Rochdale home thread
 

Massive game, looking forward to it although I imagine My heart will be racing for 2 hours and nerves jangling!
I want to issue a rallying call to back the team for the full 90 + minutes. Sing and make noise to rally the troops. Look what happened in the Watford v wolves game. 2 goals down and 11 minutes to go.
None of this booing at half time like a very small minority did at Sunderland game. If you don't want to sing and support get out of the middle of the Clayton end and let us suck the ball in!

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Anyone that would go and boo a team they supposedly support is Pathetic in my view.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Both this and Walsall are games which we must not lose!

Wins in both would be great, but not losing is most important :)

:) :) :)

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

The lads are gonna need nerves of steel, & so are we! Long time since I've been as stressed as on Saturday afternoon, watching the table change as scores in the other games were coming in, had the radio on, sky sports news & Stanley's Twitter feed - left me exhausted but the relief at 5 o'clock was worth it!
Not that the relief will last long, no doubt the next two games will be just as stressful, got everything crossed that we'll all be feeling a bit more relaxed by the end of this week :eek:

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

i'm 90% certain we will get 6 pts from these 2 games.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Whatever you’re drinking, Cashy, make mine a double!;)

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Ive been saying these 2 games for a few weeks now exile, if we got summat at the wombles, I'm supping tea actually.:) and i dont think they do 2 pint pots.:D

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Rochdale will be a very tough game, They are desperate and finding a bit of form. A very dangerous combination. We need to start and finish with the same intent as we did against Fleetwood second half. The team needs to know we are with them all the way. Anybody who boo's should be given short shrift from those around them.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

totally agree. even though the first half against sunderland was a waste of 45 minutes of my life to boo players will not improve their performance one little bit. never understood it even as a kid when like all of us we,ve seen dire performances for one reason or another.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

8 hours until our warriors take to the stage!

C'mon lads. Absolutely buzzing for this one.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Got major collywobbles already - feel like I'm waiting to see the dentist!

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Stop being a wimp Di we will stuff em.:D

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Injury time. , come on accy!

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

So much for a 'must win' game.
When we can't beat a team sitting 3rd from bottom at home, perhaps we don't deserve to be in League 1

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Let’s wait for the match reports from those fans in attendance before we pass any judgement

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

At this stage of the season, the final score is the ONLY judgement that matters.:mad:

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Sadly NO Goals = NO Points.... Again !!.... 😣

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Don't talk rubbish - our lads did nowt wrong tonight, except maybe panic a bit after Dale got their goal which incidentally was totally against the run of play.
Totally gutted for the lads tonight, they honestly didn't deserve to be beaten

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Did nowt wrong? Talking rubbish?
Perhaps those talking rubbish were those who predicted an easy 3 points against relegation candidates.
Whether we did or didn't deserve to lose the game is irrelevant.
We lost at home - AGAIN!

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Plenty of heart, and fight, and desire, but once again we've failed to test the keeper. A dominant 1st half yielded nowt, followed by a goal from nowhere for the ex-Lancs. Familiar pattern to tonights game.

Armstrong was immense in the 1st half and i thought Conneely had his best game in a very long time

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Lord is not talking rubbish we have just been beaten by far and away the worst team I have seen in league one this season, Rochdale where absolutely awful, yet we decide to play 5 at the back again with wing backs which forgive me if I’m wrong but we are yet to win a game with this formation yet keep going back to it, it doesn’t work. The two teams looked league 2 at best. And then the personnel, how can anybody call a game the biggest of their life and then leave out arguably 3 of our best players,Callum,Sam and Paul. All three should of been started with Sam in midfield Paul upfront chasing down and pressing there really shaky defenders and the game was screaming out for johnson down the right with Clark. Please back to basics 4-4-2 with the three mentioned above in, Saturdays now do or die, Clayton End do your thing.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

It was never going to be an easy game & the fight our lads showed tonight was far from irrelevant, Jordan rightly got motm but everyone played their part & did it well. Obviously the result was absolutely gutting - still can't reckon up how we didn't score with all the pressure we piled on their goalmouth.
And if we're gutted, you can bet the lads are feeling it twice as much - it's up to Coley to lift them up for Saturday & for them to fight that bit harder against Walsall. We can avoid the drop - keep the faith

