Rewards and wide respect for Dale
KEITH Hill is urging his players to maintain and build on the feelgood factor garnered from back to back wins over the Christmas period.
Dale enjoyed 2-1 wins against Southend and Blackpool in the build up to today’s home game against Bradford City in League One.
And Hill said the results were reward for the hard work his players put in.
“It gives us confidence, the lads are happy about the fact we’ve won back to back games,” he said. “I think winning the game so late on at Southend gave the players belief.
“We do work hard and the players deserve to be respected. We are respected up and down the Football League for what we do with players, it’s no secret we are financially sound, we do good business and sometimes that takes away from the product on the pitch.
“But we are trying our best to retain our League One status and I am working with a good group of players. Hopefully, that little bit of belief will stand us in good stead for the game at Bradford and beyond.
“My target every season is full of optimism and ambition, you want to try to get promoted and get into the play-offs. But I am realistic as well and if I tell people how realistic I am they think I am being negative, I’m not. I work for good, honest people, but I could leave a dishonest club behind. I could fill it up with debt, I could be like a lot of managers up and down the leagues saying I need more money, I need more players but we are financially sound and I like to work in the same way that I take care of my own bank account. That’s what will give this club a future – it’s not just the players coming through or the business we do on the pitch. Hopefully what we do on the pitch will sustain our League One status.”