The hugs and cuddles derby(Rochdale v Bury)

[JJ1532]

Awww, nice to see a civilised derby between 2 clubs that mutually respect and admire each other.....erm, yeah.

Anyway, this should be a right old humdinger. Both sides have been on good runs of form of late so should hopefully serve up a decent game. Pressure off given that they've both moved away from the bottom 4, right guys? Guys?

Seriously though, this is probably the game of the weekend, even though both teams look destined for mid table finishes. Have fun guys and keep it civil!

Form:
Rochdale: DDWWLW
Bury: WWDLWD

Recent meetings:
07 Sep 2013 Rochdale 1-0 Bury League Two
07 Mar 2014 Bury 0-0 Rochdale League Two
17 Oct 2015 Bury 0-0 Rochdale League One
06 Dec 2015 Rochdale 0-1 Bury FA Cup

 

[T.A]

There's not many things that will be worse than this game. 1-0 Dale or 0-0.

 

[King Kev]

Our recent home form has staved off any threats of relegation but we are hardly in good form when you look at our form since the last league meeting between the two of us.
Ten away defeats in the last eleven. Twelve goals conceded in our last three away games and zero scored, six of those goals came in the first twentry minutes of two of those games. I'll be in attendance and sincerely hoping the idiots at GMP relax their stupid all ticket for away fans policy otherwise the away following will be seriously depleted (though the away form has handed a huge helping hand to that). Should this happen the majority of Dale's support will be having orgasms for the next year or two.

Going for a 0-0 draw with Dale creating all the chances.

 

[Fedora Dale]

It's now pay on t'day for Shakers, so hopefully a decent away following.

Result - narrow Dale win, setting off faint hopes of a late playoff charge among the more optimistic of our fans (which will be dashed a week later at Boundary Park!)

 

[King Kev]

Post from my fan page from a Bury fan
When was the last time this fixture held such little significance especially this late in the season? Ever since I started attending Bury games in 1993 one of us has always had something to play or fight for when we have met, whether it be relegation or promotion. This season both of us are slipping towards mid table obscurity and the only meaningful thing to a win will achieve is getting us closer to the 52 point mark.

 

[Dale4ever]

Easy! Should have been more than 3.

 

[T.A]

Hahaha one big fuck off to the following people:

Flicker
Soares
Pugh
Brown
Futcher
Lawlor

More to follow...

 

[Fedora Dale]

That was far too easy, and could easily have been 5 or 6.

Mendez-Laing got MOM, but personally I'd have given it to Ashley Eastham, who concentrated on defending (rather than kicking people - Clarke (P) take note -and popped up with a good goal.)

For Bury, I thought Craig Jones put in his uusual decent shift and Sean Clare added something when he came on. But overall, a disorganised mess. Rose needs to work out the offside laws, Soares needs moving from Centre-back, and a decent, no-nonsense holding midfielder should be a priority signing.

 

[valefan16]

Jesus! Just seen the highlights of this and all three goals were diabolical to concede! Some comical defending there.

 

[Dawlishdale]

Dale won at a canter against the worst side to visit Spotland this season. In fact, the worst bury side I've ever seen in dozens of matches home & away. The defending for the goals was cringeworthy. Only the keeper kept the score down with a couple of good saves.

I simply can't begin to describe how easy it was for our players all over the pitch. Looks like Flicker has lost at least half the team based on that.

Decent numbers from bury to be fair I'd guess 1600 or so...obviously as quiet as church mice after 20 minutes when they realised what was in store.

Great performances from most of the Dale team, but a far bigger test next week against an Oldham side who battered us at BP last time.

 

[B.F.C.]

We got away with 3-0.
Rochdale could have won 6-0 and nobody would have said they didn't deserve it, fair play to Keith and his side.
I have been fairly supportive of Flitcroft, but it would seem he has lost the changing room along with about 2/3rds of the support.
Good job we got off to a good start otherwise we would be deeply in the brown stuff now.

 

[Bartonyellow]

Yet your squad is still arguably one of the best in the division

 

[B.F.C.]

Yet your squad is still arguably one of the best in the division

Which makes it even more worrying mate!!

 

[T.A]

Yet your squad is still arguably one of the best in the division

I disagree tbh. On paper they either used to be or they are just vastly overrated. Players I would keep next season are:

Leon Clarke
Tom Pope
Craig Jones
Chris Hussey (but not as a LB)
Danny Mayor
Kelvin Etuhu
Ryan Lowe coach/player contract
Danny Rose
Joe Riely
Peter Clarke.
Nathan Cameron

That's 4 strikers
3 midfielders
And 4 defenders

We have the basis for a top half team with them players IF they all play to the potential and IF they are all in their correct position. Which is why Flicker needs to go. We started the season with 2 fit proffesional CB (I refuse to acknowledge Brown as anything at the moment) that's just asking for trouble. He's not sorted the keeper position out since he arrived at the club over 2 years ago. We've done okay this year but I believe in a shite division we could have done better and think it's going to get worse next season and we'll be in a relegation battle. The amount of injuries we've had (rumours of him working the players too hard during the week) all adds up when everyone is pulling out with injuries all season.