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

First half we where the better side. Lots of pressure on the dale goal. We showed buckets of desire. Only criticism was we didn't test their keeper enough or take are chances. From the Clayton end we could easily have had an early penalty for hand ball. This ultimately cost us in the second half when the game was a tighter affair. Even then the goal seemed against the run of play. We went too direct second half particularly after they scored. Nothing dropped for us in there area via this route. As already mentioned Armstrong was a handful upfront. He and Billy worked well together. Seamus controlled the midfield well. The lads all put in a good shift to be fair.
At least the issue is still in our hands but it's becoming hard to see where these 2 wins are going to come from within the remains of the season. Anyhow Saturday is still a big chance for one of them.

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

You're spot on Lord Stiff, I think we are going down I'm sorry to say - I just got in from the game, yes we didn't play that badly BUT we didn't score and Rochdale did therefore they deserved the win.

Several players going to bed tonight safe in the knowledge they will play another game come Saturday... Messers Hughes, Donacien, Sean Mc and to a lesser extent young Ross the golden boy... come rain or shine certain players guaranteed to be on the team sheet...

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Sam and Paul came on and didn't shine at all to me Paul hadn't much service Sam did nothing but give the ball away and sky the rest team played very well first half a lot better shape to it ok they were poor but story of the season couldn't score second half seemed to lose our shape a bit they scored against the run of play and we seemed to sadly run out of ideas on how to break them down pity the ref didn't give the stonewall penalty after 3 minutes bottled it for me if given and converted we would have gone on to win no doubt.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Also I thought Seamus did a dirty job well tonight happy to say well done

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

3 points at home against a badly off form Walsall and we are more than likely to stay up. Lose and we are still likely to stay up, would have settled for this last May.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Hopefully Chewey.... 3 points on Saturday is vital, you think we will get enough points if we lose on Saturday to stay up?!

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Agreed, my comment about Sam was to replace Scotty not Seamus. Smyth got little to no service and leaving Johnson out again I really can’t get my head around at all.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Think the booing was aimed at the liner as he was checking the net before the restart, the lad next to me joined in with the booing and I told him not to as the players may think you are booing them as some supporters have done.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Haven't posted on here in a very long time, but I feel after the past few months of poor performances, it has reached boiling point with me. Firstly our style of play has been less than stellar for far too long. We play too direct, too often. This has caused our playing style to become too predictable, with long balls constantly played to Billy Kee. More often than not the end result being the ball ending up with the opposition and us having to defend. Stanley play far better; when playing a shorter, quicker style. Which garnered us impressive results against higher quality teams such as Sunderland and Charlton. Secondly the selection of the team has been puzzling at times. Players such as Seamus Coneeley, who plays in a vital role in CDM, it is his duty to control the game, however his distribution at many times has been abysmal. His touches also failing to deliver. Another player who has really underperformed for a while is Sean McConville. It seems for awhile now that Sean seems adverse to going down the byline when attacking, plus he also seems allergic to going in to tackle for the ball. Sean's free kick's have too been very poor for too long. While some shots may be on target, they lack any real power and velocity behind them, therefore even if his shots are on target, they fail to trouble the keeper. Imo Barlaser would be a far more suitable option, based on his shot power and velocity. Which would cause the keeper problems.

Another serious issue i've noticed is the lack of plan b from Coleman. His decision of making subs is baffling, as many times Coley has failed to bring on players at critical points in the game. More often than not subbing far too late, or not subbing the correct players, or even not subbing at all. The consequence of this has lead to defeats. The other problem from this, is Coleman not giving certain players enough of a chance. For example Erico Souza, imo the best player in the 0-3 defeat to Sunderland. Souza's agility was impressive, his pace troubling their sturdy defence, which was unopposed in the first half. Next two games, Souza is not used at all, despite a positive performance. Other players such as Liam Nolan seem to get no opportunity at all, especially when similar players to him underperform. Furthermore Coleman ALWAYS picks his team around his favourites (Sean, Billy, Seamus etc), another reason why certain players can't get game time and progress.

