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Daft question I know as it was a season to forget but one we will always remember. Keefy has a point when he says there is no merit in celebrating avoiding relegation - 19 other teams did that - but, the way I see it is, after the cup exploits we were effectively down. We then had a mini season in which we had to "get promoted" back into Lge 1. For Hilly to to turn our fortunes around and keep us up was remarkable. No matter how poor the rest of the season was he "managed" our survival. What he couldn't influence were the individual mistakes we made which so nearly cost us. I wondered whether going down could have been a blessing in disguise: if we could somehow bounce straight back up. People love a winning side and we could have come back stronger with a few more fans. (Oldham might just do this if they get it right). But, nah! I am absolutely made up that we stayed up and I would be happy if we could turn this into the Rochdale division for the foreseeable future. I just hope the club have learned lessons from the previous season - and I'm talking across the board: both on and off the pitch. We have made some friends and surprised people this season, let's build on that. But if I see we are recruiting the likes of Vincenti and Nicky Adams for next season.......
The worm of time turns not for the cuckoo of circumstance.
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 11:32 - May 7 with 2728 views
The joy of following this team is that you dont know what to expect from one season to the next..its often one step forward then 2 back..as we develop talent we progress ..they then move on and we are back to square one..
Im sure Hillys retain list would have been in 2 formats..one for if we went down and the other for if we stayed up..but as always i trust his judgement..i cant see anyone coming in for any of our present squad..and i see whilst NML moves into the prem..Lund and Allen slip back down again.
At the beginning of the season i did say id be happy to end in 20th position..didnt think it would be as nerve racking as that however!
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 11:34 - May 7 with 2722 views
So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 11:28 - May 7 by funkkk
Fair one, your post didn't read as a mere opinion though.
I don't think anyone's forgetting what a rubbish season we've had overall just enjoying the moment.
I'm sure the season will be disected in great detail over the summer.
I can’t start every post with “In my opinion” or they’d be more laborious than they already are.
To be fair, the thread is about the season rather than the day of survival and I was just chucking my tuppence in.
I’m honestly not having a downer on the fact we have stayed up - I broke the sound barrier when Joey T scored - I’m just not losing sight of the issues that occurred on and off the pitch this season that sully it somewhat for me.
On top at the start of the season, only for Keane to be sent off after 20 minutes. Strange team picked at Shrewsbury The most boring local derby ever 2-1 win over Donny, our first league win £1.25 per Dale goal at Gigg Lane A Blackpool winger making Joey B look like a snail Fleetwood away - Joe Rafferty the RB Cobblers at home, a pretty low moment Bromley on TV Doyle lob at Boundary Park Peterborough being worse than us Slough despatched Bradford Away - Lillis has a mare Dark times - including Walsall last minute equaliser Donny Cup win More dark times including losing to 10 man Lincoln in the EFL Cup Dark times as Millwall equalise in the last min The renaissance begins - an away win at Cobblers! A home win versus Milwall! Scrappy defeats to Brizzle and Wigan but that magnificent day versus Tottenham at Spotland. 45th and 90th minutes especially The crazy 45 minutes of the first half at Wembley The demolition in the snow in the second half Wins at Walsall and Rotherham - WTF Three horrible home games as our legs looked tired Renaissance part 2 - Shrews despatched Gigg Lane - The final nail in their coffin The blunderbuss to the foot. Portsmouth OG The drummers final solo - Wigan antics The self imposed straight jacket - Hendo sending off The rake in the grass. Oldham missed penalty The banana skin on the pavement. Lillis v Bradford (He must hate playing them) Delaney! Camps' penalty double at Oxford That final day
The big thing for me (prior to Saturday) was the frustration. Unnecessary and avoidable frustrations that have, throughout the season, shown to be totally justified.
Things like the away games at Blackpool and Wimbledon when we were almost unrecognisable as a Dale side not looking to lose the games - yeah, yeah, the two points that kept us up?!
The decision to finally make the best use of the players we have and play the three central defenders... then abandon it again. Hill’s interview after the game alluded to deciding on going with what the players are comfortable with, so why change it previously?
However, it has been a memorable season so that frustration disappeared as soon as we knew Oldham had finished and we had another moment to go down in folklore. It’s as if Hill knew all along. We’ve had some really, really good away support this season which also makes it memorable. For years we pointed to Chesterfield away in the relegation season for such an example, but it’s happened loads this season. Even at home the fans have been a massive positive, there was far more criticism in games when we went through that slump when in the top six in January ‘17. It was as if fans knew the team needed that bit extra and they got it.
Recruitment, a structure and a consistency in selection would be the areas where we need to get better, and while I’m fully aware of the budgetary restraints it means very little when we don’t make the most of what we do have. We know where we stand in terms of competing money wise, we no longer need to hear it because history has confirmed it does not matter.
