Manager Keith Hill won’t be letting emotion get in the way as he goes up against his friend and former colleague, Dave Flitcroft, for the first time in their Managerial careers.
The pair will be in opposite dug outs this Friday night as Dale face Bury at the JD Stadium and while Hill is playing down going up against Flicker, he does admit that he’s looking forward to it.
“It’ll be really strange, but I can do the non-emotion quite easy, I’m very good like that," laughed Hill. "I can take emotion out of any conundrum, whether it’s family, friends or business, so this is no different.
“But I think it will be enjoyable. I like being on the touchline with Flick, so it doesn’t matter that he's in the opposition dug out, I’ll still enjoy my time in the dug out with Flicker."
He continued: "I think one or two of the lads will be looking out for the high fives because I often berate the players because I’ve seen them before games high fiving ex colleagues, or giving them a warm embrace, if you like. We’ve spoke [him and Flicker], we’ve met up this week, so that hasn’t changed and doesn’t change. We help each other, we always have done since we were players, brother’s in arms if you like, but listen, it’s just a game - me and Flicker are the side show. At the end of the day, the real main event is the game itself."
He is also keeping grounded ahead of the derby clash.
“It’s just another game – it’s the first one out of the last 13, we play them twice out of 46, and for me it’s non-emotional with respect to who we’re playing because we’ve got a game plan. We know that Bury are ever changing with respect to probably having three different sides this season, but since Flicker has been at the Football Club they probably have the best side they’ve had this season, so it’s going to be a difficult fixture us.
“I look forward to every game, there’s no I look forward to that game more than that game, I just look forward to a game of football and testing our players against whoever the opposition is.
"The players have got to show good emotional energy, they’ve got to be balanced in their emotional energy, we have got to be aggressive without being angry, we can’t spill over into uncontrollable, and we have to manage ourselves in the way that we have done all season.”
The full interview is on Dale Player.