Touch wood, get your lucky socks on, stick the rabbits foot in your pocket, salute the magpies and touch the lucky Heather Locklear, and we might just get to play a home game this New Years Day.

So as our centenary year comes to a close, I don't think it's possible for this year to have gone better for Dale without delving into the realms of fantasy.

No matter what way you look at it, whether you do so statistically, objectively or just based on your natural gut reaction to Dale over the past twelve months. The year has been a cracker and we couldn't have hoped for the centenary year to have been anything quite as successful as what is has been.

Cynics will no doubt point to the fact that Hill and Flicker haven't achieved anything yet. And in one respect, that's perfectly true. There's no promotions, cup runs or play off positions to talk about. And a glance at the league table looks hardly the stuff to crack open the Bollinger.

But we know, because we were there and we've seen it happen.

We were there late in 2006 when our squad which was pretty much put together in the last half hour of the August transfer window and we were setting sail aboard the HMS Conference. To truly understand the achievements of this year, you have to think back to before Hill and Flicker took over. It seems a long, long time ago now.

I remember the doubts very clearly. Hill wasn't anybody's first choice. He probably wasn't even anyone's second or third choice. And there were whispers of Simpson and Hoyland getting banded about as he appointed his best mate in football as his assistant.

But following a caretaker spell in charge, the Dale board were left with no choice but to appoint Keith Hill as permanent manager.

We've talked before about it being a lucky appointment and we mean that with no criticism at all aimed at the Dale board. They knew after a caretaker spell which brought big wins and much improved performances, to give somebody else a go in Hilly's place would have left them with a lot of egg on their faces if it went wrong.

Of course, Hill and Flitcroft could well have gone wrong. There was a lack of experience, and talk about how we'd cope if things went against us. We had an on loan professional claiming a lack of professionalism with regards to training. Things were certainly different.

But different doesn't mean bad. For in Hill and Flitcroft, we have appointed a management team which doesn't accept "no" or "we can't" as an answer, and there could only be one other contender for the best manager of 2007 in this division.

And we've been there where almost on a weekly basis, we've done the sort of things that as a club we've learned over many, many years of watching the Dale, that we just don't do.

We don't go and get highly rated prospects from Premier League sides.

We don't play attractive football with two wingers, because football doesn't work that way anymore.

We don't take on promotion chasing sides with £200,000 strikers in there and defenders on Championship wages and smash them and come away thinking that the 5-0 scoreline flattered them.

We don't go to sides who've won nine out of their previous ten home games, and beat them. We don't go to sides who've won nine out of their previous ten home games, on the back of a record run of clean sheets and beat them.We don't go to sides who've won nine out of their previous ten home games,  on the back of a record run of clean sheets and score enough goals in the process to make the Vidiprinter get the brackets out.

We don't go to the form side in the division, blow an early lead only to come away four goal victors.

We don't come from behind with just ten men to win away from home.

We don't lose last year's Player of the Season and last season's top scorer to injury, as well as a whole host of others, yet still somehow remain in contention in the division.

We don't start January wondering whether we'll be going down, then three months later start talking about making the Play Offs.

We don't get Bury fans wishing their club was more like our's.

We don't go twelve months, losing just two away matches and secure enough points in that calendar year to practically give us an automatic promotion place if replicated over a full season.

We don't do these things. Well we didn't do. We do now.

It really has been a great year to be a Dale fan, and it's hard to think of a better one in all the years I've been watching Dale. Let's hope we're saying the same things at the end of 2008.

The game against Darlington this New Year's Day will be one of the toughest that we'll face all season. They're in fine form and are deservedly up there challenging for an automatic promotion place, with an even better away record than what we have, and for once there's no off the field stuff which is proving to be the major talking point.

So shake off the New Years Eve hangovers and opt for the hair of the dog, and see in 2008 with Dale on a frost free Spotland afternoon. After all, we still do postponements despite the Hill and Flicker magic, so get yourself to a home game whilst you can.

Happy New Year to Dale fans everyhere!

Photo: Action Images

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