Wycombe: The Opposition View

Following yesterday’s last minute defeat at the hands of Rochdale, here are some views from Dale’s manager Keith Hill and a few of their fans.


Hill told his club’s official website that he felt ‘Incredible emotions and joy’ when the late winner was scored.

‘It was a collective success and it always will be,’ said Hill. ‘There is not one bad apple within our squad and it was superb to be able to celebrate like that.’

‘We were unfortunate not to win more comfortably,’ said the Dale boss, adding that his side were magnificent in every respect. ‘Some of our football in the first half was wonderful,’ he said.

Regarding Wycombe, Hill had this to say: ‘Wycombe did back off, but they have been successful doing it and have done it all season. They have two defensive midfield types and stay solid. They invite you to have the ball and try to counter attack off your mistakes and they’re good at set plays.’

‘Because they set off so deep and because we were very good with the ball, it allowed us not to get counter attacked and thwarted their obvious tactic,’ said Hill, adding that he thought Wycombe’s formation ‘definitely suited’ Rochdale.

Hill concluded by saying: ‘I am absolutely over the moon about every aspect of today and every aspect of our season so far. There is a collective urgency and desire to be successful.’



The Rochdale fans didn’t think much of Wycombe.


The following extracts are taken from ‘Football Forums’ BBC606 and RochdaleAFC.com.


brumdale wrote:
‘The football Dale play is light years ahead of the rubbish Wycombe come up with!’



dr_roch12 wrote:
‘Hilly came up with the goods yesterday and outmaneuvered an ex England manager. Not many would have had the balls to pick such an attacking line up playing away from home.’



R17ALE wrote:
‘Today we won at Wycombe and hurdled them….something that was unthinkable two months ago. We were also by far the better side and should have had 3 or 4.’



Shunn wrote:
‘Frank was outstanding today, but he was let off the hook when Harrold took the bizarre decision to skip towards the goal rather than either pass to the unmarked Akinde or shoot himself.’



krafty80 wrote:
‘Overall we gave Wycombe something of a footballing lesson. I don’t mean that we completely outplayed them, more that we played an extremely positive passing game from the start, with hardly a misplaced ball all afternoon.’



simsek49 wrote:
‘Played them off the park today. Akinde is a bit of a donkey. Harrold is a good forward but he has no support. Phillips is s*** and Holt is just an oldie who sits on the half way line. Wycombe can defend, mainly because of how deep they are, but going forward they have nothing. If they start to concede they will drop right down the league.’



dale4ever wrote:
‘Great performance today from Dale and with an arguably weakened midfield.’



maxwell10 wrote:
“Hill’s catchphrase since he’s been manager at this club has been “No Fear.” I don’t think those words have ever been more true. It looked like the players had “No Fear” ringing in their ears yesterday. 3rd vs 4th should have been a very tight game, and whilst the scoreline suggests it was, it was anything but. We completely dominated the whole game and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Rochdale midfield pairing run a game like they did yesterday.”



TMA Jimmy Calderwood wrote:
‘Wycombe fans won’t be too pleased with that performance.’



The only positives had little to do with the football…

GlennL wrote:
‘I can’t get over just how well everything seems to go at Wycombe. Staff are brilliant and friendly, and above all, professional. I really can’t speak highly enough of them.’



ScotDale wrote:
‘Wycombe is fast becoming my favourite away day. It’s been a happy hunting ground in the last few years.’



Shunn wrote:
‘Wycombe has to be the nicest away day for me. Great ground with great views and extremely friendly staff all around, from the enthusiastic shuttle-bus driver to the steward earnestly welcoming everyone into the ground.’



Boffley wrote:
“What a pleasure it was yesterday to visit a ground where the stewards knew what they were doing and where they had obviously been trained to deal with crowds in a pleasant, courteous, and thoroughly professional manner.

They knew how to communicate properly with the people they were stewarding. At the moment I am having some difficulty moving properly and have to use a stick to get around. From the moment I arrived at the ground I had stewards approaching me to ask if I needed any assistance (what a difference to some grounds I have visited). As we approached the turnstiles another steward came over and told my wife to pay for me as she went in, while he took me round to the exit gate and got them to open it up to let me in. This was totally off his own bat and not requested by me–but greatly appreciated.

On leaving the ground another steward on seeing my Rochdale scarf came over to say “well done, you deserved the win and I hope you get promoted this year.”

It made the whole visit feel good and is something that the stewarding at Spotland should aspire to. It was what an away day should be like.”


Well, at least we have our picturesque ground. Oh wait…

Seriously though, well done to the stewards, this isn’t the first time they’ve been praised by opposition fans. If only the players were performing so well !