Rochdale stick to their guns in drop battle
ROCHDALE’S owners say they are determined to stick with their financial approach – and their manager – through this season’s League One relegation battle.
Long-serving director Andrew Kelly stepped up as interim chairman this week after the resignation of Andrew Kilpatrick and the club added shareholders Damn Altman and Emre Marcelli to their board before issuing a statement.
“We started the 2020-21 season with the lowest playing budget since we were promoted back to League One in 2014,” it read.
“We acknowledge that we have fought a relegation battle in the past few seasons but we are determined once again to maintain our League One status.
“We understand supporters’ frustration with results, which have been compounded by injuries and a small playing squad.
“However, we have a hugely talented manager in Brian Barry-murphy who has worked at Rochdale for 11 years and the board of directors are fully behind him and his team.
“The players signed in the January transfer window are part of our philosophy to develop young talent and monetise these players within the next several years to ensure the future survival of the club.
“In our club’s 114-year history, we have never had a multi-millionaire owner with funds to support a lossmaking club. Instead (we) have had to find ways to balance the books.
“We are actively seeking external investment to pursue our greater
ambitions but until then we shall survive by our own means – notably through a very successful Academy that attracts young players and presents them with opportunities to develop and move on in their careers.”
Barry-murphy, coming up to two years in his first management role, has previously said he does not fear for his job with the club.
“I think we’re in a brilliant place as a squad,” he said last week.
“I’m not trying to spin any propaganda – I will talk about the table for once.
“We were told we’d be down by Christmas and be relegation fodder and the players have raised the expectation levels by their skill and performances.
“We’re on a run where results aren’t what we want but performances have been consistently getting better and our attacking play is as good as anyone in the league.”