Thank you Keith Hill and David Flitcroft

After my last blog post looking back at Keith Hill's career, the news that he's going to Barnsley has been confirmed today. It's been a week of ups and downs as a Rochdale fan, one minute he was going, the next staying and once again going, and it's a shame to see how this has ended.


Quite rightly so, many fans feeling like he's leaving on a low after making promises that he wasn't leaving and part of me wishes he hadn't come out last week and made those comments because it seems like it's turned sour. The news that he may also be taking five backroom staff with him has also dented fans in a way that can't be describeD, we're simply feeling like the heart has been ripped out of the club and everything that has been built up over these past few years has been taken away from us in a matter of days. We're not just losing our manager, we're also losing everything that our modern day club stands for.


And it's not over yet. Will he come back for any players? Chris O'Grady has surely got to be the first to be worried about, he's only ever really succeeded under the Hillcroft way of playing and the lure of money and the Championship maybe too much of a lure for COG.


So now the hunt for a new manager and backroom staff begins. I don't know who will replace Hillcroft, part of me doesn't think they can be replaced, we'll simply start a new era. I'd like to think that we'd attract a decent calibre of manager now given our recent history, but who knows.


As I sit here typing this now I've just read the open letter posted on Barnsley's official website from Keith Hill alongside a picture of him with a Barnsley scarf; it's finally happened, now it's real.


But that's not to say we've turned on him. How could we? Keith Hill and David Flitcroft have given Rochdale some of the most amazing memories that we'll never forget. We can but only thank Hillcroft for everything they've done at club, taking us from "poor little" Rochdale battling it out in the basement division as the most unsuccessful football club in history to a club that players want to play for and one that challenged for a play off place in our highest ever league position.


We've been involved in two play offs...yes OK, we were heartbroken, but we moved on...and we did it under Hillcroft - promotion into League One - and I have nothing but amazing memories from their time at Dale, none more so than their final season. We battered the likes of Southampton and matched high-flying Brighton, we played with NO FEAR and we took each game as it came, we feared no one and believed in the unbelievable. Could you imagine telling a Rochdale fan that when Keith Hill originally took charge?


So, with that in mind, I ask Rochdale fans to join me in saying thank you Keith Hill and David Flitcroft, it's been emotional, it's been exciting, it's been tough, it's been frustrating...but most of all it's been one hell of a ride and we thank you for that.


And don't forget, one person doesn't make a club and neither does one manager. Of course, Keith Hill has done wonders for Rochdale, he's turned everything around, but that's not without the backing of the chairman, the board, everyone at the club and of course the fans. In a few weeks we'll all be excited about our new manager and he'll hopefully take us onto new and exciting things just like Keith Hill did.


And I'll end this blog post with one defining moment from the Hillcroft era...promotion to League One.