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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 06:05 7 Jan 2026
Ridiculous wasn't it. Others pulling their tripe out trying to build a innings and he just throws his wicket away. I'm assuming McCullum or Stokes don't even give the new batsman a pep talk before they leave the changing room? Play yourself in, no rush, try to rotate the strike. |
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 04:02 7 Jan 2026
A bt of fight from Bethell. Twenty six runs behind with seven wickets remaining, it would be nice to think we could get a 200 lead but we are just as capable of losing the remaining wickets for not very many. We also now have the full set that a lot of people predicted..Stokes, Archer and Wood all injured.
Edit..fabulous 100 from Bethell. [Post edited 7 Jan 5:17]
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 11:15 6 Jan 2026
It's been a shambles from start to finish and the hierachy need to be held to account. A lack of planning, poor selection, poor preperation, no accountability, players in their comfort zone with the security of a central contract. Radical changes need to be made from top to bottom including county cricket. I suspect it's all about the money though and the shorter format of the game, the bean counters and those making the decisions probably have no appetite for Test Match cricket. I also wonder if deep down most of the players have, do they really value it? [Post edited 6 Jan 11:17]
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 06:59 6 Jan 2026
My money is on a innings defeat. This is what happens when you base your bowling attack around two sick notes...Archer and Wood. It didn't take a rocket science to know that they wouldn't last the series, it was all very predictable. |
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 10:11 5 Jan 2026
Head's highest score was just 40 runs in twenty first class innings leading into this series. |
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 06:36 5 Jan 2026
The shot that led to Smith's dismissal just about summed up the cavalier attitude of this England team. The England bowling has been a disgrace, leg side, off side, too short, over pitched, full toss. They can't even set a field and bowl one side of the wicket. [Post edited 5 Jan 6:40]
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 04:08 5 Jan 2026
Root doing what Root does, he looked on for a century the moment he walked to the crease. A competitive score for England in their first innings, let's see if our bowlers can hit the right length now and get Travis Head out early.
Edit..Duckett drops a dolly and gives Head a lifeline. Bowling all over the place again.
[Post edited 5 Jan 5:05]
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Reply | Th'Ashes Down Under
at 03:32 4 Jan 2026
A good batting surface, Root looking at his best and hopefully booked in for another century down under. Brook still trying to play some ridiculous shots, hopefully he gets away with it. He can't help himself i don't think. [Post edited 4 Jan 3:33]
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Reply | Matheus Mane
at 18:19 3 Jan 2026
He'll be a multi milionaire probably kicking back and enjoying the fruits of his labour, he deserves it. Tamworth away in the middle of winter probably holds very little appeal to him. |
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Reply | The Fitzture List - Rochdale Rising: Inside McNulty’s push for sustainable suc
at 17:31 3 Jan 2026
We can't be sure what's going on behind the scenes at our club and what conversations are taking place between the owners and the manager. At the halfway point we are in a really good position to make a real challenge on the two available promotion spots. To not make the Play Offs would mean us hitting relegation form from now until the end of the season...that's not going to happen. The worse case scenario is a play off place and that gives us a real chance of getting back to the EFL. I would like to see us make a bid for Danny Ormerod from Fylde but that would mean spending money. I think he would be a good investment but obviously none of us know if the budget has been exceeded, or if there is a appetite from the owners to spend more, bearing in mind they've had the pitch to pay for. I'm assuming all our rivals will be looking to strengthen again this month. |
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Reply | The Fitzture List - Rochdale Rising: Inside McNulty’s push for sustainable suc
at 15:38 3 Jan 2026
I'm not just talking about playing the number nine role though when i mention the make up of our forward line. My main point is that most of them aren't fit enough to complete a full ninety minutes, some struggle to string a handful of games together before picking up a injury, one can only play on grass, one hasn't started a game since we signed him and another ( Smith) still doesn't look fit to me going off his performance on Tuesday. I accept picking up a forward who ticks the boxes isn't easy but if McNulty is so selective and likes to wait for the right person then why did he sign Amantchi? A player we were lumbered with for 5 months. When i look at the choices we have up front it reminds me of last seaaon when McNulty collected left sided players, all of them of similar ilk and none of them quite good enough for a variety of reasons. [Post edited 3 Jan 15:46]
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Reply | The Fitzture List - Rochdale Rising: Inside McNulty’s push for sustainable suc
at 14:35 3 Jan 2026
I'm also starting to lose a bit of faith in Rodney to be honest, it's a shame because on his day he's very good. Unfortunately he is missing too many games and when it comes to reliability we don't seem to have anybody who we can call on week in and week out. It disrupts the whole team and even how we set up for games.Hendo is 41 years old and we are now looking on him as our main forward again, a player who has only started a handful of games over the laat eighteen months and hasn't even been on the subs bench when other options are available.
