DogDaley

Just to put the Dale team in context: Moore - not played Ntlhe/Williams - sub for first team Murphy - first team coach Adshead/Morley/Mathieson - youth team only so far but did play for first team in the Checkatrade Cannon/Inman/Perkins/Done - first team players

Perkins has been brought in to reinforce the midfield. Last season we drew too many by surrendering leads due to an inexperienced midfield (Camps/Kitching/Cannon/Rathbone). Dale fans expecting Perkins MkI from ten years ago will be in for a shock. The pitch has been reseeded. The grass is coming through the sand rather than the other way round. I don't understand much about these things but the preparatory work was done before the Spurs game.

Not a problem. It's easier for us to accept the drop than yourselves for obvious reasons. It would be funny though if the three "Manchester North End" teams went down; maybe it's time for the merger?

You can forget us (Dale). Hill's messed up this season and the pitch is a right-off. They've bought a new one to go down in the summer but anything in the meantime is just temporary (drill and fill being tried this week). They even tried to swap tonight's home game v Wigan with the away one in February and it's been rumoured that we're looking at playing games elsewhere e.g. Stalybridge. All we've got really is the hope of Spurs in the Cup but if it rains between now and next week, we've no idea how the Millwall replay gets played.

Been watching Dale since 1985 and the Calvin/Clarke episode is still the most baffling and indefensible incident I've witnessed. I say this because he gets kicked to buggery nearly every game and never retaliates. He's one of the last off the pitch and is one of those always available for school visits etc. Basically, that mad couple of seconds apart, he's been a model professional since he's been with us and is still highly regarded by the fans despite his dismal goal record. In general, our form's been pretty ropy. Recently, we've become hard to beat but the table doesn't lie. Keith Hill's made some indifferent acquisitions which hasn't helped. The only plus is that we're financially solvent for at least the next two or three years and it's in the fans' DNA to accept this as OK. Low expectations I know... but there you go. A draw would be most welcome as would an eff off from Harry Bosch.

Not sure. When Hill first came in, they reached levels comparable with yours but now they've dropped off to about 2500 home fans on a good day. That's pretty pathetic really. I think once the novelty had worn off, the fair-weather fans just got bored with it all and would rather watch the Premier League on an illegal stream. Plus there's the cost of it all. Our board are great at running the football side of it but useless at getting attendances up. We've got a new bloke in, the one who initiated that Hartlepool season tickets for £100 a few years ago, and he's introduced very cheap half season tickets. Hopefully they'll be something similar for the full season next year. Then it's about getting your hands dirty and getting out there and selling them rather than just sticking something on social media and hoping for the best. We'll see. Two other reasons why we'll always struggle for fans: a lack of any meaningful history and a ground hidden away from most passing traffic. Latics have the advantage over Dale in both respects. Plus you also have a brilliant community team who I've worked with from time to time and who do a lot of excellent unseen work for your club (can't speak for ours).

We just accept now that anyone half-decent in our team won't be there for long. If we ever get the attendance side of things sorted, we might be able to hold on to them for a bit longer. Mind you, the greatest bit of business by any club ever is when you lot got half a million for Trotman.

Hi Dale fan in total humility (I know our crowds are rubbish and our history is worse before anyone says it). Just thought I'd begin the match thread for thee. Personally, I think it will be a draw. You seem quite resolute in defence despite your paucity of goals. P Clarke seems to be your King Canute; he will be looking to have a better game than when he last appeared at Spotland (he and Bury were comically bad). I really don't know much else about your players apart form what some of you post on here but as long as they don't do a Bury and try to maim any of ours, it appears you have the battling qualities to eke out a point. Our opening few games didn't reflect how well we'd done in pre-season but the recent six game winning run has steadied the ship. That said, we've lost the last two and aren't that far ahead of yourselves - I think we'll be mid-table towards the end of the season. Put all that in the predictometer, add a couple of thousand from Oldham and it's got 1-1 written all over it. Couple more points: 1. I think the best thing for Latics is to get relegated, regroup and return to Div 3 with a new hope. Too many false dawns in this division sees you in a limboland that's eroding your club. 2. However bad it gets, be thankful you're not Bury. Their overspending will crash down on them sooner rather than later and I hope they get smashed to smithereens for it.