Brian Barry-Murphy says new recruit Tyler Magloire is someone he has admired for a long time.
The central defender joined on a season-long loan from Blackburn Rovers on Thursday, and the Dale boss is pleased to have him in the squad.
“He’s someone I’ve admired for a long time,” said Barry-Murhpy.
“He has immense potential and is someone that Blackburn obviously rate very highly. We’ve been aware of him for a period of time and have watched his career develop at a rate of knots.
“David [Bottomley] and the Board here have been very aware of how much I admire him, and I was always of the opinion that it might take a long time into the window for us to acquire him.
“The fact that he has been acquired is testament to the hard work that David has put in and it was very rewarding for me to get him in.
“I believe we have very good defenders at the Club and I was just keen to add something that the defensive unit hasn’t got. Tyler has certain qualities that add another dimension to our defensive unit, and really help the lads going forward.
“I wouldn’t like to discredit the defensive players we have at the Club. We have some outstanding centre-halves in our midst already and I’m very keen to continue working with those to make them better, so we have real competition for places in that unit.
“Kgosi Ntlhe left for Scunthorpe United, so we have Ryan Delaney and Jim McNulty as left-siders, and Eoghan O’Connell was acquired as a right-sided centre-half.
“I’m very conscious of the fact that MJ Williams was a central midfield player when we signed him and we’re very keen for him to make that position his own. We didn’t want to force him to play centre-half as an emergency, so Tyler was a straight-forward recruit from our point of view when we knew we could acquire him.
“He offers us a lot of flexibility in where we can play him, and how we can set up our defensive unit.
“One of the big attractions for me is bringing in a player on loan that I know, and am aware, of his personality. He’s a very humble guy with a great attitude and, not only Tony Mowbray, but all the staff at Blackburn who have worked with him, one of the first things they say is that his attitude towards learning and trying to improve on a daily basis is infectious.
“He’s a hugely popular member of the Blackburn squad which tells its own story amongst so many senior pros, and he’ll only benefit from being with our group.
“We have that good blend of senior pros and different age groups that we feel will enhance his development, and I feel that’s one of the reasons why Blackburn have let us have him.”
Click HERE to watch Barry-Murphy’s interview in full.