And Rochdale played well, fully deserving of their victory. In all honesty it could have been more. But this isn't about yesterday's result. Even the best teams of our past, the ones we all still rave about that included Redfearn or Glavin used to lose games, sometimes heavily and sometimes getting completely outclassed. This is more about the state of the two clubs. Last season our average attendance was 9,768. I read reports from the meeting this week that in addition to gate receipts, sponsorship is up considerably, while the owner also puts in £1-2 million every year. Rochdale had an average attendance of 3,309. I don't believe they have a rich benefactor (although I don't know for sure) and it stands to reason that advertising to 10,000 people should bring in more revenue than advertising to 3,000. Rochdale fielded a starting 11 and brought on 2 subs, all of whom belong to Rochdale. Not a single loan player in their team. They were superior to us in every department from the minute they scored the first goal. We started with 4 loan players and brought on another as a sub. We had yet another in the stands. If Rochdale can build a team on gates of 3,000 (which on yesterday's evidence is much better than ours), why can't we on attendances three times that? Why are we having to field a team made up of youth loans? What are Rochdale doing on their meagre budget that we can't on what we're often told is one of the highest in the division? Keith Hill may well be a better manager at this level which would account for the fact that they were the better team yesterday, but it doesn't account for the fact that they can afford a squad of their own players while we, with vastly superior finances, seemingly can't. *Edit* They weren't superior in every department - Tom Kennedy is still *****.
Well I think it's down to the fact that they've had the same manager for a while and haven't constantly chopped and changed. Also some managers just work at some clubs, such as Howe at Bournemouth. When Hill left Rochdale for us, they went down from league 1. He came back, they went back up and haven't looked like going down since Also regarding loan players, I'm not such a fan of them, but everyone has been saying so far how bad Wilkinson has been. I'm going to give him time but imagine if we'd given him a 3 year deal. People would have been going mad. That it an advantage of the loan system
It is down to better management at all levels on, like you say, far inferior finances. A clear vision & philosophy on how they want to play the game & a recruitment strategy that supports this. Not loan players but rough diamonds who can be polished up are now at the peak of their game. Rochdale, Burton & Chesterfield all fit this model & it has brought them a lot of success over recent years. Their best players: Henderson, Allen, Morsy, O Shea & Al Khayati would transform our team! Our transfer policy this summer has been misguided!
Short term thinking vs long term. We change our manager about every nine months, not enough time to build your own team, so new manager goes with loans, also maybe board not willing to commit money for long term deals when the manager who buys them does not have full confidence? This is the planning of the mad house, it would be better to get someone in who is in charge of recruitment and then leave the manager to take care of first team coaching and match day tactics.
Fantastic post & couldn't agree more. I've said on here previously I don't think our club has a soul at the minute & I stand by that. There's no long term planning & no players who've been here long enough to have an affinity with (Hassell, Steele, Foster types).
The players we have recruited aren't at Rochdale for any other reason than one person - Keith Hill. He is a genius at this level. Glenn Murray, Adam Lefondre, Craig Dawson, Chris O'Grady, Will Buckley,Scott Hogan,Ian Henderson and now Donal McDermott. Along with the youth players he has nurtured and integrated into the 1st team, Jamie Allen, Callum Camps and Andy Cannon. He is given time because our chairman/board trust him to get it right and he has never let tgrm down.
I don't doubt Keith Hill's ability to bring in decent players and put out a good team at this level. He's proven time and again for Rochdale he's a very good manager in the bottom two divisions. I'm sure he'll get the chance to test his hand at Championship level again, maybe even with Rochdale. I don't really like the bloke, but I wish him no ill will. I hope he learned something from his experience with us and is more successful next time around. There really is no reason why he shouldn't be. In my opinion, it would be very good for football if he could do that with Rochdale. But that wasn't my point. We don't have a divine right to be better than Rochdale. Even with a budget that must be, at a conservative estimate, three times that of yours, there's no reason why we should be beating you. I have no problem with us losing to Rochdale. Well, I do a bit, I don't like to see my team lose, but Rochdale were much the better side so I can accept it. I don't expect us to be better than you. I'd like us to be, but I don't expect it as a matter of course just because we have more money. The problem I have is that on half a shoestring budget Rochdale appear to be perfectly capable of assembling a squad of Rochdale players. Rochdale aren't alone in this. The majority of other clubs in this league have a squad of their own players. We don't or if we could select a squad of 18, it would be only just, the majority being kids with little or no experience. We have to select loan players just to make up the numbers. Considering that our budget is one of the highest in the division, double or even trebble that of many other clubs, then I think there's something fundamentally wrong with that.
Theres a long term masterplan though Involving watching hours and hours of DVD footage and analysing player mentality and body language before signing erm, loaning I mean, well approaching them. Then they seemingly fit our pre determined style, 1 up front and lots of similar midfielders. It's based on patience and a consistent, balanced approach. Which considering how many contradictions have come out of the club whilst Johnson's been manager, smells a bit erm, funny to me. Trolling numpty.
