Let's Make History!

[tony100]

Let's Make History: Rochdale A.F.C.

Hello and welcome to my first ever Football Manager Story. I have been a fan of the game for a few years now and have read other stories on various forums so I thought it was about time I gave it a go myself.

I will be posting updates as often as time allows me, they will cover a month in the game and I will go over results, player performances, transfers and anything else that crops up.

As the title suggests I have a three year plan managing Rochdale, this is my first save in Football Manager 2014 having got is a Christmas gift. I plan to get Rochdale playing Championship football in just 3 seasons. The bookies have tipped us to finish in 10th​ place but with I believe play-offs are certainly achievable.


The Team
As you can see, I inherited a fairly in depth squad with suitable cover in most positions so felt that bringing in players was unnecessary. I did however have a look at players who were on a free transfer and those available for loan.
As a result of this I bought in two strikers, these were Mike Grella on a three year deal and Kieran Agard on a season long loan from League 1 side Rotherham United.
The players that left the club were young attacking midfielder Callum Camps who was snapped up by A.F.C. Bournemouth in a deal worth ?33,000.
Elsewhere Joel Logan, Scott Tanser and Steve Collis all went out on loan. Joining Luton Town, Kidderminster and Forest Green Rovers respectively.


Pre-Season

Results were mixed in the team?s first pre-season under my management. Draws at home to Port Vale and Dundee weren?t terribly bad results as they were both ?higher opposition? so matching them was pleasing. A 4-3 loss at home to Crewe wasn?t at all worrying either as putting 3 past an established team in the league above was impressive. Finally an away trip to non-league side Trafford ended in a convincing 4-0 win, a score line which came as no surprise.
As you can see both Grella and Agard, the sides new signing?s, were on the top of their game both getting on the score sheet.
This is always pleasing and will have helped them settle into the team and gain some much needed confidence heading into our first game of the season.

The next update will cover the month of August in the league, thank you for reading my first entry. Any advice or improvements would be much appreciated. Many thanks. ​

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[tony100]

August 2013

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Saturday 3rd​ August 2013 ? 3pm KO - Sky Bet League 2 - Rochdale 1-2 Hartlepool

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View attachment 439777After a mediocre pre-season we turned our attentions to the league. Our opening match was at home against recently relegated Hartlepool, a team tipped to finish in the top six. Loan signing Kieran Agard put us ahead after twelve minutes but the lead didn?t last long as Neil Austin equalized for the visitors after the half hour mark. The second half saw both sides try and get the winner but it fell to Luke James who raced away in the 85th​ minute to slot the ball home. It was disappointing to concede so late on as a point would have been a fair result and we deserved at least a point from the game.
Tuesday 6th​ August 2013 ? 7.45pm KO ? Capital Cup 1st​ Round - Rochdale 1-3 Notts County
View attachment 439776The next fixture was the opening round of the League Cup and we took on League 1 side Notts County. We again took the lead early on like in the previous fixture with the same scorer, Kieran Agard. That?s two in two for the on loan striker now! Despite this we conceded an own goal ten minutes into the second half, this sent the game to extra time as neither side could grab the winner before the 90 minutes was up. Going into extra time both teams had made all three substitutions, despite this them being the ?higher opposition? meant they had fitter players and their quality shun throw eventually as they added two in the space of fourteen minutes to advance into the next round of the cup. This result didn?t really bother me, yes a cup run would have been nice but my main concern is the league and being knocked out the cup allows us to focus on that even more so.
Saturday 10th​ August 2013 ? 3pm KO ? Sky Bet League 2 - Burton Albion 1-3 Rochdale
View attachment 439780Our first away trip was to the Pirelli Stadium where we visited Burton Albion. New signing Mike Grella put us ahead after just 4 minutes and we were looking good value for our lead. Adam McGurk equalized for the home side just after the half hour mark but we quickly regained our one goal advantage after Kieran Agard grabbed his third goal in as many games just a minute later. Grella popped up again just before the hour mark and sealed all three points for us after his speculative effort found the back of the net. A much needed three points for the Dale as we moved up to 10th​ in the league.
Saturday 17th​ August 2013 ? 3pm KO ? Sky Bet League 2 - Rochdale 1-4 Chesterfield
View attachment 439779We returned to Spotland for a fixture against high flying Chesterfield and they completely tore us apart. We went into half time two nil down after goals from O?Shea and Humphreys put Chesterfield in the lead. The second half was much of the same, total domination. Shot after shot for Chesterfield resulted in another two goals, one from the spot for ex Ipswich and Huddersfield winger Gary Roberts and the other from Eoin Doyle just after the hour mark. There was no way back for us after that but we did manage a consolation after Henderson?s headed effort found the back of the net in the 88th​ minute. Another disappointing result at home, if we are to challenge for a play-off spot we need to make our home a fortress, something in the early games we aren?t doing terribly well.
Saturday 24th​ August 2013 ? 3pm KO ? Sky Bet League 2 - Plymouth Argyle 4-0 Rochdale
View attachment 439774For the third time this month we have conceded three or more goals, this time Plymouth smashed four past us with Cedric Baseya scoring a 23 minute hat-trick. Having conceded three after just 23 minutes it was pretty much game over. Luke Young added a fourth just after half time to claim all three points us. Ending the month on a four nil drubbing summed up August as a month, very disappointing. We need to tighten up at the back and stop leaking so many goals if we are to challenge for those play-off places this season. Saturday
31st​ August 2013 ? 3pm KO ? Sky Bet League 2 - Oxford City 1-1 Rochdale
View attachment 439775 Our final fixture of the month saw us travel to Oxford looking to improve on the last two performances. Improve is exactly what we did, picking up a point after leading for well over an hour was much better than the previous two games and set us up well for the month ahead. Centre half Jack O?Connell scored with a header after just 8 minutes. We defended the lead for 65 minutes but conceded a penalty which Sean Rigg dispatched. A point was a fair result and as stated earlier it?s a huge leap forward from the last two games where we conceded goals for fun. A much better way to end a hectic opening month consisting six fixtures!
Player of the Month - Kieran Agard
View attachment 439781On loan striker Kieran Agard impressed me in the opening month of the season. Scoring three in his opening three games h e made an immediate impact after arriving on loan from League 1 side Rotherham. He?s also useful on the wings as he possesses some decent pace, looks to be a useful player and if his top performances continue I may look to make his loan move a permanent one.
Form -
View attachment 439778W 1 D 1 L 4
A very poor start to the season, and we found ourselves in 15th​ place at the end of the month, a few places short of where we would have liked to have been. Despite this I think we have massive room for improvement and as the new signings settle in we are sure to see improvements rapidly starting with a trip to Bury in the Johnston?s Paint Trophy 1st​ Round.