If we are serious about promotion this season McNulty needs to have a real think about the makeup of the forward players we have in the club because i think even at 41 yrs old and not able to complete a full game Henderson is only second to Mani in the pecking order and that shouldn't really be the case if we want to challenge the likes of York and FGR. It's a predicament that should have been addressed when it became apparent Amantchi wasn't fit for purpose and the fact that we still can't keep Rodney on the pitch for any length of time. [Post edited 3 Jan 14:52]
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Reply | The Fitzture List - Rochdale Rising: Inside McNulty’s push for sustainable suc
at 12:10 3 Jan 2026
I'm not sure Mancini will be risked to start a game on a plastic pitch though, his appearance from the subs a few days ago was his first in a long time. Rodney wasn't risked when we played Tamworth and i'm not sure Mancini will be. I'm hoping we will have a new signing up front next week or maybe even two. Fingers crossed we get some good news in respect of Mani and Rodney's injuries. [Post edited 3 Jan 12:11]
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Reply | The Fitzture List - Rochdale Rising: Inside McNulty’s push for sustainable suc
at 11:12 3 Jan 2026
Front two is too lightweight and i'd have real concerns that both are fit enough to last longer than 60 minutes, there's no physical presence up front at all with those two. Mancini is obviously a talented player but he can break down at any minite, i thought he was more of a winger. We also can't lose sight of the fact that East and Gilmore have been very instrumental in our fantastic form this season and one defeat against Hartlepool doesn't change that. I'd like to see Petit accomodated in the team if needed but not at the expense of dropping East or Gimore because they don't deserve that. Gilmore is first name on the teamsheet for me. Let's not fall into the trap of changing a winning formula just for the sake of it. If the Tamworth game is being viewed as a time for experimenting then the line up being suggested is fair enough but i'm not sold on Smith from what i've seen and would a plastic pitch not hinder Mancini rather than help him? [Post edited 3 Jan 11:21]
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Hartlepool United
at 09:27 31 Dec 2025
Forget the rest, just concentrate on our own results. A win on Saturday and we are in a great position. Sometimes you run into a team who are better than you on the day, that was the case last night. |
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Hartlepool United
at 08:09 31 Dec 2025
There would have been a way to combat Hartlepool during that first thirty minute onslaught and that would have been to utilise Mani and turn them, bypass midfield and go long to him. His hold up play would have allowed us to move further up the pitch and give us another option. His absence resulted in the ball constantly being mopped up by their defenders and ending up back in our half, it was like a hot potato and we can't control the game. Reid gave EEL a torrid time and they overloaded at the back post everytime they got the opporrunity. The drop in performance and scrambling for results shouldn't come as a surprise though, any team with the quality of Watmuf, Beckwith, Barlow, Allarakhia, Mani missing would struggle. Rodney isn't properly fit neither and Smith certainly isn't match fit. As you rightly point out, Hartlepool were excellent last night. [Post edited 31 Dec 2025 8:11]
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Reply | TVOS Preview - Rochdale v Hartlepool United
at 07:46 31 Dec 2025
Selection was wrong last night and that's not with hindsight. Hendo should have played the first hour, Smith playing central was a poor choice. Pritchard has been substituted at half time in the last two games and Petit should have been introduced at the start of the second half also. I would be looking at starting with Petit, Barlow and Henderson on Saturday and maybe Berger. |
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