Million pound value on Hill’s day
KEITH Hill admitted he’d have parted with good money to enjoy the experience of managing his side at Wembley against top flight opponents.
The Dale chief crossed swords with Mauricio Pochettino at the home of football in last week’s FA Cup fifth round replay, with Spurs eventually running out 6-1 winners after the game was evenly poised at 1-1 by the halfway stage.
The final scoreline took none of the gloss off the occasion for Hill.
“The first half was amazing,” he said.
“I thought Tottenham were superb - the movement, the speed of the pass, their ability to entice you in. It was brilliant.
“I would have paid a million pounds to have the experience I had on the night. It was incredible, being on the touchline at Wembley against a Premier League opponent.
“It was an unbelievable learning curve for the players, but I thought they stood up to it.
“I will support my team when they give me everything they have got, whether that’s against MK Dons, Fleetwod or Tottenham Hotspur.
“I was immensely proud – but we played on Tottenham’s terms on the night. They chose the music and we danced!
“At Spotland, Tottenham almost played on our terms.
“It was brilliant from my point of view to get Joey Thompson on the pitch, after everything he’s been through.
“The last time we were at Wembley he was in the squad but didn’t make the bench. He deserved it on Wednesday – once the scoreline was beyond us, Joe and Dan Adshead deserved an opportunity to get out onto the pitch. It was a difficult call for me but those two in particular I felt deserved it.”