 

[Mayor Magic]

Dire, Rochdale far superior.

We have players that can produce so much more than the style of play they've been forced to play by the manager for the majority of the season. He can't blame injuries biting now when he's the one who's built a completely unbalanced squad with clear deficiencies. We started the season with 6 Strikers, 5 Centre Mids, 2 Wingers and 5 Defenders off the top of my head, like what did you think was going to happen when injuries hit Flitcroft? He's moaning we can't get a centre half, we've needed one since July so you've had all season to bring one in. It's not just the last month.

He's not losing fans because of results, he's losing them because of attitude, failing to learn from the same mistakes, self destructing away performances and a dire style of football which is the complete opposite of what he and the Chairman preached about in his first 10 months in the job.

 

[Freakyteeth]

138% annual interest
138% annual interest
138% annual interest
138% annual interest
138% annual interest
138% annual interest

 

[King Kev]

Dale won at a canter against the worst side to visit Spotland this season. In fact, the worst bury side I've ever seen in dozens of matches home & away. The defending for the goals was cringeworthy. Only the keeper kept the score down with a couple of good saves.

I simply can't begin to describe how easy it was for our players all over the pitch. Looks like Flicker has lost at least half the team based on that.

Decent numbers from bury to be fair I'd guess 1600 or so...obviously as quiet as church mice after 20 minutes when they realised what was in store.

Great performances from most of the Dale team, but a far bigger test next week against an Oldham side who battered us at BP last time.

As quiet as church mice is unfair as we were making alot of noise slandering the manager and the team.
First few mins we were getting behind the team but once that first goal went in you could sense the deflation all around and I felt it myself. It is hard to motivate yourself to chant and sing when you have seen the exact same thing happening away from home since October. I was at Wigan and Coventry and it was the same thing as at Spotland, pathetic team selection, sluggish start and a goal down in ten and a second before twenty.
The game over already and the sad realisation that it will be another wasted afternoon, Derby games are supposed to be tense, enjoyable, entertaining and have a good atmosphere. Saturday was embarrassing, humiliating, souless and eventually it became toxic in the away end with everyone turning on the players and manager. We won't get any type of apology though, we will just be told we are pathetic for abandoning the project or what ever stupid comment Flitcroft thinks up.
I was at the 3-0 under Knill in 2009 and though we offered little it was very much a contest until the last half hour. I was at the 4-2 under Barker and despite being 3-0 down in 15 mins we made a game of it and still battled to the end. And tbf that day we had a fair goal disallowed and a conference keeper unable to hold onto a football. Even the 3-0 defeat later that season where we were shambolic we'd had a good spell of pressure when the game was still 1-0.
The Sheff Weds player looks crap btw, he pathetically ducked out of a challenge to win the ball from a corner which could have resulted in a goal.
After the farces at Wigan and Coventry and a couple of decent home results I really thought with it being a derby we wouldn't serve up the same level of slop as we have been seeing away from home lately especially against a team next to us in the table, that is what pissed me off more than anything. I've wasted too many saturdays and too much money when I could have been doing better things with my time than watching Bury fold like cardboard and our idiot of a manager have nothing but a tonne more Bullshit to say. I won't be attending another away game this season, that includes Blackpool on Good Friday which I had been hugely looking forward to. 48 points we are on I just hope we can scrape together 4 more points to get to the 52 mark, all it will take is one home defeat and we will see the same thing happening at Gigg Lane. He won't be sacked but he deserves to be, deluded arrogant prick!!!

Sorry about the rant

 

[Dawlishdale]

No problem Kev... I actually could not believe some of the defending I saw from bury...the whole back line was poor throughout, midfield was second best all over the park, and Lowe upfront on his own was a waste.

Honestly didn't hear you lot either supporting or booing after we went 2 up until the final whistle, when there were some audible boos and catcalls.

I'm sure it sounded louder from the away end, but not from where I sat opposite you.

I can't see you going down due to points already gained...but if you had say 10 points less, then I'd be worried. As for Flicker; well, he looked completely devoid of ideas on what to do, which is sad, because he was always passionate and vocal when at Dale.