This defeat is certainly a cruel blow, one which could have so easily been avoided. With saturday now the biggest game of the season so far against fellow strugglers Walsall. Even more important based on a harsh last few games against many top six teams. I feel even if we are relegated, the squads needs a re-shuffle and there needs to be some big decisions regarding the current managerial team. Apologies if this seems like a rant, but obviously as fan all I want is for Stanley to succeed and progress even further. With the way our form has been, it will end up the opposite, IF these issues I mentioned don't change. All in all I hope we can maintain our League 1 status for the foreseeable future and move on to greater things.

Regards Tom

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

You feeling ok ?
I’m worried about you.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

On a serious note gutted for the lads tonight thought they deserved something from the game.
I remain confident - 6 points Walsall and Plymouth and we’re over the line.
Then the hard work starts ..... who to keep who to let go who to recruit.
Don’t book any holidays Coley.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I have to say we didn't deserve anything from the game. Our passing was abysmal. Our communication was non existent, We got under each others feet too often. some players played well in small bursts. Rochdale were worse than us and we should have gone in at least 2-0 up at half time but very poor refereeing let the game down badly. But we played the same old game. Billy had no service as such and the midfield were poor. The ball was given away far too easily. Like others on here I was puzzled at the team selection. we did a lot of running after fresh air, when we did spread the game and moved the ball forward we were a threat but the strikers did not put the ball in the net. There is a lot to talk about and this is just a scant brief of the game. I have not placed the blame on any individual player as some were better than others tonight. I only hope Coley calls the team selection better on Saturday. We are still in with a good chance of staying up but we need the will to do it.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

How about that dam ref then??? :)

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Gezzzz I hate us losing. You guy/gals get to go to bed but I have to suffer all day at work. Woe is me.... I Hate you STANLEY...but I LOVE you too...

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Seamus played very well first half no doubt, reckon he must apologized for it, as his second half was shocking. Too much ball up in the air, also the short passing was diabolical

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Yet another bumbling inept fool Kiwi - in other words, standard :rolleyes:

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

shoulda had a definte penalty in opening few mins handball everyone saw it apart from the knobs officiating.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

From where I sit in the main stand the ref missed some blatant handballs and fouls. The linesman was terrible, Not once did he help the referee. In the melee at the dugout The ref should have red carded the player who left the field and attacked a stanley coach but he bottled that as well.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Answer no - but we will still be odds against going down even if we lose, with 5 or 6 teams below us I would imagine. Maybe 2/1 or 6/4.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

too far away to judge if it was a penalty or not but very close to the incident where one of their players pushed one of our coaches over in a violent manner and only got a caution. for me a red card all day. on to the rest of the game we never looked like scoring apart from the chance clark{without the e** missed in the first half. this was against a side who have conceded most in the division. too many lads off form at the moment and whatever coley does try it aint coming off. last night was a big game, saturdays will be massive but looking at the last couple of home games its hard to see where a goal is coming from to enable us to get the 3 points we should have got last night.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Equanimity personified !!.😎

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

On the goal shocking defending once again Hughes.Dom.sean mc failed to deal with the cross. Or well 3 of the golden boys who no will be starting on Sat God help us.not good enough

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Hi Tom !!

Drop me a pm when the sequel is ready for publication !.

Regards to both of you !,

A.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

"Stop the cross", "win the header", "get tight and don't let him turn". It's not John Motson or David Coleman, but that's the commentary that was going thru my head in the lead up to the goal.

3 opportunities to prevent it, one of the worst i've seen us concede this year (and there have been many to choose from). We can all say Rochdale are this and that, but they've beaten us twice this year, what does that tell us re our game management.

Looking at other clubs fixtures this morning, they all seem to be playing each other. Not sure if that's a good thing in that a win for one is a loss for the other, or a draw is a small progression for both.

