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Reply | Should he stay or should he go?
at 08:52 17 May 2025
Have to agree TS that the smirk is irritating after defeats like last night, someone with a better grasp of psychology than me may be able to explain it. Reminds me of the Boris Johnson smirk when he lies.
This thread is academic - McNulty will absolutely be the manager next season, so we need to get used to that. Ultimately I'm in the camp of keeping him, I know it probably sounds somewhat entitled to outside observers but for all the reasons stated there is a nuance to this.
The relevant question is how do we measure whether he should stay after *next* season? I think the answer has to be that we need to see obvious improvement from this year - dropping far fewer points from winning positions, signing players that give us more steel and leadership, and a better points tally and/or league position. Far fewer truly awful performances too. The goal should be promotion next year - that means finishing first - no excuses. We're historically a football league club, we should be acting like it and get some arrogance about us like other teams do.
I can put up with the banal interviews if he meets those criteria. Even if he uses the word clout. |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Southend United (Playoffs)
at 07:35 16 May 2025
The entire ethos of the club is so ‘nice’ - epitomised by the saccharine social media output and the insipid, obsequious post match ‘interviews’. Sadly, being nice doesn’t win you anything.
Jim talks about overachievement - I think we were around par taking into account our average attendances and budget. Sorry, our respective ‘clout’.
Great to see Hilly there last night, before his regretful demise that man knew how to win - no fear. |
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Reply | Braintree Match Thread
at 16:25 5 May 2025
Not sure I agree with that 58. Has their keeper been made to make a save? |
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Reply | Braintree Match Thread
at 16:22 5 May 2025
As we know, we are capable of producing some real shockers, in amongst the good performances. So far, this is falling into the shocker category. Arguably more excusable given the rotations in team, but the lack of ability to create chances against teams where they sit back is a running theme. We play some pretty stuff but produce next to no shots on goal. Be interesting to hear the gaffer's thoughts on how he plans to remedy this. Thought the keeper should have been much braver for the first, and Kingdon clearly at fault for the second - that attempted flick was inexcusable. |
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Reply | Jay Bird
at 08:12 27 Apr 2025
Money talks though (Mullin). If they give him a great offer, if he has a good season again his value will skyrocket and the option of a bigger move is always there. If we sign him we should be pushing for top 2 in any case so his move to the EFL might only be a year delayed (who am I kidding with my blind optimism!).
Worth remembering that the board pushed the boat out to sign COG at the time (2009?) because they knew he was our best chance to get promotion. It worked wonders, became a Dale legend. This guy could do the same. |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Hartlepool United
at 08:08 27 Apr 2025
Took his second really well, confidently smashed it in - sign of a striker in great form. He's much more effective down the middle of the pitch. |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Hartlepool United
at 17:09 26 Apr 2025
That was a joy to watch. The game seemed to fly by. The entertainment we’ve been craving! Well done to the players and manager today, excellent performance. 2 points from our next two games will see us secure fourth. Who wouldn’t have taken that at the start of the campaign? More of the same please Jim and team!
Funnily enough I think we’re a better side than what we’ve shown for many games this season. That sai do think 3rd would have been the highest outcome possible if we’d not been off form on a few too many occasions. York and Barnet untouchable really.
If we play like this for the rest of the season and the playoffs. We’ve a chance. |
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Reply | Season Ticket Prices Frozen 25/26 season
at 08:10 24 Apr 2025
Several years ago I recall that the club instituted a sliding scale, whereby the number of season tickets sold impacted the price, and the more we sold, the lower the price. I believe Russ Green was the man in charge of this promotion but I may be wrong. I have a feeling we sold 3k+ tickets that season. It's a smart idea, because it encourages more sales while also protecting the budget.
Others may have better/more accurate recollections, but these are the sorts of creative solutions that in my view are required to attract increases in attendance. Otherwise the club is just selling the same product to the same people, at a lower price, taking into account inflation. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Altrincham v Rochdale
at 17:08 18 Apr 2025
Knew if I put a post whingeing about our second half we’d get a winner ;)
Great result, great first half. Second half we lost control, credit to Edwards that I felt we were weaker without him, he looks a great talent. Very glad to be out of there with a valuable 3 points! Would love to pinch fourth from Oldham.
Up the Dale |
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Reply | Refwatch - Altrincham v Rochdale
at 16:51 18 Apr 2025
Performance has fallen off the cliff since half time. Played well first half. Sadly the same story as we’ve seen several times this season.
Allarakhia should have been subbed off about 15 minutes earlier.
Mitchell must want away. He is completely ineffectual at challenging, it’s embarrassing tbh for someone his size and the fact he is a professional. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Woking v Rochdale
at 00:45 2 Apr 2025
I very roughly tallied up those points from games that fall into the "points dropped" category....I got to about 13/14. Net, including games we sneaked a point / win undeservedly, I think the figure is about 10 points dropped. I'm struggling to remember many games of the latter category - when we play poorly, we usually get hammered. Halifax at home I think was one example. There's probably a load of bias in my reading but I'd be interested to hear others' views.
Appreciate the old adage 'you end up where you deserve to be' - and I believe this still is true - the fact is we've proven a bit soft in some games we should have won or at least taken a point - something we may need to rectify to get out of this league.
