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Reply | Solihull Wednesday
at 12:32 22 Jan 2026
It's not only Mani Ds goals but his hold up play that we miss, the sooner he's back the better. One thing that has been noticeable recently with our forward players is the way they implement the press and pressurise the defenders, making it very difficult for them to play out from the back. I think that's been very instrumental in our improvement this season. Then when they tire the subs are brought on and the press is applied again. It's hard work and they all have to buy into it but defending from the front allows us to take control of the game and indirectly contributes to our great defensive record. It's definitely a squad game now, the matchday substitutes are just as important as the starting eleven. |
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Reply | Solihull Wednesday
at 09:54 22 Jan 2026
Spennymoor, Barnet, York, Southend, FGR etc. I'm refering to Jims time as manager and i don't think i'm being unfair. When it comes to the crunch home games against those around us in the league, games against Oldham, important cup games..we invariably pull up short. Hopefully this season will be different and we can pick up plenty of points over the next five weeks. Statement home wins i'm talking about against one of the percieved big hitters. A win in front of a decent home crowd. [Post edited 22 Jan 9:57]
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Reply | Solihull Wednesday
at 06:30 22 Jan 2026
Four league wins out of five since the work on the new pitch started. I think we would have taken that, we've come out of a very difficult situation relatively unscathed. Now the dynamics change and the onus is on us as the home team to set the tempo and take the game to our opponents. When the big games come around at home we invariably don't win them and last season we were tactically out manouvered, that needs to change now and it's all about winning, not drawing if we are to finish top of the pile. Bravery is called for from the first minute of the game, it's down to us to impose our game on the opposition, Hartlepool did a job on us and caught us cold, we can't let that happen again. .Let's not die wondering and play every game with tempo and passion. Let's simplify our game and not try to turn it into a tactical masterpiece, worrying more about our opponents rather than concentrating on our strengths.
When was the last time we won a big game at home against rival clubs? I can't remember. I think McNulty is a defensive coach and he's good at it, playing away from home suits his style of play. I now want to see if he can switch and come up with a plan to win these upcoming home games, we've already beat FGR/ BW/ Carlisle so there's no reason why we shouldn't feel confident of doing it again. It's not just down to McNulty though, Done and Taylor's input is also important. If we have a good February we will be well placed to win the league and we've been excellent at home this season so it's in our own hands now. [Post edited 22 Jan 7:16]
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Reply | Solihull Wednesday
at 22:12 21 Jan 2026
It's about time we scored some late goals, we did it a lot during our successful period under Keith Hill. That goal might have been a cross but East was unlucky to score just before that and Bilongo headed a corner just wide. We kept pressing right up to the end in terrible conditions and when you're flying high and confident you get the rub of the green. We limited a free scoring Solihull team to very few chancrs and deserved the win in the end. I thought McNulty's substitutions were spot on tonight also. |
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Reply | Solihull Wednesday
at 21:51 21 Jan 2026
That's what winners do, find a way to win on a wet Wednesday night in Solihull. |
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Reply | Solihull Wednesday
at 20:39 21 Jan 2026
Agree with that. McBrides effort was ridiculously poor, ballooned the ball over the goal from six yards out, criminal that he didnt even get it on target. Duku needs to be doing more as you say, his first touch hasn't been great. These are there for the taking if we show a bit more urgency. |
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Reply | Rochdale v Carlisle
at 19:23 21 Jan 2026
There was no restrictions for the Southend play off game though and if i’m not mistaken Southend brought more fans than Spennymoor. As you say, the reason for the restrictions needs explaining, especially if project 5000 is still a serious target. Scunthorpe will bring a good following and obviously York will. Maybe this is the first step with a view to eventually moving away fans into the Sandy Lane. [Post edited 21 Jan 19:27]
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Reply | Rochdale v Carlisle
at 19:05 21 Jan 2026
We're certainly missing out on ticket money with this decision. I think more tickets will go on sale nearer the time. GMP are used to dealing with crowds of 75,000 and 60,000 at United and City, they won’t be involved in restricting Carlisle’s ticket allocation. If the club can’t safely steward a 5000 crowd then they either need more stewards or better training. [Post edited 21 Jan 19:19]
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Reply | Rochdale v Carlisle
at 18:58 21 Jan 2026
