With the season finished, myself and AtThePeake have done our own player reviews for what they're worth. We're splitting them into four separate daily articles, starting with the goalkeepers.
* Disclaimer - This is just the opinion of two Dale fans, stupid enough to trek up and down the country spending more money than they earn watching Rochdale.
Jay Lynch
Chaff — 6/10
AtThePeake 6/10
Chaff — You know what, I think overall Jay Lynch has had a decent season. I didn’t expect him to be number 1 when Coleman came in, having been unable to properly cement himself as our number 1 since he joined despite him doing well at the back end of last season. I saw him very much as back-up to Coleman but pre-Christmas there was little to separate them, with neither really inspiring much confidence but the second half of the season has been Lynchy’s despite a couple of costly errors (Carlisle away instantly springs to mind) but ultimately, it’s not been enough for Stockdale to offer him a new contract.
AtThePeake - Lynch's Dale career has been a real rollercoaster and this season was no different. After a great spell of form at the back end of last season I was hoping he could nail down a first-team spot this year but instead he and Joel Coleman have rotated heavily, partly due to the fact that neither of them seemed capable of going more than three games without dropping a clanger during the middle months of the campaign. To be fair to Lynch, he again seemed to be ending the season well having responded well to a particularly poor mistake at Carlisle until injury cut the season short. Probably not a bad decision to move him on.
Joel Coleman
Chaff — 4/10
AtThePeake — 3/10
Chaff — I was delighted when he joined us having left Fleetwood, but it’s just not worked out for him. I thought he was alright at the beginning of the season but slowly, more mistakes kept creeping in and found himself in a real battle with Lynch for the gloves. Injuries haven’t helped either but it was no surprise at all that he was released this week.
AtThePeake - I've got to be honest, from the first few weeks of Coleman's spell I really wasn't sold on him. He was at least partly to blame for Max Taylor's own goal on his debut against Colchester and despite his size never looked comfortable in commanding his area. His mistake that led to the defeat at Forest Green was particularly bad and then a few days later after conceding three at Harrogate it seemed Stockdale had finally lost patience with him and for me, rightly so as by this point his confidence looked shot.