 | Forum
Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v Boston United
at 10:15 19 Mar 2025
Defending to me is as much about communication as anything else. Teams with good defences try to stick with the same player in positions, so they can buildup and understanding. Players get to know the strengths and weaknesses of their colleagues and compensate and play to those strengths. With solidity comes confidence, and players thrive on it - allowing them to be better ball players. You can get away with more when your on your game, you know your mate will cover you. Putting EEL back in drove a coach and horses through that.
I wouldn’t mind the overplaying at the back, it can draw the opposition and create space. But it has to be high tempo, ideally one touch passing, the moment you introduce a player who is slower on the ball EEL or, give the ball to a player facing their own goal, there have to be more touches or a risky lay off - Gilmour last night. If you don’t have the players, don’t try it.
The other frustration for me is how we take more risk at the back than we do in the final third. The phrase is recycling the ball, which actually means stopping going forward and run away from the opposition. It’s not a positive. Dale players don’t seem to be encouraged to attack space, they are attracted to the ball. It’s a shame because we have Hendo in the squad, who even at 40 seems to have more space on the ball than Mitchell.
And finally, shooting. We don’t seem to have players, except for Bird, with a shot on them, it’s all placement, with no power.
This is a poor league, Barnet aside, with better coaching, selection and recruitment we could be so much better placed. [Post edited 19 Mar 14:25]
|
| Forum
Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v Boston United
at 21:45 18 Mar 2025
Agree - with the possession style tempo is key. EEL needs more time on the ball, and if the opposition press on, it’s a real weakness.
No doubt McNulty will say he needed to make changes to keep it fresh.
Still other results went for us, still seventh with two games in hand, need to show some character on Sat and win at Maidenhead. |
| Forum
Reply | Oldham Match Thread
at 14:27 15 Mar 2025
Finished 1-1 - a good game not to lose. But with a bit more sharpness up front and we’d have won that comfortably. Defence did not do much wrong and it shows the progress we’ve made being slightly disappointed not to have got the three points.
Special mention to the comic book outfit on commentary, one eyed bias, zero research on Dale and apparently the referee was a pecan? [Post edited 15 Mar 14:35]
|
| Forum
Reply | Oldham Match Thread
at 14:08 15 Mar 2025
They seem to have a theory that time moves more quickly at 12:30 than it does at 3:00. |
| Forum
Reply | Oldham Match Thread
at 12:46 15 Mar 2025
For £14.99 DAZN do need to up their game and have impartial commentary. A little bit of pre match build up wouldn’t go amiss as well. |
| Forum
Reply | Oldham Match Thread
at 12:33 15 Mar 2025
The DAZN summariser bloke is absolutely hilarious. Described us as a comic book outfit last year.
Picture is breaking up though…. |
| Forum
Thread | Oldham Match Thread
at 11:44 15 Mar 2025
Mitchell, Bird, Barlow and Burger all starting. |
| Forum
Reply | Time to go Jim. The turning point
at 07:41 12 Mar 2025
Jim, the players and directors got some brutal fan feedback at the final whistle at the Barnet game. The thoughts of some of those providing the verbal feedback, prompted by Jim applauding the sandy after the game, led to this thread and the views articulated by many. Maybe the response led to a change of plan from Jim, maybe the improved form was going to happen anyway, maybe the fan reaction gave rise to a discussion between Jim and the board, leading to the signing of Bird. Our upturn in form is remarkable and I hope it continues. Seems in adversity the team and squad has gelled and we now seem to be a team that can defend and score goals. I hope it continues. But for me, it will need to continue for some time for me to regain belief in McNulty - such has been the boring dross that I’ve often witnessed under his tenure.
I know the club does read this messageboard because I hear staff referring to it and responding to points made on here; the club issue statements reactively following criticism of poor communication. It’s right the club, and any business monitors social media, filtering is required, but it’s a valuable source of customer feedback. Things get better because people call things out. In my view and the view of others expressed on this messageboard the Trust is a busted flush and in the absence of a formal club customer feedback process, this messageboard, twitter etc are used for people to express their views, freely. Fans have different perspectives, I'm an exiled fan, only able to attend games monthly. My perspective is influenced by what I experience as a customer of the club, and having traveled 460 mile round trips - twice, for games that were late postponed, not everyone will feel like I do. When the other time is the Barnet game, you get an idea of the source of some of my personal frustration. What I see as a problem, someone else might see as fine - that’s life. My starting position though is that I’m frustrated that that we lost our league status, our little old Rochdale punching above our weight, but we balance the books - has gone. Partly yes, because the economics of the game have changed, but in our case also because of mismanagement, in the first instance malevolent; and in my view in the second instance incompetence. I still believe that as a club with a ground a capable of holding 10,000 people, 70% empty - in a town our size - that putting ANY obstacle in the way of filling a seat is a missed opportunity. I’ve lost count of the number times I’ve wanted a pie, a programme, a ticket, a shirt, a hat - been turned away - cash back in my pocket.
It’s taken time, but the new ownership seem to be turning the supertanker and a lot of what has been called out on here has started to be addressed, and I’ve welcomed those changes. Hopefully the existential issues are behind us, but that doesn’t mean views on smaller things aren’t required. In my view as a club, and as a fan base - we should never shy away from wanting to be better. [Post edited 12 Mar 7:58]
|
| Forum
Reply | TAMWORTH
at 21:45 25 Feb 2025
Deserved it? Whether we did or didn’t, we need to respect it. |
| | Rodingdale
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 265 | | Comment Votes: | 0 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 265 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.