Will Walsall have a "new manager" bounce, let's hope not.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Your right there Lord love Rocket, Harsh to blame Hughes but that’s 3 goals in three games Donacien(Don**) been at fault and he’s not even our player anymore.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

It's an accepted fact that over a game lasting 90 minutes, the best team usually wins.
Perhaps last night was the exception that proved the rule but, deserved or not, we were beaten by a team tipped for relegation.
In any event, resorting to 'lady luck' deserting you as an excuse for defeat is a lame excuse.
Multiply those 90 minutes over a 45+ game season & you end up where you deserve to be. Time for a reality check.
Had we been able to keep our League 2 Champions team intact, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
As it is, we lost too many of the gems we polished last season & with them, the winning momentum that team possessed.
The mixed bag of replacements, mainly loanees & free agents have proved largely ineffective at League 1 level.
Likewise the general standard of coaching & organisation of teams in L1 is at another level compared to L2.
When I questioned our right to be in L1 after our defeat by Rochdale last night, it was with a heavy heart because, like everyone on here, I love Stanley.
However, I can only say this. The present team would be lucky to reach mid-table obscurity in L2 based on current form.
I hope & pray we can survive this season.
If we do, lets hope the board & management wake up to some hard realities about what's needed to survive at this level

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I can't disagree with your summing up of the season, although it doesn't explain why we did so well in getting points prior to Christmas?

As for your last comment about the board and management, as Andy has said on numerous occasions since buying the club. He has no intention of using the family silver to bolster the playing budget. He see's his roll as owner of Accrington as creating a sustainable community club with reasonable fan facilities. Therefore, whether we can survive in League 1 is not something that he see's as important, only that we survive as a club. If you expect an injection of cash and the arrival of better players next season you will I am afraid to say be disappointed......

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I would imagine cos by christmas teams had sussed out the way we play? thats when yeh would expect a "PLAN.B" but i sure aint seen it yet,:rolleyes: that could easily cause us to drop, not rocket science.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I'm always in a state of psychological stability.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Whilst I get it I don't understand it.
Where has the stand money come from ? The sale of two players.
Zero investment in playing staff = no funds from sale of players.
No funds from sale of players = no money to make the facilities better or even confirm survival.
Chicken or the egg ?
How on earth does the club expect to attract new fans when the message is we don't care if we go down ?

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Re 28's last point, do we know if our average attendance has improved on league 2 (and we can't count Sunderland twice !)
The biggest risk to going down is the inability to gain traction in League 2. Just ask bigger clubs such as Tranmere, Chesterfield, Orient, Wrexham, even NOTTS COUNTY. They'll tell you there's another trap door if you continue to get it wrong.

I recall our "CFO" saying that the biggest plus to promotion was the extra years breathing space it gave us on our first priority of staying up each year when in League 2.

We are in danger of throwing that away by not addressing a number of the points raised above.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I'd think that losing Anderton, Ihiekwe and Ripley after Christmas must have had a major impact too.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Last seasons average crowd was around the 1800 mark. This season was average around that in home fans alone. How much of that is league 1 and its opponents, and how much of that is a couple of years worth of positive Google Page Ranking such as shirt giveaways, winners hours/hsppy hours, bands etc?

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I should imagine everyone at the club is aware of this scenario but one big change at the club is the ongoing facilities being improved as before what ever level we would have been at would frankly have been embarrassing and couldn't have continued we lost countless returning fans because of this and awful ticketing arrangements has said before these improvements will be finished soon and will last for years along with a club that hopefully will be self sustainable and playing at a reasonable level I for one think we will just stay up and hopefully improve next year and beyond.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Hope yer right andy we got some real tough fixtures left.:eek:

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

In the first 17 games, we scored in all but two. In the 34 since we've had 14 blanks, including 6 in a row. That's the most significant difference. Going off the stats, we still seem to be making chances but we've stopped converting them.

The start of the season was dreamland, including a 10 game unbeaten run and 5 wins out of 6 in one spell, but, looking back, the wins were almost all by the odd goal. But, again with hindsight, that raised expectations to crazy heights. The correction was probably inevitable, but I can understand Coley sticking to what worked at the start. A radically different "Plan B" would require radically different ingredients which I'm not sure are available.

Similarly, I'm with Andy in putting financial security ahead of chasing further daydreams by risking bankruptcy.

Whatever, having failed to see off the Wombles and the Dale, we are probably perverse enough to now lose to Walsall and Plymouth, but secure safety by beating Luton, Doncaster and Portsmouth. Oh it's exciting following Stanley …..

