Mcnulty’s gratitude to Rochdale fanbase
JIM Mcnulty expressed his gratitude to the Rochdale fanbase for sticking with him and his team during a difficult run of defeats.
Dale fell to a fourth successive loss on Saturday when Solihull Moors ran out 2-1 winners at the Crown Oil Arena.
Though Moors arguably shaded an entertaining first half, Dale were very much in the contest by the halfway point, with Cian Hayes cancelling out Callum Maycock’s opening goal.
However, with increasingly heavy rainfall spoiling the game as a spectacle, Moors bagged a second six minutes into the second period via former Dale striker Tahvon Campbell.
And with the pitch deteriorating, Dale were unable to find a way back into the game. The defeat left them ten points adrift of the play-off picture, their run of five losses from the last six games all but ending their hopes of a topseven finish and the shot at an immediate return to the Football League.
With a bleak financial backdrop off the field and disappointment on it, fans could have been forgiven for voicing their frustrations on what was a ‘miserable afternoon’ according to Mcnulty.
But, barring a few isolated calls of displeasure, the supporters stuck admirably by their team.
“The first thing that comes to my mind, and what I felt at the side of the pitch in the second half, was a massive respect for our fans,” said Mcnulty after the game.
“It was one of the best I can remember in a tough moment, after consecutive losses. The fans were singing away all second half. I thought they were absolutely amazing.
“I don’t think we can say too much at the moment, when we’ve just lost four on the spin.
“We need to be humble and accept that we’ve done things wrong, or that things have cost us from our own doing.
“I feel like a draw would have been a fair result, and although the half of the pitch we played in during the second half was a swamp that we couldn’t get out of – they kicked it into it and we couldn’t get out of it – although I think those things, we can’t say too much, we just have to take our medicine, be what I’ve asked this squad to be all season and be humble.
“When we win, ignore any noise, and when we lose, take any noise we deserved.
“But in the midst of all that, just get on with it and go again. I felt grateful in the second half that the fans sang and sang as the rain teemed down, as their team was getting beaten, they sang all game and I could hear my name being sung.
“For the last few years where we have been as a club and where the fanbase has felt – and they are disappointed with losses because they had hopes of reaching the play-offs this year, whether that’s a realistic ambition or not, that hopes dampens when you are losing games – but they sang non-stop on a miserable day.
“I felt so grateful, they were amazing.
“That togetherness is everything. For where we’ve been – the last few years have been horrendous – and for our fans to perform like that when we lose, it’s just amazing.
“I know up until the last two home games we’d gone unbeaten for months at home and that was a good moment for us as a club, but we’ve just lost our last two at home and we’ve just lost our last four games, so to still be supported like that, I’m just so grateful and it really warms me that we’ve done some things this year that they’ve appreciated.
“This team and this group has done some things that make them feel some good things about them, even though they won’t be happy with the loss – the team’s not, but we just promised each other we’re going to accept we haven’t been good enough. Something’s not been good enough in the recent times for us to lose those games. Did we deserve to lose some of them? No, but we did.
“It happens, football does that to you. It really kicks you in the proverbial sometimes and when you’re in that moment, circumstances get even worse for you, like they did today, it was so much worse for us in that half than the other half because that half here at the ground is under water more than the other. It’s a little bit tough, but I look into the players’ eyes and I believe they will look at themselves first and they won’t start blaming the world.
“They’ve got a fanbase that sung all the way to the end, which was empowering.”
Mcnulty said the squad would be working to cut down the number of chances opponents are creating against Dale.
“We’ve conceded too many goals in the last few games, and that’s because we’ve conceded too many chances,” he said. “We have to go away and look at ourselves, including me.”
It was just the first time this season that Mcnulty had a full complement of players to choose from, with Devante Rodney the latest to return from injury.
“It’s unchartered territory, 30 games in before having the whole squad available, is unbelievable,” he said.
“I’m glad it’s been the hard way in my first role of management. It’s been amazingly challenging at times. I speak to other managers who have been surprised at our circumstances throughout the
year, but it’s been an amazing learning experience.
“Take results and performances out of it, I’m grateful we’ve got those players back. It’s surprising that it’s the first time we’ve had that whole squad available and somehow, we’ve stayed in the top half of the table, which is a credit to the connection between the players and the fans.”
Devante Rodney was among the players returning from injury as he came on as a second half sub following two long spells on the sidelines.
“Dev looked like the real Dev in moments
when he came on, what he could be when Dev trusts his body,” said Mcnulty.
“Dev’s got such a powerful body that at times I think his muscles have given way and he’s been fearful, he plays within himself at times because he’s got a fear that maybe a particular muscle’s vulnerable.
“What Dev has just been through with his heart condition for all those months out and then as soon as he returns he gets a major hamstring injury, he’s been through a lot. In that return, the first return, I could tell he wasn’t feeling himself, like
he could truly release himself but today I thought like he looked serious.
“He’s another player that we can only benefit from having on the pitch if we can get him up to speed as quickly as possible. You can try and unleash him on this league, for what’s left of the league.
“It’s been a shame we haven’t had him all season, it really has, it would helped the squad no end – but we haven’t. Loads of circumstances have been against us, it just is what it is. We have to get on with it, we have to just work our way through
anything that’s been thrown at us like we have all season.”
Dale were due to host Boreham Wood on Tuesday evening as the Observer went to press.