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Reply | Andy Holt - Accrington
at 20:35 29 Apr 2025
Pathetic that it got to this stage really, immovable object meets irresistable force...
Holt has a point , the Accrington Council like many others does not seem to appreciate the value of its football club, without which the Town would only be famous for its WW1 "Pals Battalion" and the play associated with it. . Equally its clear that Holt would never make a politician, its either his way or the highway it seems. A bit of humility and a hint of help and support would have gone a long way, but alas not to be, I wish them well, I remember reading the Daily Mail in 1962 when they folded after Rochdale had beaten them at their place, it never occured to me that Rochdale AFC might find itself on the brink of a similar experience. I hope local Councillors appreciate the ciommunity asset that is RAFC...... but I have some reservations....
https://www.pals.org.uk/pals_e.htm |
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Reply | 25/26 Squad
at 11:34 28 Apr 2025
I suspect there will be a monumental clear-out at OT over the summer, there may be a number of younger players looking for clubs , especially the local lads. Bearing in mind that the Ogdens know Jim Ratcliffe, you would hope they have " had a word"....
Equally if Hendo isnt going to play next season, his salary might be enough to attract Bird or a similar player. Equally, after a dodgy couple of games back from injury EEL improved sufficiently to be a decent addition next season, but will Hogan want to play secong fiddle, and what of Ferguson who at 25 really needs to be starting games?Edwards has been a revalation coming into the team as though he had been playing for years. The basis of an excellent squad is there but we do need a poacher and a target man like Bird, if not Bird. Or....... imagine pairing him with Linney......that would pull in the crowds.... |
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Reply | Time to go Jim. The turning point
at 15:50 27 Apr 2025
Hopefully this season has been good enough to keep the Ogdens enthused especially now thst they are using the club as a fulcrum for their other activities in the Borough.
Ultimately the main criticism, the lack of goals and excitement seems to have been addressed, the emergencemof Edwards adds encoursgement that we can bring some youths through without Academy status, hopefully there will be linkages between the new Dale Futures organisation and footballing ambitions.
The frustration has been "the system" adopted which has been too rigid and timid at times particularly against weaker teams in the lower reaches of the division, but success breeds success and we have at least set foot on the ladder to better times and the changes within the management of the club indicate a generally more professional set up.
These things do not happen overnight if the growth is to be organic rather than simply throwing cash at a "project". But the signs are undoubtedly pointing in the right direction perhaps this is "the end of the beginning" and the start of something we can be proud of....Who knows, perhaps " little Rochdale" will become a thing of the past, I sincerely hope so.... |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Hartlepool United
at 15:30 27 Apr 2025
Rodney is an enigma, his poor touch led to 'Pools goal, he seems to want to collect the ball with his back to the goal he is attacking and seems to not have quite the skill needed to complete the turn, but put him in front of goal with an opportunity to shoot and he is dynamite. The trick is to get him into those shooting positions and get him taking the ball on the half turn, he has the power and low centre of gravity to see off most defenders coming at him from behind. He may not be the 100% player who is committed for 90 mins but then neither were lots of othe decent goal scorers. He has the happy knack of putting the ball in the net, alongside someone like Bird the pairing could be devastating in this or the division above, but expecting him to suddenly become some sort of midfield fetcher and carrier is unrealistic. |
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Reply | Gallipoli Day ..
at 15:50 25 Apr 2025
Yep, I was doing 2 things at once....still its the thought thst counts... |
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Reply | Dale futures
at 13:26 24 Apr 2025
Alternative provision can be very expensive for schools. It will be fascinating to watch this develop, we know that SPO was distinctly unamused when the Council ripped down the Boys Grammar School at Balderstone, particularly having put £1000s into new computers there. The need locally is certainly there and the connections with schools that it will generate will be invaluable to Project 5000.. |
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Reply | Season Ticket Prices Frozen 25/26 season
at 16:44 23 Apr 2025
There have been a series of notable personnel changes behind the scenes , bringing in much wider football experience and with them new ideas and more contacts. The new ticketing system is much more powerful and nimble in its ability to segment the market and adjust pricing. Assuming they now have or will have a CRM system that talks to it, the marketing possibilities expand greatly, but then there is no actual maketing position appointment at the moment....
Holding the current prices does at least prevent people from using a price increase as an excuse not to buy again for next season... overall, income from tickets is unlikely to make or break the club especially if the rumoured improvements to the main stand make the stadium a better venue for other events that generate income 365 days a year.
