Carlisle United boss Paul Simpson will give a warm welcome back to Rochdale manager Jim Bentley at Brunton Park this afternoon.
Bentley has just taken over as Rochdale manager and his first League Two game is at Brunton Park.
Simpson said: “Jim’s a good man, I’m glad he’s back in it. He knows this league well. I’ve had a couple of conversations with him because he was with my son Jake at Fylde.
“He’s a really top bloke and I’m pleased to see him back in football. He’s got a tough job on, but I’ve watched a few of their games and they don’t strike me as a team who are going to finish bottom of the league.
“They look like they’re in a little bit of a false position and I don’t think the table reflects where teams are until 10 or 12 games in. They’ve still got a few games to try and change that, but we want to make sure we keep going up the table and keep being positive.
“He’s built good teams at Morecambe, he went into Fylde and did ok here. He’s had some health issues of his own which thankfully he’s got through and is ok.
“Not that Rochdale will care what my opinion is, but I think he’s a really good appointment. He came in for the game on Tuesday at Accrington, changed the shape from what they’d been doing, scored three goals and were maybe a bit unfortunate to have conceded.
“It was in the 90-odd minute with a goal which was like a comedy of errors, it goes to show when things are not going your way these things go against you.
“I think it’ll be a tough game. The way Jim prepares his teams and gets them up for games, it’s a likeness to how he was as a player, which was a very uncompromising defender, difficult to play against. That’s what we’ll probably face against Rochdale.”
“They’ve got players who have played at a higher level and who can perform at a better level than they have been doing so far.”
