Shamir Fenelon knew Spotland was the place to come after Paddy McCourt's praise...
The forward joined Dale on a season long loan on Friday, and says he spoke to former Dale winger, and his Brighton and Hove Albion team mate, Paddy McCourt, about his move to Rochdale.
McCourt joined Rochdale in the year 2000 as a 16 year old and remained at the club until 2005.
Speaking to the club's official website, Fenelon said: “The move happened quite quickly so I didn’t get a chance to speak to Chris O’Grady [who is also currently at the Championship side], but I did get the chance to speak to Paddy about it.
“He told me that he played with the Manager during his time at Rochdale and he said that made him feel old. He said it was a great club and that the Manager is very good as well. I had a few offers to go elsewhere but he said I should definitely get myself to Rochdale.
“You trust other players in your team so you’ve got to trust what they say – you’ve got to take their opinion into consideration.
“So after I found that out, and spoke to members of staff at Brighton, who also know staff here, then I knew it was the place to come.”
The forward met and trained with his new team mates on Friday. Speaking before his first session, he said he was looking forward to his new challenge.
“I don’t really take too long to settle, so I’m looking forward to getting to know the lads. I can’t wait to get started.
“I had a little taste of league football last year while on loan at Torquay and it was a great experience for me. I enjoyed playing league football week in, week out, and after getting that taste I knew I had to do that every week. I didn’t want to be playing in the under 21s, I wanted to be playing league football as I want that competitive edge.
He continued: I had a good pre-season at Brighton and made my debut at the start of the season. At the start of pre-season I wasn’t part of the first team squad, so I knuckled down, played every game, scored a few goals and when the season started I was part of the squad, which had been my aim. To then play and make my debut was a bonus.
“They’ve signed a few players since then, so it’s time to kick on here now and I’m looking forward to it. I need to be playing games and hopefully I get games here and do well.”