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If you are looking at a map, its not much help if you dont know where you are.. Recognising where we are as a town within the country and where the country sits internationally gives perspective and position. The UK has to stop pretending it is a major powerhouse on the international stage, it isnt, and as one of the poorest towns in the UK, its going to need something more radical than a nice town hall and some shops to fix its problems..
Some food for thought, Rochdale is one of the poorest towns in the UK , But the UK is becoming a poor Nation Here is the direct comparison of how the United Kingdom would rank if it were dropped into the list of 51 US states (including Washington, D.C.), using the latest per capita statistical benchmarks: ## 📊 The Rankings Overview
* Total Homicide Rate: 51st (Absolute Safest) * The Data: The UK's homicide rate sits at ~0.86 to 1.15 per 100,000 residents. * The Comparison: This is lower than America's safest state, New Hampshire (~1.4 per 100,000), and roughly five times lower than the US national average (~5.0 per 100,000). * Knife Homicide Rate: ~35th (Lower-Middle Tier) * The Data: The UK records ~0.35 to 0.48 fatal stabbings per 100,000 residents annually. * The Comparison: This is slightly safer than the US national average (~0.53 per 100,000), but higher than roughly 15 low-crime US states like Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. * Children in State Care: ~25th (Middle Tier) * The Data: The UK has a rate of 670 children in care per 100,000 under-18s. * The Comparison: This sits just below the US national average (~700 to 750 per 100,000). It is vastly safer than crisis states like West Virginia (1,710 per 100,000) but higher than restrictive states like New Jersey (137 per 100,000). * Gang Grooming & Exploitation: Top 5 Worst (Highest Tier) * The Data: Driven by highly organized "County Lines" drug syndicates and street rings, the UK processes roughly 110 out of every 100,000 children through formal safeguarding exploitation systems. * The Comparison: This per capita rate of structural youth exploitation places the UK alongside America's highest-risk urban states like California, Texas, and Illinois. * Civilian Unemployment Rate: 43rd (High Unemployment Tier) * The Data: The UK's active unemployment rate sits at 4.9%. * The Comparison: This tracks far worse than the US national average (4.1%), matching high-unemployment states like Washington (4.9%) and sitting just under Washington D.C. (5.9%). * Household Debt-to-GDP Ratio: Top 10 Highest (Upper Tier) * The Data: Driven by heavily leveraged, short-term mortgage debt, UK household debt sits at 77.0% of nominal GDP. * The Comparison: This out-paces the US national baseline (67.7%) and ranks just behind hyper-expensive US real estate markets like Hawaii and California (>80%). * 5-Year Cancer Survival Rates: 51st (Absolute Bottom) * The Data: Due to systemic NHS diagnostic logjams, late-stage detection, and slower treatment timelines, the UK lags globally. * The Comparison: An individual diagnosed with cancer in the UK has a lower statistical probability of 5-year survival (e.g., ~86% for breast cancer, ~17-20% for lung cancer) than a patient in any of the 50 US states. If the UK were a US state, it would rank 51st (dead last) for GDP per capita, placing it behind Mississippi and every single U.S. state. The Reality vs. Public Perception Actual Standing: Data highlighted by the Institute of Economic Affairs shows the UK's economic output per person sits below the lowest-ranking American state. Public Guess: In surveys, the average British respondent guessed that the UK would rank around 7th among US states, assuming it was wealthier than most of America.The Numbers: UK GDP per capita hovers around $57,000, whereas Mississippi (the lowest US state) exceeds $55,800 to $56,000+ in nominal terms, and the broader US average is closer to $93,000.
I feel pleased for Watson and the Board after today. Its clear things are coming together faster now as players return to fitness. Flint is a Master stroke signing and exactly what a young defence needs, a Sergeant Major to give the orders and set the example...There were glimpses of Watsons "system" too, with pace on the wings and Maguire's late arrival to cement the win...standards being set. A good day at the office...