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Couldn't agree more TM ¡

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

it didn't help defo. but yeh still need a plan B, unless yer dense.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I couldn't agree more Chimer about winning several matches by the odd goal and there have been several matches that we could have won or drawn since the new year if we had been able to take our chances. The problem is that recently, probably due to lack of confidence, we don't seem to be able to take our chances many time we seem to be trying to walk the ball into the net.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

irrespective of what league we start next season in, we HAVE made significant progress recently.

We started last season as an average League 2 side at best. Yes, some thought we had a chance as we had our best side for a while. But that best side for a while was still only average at best. Then something happened. The feelgood factor at a club on the up drove us to the top of the League. Regardless of winning the league we were still the lowest payers in the league, playing in front of the smallest crowds, on the smallest ground. We had an owner that spoke of grand, but reasonable plans, to turn us into an efficient club.

Nearly 12 months on from that title win, we have broken our attendance record three times, broken our record transfer sale twice, broken our season ticket records, reached our furthest (joint) ever point in the FA Cup, built a new stand, an extra fan zone, another fan zone on the way, plans afoot for an entirely new main stand side (still same stand but concourse, changing rooms and bar/shop/offices), have a new office and shop block imminently opening. All this whilst still being almost the lowest payers in the EFL, playing in front of almost the lowest crowds, on still the smallest ground.

If we start in League 2 next year as an average side then we are still better off than the beginning of last season. Can we retain some of the newer fans? I like to think so. Remember back last season we still thought of ourselves as having a hardcore of 1000. At the moment we have over 1000 ST holders/loyalty cards. We have a price freeze (again) on STs, and we are playing in the same red shirt (again).

I couldn't give a toss for those fans who want to disappear back up their backsides if we go down. I couldnt give a toss for those fans who think we need to spend money on players. It's not the Stanley way and we'll carry on making incremental progress year on year, just like we have for the previous 50 years without you.

ta-da

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

and a new pitch Mr God

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Well said Macca.... we are a tiny club making progress against the odds. We have to expect challenges. Sometimes we will overcome sometimes we won’t.
I agree with others about the loss of Anderson, ikekwe and Ripley. We were much more solid with them.
The other main thing is that Zanzala, for all his many faults, doesn’t feature and instead we rely on the very predictable, underperforming Billy Kee. It’s no wonder we never score.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Tempus fugit Lord D !.. and it's effects on players of our noble game, as we can all testify to, can cause serious defects to creep into one's game with devastating consequences!.
Dare I suggest that this factor, along with being consistently battered by an array of
violent defenders, is now being seen as the predictability and underperformance which you so rightly identify in Billy Lee's game !.
There are others in the current squad who find themselves slowly being wrapped in the arms of Old Father Time, and for them the consequences again indicate that some excellent careers are unfortunately nearing their end... sad but true !.
Let's hope though that they still have enough fuel left in their tanks to provide us with
the impetus necessary to guide us to the maintaining of our current League 1 status, the quality of which I for one have really enjoyed this season.
KTF..ON STANLEY !.. ON TO EVEN GREATER THINGS !.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Nail hit squarely on the head Mecca !..😎

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Having read many comments about Tuesdays game, I thought I’d have my say.
I actually thought our overall play on Tuesday was excellent, it ended up being one of the most one sided games I’ve seen at the wham all season in terms of general play.
However we didn’t manage to create clear cut goal scoring opportunities and thats our biggest downfall. Irrespective of how we play, you obviously need to score goals to win a game of football and on Tuesday we didn’t. That doesn’t mean Rochdale deserved the win as some have said. Anyone who watched that game can not have believed we didn’t deserve something.
As for the “lack of a plan b”. From memory we’ve now played 4 at the back, 3 at the back, 5 at the back, 2 up front, 1 up front, 3 up front, 2 holding midfielders, 4-3-3. You get my drift. I’d argue the fact we have played so many different formations/starting line ups has actually hurt us. We need a settled team similar to last season.
Anyway, onto Saturday and its a huge game. Must win in my eyes and I believe if we play how we did on Tuesday our luck will turn eventually.
Oh and hopefully the officials spot blatant handballs 3 yards in front of them!!!