Not been a day this season when I haven’t thought about us getting relegated. It’s been a miserable season where sometimes we have been shite and other times plain old unlucky. Our luck came in on Saturday thanks to Northampton. Thank heavens the core of our squad are contracted and not on loan from elsewhere like Oldhams team.
The fans this season have been behind the team one hundred percent at the games. One or two people have showed a little bit of dissent on here and Facebook but at the games it’s been team Rochdale from the fans.
On paper it looks like a decent season “little old Rochdale” stay out of the Rochdale division and have a brilliant cup run. I think the recruiting needs to be a little bit better next season and we could do with bringing in one or two proven league one players rather then polishing turd from the lower leagues. Hilly is better then this season.
Ultimately a season to forget with a few games to remember. I don’t want us to be a club that celebrates avoiding the drop every season.
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 12:56 - May 7 with 2562 views
For me, the season started in turmoil, key players left at the end of the transfer window and late decisions were taken about who to bring in as replacements. I also think KH was still in the middle of grieving for his father, the loss of your Dad is horrible and whilst he has to play the Alpha male at the club, his head may not have been in the game as much as others might have wanted. From February 2017 to February 2018 the results were awful, it's easy to point the finger at KH but family comes first and the board has stood by him and eventually he has emerged from his despair and the results have improved.
Some players have lost most of the season because of injury, some hardly contributed because they were not good enough and not prepared to work hard enough, this is unusual for Rochdale and must bring into question some transfer decisions, especially the glaring need for a left-footed central defender.
The season eventually began to turn positive with the arrival of Delaney and Tottenham, the manager seemed to get some bounce back into his stride, the defence looked better with 3 at the back and when Henderson pushed forward suddenly games seemed winnable.
The little stutter towards the end of the season was largely self-inflicted and in part caused by tired legs the loss of the talisman for 4 games and a collective desperation leading to points dropped and lost and a tighter finish than might have been if that penalty had gone in and that header had gone for a corner.
I hate the term "lessons learned" but as a previous commenter pointed out, football is easy if you are winning, it's coping with the difficult times that makes teams stronger. The squad will evolve again, some things will work, some won't. I think lots of us underestimated our resilience and ability but at the end, the players who work hardest solved the problem. It was ever thus.
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 13:09 - May 7 with 2530 views
So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 11:03 - May 7 by ColDale
There's no doubt that we played better football last season, had more exciting matches and comfortably were a better team. But for me, it's all about the memories, and for that this season will far outdo anything of last year. Ask me to name a highlight from last year, and I've got to start thinking. I reckon I could string off 4 or 5 from this season at the top of my head.
Said a couple of weeks ago that there were clear similarities with the 86-87 season where we pulled off the first ever great escape. We were dead and buried then, we were dreadful at times that season but it's a season much cherished. This more than matches it given the scale of the points deficit that we had, and given that we did it at the expense of two local rivals is the icing on the cake.
I don't think we've been anywhere near as bad as some have made us out to be. Had the side from January onwards been the side from September onwards I reckon we'd have comfortably finished top half. Some of the stuff said at times this year (mostly not on here) has bordered on lunacy and hostility with half a dozen conspiracy theories lurking behind them.
I would never claim we've been unlucky this season, because you make your own luck but we've done this without our talisman for the most crucial part of the season (and it came bloody close to costing us), we had our best player for the first ten weeks of 2018 missing the last six weeks / 12 games of the season. We've lost god knows how many points from winning positions because we've not had the confidence or wherewithal to play the game out in the opposition half (like we did on Saturday). We've had major mistakes from those we rely on more than others (Lillis drop, Hendo red card, Camps penalty x 2, Done og etc). Fine margins that seemed to impact on us more than it normally would do.
We know mistakes have been made and decisions taken have been the admission of those mistakes. We might be a Henderson broken leg away from being in the same position again next season but my money is on Hilly building a team that can see us through the next 3 or 4 years with the weaknesses fully addressed. He'll have learned more about his squad in adversity than he ever did through success.
But Saturday was up there with anything. Up there with Perkins / Muirhead against Darlo, Simmonds against Stockport, the Southampton double, the promotions against Northampton and Cheltenham. Definitely in my top three moments of supporting Dale.
They had a table during the live commentary showing us top of the league for losing points from winning positions: 32 points!
Its a BRILLIANT goal to cap a BRILLIANT start by Rochdale - Don Goodman 26/08/10
So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 13:09 - May 7 by dingdangblue
They had a table during the live commentary showing us top of the league for losing points from winning positions: 32 points!
Which shows how close we are to making it right next season. Firmly believe that a few key squad leaders will see us have a very good season next year.
Really interesting thread. Col’s post was the most similar to my own in that this will, for me, go down as one of the most memorable seasons ever. The past three ‘nearly playoffs’ seasons were all far more successful but some of the memories made this season will last a lifetime. Most of them have been mentioned but I’ll add the Shrewsbury home match as simply one of my favourite matches of all time.