Its hard work turning around what was a failing business in a town thst suffers from low income levels and general indifference to its Professional football team. Doing a Stockport or Wrexham in Rochdale is much more difficult and will require time and persistent overperformance. If this were our first season it would be classed as a good start, in some ways it is (a first season) ....but there is much more still to come. |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v AFC Fylde
at 10:43 23 Apr 2025
" you have to score a shed full of goals"... Well said, we have failed to score in 30% of our games... had we scored 1 more goal in each of our games against the top 4 and the bottom 4 we would have accumulated an extra 19 points.. we haven't scored a single home goal against the top 4...You have to assume that you will concede at least once in every game, making goal scoring the priority and yet we came into the season short of forwards and overloaded with midfielders...we make loads of presentable chances but dont finish enough of them and pumping corners into the penalty area is simply giving the ball back to the opposition when there is no one to attack the ball successfully... |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v AFC Fylde
at 21:34 21 Apr 2025
Starting with the disinterested Mitchell was a big mistake, Rodney started to wander around the pitch as though sulking after scoring 2 at Alty and not being picked to play centre forward. Henderson ran with his usual intelligence and timing , but no one could find a pass to him, frustrating to watch, crass from the managerial stance.
This is a wasted season for the lack of a competent target man and a winger with a trick or two to feed him. Many have been called but none have been reliably successful. The manager will claim that the Bird injury has cost us points but his arrival was months too late and he recognised the need too late, he should try listening to the regular supporters who saw the problem from the first game of the season, indeed in pre-season. Its a simple equation, the lower the league, the more the ball is pumped into the air, consequently the more you need a forward with aerial ability....
Today was an opportunity, with a bigger than perhaps expected home following, but we fell for the old, "10 men behind the ball" routine, exactly the circumstances in which a tricky winger might have opened the door, or a decent target man might have converted from one of the shed-load of corners. Alas, they are not in the managers toolbox and he persevered too long with overhit crosses aimed at a target man who is no such thing, having no options to call on.
I thought Ferguson had a decent game at the centre of a competent defensive display and Edwards impressed with another neat and tidy game , but crowds want to see goals and we failed miserably on that front with Gilmour forcing the only real save of note from their keeper...the system simply doesn't work as an entertainment and its the only one we have.. as I said, frustrating...another game where a single goal would have had huge benefits.... |
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Reply | Quick comment!
at 11:04 13 Apr 2025
We haven't had a season average crowd of over 4000 since 1971-72 and the last time it was over 5000 was 1957-58!
In those days there were only 2 tv channels and no televised football until 1964, most people didnt own a car and shopped at their local grocers and green grocers..The world has changed significantly and shopping and entertainment habits have also changed.
Is a season ticket too much of a commitment?
Could we attract different supporters on Tuesdays than Saturdays and vice versa?
Man Utd have just imposed a 70% increase on some of their supporters STs , is this an opportunity for us?
Are we mining for new supporters in areas like Ramsbottoml, Shaw, Whitworth, Edenfield, Todmorden, etc? Could pricing be geographically targeted?
What about sales to businesses as employee incentives?
How about giving tickets to estate agents as freebies for people who move into the area?
We have been over a lot of this stuff countless times but I am not convinced there has ever been a consistent campaign devised that delivered long term attendances
Its simply not enough to chuck a free ticket at someone occasionally, there has to be
engagement at the game, follow up, another offer, and keep doing it. Its persistence that wins in the end...
But we do also need a team that entertains, scores goals, has character and a will to win. No one went to the Colosseum to see play-fights and artificial blood and guts..Being top of the fair play league does not attract new or old customers.. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Sutton United v Rochdale
at 12:32 9 Apr 2025
Which means the 3 other teams will be desperate to break their run of poor form and we will continue to pass the ball neatly, score 1 or 0 goals and fall to either a late winner or a late equaliser... more points lost, and our place in the playoffs taken up by Alty or Southend... |
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Reply | Refwatch - Sutton United v Rochdale
at 23:32 8 Apr 2025
All water under the bridge mate, whatever we were doing well then has been pished into the wind by a combination of covid, conmen and comedy managers. McNulty has dealt himself a bad hand, his signings have been too defensive and too brittle. Weak hamstrings weak attitudes and weak leadership. The talent is there but needs someone to lead it and make it play by any means at his disposal but I see no sign of it...His post match interview face on Saturday was a picture of a man in trouble, mentally drained, unsure of what had gone wrong, incapable of explaining what had just happened.