 

[King Kev]

I disagree tbh. On paper they either used to be or they are just vastly overrated. Players I would keep next season are:

Leon Clarke
Tom Pope
Craig Jones
Chris Hussey (but not as a LB)
Danny Mayor
Kelvin Etuhu
Ryan Lowe coach/player contract
Danny Rose
Joe Riely
Peter Clarke.
Nathan Cameron

That's 4 strikers
3 midfielders
And 4 defenders

We have the basis for a top half team with them players IF they all play to the potential and IF they are all in their correct position. Which is why Flicker needs to go. We started the season with 2 fit proffesional CB (I refuse to acknowledge Brown as anything at the moment) that's just asking for trouble. He's not sorted the keeper position out since he arrived at the club over 2 years ago. We've done okay this year but I believe in a shite division we could have done better and think it's going to get worse next season and we'll be in a relegation battle. The amount of injuries we've had (rumours of him working the players too hard during the week) all adds up when everyone is pulling out with injuries all season.

That is it the basis of the team is there but there is no depth and a huge amount of inbalance in the team. We were promoted with a solid strikeforce Lowe, Nards, Rose and Hope. That is two vastly experienced strikers and two youngsters, that for me is a very sound strikeforce to start the season with. So what does Flitcroft do over the summer? He decides to sign two expensive big name strikers on top of our strikeforce and to not address the lack of depth in the rest of the team or the goalkeeper, instead signing utility men like Pugh and Brown who are fine for ten minute cameos but not for starting week in week out. His treatment of Hope was pathetic, he had all these strikers so tried to convert the lad into a left winger, guess what it didn't work so he loaned him out. If he was that desperate for another striker it should have been Clarke or Pope, not both of them. The fact that he then tried to convert Hope to a left winger said it all. At the start of the season he froze Lowe and Nards out before loaning them out as well. Around October he signed another striker on loan from Leeds and then tried to convert him to a winger. Thank God he brought Lowe back in because he has made a huge amount of difference in recent weeks. We have a real problem at centre back with lack of depth and injuries so what does the prick go out and do? He signs an attacking midfielder who can't get a game at Chesterfield and some kid from Sheffield Wednesday to play on the wing. Both were beyond pathetic on saturday.
Re the keeper situation not being sorted as I recall he inherited a vastly experienced goalkeeper, very commanding, a great shot stopper and popular with the fans - Brian Jensen. He was released because of his poor distribution.
Fuck off Flitcroft, perhaps one day if you drop your ego you might make a half decent coach. You nearly made a pig's ear out of promotion last season and have managed to turn what should be an enjoyable season this year into a fucking farce.

Barnsley
Wigan
Dale
Fleetwood
Coventry
Millwall

Okay we can not expect to win all of these games but you want to go and have a good day and see some decent football and watch an entertaining game whilst our fans have a good sing song. Instead all that happens is our fans rightly slag the team and manager off and rather than singing about our love of the club under the stands we instead blurt out the 'we are fucking shit' over and over and over again.
Thanks Flitcroft, I suppose I am disloyal for these rants and for not believing in you but it is safe to say I will still be attending Bury games long after you have left us.

 

[King Kev]

No problem Kev... I actually could not believe some of the defending I saw from bury...the whole back line was poor throughout, midfield was second best all over the park, and Lowe upfront on his own was a waste.

Honestly didn't hear you lot either supporting or booing after we went 2 up until the final whistle, when there were some audible boos and catcalls.

I'm sure it sounded louder from the away end, but not from where I sat opposite you.

I can't see you going down due to points already gained...but if you had say 10 points less, then I'd be worried. As for Flicker; well, he looked completely devoid of ideas on what to do, which is sad, because he was always passionate and vocal when at Dale.

Met a couple of Dale supporting mates after the game who were telling us about some of the comical chants from the Sandly Lane. They were funny but we didn't hear a single one of them, hard to hear anything when everyone around you is just ranting and moaning constantly. It was hard in the first half as Soares (central midfielder) was playing centre half with a mask on. To me it seemed like Clarke was doing the centre half position on his own. Even when Soares moved into midfield he was annoymous and Brown was no better at centre half so it seemed more like a two man defence. Felt for Mayor and Jones who were both trying to conjure things up but with no support. Like the last 3-0 dicking at spotland we were stood there thinking that if the players have been bollocked maybe we could go out and attack and get a goal back and maybe make it a contest, instead we went out pissed up our tiny spell of possesion and you went down the field and scored a goal that wouldn't happen at under 10s level. The only comfort that I can take is that surely now we are due a run of league results against you, we haven't won a league game at spotland since 2007 and not beaten you in the league at all since 2010 and that was a poor scrapy game and the victory was by a goal. Hill is to Bury what Wenger is to Spurs

 

[Dawlishdale]

Haha Couldn't hear the Sandy either. The second goal was laughable really. Some really really poor performances from bury.

Hope we do better at Latics next week... last year we were as bad as bury were on Saturday.