It wont be that, the police wont have limited the amount of tickets to half the capacity of the stand. There's been no reason to close half the away stand and deprive the club of money, the police don't have the powers to do that.. The police don't deal with the away fans inside the stadium anyway, thats the stewards job. The club don't pay for police outside the stadium and wont want to pay for them to police games inside the stadium.. Most games including Premiership games are run entirely by stewards and are police free...apart from a handful of football intelligence officers. Hopefully our new stewards will be able to cope better with situations than the laat lot. I think the decision could have been because a full away stand takes away the advantage of a home game and it's the first thing the players see when they run out of the tunnel. [Post edited 21 Jan 19:03]
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Reply | Update on the pitch
at 13:09 19 Jan 2026
Announcing to the supporters that the work had come in under budget. There's no way on gods earth that information would have been revealed a few years ago. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Gateshead v Rochdale
at 05:48 18 Jan 2026
I thought Amantchi had his best game for us yesterday. the way he smashed his point blank header onto our cross bar was a great piece of defending🤣🤣. We got away with one there, it was easier to score. It was a decent display yesterday under the circumstances. I think we're going to have to be on it a bit more against Solihull though, they will take those two clear cut chances that Gateshead passed up. We need to also be more clinical in the final third. We need the original Mani D back and also Pritchard and Barlow in the squad. |
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Reply | Live Screening Morecambe & Update
at 11:03 17 Jan 2026
Moody Blues in Town seems to show the Dale games. It's a great set up in there with a lot of screens and they do food. |
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Reply | Refwatch - Rochdale v Southend United
at 08:26 17 Jan 2026
I don't see it like that. The Hartlepool game was played under strange circumstances, that game was won in the first thirty minutes and credit has to go to Hartlepools manager for that. He set his team up to seize the initiative from the first minute of the game, he turned a neutral venue into a home game and they overwhelmed us. I hope McNulty and his coaching team take some lessons from that game because it's a scenario that could come up again should we get to Wembley in the Play Off final. How we start games is very important.
The Tamworth game was a seperate entity, played with a different team and with not the same importance attached to the contest. Points per game we are doing better than anybody, the loss to Hartlepool doesn't mean we are in poor form. The new signings don't mean that they automatically deserve to be starting games neither. Let's not lose sight of what's worked well for us this season, those players have already proved what they are capable of and now isn't the time to tinker just for the sake of it. We don't have to shoe horn players into the team neither just to give them game time, the only thing that matters is winning games...injuries and suspensions, lack of form determines team change. If we're winning games players don't feel tired. We know what works and we also know that having the likes of Petit, Berger and Pritchard ready to rotate gives us good strength in depth. [Post edited 17 Jan 8:48]
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Reply | Frost and snow
at 08:43 11 Jan 2026
The weather gods have been kind to us, over the next two weeks the winter weather is as good as you're going to get when it comes to laying turf. Mild temperatures for January with showers around. I think we can count ourselves lucky and this time next week we will have a lush green pitch in place. |
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 06:05 7 Jan 2026
Ridiculous wasn't it. Others pulling their tripe out trying to build a innings and he just throws his wicket away. I'm assuming McCullum or Stokes don't even give the new batsman a pep talk before they leave the changing room? Play yourself in, no rush, try to rotate the strike. |
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 04:02 7 Jan 2026
A bt of fight from Bethell. Twenty six runs behind with seven wickets remaining, it would be nice to think we could get a 200 lead but we are just as capable of losing the remaining wickets for not very many. We also now have the full set that a lot of people predicted..Stokes, Archer and Wood all injured.
Edit..fabulous 100 from Bethell. [Post edited 7 Jan 5:17]
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 11:15 6 Jan 2026
It's been a shambles from start to finish and the hierachy need to be held to account. A lack of planning, poor selection, poor preperation, no accountability, players in their comfort zone with the security of a central contract. Radical changes need to be made from top to bottom including county cricket. I suspect it's all about the money though and the shorter format of the game, the bean counters and those making the decisions probably have no appetite for Test Match cricket. I also wonder if deep down most of the players have, do they really value it? [Post edited 6 Jan 11:17]
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 06:59 6 Jan 2026
My money is on a innings defeat. This is what happens when you base your bowling attack around two sick notes...Archer and Wood. It didn't take a rocket science to know that they wouldn't last the series, it was all very predictable. |
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 10:11 5 Jan 2026
Head's highest score was just 40 runs in twenty first class innings leading into this series. |
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