I expected tonight's result. No doubt there has been an inquest, but I very much doubt the team came out of it wanting to tear Sutton apart.. 18 points to play for now, 6 goals would have won us 6 drawn away games.. 12 points more and we would be well in the playoffs that we are hanging on to coat tails is because he didnt have the belief to go out and win....and we are not going to Wembly for the same reason, |
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Reply | Refwatch - Sutton United v Rochdale
at 22:32 8 Apr 2025
On the bright side, it has brought the run of away draws to a juddering halt...another game ticked off where the inability to complete the basic action of the game .. score a goal , preferably 2, has cost more points... this season is dying on its knees, once again the overwhelming sense is of waste....wasted effort, wasted opportunity, wasted money... the old story of the ages doing another lap around the block. Nothing changes because nothing changes, cheap options, inexplicable decisions..
Turning this club around is a mammoth undertaking... surely we have now reached peak ridiculousness... its time to break all the moulds, shatter the belief structures and build a new club in every sense. History is bunk, and in our case amounts to a century or more of missed chances and opportunities, a winning mentality seems like an unwelcome attitude, this is little Rochdale and everyone thinks they can beat us....including the manager and his players.... |
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Reply | Big Game on Tuesday
at 14:49 6 Apr 2025
He has few options from me it would be 442 with a midfield diamond
Barrett
Gordon. EEL. Hogan. Beckwith
Kingdon
Barlow. Buyabu
Gilmour
Henderson Mitchell
Subs
Kelly, Rodney, Weston, Ayinde, Armstrong, Edwards. Plus anyone else who is available |
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Reply | FA Trophy semi
at 12:03 6 Apr 2025
Wind blows, rain falls, its the same for both teams.. The issue is, you either accept it and play on or worry about it and let it affect how you play. I think we have a set-up that worries too much, overthinks situations and fills heads with problems that don't exist. I have no idea how a situation can arise where a fit body, albeit a young player isn't a better bet than a player on one leg who is expected to take a penalty... Or how a player like Kingdon has to sit that game out on the bench rather than changing the system... And if Kelly isnt rated as capable of taking over between the sticks, why is he still here? And why are we so injury prone? Something isnt right and there are too many somethings that point to the management of the squad, or lack thereof....
Go through the squad list, there are at least 10 serious lengthy injuries, its not normal....and so many hamstrings.. why? |
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Reply | FA Trophy semi
at 21:10 5 Apr 2025
We should have been home and hosed by half time, Allarakhia could have been replaced and a debacle avoided, that we were not is down to Head Coach who once again overthought the problem he faced and instead of going toe to toe, decided to try and be clever and try to wear the part- timers down.. All the time we were passing across the back, they were jogging left and right across midfield. Once again there was no pace or width. Mr professional intellectual football manager got it wrong again and Spennymoor grew in confidence, their goalkeeper completely untroubled for the first 45 minutes. If they were playing for penalties JM was only too happy to help.... what was he thinking, ? Score and early goal and they were there for the taking but no, sideways, back, sideways, back again. Henderson was making run after run, no one cared enough to try to pass to him, Allarakhia was playing on one leg, JM seemed to think that was OK. Rodney decided this was a good day to forget how to trap a ball and Beckwith had possibly his worst half of the season....where was the management? Where was the attitude? This is our house our party!
I think JM has done his best, but we need a Manager, a Leader, not a Head Coach and today was all the evidence needed. The fear was palpable, the cost of the defeat is incalculable. And it simply didnt have to be this way.... This is Professional Sport there are winners and the rest, I am sick of making up numbers....This team should have been comfortable Winners today, the buck stops with the Head Coach. His target outcome is now simple,....get promoted....... |
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Reply | FA Trophy semi
at 18:41 5 Apr 2025
So depressing, so predictable, so unneccessary. No in- game management, a right winger who was obviously unfit from the kick off to the extent that the team wouldn't pass to him but then allowed him to take a sloppy penalty...2-1 up and still playing with 10 effective men, took Henderson off and gave their entire defence a rest when he could have brought on another defender ( EEL) and put Hendo further out on the right.
This club will go nowhere until we get a manager who actually manages. Today has probably cost dozens of ST renewals, and failed to convert 100s of young kids and their parent into supporters... a probable net reduction in future income.
But hey, they clap the moron who chucked the bottles at their keeper and his moron mates at the end , so thats OK then...
These players needed a professional in charge today not someone who treats them like small children |
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Reply | Refwatch - Woking v Rochdale
at 11:26 2 Apr 2025
23 games , half the season where we have scored 1 goal or 0...(11 X 0, 12 X 1) 23 more goals would have seen us nearly 30 points better off. This team makes plenty of chances but simply does not convert enough of them. We have only lost 4 games by 2 goals or more....we have averaged 1 goal a game conceded all season, although that has increased to 1.3 over the last 8 games thanks to getting battered twice at home. |
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