IN

Rochdale 0-0 Newcastle (H)

Barclays Premier League

Adam Smith (Newcastle) -- 8.3

Match Review
This was a match we could have won if you looked at the amount of talent on our side, but Newcastle were the league leaders and were in blistering form so it was good to peg them back a little bit.

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Celtic 2-2 Rochdale AFC (A)

UEFA Champions League Group A

Will Keane (5')
Teemu Pukki (33', 86')
Mehdi Yildirim (52')

Teemu Pukki (Celtic) -- 8.8

Match Review
We weren't good in this match and we should have edged them 2-1, but instead we conceded a later goal to snatch two points away from us.

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Rochdale AFC 2-4 Manchester United (H)

Barclays Premier League

Domenico Berardi (2', pen 89')
Deilson Elias (52')
Javier Pastore (55')
Mehdi Yildirim (90')
Wayne Rooney (90+2')

Domenico Berardi (Manchester United) -- 9.1

Match Review
We played well in this match but we were very unlucky to concede a late penalty. The officials got it terribly wrong.

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Rochdale AFC 2-2 Chelsea (H)

Barclays Premier League

Will Keane (3')
Cesc Fabregas (27')
Bojan (79', 90+5')

Bojan (Chelsea) -- 8.6

Match Review
Horrible, horrible defending from our side. We threw away two goals and essentially two points due to defensive errors.

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Galatasaray 1-3 Rochdale AFC (A)

UEFA Champions League Group A

Boy Erdogan (30')
Gabor Hegedus (60')
Pable Gentiletti (74')
Mihael Panjkret (o.g 81')

Gabor Hegedus (Rochdale AFC) -- 9.0

Match Review
We played insanely well in this match, and we grabbed three points to secure qualification for the next round of the Champions League and we might just finish top of the group! Also, this was our first and only victory in the whole month.

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Player of the Month

Blackburn 1-2 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Mehdi Yildirim (24')
Luke Freeman (71')
Héctor Clide Quinteros (78')

Pablo Gentiletti (Rochdale AFC) -- 7.6

Match Review
The ball hit the crossbar so many times in this match, it's unbelievable and we could have won with a far bigger margin.

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Everton 0-1 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Miralem Pjanic (81')

Pablo Gentiletti (Rochdale AFC) -- 8.2

Match Review
Last time we played Everton we lost terribly. It's definitely satisfying to gain three points against them at Goodison Park.

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Rochdale AFC 5-0 Arsenal (H)

Barclays Premier League

Boy Erdogan (12')
Héctor Clide Quinteros (26', 35')
Mehdi Yildirim (44')
Cesc Fabregas (45+1')

Héctor Clide Quinteros (Rochdale AFC) -- 9.4

Match Review
This has to be the most entertaining match ever. Arsenal's manager had just been replaced by the Ipswich manager (my direct rival), and it's good to say that we thrashed his new team. Cesc Fabregas also returned against his former club and rounded off the victory with a cool header. At least their manager won't forget Justin Credible in his lifetime though.

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Rochdale AFC 1-1 Barcelona (H)

UEFA Champions League Group A

Rafinha (6')
Héctor Clide Quinteros (44')

Ron-Robert Zieler (Barcelona) -- 8.2

Match Review
We STILL manage to hold Barcelona on, even though they were looking for revenge following the last match we played... we beat them 3-1 last time on their turf. However, they couldn't beat us this time and Quinteros yet again scored in this match, continuing his superb run of form.

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Ipswich 0-3 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Mehdi Yildirim (37')
Deilson Elias (45', 83')

Deilson Elias (Rochdale AFC) -- 9.3

Match Review
If we had this squad last season, we could have relied on class instead of form and we could have finished runners up in the league, because this match was insane. The number of chances we created was extremely pleasing to see.

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Crystal Palace 1-1 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Deilson Elias (2')
David Wheater (57')

David Wheater (Crystal Palace) -- 8.9

Match Review
We should have done better. We played fairly well in the first half with a lead of 1-0, but we took the foot off the pedal in the second half and it cost us two points.

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Rochdale AFC 2-1 Southampton (H)

Barclays Premier League

Emmanuel Mayuka (43')
Héctor Clide Quinteros (55')
Cesc Fabregas (81')

Gabor Hegedus (Rochdale AFC) -- 7.6

Match Review
We were poor in the first half but we managed to turn it around and grab the three points late into the match, a pleasing result.

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Rochdale AFC 4-3 Derby (H)

Barclays Premier League

Héctor Clide Quinteros (12', 68')
Christophe Berra (36')
Mason Bennett (44', 80')
Scott Hogan (69')
Yacouba Sylla (o.g. 87')

Mason Bennett (Derby) -- 8.8

Match Review
What a thriller. I'm not pleased with the way we played but we had 9-men due to minor injuries and we battled on until the end.

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Player of the Month

OUT

In a surprising turn of events in the window, a few players left the team for good. Reading poached Riccardo Improta and Will Keane for £300k and an initial £1.1m respectively. I know I should have done more to get a larger transfer fee for Will Keane but he was only a fringe player at Rochdale and he hadn't made an appearance for the club for a long time, it was best to let him go to Reading. McLoughlin was set to move to Manchester City but Newcastle snatched him from City and off he went, Rafael Dias was also surplus to requirements and amidst a lot of speculation that Schmidt would leave Rochdale for Manchester United or PSG for at least £43m, it was his counterpart Pierre Comeau that left on loan to gain more experience.

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We're on course for an amazing season here in the Premier League, and the league title could eventually be in our hands come the end of the season... who knows?

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The PoTM award goes to Pablo Gentiletti who is by far the most consistent player in our team as he is a boulder in our defence this season. He had a shaky start at the club, but right now he is one of the most sought-after talents in the world and he has recently put pen to paper on a new, 5-year deal so he won't be leaving on the cheap!

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Here are the fixtures for next month:

Author's Notes

Our first match against Napoli is right around the corner and to be honest, I think we can manage to hold them off due to the quality we have up front... but, only time can tell.