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Can't agree ASFC that Rochdale didn't deserve to win, they got a chance and took it and scored and at the end of the day scoring more than your opponents is what it is all about.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

So why did Rochdale "NOT" deserve to win? utter rubbish they scored and we couldn't score in a Brothel.:rolleyes: ok we had the bulk of few efforts but NOTHING.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

[QUOTE=maccawozzagod;1226911]

If we start in League 2 next year as an average side then we are still better off than the beginning of last season. Can we retain some of the newer fans? I like to think so. Remember back last season we still thought of ourselves as having a hardcore of 1000. At the moment we have over 1000 ST holders/loyalty cards. We have a price freeze (again) on STs, and we are playing in the same red shirt (again).

I couldn't give a toss for those fans who want to disappear back up their backsides if we go down. I couldnt give a toss for those fans who think we need to spend money on players. It's not the Stanley way and we'll carry on making incremental progress year on year, just like we have for the previous 50 years without you.

with relagation we might keep a few but not all of the newer fans and i imagine some will not bother to renew their season tickets. do not expect andy holt to bankroll the playing budget but even with the best ground and facilities in the league fans want to watch a winning team playing attractive football. something needs to change in this respect as there will be hundreds looking for a new club after the season ends and we need to be a bit more competitive in our ability to recruit.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I think you’ll find if you actually read my post I say quite clearly that yes rochdale scored and we didn’t so they get the win.
However you can’t be silly enough to have watched that game and thought rochdale deserved to actually win it surely?
We dominated the game, had them penned back for large periods. Yes we didn’t score which again I say in my original post is vital to winning the game. But I actually think we played quite well in general.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Did you actually watch the same game as me? You genuinely believe Rochdale deserved to win that match?

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I think last season we had around 700 season ticket sale
.. 900 ish counting loyalty cards, if we begin next season in league 2 with more then weve progressed. Truth is, this town is difficult to sell Stanley to, 2000 home fans in league 1 is poor. It will grow if Andy can keep up the off pitch momentum. We're in year 2 of a five year push for fans, and League 1 was a bonus that would have been hoped for, but not expected.

League 2 would be a reset, nothing more, nothing less - but if we can stay up then its another bonus as big as winning the title last year.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Yeh but i tell the truth, if yeh cant score yeh dont deserve to win simple as

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Re Brothel, can we at least agree that our Foreplay is satisfactory !

It's opinion and i'm not precious about being wrong, but i think if you took the squad of last year and those players that say played 25 games or more and compared it against this years (who have played 25 games or more) i think last years squad does better in both league 1 and 2.

What i'm tying to say is that if we go down, we do so in poorer shape than when we came up. Hope that makes sense !:hidewall:

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I dont think our foreplay is satisfactory to be honest our midfield is virtually non existent to me.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Like many a former girlfriend, i was trying to be kind !!!

Have to agree with the midfield, whilst we've got away with it earlier in the season, at times our positional play and retaining possession has been like me playing my grandson on that FIFA game, all over the place.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Similar to many a former girlfriend, we have become too predictable! ;):D

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Thats what i was referring to during a game when i say no planB, some cant manage to grasp that though.:confused:

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I grasp it. However it doesn’t mean I agree. Rather unsurprisingly people will have different opinions about a game than you will.
Our midfield played well the other night for me. Best game Seamus has had in a long long time.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

In the first half yes i said that, the second half he was dire.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Yes I am silly enough to think that the team that scores the most goals deserves to win.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Post of the season

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

plus not looking likely to score either. its was not even one of those games where their keeper had the game of his career either to keep us out.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Sums it up perfectly if only you'd added the line spent zero on players.
Also sums up perfectly this attitude of the old school supporters ...... almost our way or the highway.
That's fine it truly is but you have to agree to disagree if other supporters have a different view.
No one is right no one is wrong.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

You might be right 28, but 90% of football clubs are practically insolvent in an age where there has never been more money in football. Rob has it right where the future of the club is imperative and far more beneficial to its community whilst still trading.

