Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Rochdale

Why couldn't they have left well alone. What was the problem before that made them screw it up i.e. taking a penalty.The penalty taker was supposed to have the advantage,not the other way round......or was it to make it more interesting for the tv watchers?

 

If you think about it, the rules make sense, as written.

The taker can feint, prior to the point of kicking the ball.

The 'keeper can move along his line but not forwards, until the ball is kicked.

Both can attempt to psyche the other out but not to gain an unfair advantage. Makes perfect sense to me. How anyone can think that the taker is being 'Ungentlemanly' by 'feinting', whilst the 'keeper is free to leap around like a loony, is beyond me.

 

You’ve missed your calling, Brian - I haven’t heard any so-called expert raise that valid argument

 

Spare a thought for your opponents this week.
Their game v Plymouth tomorrow has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.
That leaves with 16 league games still to play before the League One season ends on 28th April.
They next play on Tuesday. So 16 games in 53 days!

 

That's insane, but a lot of it's self-inflicted, unfortunately.
I understand the predicament that a lot of lower league sides are in, but their pitch wasn't up to scratch.
It's something that a lot of teams that share their ground with rugby teams experience and it's hardly a surprise.

Hopefully Rochdale will do themselves justice in the run-in and pull out of the relegation zone.
They've shown what they can do, so now they'll have plenty of opportunities to do it.
Good luck to them and especially to their manager, who seems like a very decent bloke.

 

Lend 'em a couple of our youngsters or reserves?

 

I'll drive Sissoko and Aurier up there myself

 

The Cup run (money aside) has not done them any favours with the fixture pile up. But we have seen enough of them (and I have seen enough League 1 football) to see that they are good enough to get out of it. Plymouth and Gillingham were 23rd and 24th in Nov are now 6th and 11th which shows it can be done

 

They've won 2-0 away to Bury tonight which means since losing at Spurs they've W4 D3 L1 in the league and are in the relegation zone by just one point now with games in hand still on most of the teams above them. Teams who looked comfortable in mid table like Walsall and Oxford are being dragged into it. But Rochdale have a good chance of staying up now.

 

Just proves that losing to Spurs is ultimately better for you. Every club should adopt the policy willingly!

 

Exactly. I think if City lose to us they may even go on to win the league

 

I've got to the point where I think I don't mind City winning it,if we can't! I (secretely) would love Bournemouth to do a Leicester and win it. Eddie Howe would probably jump off the pier!

 

Rochdale can actually move out of the relegation zone with a win tonight against local rivals Oldham, who are one place above them in the table.
I know a few fans from both teams going to this game.
A real six-pointer!
Both teams should be much further up the table; both play decent football and create chances, but don't capitalise when on top and are prone to conceding soft goals. Oldham took 4 points from the first 10 games, which didn't help much either. Oldham haven't been in the fourth tier since the '60s, but have made it to the PL in that time.
League One is a killer - every game is a battle as the teams are so closely matched. A team tends to need 54 points or so to stay up. That's usually only a dozen or so short of a play-off place

 

Good luck to them.I think a lot of us are watching their results.We like the underdog!
I look out for the Fort William result,in Scotland.They very nearly never win a game and a draw is reason to celebrate!!! I wonder if Fort William have fans who suffer season after season?...... and we complain about Spurs (sometimes!)

 

Tranmere and Orient both know what a yarble-kicker that division can be: one season they're making a challenge for the play-off places, the next they're getting dragged down to League Two.

 

It's not coincidental. A decent run puts their better players in the shop window; the next season they're not as good without them and the 5 or 10% drop off sends them down to the other end of the table.
You need 4 top players to get out of League One.
A competent 'keeper.
A man mountain centre half, first to every header.
A box of tricks midfielder - usually a 20 year old on loan from the PL.
A 20 goal striker, good in the air and generally in the right place.
The other seven just need to know the meaning of hard graft.

 

Anyway, Rochdale drew 0-0 with Oldham.
Rochdale got a penalty. One of the 3,000 visiting Oldham fans then ran on the pitch to protest with the ref. He was detained by Anthony Gerrard, the Oldham centre back (and Stevie Me's cousin).
Rochdale then missed the penalty (although it was well saved by Oldham's Haitian international goalkeeper Placide).
So they stay in the relegation zone with 4 games to play.

 

Rochdale conceded an injury time goal to Bradford on Saturday, drawing 1-1 and remaining in the relegation zone by one point.
Plymouth at home tomorrow night.

 

Balls up by the keeper apparently.

 

Yeah, just a bit:

Anyone that just wants to see the equaliser should skip to about the 1.30 mark, but the Rochdale goal was a nice finish, so I didn't start it there.