The Opposition View - Rochdale

Following yesterday`s 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Rochdale at Spotland, here are some views on the game from Dale boss Keith Hill along with the thoughts of some of the home fans.

Keith Hill was understandably delighted, saying: 'It was definitely a deserved three points. That is the type of performance I have been searching for and have been led to believe the players are capable of achieving.'

'Regardless of how the second half had turned out, I explained to the players at half time that the performance they had put in up to that point was what I expected from them.'

'And I hope that proves to be the watershed. I hope it's not a prelude to what has previously happened in the last 18 months where we fix things with a short-term solution, a result, then revert back to type.'

'We have to play on the front foot and that is the case regardless of tactics, formation or opposition. You have to take the game to the opposition. We were up for the challenge and we have to repeat that.'

'They know what I want and whether they can keep producing it is entirely up to them.'

Meanwhile, Blues boss Gareth Ainsworth had plenty to say after what was arguably the worst display during his tenure. He said:

'Everyone had a bad day - there`s no one I can look at and say, 'Superb, you`ve been brilliant`. If I have to speak to individuals about individual things, I`ll do that. They are good lads and they have done really well for me but it`s not acceptable to come up to Rochdale and be beaten 4-1.'

'The back four have been absolutely fantastic for me over the last two or three months and today we got a couple of things wrong. People were running in different directions. My job is to stop that happening, address it, put it right and we`ll be stronger.'

'I can`t blame just the back four, it`s everybody. We win together, we lose together. When we`ve been winning the back four have been there backing everything up and keeping clean sheets, so it`s not about them. I don`t want this to be a witch hunt and picking people out, because we got overrun in midfield, we didn`t create too much out wide and up front we rarely had shots on their goal.'

'If you get nil against you`ve always got a chance of getting something, so it will come down to that, but believe me it`s everybody. I`ll never single anyone out for special praise to win a game and I`ll definitely never single anybody out to say 'It`s your fault for losing a game`. We are together - Wycombe won the game last week and Wycombe have lost the game this week.'

'Set plays are something we pride ourselves on. We let a couple of them in and went out of the game with that. We`ve prided ourselves on doing really well from them. It`s very rare we`ve been outdone from a set play. We can do a lot better. We looked a bit disorganised today, a bit out of sorts.'

'At half time I said we`ve got 45 minutes to put this right, we go out and within two minutes we let a corner in, which is really poor. It wasn`t us - that`s something I haven`t seen for a while. We seemed to be second to a lot of stuff today.'

'It`s all come in one game so maybe that`s a positive - I can say, 'Let`s sweep that one away and work on the next one`.'

'Believe me, we`ll be working hard with the video to put things right. I`ll be a busy man for the next couple of days. I`ll find the positives, tell the lads about them and make sure the negatives don`t happen again, and that`ll make us stronger.'

Rochdale fans were understandably elated after such an emphatic victory but they certainly weren`t impressed with the performance of referee Mr David Phillips.

The following extracts are taken from the RochdaleAFC.com forum

MoonyDale wrote
'Georgie boy (George Donnelly) scores two beauties with two cracking finishes. A lovely performance from each man out there and the scoreline flattered them by a mile. A bit more luck and we could have been in double figures, it's really difficult to single anyone out as our best player today. This is what you get when you play as a team, defend as a team, and go forward as a team. Take a bow Joey T (Joe Thompson), played a blinder today. More of the same please.'

R17ALE wrote
'At last. For the first time since Hilly left the club, we fielded a simple 4-4-2, with two wingers, two central midfielders, two attack minded full back, and two traditional centre-halves and two proper centre-forwards.

Today was simple - put ten round pegs into ten round holes, have a simple game plan, make sure the players know what is expected of them, and send them out fully prepared. And if you do that, you get your best home performance in a couple of years or more!

Even with the added burden of a clueless ref, we still overcame the odds of falling behind. Shane Cansdell-Sheriff was definitely tripped in the build up and the linesman just 20 yards away should have alerted the ref who had clearly missed it. As he hit the floor, our players just stopped in anticipation of the whistle and their lad stroked home the loose ball just for the fun of it.

Now had that happened under Coleman, the team would have lost it completely and we'd had ended up with a raft of cards. Instead we saw eleven pros decide to get on with it, put it behind them and make a fist of things!

We hit the woodwork three times, Bobby Grant missed a sitter, Thompson had an effort hacked off the line and it was one way traffic in the second half. Admittedly their defenders were stunningly bad, collectively far worse than the Rory McArdle /Jon Boardman comedy show at Edgeley Park a few years ago.

Thompson had a cracking game, especially in the first half and Wycombe had no answer to his probing down the right. All in all, a really good performance and a deserved 4-1 win, despite the ref.'

D_Alien wrote
'It reminded me of those early barnstorming victories we had in the early days of Hill's first tenure. Even the sparse crowd somehow made it seem like watching the Dale again, and we were rewarded with as morale-boosting a performance and victory as we could wish for.

For me, the turning point wasn't the early equaliser, but Terry Gornell going off injured. Although we could have been 3-0 up in the first 10 minutes, somehow the Grant / Donnelly partnership looked more menacing. I never thought I'd be talking about Gorgeous George in those terms!!

It`s still early days, but we have something to look forward to now. Today's result doesn't make us safe, but it hasn't half given us a boost!'

Daley_Lama wrote
'Red-shirted ref, brings anger to the terraces once more. Ian Henderson man of the match for me, got the equaliser and set Gorgeous George in for the third. How we weren't already one up before they scored I still don`t know.'

TalkingSutty wrote
'Henderson is a gem and obviously oozes class at this level. He gives us width and has always scored goals so hats off to Hilly for bringing him to the club, in partnership with Grant, they look full of goals. If we can sign Henderson for next season I will be more than happy.

Today showed what we are capable of when the players step up to the plate. I was pleased for Andrew Tutte, he came to the party and when he is on his game there is no doubt he is a capable player. If he can sort his head out he will only get better.

It`s nice to have a decent Saturday night for a change and that performance had Keith Hill`s name stamped all over it!'

frenzied wrote
'Just great by all concerned. Wycombe have got a decent away record but despite the early set back Dale battled back and showed a spirit and confidence we've not seen for too long! Fabulous! Roll on York who haven't won for 11 games. Surely our lads are ready for the next challenge?'

Clivert wrote
'The ref also missed the Banks-esque Mexico '70 save from a Wycombe defender in the first half! A much relived win and that 50 points total seems a lot closer!'

MoonyDale wrote
'Jordan Archer took some abuse from the Sandy today. Noticed they had no keeper on the bench and he came out for the second half injured, looked like his right leg was crocked and it would explain his late arrival in the second half.'

Shun wrote
'Wycombe's goal was the most ridiculous goal I've seen all season. The most blatant trip you'll ever see on Cansdell-Sheriff, and then the ball trickles to an on-running Wycombe player who hits it in first time into the net. The ref had a right Cuneyt Cakir all game.'

Next: Wycombe Wanderers v Rotherham United
Tuesday 12th March 2013 - Kick-off 7.45pm

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.