ROCHDALE

Pre – Match Pub

After a few experiences that ranged from disappointing to “I’d quite like to spit my pint out on the floor now, please,” Saturday in the Baum was most definitely a really welcome upturn in the pre match drinking crack.

The Baum won the CAMRA National pub of the year accolade in 2012. There was a downside though. Having been a passenger for the last couple of trips, I was the day’s designated driver and thus had to severely limit my intake.

Baum is a German surname meaning tree in case you were wondering. I know I was. Isn’t Wikipedia great? Anyway, pubs like the Baum tend to attract discerning Oxford United drinkers. They’re always good for a like minded chat but occasionally envy kicks in. Like on this occasion when Rochdale (really Milnrow) Dave showed me a picture of Gary having his breakfast.

If I’d had Bollinger for breakfast followed by a proper session in the Baum I probably wouldn’t have been as pissed off as I was when I left Spotland at just gone 10 to 5.

Rochdale is (not) a s*******e

It might have been sung. But it wasn’t. Compared with Newport it was Nirvana. The walk to the pub from the ground threw up a mix of historic buildings amongst those that were not. The town Hall is a top example of the Victorian Gothic revival. Apparently. (Ok, thanks again Wikipedia)

And their fans we met were friendly; in the pub when they said, “I think this is your scarf” and those we chatted to outside the superb chip shop outside the away end.

The first half

The pitch, despite being home to both the football club and Rochdale Hornets Rugby League team was the best we’ve played on for a long time.

In the very first seconds we’d put together a neat passing move. Then Dale got the ball and quickly showed that they could really play. This suggested it would be a very good game of football with two evenly matched sides in a closely fought contest. Dream on.

My appraisal at the break had our opponents marked down as the better side but possibly not by a margin as large as a whole goal.

We’d come close when Johnny Mullins had a shot well saved on the line when he got on the end of a Michael Raynes nod on from a David Hunt long throw. The rebound looked almost a tap in. Tapped in it was not.

They’d hit the bar. Well, Jake Wright had done it for them. We got away with that one and all but saw a session out but again didn’t quite make it. From a throw in our marking was sadly lacking (less politely, I’d call it crap).

The goal was credited to Hogan. This means Hogan touched the ball before it entered the goal. Given where Hogan was standing means he was offside. Referee Ilderton did not give offside which means he is a useless p***k who is not up to the standard fans deserve. But compared to many referees we have seen he was no worse than average, which says it all really.

The second half

This was the chance to show if we really had the stuff of which League Two champions are made. We needed leadership, battle, passion, tactical nous and the belief to enable the more technically gifted of our players to be able to hurt the opposition.
Unfortunately the evidence pointed not to us being champion material but more like a side hovering between the relegation places and mid table.

At the conclusion the three goal margin did not flatter the home side. They scored two more, hit the woodwork in their own right and played much the better football.

They might have a really good home record but I believe this was the first time they had managed to beat a top six side on their own ground.

For their second, not for the first time, a player was able to run past yellow shirts in the middle of the field with relative ease. Hogan may have got lucky with the ball coming back off Ryan Clarke but it was a very good run and fortune favours the brave. We were neither brave nor had anyone either willing or able to make equivalent runs aimed at the heart of their defence.

Goal number three was a complete cock up. When he tried to clear a throw in all Raynesy managed was a complete miskick which, naturally, fell to Hogan who produced the softest of mishit shots. Clarke should have saved it with minimum strain.
Rochdale played at a much quicker pace than us, they played much more as a unit than us and the player on the ball had more options than we did when we had possession.

We might look to pass the ball around instead of hoofing it, which I am in total agreement with, but there are no points for hardly noticeable artistic merit in areas that are nowhere near the goal we should be attacking. I hardly spotted any meaningful link up play in the final third. (Talk of the final third being all the rage of course. Why not the final quarter or some other old b*****s.)

Our defence has not usually to date been the problem. Even the so called makeshift one we’ve had to put out recently has not caused problems, other than in the selection headache. This time the defence was a problem. We are no longer the team to have conceded the fewest goals. I think it was a mistake to bring back the two injured players, particularly both at the same time. Are they match fit? Raynes didn’t look it. We know he can do a lot better than that. And since when has Wright been a left back?

The midfield has in my mind been a problem for some time. Tactically we got slaughtered. We’re nearly always outnumbered and therefore out battled in the centre of the field. Given Rochdale’s home record I could not understand why we started with just Danny Rose, who I rate really highly, and Nicky Wroe, who other than two cracking goals has so far appeared to be a rather average player in the centre. Assistance from Scott Davies or Josh Ruffels would not have harmed the cause.

To start with, playing both Alfie Potter and Ryan Williams was a luxurious folly in my eyes. On foreign soil before this type of player can get going a foothold has to be established. All attacking players have defensive duties too, but it is not the fault of our wide men that they are not the kind of robust midfielder that can put in an effective shift to stop the opposition playing when the game is in the half we are defending.

Were the forwards a problem too? I think so. It was another of those games – and I’ve seen many – where I can’t help but ask myself what Deane Smalley really offers. And David Connolly never got in the game. He needs to be offered half chances but we didn’t really have any creativity did we?

If David Kitson was fully fit surely he should have started. However he made little impact when he came on and neither did Beano.

Time to start worrying?

Well yes, quite probably if you’ve not started worrying long before now.

Concern no.1 – We’ve got most of our players back but don’t look anywhere near good enough.

Concern no.2 – Our away form. Yes, really. Under Mickey we’ve not won any. We’ve drawn two and lost two. That is not good enough.

Concern no. 3 – The managerial situation. It’s drifting. We’ll have to be shockingly bad not to make the play-offs but I had feared that Ian Lenagan might leave Mickey Lewis in charge to the end of the season and with this decision greatly reduce our chances of an automatic slot. I just don’t see enough evidence of tactical acumen and after this unhealthy defeat I did not detect sufficient motivation and belief amongst the troops. Heads went down.

Or looking at it another way – extrapolation of results can be pretty meaningless given a surge or significant dip in form but they do provide a possible glimpse of things to come. Let’s pretend we win our six remaining home games and lose the six remaining away. That gives us another 18 points and a total of 73. So far Mickey has managed a return of 41.7% of the points on offer. Carrying on in the same vein would see us end up on 71 points. These totals wouldn’t always guarantee a play off slot although they may well do this season. But if we have any ambition we should be looking at the top three.

Bright side?

Re. Concern no. 1 – Our returning players who have been out with injuries will get better as they regain true match fitness. Andy Whing may return and he is a player who I think may have made a difference, although I’m not totally convinced. I’ve no doubt though that Tom Newey’s return from suspension will make the defence better.

Re. Concern no.2 – Under Mickey we’ve won both home games. I’ve heard it said by one fan that he has less confidence that we will win away under Lewis than he had with Chris Wilder in charge but more confidence that we would win at home. I can totally see that, but could not really explain why this is so.

Re. Concern no. 3 – I think I heard it reported on Radio Oxford this morning that Ian Lenagan has said he is 50% of the way through the recruitment process – whatever that means. He has to get it right so if the man for the job is not going to be available until next season then we’ll just have to wait won’t we and hope big time that we somehow sneak up. But if we do, then won’t Mickey have earned the right to remain? And the players want him. What a conundrum.