I also agree with Col that I don’t think we’ve been anywhere near as bad this season as has been made out. The struggles we faced were all around not being clinical enough and the inability to hold on to leads. Our actual play all season hasn’t really been anywhere near bottom 4 standard. Compare this team to the Eyre one and they’re streets apart. Saxon got it spot on when he said the 32 points we’ve dropped from winning positions shows just how close we were to this being classed as yet another good season.
As for the analysis, I have no doubt it’ll come. Probably over the next week or so. I think we’re all just feeling too relieved to try and dissect anything just yet.
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 16:36 - May 7 with 2318 views
So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 15:51 - May 7 by Shun
Really interesting thread. Col’s post was the most similar to my own in that this will, for me, go down as one of the most memorable seasons ever. The past three ‘nearly playoffs’ seasons were all far more successful but some of the memories made this season will last a lifetime. Most of them have been mentioned but I’ll add the Shrewsbury home match as simply one of my favourite matches of all time.
I also agree with Col that I don’t think we’ve been anywhere near as bad this season as has been made out. The struggles we faced were all around not being clinical enough and the inability to hold on to leads. Our actual play all season hasn’t really been anywhere near bottom 4 standard. Compare this team to the Eyre one and they’re streets apart. Saxon got it spot on when he said the 32 points we’ve dropped from winning positions shows just how close we were to this being classed as yet another good season.
As for the analysis, I have no doubt it’ll come. Probably over the next week or so. I think we’re all just feeling too relieved to try and dissect anything just yet.
Even better then the time we beat them 4-3 after being 1-3 down at half time?
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 17:25 - May 7 with 2252 views
So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 13:09 - May 7 by dingdangblue
They had a table during the live commentary showing us top of the league for losing points from winning positions: 32 points!
And, to put that into a finer perspective......if we had collected two thirds of those points,say 20 we would have accumulated enough points to match Charlton in the play-offs.
Just hope we do dissect the numbers still further and really scrutinize what went wrong (and what went right)
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 18:56 - May 7 with 2175 views
100% memorable for me. I've been properly supporting Dale since 1984 and I've been waiting for a day like the Sunday afternoon we played and matched Tottenham Hotspur on BBC1 in the 5th round of the FA cup live to the nation and the world. I never thought I'd truly witness my club having 'that moment' - I'd almost given up hope after all the embarrassment's we've had down the years on tv. Having to go into work and have your workmates take the piss out of the team you love - it gets you down after a while. But that Monday following the Spurs game every Dale fan must have felt like I did - 10ft tall and so proud of the team we support through thick and thin. Radio, newspaper's and the tv media all heaping so much praise upon Keith Hill's terrific team and how they performed. It will go down in FA Cup history for years to come as one of the most magical moments when Steven Davies equalised in such dramatic fashion in the 93rd minute. And that's not to brush over our struggles in the league before the end of January transfer window - but I've half expected a season of struggle to come along under Hill so I think I was prepared for it. You can't legislate for the 10 season's of successful league campaign's he's had with us whilst also balancing the books, developing players, selling players, replacing players on free transfers year in year out. Somehow we managed to claw back the 12 point deficit whilst playing 2 games per week for the final 2 months of the season with largely the same 15-16 players. We left it late but got over the line in the most dramatic of days last Saturday and to complete the story even better we had local lad Joe Thompson a twice conquerer of the horrible disease Cancer scoring the goal which salvaged our League 1 status. Memorable? You can f@cking say that again.
Its a BRILLIANT goal to cap a BRILLIANT start by Rochdale - Don Goodman 26/08/10
I disagree with any reference to a season to forget.
No way it's been a flat, boring sh1te 12 months.
This season has been a colourful year. An emotional journey and one that's seen us claw back up the table to escape from 4th tier abyss.
This season should be celebrated for Dale's fighting spirit, were not a team with buckets full of cash. Keiths worked wonders on the player's minds
Raw talent and positive mentality, has been the driving force. My plaudits go to the management team, who encourage ok players and invigorate them into a force to do battle, Saturdays magic moments won't be forgotten.
[Post edited 8 May 2018 0:10]
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 09:48 - May 8 with 1786 views
Easily a season to remember for me and my mates. Started off going to watch us play Pompey away losing 2-0 and then nearly dying when we had a car accident on the M40 on the way home. Got over that malarkey only to see us play like utter tripe for a few months and then went to see us play Millwall away and comfortably boss the game against a Championship side that nearly made the play offs and then beat them in the replay at home. Got to watch us take the lead against Spurs at home and then score a last minute equaliser when we were down and out. Watched us play at Wembley for only the second time in our history. Beat a very good Shrewsbury side at home 3-1 when a minute earlier we thought we were leaving with yet another victory snatched away in the last few minutes. Then finally finished the season off by running on the pitch and kissing the receding hairline of an incredibly sweaty Matt Done. Plenty of highs and plenty of lows but ultimately a season to remember!
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So, Season To Remember Or Season To Forget? on 11:06 - May 8 with 1699 views
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