The Poolie Bunker

Made his debut off the bench today and impressed the locals by all accounts…even more surprising given the verdict from some of the usual suspects here that he was crocked until Xmas !

…..that being said let’s see how long it takes for him to recover

Of course he impressed the locals, he's a fucking brilliant player at this level I'd have loved us to have kept him, regardless of his injuries.

Well
Said !

Who needs Anthony Gomez Mancini when we have Bradley Walker?

Unbelievable. Rochdale CHANGED THEIR ENTIRE TEAM from Saturday for tonight's game and Mancini only rated a place on the bench. Doesn't take a genius to work out his fitness - or rather the lack of it - is the issue.

So he played 30 minutes against Burnley's kids. Fantastic. No doubt that makes him a nailed on starter for Dale's first 11 against Altrincham on Saturday

If - not when - he gets fit enough to start a proper game for them, how long will it be till he breaks down again?

Mancini was my favourite player for the last 2 seasons at Pools - but the club were right to release him. He was named twice in a Pools squad in the final 20 games of last season. 1 start

Agreed, the old rose tinted specs come out, with little knowledge of the background of a player who if fit by the normal standards of fitness would not be playing anywhere near the National League …… getting nostalgic over a player with exceptional talent but chronic injury problems is just a tease and ‘what ifs’.
Cameo roles on the field are not what we need, pleasant as they may be, we need work and commitment.
It’s all very sad, but sporadic performances are not the answer.

Agreed, time alone will tell if Mancini is worth his salt at Rochdale - or at least more worthy than he was at Pools. True, cameo roles aren't what we need but neither is a squad of run of the mill journeymen lacking the flair and creativity of the likes of Mancini and Clearly which is what we need to make any impact on the top of the table.

when will they erect a statue for him placed alongside lisa stansfield and gracie fields for his service to the town.

And Cyril Smith.

he was a one man grooming gang. must be something in the water in that een perd dorp.

A bit like a, VW Microbus, nice to have and romanticise about but you know it’s gonna break down and end up spending more time on the drive than on the road.

Depends on your outlook. To me if we got twenty 'cameo' appearances from him off the bench I'd be happy. I don't know the stats but I'm pretty sure that every time he put in an appearance we got a result.
The sporadic performances can make a difference. No rose tints here, his fitness problems are pretty obvious, but his talent was blatant. That's why he's plying his trade in the national league, I'd have kept him in a heartbeat.
I understand why we released him, totally get it, but fucking hell, he was a joy to watch. Not many players I've seen in fifty odd years watching pools have excited me like Anthony. Anyway good luck to the lad.

It’s the football biz, not showbiz.
Cameo appearances intermittently and no actual guarantee to when or how long or how much worse his fitness could become is what has to be the factors taken into consideration..
If he was a beautiful Concorde airliner you’d probably opt for the coach just to be safe.
Sentiment doesn’t come into it….we need a TEAM…a machine that gathers points not a circus, points means prizes to get out of this quicksand of a league and we need fighters and battlers working together.

Well, that's the thing about memory isn't it - we're more likely to remember the good stuff (and sometimes the bad stuff) than all the dull stuff in the middle.

The stats are easy to get hold of if you're lucky enough to be a Pools fan - the In The Mad Crowd website has it all, an amazing effort going back decades now from Poolie Mad John.

Sadly, it's a long way from true that every time Mancini played we got a result. Last season he started 7 games - W2, D3, L2 - which is an exact mirror image of Pools bang average season W14, D18, L14.

It's the same story with his substitute appearances I'm afraid - he made a lot of those while Darren Sarll was manager, including 6 defeats.

Doesn't matter if he scores a hat trick every game; he's not our player any more. Move on

I've moved on the thread was specifically about him, I was a fan. That's all.

He's not in the Dale squad today.

Opinions on former players are allowed
I thought Molyneux was class 2nd half v Boro last week.
Could even be a championship player next season.
Good luck to him.
He's progressing his career very well and always put a good shift in for Pools.

The lad is seriously injury prone, no good to us apart from one brilliant spell when he first came. Losing manni will prove way more costly than the French wizard.

Probably only me glad to see the back of them.

It was blatant MannyD wanted to be away from January and his penaltys seemed to over carry what was really going on in his lacklustre efforts from there on.

And no place for Sicknoters in the workplace for efficient production.

We crack on under a proven manager and see what happens.

I challenge him to get DC cult status.

UTP.

agree, and you can add any player who wants away no matter how good they are should be allowed to have their wish as quickly as possible. the wrong with that attitude can spead there arritude across the team.

We all know he’s going to be fit as a fiddle for the game Rochdale rock up at the Vic…classic pools

or classic mancini.

Funny you mention about Manny…I was listening to a pre season review recently in this division and the two commentators thought his ‘replacement’ was a better prospect.

Not in Rochdale squad for 3rd game in a row I see.

He's on the bench https://x.com/officiallydale/status/195 ... 78/photo/1

Oops my mistake! Still didn't play though

A part time sub till the inevitable happens.

Mancini n MannyD come on as 2nd half subs yesterday and both got yellow cards.
Lost at Brackley.

Good memories but no end product…..would Manni have fit into this team if he remained, because this is now a team that works apparently…?

Mani would fit into this team and style of imo, he definitely looked better alongside another striker rather than in the lone striker role feeding on scraps imo.
Mancini definitely wouldn't fit imo, he's undoubtedly a talented player but who would he replace without disrupting the system?
Both gone anyway, and neither started for Rochdale yesterday. Mancini definitely doesn't look up to the rigours of a full season of NL football, Mani has only ever had decent scoring stats at Pools will he change that?

Mani didn’t have an exceptional goal scoring record prior to coming here.
Also the other forwards in the team had poor returns as well.
One stand out goal/penalty’s taker and a meaningful lack of goals from fellow forwards is self defeating.

mani was great in his first season with us but not so in his second. seemed to need far more chances last season to actually score than he did before that. in theory he hould look good along side of reid but doubt he would as he,s a bit of a wanderer who needs new challenges at another club.