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Reply | Refwatch - Morecambe v Rochdale
at 18:02 26 Dec 2025
The sort of game where I reckon we would’ve conceded a late equaliser in previous years. Agree with what 442 said about Burger- his play has really matured this year, he’s doing the simple things well and not trying to force the play like he did at times last year. Also EEL- I think he’s been brilliant this year but he seems to have really developed in his defending in 1:1 situations. He rarely gets POTM, but for me he’s up there with anyone for POTS.
Final thing is it’s so noticeable how whilst all the team is improving, it’s individual players are also developing. EEL with his 1:1s, Gilmour with his end product and virtually every player‘s weaker foot amongst other things. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Altrincham v Rochdale
at 20:08 20 Dec 2025
Agree to some extent but if we win our games in hand we will have a 7 point head start over them at pretty much the half way point. Whilst I reckon they’re the best team in the league, a repeat of our first half of the season would pretty much require them to win pretty much every game in the second half of their season. I also think having them last day of the season works in our favour as it rules out any earlier 6 pointer which would really shift momentum.
Whilst not discounting them completely from the title race, I think Carlisle and FGR in particular could end up taking points off both us and York. As with all title races, suppose a certain part of this will come down to luck. |
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Reply | Keeper Signs On Loan
at 15:02 30 Nov 2025
Edit- misread the question!
Will start the ball rolling with:
Gilks [Post edited 30 Nov 15:04]
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Reply | Scott Quigley
at 10:00 29 Nov 2025
Quigley will go down for me as one of the worst players to ever play for this club. Seemed more interested in arguing with centre backs on occasion than contributing to a team who desperately needed him to perform. McNulty referenced the importance for him in the first few weeks of getting the job of changing the culture and getting rid of ‘blockers’ to that change. Pretty sure he was referring about Quigley. |
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Reply | CAB minutes 17/11/25
at 19:26 27 Nov 2025
Another chunk will presumably be exiles who have ‘Country season tickets’ |
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Reply | Tyler Smith To Return?
at 12:30 3 Oct 2025
Wonder if this suggests a longer time out for Henderson or a fitness issue with Rodney. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v FC Halifax Town
at 13:51 2 Oct 2025
Firstly- credit has to go to Halifax. They worked incredibly hard and have a few talented young players in their ranks- I think they'll take points off a few of the title chasers as the season goes on.
I actually wasn't too downhearted after the match. It's obvious what we lack when EEL/ Rodney can't play but hopefully, injuries withstanding, that won't happen too often (especially if we get lucky with the pitch and don't have a backlog of fixtures)
Halifax sat deep and defended very well but we still had more than enough chances to get at least a point- a huge step forward from last season where we didn't look like breaking down teams whenever they put into place a 'low block.' The atmosphere also sounded great on DAZN- credit to all who went. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v FC Halifax Town
at 19:36 1 Oct 2025
Hope we don't miss EEL's distribution tonight. It's something he's really worked on the last few months which is credit to him as it wasn't a particular strength of his when he joined. |
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Reply | The RochdaleAFC.com Podcast - Keith Hill Part 1
at 12:07 28 Sep 2025
I reckon you’d have to go back 30 odd years for the last time we put out a squad on a match day which featured no player to have either played with or have been managed by Hilly (could be a random game under Stockdale which is the exception). A brilliant listen and would always welcome him back in some capacity. [Post edited 28 Sep 15:50]
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Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v Braintree Town
at 21:28 6 Sep 2025
Special mention to EEL today. Thought he was excellent in keeping Akinde quiet and bailed out his defensive team mates, particuarly in the opening stages of the game. If we can keep the spine of our team fit, we've got a good chance of being succesful this season. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Wealdstone v Rochdale
at 22:48 30 Aug 2025
I was really impressed by Wealdstone. They were very attacking and aggressive- pretty much trying to overload our third at any possible opportunity. I’d have them as dark horses for the play-offs. Credit to the team for getting the win. Without doing too much of a disservice to our coaching team, I thought moments of real quality from our key players (Rodney and Mani) was the difference today. |
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Reply | Man Utd VS Grimsby
at 18:06 28 Aug 2025
I think it is. The difference being that Jim in fairness has clearly recruited over several transfer windows for this system. Our 2 central midfielders are much more mobile and also has players like Barlow/ Pritchard who can support in the middle of the pitch if outnumbered. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v Sutton United
at 10:45 26 Aug 2025
Didn't watch the game but a good result against a team I assume will climb the table over the next few months. The highlights packages from both teams don't really show any credible Sutton chances- so well done to the team on seeing out the game so effectively. |
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Reply | Mcnultys defence
at 11:45 24 Aug 2025
Ah, thanks for clearing that up, TVOS — I was trying my best not to let the facts get in the way of a good rant! |
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Reply | Mcnultys defence
at 11:17 24 Aug 2025
There have been some really good posts on here, and I'd like to think I’ve been as supportive and patient with McNulty as most during his time at the club. That said, yesterday’s defeat ranks right up there with Southend and Spennymoor in terms of frustration.