This was recorded before the Newport game, but I haven't seen it before.. interesting in view of the recents events.. Simon and Laura talking about what they are trying to put in place ... interesting from Newport too
Fans forums are mandatory for EFL clubs, I guess enthusiasm for them is different from club to club... Under EFL Regulation 112.1, all member clubs across the Championship, League One, and League Two must hold at least two meetings or fans' forums per season. These forums must invite supporters or their representatives to discuss significant club matters and must feature senior club leadership—such as the majority owner, a board director, or a senior executive
If he is only 80% of full fitness he will have to play, we need his height and leadership. His vocal contribution will be as important as his fitness given the inexperience around him. His presence will give confidence to the kids ..
Sport England is assuming that the current pitches on Bowlee are actually useable when, in fact the area is often waterlogged and unusable, a problem which the proposal will overcome with a soak-away (pond) so in fact, there should be more community use at Bowlee simply because the grass pitches will not be waterlogged for months of every year. That Sport England has been previously disinterested in the quality of the existing pitches speaks volumes ... they were totally disinterested when the pitches in Springfield park were closed...you begin to wonder if Sport England actually has any real interest in grass- roots sport at all, despite boasting that it gets up to £350m a year from the Lottery and Government...They do however seem keen on walking and cycling, and a host of mulicultural ventures .. indeed Sport England's idea of "Sport" seems to encompass a very wide range of a "activities" which do not actually need pitches or specialist equipment which are fit for purpose, or involve any notion of competition. Another expensive quango that noone actually needs......
Detailed Breakdown of the Numbers The total spend is split between Exchequer funding (government tax revenue) and National Lottery Distribution funding. When we extract only the money that goes out the door as direct grants, it breaks down into two distinct financial categories: [1] ( https://sportengland-productio Grants Awarded: £323,200,000 ├── Revenue Grants (People & Programs): £281,300,000 (87%) └── Capital Grants (Physical Facilities): £41,900,000 (13%)
So less than a sixth of Sport England revenue of which the organisation has none of its own and is completely reliant on Government ( income tax) and Lottery ( money that has already been taxed) is actually spent on facilities and yet they are objecting to a scheme that RAFC is funding with RMBC.. a scheme that improves the current pitches and provides a community resource that will help to increase participation in SPORT... make it make sense......
True James, but managers also have to be leaders, they have to have the capacity to inspire their players, which is why many football managers have a decent playing record. Obviously there are exceptions but having been there and done it must be a big advantage..
Its good comms to get a pre-emptive strike in regarding their views on the current situation ahead of tomorrow. I would have expected little else, but well done them for making their position clear. They have a long term plan and like any route on a map, sometimes whats underfoot does not always align with what you thought it would be and you just have to concentrate on getting one foot in front of the other until you arrive at a downhill section... It looks like we will have to battle on until Watson is able to pick his best team.
As an aside, the Ogden Family's Computacenter investments produced stellar 1st half results yesterday, so their mood should be very positive....( and the share price is up 119.55% in the last 12 months
There may be a clause in his contract if he is incapacitated long term because of a reccurence of a previous injury that allows the club to end the contract. The club may even have insurance to cover these circumstance or failing any of this there could be a negotiated settlement with him. An agreed payout may be more attractive to him than traipsing into Manchester every day.. Given his previous injury record, he should have some sort of injury clause in his contract or someone hasn't done enough due diligence.... Google.. .... Laurence Maguire is generally considered significantly more injury-prone than his peers. Over recent seasons, repetitive muscular setbacks—particularly recurring hamstring issues—have severely disrupted his playing time compared to typical lower-league English centre-backs. A breakdown of how his injury record stacks up reveals why he is viewed this way:
Recurring Hamstring and Muscle Issues Maguire’s primary vulnerability is a recurring hamstring problem that has repeatedly halted his momentum. The 2024–25 Season: He suffered a severe hamstring tear on Boxing Day that sidelined him for ten weeks.
