Results Turning For Town
Mon 7th October 2013 | Rochdale Town | By Ian Templeman
After a slow start to the season, on the face of it Rochdale Town appear to have hit a bit of form, with three wins and a draw in their past four games.
However, Town manager Mark Canning insists that nothing much has changed since day one - it's just that now his young side are starting to get the results their performances have deserved.
"In all the games we have played, right from the start of the season, we have played some nice stuff and I wouldn't say we have played badly in any game", insists Mark. "It's just been a case of players making mistakes or being beaten by bad decisions, either an individual error by a player or one by an official, and that is what was costing us.
"The only heavy defeat we had was at Nelson when we lost 6-1 but anyone who was at the game would know that it was never a 6-1 game, we were just on the wrong end of some decisions that altered the game".
However, some long sessions on the training ground working with his players means that Mark is seeing the rewards from the work being reflected in the results in the past few weeks.
"Pre-season was a problem as I had a plan in mind as to how we were going to play, but some of the players we had didn't quite fit the bill", he explained. "But we had to run with them, and to the best of their ability they tried to play the game we way we wanted them to play, but the results weren't coming.
"We have a young side, our average is just over 19, so we do lack a little bit of experience but the lads are starting to believe in what we are trying to do, and seeing that if they play to a system we will get results. Slowly but surely it's beginning to work and they are beginning to believe in themselves.
"We've been solid, but when you have young players, if you get a run of three or four results against you they stop believing a bit. But on the training ground they have been quality.
"We have worked long tiring hours on the training pitch, which we don't normally do at this level, spending time working on shape, and the last four games we have been really solid.
"Quite few of them have been at Evo-Stik League clubs in the past so they have a good pedigree. One night last week it was dark when we finished, but we were working on some moves and the lads wanted to stay until we got it right, which is a real credit to them. A lot of the time lads can't wait to get home after training, but their attitude was they wanted to get it right, which is great".
Looking ahead, Mark is hoping that his team can continue to produce good results, but in common with every other manager in Division One, he insists that there are no easy games and every point gained will be hard earned.
"I think this division is a fantastic division again, like it was last season, in the way that anyone can beat anyone", he said. "Normally if you get promotion, you can afford to lose maybe four or five games, but I can see a team getting promoted with them having lost seven or eight games, that's how close I think it is. But I think we'll do OK this season".
Results Turning For Town
Mon 7th October 2013 | Rochdale Town
By Ian Templeman
After a slow start to the season, on the face of it Rochdale Town appear to have hit a bit of form, with three wins and a draw in their past four games.
However, Town manager Mark Canning insists that nothing much has changed since day one - it's just that now his young side are starting to get the results their performances have deserved.
"In all the games we have played, right from the start of the season, we have played some nice stuff and I wouldn't say we have played badly in any game", insists Mark. "It's just been a case of players making mistakes or being beaten by bad decisions, either an individual error by a player or one by an official, and that is what was costing us.
"The only heavy defeat we had was at Nelson when we lost 6-1 but anyone who was at the game would know that it was never a 6-1 game, we were just on the wrong end of some decisions that altered the game".
However, some long sessions on the training ground working with his players means that Mark is seeing the rewards from the work being reflected in the results in the past few weeks.
"Pre-season was a problem as I had a plan in mind as to how we were going to play, but some of the players we had didn't quite fit the bill", he explained. "But we had to run with them, and to the best of their ability they tried to play the game we way we wanted them to play, but the results weren't coming.
"We have a young side, our average is just over 19, so we do lack a little bit of experience but the lads are starting to believe in what we are trying to do, and seeing that if they play to a system we will get results. Slowly but surely it's beginning to work and they are beginning to believe in themselves.
"We've been solid, but when you have young players, if you get a run of three or four results against you they stop believing a bit. But on the training ground they have been quality.
"We have worked long tiring hours on the training pitch, which we don't normally do at this level, spending time working on shape, and the last four games we have been really solid.
"Quite few of them have been at Evo-Stik League clubs in the past so they have a good pedigree. One night last week it was dark when we finished, but we were working on some moves and the lads wanted to stay until we got it right, which is a real credit to them. A lot of the time lads can't wait to get home after training, but their attitude was they wanted to get it right, which is great".
Looking ahead, Mark is hoping that his team can continue to produce good results, but in common with every other manager in Division One, he insists that there are no easy games and every point gained will be hard earned.
"I think this division is a fantastic division again, like it was last season, in the way that anyone can beat anyone", he said. "Normally if you get promotion, you can afford to lose maybe four or five games, but I can see a team getting promoted with them having lost seven or eight games, that's how close I think it is. But I think we'll do OK this season".
