Thetownend.com

Posted on thisis by a Rochdale fan

 Hello all, lifelong Rochdale fan here!

Rumours are circulating around our part of the world, as I'm sure they are yours, that Swindon Town are interested in our top scorer last season Rickie Lambert. It is well known that current manager Steve Parkin is extremely keen to hold on to Rickie, but due to our current financial position we may be forced to sell.

Previously us 'dale fans have been told that if he was to be sold, it would be to a club in a higher division (similar to the Holt situation who signed for Notts Forest at the start of the year) and it is understood that last season, around the same time as Holt's departure, we turned down 2 offers from League One clubs for Lamberts services, and at the end of the 2005/2006 campaign, Lambert was offered a contract that he looked set to sign.

This seems to have now turned on it's head. I have a few friends 'in the know', so to speak, inside Spotland, and the latest on the Lambert contract situation is not good reading (for us anyway!).

It is understood that contact HAS been made between Swindon Town FC and Rochdale / Rickie Lambert and that Swindon are prepared to make a six figure bid for Lambert, which includes add-ons, which may force us to sell due to our aforementioned financial difficulties. There's no official word from Rochdale, and I'm not sure if anything's been said on your end?

Anyway, the fee is believed to be around £100,000 (I'm not 100% on this), which does not break the release clause in his contract, but the additional clauses in the deal would mean that you could pay a total sum of £200,000. I'm not sure how or where you got that sort of money as it was always seemed that Swindon were in the red year upon year and regularly failed to pay players, but I can assure you as a die-hard Rochdale fan that he is worth every penny. I've been informed that the deal you are prepared to offer could make him one of the highest paid players at Swindon Town F.C.

I've spoken to Rickie a few times during his time here, and he is a nice northern boy with a lot of talent. He's eager to play at a club with some ambition and he, naturally, wants to better himself. With no offence meant to Swindon Town fans or staff, I view a move from Rochdale to Swindon as a sideways step for Rickie, despite our extremely long period in the bottom tier.

Rickie is currently on holiday in Dubai but is set to fly back shortly , and I assume anything that will happen between the two clubs will happen as soon as he arrives back in England. I also understand that Dennis Wise is in Dubai, and I have asked my sources if there was any meeting between Wise and Lambert, but was not given an answer.

I'm not sure whether we will sell Rickie or not, but for the sake of Rochdale Football Club I really hope he stays here as he has superb ability. I fear the lure of more money, potential promotion and a chance to play with Dennis Wise could be very strong.

All the best next season, it won't be a first trip to the County Ground for me as I was a spectator in 1985 when you hammered us 4-0 and, I think it's fair to say, won the league rather easily. I have not been since some of your stands were re-developed, and hopefully next time the game won't be so easy for you.

P.S. Sorry for the length of my first post!

i dont think he understands that we are a bigger club than them! i think the rumours could be true though - Devlin has yet to deny them

Devlin denied them in the WDP didn't he?

Hmm, sounds interesting. From that I pretty much gather that we are interested and are probably willing to pay but they might not accept so it's far from a done deal.

i wouldnt know because ive been losing interest in affairs at STFC because things are so dull at the moment! i actually want some signings please

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I'm still unsure...

If he does come here, and is one of the highest paid players, then he better produce.

Yeah, i'm bored of all these £1m takeovers and new management team crap. Next!

sideways step. cunt.

It is though. I still don't think it will happen.

it's clearly not a sideways step, in the past 20 years we've had countless promotions, relegations, cup runs, play-off finals and we've played in the top division.

rochdale have been stuck in the bottom league for over 30 years

And now we're with them. In terms of positions he is right, although I think we'll end up better off next season.

Lambert will get more money if he comes here... I think he's worth the money aswell he looks a top player. Considering we spent £70K on Ifil when we were supposedly "in the red" i dont think £150K for a proven L2 goalscorer/assister is too much.

still, as other people have said ill believe it if he signs. He could probably do better.

bollocks if you moved from charlton to arsenal would that be a sideways step because they are in the same leauge?

not saying that we're not where we belong, but if you had the choice of a club with a ex-international management duo, a new investor and a pretty decent history for a lower league club or rochdale, who would you choose?

as such, it wouldn't be a sideways ste;p

I think of teams as only as big as their division so a move from Wigan to Leeds would be a step backwards even though Leeds have until recently always been a much bigger side but it's still possible to be big a side for your division and we are a big side for league two, on recent history the biggest and Rochdale aren't so it would definitely be a step up.

It is a sideways step in terms of ability level. When Fallon left for Swansea a lot of us made the same sideways step comment. Had we not been relagated would we not have thought Fallons move was futile, a sideways step? Same with Evans and Blackpool. That said, we obviously have more potential than Rochdale.

One thing I wonder. If he is that good why haven't higher league clubs come in. Or maybe they have and Dennis is working his magic.

Either way this guy seems to have what it takes in division 4, I would be delighted IF he signs...

A couple of League 1 clubs sniffed around after him last season but as he was still well in his contract it would have taken a good cash offer to make Rochdale give him and Holt up in the same season.  They weren't exactly sitting pretty all season so I guess they had to hold on to him.  Now he is taking his time over a contract extension offer and Rochdale find themselves in the same position we were with Parkin.

In terms of why no other league 1 club is after him now, well they might be!  Consider though that most of league 1 won't have cash to spend and those that do may already have players in that position

I cant see us spending £200k on a player to be honest.

 
You sound like a Brizzle Shitty fan ! Swindon Town has ALWAYS been a small club ! Deal with it !

NMH

Not as small as Rochdale though to be fair. We've only spent the odd year in the basement division recently, not decades.

Think you'll find that for most of our history we have been in the bottom 1 or 2 divisions !

Paul

Over the last 25 years Rochdale have been in only one division, the basement. We've only been in that division for a couple of seasons  and we've won it with a then record number of points, we've then been at every other level including the top level so our recent history is a lot more impressive than theirs.

If I was an ambitious player, whether I supported Swindon or not I'd definitely choose Swindon over Rochdale because Swindon have more chance of being promotion contenters than them, get much bigger crowds, have a nicer stadium and were in the premiership not too long ago.

On average we are a mid to top table 3rd tier team with a few seasons above that and every now and then (like now) a season or two below it.  A bigger team than Rochdale I'd say, but not a "big" team.

I agree - if I add up all the games I have seen, I have seen more games in the bottom two divisions than the two top.

This is biased by my going to STFC since 1976 however, when we were really a mid-table shit team

Our history isn't that bad but it's totally irrelevant. Need to show ambition, I mean Reading and Wigan's history are hardly spectacular and look at where they've ended up.

Totally agree dogs.

Our history is much better than Reading for instance. Still think we have more potential than them. After all where would they be if they had just been relegated to the 4th division? Would they get full houses, dont think so. Our "core" bad of support is much  more loyal than theirs

Him and Peacock could be lethal in this league!