What a difference a game makes. This time last week,
we had questions galore: is Shaw a pub player, why is Dagnall so out of
form, why haven't we replaced Perkins, what's gone wrong with Higgy......
Then one blitz of Barnet later, and there's Sunshine over Spotland once
again, and the world became a happier place.
It's happened before and it'll happen again, but that
first win of the season carries a sort of pressure which had been
hanging over our shoulders since May, and it's vital to get win under
the belt so we can all let out a collective sigh of relief and rightly
start seeing the glass as being almost overflowing rather than half
empty.
You can always gauge when morale is high, as the only
time people fall out on the messageboard is over the worthiness of
tomatoes and degrees, whilst debating the reasons behind the Rochdale
climate. Couldn't make it up, and it's the closest we come at Dale to a
pat on the back.
This weekend's game is very winnable. We'll go there
probably unchanged again, with the only possible alteration would be
Toner coming in for Higginbotham if Hill sees this as a game we need to
be less gung-ho in. But with that in mind, heading into games with a
less attacking stance has never worked for us under Hill, with the best
results being where we get the opposition on the back foot.
When you start looking at Bradford, it would appear
that this weekend's game is nothing but a warm up for their much more
prestigious Johnstone's Paints Trophy game taking place during the week
at Elland Road. Everywhere you look, it would appear the focus is fully
on their forthcoming derby game, and whilst you get the odd person
coming out paying lip service to Saturday's game, it's clear that all
minds are on the Leeds game. You can only hope for their sake it goes
better than their last Cup derby encounter.
Huddersfield result aside, it's been a very good
start to the season for the Bantams and it looks like one in which they
won't repeat the mistakes they suffered last season. Victories over the
likes of Notts County and Macclesfield might not be the sort of thing to
get the bookies paying out early, it's these bread and butter wins (with
no disrespect to Macclesfield) on which promotion bids are made. City
are already five points ahead of where they were last season.
There's been big investment in the City squad this
season, and unlike with Peterborough last season, that investment has
been self financed thanks to the outstanding crowds that City have
enjoyed since their drop into Division Four. They came about thanks to
the fantastic initiative by the City board to sell season tickets which
worked out at £6 per match and whilst their overall league position
may have continued to drop, their crowds bucked that trend. We cannot
praise this highly enough, even tho it sees us pay £20 to watch the game
this weekend.
McCall has chosen well with his his signings this
Summer. The signing of Boulding will be the one who captures most
people's eyes, as it will be when you go out and sign one of the top
scorers in the division, but it was the capture of Paul McLaren from
Tranmere which stood out for me.
He was a player of real quality with Tranmere last
season, and the only question mark for me is why is he playing at this
level rather than the one above which he most certainly could do. I'm
sure Bradford fans will cite big club, super stadium, huge crowds ad
nauseum, but we all know that they are only reasons for a player's first
interview after signing. But who cares about his reasons as he continues
to produce the goods and pull the strings for a side which showed in
glimpses last year that there was quality to be taken advantage of.
It'll be a tough un for Dale this weekend, but
history shows that away games such as this are often happy hunting
grounds for us. I remember Leyton Orient making a big deal of having a
100% record a couple of seasons ago till little old Rochdale stepped
into town.
Could the same happen this weekend? Well with their
minds elsewhere, and the quality of our side, we've got every chance. We
won't be able to get away with the little old Rochdale card again, not
having beaten the Bantams twice last season. They know we're not the
Rochdale of the open top toilet days, and the days of us being plucky
underdogs have long since gone.
We'll head to Bradford with the home side very much
aware of who are problem players will be, and when you read of
opposition supporters saying that they'd take a draw against us, it's a
massive compliment to everything that's happened at Dale over the past
couple of seasons.
But let's not kid ourselves that this will be one big
love in, where we'll have ninety minutes of mutual backslapping. It's
Lancashire v Yorkshire, and with City fast becoming the new Halifax and
it's the closest that the Bantams will get to a derby game this season
in the League. It's a match where the result could prove to be the
difference in May, but it's a game in Yorkshire, and you all know our
record of playing matches in the County which won the Silver Medal in
the War of the Roses....
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