The 2025–26 Pre-Season: Just as he recovered, his hamstring "went" again during the summer pre-season, forcing him to miss another ten weeks and the start of the campaign.
December 2025: Shortly after returning, he limped off just 28 minutes into a match against Cambridge United with another muscular injury. This forced his club at the time, MK Dons, to leave him unregistered for the second half of the season because they could not rely on his fitness.
Current Status After transferring to Rochdale in the summer of 2026, his luck has unfortunately not changed. In late August 2026, Rochdale management confirmed that Maguire had already suffered a further injury setback, continuing the trend that has plagued his career.
Still a bit early for me, we need to see his prefered team in action first ( who ever is in that, assuming he knows), what does need sorting out is the injury list, We would be better paying off people like Maguire if they are nowhere near fit (and not reliably likely to stay fit) and rolling the dice on an injury- free, out- of- contract player or two.. there are 1000s of players looking for some sort of contract with decent previous experience....
6 players aged 21 or under in todays starting line-up, the lack of experience is palpable.. . Ramming, Tasker, Taylor and Wilson all under 21 and Moss at 25 were the defence..KSD and Brown making up the 6 most with only their appearances this season as experience of EFL football, these kids need help. You can get away with a couple of novice professionals but 6 in one team is never going to end well. We need to get some older, more experienced players back in the team urgently. I get that we are down to the bare bones but this situation is ridiculous....There is no point in blaming Ramming or Wilson, they are here to get experience around older players who can help them, not to be fed to the wolves every week because the older heads are all injured ... and some havent been fit since they arrived here. And making Mani Captain is fairly pointless since he spends his time half a pitch away from where the encouragement is needed... we need a vocal leader on the pitch badly....
Today has been a huge backwards step, Dieseruvwe, is hopeless at this level, he is meat and drink for any half-decent centre half, everyone assumes that given his height he should win headers, he doesn't win enough by a long way, and as a consequence Brown has no knock-downs to chase, and the wingers throwing high crosses into the box for him is essentially pointless... L2 is about pace, size and power Gillingham had it, we didnt. The substitutions were irrelevant, we don't have anyone capable of changing the game in 10 or 15 minutes. The squad is a mess...signing Maguire was a huge mistake given his injury, the injury list is a scandal. We have no leadership on the pitch , no strong L2 playing experience, and a manager with an unfathomable system. Ramming is being exposed by his makeshift defence, someone needs to tell him to start shouting at them and organising at the back.....he sees the whole game, the others don't and they need his help. We need Beckwith and a proper centre half back asap. And today we needed Gilmour in front of the defence as cover, not Francis... I thought Tasker did OK, Adeeko battled as did Moss, but a spear with no point is just a stick. We should have signed a proper centre forward, we have what, 4, 5, wingers? And no effective target for them to aim at. Tuesday seemed like a turning point, but today was a punch in the face. 3 points today would have put us in a more comfortable16th place. The big question for me now is, " will we ever get to see our best starting 11"? Followed by, "does the manager even know what that 11 might be"? I think there might be some difficult conversations over the next few days......
Has anyone confirmed the Corey Edwards to Everton story? I can't see a confirmation by either club anywhere on the interweb....or did O'Rourke just make it all up?
10 players now queuing up to get in the physio's room...something isnt right...IW needs to sit down with his staff and figure out why we have so many injuries..it only needs one of the goalkeepers to join the list and we will have a crocks 11. However, out of adversity, something interesting has emerged...a team that played their hearts out, scored 3 excellent goals and got the crowd excited...somehow it seemed to prove the point that what doesn't break you makes you stronger. Last nights team may never have been assembled without the injury list and as the injured return to the fold, they will not be able to take their places without a fight....
The players have woken up to the commitment needed at this level... you have to earn the right to play football by doing the hard yards for 90 minuted and the 11 lads on the pitch and the substitutes became a team in front of our eyes....Shrews weren't great but you can only play whats in front of you, and we did. I bet IW sleeps better tonight. And Moss was outstanding.......
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