Windfall won’t alter Dale belief
THE imminent windfall from striker Scott Hogan’s sale will not prompt a change in the safety-first financial policy employed at Rochdale.
The Brentford striker was on the verge of sealing a move to Premier League side West Ham as the Observer went to press, with the Bees said to be holding out for their £15m valuation of the 24-yearold.
Dale developed Hogan in the club’s youth ranks after spotting him playing for Salford College’s Academy.
‘If we do get a bit of a windfall then we won’t go out and splash the cash’
He spent a year at the club before being released into non-league football in 2010.
He returned three years later with a new-found determination to cut it at professional level and went on to score 19 goals in 40 appearances for the club on the way to promotion from League Two.
He signed for Brentford in July 2014 and despite suffering serious injury in his first year at the club, he went on to fire 21 goals in 33 games for the London outfit, attracting the interest of the Hammers, Norwich and LB Leipzig.
The Hammers returned with a fourth bid for Higab this week and look set to land their man.
And with Dale’s sell-on clause said to be in the region of 30 per cent, the club’s coffers will receive an almighty boost.
But according to chief executive Russ Green, that doesn’t frugal change.
“Obviously the potential Scott Hogan sale has been discussed , there is a sell-on which would be great for the club,” he said.
“But I think what we have to do with anything that we get from that is mean approach Dale’s will just ensure the continued stability of the club.
“One of the reasons Rochdale is so successful is because it is stable and we don’t go crazy.
“If we do get a bit of a windfall then we don’t go out and splash out. We’re not that type of club at all, we’re the type who just want to keep the stability going and if the manager does want to enhance his squad for a push at the play-offs then there will be something there for him. But at the minute it’s all speculation!”
Keith Hill takes his side to Southend this afternoon as Dale resume their League One campaign following their FA Cup third round win against Barrow last weekend.
Dale, fourth in the division, head into the game six points clear of the seventh-placed Shrimpers.
Hill’s men have won their last six games in all competitions.