Look at Bradford, 20 thousand fans, lovely big stadium, wages in mulitples of ours - bottom of the league

Look at Cambridge, annual turnover of £5m (twice ours), lost 800k last year, 600k the year before - a nothing no mark League 2 side

Look at Colchester, present owners have sunk £27m into the club in recent years - a going nowhere League 2 side

Look at Blackburn, more issues than Dandy or Beano and last season they lost 300k PER WEEK on getting out of League 1 by the skin of their teeth

Look at Bury, losing tens of thousands weekly and in financial mire for the umpteenth time in less than umpteen years. Sitting fourth in the league presently but have they got there by foul means if they cant afford.

The list goes on and on and on

Football is rapidly approaching a crossroads. At the moment the lights on both sides are on green and clubs are hurtling through narrowly avoiding catastrophe. A few are skidding to a halt, seeing an impending doom. A few have a good view of whats happening and are driving cautiously, some even preparing to do a uturn and find an alternative route. Yet many are blindly accelerating through the interchange, sooner or later theres going to be a pile up ...

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I hope, 28, that when your associates move on from the club, and presumably you will too, that you can look back on your time here with fondness. I hope you will feel inclined to stop by The Crown Ground from time to time. What I do know is that little old Accy will still be here, but i cant say the same for all the 92

The shame of it is that if Bolton, Bury and 8 others go to the wall there will be 20 non league clubs chucking money at being one of the 10 clubs to replace them

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

You are preaching to the converted.
However, surely its about balance ?
There are many examples of clubs investing wisely in the product that takes to the field. We are not and if public record is correct - will not.
If you don't have a team then having cosey facilities etc is pointless.
As a club that relies heavily in selling prized assets very successfully I might add - could we be facing a few departures at the end of the season with no budget to replace them ?

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

I've already made it clear Spartacus that if what you term associates (I term relatives and very good friends) move on I'll still be following Accrington. I've made too many good friends not to.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

It's not the Stanley way and we'll carry on making incremental progress year on year, just like we have for the previous 50 years without you.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Some excellent arguments on here but, as you say 28, the balanced to be made last August was to attract new players to a club with no training ground, portacabin changing rooms, and a pitch in Flood Zone 3! Not sure a few more quid in wages (even it was possible) would necessarily have tempted players who were being courted by other clubs.
Also, Stanley didn’t just get where they are simply by selling. There’s been the odd exception but, for much of their time back in the EFL, Stanley had to watch good players leave for nowt at the end of the season (or half way through in the case of Windass and Crooks) and start again every summer.
It was never easy, and never will be, I suspect. That’s the reality of Accrington Stanley F.C.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

It's not the Stanley way and we'll carry on making incremental progress year on year, just like we have for the previous 50 years without you.

Not sure this is correct. Club was in a state prior to the Second Coming both on and off the field.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

[QUOTE=Exile on Spencer St;1227008], Stanley had to watch good players leave for nowt at the end of the season

at least those days are over as it would have eventually killed stanley off as a league club.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

[QUOTE=Inspector Morse;1227007]It's not the Stanley way and we'll carry on making incremental progress year on year, just like we have for the previous 50 years

think fans of different eras look at the club differently. older ones in length of there support are really happy doing it the stanley way. fans like me who came a few seasons post non league would be happier with more investment in the playing side as well as ground improvements and new fans that the club has gained over the last 12 months or so would like all money to go on players. might be more than a bit of a generalisation but it seems that way to me.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Without who ?

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

[QUOTE=monkey hanger;1227016]
That's the correct way to put it Monkey.
I just think it would be a crying shame to have battled all season to cement the club in League One only to let go because facilities are more important than the players.
Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see we need a new spine to the team. A keeper, a dominant centre half, a midfielder with craft graft and guile and a centre forward.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

No one can disagree, 28, but, at this stage, we’re all going to have to rely on the ‘spines’ of our existing players to retain League 1 status.
They have it in them and hope they get the chance to show the grit to grind it out these last few games.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Im quoting from earier post made by Macca.

I would have thought best way to grow club is through a performing team rather than through ground improvements.
Aint going to fill new stand in League Two.

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

Good job we're not going down then :)

Re: Rochdale home thread
 

[QUOTE=Inspector Morse;

I would have thought best way to grow club is through a performing team rather than through ground improvements.
Aint going to fill new stand in League Two.[/QUOTE]

ground needed some improvements but not to the detrament of the side. a bad film is a bad film no matter if its in an old flea pit or a modern comfortable one.