I still think the point at Woking is a solid result - honestly I'd have taken it before KO. I didn't watch the game and it's understandably disappointing to concede late on in that fashion.
Edit: All that said, I've just started to watch the gaffer's post match interview and wish I hadn't bothered - I've got to 3 minutes in and we've got injuries, the pitch, referee, fatigue as excuses so far. Anyone else stomach the whole thing? [Post edited 2 Apr 0:50]
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Aldershot Town
at 09:31 30 Mar 2025
Great to watch that, excellent display to be honest, thought Gordon, Hendo, Rodney, Beckwith, Burger all excellent. Delighted we are putting ourselves in with a great shot at the playoffs, which shouldn't be taken for granted. Just look at other ex league clubs like Yeovil, Hartlepool, Dagenham etc who are struggling.
When the team clicks, it works wonders. I think East is a terrific player, capable of playing higher up the system, but actually today it seemed to work better without him.
Hendo should be offered a new contract if we are still in this Division next season, and arguably even if not. What a consummate pro, a genuine club legend.
There is something there with Rodney too. If he could get over his fitness issues he's a real handful.
I guess the inconsistency and the random games where we play walking football are part and parcel of why the players are National League and not Championship players. We (myself included) have to remind ourselves of that, as infuriating as it is and as infuriating as the manager's comments can be. Hopefully just not too regularly!
The roller coaster that is being a Dale fan.
Massive game Tuesday now - as others have mentioned, this should be seen as another chance to move towards finishing in the Playoffs. The goal should be to finish fourth in my opinion, highest achievable spot and would be beneficial for obvious reasons. I didn't see anything in Oldham that suggested we should finish below them.
Up the Dale |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v York City
at 04:03 27 Mar 2025
I think the reason why we see such polarized, confusing and seemingly 'knee jerk' reactions after every result is ultimately down to the manager, who in the modern game, takes responsibility for the performance of his teams.
Have we improved on last season -- yes I believe so, the points on the board suggest this. We have a stronger squad too in my opinion, the manager is entitled to take credit for this. Some performances have been excellent. The Jay Bird signing was a coup and it was great to see an upturn in performances and results recently.
However, in my view, there are some fundamental flaws within the squad which have led to the infuriating inconsistency and some utterly unacceptable performances. And I mean not just in terms of results - we as Dale fans are battled hardened regarding the inconsistency of results. It is the perceived inconsistency of leadership, effort and effectiveness which are most concerning. When one adds to that mix a catalogue of excuses to post match interviews, together with a not-so-subtle sniping at the fans after an abysmal 4-0 defeat, and you are asking for trouble. Memories of Hilly's regretful decline are not fully faded from memory yet.
The correct way to deal with the post match interview after Tuesday would have been to address the fans directly. Confirm it was not good enough, that we have the players to make the play offs and that improved performance will be demanded. What he says to the players in private is a different matter - he can molly coddle them if he wishes. But I think he got his post match 180 degrees wrong, implying a private hairdryer and a public presentation of excuses first. The interview was an absolute car crash for several other reasons - for example, claiming that it was the third goal that meant we lost - against a friendly interviewer, God forbid he actually faced probing questions, I think the man would fall apart! |
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Thread | DAZN
at 12:33 15 Mar 2025
Anyone else's feed abysmal? Just a grey screen predominantly? |
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Thread | Post-match interviews
at 03:34 26 Feb 2025
The questions posed to the manager in the post match interviews by this Greg chap are abysmal. He asks boring, leading questions that he often effectively answers himself e.g. 'How good was it that we did X' or 'isn't great to have so many attacking players' etc.
I don't want to make it a personal attack on Greg, and I do wonder whether he is told to ask these type of questions, but surely the majority of fans would want to hear is something much more objective, open and challenging. |
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Reply | The race for seventh, midweek 18th/19th Feb
at 09:52 19 Feb 2025
If the Ogdens have put in a top 7 budget, they would be entitled to expect a top 7 finish.
It would be wrong to judge a final league position by how the team performed up to, say, January. You end up where you deserve to - accordingly, finishing 8th, 9th or 10th should be regarded as a failure. Even if the team only misses the playoffs by a few points.
Whether it is enough of a failure to sack the manager is a different matter. They may choose to give him one more season, but then the pressure really is on - because there is more ground to make up to be a top play off contender (York, Barnet) if we finish 8th/9th/10th this season.
I would imagine the 3 year plan was Year 1: any playoff position (but lose out), Year 2: upper playoffs (compete for promotion in playoffs), Year 3: Serious title contenders, being promoted automatically or via the playoffs.
Needless to say, we are some way off this at the moment. |
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Thread | NFR: Market research questionnaire
at 13:27 13 Jan 2025
Hi all
Non football related - perhaps appropriate given there doesn't seem to have been much football related activity going on recently!
I'm working on a project (start up business) that is exploring solutions to help improve the process of buying and selling homes in the UK, and to help bring the costs down for people.
We have put together a short survey (takes around 5/10 mins to complete) to help us with our work below:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/6QXIS8/
If you have time to feed back I'd very much appreciate it! Respondents who would like to enter a prize draw can do so at the end of the survey - the winner will get £25 Amazon vouchers.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Up the Dale
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