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Rochdale boss tells fans to call club's chairman and demand his sacking

Rochdale manager Keith Hill has called on disgruntled fans to call the club’s chairman and demand his sacking
Rochdale manager Keith Hill has called on disgruntled fans to call the club’s chairman and demand his sacking

Keith Hill has made the extraordinary move to challenge disgruntled Rochdale fans who want to see him sacked to call club chairman Chris Dunphy and make the request.

Hill says ‘supporters have a choice’ after a rampant Barnsley beat ‘the Dale’ 4-0 at Spotland. It was the second time Rochdale had conceded four goals at home this season, after they were beaten 4-1 by Peterborough on August 11.

And the Rochdale boss used his post-match interview to tell disgruntled fans to literally call for his sacking.

“If you’re going to beat us in with a stick, just phone the chairman up and say we don’t want Keith Hill to be the manager.

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“It’ll be okay – I’ve got no problem with that whatsoever, I’m sure they would sack me.

“The fans have got to decide whether they want me to be the manager or not, because I’ve got to make decisions for the right here, right now, and for the future of this football club.”

Hill is in his second spell in charge of the club and led Rochdale to promotion to League One in his first full season back at the helm in 2013-14.

After consecutive top 10 finishes, Rochdale struggled last season and only just avoided relegation. They are currently 18th after four matches and one win this season.

Asked if he wants to remain in charge at Spotland, Hill replied: “Not for people who don’t respect me, that is the biggest thing.

“I’ve made sacrifices for this job and I really enjoy doing this job with this group of players, for the chairman, Bill Goodwin and the rest of the board of directors, and all that work here.”

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Hill also called on supporters to back the team after after Harrison McGahey was the subject of sarcastic applause after being taken off free-kick duties.

Try and support the players and try and support the football club.

“When Harrison is taking a free-kick that has been worked on in training, which he delivered yesterday, there’s a cheer when he’s not taking it after getting it wrong. That sort of thing really does wind me up because we’ve got to be supporting the players better than that.”

In another quirk from last night’s match, anyone singing “There’s only one Jordan Williams” at Rochdale’s League One clash with Barnsley on Tuesday night would have been mistaken – there were actually three of them.

Former Liverpool youngster Jordan Williams started the game for Rochdale and was joined on the pitch by his namesake when Barnsley brought their Jordan Williams on to replace Dimitri Cavare in the 79th minute.

And two became three one minute later when Rochdale brought on winger Jordan Williams for Andy Cannon.