well last year - but that was an exception: a relatively settled squad who went forward on the euphoria of promotion...
but usually we start poorly. Always felt the reason for that was that we don't have the luxury of signing players in June, but the doors are still revolving as the season kicks off and the team still getting to know each other. We've made a lot of progress in terms of our image and attracting players but - let's be realistic - we still struggle to compete on wages (which is why Perkins has rejoined Hill at Barnsley, but not at Dale).
Imagine Keith Hill had lost Craig Dawson and Chris O'Grady before the season had barely started... and Scott Wiseman... are there any of the vitriolic posters who think that wouldn't have made a difference? That it wouldn't have taken a couple of months to reshape the side and get in decent replacements? That we wouldn't have lost games? Struggled? Of course we would.
Obviously when we haven't won a league game, it makes us nervous, and we've not had to look down for a long time now. But some of posts on here after 5 games are astonishing. We've have a couple of decent cup games and played well at times in the league - it hasn't quite come together yet. I thought it was only Barnsley supporters that slagged off their manager after a handful of games.
Even if Hillcroft were here, even if Dawson and COG were here, this would still be a much more difficult season than last. If we're really honest we blew it at the end of last season: there were signs then, even with the team intact, that changes would need to be made this season or we would fall back.
And with the heart ripped out of the team, how is the new manager supposed to change that overnight? Hillcroft knew everything about their players because they'd worked with them for a long time: they were a family: it will take time for the new managerial team to do the same. You don't become family overnight. When Hillcroft got replacements, they gradually moulded them into a 'Team Rochdale' player. It didn't happen overnight. Some of the players they brought in - Shaw, Elding - failed. That's life. Others went on to make history.
Just because we've had a few years of the good times, let's not forget how we pulled together to get here in the first place. It was pretty bad, not long ago. |  |
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