Let’s be honest—McNulty has done a solid job. When he took over, the club was in an absolute mess for various reasons, and he's steadied the ship and guided us to a more competitive place. But for me, the jury is still out on whether he can take that final step.
We all know this squad is good enough for the play-offs—anything less would be a complete and utter failure. But can we be champions? On the playing side, that question still remains unanswered for me.
I’ve never seen a team make 11 changes in a league game before, and to do that while sitting top of the league is baffling. Sure, we might still have lost had we played a stronger side—but at least then we could’ve taken something from the performance and used these final days of the transfer window to strengthen accordingly. As it stands, I don’t think we’ve learned anything useful from that game.
Take Hogan, for example—he clearly struggles to distribute the ball as well as other defenders. Why not give players like Gordon, Gilmour, East, or Beckwith a chance to support him in building attacks? There’s no reason he couldn’t have rested five players yesterday and another five on Monday—it would’ve kept things fresher without completely sacrificing shape, rhythm, or leadership on the pitch.
Yesterday could’ve further pushed the idea to the rest of the league that we’re serious contenders. That opportunity was wasted.
McNulty is sometimes too much of a 'textbook manager', in my opinion. He doesn’t always factor in the less tangible aspects of a game. I can’t help but see similarities at times between Jim and how Southgate was for England—organised, level-headed, and clearly capable of stabilising things, but perhaps lacking the instinct or boldness needed to get over the line when it really matters.
Remember Dagenham away last season? The team was set up for Waller to release Kairo with a long ball over their high line, exploiting their slower centre-back. But Waller’s first three kicks were all 10 yards off target, and the plan was never adjusted. Similarly, the changes against Southend might have made sense in theory, but they never looked like working in practice.
I genuinely can’t think of a way he could’ve turned the mood in the fanbase so negative, so quickly. Unfortunately, I think it will take at least a few weeks—and some convincing performances—to turn that around. |
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Reply | BRACKLEY TOWN
at 17:26 23 Aug 2025
So poor and frustrating. The best feel good factor we've had in years deflated through naivety from McNulty. One of the biggest criticisms I've given to McNulty in the past is he is too much of a textbook coach at times. Yes, theoretically speaking, rotating the team could have seemed a viable option against Brackley but did he take into account the boost it would give to Brackley? The deflating of momentum on Wednesday's game? Jim said performance levels will never be at their best first week of the season as player's haven't got up to speed with the league so why go through that process twice with two sets of 11 players? As others have said, if rotation was that important then change 6 today and 5 on Monday.
Stating the obvious, but it's bloody hard to win a league, especially this one and Jim has unneccessarily put himself and the team under pressure. For me this result will go down with the Spennymoor and Southend ones as an ugly blotch on McNulty's record.
Won't go into individual thoughts on players as I want want to detract from this being solely on McNulty. |
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Reply | BRACKLEY TOWN
at 12:59 23 Aug 2025
Confident on this one, but as alluded to on the podcast, it's another challenge for this squad. Think it'll be the first time a team really parks the bus against us and with a team I suspect which will be closer to the Burnley game than our league games, it's as much of a test of depth as anything. |
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Reply | Ryan Rast extends contract..
at 12:56 23 Aug 2025
A good move from the club. East has been integral with a few other key figures in turning the culture of the dressing room around for the club and deserves the new deal. He's got more pressure for his place than in previous years, but that can only be a good thing- his performance on Tuesday shows that on his day he's one of the best at this level. |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Altrincham
at 14:16 18 Aug 2025
Too early to put too much weight into any predictions but I wouldn’t be surprised if Pritchard becomes our best signing of the summer. Seems a very intelligent footballer, not afraid to put himself about and incredibly versatile. |
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